I have to admit that I know little about this guy outside of the Dice Masters environment. I've known that he exists, and I know that he offers a brand of vigilante justice that some of our more wholesome heroes would be unable to stomach, but that's not a lot of detail. Alas, I will be unable to wax nostalgic about a character this week and stick to the facts at hand.
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The Die
Punisher is very offensively skewed, as you can see below. He offers bolt energy and features no bursts on any face. He has a total fielding cost of four, which is pretty good for the blend of stats and abilities that he brings to the field.
My Punisher dice are all in fairly good shape, save for a little bit of an incomplete paint job on some of the character logos. I think the color scheme is a good match for the character.
The Card
Since Punisher is that anti-hero vigilante archetype, his abilities reflect a sort of "bad bargain" mechanic and the ability to knock out characters repeatedly - or just to deal a punishing amount of damage. All of his abilities are tied to his assigning to attack.
- McRook - Cost 4 - When he assigns to attack, KO a target opposing character unless the opponent pays two life.
- Vigilante - Cost 5 - When he assigns to attack, search your bag for a Punisher die and put it into prep unless your opponent pays three life.
- Big Nothing - Cost 6 - When he assigns to attack, he deals two damage to each opponsing character, unless your opponent pays four life.
McRook is very straightforward and gives a direct answer to an opponent who is hiding behind a Loki Gem Keeper or other card that is ruining your day. An effective assassin and a popular card.
Vigilante is hampered by the die limit of three on the card, though that could perhaps save him from being broken. Otherwise, this one tutors other Punishers, and I see that as a benefit. The purchase cost isn't bad and it's realistic to have a couple of these in your bag.
Big Nothing, I think, wants to be like Cyclops ILCK or Hulk Green Goliath. The problem is that he can only do two damage. I don't think that he offers enough to clear the board on his own, so likely you're just throwing a ton of dice in prep. That said, this would certainly take care of too many sidekicks on the other side - if you can get to him fast enough.
My Favorite
Yeah, it's McRook. He's one of the best assassins that we have because he's either helping you by KO'ing something, or he's helping you by draining your opponent's life. That's a win-win. Two life is 10% of our total in this game - more if you're playing a lower-life variant - and that's not insignificant. This one is dangerous at just four cost.
Big Nothing could be cool in multiples, but he's a six cost and that's not likely. At best, he's just getting rid of opponent's chumps - and all of those will now go to the prep area.
Big Nothing could be cool in multiples, but he's a six cost and that's not likely. At best, he's just getting rid of opponent's chumps - and all of those will now go to the prep area.
Punisher is my favorite Marvel character. I always try to use McRook just for that reason but Hawkeye Longbow is very good as well. I almost prefer Lonbow's ability because it cannot be prevented and I always focus these assassins on taking care of Beast so that other cards can do damage. Especially Tsarina. To make best use of her, you need your opponent to not have Beasts in the field.
ReplyDeletePunisher McRook, Hawkeye Longbow, Black Widow Tsarina and Deadpool Assassin can really screw with your opponents ability to block. By knocking out at least 2 and taking another blocker out of the equation with DP, you've eliminated 3 blockers which allows P & H to get through and do max damage. Meanwhile BW just annoys the hell out of your opponent until the other 3 come into play.
ReplyDeleteA nasty combo I used this weekend and finished 3-0 as a result. I really didn't need anyone else on my team of 6.