Hello everyone! X-Men: Regenesis is upon us as the first Storyline Organized Play kit (SLOP) since Civil War! This event is pretty unique, and a bit costly, so I want to do something a little different today.

I love SLOP’s with a passion. Since I came back into the game during Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., it was the tail end of Age of Ultron and I was still too new to feel comfortable paying for events. When Civil War came around, I was incredibly excited because I would get to take part in a storyline event from the comics, but also because Civil War was when I became a comic book reader. When I heard about this event at San Diego Comic-Con back in 2003, I was pumped and I new that this was where I wanted to jump into comic books full-time, and I haven’t stopped since.

Unfortunately, Civil War wasn’t all that good as each event seemed basically the same and it sucked giving up the figures that you pulled. Plus, not many of the figures were that good. Then WizKids took a hiatus from SLOP’s and haven’t really put one out since. Sure, there were the 15th anniversary celebrations with colossal figures to win, but there wasn’t product developed to specifically be played with them that linked to their comic origins (What If… and Elseworlds do not count in my book). But now we’re back with this awesome new X-Men event that pits Cyclops and Wolverine against each other.

I said in my lead-in that I wanted to do something differently with this article. Rather than a set review which is exclusive to Two Clicks From KO now, this article will be a breakdown on each of the characters and compare them to basically their biggest modern counterpart (if there is one), or judge them individually if not, and let you know if I think each figure is worth getting. Remember that these events are setup to where you can trade with people at the venue before playing, increasing your pool of figures to use, but also what you keep. Maybe you’re team Cyclops but you open Wolverine. Should you keep him or trade him for a figure for your team? That’s what I want to help you answer.

For arguments sake and to stop this from going forever, I’m not going to look at the 000.1 dials of each character. Chances are in constructed, you aren’t going to build a Jean Grey School for Higher Learning or a Utopia theme team. I mean you could, but chances are low since X-Men is so much better all-around.

Obviously Wolverine’s counterpart in Modern is XXS053 Wolverine. That’s a tall order to fill as that dude is the best Logan we’ve ever gotten. But this guy comes in SUPER close as just a common. He has great stats, two STOP clicks for only 120 points as opposed to three for 150 points, and some longevity at that 70-point line since his STOP click is in the middle of the dial. I like the passive healing on this Wolverine that will be brutal with those STOP clicks and the addition to traited Toughness to make him more durable than he seems on paper. I also like that on those STOP clicks, he can use all his defenses of Toughness, Combat Reflexes, and Super Senses, all of which are Protected: Outwit, making him a tough nut to crack.

Of course the downside here is that he doesn’t have Leadership, Perplex, Flurry, or a 50-point line for ID call-in purposes, nor does he have the retaliation power on an X-Men team.

Verdict: This is a good dial. If you don’t have the Super Rare as he’s still incredibly expensive for what he is, I would make this my go-to Wolverine. If you do have the Super Rare, I would pass on him.

Unlike Wolverine, Cyclops has three big dials that are being played in Modern; XXS019, XXS052, and XXS063. At his full 120 points, his counterpart is the Super Rare 052, an awesome dial for Scott. At 70, I would argue his counterpart would be the Chase at 60 points.

Very similar to Wolverine, as WizKids likes to do these days. Same formula of STOP clicks but he does drop values much harder than Wolverine in the attack department. However, Scott is capable of a lot more steady damage with all those wonderful clicks of Sidestep and Ranged Combat Expert. He also brings Leadership at either point level which helps his case as a good alternative to the Super Rare.

My issues with Cyclops is that he’s mobile for one or two clicks (depending on cost), and then he’s pretty slow, and like any other Scott Summers, the dude is done if a bruiser gets in his face while he’s on top-click.

Verdict: I think Cyclops honestly loses out to any of this other versions from last year. The Super Rare is just stronger on an X-Men team at full points (though he lacks STOP clicks), and the Chase has a more punishing lower-cost dial. However, since both of those figures are expensive, this is a very good dial for a common. Just like Wolverine, if you lack the alternatives, this is a great choice.

