Ever face a figure or team you can't seem to take down? Then this is the series for you. We take a deeper look into those problematic pieces and Exploit their Weaknesses! In this edition, we try to keep our heads on straight as we face the trickster known as Loki!

Click "Full Story" below as we analyze this awesome figure and Exploit his Weaknesses.

Thanks for joining me in another installment of Exploiting Weaknesses! As with the other articles' precursors, Pulse Wave will not be discussed as it is almost always effective. If it isn't effective, I will point out why.

Here is the dial for reference.



Things that tell me I need to think straight:

- Can't be targeted most of the time
- Improved movement
- Traited Shape Change and Sidestep
- 1/3 of the total build
- Mind Control
- Regen/Prob combo
- Mystics

Exploiting Loki's Weaknesses

Here is a figure that was really cool when it came out as a Con Exclusive (and it still is). But surprisingly it hasn't shown up too much in competitive play. Maybe because it is hard to come by or maybe it can't be as appreciated in its time. Either way, this can be a difficult piece to dispatch and deal with so let's dive in!

The first thing to tackle is the Tricky Trickster Trait. It says you can't draw lines of fire (pulse wave included) when he has 1 or 0 tokens unless you are more than 150 points or have Asgardian, Mystical, or Deity Keywords. That seems super limiting but with the popularity of 151+ point characters running around, we can easily target him with an attack using those figures. The problem we run into is a swarm team. They are almost always going to have figures costing 150 points or less meaning you aren't doing much attacking. A way to get around this for the little guys is Charge or Hypersonic Speed. Using the close combat attacks granted by these powers will allow you to close the gap and hit him as close combat attacks do not draw lines of fire. Stay outside his range if possible so you can get the first strike on him. He has Sidestep and 7 range so staying 10 squares out will be good, further if you have TK. There are just 14 modern figures that have HSS movement of 10+ and Precision Strike (more on that later) so those may be of help to you as well. Be aware that you may not be able to perplex or outwit him before hand because those do draw lines of fire. The other exception to being able to target him is if you have one of those 3 keywords. With the recent Avengers themed sets, World's Finest, and Superman/Wonder Woman - there are a plethora of characters with those 3 keywords. Without even trying you have probably built your team with one of these keywords being present.

Loki also sports some Improved Movement of Elevated and Hindering meaning he can get to where he wants pretty easily. Combined with Sidestep, he can end up where he wants and keep 1 or 0 tokens on him so he is less likely to be targeted. One way is to just tie him up real quick. He can't ignore characters so basing him will help you buy some time and you can still attack him since you are adjacent. Add some plasticity to keep him there longer. When choosing a map, use blocking to your advantage as he can't get through it easily. Use barrier too as that can do in a pinch. Both these things have the added benefit of stopping him from attacking since he doesn't have Improved Targeting. Speaking of, use Stealth to your advantage too as that will help you stay safe and move up closer to him.

He only has Super Senses to open up the dial but he has traited Shape Change to add to it. Two rolls for a chance at 5-6 is pretty solid so we need ways around it. Precision strike and Outwit work well for Super Senses, but the outwit is situational, based on his targeting rules. Battle Fury gets around the Shape Change but that's about it. Can't outwit it and no other powers get around it other than Pulse Wave. Further down the line he gets toughness so any penetrating damage will work (Psychic Blast and Exploit Weakness). He has 6 clicks of life and for a figure of his point value, that's pretty good. That means a figure only costing about 1/3 of the build total will take a couple hits to get him off the map. This is made a much easier task using the aforementioned powers.

Speaking of being 1/3 of the build total, that means this pesky fellow will not be the only thing we need to worry about. He will be sidestepping around, using Mind Control and Probability Control, and being a general nuisance. As with other figures that are lower point problems, do what you can to mitigate the effect he has for you opponent but don't go out of the way to take out that piece. Sacrificing points just to get rid of a harasser is not the correct way to go about doing things. As stated before, tie him up with a lower costed piece or two so he needs to waste actions to be effective, that way you can focus on the main threat of your opponent's force. The downside to this is he could use Mind Control to get your pieces away and into range of the rest of his team for easy obliteration but that is 1 less action he is using against your main force as well.

If you aren't careful, you may hit him onto To Fight Another Day where he has Regeneration and Probability Control for that use of Regen. From his top click, 2 or 5 damage will place him right on that power but that isn't a bad thing. If we can follow up with another attack, he has no way to avoid the damage (outside traited Shape Change) and he has his 2 lowest defense values on these clicks. It is a gamble to get him there but it is worthwhile if you can pull of a good double tap.

As for his Mystics TA, we have discussed ways around it before but as a recap - One big shot of damage, Pulse Wave, Mind Control and opposing figure to attack, and Poison (which combos nicely with a tie up piece) just to name a few.


So, what are we doing to Loki?

