Playing Superman!

Now that we have this awesome 300/150 point Superman to punish people with, let's look at great ways to play him.

Playing the 300 point level is pretty obvious for high point games. To fit better in standard 300 and 400 point games, you're better off with the 150 point version.

In looking at keywords, I found that playing Kryptonian is expensive on points. You can play a classic duo for 250 with 150 pt Supes plus 100 pt Supergirl. You can make this duo work at 400 even by using Supes at 300 and Supergirl at 100. Kind of lopsided on that last idea though.

400 pt Kryptonian Trio: Superman (150), Supergirl (100) and a Kryptonian soldier to make a total of 387.

500 pt Kyrptonians: Superman (150), Supergirl (100), Earth One Supes (chase), and Eradicator for 492.

Here's a idea I call "Faces of Superman": Superman (150), Earth One, and Project Superman for 397.

Metropolis is much easier to work with:

300 pt "Men of Steel" is a duo with Superman (150) and Steel for a total of 280.

400 pt "Love Story: is a duo with Superman (300) and Lois Lane for 389. Hey, he needs to be full power to protect his lady right?

Metropolis has quite a few small point pieces you can fill in with for other teams, but I'm working mainly with the direct set and staying with Hero vs Villain. Both of these duos for Metropolis can carry their own. But how about this:

500 pt "Super Ladies' Man": Superman (150), Supergirl (100), Lois Lane, Lucy Lane (75) and a Kryptonian Infiltrator for a total of 492.

Now we can mix sets and that's where playing Superman can get deadly.

400 pt "Reporting LIVE!" uses Reporter keyword and give you Superman (150), Lois Lane, Black Spidey from Web of Spiderman, and Johnny Quick for 384 points. Yes, I know this doesn't make "theme legal" because it's not six figures with the reporter keyword. Well, check out the team possibilities for yourself. This becomes one more example of why the new ruling doesn't work.

Now for the best of the best. A Facebook friend showed me this idea and I love it. It's definitely cheese. There are quite a few ways to pull this off, but what you need at the midst of it is Superman and Professor X. Make sure the Prof. has a coupld of Researchers with him to boost his damage and get in the way of attacks (that make it that far!). Yep, it's the Scientist keyword and since the new Superman has it, flaunt it! Here's my 500 point version of this masterpiece:

Superman (150), Prof. X, 2 Researchers, Mr. Fantastic, and the Black suit Spiderman from Web. It's six pieces and theme legal at 498. I plan to play it soon!

Here's to hoping you're enjoying your Superman! Keep clicking!

Superman: Case Review!

Finally, finally, finally, I got my two cases of Superman Heroclix in yesterday. It was so good to finally crack into some boosters and see what awesomeness lie in store for us. I have to say I am quite satisfied with my pulls and you can feast your eyes on the photos.

It's really my own fault my stuff came so late. I probably should have contacted the company on the website and asked them if they could make sure my shipment arrived by release day, or at least the day after. Lesson learned!

So, what you are seeing is the result of opening two cases. I'm not just collecting for me after all, but my son and two other players (I give them extras and it means having more players in this area too). But even just for my son and myself, we have a lot to collect.

DISTRIBUTION: In one case I have to say I probably had all the commons and all the uncommons. I was pretty close to all the rares too. Not bad for one case. Two cases and I had a lot to spread around to all four people involved. Even the fourth person has just about all the commons, several uncommons and a few rares. For super-rares, I got the one I coveted most of all, Black Adam! As for the rest, I got the same people in each case (Flash, Aquaman, Queen of Fables, Darkseid, Imperiex, and Swamp Thing). My chases were Hoodie Superman and Apokalips Superman. Except for all the duplicate luck (that I really don't mind), distribution was awesome.

MANUFACTURING: The big drawback to these two cases (moreso than I've noticed ever before) was the odor. New plastic can carry an odor with it that comes from being made with petroleum. This odor does wear off, but it made us a little head achey while we opened packs. After sitting in open air it's dissipated. Sculpts look good while faces are hit and miss. No brittle sculpts or missing arms in two whole cases. Sculpts are pretty solid, even Livewire who stands on the dreaded "both legs together" skinny piece of plastic stance. Oh, but what's the big debut for this set? That's right, the new oreo dials!

These dials have a lot going for them. Once you get used to how you have to grab them, you can make them work well for you. You don't have to depend on grabbing a fragile looking sculpt to turn the dial. I still had to fix a few dials, and that involved learning how they work. It's not the same as fixing the other dials, but have no fear; this is a two-blog day. In my next article I will tell you all about how to fix sticking in the new dials! Over all, not bad, Wizkids and NECA, not bad.