This is a much different version of Kitty from our only other choice which is the uncommon from Xavier’s School. Still serving as a supportive roll, she brings some killer ranged potential via her pet dragon, Lockheed; quite a good little bystander, but very easy to KO.

I quite like this Kitty, although she does feel a little overcosted for what she is; basically an Enhancement figure that pushes into Empower. You’ll need the right map to keep her alive as the Stealth is crucial, but she can easily move into position for the bump in damage, and then Sidestep away. I also like that she has a fairly potent melee dial once she pushes that could take someone by surprise. I also like that rather than giving her Phasing/Teleport, WizKids just let her move through everything, all the time. That’s how Kitty should be rather than requiring a MOVE action.

Verdict: Kitty’s usefulness depends on what role you want her to serve. If you like the utility of moving through walls for 50 points, but getting Leadership and Perplex, stick with the Uncommon from last year. If you like a good 40-point support piece with a cool bystander (you should never pay 60 points for her), then go with this one.

The biggest alternative to how this Storm plays is the new Organized Play figure as she’s 75 points and starts off with a similar aggressive style. Unfortunately things do not look good for Ororo when you make that comparison.

This new Storm has lackluster values on either point value (and only 4 clicks from 50 points, and her only real advantage is movement. Her ability to make free attacks against some she knocks back requires a lot of things to go right. She has to hope that the character she hits isn’t going to move outside of her range after she hits them or she’s out of luck. Sure, you could Force Blast someone and then make a free attack afterwards which does give her some nice counterplay against figures that base her, but her values are just so mediocre. Compare this to the LE that has a whopping 12-attack, Super Senses with an 18-defense for two clicks, Leadership, Passenger: 3, and granting a field of Stealth for just 5 points more and it’s really hard to argue that this character is worth it.

Verdict: Pass. Organized Play figures are much easier to get than some may think, and the new Storm coming out this month is vastly superior for just 5 more points.

The Beast I see most on team builds is usually XXS017 as he’s quite well-rounded, but that changes with this new stellar version of Hank.

Pay no attention to that 70-point starting line because there’s no point in playing it. You get the same clicks at 40 points and trimming nearly half his cost while still getting access to the best part of his dial which is his trait. You get two options with Beast: you can play him as a support figure with some bite thanks to Outwit, or you can play him as an incredibly strong melee attacker for a super-cheap cost. Having the option to swap between the two is what makes Beast incredible.

Verdict: Get this dude. Whether you’re using him as an ID summon (which he will surely be used as), or pulling massive weight on an X-Men team, this is an incredibly solid dial with killer value.

I’m not even going to compare Emma to her Super Rare from Xavier’s School as that dial was honestly not good. Thankfully this dial is decent for Emma.

Invulnerability is much stronger than it seems when you can’t break through it (though it can still be Outwitted), and with Shape Change on her top clicks no matter what cost you’re paying for her, that gives Emma some real control over the battlefield. Switching over to offense with Pen/Psy is also a great tool to have, though it will leave her a bit more vulnerable.

My problem with this dial is that she’s not really doing anything without risking her neck. She can creep up with Sidestep, take a shot, and then pray she doesn’t miss Shape Change because if she does, you burned an awful lot of points for 3-damage. At 90 points, three clicks of 11-attack is quite good, but that 60-point dial looks like it’s 10 points too much.

Verdict: If you like Emma Frost, this is a good option over the Super Rare. If you don’t care about the character, this is a pass.

Modern counterpart? HA! Gambit (and Nightcrawler) have no idea what you’re talking about! Nope, this is a straight review of this dial.

