Are you a new player that is trying to figure out which Iron Man you should acquire? Maybe you are veteran trying to figure out if there is a Superman actually worth fielding. We are here to help shed light on those questions, offer our opinions and foster discussions on characters that have an abundance of versions available in modern age.

I’m Tirion
And I’m Jaded

Welcome to the Doppelganger Dilemma. A new article series where we will be analyzing different characters that have a multitude of playable, easy to acquire, Modern Age versions of themselves*. We will of course be giving our own opinions on each iteration of a character and hopefully this will lead to discussion from all of you!

*Please note: This article was written before the 2014 rotations were announced.

Here are the criteria and rubric by which a piece will be considered and analyzed:

1. The character must have three versions no higher than a rare in Modern Age.
2. Dial and abilities. How does the dial synergize with itself? Does it require other pieces or a specific team to reach its potential? How does it compare to the others versions of itself?
3. How well can be it be integrated into a themed team. How do its keywords compare to other iterations of the character?
4. How good of a value is it for the points?
5. How well does this version represent the character?

Here are the characters we have covered in the past.
-Colossus (covered by Jaded033)

To start things off lets tackle everyone’s favorite Canadian Mutant: Wolverine!

Probably one of Marvel's most marketable characters from the last 5+ decades, it's not much of a surprise that there are so many versions of Wolverine floating around in the modern game.

Really, I've only known Wolverine to do two things:
1) go berserk
2) heal himself

Sure, he has martial arts training, has been a spy and has led the X-Force - but fundamentally, he's always been that 'lone wolf' anti-hero who likes a good scrap and becomes a real pain in the @$$ to his enemies. It's very rare you'll see him hang back and help the team - he's usually out on his own engaging the enemy.

I agree completely, also everything I could ever say about Wolverine has been said by hilariously by Pete Holmes in his Ex-Men series on Youtube. If you have a couple minutes it is a great watch. Be warned it is PG-13 content. All jokes aside though he is a fun character and a staple in not just the X-Men but the Marvel universe as a whole. Now for the fun part! Let’s analyze some dials.


Here are the Wolverines that met our criteria:

dofp013 Wolverine
dofp019 Wolverine
avx005 Wolverine
wxm001 Wolverine
wxm201 Wolverine
cw029 Wolverine
m10a010 Weapon X
ffgsx004 Wolverine
ih035 Wolverine
tabM-004 Wolverine

To be honest the best Wolverine right now is Fear Itself Wolverine because of the poison and the revert click. Right behind him is DoFP uncommon Wolverine who has the free regeneration

dofp013 E Wolverine
Team: X-Men
Range: 0
Points: 130
Keywords: X-Men

8 11 17 3

8 10 17 2

8 10 16 3

8 10 16 2

8 10 16 3

8 9 16 2

8 9 15 3

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Special) Healing Factor: Wolverine can use Regeneration. When he has two action tokens, he can use it as a free action.

(Speed) Berserker Barrage!: Wolverine can use Blades/Claws/Fangs, Charge, and Flurry.

For 130 pts, you get indom, precision strike, empower, traited regen and some brutal opening move and attack options. If we're just examining his dial alone, I'd say this is the winner right here. He's even wearing his original brown costume from the 80s - which is the time period I'm sure 90% of heroclix player remember as his glory days. The only thing holding him back? His one keyword (which is comic accurate, because he wasn't on EVERY marvel team by this point) and his slightly high point cost.

If I had to pick one this would be the one. As Jaded pointed out he has everything you could ever want out of a Wolverine. He will simply destroy your opponents up close. Not to mention his empower early on he is just begging to be played with an empowering Colossus. Also don’t forget that for the first half of his dial Wolverine is sporting no less than an 18 defense in close combat thanks to his Combat Reflexes. Those are great numbers! And that trait is more than simply traited regen. You can effectively regen 3 times in two turns while only paying one action token! Talk about survivability also the sidestep late dial is fantastic for getting out of tough situations to heal up. His shortcomings are of coarse his lack of keywords. X-Men is all he has but its not as if there are not plethora of X-Men teams available. As expected he is packing the X-Men team ability and with all that regening he is a great candidate to heal up some friends. While 130 is a little steep for a Wolverine I think it is an excellent value for what he brings. One last quick thing does anyone else think this figure is especially small?

I have to say I'm really looking forward to this as an article series; it's always an entertaining topic of discussion. My vote here would definitely go for DofP 013 Wolverine. He just does everything you'd expect of a Wolverine incredibly well, while not doing a whole heck of a lot else, and is costed very reasonably.

dofp019 V Wolverine
Team: X-Men
Range: 0
Points: 156
Keywords: Days of Future Past, Future, X-men

10 11 17 3

10 11 17 3

8 10 17 4

8 10 16 4

7 9 16 3

7 9 17 3

7 11 17 4

6 10 16 3

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Special) You're Gonna Need Help, Bub: Modify Wolverine's attack and defense values by +1 for each adjacent opposing character.

(Speed) Healing Factor Ain't What it Used To Be: At the beginning of your turn, heal Wolverine of 1 damage.

