Slade’s Top 5: Underrated Characters!

Greetings players and welcome back to another installment of Slade’s Top 5!

In case your uninitiated, Slade’s Top 5 is where I examine various elements of HeroClix (and other related materials) and rank them according to my top five in a given category. If you'think you can handle that, click on the “full story” link below and we’ll get this thingy started.

For this edition I selected my picks for the top five underrated characters in the game. By underrated I mean these guys and gals currently carry a less rating that seems a bit low for my tastes. Now I’m only talking about DC and Marvel characters that are playable in a standard 300 point format.

Alright then, here we go!




aou026 War Machine

200 points is pretty expensive for a character lacking the ability to push without damaging itself (I get it). Be that as it may, WM still has a lot going for him. Flight, Improved targeting, a 7 range and three targeting bolts combined with Running Shot. Incredibly mobile and capable of targeting stealthy opponents is never a bad thing. VARIABLE THREAT RESPONSE chains nicely with his LASER TARGETING providing a great assortment of attacks with potential to reroll his attack should he miss. I’m not suggesting this Rhodey should be a 5 star character or anything, but I certainly feel he deserves better than a meager two star rating.




bvs 007 Mercy Graves

The cheapest character to make the list, Mercy Graves is more capable than she appears at a glance. For 50 points you get an Indomitable, Invulnerable, taxi that your opponent may not see coming (whaaat)! After taking some damage, she goes on the offensive as a close combatant. A taxi that can tie up characters and deal some serious damage, thats pretty good for 50 points. A short dial keeps her from being amazing for her points, but c’mon; surely she deserves a little better than her current paltry 2 stars rating.




wkM-017 Doctor Nemesis

I did a double take when I saw the Doc’s current star rating. Okay so he may not be the most amazing attacker you'll spend 115 points on, but this guy is one fantastic team player! Maneuver the Doc about the fight providing support to his teammates for as long as possible. If he happens to get based, he can either move away using his improved movement, or he can say #$%! It and join the the fighting. He has powers on all 4 slots over his entire dial (and useful ones at that). If you play him like his flavor text suggests, he can be an incredible asset to your team; again only 2 stars for this guy?! PFFFT!!!




fi004 Prodigy

You're the Firestarter, twisted Firestarter starter... starter... starter… oops; My bad, I love that song. This one just plain baffles me (or is that perplexes). Anywho, how does a 75 point character with six clix of life, Flight, Invulnerability, Super Strength, pseudo-Leadership and a 3 base damage not rate higher than 2 stars?! You guys, I’m super serious, how? Maybe it’s the limited leadership. I mean it only works on a roll of 6, right? But wait; when it does work, I can remove a token from any other character on my force. Nah, that can’t be it. Ah-ha! I got it, it’s that he can potentially deals up to 6 damage with a single attack… hold up, 6 damage from a 75 point character is pretty tremendous. Maybe players don’t like that he can fly and carry others about… alright, this getting down right silly. This guy is easily a 3 star character in my book.


And Number 1 is... (Drum-roll please)






smww023 Apollo

Ah Apollo, another expensive character to make the list. Except, this one has Indomitable and can only be countered or probability-ed (well it’s a word now) by other Deities. Have I missed something here? I mean look at those powers/abilities, they’re ridiculous! An effective range of 14 with flight and improved targeting is fantastic. Opening Pulse Wave with Probability control should be discounted at your own risk. I’ve only used this guy a handful times, but he never left his top clix. At this time Apollo holds a 3 star rating; IMHO he deserves a 4 (maybe, just maybe even a 5) star rating. Sure building effective teams around a 200 point character in a 300 match presents some challenges, but it’s hardly impossible. There are several other 200 point characters with higher ratings, but I’d wager that Apollo would give any of them a serious run for their money.



Well that’s my list and I’m sticking to it. What about you? Who are your choices for the most underrated clix?

Drop me a comment and let me know. Until next time players, good gaming to you and yours!

-Slade

I love this list because I nearly fielded TWO of these characters--Prodigy and Apollo, not on the same team, however--and chose another way to use the points. Your article makes me think I should have used them anyway!