Although Gambit comes with some pretty weak values, he has plenty of options for a skilled player to turn him into a ruthless killing machine. Like Kitty, Gambit needs to stick to the shadows after making attacks to keep himself around, but if he can he’ll be a disgusting figure to deal with. Perplex helps to round out those average values, but the real treat here is his attack power. On those Running Shot clicks, you get Energy Explosion and Force Blast (with two targets) to massively change the board, and on the Charge clicks, you gain Quake and Giant Reach: 2 to give him similar options to mess with placement. I would say you probably want to base people though when Charging unless you can get to hindering terrain as he’ll want to utilize his Combat Reflexes.

Verdict: What I really like about this Gambit is that he’s good at 80 points, but he’s fantastic at 50 points and a good player will be able to utilize him just the same without dropping those 30 extra points. I would get him. Besides, it’s been years since we’ve gotten a good Gambit.

No choice here; Magneto’s closest counterpart in Modern is Magneto, Realist, one incredibly potent figure. That’s unfortunate because this dude lost from the start.

Certainly not a bad dial with the biggest damage impact of all the figures so far, this Magneto suffers from a serious case of glass jaw syndrome. With just Energy Shields/Deflection to keep him safe for a whopping 120/80 points, you really don’t want to see a character base him. Thankfully his trait helps offset this as he keeps people from closing the gap… that is unless they’re carried or are TK’d next to him. The free Barrier is nice and is honestly one of the best things you can get on a figure for free.

My big issues with Magneto are the fact that he drops into melee after just one hit, and that his attack values are so low on his 80-point line. To me, that means never play him at his lower cost, which means I’m comparing the Title character to his 120 point line.

Verdict: Title Mags wins this all the way around and back again. For 20 less points, you get a much stronger dial that’s harder to chew through. The only argument for getting this Magneto is that he has the X-Men Keyword.

No Modern versions of Rachel, so another straight review.

Rachel brings a lot of versatility to your team with TK to start the game off, Hypersonic Speed with a big 7-range, and three defense powers (including Willpower) to make her hard to hit. Flight also means she’s a great taxi if need-be. As long as you can keep Rachel from taking a hit from a melee figure, she’ll do quite well.

However, her dial is pretty vanilla for her high point cost. At 100 points, I don’t think there’s enough here to offset that cost. TK and Flight is nice, but not at that cost. Hypersonic Speed with good defenses is nice, but not at that cost without something else to give her an edge like Precision Strike or a damage power. At 50 points, her attack value is a little low to make the dial worth playing. Thankfully the X-Men have a butt-load of Perplex right now, so you can offset that and she’ll turn into a great cheap speedster.

Verdict: This is a 50/50, dealer’s choice. I could see her doing some work on X-Men teams at 50 points, but I would never play her at 100.

Namor?! In an X-Men set? Yeah, Namor took part in Schism. Namor has three regular figures in Modern aside from this dial, but I think the closest for comparison sake is the newest rare from ABPI. His combat style is very similar and he’s only 10 points higher on his top click, or 5 points higher on his second click.

It’s actually impressive how much these dials mirror each other, sans some other powers. This version of king fishface is that he doesn’t need the Power Gem in order to use Flurry, which actually saves you 15 points since you’d have to pay for the bearer trait. He does lack the Empower, but that’s fine as I don’t think it’s necessary for him.

What pushes this Namor over the edge is his Regeneration if he’s in water terrain. Not only is it much easier to generate water in Modern than ever before, you can easily win map roll with X-Men (or any of his other numerous Keywords) and pick something with lots of water which greatly increases his dial length.

Verdict: If you didn’t get the rare with the Power Gem, this is a great Namor. I think I still like the rare better as he does a bit more for only a bit more points, but this is an excellent dial for 100 points or less.

Technically we have two Rogues in Modern, but the Asgardian is quite hard to get is pretty different. For comparison, I think it’s a good bet to look at the new LE coming this month in the same kit as Storm. She’s more expensive but is very similar in what she does.

This is the cheapest Rogue we’ve ever gotten (60 points) and I have to say, I’m impressed at both point lines. Rogue might be a little easy to hit with a 17-defense, but if she can land that first hit, she’s going to get a lot better. Her power stealing is virtually the exact same as the LE, so we don’t have to compare those two; it’s just about the dial.