- High Point attacker or Asgard/Mystical/Deity keyworded figures to attack/outwit from range
- Swarm with smaller figures if you don't have a way to target
- Use blocking to your advantage as he doesn't ignore it
- Stealth also keeps you safe
- Tie up with less important figures to focus on main force
- Double tap if hitting onto Fight Another Day
- Penetrating Damage and Precision Strike gets through most of the defense

How do these tactics help or hinder us against the rest of his team or other teams during the same tournament?

- Sometimes a high point attacker is very useful but so is a swarm. Just depends on what you want your team to do but you should be able to build either way and still perform well. Keywords have no bearing on the rest of the field (usually).
- Blocking stops most of the figures out there, including you team. Just use it smartly and don't pick a map if it hurts you too.
- Lots of stealth busting is out there so don't rely heavily on it. Use it when you can and can do so effectively.
- Tie ups can be easy points or a life saver. Use them at times that will help you best, like on a turn you need to clear your main attacker.
- Don't leave any figure on their desired click. If you hit a figure onto a great power, hit them off with your next attack so they can't use it next turn.
- Damage reducers rule the land so penetrating damage is key. There is almost never a case where penetrating damage is a bad choice for you to use.

That's all I have this time! Until next time, always look for the chinks in the armor and Exploit your opponent's Weaknesses!

How to beat him? Stop using him. He is soo bad. I mean I feel bad for people with this. Tell you what. Send him to me and I'll send you a Kryb. I mean I am taking a HUGE loss, but I am willing to take one for the good of Heroclix

I just need some clarification. Lower point characters' pulse wave can ignore Loki's trait? I thought you still need a line of fire to ignore powers and abilitites.

As stated above pulse wave will not work unless the attacker is 151+ points or any point value if they have Asgardian, Diety, or Mystical keywords. I hope that helps!

This Loki is a favorite of mine.

Force Blast is an easy way to deal with Loki: It's not an attack, bypasses Shape Change and knock back damage won't trigger Mystics feedback.

Use him on my "Age of Loki" team, with kid Loki (FI101R Loki) and adult Loki (CW042 Loki) in a 4 player free for all. each had the Asgardian ATA, giving them will power. Team destroyed, and after reading this I've realized I screwed up letting pulsewave hit this Loki, I regenerated the clix back, but should have paid more attention to the wording.

Great article. I love this loki

the pulse wave most def does not ignore Loki's trait. This figure is Meta and I have placed high in some ROCs with him. He crushes Nick Fury teams, and he is balanced enough if your running two of them to compete with any team at 300 points.

Can someone explain to me why loki can't be targeted by pulse wave? Would loki's trait not be considered a game effect? With lines of fire ignoring all game effects except for certain terrain, and the trait not saying it can't be ignored, I'm missing something


Give this character a ranged combat action even if it is adjacent to an opposing character; the area of effect for this attack is half the character’s range value. Draw lines of fire to all other characters within the area of effect, including at least one opposing character; these lines of fire ignore all game effects except for walls, blocking and elevated terrain.

Game effects possessed or used by characters with a line of fire drawn to them are ignored until the action has been resolved. If a line of fire is drawn to more than 1 character, this character’s damage value becomes 1 and is locked. Each character hit is dealt damage.

I understand that there's a difference between something saying a line of fire is blocked and a line of fire can't be drawn. However, pulse wave doesn't say anything about blocked lines. It states that lines of fire are drawn, and that these lines of fire ignore all game effects.

Can't overrules can. If you can't draw the line of fire to the character, the ignore part doesn't even come in to play.

There's no instance of "can"

Can you point me to the text in the rules book or player's guide that demonstrates that "all game effects" doesn't include "can't be drawn" without it also saying something like "this trait can't be ignored"

Pulse Wave:
"Game effects possessed or used by characters with a line of fire drawn to them are ignored until the action has been resolved."

Loki:
"Lines of fire can't be drawn to Loki by opposing characters 150 points or less if Loki has 1 or fewer action tokens unless that character has the Asgardian, Deity, or Mystical keywords."

To hit a character with Pulse Wave and to ignore a character's game effects, you first have to be able to draw a line of fire to that character.

Loki's trait prevents that line of fire from ever being drawn in the first place, so Pulse Wave can't ignore it.

You neglected to quote the whole power, and in doing so missed my entire point of contention. Prior to the part you quoted is this

#Draw lines of fire to all other characters within the area of effect, including at least one opposing character; these lines of fire ignore all game effects except for walls, blocking and elevated terrain.#

Without the part that I quoted, pulse wave wouldn't bypass stealth, except it does, because that's a game effect that is ignored as the line of fire is being drawn. That's what the semicolon does in that particular sentence.

My question remains unanswered

Stealth is completely different then lines of fire can't be drawn. Stealth blocks lines of fire which pulsewave ignores.

Wizkids has literally ruled on this. Look it up if you don't believe us.