Utility Belt is a series of articles focused on easy to collect and inexpensive figures to fill specific roles.

Bang for Your Buck

This inaugural Utility Belt article is designed to help you stock your belt with excellent attack figures that are less than 100 points and easy on your wallet.

My hope is that this series will help players in every stage of the game. If you’re a new player looking to build a collection, these figures are a great place to start getting quality low-point attackers. If you’re a more experienced player, it’s entirely possible you’ve missed or overlooked some of these in the wealth of figures you already have!

Each of the figures we’ll be looking at meets a few basic criteria:

Modern Age

Less than 100 Points (obviously, or the title of the article is built upon lies)

Less than $1.00 (I use coolstuffinc to check prices for non-Age of Ultron figures)

Figures focus on dealing damage rather than filling support role

Stocking Your Belt: Wolverine and the X-Men

Despite now being over two years old, this set is still packed with exceptional figures. We’ll be focusing on two in particular that meet the requirements for our list: WXM009 Longshot and WXM010 Shatterstar.

Coming in at 75 points, Longshot is a standard mid-ranged attacker with a great trick up his sleeve. His combat values are solid, particularly an attack value that never drops below 10 on any of his 6 clicks! Where Longshot truly shines is his trait:

LUCKIEST ‘MAN’ ALIVE: All of Longshot’s hits are critical hits. If Longshot rolls 12, the attack can’t be evaded, damage dealt is increased by an additional 1 and damage can’t be reduced below 3.

All of Longshot’s hits are criticals! Longshot has 3 targets naturally; he can split his damage up among all hit targets and then have each take an additional damage. He also opens his dial with Probability Control, which you can never have enough of, and is great to find on an offensively oriented figure.

Shatterstar is a 73 point standard melee attacker with a twist. Shatterstar begins with Charge, a special giving him Blades/Claws/Fangs and Flurry, and Combat Reflexes. He can deal solid damage with the potent combo of Charge, Flurry, and Blades (all of which work together). His Trait is a game changer:

X PORTAL: Once per game, give Shatterstar a power action. Place Shatterstar and an adjacent friendly character of a lower point value in any adjacent squares on the map. That character can’t be given a non-free action this turn.

Once per game, Shatterstar can teleport himself and a friendly of less than his 73 points to any position on the map. They’ll have to sit this turn, but time it carefully (when your opponent is clearing, for instance) and you suddenly have a wrecking crew at work where your opponent least wants it.

Shatterstar would be an excellent piece even without his Trait. With it included, he easily earns a spot on our list.

Stocking Your Belt: Superman and the Legion of Super Heroes

He may not have the raw damage capabilities of Longshot or Shatterstar, but SLOSH010 Polar Boy has all manner of ways to hurt your opponent. Polar Boy is a 78 point, 6 range figure with 2 targets. He begins with Sidestep, Barrier, Enhancement, and a special attack power. Polar Boy is a Wild Card.

BLINDING SNOW: Polar Boy can use Incapacitate. When he does, and hits a character with no action tokens, give that character 2 action tokens instead.

I love Incapacitate. Someday soon, I’ll have an entire article up devoted just to this Power. The unassuming Polar Boy is in possession of one of the best Incaps in the entire game. Potentially taking two of your opponent’s figures from 0 to 2 action tokens is punishing and can dramatically affect the pacing of the game.

If Incap isn’t your cup of (iced) tea, Polar Boy still sports a 3 damage top dial and boosts the ranged damage of his adjacent teammates. He also has a trait that protects adjacent friendlies from Energy Explosion, so you can use his Enhancement without fearing the biggest threat to bunching up your figures.

Stocking Your Belt: Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy is full of figures that meet our criteria. After much debate, I’ve narrowed it down to just two figures for the purposes of ever getting this post published. We’re looking at two members of the classic Guardians, GOTG005 Major Victory and GOTG023 Yondu.

Major Victory is capable of serving as primary attacker on a standard 300 point team. He comes in at 95 points with 6 range and a single target. For 95 points, the Major has incredible combat values on his opening click. We have a 9 Running Shot, 11 Penetrating/Psychic Blast, 18 defense and 4 Damage. He has a special damage power:

CARRYING ON CAP’S LEGACY: Major Victory can use Leadership, Perplex and Telekinesis. When he uses Telekinesis, he may use it a second time as a free action, but only to place a friendly character with the Guardians of the Galaxy keyword.

All of this isn’t without a cost. This is one of the few modern age figures with a “negative” trait.

CONTAINMENT SUIT BREACH: Major Victory can use Toughness. When Major Victory is dealt penetrating damage, roll a d6. On 2-4 increase damage dealt to him by 1. On a result of 1, increase the damage dealt to him by 2.

