001 Wolverine

A 50 point Wolverine with a 12 attack? What has the world come to? This is a fantastic figurehead for the set, with a ton of power at a very low price. Woverine’s only got a single click of Charge, but with a 12 attack and an 18defense along side it, it’s going to take some work to actually bring down this 50 point menace. As he takes damage he gets less mobile and his defense falls, but he picks up Super Senses or Regeneration. He’s incredibly deadly, but the placement of Regeneration on his third click is a mixed blessing, as it lets him get back to his first click easily, but it also leaves him naked if he takes 3 damage on his first click. Wolverine’s offensive capability also heavily relies on using Blades/Claws/Fangs, a great power for a 50 point figure, but with a single Outwit Wolverine can be completely neutered. Finally, Wolverine does have a trait, and it’s a doozy. If your opponent is within 3 of him they can’t use Stealth or Shape Change, letting him make an impact even if he’s just moving up on your turn. It also means that this Wolverine is an amazing call-in for teams looking to deal with Shape Change. If you’re already playing the SR Wolverine on your sideline, throwing this one on as an additional option costs you nothing but a slot on your sideline, and can easily help you with characters relying on Stealth or Shape Change.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 5/5

002 Rogue

Rogue is a buffed up version of your average common beat-down figure, with all the same issues they normally have. First the good, Rogue’s got traited Steal Energy, although only on turns she hasn’t moved or been placed, giving her some good longevity. Rogue’s best assets are Flight and Indomitable, letting her act as a decent taxi, and allowing her to move and drop someone off, and then attacking the next turn to make best use of her Steal Energy. Defensively she’s relying heavily on her three clicks of Invulnerable, and offensively, she’s got an 11/4 top-dial, putting her leagues above a lot of traditionally mediocre close attackers. Now for the bad, she’s 60 points and has a 17 defense top-dial, making me wonder if two different people designed her and Wolverine. She’s only got a single click of Charge, and unlike Wolverine, doesn’t have the later dial to make up for it. Yes she can heal and has great reducers, but she’s 10 points too expensive for what she brings to the table. That printed 11/4 is amazing, but I don’t think Rogue will get the chance to use it too often.

Sealed: 2/5

Constructed: 1/5

003 Beast

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, the difference between winning and losing a sealed Heroclix tournament is three powers: Perplex, Outwit and Probability Control. Beast heard me and came running with his dial full of Perplex and Outwit. Beast brings a double Perplex to the field for your team, turning 10s into 12s, and 17s into 19s. He doesn’t have much in the terms of offense for his first three clicks, but it doesn’t matter too much. He can tie-up, or he can be a X-Men team ability battery for your better attackers, it just matters that instead of rolling 7s you’re going to need to roll 5s with him on the board. Of course, Beast also brings two clicks of Outwit at the end of his dial giving you some extra value if he takes some damage, or if you push him to it.

Sealed: 5/5

Constructed: 3/5

004 Assasin’s Guild

Fora 15 point generic figure, I really don’t think you can do better than this. He’s got two clicks, both with some form of move and attack and Blades/Claws/Fangs, and a specialized Stealth that lets him block lines of fire when he’s adjacent to hindering terrain. It’s far better than Stealth because he doesn’t have the Improved Movement to properly use his Stealth. This assassin’s values are fine, spectacular for the points even, and the combination of Combat Reflexes and Stealth makes it hard to hit these guys. They’re going to be fantastic body blockers and some surprisingly real threats if they get up close. I love these guys!

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 3/5

005 Guard Command

The second generic figure doesn’t quite live up to the assassin before it. Guard Command is a cheap Incapacitate figure who’s Incap lowers the attack value of anyone they hit with it. They have this power for two clicks, and then pick up Defend and Support to heal for the last half of their dial. With 5 range, low damage and only a single target, Guard Command doesn’t do that much, and has a below average defense to do that with. Skip them.