The LE is a bit harder to hit, has Indomitable as opposed to a few clicks of Willpower, and has a massive span of Steal Energy on the back end of her dial. But you’re also paying 100 points for her. This Rogue is more efficient and honestly has better attack values. The only downside to this dial is her lack of mobility on clicks 2, 4, and 5, but that’s nit-picking.

Verdict: I honestly think this is the better dial over the LE. Both are quite good, but this version has options on point cost without sacrificing an awful lot, meaning there’s a better chance you’ll break her out instead of having a 100 point figure. This is the toughest competition yet – you’re solid with either her or the LE.

Only one other Modern Colossus aside from this dude and that’s the 2017 LE. These guys play pretty differently even though they’re the same type of character; a tank. Colossus is always a tank which makes sense.

While the LE does have a better attack value to start, this guy has more consistent attack values, and his defenses are stronger. What I like about this Colossus is how he takes the tank role to another level. Once he closes the gap, you’re not getting away. And once he uses his object on the opening attack, he’ll make his target worse with each consecutive hit and open up counterplay for the rest of his team.

Of course the issue is that you’ll need some luck pulling that off with a 10-attack at either point level. Colossus has always suffered from low attack values for what he is, and in today’s game, a 10-attack on a figure more than 50 points is a no-go for me.

Verdict: Better than the LE, but not by much. He’s just too expensive on either point level for me, so he’s a pass.

Lots of dials for Bobby, and this dial is honestly pretty different from all the others. The biggest Modern Iceman is the Chase, but it doesn’t feel right comparing this guy to him as you’re looking at vastly different figures and power levels, so lets treat him as if he’s the only Modern version.

This is a fantastic dial and furthers the evidence that Iceman is just a solid character every time he’s released. Adding Hypersonic Speed is huge, especially with Flight, 10-movement, and 5 range. His ability to debuff his targets makes counterplay against him quite hard, but that isn’t the best part of his dial. It’s his defense power. Toughness and Willpower help a lot, but dropping blocking terrain in a square he moves through (for each movement) in a turn is just stupid. The amount of control this guy brings to a team is absurd. My only complaint with this dial is his 10-attack, but at 50 points, I’ll gladly take that.

Verdict: Get Iceman, multiples if you can. A pair of these idiots on an X-Men team gives you some serious turtle capabilities without wasting actions on barrier. There’s always been a cost-to-performance ratio with Barrier figures, and Bobby just obliterates this.

Another figure we don’t have a Modern counterpart! Hope is a welcome addition as we’ve only seen her a handful of times as opposed to almost everyone on this list so far.

An interesting power vampire dial. Hope doesn’t bring a whole lot of hurt to your team as her stats are very average for her cost and you probably don’t want to risk her up in the front line. The key to using Hope effectively is her trait combined with Perplex. Since Hope already comes with one of the best support powers in the game, she can sit next to someone else and become a wonderful revolving door of support. Sit her next to Magneto and she picks up TK so you don’t burn your big attacker moving figures around (or perhaps moving him up to equipment). Have her partner up with someone with Probability Control or Outwit seems really good. Unfortunately you won’t be able to get the same results with attack powers as Pulse Wave is straight out, but you can tap into things like Steal Energy, Incapacitate, Blades, Quake, Smoke Cloud, Pen/Psy, or Energy Explosion.

Verdict: This is honestly an outstanding support figure at her 40-point line. I would never pay 70 points for her, but I would gladly kick her on some X-Men teams at 40 points. I wouldn’t prioritize her, but I would keep her if you pull her.

While the most heavily played Angel in competitive is the Chase, we haven’t seen him show up in a long time, and that dial doesn’t really represent your typical Angel. Instead, I think this dial is very similar in play style to XXS051 Angel.

