We're going to take a look at everything we have and we'll give some quick thoughts on each! There is a lot of stuff and as a means of avoiding reader fatigue (and writer fatigue, to be honest) we're going to split this into multiple parts. This is part two, and so here are the next twenty. You can find Part One here.
By the way - there are a lot of images and a lot of text. We did our best to compartmentalize things as much as possible. Everything is as well aligned as it can be. Enjoy!
This is good in a classic heroes vs. villains matchup.
The purchase cost is fine, but the fielding cost is quite high. I'll say it again - there are a lot of TFC 6 characters in this set.
Direct damage is always fine. I have to wonder if this includes characters that you choose to KO on your own through globals and other means. The card doesn't specify.
I feel like it could, and that would make for interesting combos.
Darkseid really hates those Justice League characters. So much so that he rages out and gets more powerful when attacking them.
This takes him from ranging 4/3 - 6/5 to 8/7 - 10/9. Give this man Overcrush!
Unfortunately, as with Cyborg, we have a typo on this card. Some will look glass-half-empty, but look at it this way - these will be the super valuable typo Darkseids!
Nothing like a a combat trick. Again, we have a sheild character that provides some really nice utility.
He's a nice defensive character, though with the possibility of globals like Ant Man's out there, he could be flipped quite quickly.
I don't know much about Deadman, to be honest, but I really like this card.
This is a pretty straightforward card.
Some regeneration makes thematic sense on Deathstroke. This is a pretty solid four cost card and it brings just enough.
But geez, that fielding cost! We're going to need a lot of cost mitigation in this set.
This is also a very thematically appropriate look at Deathstroke. We've had cards that so similar things, but none that use burst in this way.
If you have a mechanism for spin-up, you could have an immortal character.
I would have preferred for this guy to provide a few combat tricks, but this ability fits him nicely.
We've seen something like this this before, and I'm not sorry that we're seeing it again.
Now, we get to try it with some of the affiliation madness that we get within the DC characters.
I predict that this will be a favorite, as Pyro is now, as Human Torch was in AVX. He'll show up a lot of places. Reasonable stats, TFC, and ability!
Certainly he isn't the burliest of the characters who can be made unblockable, but he doesn't kill you on cost in terms of purchase or field.
This also incentivizes using board sweepers more often on one side, and also playing slightly more defensively on the other, something I think opens the door for more possibilities within the game.
Ok, so it really feels like everything either fields for four or fields for six.
But seriously. This guy brings a lot to the table that Hawkeye did, and his stats are nice enough that if you take out a couple characters, he can then do some damage on the attack step. This is also a character that you might want to cycle and intentionally knock out.
Note that he could also KO your own characters, which is sometimes a strategy.
I guess this is a hard counter to Deathstroke or someone else with a burst ability that you want to mitigate. I'd have a hard time taking this one over the other Green Arrow above.
However, he does have utility and there could be a good reason. We don't yet know how the use of spinning and/or the need for it will evolve over the next few sets. This could become an important card. Today, it's a bit iffy.
A bit on the expensive side to purchase, but he's cheap to field (once again, the anomalous 1/1/1 fielding cost, something that is becoming more and more common).
But the ability to pump up your attackers by two is wonderful. Mix this with a couple of combat tricks and you could swing for big damage. This could be a favorite in draft.
This is a great way to use affiliations! And combining it with retaliation is just icing on the cake.
Attack with a bunch of JL characters, then get them knocked out too. Double your direct damage!
This is probably a finisher; you're not likely to get meaningful early damage from this.
Boy, and I was worried about Zatanna being fan service!
No, I kid, because absolutely love Harley Quinn. She's one of my favorite Batman-related characters. I would have liked a more classic version, but this is true to the character.
The ability is thematic but you're only bringing this one if you're bringing the Joker.
This ability isn't so bad considering her stats top out at five attack. It also creates some interesting decisions for your opponent, because if you want to block Harley's five damage, you have to be able to block everything else that is attacking too.
Sometimes you might be able to force your opponent into triggering a "when blocked" ability that they don't want to. I think this card presents interesting possibilities.
So Hawkman was the unidentified die with the halberd! I'm glad he made it into the set.
Unfortunately, this one doesn't excite me that much. We are seeing an upswing in useful shield characters, so maybe there will be something to it, but the characters with protection from a specific energy type haven't been the strongest to this point.
Hey, another interesting shield!
This is basically Loki (the tricksters seem to like to have this ability) but pared with Harley he goes from TFC 4 to TFC 1.
He has strong defensive stats. This is a good control card, and becomes even better if paired with common Harley Quinn. We'll just have to decide if it's worth the time and energy for Harley. Still, they're both villains, so maybe there's something to it.
In the past, these two-costers have been useful for early setup. I'd imagine they'll continue to be here.
With serviceable stats, a low TFC, and a low purchase cost, she'll get some use.
Further, with shields looking stronger this time, she could be made to matter quite a lot.
This is sort of like Mystique. She could be made into a very powerful attacker depending on the rest of what you're doing.
I think she'll at least get a tryout on villain-themed teams. The villains will need to have enough combat tricks to let her do damage - a lot of their stuff is dealing in direct damage.
Unfortunately, she's not a villain herself, so she may not end up fitting in.
Holy Churn, Batman!
This benefits swarm teams, though it'll cost you. 5M to be precise.
A big question - when we've dealt with characters in the past, we've talked about unique characters. So is this truly about the number of things fielded, or the number of unique things fielded?
We'll need clarification here.
Basic actions getting you down? This is the guy for you. And by the way - SHIELDS! Right?!
This will put the kibosh on anyone who is using those basic actions to make your life miserable. I'd love to put this up against a Magic Machine Gun and watch my opponent have no energy to do anything at all.
I like that we're not just preventing things or paying life - we're actually making them cost more. That's right where it hurts. And fitting for a villainous business mogul like Lex.
The duality of Lex is that he then turns around and makes your basic actions more usable. Go figure. You have a 50/50 shot at getting one to avoid your dice bag.
Maybe this is one that you want to add to the Magic Machine Gun.
Maybe this is one that works well with Batman and his utility belt.
More to come!
This is just part two - there are many, many more cards to look at! We'll see you again soon with part three.
Didn't the Wizkids team define the character ruling as such:
ReplyDelete1. The more the merrier. If it is something that gives a bonus based on multiple things in play, then "character" implies uniqueness and it ignores duplicates.
2- Leave me alone. If it is something that requires it to be the only thing in the field, then "character" is typically actually referring to individual dice and it will consider other dice, even if they are duplicates, to be "present" for purposes of determining whether the effect will trigger.
I think you're right. In that case, this falls into the former category - but I feel like this card *could* be an exception given what it is actually having you measure. Probably not though.
DeleteIs it just me or did the amount of global abilities decrease drastically? Hardly any card I've seen has them. Not that it's a bad thing, just seemed odd.
ReplyDeleteHmm...you're right. Let's see how this develops.
DeleteHmm...you're right. Let's see how this develops.
Delete