Today, stepping in for DemonRS, I (KingDoom) will be reviewing one of my favorite DC villains here, DARKSEID!

Having been around since Hypertime, I’ll be breaking Darkseid’s review down by chronological order as there was a three-set gap between the first version and the REV treatment in Icons before making way to the uber-awesomeness from Crisis.

So click, "Read More" to access the full review!!

Please note that I, DemonRS, did not write this article. Please direct appropriate feedback to KingDoom on THIS THREAD.. Thank you!

Once Again... Please note that I, DemonRS, did not write this article. Please direct appropriate feedback to KingDoom on THIS THREAD.. Thank you!

Unique Hyper Time Darkseid

The very first version came out in the inaugural DC release, Hypertime. Clocking in at an economical and svelte 151 points (compared to the other versions), this Darkseid was a DC terror back in the day. Opening with Mind Control, Psychic Blast, Impervious, and Outwit, and at a range of 8, Darkseid was the epitome of hit-hard-and-not-be-hit-back. The opening 10AV was also high in those days of an average of 9AV, especially in DC; coupled with Psychic Blast, Darkseid ensures his 3 damage would stick. Adding insult to injury, he would then Outwit any power that might be dangerous for Darkseid or his cohorts. Mind Control, in the old days, was far more lethal; you would be able to push a figure, add a token, and turn him into a sitting duck. Darkseid did this pretty well, having 4 clicks of Mind Control to start with. His speed stats were average, as well, starting at 8 and bottoming out at 5. For attack, Psychic Blast represented his Omega Beams and after two clicks, makes way for Super Strength which stays on the dial until the next to last click. His AV was pretty high for the day, three clicks of 10s, followed by a steady decline to 7 at the end. Defensively, he was also hard to hit and injure, being one of the few figures at the time with Impervious, having three clicks of this golden defense, followed by 4 clicks of Toughness (there was no Invulnerability in DC at the time). Starting at 16, his defense would tank a point for each click, bottoming out at 11. Damage-wise, Darkseid was also one of a kind, having FIVE clicks of Outwit and four clicks of RCE, yet another representation of Omega Beams, to finish with a flourish; his values start at 3 damage for the first two clicks and never dips below 2 the rest of the way. He shines through in another way; this version is the only version that can be taxied. So, taxi him in, Outwit a power, and Psychic Blast away! However, in today’s environment, this man of stone would more than likely be blown away before he can even influence the outcome of battle. We wouldn’t see a new version of Darkseid until Icons came along…

A thought before we start on the beast that is the Icons REV…Icons was also a 60-figure set. Was this a model WK visited when they decided to revamp the REV system? One can only wonder…back to the review! After Hypertime, we would see a long dry spell for the denizens of Apokolips, getting only the Parademons in Cosmic Justice, until Icons came along…and we got an hulking-up Darkseid! Now, in REV form, I will attempt to recognize the differences from R to E and from E to V.

Rookie Icons Darkseid


Clocking in at 10 points cheaper than the Hypertime Unique, for 141 points we get a boom-tube Darkseid, screaming in with the 12 movement Phasing/Teleport power. This begins the trend of having Darkseid fly, so be sure he has his lifetime pal, Desaad, handy to assist him. He also totes an average 9AV with Super Strength to start with. Standing tall with a 17DV Invulnerability, he oversaw his kingdom with 4 damage Outwit. In Hypertime, hit him and you’d get rid of Outwit and perhaps Psychic Blast and Mind Control. Not so with this version! Hit him and you’re in a world of hurt; after Super Strength, Darkseid spikes to 10AV and…Psychic Blast with 5 damage! This reminds you of the times Darkseid looks at an opponent and reduces them next to nothing with his Omega Beams. Nothing to sneeze at for 9 clicks, each and every one of them are dangerous. After the opening click, Darkseid’s movement comes down to earth, going from 8 to 7 before he boom-tubes it outta there with consecutive clicks of 12 then 10 movement Phasing/Teleport. Use this reappearance as a signal that he is near the end of his dial. There is also a damage reducer on every click, starting with Invulnerability for 3 clicks and filling the rest up with Toughness. His Defensive stats also rise from the Hypertime averages, starting with 17 and never dipping below 14 with recurrences of the 17DV with the mid-dial AV spike. Damage is where he truly shines, blasting away at 4 with Outwit and then 5 with Psychic Blast, this man of stone can still bring the hurt at on his final click, having 3 damage then. RCE is dropped entirely from his dial, though, which is too bad. It was another “representation” of his Omega Beams. And I haven’t even mentioned his range of…TEN. Moving up the middle of the board effectively gives this god board control. The only drawback for a beast of this caliber…no movement powers to keep him active in battle. Darkseid makes up for this with his raw offensive and defensive stats, relying on them to hit hard and not worry about retaliation since he has enough damage reducers to take the brunt of a return fire.