GAME MECHANICS: Keywords, I just can't leave them alone. Good things for this set on keywords though. Kryptonians, Metropolis, Flashpoint, Phantom Zone, and Reign of the Supermen all get kudos for having enough people to build teams with. Downers aren't worth much mention in keywords for this set, but I will say that Superman Robot should have Kryptonian and Lobo should have Warrior. On a further plus with keywords, I haven't found one that doesn't have any! YEAH! I may just not have the pieces that are missing keywords, ha ha. Still, I've said it before, all figures should have keywords. It's a mechanic that is now embedded in how people play. Point values are really decent. Consider how you can play Non and Ursa for 300 points flat. Realizing Kryptonians just aren't cheap makes sense here and you have a playable Phantom Zone. The generic Kryptonians are still slightly short dialed, but they make up for it in ability. There are some definite improvements with this set!

The big kudo? Main characters as COMMONS! Superman, Lex, Supergirl, Superwoman, all commons and worth playing. Even if this Superman is based on All Star (see the movie if you haven't already), he's the best Superman statwise since Icons. And let's not forget the whole split dial thing. Having the multi starting areas on these dials is a real innovation. You can drop the detachable objects for all I care, but don't drop this. Wizkids, you are on to something here!

So, my opinion is, if you haven't got any of this set, you are missing out.

Superman: Then and now

I still have to applaud the fact that the new All Star Superman will be a common in the upcoming Superman set of Heroclix. Everyone who collects or plays should get their hands on a Superman. The fact that he has this two levels of play ability is even more awesome. I hope they continue to use this new mechanic, I love it. I think it will add to strategic game play on many levels.

If we look back, we can see how Superman has come with us on our Heroclix journey. If you look at the opening pic you may see a familiar Superman or two. Yes, the one in back to the middle left is the LE "Our worlds at war" Superman. The sculpt is the Superman from Hypertime, the first one they did. There are others too, and I don't have the black suit, Kingdom Come, or robot Supermen. I'm lucky to have the veteran Icon Superman on the far left.

The other two in back are the LE Clark Kent and I have a couple of the Supermen in storage that he's based on. LE Superman on the far right is a favorite of mine with the Batman Team ability.

Then, in the middle is the brick figure World's Finest that definitely isn't worth 500 points.

Some Supermen have been decent and other just pitiable. Still, I don't think Wizkids has ever skipped on giving us a Superman. Now we will have a set boasting Supes in more forms than we can build a force out of (actually, yea we can). We only have about seven days now before Superman hits the shelves and our hot little hands.

What's really funny for me in all of this is that I'm not as much of a DC fan as a Marvel fan, but I will get some Superman and I will do a review too. I thought a trip down the Superman memory lane was just fitting so close to release day.

Happy upcoming release day and keep on clicking!

Review on Doomsday: What are they doing?

I have to say that making a Doomsday that can't make an even threat with a same set Superman, seems to be a trend.

Back in DC75th they made a very powerful 259 point Doomsday with a severely underpowered Superman in the same set. This figure had two main failings. First, his movement for someone who can leap like the Hulk (high enough to attack airplanes and far enough to go from county to county) his opening movement was pitiful as a 6. Anyone who can jump that far should have an opener of at least an 8. I could understand a max of 10 and going down from there for game balance too. Thanks to that sad movement Doomsday was and is a sitting duck for ranged psychic blast attacks. His trait was cool, but honestly a bit too much. You pick someone on your opponents team and Doomsday does penetrating damage to that person for the whole game (if he can catch them). It became kind of redundant on half his dial thanks to having exploit weakness. Everything else pretty much rocked on him.

Now, in the upcoming Superman set, we have a new Doomsday. The sculpt shows him with one arm tied behind his back as if he just got out of his buried prison. When posted on Facebook, the responses were very mixed. It was a love/hate combination and I could see why. Check out this pic:

So, first of all there's his trait. He uses battle fury (so he can't be carried) and can't be placed by telekinesis. I really wouldn't care about that if it weren't for the rest of his power issues. Like his movement that gives him charge. So long as he's using charge he can ignore hindering terrain and other characters for the move. You know what he doesn't get? That's right, leap/climb. They try to make up for this with his damage power, but it's only any good at the last three clicks of his dial where his defense is crud. Let's not forget that power is only any good if there's only one figure left on your opponents team.

Let's take a look at his opening damage, shall we? It's a 2. Huh? A casual swat from this monster only does a two? You have to wait and use close combat expert to get his real damage. I'm sorry, but yuck! Quake is okay, with the angle they are using (him having an arm tied up and all) but that didn't reduce his damage dealing by that much. Check this out:

Note what Guy looks like and how he says he didn't even have time to fight back. That's how it was for pretty much the whole JLA except Maxima. Even she took a pounding. That brings us to his opening attack value. It's a pitiful 9. For plenty of lesser figures out there a 9 is fine. But this brute stomped a whole team of supers in less than five minutes. It's listed in the book as "moments" or "seconds" and he only has an attack opener of 9? Never mind the fact he did all that with one hand tied behind his back.