Sealed: 2/5

Constructed: 1/5

006 Friends of Humanity

The last of the generic common figures is the cheapest, and because of that, probably the most likely to be played. For a measly 5 points, you can get a single click figure with the potential for some surprisingly serious damage with both kinds of Combat Expert and Blades/Claws/Fangs. There’s no bad click on the dial, though the Plasticity/Poison is probably the worst, depending on a 16 defense to reliable tie figures up. There’s not much to say about the Friends of Humanity because they’re so cheap you’re most likely going to be playing them if you pull them. In constructed, they’re the new theme team filler for Sentinel and Brute teams. Neither are the strongest of keywords, but it’s worth having a few just in case. They’re also generated by a lot of figures in this set, but I’m still not comfortable giving away 5 points to my opponents when they only need to hit 16’s to score them.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 2/5

007 Bolivar Trask

Bolivar Trask is the first figure to generate the Friends of Humanity (and the Sentinel’s if he’s got enough friends). I’m hesitant to be excited about these traits, unlike those of the characters from Earth X, as the Friends of Humanity and Sentinels are scored when they are killed, offering your opponents more chances at scoring. While there is the chance to be pumping out deadly sentinels every turn for the rest of the game and overwhelming your opponent with fire power, you really don’t want to give away any points at all. Besides the generation, Trask can also use Support as a free action to heal robot characters. For 35 points, this is definitely going to see some fringe play, as the robot keyword has gotten so much stronger from this set. Bolivar’s generation might end up being an issue, but having the option on top of another strong ability is never a bad thing. In sealed, there’s no point in playing him unless you pulled one of the strong, long dialed robot characters.

Sealed: 2/5

Constructed: 3/5

008 Scanner

Beast brings the Perplex and Outwit, and Scanner brings the Probability Control. Scanner is a really weird figure for a common, she requires a lot of finesse, but has huge potential with her bystander. Without her bystander trait, Scanner is a figure with no offensive potential until she loses Probability Control for Mind Control. What she can do though, is generate a great bystander, but in doing so, Scanner loses the ability to take actions. Luckily, Probability Control isn’t an action, and so she can still use it, even if she’s relying on her bystander at the moment. Scanner’s bystander is really interesting, as it doesn’t interact with the game in the way most characters do. It can’t be used to block lines of fire, or tie-up characters, but it still stops ranged attackers from making ranged attacks adjacent to it. It’s also got a ton of defense (though it should almost never be attacked), and the offensive combo of Exploit Weakness and Mind Control, letting it mess with your opponents. Of course, since it can’t tie-up opponents, it’s hard to get the Exploit Weakness off, and without any range it’s Mind Control is limited to 4 squares, but it’s going to be one of the most annoying figures in the sealed environment, getting itself into position to try to Mind Control your best figures, pulling them into death boxes, or just getting them to attack your weaker figures, or slowly eating away at characters with reducers stuck in close combat, or with two tokens. Since Scanner can generate as many bystanders as she wants (just one at a time) there’s no danger in pushing one to death, as she’ll just pop another one out. Scanner reminds me a lot of one of my favourite figures from World’s Finest, Negative Man. She’s not as good as him, but free bystanders that can threaten damage are way better than most people expect them to be. Just make sure you have Leadership on your team, because her bystanders aren’t Autonomous.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 3/5

009 Callisto

It’s hard to imagine that Callisto is 15 points less than Rogue when he can hit just as hard, and in some ways is even harder to deal with, as he’s got the winning combination of Stealth and Combat Reflexes, giving him a 19 defense up close. Callisto might not have the mobility of the other close attackers, but with his ability to carry other Morlocks as well as allowing them to carry, and his Leadership that succeeds automatically if he’s hit with an attack, he’s a really valuable addition to most sealed teams and can make a pretty decent dent in anyone he can Sidestep next to.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 2/5

010 Kleinstock Brother

Assuming you’re only getting a single Kleinstock Brother in sealed, is their any point in running them? No, there isn’t. I think Eric can carry a single character that doesn’t share a keyword with him, so maybe he’s an okay taxi, but with an awkward point value, and low damage, there’s probably a better option. Let’s say you get lucky(?) and pull two of these guys. Now they’ve got some better reducers and still a very low damage value, and if you’re playing draft and get 3 (that’s actually quite possible), I still wouldn’t play them. 100 points for 3 figures that will be torn apart by a colossal is not my idea of value.