Experienced Icons Darkseid


Adding 16 points to the Rookie version, let’s see what we gain: range remains at 10, a click of Impervious is added, and an extra Psychic Blast click that tops out at 11AV, making his Omega Beams retaliation attacks more hurtful than ever. There isn’t much difference between the two versions other than the additions I mentioned. This version, in the author’s opinion, was the cream of the Darkseid crop pre-Crisis. For a good cost, you could shrug off hits with Impervious, deliver insane amounts of damage before making way to Psychic Blast and frying people at 10 range, all the while staying mobile by way of Phasing/Teleport. Again, as it is with the R and then the V, none of the three versions have any movement powers to speak of, relying on board positioning and control to get in his hits. Again, the recurrence of Phasing/Teleport at the back-end of the dial should signal some sort of retreat.

Veteran Icons Darkseid


Quite a leap to 181 points, paying an extra 24 points, his “Omega Beam” range is upped to 12, he gains a click, has one more click of Impervious, and his Psychic Blast hulk-up is extended yet another click as well. As it was with the Rookie’s evolution to the Experienced version, there’s very little difference here other than raw stats, especially two clicks of 11AV Psychic Blast. A note to mind here would be the boost to his range; he now can hang a bit further in the back but still influence the pace of battle in some way. Just be sure to watch for the reappearance of P/T so you can high-tail it back to Desaad.

Veteran Crisis Darkseid


Even then, the Icons REV still had people clamoring for a more comics-accurate Darkseid, especially a power that truly represents his Omega Beams. This brings us to the uber-awesomeness that is the Crisis Darkseid. The highest costed Darkseid to date, coming in at a hefty 210 points, he doesn’t disappoint. Again, coming in by way of the boom-tube, Darkseid arrives with formidable numbers: his opening click is 12 movement w/ Phasing/Teleport, 11 AV with Omega Effects, 18 DV with Impervious, and 4 damage with Master Strategist. And he gets even better! Keeping the trend of Darkseid not having any movement powers, he starts with Phasing/Teleport to exhibit his love for using boom-tubes. His speed fluctuates to a 7 before kicking it up to 12 with Phasing/Teleport mid-dial before completely dropping off with no powers and a 6 movement. For the fans that clamored for a comics-accurate Darkseid; they get it with his Omega Effects:


This power gives him his Apokolips-renowned Omega Beams; you can mix and match any of the options. Need to plink at Batman in hindering? Halve your range and blast away. Facing an Impervious figure? Reduce your damage by 2 and the rest will stick. Need to relocate and expose someone? He’ll pull you and put you where he wants you to be. Darkseid retains Omega Effects for five clicks before making way for his staple mid-dial Psychic Blast. The final two clicks sees no attack powers, but a boost in defense and a second dose of Outwit. Defensively, Darkseid’s a fortress, opening with two clicks of Impervious at 18DV. This might sound sweet, 19 in hindering and a 33% chance of shrugging everything off, but you’ll want to keep pushing him until you reach All Will Serve Darkseid:


Now, Darkseid can still reduce damage by -2, but in addition to a damage reducer, he gains Mastermind and Willpower. If someone attacks you for 2, reduce it outright. If more than 2, shirk it off to a lowly Parademon. And on top of it all, he’s pressing the attack during 2 of every 3 rounds with his newfangled Willpower. Darkseid rules Apokolips and the rest of the DCU with this power for 4 clicks before Toughness completes the rest of the dial for the final four clicks. When his Defense starts the end-dial upswing, going from 17 to 19 on the final click, it’s time to haul outta there. This high defense might keep him alive as by the time he reaches this point in the dial, most of his opponents should have a hard time of hitting him. Damagewise, Darkseid has a mix of Hypertime and Icons…starting out at 4 damage, hulking up to 5 for the next three clicks, he then drops back to 4 before finishing out with 3 damage for the final three clicks. His Master Strategist SP for the first 3 clicks of the damage slot gives him Perplex along with Outwit before Outwit naturally shows up for two more clicks. He regains Outwit again on the final two clicks, keeping him dangerous to the very last breath. If this isn’t a comics-accurate Darkseid, I don’t know what would be then!