You’re getting the same dial length as the Super Rare from Xavier’s School here, but you’re paying 10 more points, or you’re getting the lower dial at a 10-point discount. Weird how that works out. Either way, Warren’s stats are nearly identical and there’s only two differences between the two. This version can Charge his entire movement which makes him more of a threat than the Super Rare, but he’s also more of a pacifist on his last two clicks trading Flurry for Regeneration and Support. Honestly, it’s rather uncanny how similar these dials are, even down to the numbers.

Verdict: I would pass on him. There’s just not enough on this dial to make me want to play this figure when other fliers are so much better.

No Modern counterpart here, and we’ve only seen Danger two other times, so she’s a nice addition. And boy is she packin’ heat.

Danger absolutely has the best opening click so far of any figure in the set that will decimate pretty much anyone else she hits first. While it’s a little unsettling that she shifts so drastically after any hit, Danger can always adapt to what she needs to give her the edge in combat. Of course the big play is that you can access Pulse Wave on that first click giving you a massive 10-square swing for 4-damage, followed up with Outwit. There’s always something to do with this dial.

The only problem I have with Danger is how quickly her stats drop for that 120-point cost. Every single stat decreases down to average levels and it never comes back up again, so you’ll need to use her Steal Energy to try and get back up to that top click, which isn’t fun. Even so, that 60-point line looks pretty ferocious as she can still pick up Pulse Wave and hit with a surprise attack, take Force Blast for a big knockback hit, Running Shot to extend her reach to 11-squares, Pen/Psy to break defenses, Quake for crowd-control, and so on.

Verdict: While her stats are a little low for my liking, this is a good dial that I think could be a huge advantage for X-Men teams. There’s plenty of Perplex with Headmasters to make her a good choice to hold onto or possibly track down.

It seems WizKids has boiled Cannonball down to the lowest we’ll ever see him points-wise, and he has some serious bite and protections for only 60/40 points. Like almost every version of Sam that we’ve seen, he’s all about recklessly charging into battle and figuring out what he does afterwards. The good news is that he’s incredibly durable when he moves (which will be every turn thanks to Sidestep) and he can deal a ton of damage in the right circumstance.

Therein lies the issue though; remember the peanut-base Super Rares from Avengers/Defenders War that made line attacks like this? (Ghost Rider, Valkyrie, and Black Knight). How often were you able to hit more than 2 characters? It’s really tough to pull these types of attacks off and feel like you got your monies-worth. However, at only 60/40 points, your expectations can drop and Sam will feel more solid.

The only bad thing to say about this dial is how low his attack and defense are. Luckily the Headmasters will be able to offset this easily, and since he deals printed damage, you never have to worry about raising his damage value. Sam is also excellent at 40 points as he’s most likely only going to last one, maybe two engages before being shot down.

Verdict: A great aggro dial for very low points. Sam’s ability to fly into the enemy team while carrying a bruiser means he brings some fantastic alpha strike potential to X-Men teams without needing to load up on multiple figures. I don’t think he’s worth hunting, but don’t pass him up.

This dial is very similar to XXS038 Magik since she does basically the same thing; transport her team through Limbo. The big differences here is that she’s only 60 or 50 points and trades Invulnerability for Toughness (and can’t change into her demon form).

This isn’t a bad taxi for X-Men teams, although it’s not a good position to hold, especially as a Chase, thanks to Lila Cheney, the Blackbird, multiple Storms… you get the idea. The X-Men have solved this problem many times over, so seeing a Chase that does basically the same thing isn’t very exciting. I like that she has pseudo-Charge on her dial, but if she’s going to be carrying anyone, you’re hitting with a pathetic attack value.

Verdict: A complete pass. I can’t believe that this dial is a Chase while Iceman is a rare. Even on a Utopia team, this is still just a bland dial.

To my knowledge, this is the first time Warbird has been made! Woot! Get her! No, wait, let’s be fair.

A decent melee figure with some good reach, Warbird has some great damage output with either Flurry and Blades, or Exploit Weakness and Blades. I like figures that can be very dangerous for a fairly low cost. That being said, Warbird is very bland, and one good hit knocks her into mediocre town (or KO land if she’s only 50 points). Her stats also decay very quickly and with only two clicks of Charge on the dial, her ability to get in and deal damage is greatly hindered if she takes the first hit.