Sealed: 2/5

Constructed: 1/5

011a Magneto

The first Magneto in this set isn’t terrible, but he lacks something to make him a must play common. Magneto’s more of a support figure, using his Sidestep with Flight and Telekinesis to get his friends into position, and with his special Telekinesis he can potentially remove an action token or place two characters in the same team. With Leadership, Magneto has two chances a turn to remove action tokens in a turn, but he’s missing Willpower and any offensive powers to make him a threat. Even with the fun combination between his trait that heals him a click whenever a token is removed from him, and his Telekinesis that can remove said token, Magneto suffers every time he pushes, losing his Invulnerability and eventually his Willpower and Sidestep. There’s nothing wrong with this dial, but besides his 7 range, there’s nothing exciting either. Here’s some great Telekinesis, but it’s up to you to decide if that’s worth your 75 points.

Sealed: 2/5

Constructed: 2/5

011b Magneto

There might be a few people out there who look down on this prime because of his trait, and it’s hard not to disagree. Until Magneto rolls three ‘1’s during his attack rolls, he can’t deal more than one damage to any target, and he takes a single damage from attacks aimed at him. It’s not reliable that he’ll be able to successfully roll what he needs, so don’t expect to be using his huge damage stat and the Ranged Combat Expert to go with it. On-top of that, when Magento is killed, whoever kills him picks up Energy Shield/Deflection, making him a big target for your opponents. With all of that being said, Magneto is actually an incredible figure in sealed and constructed. For 50 points you’ve got a figure that your opponents are forced to hit atleast 5 times, and who can deal a single penetrating damage to up to 2 opponents within 8 range, and then choose which direction to knock them back, giving you a way to manipulate the placement of your opponents figures. In sealed his immense range and great values give him a chance of surviving until he has rolled enough 1’s to end the game single handed. In constructed Magneto is going to be all over Don’t Die teams and Robot theme teams, and have a special place on the sideline with the Magneto ID card, because with a swing of 13, he’s able to easily deal with colossal retaliators.

Sealed: 5/5

Constructed: 5/5

012 Deadpool

This is a really interesting take on Deadpool, losing the usual offensive powers in favour of a dial full of annoying tricks. For 30 points, Deadpool is mostly getting in the way, Perplexing down opposing values, and hoping they waste some attacks on him, because when they miss, he gives them an action token. Deadpool’s also got a surprising 6 range with Incapacitate or 2 damage, giving him some use as an offensive figure. Basically you want to put Deadpool at the front of your army, Perplexing down attack and damage on dangerous figures, and defense on the figures you want to kill. That being said, he’s still a low impact figure, who’s fairly likely to die after two attacks, but at 30 points, that might be enough.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 1/5

Uncommons

013 Cyclops

Cyclops is a glass cannon. He’s got a great 11 attack, 3 damage, Running Shot+Penetrating/Psychic Blast+Force Blast that goes wonderfully with his massive 8 Range, but to protect himself, he’s relying on an 18 Defense with Willpower. 18 is a great number for him to have, but a naked defense is never where you want to be, luckily he’s not going to need to worry too much when he can out-range a lot of the single based figures in this set. Cyclops has also got one of the most powerful special Leadership powers in the game, as it lets a friendly character with no action tokens move half their speed for free. Of course, it’s not reliable enough to be overpowered, but it will make him a monster in sealed with other X-Men, but you need to keep Cyclops top-dial, as soon as he takes damage he loses all his offensive power and all his mobility. He does have the X-Men team ability to help him get back up, but one small tap on Cyclops, and he’s neutered.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 3/5

014 Jean Grey

The last two X-Men sets have had two incredibly powerful Jean Grey’s; the fast forces Jean Grey from Uncanny X-Men, and the Chase Jean Grey from Xavier’s School. This Jean Grey does not live up to her predecessors. That being said, her defense power has the unique effect of giving all X-Men on your team Toughness. If you’ve got a lot of squishy X-Men on your team, Jean Grey might be a life saver, but I’m really not excited about running a 50 point figure with no move and attack, and who’s major value comes from Telekinesis. Even if you’ve got a Cyclops on your side, I still feel like Jean Grey is nothing more than a waste of 50 points.