After breaking down Darkseid (but not his armor!) in this review, I can honestly tell you that you shouldn’t be running anything other than the Crisis version. However, even the Icons versions are a sight to behold and the Hypertime version brings back old times and memories. Therefore, this ranking of Darkseid is completely biased, as I’m listing them:

1) Crisis Darkseid
2) E Darkseid
3) R Darkseid
4) U Darkseid
5) V Darkseid

Yep, even the U is ahead of the V Darkseid from Icons because I don’t think, for the 24 points on top of the E, that he brings anything really different and we all know what 24 points can do for a force! Coupled with the Apokolips reviews a couple of weeks back, go and build an Apokolips keyword team and be sure Darkseid is heading it!

Thanks for reading!

Well I've always loved the Vet Darkseid from Icons, and that 12 range really DOES make a big difference. So Id rank them slightly differently. That being said, nice review as always. And the new Crisis Darkseid is an absolute beast.

Thanks for taking the time to write up this article KingDoom! I really appreciate it and it's definitely an informative article! I have yet to try my crisis Darkseid, but think I'm going to need to bust him out relatively soon to make a good game. His power just seems too awesome to pass up!

Thanks again for writing this!

I thought I'd see a lot more people rockin' Darkseid for the Floor events, but we've got those DC-only ones on the horizon ... time to remind Marvel that it's spelled "A-P-O-K-A-L-I-P-S," kids.

My first booster of Crisis - Darkseid

The second one - Deathstroke

As a fun game in-between rounds, I played one of my friends with these two figs against Black Adam and Doom Patrol's Chief.

Darkseid got hammered a bit, but he alone took on BOTH figs without going off of his All Will Serve Darkseid clicks. Deathstroke Outwitted here and there, but for the most part stayed in the shadows. Darkseid from Crisis is the ABSOLUTE beast! Now that I have him, I'm going to, one day, run him, Granny, Kalibak and Desaad on an Apokolips team. However, we need some generic Parademons and a re-vamped Desaad to truly make it an Apokolips theme team.

Bow before the almighty Darkseid or be obliterated.

I know Crisis Darkseid is a beast because one guy at my venue plays him every fragging week!

Not that I don't enjoy overcoming Darkseid but it makes me have to think real hard. Fortunatley for me I've only had to play him once since he started using him. I lost...but I got him down to just his Darkseid against my Batgirl/Armor Piercing. It was back and forth at that point.

Whoever could roll an 8 would win the Lotto and he just happened to roll it before I did. What a sight that would have been if Batgirl had taken out Crisis Darkseid!

you know what makes Darkseid's Omega Beam even NASTIER? Play Communication Breakdown and call Damage. No Modifying! Hit someone with penetrating 4 DAMAGE!

This was used on me and it caught me off guard.

Nice picture; it looks like Darkseid plays Heroclix!

?????????????

Pronounciation-wise...is it DarkSEED or DarkSIDE????

I believe it to be SIDE... this comes up at our venue and the comic-nuts are divided.

Let's call the whole thing off.

It's side. Any comic nut that claims it's seed isn't much of a comic nut at all. They are, in fact, wrong.

As correlating evidence, Grant Morrison wrote Darkseid possessing a human avatar in the Mr. Miracle mini-series that was part of the Seven Soldiers of Victory storyline.

In it, his avatar goes by the name of Darkside.

It's side, not seed.

I believe there are numerous threads on HCR floating around about this.

I'm pretty sure it was concluded that it is indeed Dark-side. But I'm sure this argument will rage on and on..

Darkseid cropped up in the Superfriends, the Superman Animated series, possibly the Justice League Animated series, and definitely in the Justice League Unlimited series.

Something tells me that his name was mentioned at least on one occasion between the lot of them.

And when that name is heard...it will be heard as "Dark-side." And those saying otherwise will be heard as just plain wrong.

I always liked the V Darkseid. The 12 range is pretty tough to overcome.