Got to use this guy in sealed pre-release, and it was so much fun. I was under on points (his buddy was Emma Frost), but each match was epic. Him self destructing really requires an amount of finesse that I wasn't expecting, and I learned two things:
1. He can go toe to toe with Merlyn, despite what I thought were obvious weaknesses to that matchup. It was down to the last hit though, super close. They died the same turn!
2. He cannot beat the new X-23 *shudder*. She simply heals too much, and if she has a buddy, she just bases him and keeps her friend out of each so Apocalypse can't kill either of them.
Moral of the story is, this guy is going to be my go-to Apocalypse for the time being, he's just fun. Oh, and until some errata happens, he's going to be getting the Necro Sword as his personal weapon.

I really like this sculpt, and the dial is strong, with a decent mix of layered defenses, and the dial cost looks "right" to me. Yet... I worry about this Apocalypse being able to sustain sufficient offense to weaken an opposing force before he gets to his "self-destruct sequence initiated" end-dial. I suppose the D+ Watcher can pull an Apocalypse switcheroo at that point! I definitely think that an extra 5-points should be invested in a starting sword. My first instinct is to use Purity, to summon more allies to the battle. I can imagine strong cases made for swords that increase offensive potential, such as Pogg Ur-Pogg (Giant Reach = good), Skybreaker (free attack chance), or OP Mercy (for attack rerolls).