DC75th had his reactive adaptation power on board. In this new one they try to use that in form of his stats getting nastier as he goes, except his defense. But if you look at how his power worked, you would see the dial misses the mark. If anything, his defense should go UP as his resistance gets stronger. In all the stories, when he's hurt by something, next time he's practically immune to it. So he should have started with invulnerable and moved up to impervious. If you're going to use combat reflexes, make the opening damage a 3 and have it move up.

As for a trait that would be more useful, try this: All characters must roll breakaway from Doomsday regardless of traits, team abilities, or powers. Anyone with the Superman Team ability, name of Superman, or the Kryptonian keyword is -1 to break away roll.

That makes his slow movement more acceptable. After all, he wants to kill Kryptonians and especially Superman, remember?

Sorry guys, while most of the Superman set looks exciting, this Doomsday is dismal. It's not even Doomsday, it's Mediocre Threat Day at best.

What are point costs for really?

In a recent debate on Wizkids, Facebook page, I came to a revelation. All points are not created equal.

The general complaint is that 140 point Chun Li is not worth that many points. The feeling is that other figures of 140 points would stomp her flat. Some also feel that she should have more than one space on the dial of 3 damage. It's also suggested that most of her cost comes from her team ability. But how accurate are those statements?
They really aren't in the big picture.

In all the comparisons, I came to learn something. Just because a figure is 150 points, doesn't mean it's comparable to all 150 point pieces. Why? Because they don't all do the same thing. Different pieces have different purposes and combinations of abilities.

Consider this: Chun Li for 140 pts and the new upcoming Superman at 150 points. Now, because their points are similar does that mean that Chun Li should throw down like Superman? Of course not. Chun Li isn't halfway close to Superman's league. Should she constantly do 3 damage or have more than one space of 3 damage on her dial? Maybe, but what kind of damage is she doing? She's not a White Lantern, or guy in an enhancement suit. She doesn't have super strength. What kind of damage is that? Despite her longer dial (for martial artists) it's pretty basic damage. Seriously, how often could Chun Li hurt Superman just by kicking him? In the books, wouldn't happen. Superman would just stand there while Chun Li kicked him a dozen times or so. He would wait for her to get done with her hissy fit and that would be that.

Still, she's 140 points and not all for the team ability either. You get a lot of options for those points to include hypersonic speed, leapclimb mixed with the carry ability, indomitable (built in willpower), consistant stats across the dial, and her team ability. If anything takes her points over the top, it's her special power, hypersonic, and the indomitable.

Points don't make pieces equal or have anything to do with how hard they should be able to brawl it out. It's for what they do at a strategic and power level. How many powers they have, how long their dials are, what they numeric stats are, what their range is, how many targets they cans shoot at range, if they can fly or swim, if they have a trait, etc... all go into what a piece's points will be.

Chun Li is a powerhouse among the martial artists and with a supportive team, she can be lethal. Here's a thought, pay five points and give her the Gem of Cytorrak. Is that evil enough for you? She costs for what she does. If you can meet the challenge of how to use her, you can be a force to be reckoned with. But maybe she's not your style.

So remember, not all pieces are created equal. They may not all have great or what we see as fair points, but there is something of a pattern after all.

New scale of power in Superman set

I've been checking out the spoilers for the new upcoming Superman (slated to come out in September) set with awe. There's a new game mechanic that's going to shake up the game in a major way.

As a prime example we look at Superman and Black Adam. This mechanic involves a choice of starting zones on the dial, a first for standard sized dials. Each starting click has a point value to incorporate into your team. Based on the point level you choose, that's where you start on the dial and play through to KO (if he gets KO'd, that is).

I think this is amazing. This gives some major playability to pieces that wouldn't often hit the table. Talk about options! Another thing this kind of brings back to me, is the old days of rookies, experts, and veterans. Just look at those lines on Black Adam's dial below! Just click on a pic to see it bigger.

Now for a little review. First, Superman; a one man army in a 300 point game is always a risk. I don't care what you put on that dial. The kicker is, I think Superman could actually pull it off! For the first time in a long time, I think we're getting a Superman worthy of his name! Just look at what he can do. His dial is loaded with hypersonic speed, charge, and running shot. They way it's arranged means you don't know what he's going to do if and when you do hit him. This can make him hard to track for the guy playing him too, so get to know Supe's dial. He starts out awesome. 11 movement with hypersonic? Check! High attack value of 12? Check! Impervious defense of 18? You know it! Deals five damage with outwit? HUH? Yeah, Superman starts with outwit. I'll take it! This is based on the "All Star Superman". You know, the one who got over radiated and died from being too freaking powerful.

