It’s a shame and a surprise that Coldcast didn’t take off as a strong support/secondary attacker, as he offers so much potential in both those roles, especially for a very, very cheap 65 points for 6 clicks of life. Coldcast’s values are pretty solid with an average 17 defense, and an attack that only drops to 8 on the last click, and remains at a kind of low, but workable 9 for the rest of his dial. The big thing Coldcast has is the ability to push out damage on every click. His damage is 3 for his first two clicks, which is dangerously high for a 65 point figure, but it falls to 2, and after one click of a bare damage slot, he picks up Close Combat Expert, keeping him in line to deal enough damage to break through reducers. Paired with a 6 range, Coldcast is going to be able to threaten a good portion of your opponents team, but that’s not all he’s good for. Coldcast starts with the fantastic combintion of Sidestep and Telekinesis, allowing him to position himself in the right way to launch an important piece into the fray. This supporting phase only lasts his first click, and then he comes into possession of this doozy of a power.

Electromagnetic Pulse: Coldcast can use Pulse Wave. When he does, after actions resolve, counter the defense power on each hit opposing character until your next turn.

Paired with 8 Movement and Running Shot, your supportive Telekinesis figure just became a deadly Pulse Waving secondary attacker that can potentially damage one character for 3, or hit multiple characters and counter all their defensive powers so that your other characters can make a mess of them. Unlike Outwit which targets whatever power the character has at the time, Coldcast counters whatever power is there until your next turn. So even if that character takes damage, they will not get another defensive power, unless they get one that is uncounterable. This Pulse Wave power just further bolsters the support abilities of Coldcast, as even if he’s not dealing heavy damage, he’s leaving hit characters vulnerable, and at 65 points you’re getting this power for cheap.

Even without his Pulse Wave, Coldcast has solid values, especially with his higher than average 6 range. His biggest strength is just the amount of pure threat he creates on the map. It doesn’t matter how powerful your opponents figure is, Coldcast just has so many options on his dial. If he isn’t in range to Pulse Wave, he has Barrier to offer some protection for your other figures, and as he gets to the last half of his dial, he’s able to get in close and smash his opponents with Close Combat Expert either paired with Sidestep or Force Blast. This also gives him the fantastic combination of Pulse Wave and Force Blast, allowing him to create some serious disruption as his knock-back, when used with Pulse Wave, will ignore Charge and Combat Reflexes, forcing characters to be knocked back, as well as, ignoring their damage reducers to insure knock-back damage is dealt.

Flaws: Coldcast does have the common flaw in low point figures of a lack of Willpower, this issue is compounded because Coldcast’s dial is so fundamentally different from click to click. This is fine if you’re pushing to get to the Running Shot/Pulse Wave, but if you’re still at a point in the game where you’re looking for him to be a Telekinesis figure for your team, it can really screw up your plans. Coldcast also suffers from his lack of reducers on clicks 2 and 3, making him a big squishy target when he’s at his most offensive, as well as from his low 9 attack for most of his dial. That 9 means you’re on average needing an 8 to hit, which is a lot of hits to give up. Without knowing his dial somewhat, Coldcast can be a very difficult figure to play well. His two click styles (Sidestep/Telekinesis and Pulse Wave), are at such odds with each other that having him on the wrong click on the wrong time means he’s going to be completely ineffectual. At the end of his dial this becomes less of an issue, as Close Combat Expert opens up a little more offensive potential on his Telekinesis click. Finally, his last two clicks of Pulse Wave lose the very helpful Running Shot, leaving him as more of a stationary threatening bomb, than an attacker.

Fixes: Coldcast doesn’t need a lot of fixes, as his values are, for the most part, very solid, and he has a great selection of powers throughout his dial. The biggest thing that would help him is a friendly Perplex figure. Boosting that attack up to a 10 makes a big difference, especially now, when it’s not uncommon to see figures with an 18 defense. If you’re looking to play a Power Battery with him in a non-modern setting, Indigo gives him the ability to jump to hurt characters, keeping him close to the fight for his Pulse Wave or his Telekinesis, and Orange allows you to cancel other characters Telekinesis and Pulse Wave, especially as Telekinesis is most helpful at the beginning of the game when he possesses it, and Pulse Wave becomes important a few turns in, when hopefully Coldcast has pushed to it. If you’re looking for a modern resource for Coldcast, there aren’t as many useful options. The Green Arrow ID Card grants +2 attack when making a ranged attack, boosting Coldcast to much higher levels, and Pandora’s Box can give him a Sin, allowing for more mobility when he wants to Pulse Wave. Overall, if you’re looking to give him a boost in modern, you should look elsewhere. In terms of possession Proteus can help make him a very threatening figure. By boosting all his values, Coldcast can really make a dent with his Pulse Wave, and has enough defense to shrug off attacks. Because of the damage Proteus is going to be dealing to him, he’s not going to have as much luck as a Telekinesis figure, but throwing him into the middle of things becomes very dangerous for your opponent, as even when they take him down, he leaves behind Proteus on his last click, for another round of Pulse Wave.

Keywords: Coldcast is not a very team friendly guy, featuring one named keyword and one generic in Justice League Elite and Brute. Justice League Elite is actually a lot deeper of a keyword as soon as you add Sister Superior to your team, as her trait lets you give the keyword to a member of the Suicide Squad or the Justice League, increasing Coldcast’s potential team. The problem with this is that Sister Superior does fill a lot of the same rolls as Coldcast, offering top-dial Telekinesis, followed by becoming a great ranged attacker. Regardless, this opens up the potential for theme teams for Coldcast. Even without Sister Superior you can team him up with Hat to gain any damage power or Menagerie or the OP Kit Green Arrow, to throw into the midst of battle.

For Brute you can add the previously mentioned in this series, Man-Killer, or any sort of powerful Hulk to draw fire while Coldcast goes to work, but he can really do some damage when paired up with Major Force. Getting Major Force into the battle is incredibly useful, but being able to remove their defense power, and draw fire away from the major can make their team-up very effective. Major Force also can help get Coldcast onto the spot on his dial that you’re looking for, and finally pairing up his Telekinesis with Juggernaut or Rhino gives you a lot more control over their restricted movement, and gives them a ranged attacker for a keyword that is very restricted.

Final Thoughts: Coldcast is a brute with a strong ranged game, and a strong support game making him a very versatile figure for that keyword. Outside of it, his ability to weaken opposing character and function as a supporting Telekinesis figure will give you a ton of options in how to play him, and will insure he’s able to do something at every point in the game. His low attack values will make him less effective when he’s trying to burst down a tent-pole figure, but having Running Shot and Pulse Wave together at such a low point cost means he’ll always be a threat, no matter who your opponent is fielding. Coldcast doesn’t need anything more than Running Shot and Pulse Wave, but because he has so much more, you should really consider making him a part of your team.