Sealed: 2/5

Constructed: 2/5

015 Cable

This new version of Cable takes a page from the book of Loki from The Mighty Thor. With an extra 25 point investment, Cable gets two holograms of himself that have two clicks of life and the same values and powers as Cable. Cable’s first two clicks are decent, with average to high values, but are a let-down in the powers department. Between the three of them they have Sidestep with 7 range, and a single use of Telekinesis. Luckily, it’s unlikely for you to get more than one of these Cable’s in sealed, so there’s no need to consider paying 100 points for him. For 75 you get 5 clicks of life with a stop-click precariously placed right in the middle of the dial, and a weird combination of powers and values insuring he’s never quite great. His first two clicks give him free Telekinesis which gives him a pseudo Running Shot, but he lacks any other offensive power, making him better suited to being a support figure, because free TK is really, really good. In the latter half of his dial he picks up Running Shot+Precision Strike+Probability Control, but his attack value falls to a measly 9, making him a lackluster attacker, but still giving him some decent support options with Prob. I don’t like this figure, I think it’s messily designed, and barely worth the investment, but the things he can do are necessary for a team in sealed, and he can survive some serious hits, raising his value tremendously. This is the figure I’m playing almost every time I pull him, but I’m never happy about playing.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 2/5

016 Belladonna

If I thought Cable was messy, I don’t know what to think about Belladonna. If Belladonna didn’t have any traits, she would be a straight-forward figures with an average dial and a unique enough set of powers to see some play. She’s a 5 click long ranged attack who forces opponents to come to her with Stealth, and uses her Poison after they base her. Mid-dial she becomes a little more aggressive with Running Shot and Energy Explosion, but isn’t doing anything spectacular; she’s good filler and not much more. With her traits though, she picks up Mind Control, and has one of the messiest tricks in the game. Belladonna was created to that she could Mind Control an opposing character, get them to move adjacent to her, and then give them a Wedding Ring token if she can hit them with a second attack. With her highest attack value being a 10, I don’t like her chances of being able to hit the same character twice, but even if she does, I don’t love the outcome. First the good, characters with the Wedding Ring token lower their defense when target with Belladonna’s Mind Control, making it easier to follow up with further Mind Controls. Now for the less good, Belladonna can target that character without needing range or line of fire. Normally I’d be all over a power like that, but the issue here is that, to get a Wedding Ring on a character, Belladonna needs to be adjacent. If you’re starting adjacent to Belladonna, what’s the chance the same character that you’ve hit twice, and made adjacent is going to survive long enough for Belladonna to make attacks when he’s not within range and line of fire? It’s not great. Either way, Belladonna is the perfect example of a 3/5 figure. She’s good enough to see play on any team, but doesn’t do anything to make herself a must play.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 1/5

017 Graydon Creed

Graydon’s one of the many figures that generate Friends of Humanity, but he doesn’t have access to the sentinels. Assuming you don’t have any friends of humanity to generate, Graydon is 4 clicks of Leadership with surprisingly good stats for a support figure. Graydon’s strength comes in the form of a special Poison that gives characters hurt by it a Diseased token which gives them the chance to be hurt every time he uses his Poison. It’s pretty great power, and with 3 damage and 4 range, Graydon isn’t a horrendous attacker either. That being said, he’s almost 50 points for someone who’s easily killed in a single attack, and a majority of his points come from a trait that won’t see play in sealed, and isn’t good enough for constructed. He’s certainly not a “never play this in sealed” kind of figure, but he’s just a little lackluster.

Sealed: 2/5

Constructed: 1/5

018 Senator Robert Kelly

In sealed, Robert Kelly is 30 points of Leadership and Perplex against opposing characters. On-top of that, when he dies he joins your opponents team. Do not play him. In constructed, he’s able to generate Friends of Humanity figures whenever he succeeds at Leadership. If he creates enough Friends of Humanity, he can generate a Sentinel instead. It’s pretty powerful except that your opponents score these generated figures normally. This makes Senator Robert Kelly a huge liability, and that’s only if he succeeds at Leadership, if he fails, he’s stuck doing next to nothing for the entirety of your game until he inevitably ends up on your opponents force.

