Following up on the Fast Forces review from two weeks ago, I’m digging into the second Fast Force from Deadpool & X-Force. This time we’re looking at those good for nothing Mercs for Money, and the Terror release day figure. YEAH THE IMAGE IS CUT, DEAL WITH IT.

My original plan was to cover both Fast Forces set in one article with a total of 13 figures, but WizKids announced that the Mercs For Money was being released in the first week of April and kind of threw a wrench into my gears. However, we’ve finally seen the dials, so this review should help you decide on whether or not you should get this set. Since the Terror release day OP figure is the missing Merc from the set, he’ll be included as well in this review.

This won’t be as long as the full set review as there’s just not as many pieces to go over, but I’ll try and be a little more detailed on the pieces that are worth noting, and I’ll also give you a Yes or No on do you purchase the set or get singles.

Typical review rules apply; reviews will be based on three categories of No Thanks, Seems Good, and Yes Please!, and since the figures aren’t available on the Realms yet, I can’t link their dials. Remember, these are my opinions and by no means something that you should use as a guideline to what will and won’t be meta or worth picking up.

Deadpool & X-Force: Mercs For Money Fast Forces

007 Deadpool – This should be our last Deadpool for quite some time, so get ready for one last review. This version of Wade sports the Uncommon mold from the main set (why did the X-Force version get a unique mold and this didn’t?), and has two point values of 80 and 50 points. You get standard combat symbols with Indom, 7 clicks for 80 points or 5 clicks for 50 points, and 6 range with a single bolt. His numbers are pretty soft with 10 attack on most of his dial, only two clicks of Charge when he’s full points, no reducers until late, and a little Blades and Pen/Psy. His damage is pretty good at 3 across the dial, but makes you not want to roll for Blades. He’s got the Mercs for Money trait which is okay I suppose, and gets a special defense that quite a few of these guys share called Does Everyone on this Team have a Healing Factor? granting Toughness and Regen with a minimum result of 1. The best part about this Deadpool is the shared damage power each of the mercs possess; Color-Coordinated gives him Outwit, but only for powers that match his suit color (red), meaning Deadpool can counter Flurry, Blades, Super Senses, and Ranged Combat Expert. With that defense power, his 50 point line actually looks pretty decent with good damage potential and lots of regen. I like this Deadpool more than the X-Force version, and the red power countering is really good. Seems Good.

008 Foolkiller – Only 4 clicks for 50 points means that Foolkiller has a lot of weight to carry to offset his low cost. Unfortunately, he doesn’t fit the bill. With standard combat symbols, 6 range, a average/bad combat values, this is going to be the piece you probably get rid of. His trait gives him Perplex, but only to target a character named Deadpool, and if they’re opposing he can give them -2 to any value but damage. That’s so situational, and frankly not worth the 50 point investment. His Color-Coordinated choice is blue (I know it looks like dark blue), letting him counter Mind Control, Incap, Barrier, and Prob which is okay, but when you look at that dial, you’d be much better off playing a typical support piece that has Outwit or Perplex instead of having both but incredibly situational. Foolkiller is just not a good piece and I’ll most likely be sculpt swapping for the regular set version as at least the mold is good. No Thanks.

009 Madcap – A lot of people thought Madcap didn’t match his character in the main set as he lacked the Bubble Gun (Mind Control); if you were one of those people, here’s your Madcap! Another piece with 6 clicks for 50 points already puts him into the good pile. He’s got standard combat symbols and 0 range which is a little worrying, but remember that Mind Control and Outwit have minimum range values. Madcap starts off with Mind Control, Super Senses, and Color-Coordinated for Purple (Force Blast, Smoke Cloud, Willpower, and Close Combat Expert), so you’ll want to get him in close to annoy. He does pick up Prob on his four last clicks which is great for a Fast Forces team, and his last three clicks, he gets the same Regen power that many of these guys have. Madcap is a solid choice, and it’s nice to have him at 50 points over the bloated 100 point piece from the main set, although he’s not quite as annoying to deal with. Yes Please!

010 Slapstick – 6 clicks for 50 points is already a good deal, and Slapstick has quite the nutty dial. 3 range with a single target doesn’t seem like much, but gets a lot better once you break him down. His numbers are very average, and his attack/movement get a little weak mid-dial, but his powers make up for it. He’s got 3 Special powers. His movement power, Cartoon Physics, lets you pick any standard speed power and Slapstick can use it until your next turn. That’s brutal. Charge one turn, Flurry the next. Plasticity to counter Speedster teams, Stealth to help his approach, Phasing to get away, or Hypersonic to take pot shots (hello 3 range!). There’s so much in that power alone. His defense is the same as many others granting Toughness and Regen with a minimum of 1, and having that on 3 clicks makes it very likely he’ll get to use it. He’s also got Shape Change on those clicks so he’ll be tough to hit anyways. His last special is Color Coordinated and Slapstick counters out yellow powers. That doesn’t get rid of anything good, does it? Oh wait; Phasing, Pulse Wave, Defend, and Support. A 50 point piece that can adjust to whatever you need, heals pretty well, and can counter out Pulse Wave or Support is solid. Let’s not forget the Precision Strike too. Slapstick is going to dish more damage than he’s worth, unless he’s quickly one-shot.Willpower is a little scary, but if you play him right it shouldn’t be an issue. Still, I’d rather have had a reducer since he’s so push-friendly. Even Super Senses would have worked. Regardless, this guy rocks. Yes Please!