(Damage) Canadian Resistance Army : When Wolverine is adjacent to an opposing character, his powers and abilities can't be countered or ignored. When he is adjacent to more than one opposing character, lines of fire drawn from opposing characters to Wolverine are blocked.

This version of Wolverine hails from the future. He has a wonky self-healing power and a trait that grants him bonuses that will encourage you to charge into a swarm of enemies. He also suffers from a lack of keywords (which is comic accurate being from the Days of Future storyline). I don't know - he seems like some-one I'd play on a specialty team or a team built around him. Not my first choice, but still a great representation of the character.

I’m not going lie I sold this one almost as soon as I pulled it. He just doesn’t do it for me as a wolverine. Sure that trait can be nice but it is easy enough for your opponent to avoid. His healing is below average in my opinion for a Wolverine he has alright combat values, his damage really does shine, but why do I have to get half way down his dial to find and BCF? Although being an 8 click dial he is one of the deeper Wolverine dials available. It just doesn’t play like Wolverine to me not even an older version. His keywords are only slightly better than his DOFP brother, which leads me to my minor soapbox. Why do we need a Days of Future Past keyword? Everyone with it has the future keyword and almost all of them have the X-Men keyword as well. Did we really need another keyword that really only adds redundancy? Ok rant over. This wolverine checks out at a very pricey 156 and to be honest I’m not really sure what I’m paying for. It just feels like a mish-mash of situational specials that doesn’t play like Wolverine to me.

I'm inclined to agree with you on this one, the only thing holding me back is that if you didn't play in the FI tourneys or have access to any FI boosters on the secondary market, he's kind of a difficult/pricey fig to obtain. Also, straight up, the dude doesn't even look like Wolverine - he looks like 'porcupine man' or something with all those quills sticking out.

good call! (we totally overlooked that version)

will add it to the list.

avx005 V Wolverine
Team: Avengers|X-Men
Range: 0
Points: 175
Keywords: Avengers, Martial Artist, Soldier, X-Force, X-Men

10 11 17 3

9 11 17 3

9 10 17 3

8 9 17 3

8 10 18 2

7 10 17 2

7 9 16 2

6 9 17 3

6 8 16 3

7 11 18 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Improved) Best There Is...: Improved Movement: Ignores Hindering Terrain

---

avx005e E Wolverine
Team: Avengers|X-Men
Range: 0
Points: 125
Keywords: Avengers, Martial Artist, Soldier, X-Force, X-Men

9 10 17 3

8 9 17 3

8 10 18 2

7 10 17 2

7 9 16 2

6 9 17 3

6 8 16 3

7 11 18 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Improved) Best There Is...: Improved Movement: Ignores Hindering Terrain

---

avx005r R Wolverine
Team: Avengers|X-Men
Range: 0
Points: 75
Keywords: Avengers, Martial Artist, Soldier, X-Force, X-Men

7 10 17 2

7 9 16 2

6 9 17 3

6 8 16 3

7 11 18 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Improved) Best There Is...: Improved Movement: Ignores Hindering Terrain


AvX Wolverine here plays at 3 different values: 175, 125 and 75. He's a pretty respectable Wolverine (indom, some regen, a lot of keywords) but he's lacking in anything really special. His 175 pt version doesn't start with any move-and-attack (just stealth and impervious), so I'd most likely opt to play the 125 pt or 75 pt version (both start with charge, b/c/f and exploit weakness). He seems like a glass battering ram (doing big opening damage, but sporting toughness during most of his dial).

Probably my second favorite Wolverine. Though I agree with Jaded on his 175 starting line there is not 50 in those extra 2 clicks. That was a common theme with the AVX starter pieces many of their top dials only gave you 2 extra clix and they cost 50 points! Sorry tangent, while this Wolverine does run some low combat values the only one that really bothers me is his attack value. I can look past the low damage with a full dial of BCF and half of his dial he has Exploit Weakness. It is curious and unfortunate though that 2 of those clix are also 2 of his regen clicks. I do however love that he has stealth on two of his regen clicks and an 18 defense on 2 of them. He runs a deep dial which is always welcome. At 75 points I think he is an even greater value. That is a mean 5 clicks with perfectly placed regen. His Keywords are good but not the best. If I’m playing X-Force this is the Wolverine I turn to. Don’t forget the avengers (really needs to be rewritten) and X-Men team abilities.

wxm001 E Wolverine
Team: X-Men
Range: 0
Points: 100
Keywords: Alpha Flight, Animal, Weapon X, X-Men

8 12 17 3

8 11 16 3

8 11 17 2

8 10 16 2

8 11 16 3

7 10 16 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Special) Track and Kill: At the beginning of the game, choose an opposing character. At the beginning of your turn, if that character is within 6 squares of Wolverine, choose one: that character can't use Shape Change or Stealth this turn; or modify Wolverine's speed value by +2 this turn.

(Special) Healing Factor: At the beginning of your turn, you may heal Wolverine of 1 damage.

For 100 pts, this version of Wolverine has a traited ability that will ruin the day of one of your opponent's unlucky figs. He doesn't have indom, but has a traited 'heal 1 click at the beginning of your turn' ability that may be able to cushion the blow of not having indom. Maybe not. Additionally, he gets the Alpha Flight keyword and how rad is it to have Wolverine of your themed Alpha Flight team? Very.