When Major Victory gets hit, he gets hit hard. Be wary of exposing him to sources of penetrating damage and place a higher than usual priority on removing those threats early.

Yondu is a long-range attacker who continues the Heroclix tradition of “guys with bows=insanely good.” He is 76 points with 8 range and a single target. He has Improved Targeting that enables him to attack any figure within his range and line of fire, even if he is based. Where Yondu makes his living, though, is with his Trait.

YAKA ARROWS: Give Yondu a power action. Make a ranged combat attack targeting a single opposing character regardless of line of fire.

You’re on the side of a mountain, hiding behind a rock, in Stealth, with your team surrounding you? Yondu simply does not care. If the enemy is within range, he can shoot them. As a bonus, he opens with Precision Strike, which works with this power. His Running Shot does not, so he benefits from a team that can help him move. If only we had looked at a fellow Guardians figure with Telekinesis…

Stocking Your Belt: Flash

You don’t have to go any further than the top of the list in Flash to find a great candidate.

FL001A The Flash is Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash, and this figure is golden. There are very few pieces with Hypersonic Speed that meet our criteria; The Flash is the best of them, and he is a steal at 65 points. The Flash has two traits:

SPEED FORCE: When The Flash moves at least one square and hits one or more adjacent characters, you may place a Speed token on this card after actions resolve. Increase The Flash’s speed value by the number of Speed tokens on this card.

THE FIRST SPEEDSTER: When The Flash’s speed value would be modified, instead replace his speed value with the sum of his printed speed value and all current modifiers.

The Flash’s second trait is a fancy way of allowing his speed increases to ignore the rule of 3 and continue to increase.

Jay opens with a 10 movement HSS, 10 attack, 18 Willpower, 3 damage. He keeps these powers on click 2 with a slight dip in values. He then moves into Charge, Combat Reflexes and a special Damage power:

FIGHTING FOR WHAT’S RIGHT: Give The Flash a free action and remove a Speed token from his card; when you do, he can use Flurry this turn.

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again before this list is done. Charge and Flurry together is one of the best combinations in the game. All told, The Flash should repay you for his 65 points every time he’s on the table.

Stocking Your Belt: Avengers Assemble

Avengers Assemble is full of low-point pieces. Several could have made this list, but one did.

AVAS013A Triathlon is a study in efficiency. He;s a 60 point figure made to bludgeon your enemy in a hurry. Triathlon has no traits, and one special power.

FASTER THAN YOU EXPECTED?: Triathlon can use Charge and Flurry.

I told you we’d be seeing this combination again. Taking this power into consideration, Triathlon starts the game with a 9 Charge/Flurry, 11 Attack, 17 Toughness, and 3 Damage. His ability to hit for 6 right out of the gate lets him punch well above his weight class. Much like The Flash, Triathlon can earn his points in one turn on his top dial, and then can transition into a tie-up piece who forces the opponent to deal with him or continue taking big hits.

Notes: Triathlon is also one of the best (but rarest) Avenger ID Cards to have been released. He makes an exceptional call-in figure if you happen to have it. Triathlon’s Prime version, 3D Man, is another figure that would have made this list were he not slightly over budget. He is still a cheap figure and absolutely worth owning.

Stocking Your Belt: Age of Ultron

Age of Ultron is another set packed with quality low-point figures. We’ll be seeing more of them when we look at support pieces. For our purposes, however, there is one figure that is an amazing value. AOU006 White Tiger doesn’t pack the offensive punch of our last two figures, but she offers far more defense. She is a 60 point figure that opens with Charge, Super Senses, and Close Combat Expert. She has a single Trait:

ENHANCED REFLEXES: When White Tiger is the target of an attack, she can use Probability Control.

I have played with and against this figure, and unless the attacker is using Pulse Wave, it always feels like a gamble to try to hit White Tiger. Unfortunately, if you ignore her, she will Charge in and begin hurting you with 3 printed damage. If you leave her on her top click for multiple turns, she can punish you in short order with Close Combat Expert.

White Tiger is an excellent figure to run in with and tie up your opponent’s ranged game. She’s a pain to try to kill; forcing your opponent to choose between wasting an attack against her or trying to break away will often work in your favor.

Fully Stocked!

There you have it. Just a few of what I consider inexpensive and low-point attackers worth owning. I began with many more figures and worked hard to get it into a short list! Some were eliminated based on cost, and others were left off if I felt they didn’t offer enough compared to other figures on the list.

If you want to know more about some of the figures that didn’t make the article, comment or send me a message and I’ll be happy to share. I’d also love to hear what figures make your list. Thanks as always for reading!

-Davy