011 Solo – Solo here comes in at 50 points like the rest of the Mercs, and has a whopping 6 clicks which puts him on the higher end of the Mercs spectrum. He’s got standard combat symbols and 6 range with a single target. His single trait makes Solo the second gem of the Fast Forces set; at the beginning of the game, you choose an opposing character and Solo gets a +2 to attack when attacking only that character. When they bite the dust, Solo heals 2 clicks. With his mostly 10 attack and Pen/Psy, that means that for 50 points, you get a piece with 12 attack that deals penetrating damage. That alone makes him worth his cost. He’s also got the same Color-Coordinated damage ability, letting him counter green powers (Charge, Super Strength, ES/D, and Enhancement), which is great, but think about the fact that Solo can take out your ES/D which stops his primary form of damage. He does lack Running Shot on top click in favor of Phasing, but easily pushes into it on click 2 and doesn’t lose any other values, so he’s push friendly. With Phasing on the tail-end, Solo can get out and heal up to keep on chugging along. Solo is a great investment for 50 points and will be a non-stop terror for your opponent’s big tank. Yes Please!

012 Stingray – 50 points, Flight, 5 range with a single target, and 5 clicks of health puts Stingray in the ‘average’ pile. He’s got a good trait that says when he uses Carry, he can carry two characters but can’t change elevation which might seem bad, but in reality, you aren’t paying anything for that. It’s just a bonus, so I’m okay with it. He’s got the same Color Coordinated damage power as the rest with orange being his color, meaning he can counter Leap/Climb, Energy Explosion, Toughness, and Battle Fury – not the best powers to get rid of. Sure, Energy Explosion can be nasty, but the rest are very sub-par for a 50 point piece to take out. Battle Fury is more often than not a hindrance since they can’t be carried, and Toughness is almost not worth taking out unless you’ve got Poison on your force. He does have some decent powers and fantastic movement. 10 Sidestep is nothing to complain about, and Pulse Wave means he can deal a surprising amount of damage. A single click of Invulnerability makes Stingray a somewhat tough opponent to deal with too. What’s with the swords though? Not a single click of Blades? C’mon, guys. Seems Good bordering on No Thanks.

Note: WizKids didn’t put out a photo/spoiler for Terror, so no image folks!

101 Terror – Clocking in at 100 points makes Terror the most expensive of the Mercs for Money, and he’s totally worth it. 7 clicks, standard symbols, and 6 range with a single target make him even more questionable, but his powers and trait are what make him a real treat. His trait, He Won’t Be Needing It says that whenever an adjacent standard character is KO’d, Terror gets to pick any power they could use on any click and he now gets to use that power for the rest of the game. Even better, this doesn’t stop if he picks something else, and it doesn’t only trigger on opposing characters. This means that Terror can transform into a crazy-good power house. His special powers are the same as Deadpool and most of the others; Toughness and Regen with a minimum result of 1 on his last three clicks, and Color-Coordinated on his top three clicks with Pink power countering. That means Sidestep, Precision Strike, Invincible, and Empower, all very good powers to get rid of. As for his own powers, he’s got Sidestep making him a little slow, two clicks of Invincible, two clicks of Impervious, and then three clicks of that special defense. His numbers are pretty good with 17 being his lowest defense value, but he does have a few 9 attacks in his dial. Still, the potential Terror has is downright nasty. I’m going to love pushing a Morlock and getting any one of their powers! Yes Please!

Overall Thoughts: This Fast Forces set is pretty darn good, although not perfect which is typical for these. You get two dynamite characters (Slapstick & Solo) and one pretty decent character (Madcap), but I can only see Slapstick running a little bit of cash. If you aren’t a big Deadpool fan or had your fill of the Merc from the main set, you could probably pass on this one and get the singles you’re looking for. I’ll be getting the set because I love the team, and even though Foolkiller is pretty bad, I’d like to see how they perform together.

Which of the two Fast Forces do you think is better or which did you go with? Uncanny X-Force had some real gems in the form of Fantomex, Domino, and Cable, but the Mercs are putting up the fight with Slapstick, Solo, and Madcap. Either way, they’re both pretty great in their own regard and it was neat to get two sets to choose from (now if only you could mix n’ match these).

See you all on Thursday with more exciting team builds coming!