I guess if it doesn't fit in the cut and paste ROC or World's, people don't rate the figures very high. Even at the 300pt format, people will down-rate a good figure. Expect more of this kind of stuff for those characters carrying a near 200pt price tag as we get more of the new direction dial design where 50-80 pts pack a lot of punch(although that doesn't explain the consensus low rating for Mercy). As for Prodigy, maybe he carried the bulk of that low rating near the debut of the FI release, where he was way outshined by many other figures in the set, and the chase Prodigy was still new-ish? And maybe the same could be said of ol' Rhodey too. As for Apollo, that guy is balls, so maybe its his possession of only 2 keywords coupled with that price tag that keep him down.

I know I have come across many a poorly rated figure in the Units section here and just wondered what the..?

I love Apollo, cause he was the all-star on a 400 point team that I got my first 3-0 record. Plus another time, he took down KC Flash in 2 shots.

I love Mercy. I play her with the 50pt FFWF Lex Luthor. If he gets his leadership to work, she gets to sidestep/carry with him and shoot with a +1 to her attack AND Lex's Police TA. It's always a fun time.

I'm surprised at the low rating for War Machine. He is an amazing piece. But I do agree with Dr. Nemisis. I've tried him but he just sucked and died in all my matches. I played on a scientist keyword team with engineer, SR Donatello, prize flash and the mighty morphing ant man with his ants. Everyone except Dr. Nemisis pulled there weight. Heck Donnie, flash, and ant man were all my MVP's. In all my matches Donnie was the to be k.o.'d. I might try the good dr. another time.

i used Apollo in two SM/WW Pre Releases, and he never failed. Low score?? NO WAY

Apollo has potential, especially now where Ophidian (=Pulse Wave) is out of Modern Age. War Machine is too vulnerable and has a lousy back-dial, I see him as an ID character.

On my list of underrated characters, I'd mention Midnighter at 100 possessed by Butcher for a damage potential of 16 (Flurry + special B/C/F).





Ronan at 100 is a master sniper and melee warrior. And those clicks of auto-Regen are sweet.


This Hulk boosted by Scarlet Witch is a favorite of mine, though I never see others play it.

How in heck is Apollo rated so low? He was one of the best things you could pull in SMWW sealed, and even outside of sealed he is a solid tentpole. While the special attack power is less good than it looks at first, since two good powers that your opponent gets to choose which you get are slightly worse than either by itself, it is still a decent power that works with close or ranged attacks and works nicely with his RCE late dial. Top dial, he has one of the best power combinations you can ask for out of standard powers, solid stats throughout, hard to outwit or even prob control. He might be a little pricey, but he looks very solid for those points.

All of these figures are rated 4 or 5 stars. Except that Ronan. He could be under rated at 3 stars I suppose. He looks like a pretty good figure.

I only got to play Dr Nemesis once and my opponent commented on what a pain he was.

Maybe I should've kept him....

Strongly agree on Ronan. He's a steal at 100 points. The availability of cheap Enhancement and attack bonuses on Kree teams makes him a serious threat at range and God help you if you base him.

I was about to suggest WXM Exodus for the list, but he seems to have acquired a couple of extra stars since the addition of the Brotherhood ATA (he was as low 2 at one stage), so I'm happy enough. Instead, I'll go with this Groot:



I get that he's a little slow and that he can be Precision Struck off Charge but he's preposterously difficult to kill for 100 points and can always Regen back to being a credible threat. I can't understand the 3 star rating for the life of me.

For charcters in the units section that are rated lower than they should be, I would have to include this one:



For a time she was the cheapest (point wise not $ wise) perplex for a Modern X-Men theme and she has a decent power set that merits more than the 2 stars shes currently sitting at. Perplex and the ability to token up opponents or seriously degrade their attack as well as the synergy with Wolverine. I get that the hefty price tag $ wise drags her down and if you didn't pull her or weren't trying to complete X-Men Blue then you probably weren't interested in picking her up but she's better than 2 stars. I've played mine plenty and she always pulls her weight and then some. 4 stars at least from me.

I agree that this guy is under rated. His low defense numbers make him more fragile than I'd like but as Slade has pointed out hes got alot of solid attack options going for him. Park him next to a defend or someone to share some ESD.

he has traited esd though