Diamonds in the Rough is an exploration of characters that otherwise have fallen through the cracks into obscurity. These characters aren’t “meta” worthy, but they have some redeeming features, that I would like to bring some focus to.



Rainbow Raider is a steal at 68 points. He comes in with 7 clicks of life, and a different set of powers on each click, making him a very versatile, but hard to control character. He always has Stealth, but his other powers follow the the pattern of the rainbow, moving through Red, Yellow, Orange, Green, Light Blue, Dark Blue and finally Purple, on both his attack and defense slots. This means at various times he’s sporting Penetrating/Psychic Blast, Pulse Wave, and Defend, offering useful offensive and defensive powers. His values are all very solid for 68 points, and he has a huge 7 range to pick characters off with.

Even though he never has the ability to move and attack, Rainbow Raider’s pure numerical advantage with 7! clicks for less than 70 points is incredible, especially when the values on those clicks are strong. He has the ability to get through reducers on every click with his 3 damage on every click except his Blades/Claws/Fangs and Penetrating/Psychic Blast clicks, which allow him to get through reducers on their own. Rainbow Raider is a fantastic front-line fighter, cheap enough to not be concerned with having him be targeted with attacks, but durable enough to survive all but the strongest characters. It also can be dangerous to target him, having him end up on Pulse Wave or Penetrating/Psychic Blast at the wrong time can be devastating. Hide him in stealth, and watch him pick off the opposing character’s from a distance, Rainbow Raider is no slouch. Now this gets even better, Rainbow Raiders trait is so good, it makes all of his other positives look a lot less positive.

MY FAVORITE COLOR (TO DRAIN) THIS WEEK: Give Rainbow Raider a power action and choose Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Light Blue, Blue, or Purple. Opposing characters possessing a power of that color on their dial modify their combat values by -1 until he chooses again, if not already modifed by this effect.

At first, -1 to all combat values seems like a nice trick, but it completely changes the game. Most character’s have one of these colours on their dial constantly. Rainbow Raider can make those character’s noticeably less effective. Just a reduction on attack can make a huge difference. Going from a 7 to hit to a 6 changes the probability of hitting by a huge 16%, and reducing damage from 3 to 2 can spell doom for a team that needs to get through your reducers. Even lowering their speed by -1 is killer for character’s depending on Running Shot or Charge. If they had 12 speed, now their Charge is getting them 5 spaces instead of 6, because you always replace, then modify, the Charge halving movement would come into effect before the modification is calculated. Running Shot is hurt even more, reducing their movement by 1 and their range, lowering their reach by 2 squares. Rainbow Raider is the great equalizer, turning powerful Tent-poles into manageable figures. The biggest issue with this trait is the limited colours it can choose. It’s possible that the big piece you’re facing off against, only has Hypersonic and Impervious, leaving them unable to be colour drained by Rainbow Raider. This is a rare occurrence, but it just means you can’t entirely depend on Rainbow Raider to reduce stats. A quick note, Rainbow Raider’s trait only works if the colours are showing on the dial, not if they’re granted through a special power or a trait.

Flaws: Rainbow Raider’s biggest issue is that his trait can only work off of 7 colours. Now these are very common colours, Green being one of the most important covering one of the move and attack abilities (Charge) and covering a common power on tentpoles, Super Strength. It’s not going to happen often that you won’t be able to affect a character, with his trait, but if you’re up against the Age of Ultron Movie Hulk, than you’re going to lose a little bit of effectiveness. Obviously, a lack of Willpower makes him a little less able to take the fight to the enemy, same with no move and attack, but his ability to take hits, and his decent values help fight that negative.

Fixes: Rainbow Raider can be an offensive piece, but he struggles with it. To make up for that, his trait makes all of your other second string attackers way more effective, and your more defensive pieces a lot better at taking hits. He offers support in such a unique way that there are very few units that don’t benefit from his trait. There’s not much you can do to fix him because of that. Giving him an entity can give him some move and attack, but the really benefit is his long dial, which can access some of the powers entities provide that you wouldn’t want to spend a tent-poles turn activating. Honestly, I don’t see much benefit from resources for Rainbow Raider, as he kind of functions as a minor resource, the only one that would pair well would be the Yellow Battery, as its Emotional Spectrum lowers the attack of an attacking character against higher point characters by -2, made into a -3 with Rainbow Raider. This does leave you with a lot less points to work with for your Tentpole, making it a little bit less effective. If you have it, than the chase Red Son Wonder Woman from Superman and Wonder Woman can really cause some issues when paired with Rainbow Raider. With her on the field, attacks made against characters of a lower point value and friendly to her have -1 attack, and -1 damage. Combined with Rainbow Raider, that’s a -2 attack and -2 damage, causing even powerful attackers to struggle to get through reducers.

Keywords: Rainbow Raider has a single keyword, Rogues. I really really REALLY love Rogues teams, and Rainbow Raider is central to a Rogues team. The Rogues teams I build are usually based around one of two characters. Either the Rare Captain Cold, who can put out ice block markers to lock down the attacking force, or the Fast Forces Pied Piper, who can generate Rat tokens like there’s no tomorrow. Both benefit from Rainbow Raider’s trait, but Pied Piper’s rats benefit the most, giving them a higher chance to hit with their lower attack, when their target has been colour drained. In my opinion, most of the Rogues are highly playable, especially the Fast Forces. Other strong picks in the Rogues category are Chillblaine, with his solid stats and two separate stop clicks, Golden Glider, who can freeze the map, slowing down opponents, and providing cover for allies, and Murmur, who can tear apart characters with Perplex, Outwit or Probabiltiy Control.

Having the Rogues keyword also allows him to be drafted into the Suicide Squad by Amanda Waller. Suicide Squad allows him even more freedom in team building, with some stand outs in the OP kit Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and especially Fiddler, who can grant a 19 defense to adjacent characters. What you’re playing with is a few medium costing characters, none of whom are strong alone, but together can really do some work. Those medium costed character’s stats are rarely very strong, but with Rainbow Raider, they can make a name for themselves against even the strongest characters.

Closing Thoughts: Let’s not beat around the bush, you’re playing Rainbow Raider for his amazing trait. I don’t blame you, it’s unbelievably good, but Rainbow Raider isn’t one to sit in the back, watching the fight happen. He has solid values, and a huge selection of powers, along with enough clicks to make it almost impossible to OHKO him. He should be up their with your team, taking it to the enemy, all the while draining their colours to make your hits hurt more, and to make their hits just tickle. Roy G Bivolo is a ridiculous character that somehow became incredibly good.