At the end of the day, this figure just feels like your typical Charge/Blades figure with two good clicks and a lot of meh mixed in. That defense power is pretty nice, but she has to hope the enemy team doesn’t have Outwit or Pen/Psy to take her out before she does anything.

Verdict: I would pass on this Chase as well. Pretty much any Wolverine will do more than she will with the exact same play style, yet isn’t as heavily destroyed on a single hit.

No Modern counterparts now that rotation has hit. Psylocke has been one of those characters that I’ve wanted to run, but she’s always so expensive for what she brings to the board. I feel like this is the first version I actually want to play.

This dial is all about precision and carefully picking your targets. She doesn’t want to get stuck in a fight because she’s MUCH better firing her bow, shutting down powers and handing out action tokens. With 6-range and two targets, she’s a deadly anti-personnel member of any X-team she’s on (yes, she’ll get to pick a power for each hit target). What I really like about Psylocke is that you don’t need to play her at 90 points; she’s actually better on her 40-point line.

Since Psylocke doesn’t want to make regular attacks for damage since she loses out on cancelling powers, you don’t need her to have crazy stats. The dial length is nice at 90 points, but you can save a whopping 50 points by losing a single stat in movement and attack. Her top-dial Perplex raising her to an 11-attack at 40 points makes her more than reliable, and she can always get a boost from a Headmaster to drop defensive powers before the rest of her team moves in.

Verdict: This is the Chase you want. Psylocke is extremely good and will be a welcome addition to any X-Men team she’s on. I’ll begrudgingly hunt her.

Prizes

For the prize figures, I’m going to review these like anything else rather than comparing them to any other figure. I’ll cover them like I would in a normal review, but if they are similar to a specific figure, I’ll reference that as well.

Lots of bite on this dial for a pretty cheap cost. I wouldn’t play this Wolverine on his 70-point line as you get so much more for 30 additional points like a better reducer, 12-attack, but most importantly you get Charge instead of Sidestep. The big problem I have with this Wolverine is that he’s so incredibly slow to engage in the fight on his lower point value, or if he takes a hit. Relegating a purely melee figure to Sidestep or Flurry for over half their dial (or starting that way) is brutal and seriously dampens their effectiveness.

His ability to make FREE attacks is very good, however, and does allow him to close the gap as he can potentially move 10 squares and then make a free close attack (note; not CLOSE) to throw a little damage back, pushing the following turn for Exploit Weakness or Flurry. To finalize the dial, his STOP click is good as it has a nice 18, making him hard to hit, and the Regen is FREE, although you’ll get nothing on a 1 or 2. If your dice are hot and your opponent can’t double-tap him, he can live longer than most Logan’s.

Verdict: I think the order of importance is Super Rare from Xavier’s School, Common, and then Prize figure. I honestly believe the common is more playable than this guy, which is kind of nice since he’ll be easier to get.

Cyclops doesn’t run into the same issues that Wolverine does as he doesn’t need to close the gap. This figure is much stronger than the Wolverine prize as he has potential to make some devastating hits on those first four clicks.

While he doesn’t have the ability to make FREE attacks like Wolverine or the Super Rare headmasters, his stats and powers are brutal, and both point lines are extremely playable. At 100 points, you get a massive 12-attack, 4-damage, 8-range Energy Explosion figure with Running Shot and Leadership. At 70 points, you get arguably a better click with Sidestep, 11-Precision Strike, and 3-Ranged Combat Expert making him a brutally efficient sniper. His last three clicks are pretty much garbage, but that’s fine because his STOP click rewards you for keeping your team alive by potentially healing him all the way back to full health FOR FREE. FREE, guys. No rolling. It just happens.

