Evan here, picking up the character studies while we amble through the remainder of AvX on the way to UXM's release. We don't have too many left to go, if I'm remembering right, so we shouldn't have too much of a problem finishing them out before the probable release of UXM at the end of October. But who do we go with?From the polls, apparently no one likes Doctor Strange. You know what? Tough. I like Doctor Strange. I was introduced to him reading Ghost Rider (the second series, where Danny Ketch was GR), where he was an occasional guest, and while he wasn't my favorite character, he seemed like a pretty interesting character.
What I'm trying to say is, today we review Doctor Strange.
The Die
Some TFC 6 characters have me a little leery - their level 1 is just a little less powerful than I'd like, or they have wonky growth curves, or they just don't really feel like they end up as tough as their price should entail. This is not a problem Doctor Strange has.
He starts out with a nice, tanky 4/6, steps to a tankier 5/8, and finishes up at 8/9 - the largest character in the game. Clearly his level three is the biggest bang, but the others are still very tough for their cost, and pack a pretty decent punch.
That said, as much as I like Doctor Strange, and his stats, I hate his die. First off, those colors; black on a darker green is just sort of muddy. Nothing about it pops for me, and it can be a little hard to read if there isn't good light available as a result. Also, what the heck does green and black have to do with Strange? His 'iconic' colors are red and blue, with yellow trim; none of those are green or black. Was there some concern he might be hard to identify using those given Thor and Cap and Spider-Man, and he drew the short straw?
This doesn't really help the icon, either. Yes, yes, the icon is (probably?) the Eye of Agamotto, Strange's sigil-magic gem-macguffin dealie. That's thematic, but it's also really busy with that fringe of power, making it kind of look like GENERIC RUNE #201. Frankly, it's not something that anyone but a real Strange buff would recognize. I certainly didn't, though I did associate the die with him right away because 'hey it's some kind of magic dealie, it's probably Doctor Strange'. I think a silhouette of his cloak, with the high collar, might have made him a little more recognizable to the layman - especially if the die was in colors that matched up with him a little better.
The Cards
Doctor Strange's theme is action dice - every version of him has something to do with them. Right off the bat, we can see that this is a mixed bag - if your strategy tends to not care about action dice, he's that much less likely to have a place on your squad. That said, if you like to Power Bolt your opponent a lot, or are running a character that synergizes well with taking actions, he might be a good heavy for you to take. And you have a couple options if you do:
- Sorcerer Supreme - Cost 7 - While Doctor Strange is active, you may purchase one action die for free during your main step (not one action die per Doctor Strange die).
- Master of the Mystic Arts - Cost 6 - While Doctor Strange is active, each time you use an action he deals 2 damage to a character or opponent (no matter how many dice are fielded).
- Probably a Charlatan - Cost 7 - When fielded, search your bag for an action die and roll it (place it into your reserve pool).
I like the idea of Sorcerer Supreme - drowning your opponent in actions, taking all the good ones - but let's be realistic: at seven cost, it's going to take you a little while to get him out, and if your opponent doesn't want you to have those Power Bolts, they can buy them in the meantime. Also, every time you take advantage of his ability, you're bloating out your pool of dice a little more; you probably shouldn't be buying dice you don't need, in short, so most likely you're only going to be getting a few dice out of him before the utility runs out. Seems to me like it's not a lot of value for a seven cost. It might be a little more worth it to use him to grab the non-basic actions, which tend to be pricier; something involving Mjolnir as free heavy artillery could have potential.
Master of the Mystic Arts is, in my opinion, Strange's best version. It's a natural fit with any squad that's going to want to play lots of actions; Angel: Soaring is apparently MDM-Strange's best friend. He's still expensive at six, but being one cheaper makes him that much easier to bring out. It is a bit of an energy commitment - not only do you have to buy Strange, you have to buy some actions - but honestly you wouldn't be considering this incarnation of him if you weren't going to buy actions anyway, so it's a bit of a moot point. Regardless, a 'free' two damage to whatever you want is pretty fantastic, and once you get things rolling you can be surprised at how fast your opponent can get worn down.
Probably a Charlatan is one of the rare tutors in the game, but it runs into a sad, sad problem for a die you're almost certainly only going to purchase one of in the course of a game: its ability is unlikely to help you win the game. Unless your opponent is going to be fighting you for basic actions - more likely if they see a Strange on your side of the table, perhaps - you can improve your odds of making sure you draw a particular action die by...buying more of that action die! PaC Strange is a middleman here, unless a particular action (or actions) is the cornerstone of your squad and you absolutely feel you need to make sure you have as many chances to get them per turn as you can. Maybe if you're relying on Throw Car to trample your opponent to death - not the worst plan given Strange's stats? Still, in my experience - I haven't seen many squads that rely so heavily on an action that they'd justify this version of Strange.
Final Thoughts
Okay, I sort of get why Doctor Strange isn't so popular - he revolves around action dice, which aren't quite the bee's knees in today's meta. I've got a fondness for him, because I like Angel: Soaring a good bit, and Strange (specifically his uncommon) is the jelly to Angel's peanut butter and the various basic actions' bread slices. I think, as the number of actions increase through OPs and new sets, he'll get proportionally more useful. Will he reach Mutate #666 levels of amazing? Doubtful, but maybe he'll win a poll sometime down the line.
I absolutely LOVE using Dr. Strange "MotMA" in a deck with Angel "Soaring" and I typically bring "Invulnerability" for it's cheap purchase cost and I'll buy early to get the energy I need to get Dr. Strange out. I'll also use "Inner Rage" to boost my Angel's while using the action. Sometimes the damage dealt is so much I almost feel guilty.
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Combo Dr. Strange MotmA with Rally and Gearing Up. As long as you can get him purchased, since getting the mask can get dicey, the number of actions used in a turn with those gets ridiculous. Using 3-4 is average, and I've seen much more.
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