Then turn him to that second starting line to play him for half his points and build a good team around him. He's still worth half the 300 point team, but very playable with a new keyword, Scientist. Now let's just wait and see how accessible he's going to be.

Black Adam! Oh boy. You can play him at three levels; point costs of 300, 200 or 100. Even his lowest level of play isn't particularly weak. This figure is a monster and well worth the ranking of a super rare. Sadly, I haven't been able to land my hands on a Black Adam (solo, as I have the duo of Shazam/Black Adam) since he first came out. I have the veteran of that figure. Ever since then, I've coveted a new Black Adam. Now this one moves up on the want list past the previous one. I'm afraid his secondary market value is going to be ridiculous however.

Let's take a look at those white powers. His movement power allows him to charge a full ten spaces so long as he has no tokens on him. He also can't carry an object or person with him. This is actually an excellent "killing move" power. Past that, he has a ton of charge. I think he actually has too much charge. Take a look at his third click in from the 300 point start. It's an 11 movement with charge. This is redundant since he can use charge with his white power. He really should have started out with Hypersonic speed or that third click should have been hypersonic. Still, his numbers are amazing.

There's an important point to these numbers on the first two start lines that make those number hurt. It's his defense power that allows him to drop 3 damage instead of 2 (if being hit for four or more). But that's not the clincher for this power. It also says his powers cannot be outwitted (except his outwit power). And with a 19 defense to clear, he's not an easy hit. This makes his movement power as an opener a little silly. Who, in their right mind, wants to take pushing damage off of a defense like that? Unless it's the winning move, I would never do it. He's lethal with that defense power so I would hold it as long as possible.

Now for his attack power of Regenerative Lightning. It only comes up twice in his dial (like his defense power) but it will seriously hurt. Since Black Adam is mainly a close up fighter, you can be sure that he's going to be mobbed. So this click pops up and he can regenerate while dealing a penetrating damage to everyone in two spaces of him. That's like having a short range pulse wave while healing! Basically, he shouts, "SHAZAM!" and POW! This combination could make Black Adam a decent one man army in a 300 point match.

Now the really cool thing about this piece is the sculpt. For the first time ever, you see a sculpt of the person who designed this piece, being held by the throat. That's a sculpt of the designer of this piece, George Massu, 2010 Heroclix World Champion. So, if you really don't like this piece, or maybe he beat you in the championship; you can look at this and say "Take that George Massu!" (just kidding, George! Congrats on the big win!).

So this set, so far, is looking like a powermonger's dream. I'm not so sure that's a good thing. I hope to see some more balance coming to it soon. Till then, keep clixing!

Todays feature: Superman/Silver Surfer

Duo figures are interesting. I think they could be better if not so watered down on some points, but they are interesting. Watered down as in the minus one damage that all of the duo figures suffer even if it really makes so sense in regard to the characters. You simply get better damage and attack capability by fielding two characters instead of one. Still, I made a slew of double figures myself. On one side, I did it to rebel, ha ha, because of all the complaints I saw about double figures. On the other hand, I saw possibilities for some pretty cool figures.

How I made my doubles is very simple. I just took two pieces and glued them to the same base. Well, it sounds simple, until you realize that getting them to fit right can be like doing a small jigsaw puzzle. But I've enjoyed making them, so that's what really matters for me. I also constructed house rules for playing them and you can do that as well. Today I'm going to tell you about a favorite of mine, one you won't see made anytime soon. I'm talking about the Silver Surfer and Superman.

The idea comes from a comic cross over event that I read several years ago. I used a veteran Silver Surfer base and glued on an extra flier post. I had to adjust Surfer's post over slightly to make room. The Superman is from a limited edition that had the Batman Team ability. You might recognize him. His base was missing anyway. One of my kids lost it long long ago. Oh well. I think these two look great together. As for play, I play them at 400 points. You might think that's too high, but let me tell you what other house rules apply here.

First of all, they get the Superman team ability on top of Cosmic. If that's not enough for you, try this. They don't suffer the minus one penalty to damage dealing when they make a duo attack. Still not enough for you? How about the idea that they can do a duo attack with any attack they do? Running shot? Yep. Hypersonic speed? You bet. Any attack they make gets a second attack for free. And if that's still somehow not enough to validate that 400 point price tag, I also play their dial at +2 to all numeric stats except range. That means their move is a 14, attack is 12, defense is 20, and damage is 6! Six damage without the minus one! Are they worth 400 now? I think so. But that's just how I play them. You might have other ideas. I know they can wreak havoc on my table. I've tried them out.

I really do think that the duo attack ability should not carry that minus one penalty for all figures. Some of them just don't make sense with it. But that's a story for another time. Hope you enjoyed Supes and Surfer!