If this wasn’t enough, Cyclops gets two of the best traits I’ve ever seen with PROTECTED: Mind Control, Outwit, and Pen/Psy, which takes him to the upper echelons of safe ranged attacker, and making all “X-” figures X-Men during force construction. WHAT?! No longer will you have an issue with which roster which character is on and how they should have this keyword, etc., etc. Just throw Cyke on the team at 70 points and you’ve got your theme team, baby!

Verdict: Do you play X-Men, or X-teams? You do?! Great, then you NEED Cyclops. There’s no question about it. This dial is absurd and I honestly I think he’s better than the headmaster. He won’t replace him as a low-cost ID summon, but holy crap on a cracker, he’s a must-have.

TWO Gambits?! And this one is the Avatar of Death, something we’ve never gotten in clix before? Be still, my beating heart!

Horseman Remy is all about taking everything to the extreme. Damage? All penetrating. Poison? 3-square area of effect (penetrating). Incapacitate? 2 tokens and Immobile, with two targets mind you. This guy just oozes domination and his ability to subdue any threat he encounters is fantastic. Bystander armies will drown in his Poison. One man armies will be completely helpless as they continually get 2 action tokens every other turn. Reducers don’t matter.

Gambit might be a little slow, but that’s perfectly fine because he’s in no rush, and his kit of Stealth, Invulnerability, and Shape Change will make him so infuriating to actually deal with. If Gambit does take a hit or two, he’s got both Steal Energy and Regeneration to heal back up into that tough outer shell. The only “bad” click on this dial is his third click, and he still has 9-Sidestep, 10-attack with his Incap power, 17-Invulnerability, and 3-damage.

Verdict: Who isn’t going to want this guy? Sure, he’s slow to engage, but think about all the control he brings to the board and the fact that he’s 100 points meaning he can call in some seriously big threats. Remy will be a breakout figure from this set. Get him if you can.

Moonstar hasn’t been made since Fantastic Forces, so I would say she’s due for a remake.

65-points is a sweet spot for archers (Hawkeye rings a bell), and while Moonstar might not exude brokeness like Clint or Oliver, she’s still pretty good. I like that her Incapacitate deals her normal damage value in addition to the effect which won’t make you feel like you burned an attacker to just hand out tokens. Keep in mind this doesn’t say her printed damage, so you can Perplex her or use Enhancement to raise that value and get even more out of her power.

Once she hits her STOP click, she becomes a heavy melee figure that can pump out a ton of damage. Invulnerability and Super Senses on a STOP click is nothing to dismiss, and with those combat values she’ll make her opponent feel the heat for hitting her.

What I really like about Moonstar is since she’s only 65 points, you won’t feel like you overspent on a figure that won’t do too much on her own to start the game. She’ll still be pretty good at locking figures down, but you can play her aggressively and lure people into her STOP click.

Verdict: Not nearly as overwhelming as Gambit, but still pretty neat. I don’t think she’s worth tracking down like Remy is, but I would keep her if I won her.

Archangel for 100 points or less? Get out of town. Archangel is one of my favorite characters in the X-Men franchise, so I’m always very picky about how good or bad he is, and it’s tough for versions to live up to the monster from Uncanny X-Men.

Thankfully, this version of Warren is actually very, very good. While his defenses aren’t good at all, his Shape Change and huge movement value with Hypersonic Speed will make it difficult to actually hit him, and chances are you’re doing it from range making him sit at a huge 19-defense, or 20 if he’s in hindering terrain (he better be). His attack values are big as they should be, and the Indomitable will make sure he can keep pumping out damage. 3-damage isn’t much for how powerful of a character his is, but Precision Strike means he can get through any character in the game.

If Warren does take a hit and chunks down into his last clicks, he’s a scary melee attacker with high Charge values, Blades, and Exploit Weakness, not to mention the dude never drops his defense value or goes lower than a 10-attack. Icing on the cake is his Steal Energy from any attack, and if he heals up from it, he pumps that defense up to an 18 base.

Verdict: Yep, you should probably get him. This is a superb example how trimming powers you think a character should have (reducers) and playing him correctly can make you wonder why they’re so cheap in points. At either point level, he’s extremely playable.