Sealed: 1/5

Constructed: 2/5

019 Ameila Voght

I’m not going to pass up 45 point Perplex on a figure who ‘s got even more going on. While she doesn’t have the X-Men keyword, she can carry basically any other figure from the set, but even if you don’t have anyone for her to carry, Amelia can hold her own his her special defense power. She gets Super Senses, and for the small price of two action tokens, she, or any adjacent friendly character can reduce any damage over 3 to 1 unavoidable damage. I’ve been worried about how the powerful 2×2 base figures could run rampant over the cheaper and weaker single based figures, but this figure is going to be a way to keep those high damage values in check.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 2/5

020 Fabian Cortez

Fabian is another great 45 point support figure with a pretty great offensive dial as well. For 45 points, Fabian’s got 5 clicks of life with lots of Stealth and Steal Energy down his dial. What makes him really impressive is his 5 range and his 18 defense top-dial. As a support figure he brings Leadership and Enhancement for his first three clicks and a powerful trait that lets him boost an adjacent characters values by 1 at the cost of a power action and a 66% chance for the character to take a damage at the end of your turn. It’s a power that can be used offensively as well, especially if Fabian is adjacent to a double tokened character, minimizing the affect of the stat boost. I absolutely love this guy in sealed, he’s a cheap, long-dialed, surprisingly offensive figure who can turn any of your characters (especially your larger ones) into killing machines with a power action.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 3/5

021 Blob

Blob one of the best hard to kill figures ever seen in the uncommon slot. Blob takes 5 hits to kill, and every time he spends his turn not moving he increases his defense, until it gets to incredibly high levels. Even Outwit can’t help punch through Blob, and he’s only 60 points! Offensively he’s no slouch either, he’s got high attack and reasonable damage values as well as Close Combat Expert and Charge for his first two clicks. As he takes damage he becomes less dangerous and more of a tie-up figure, picking up Plasticity to keep people locked down next to him as his defense reaches a 19. He might not have Willpower, or great mobility for his Charge, but Blob is too hard to take down without a huge amount of effort to miss playing. If you pull Blob, you have to play him.

Sealed: 5/5

Constructed: 3/5

022 Toad

Toad is the main tie-up figure for this set with 5 clicks of Plasticity and a Super Senses which heals him a click when misses the roll. For 45 points, he’s not going to be the most impactful figure you can field from this set, but his surprising 18 defense top-dial is giving him some surprising survivability. Offensively it’s a wash with single target Incapacitate and Quake barely letting him dent opponents, but that’s not why you’re playing Toad. The only reason Toad isn’t the best tie-up in this set is because of the giant and colossal characters. While he’ll still affect giants, there’s just too many strong figures in this set that completely neutralize his biggest strength leaving him as an underwhelming tie-up figure in this sealed format.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 1/5

23a Sabretooth

Sabretooth is another insanely powerful close attacker in sealed with all the values and powers needed to be a threat on the battlefield. Before we get into anything else, his special movement power on his first and fourth clicks is really what makes him dangerous. Charge/Flurry/Stealth is an incredible combination for a close attacker, and if he can get the first hit in on any opponent he’s making two attacks with Blades/Claws/Fangs and a 12 attack. Defensively Sabretooth is relying on Super Senses and Combat Reflexes, and a trait that potentially heals him 1 or 2 clicks whenever he takes damage from an opponents attack, minimizing the amount of damage he can take. I don’t think Sabretooth is perfect, especially since his movement power is limited to his first click, but he can certainly earn more than his 75 point cost.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 2/5

23b Sabretooth

The second of the Danger Room primes is by far my least favourite due to the fact he seems to be built around the potential to deal massive damage, but is completely limited by his trait, unlike Magneto who’s useful regardless of the amount of error tokens he has. Sabretooth’s dial is amazing for 45 points, 5 clicks of life, most of which have 18 defense, Charge/Flurry/Blades with massive attack values, and Toughness throughout. It’s not bad at all, but compared to the other primes who are ranged focused, he has trouble. There’s two silver linings to Sabretooth, the first is his one click of Regeneration which he’ll always land on as long as he’s got tokens, and the second is the potential to remove tokens. Unlike the other two primes, Sabretooth can make two attacks a turn, giving him way more chances to pull tokens off and turn into a monster close attacker. In sealed this guy is a must play if you pull him, he takes hits and insures small amounts of damage, and when played right, has the potential to outlive almost every figure. In constructed he will see play on don’t die style robot teams, and if they’re successful you’ll see a lot of him, and if they’re mediocre, they’re going to drop him for a better robot.