There is a lot to like about this Wolverine. Almost a full dial of BCF, mid dial Invincible ending with Super Senses, and great attack values, I mean really great. 4 clicks of at least 11 with a 12 top dial! He has nice traits that allow him to really ruin a stealth player’s day or make him especially fast. Add to that he auto heal 1 every turn and this guy can stick sound around for a while. You hit him for 4 or 5 once and you kinda of forget about him and next thing you know he is full health again. This trait also works great with the X-Men team ability. His weakest point is however the shallow dial. For 25 points less you could run AVX Wolverine and only lose 1 click. Don’t get me wrong I like this Wolverine. He has a lot going for him not the least of which are his Keywords. This is my go to Weapon X Wolverine and as Jaded pointed out Alpha Flight, yup that’s awesome. I also like that this Wolverine received the animal keyword oddly enough it is hard to come by on this character.

wxm201 E Wolverine
Team: X-Men
Range: 0
Points: 113
Keywords: Avengers, Brute, Weapon X, X-Force, X-Men

8 11 17 3

8 11 17 3

8 10 16 2

7 10 16 3

7 11 16 2

6 10 15 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Special) Hard To Get Rid Of: Wolverine can use Regeneration and Toughness.

(Attack) Snikt! Snikt!: Wolverine can use Blades/Claws/Fangs. If the result of the d6 roll is lower than his printed damage value, instead of dealing damage, he may make another close combat attack against the same character.

(Defense) Healing Factor: At the beginning of your turn, Wolverine can use Regeneration as a free action.

This version is most likely my personal choice: traited regen, indom, and a ridiculous B/C/F special power. Have fun watching your opponents get rid of this guy. Also: he's got the Avengers, X-Men, X-Force and Weapon X keywords. Lots of build options here.

We disagree on this one Jaded. I will happily spend 17 points more for the DOFP013 Wolverine or 7 more for AVX or even 13 less for the 100 point version. If this one didn’t have traited regen and toughness I would be confused what I was paying for. A shallow dial with very solid attack values questionable damage, and low defense on most of his dial. I know a lot of people love this pics for his BCF special but I just don’t see it. 2 of the 3 times it randomly pops up he has a printed damage of 1. So it only helps me if I roll a 1. There are some really great keywords there for a Wolverine. Wait what am I paying for?

We wanted to limit it to easy to obtain figures. So we stopped at rares which you can usually pick up for under $5.

cw029 E Wolverine
Team: Avengers
Range: 0
Points: 90
Keywords: Avengers, X-Men

9 10 16 3

8 9 17 3

7 9 16 3

8 11 16 2

7 10 17 2

8 11 16 2

7 10 16 2

6 9 15 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Special) Traumatic Healing: At the beginning of your turn, if Wolverine took damage since your last turn, you may heal him of 1 damage. If he's on click #8, you may heal him of 2 damage instead.

(Attack) The Best There Is: When making a close combat attack, you may have Wolverine's attack value become the attack value of his target +1.

I don't like this guy. I've played him exactly once. I can't remember what I didn't like about him at the time, but examing his dial, I'd have to say it's the drastic lack of move and attack after his opening click, the fact he doesn't have indom, and that he needs to take damage before he can heal.

I agree Jaded. There really isn’t anything this guy does better than another version. He has a wonky heal and some pretty low defensive numbers. His damage is also nothing to write home about pretty low actually. Not to mention only two clicks of BCF….. really? Wolverine is great at two things: slashing and healing and this one doesn’t do either of those things well. Below average keywords for a Wolverine and only the Avengers TA! No X-Men!? A lower point value and he does have a deep dial, but I’ll pass on this one.

Thanks for the vote of confidence! And as you can see I agree with you completely. Definitely my go too.

m10a010 R Weapon X
Team: X-Men
Range: 0
Points: 71
Keywords: Alpha Flight, Avengers, X-Men

8 11 17 3

8 10 16 2

8 10 17 2

7 9 17 2

8 9 16 2

7 9 15 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Special) Secret Invasion: Revealed: When Weapon X hits one or more opposing characters, after actions resolve, place a Promotion Token on his character card. You may then roll a d6 that can't be rerolled and add 1 for each Promotion Token on his character card; on a result of 8 or higher, you may replace this character with M10A #022 Wolverine on the same click number.

This is the *other* choice for a modern age Alpha Flight operative. While his sculpt is very cool, the lack of indom and regen make me say 'pass' on this guy. (Yes, i know he's got regen, but the chances of me landing on it are very slim.) Also, this is when Wolverine broke out of the tank at the Weapon X facility. Shouldn't he have a 14 attack or something?

Do have to say while at first glance this ‘Wolverine’ is appears to be a pass you start to notice his numbers aren’t that bad and there are some nice powers in there. Then you see the point value! Just wow I will pay 71 points for those 6 clicks any day! To top it all off with your only other option for Alpha Flight and it shouldn’t be too hard to fit this guy on a team.