To my knowledge, this is the first time we’ve seen Magneto’s clone in the game, hence the Joseph real name. What’s hilarious is that this dial is WAY better than the common in this set, meaning the clone is better than the real thing.

125 points is a bit steep, making Joseph the highest-cost character in the set, but look at what you get for that value. 11-attack Pulse Wave that goes through walls, 18-Impervious, and 4-Leadership that only gets stronger as he takes damage. Hitting this guy for 4 (he takes 2 damage) feels like an insult and will probably make whoever made that decision feel like a dunce for not Perplexing that damage value over attack.

Even if Jospeh is knocked passed click 3, he’s still a beefy threat that can tear holes through most characters on the map. It isn’t until he hits click 5 that he starts seeing some danger, and even then he’s still nuking throughout the game.

Verdict: Hell yes! This is a fantastic Magneto dial that will make you feel like the undisputed master of magnetism. The firepower this guy is rocking is unreal and his 125-point cost is actually a damn bargain.

GRAND PRIZES

Both of these dials are strange as they work in a very similar fashion with Wolverine being adept at melee and attacking ranged characters and vice-versa with Cyclops, and they’re both very deep dials for their cost.

Wolverine has a pretty beefy top-click, but I’m not sure I would ever roll for Blades since he has a 4-damage to start with, so it’s an odd choice to give him the power with that value. I like the idea that these guys can only be dealt printed damage, but with Toughness and low defense values, that means they’re going to easy to take down by two or three hits. Thankfully Wolverine has Steal Energy on every click so he can heap back through his dial, but once he takes a hit, he’s never going to claw his way back up to the top.

The best part of this dial is the placement after a ranged attack and healing afterwards. This gives Wolverine a lot more aggression than he seems. It’s also neat that he deals increased damage when NOT rolling for Blades against someone with a range value. 4-damage across the board to people that can make ranged attacks is nice.

My big complaint here is why he has a power called Feral Fury that prevents him from being carried instead of just Battle Fury. Just give him Battle Fury. He’s already hyper-specialized.

Verdict: Not a bad option but highly specialized. If you manage to pull the win from the entire event for your side, you should be happy with him. I wouldn’t specifically go out of my way to obtain him though.

Cyclops gets the better end of the stick out of these two dials. Unlike Wolverine, Cyclops can continually move around and take shots rather than needing to get next to someone and have a chance of them running away. I would much rather have a ranged attacker with big values that automatically moves away after being hit in melee, and then heals than a melee attacker that does the opposite. While Wolverine has some dumb potential with map teleporting, Cyclops has a better dial for most games.

The ranged Steal Energy will help Cyclops a lot more than Wolverine’s regular Steal Energy as you can throw allies into the fray to prevent Cyclops from taking further damage, and his placement requires enemies to continually dive deeper to get to him.

Now we see why Wolverine doesn’t have regular Battle Fury; they wanted them to share a power and be equal. I still think it would have given Wolverine an even dial if he ignored Shape Change while Cyclops just gets the carry prevention.

Verdict: A strong sniper dial that will be a pain to remove from the map. I think this is the better grand prize, so absolutely keep him if you win him. Possibly worth tracking down, but I think the regular Cyclops prize is better.

Okay, so that went a LOT longer than I thought, haha! My intention was to keep these short and they did feel that way, but here I am over 6,000 words again. Oh well.

What are your thoughts on these dials? Which side are you looking to join (if you haven’t already picked one)? Which do you think is better for the events overall and which has the better prizes? Let me know in the comments section below!

San Diego Comic-Con is next week, so I’ll be gone for the next two weeks, returning to Two Clicks From KO on Tuesday, July 30th, and here again on Tuesday, August, 6th. Holy crap, how are we already this far in the year? I’ll probably be coming back with some team builds as I’ve only done a handful with ABPI, so feel free to let me know what you’d like to see.

Take care everyone! See you in two weeks ^_^