Sealed: 5/5

Constructed: 2/5

Colossal Uncommons

g001a Sentinel Squad ONE

I love playing vehicles in sealed, and Sentinel Squad One is pretty decent for its points if you pull a strong attacker to pilot it. Sentinel Squad ONE comes in with three different versions. The first is a ranged variant with a few clicks of Running Shot and Ranged Combat Expert as well as Energy Shield down the dial. The second is a carbon copy except that the ranged powers are replaced with their close equivalents. The final dial is where it really comes together, giving Sentinel a bunch of support powers and a special attack power that let’s you use Incapacitate over and over again until you miss with an attack, or have no more targets to use it on. Giving out a single token to your opponents whole army is awesome, especially when you’ve got the ability to give up that power for a strong attack from a Cyclops or Cable inside. Sentinel Squad ONE makes your best figures better, just imagine them having 5 or 6 more clicks for 70 points. Without a synergistic character, I’m passing this guy for another figure, but with the right pilot he’s gold.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 2/5

g001b Stealth Sentinel

This Sentinel calls back to the colossal sentinel who could switch dials at will, giving you access to an offensive and defensive side. This Stealth Sentinel is the same way with an incredibly hard to hit defensive side, which features high defenses, Super Senses, Stealth and free Smoke Cloud. At 200 and 100 points, the defensive side has Probability Control as well, making that roll for a 20/18 much harder to make. On the offensive side, Stealth Sentinel makes great use of its 8 range with two targets, especially at it’s 200 point dial. 13 attack with 5 damage and Penetrating/Psychic Blast can put an instant hole in anything in this set. If you take damage, you can start each turn by switching from one side to the other to heal a click, and if you’re stuck on the offensive side and take too much damage, there’s not much to worry about as he’s got two stop-clicks to protect him. In sealed I think I’m likely to play it at 200 points, where it can rely on a 20 defense to stay alive, and take pot shots on safe turns with it’s massive attack values, but 150 and 100 both offer a lot. If you play him at 100, you’re going to be staying on the offensive side a lot more to make good use of the 11 attack and 4 damage, as 18 defense isn’t quite as impactful as a 19 or 20. This is a really great prime and it could easily see some play in constructed as a call-in battery.

Sealed: 5/5

Constructed: 4/5

g002 Sentinel

These 25 point Sentinel’s are pretty great for filling in points with decently high values and strong powers on every starting line. There’s really no reason to pay 33 for them unless you’ve got a unusual amount of points left over. Any click that you get them on will be usable for any team. The worst click is the Stealth+Incapacitate click, but even if you never use Incapacitate you’re sitting on a 10 attack, 3 damage figure with Stealth, you could do a lot worse for 25 points.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 3/5

g003 Nimrod

Now this is why I like having colossal figures in sealed. Nimrod is an impressive figure, and he should be when he costs 175 points. Nimrod’s power comes from his three traits, the first gives him the choice of any attack power every turn. The second let’s him attempt to roll higher than any attack that hits him, and if he succeeds he evades the attack AND deals damage back to the attacker, and if he misses the roll and takes more than 1 damage, his third trait kicks in, and he gets a token he can remove to heal himself for a single click. The biggest danger with Nimrod is that he doesn’t have protected Outwit, but with his high defense values, and the doubling up on protection with his trait, he’s not an easy figure to deal with by any means. If I pull a Nimrod there’s a 90% chance I’m playing him, and the only reason I wouldn’t be was if I pulled a better colossal. This is a 8 click long figure with 5 clicks of 19 defense, and a traited roll-out on-top of that.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 4/5

g004 Proteus

This is a bit of a change from the last Proteus dial from Uncanny X-Men, but there’s no doubt that he’s just as good. In sealed you’re going to have the option of playing Proteus at 150 or 20 points, and the decision is going to come down to what else you pull with him, because both point values are fantastic. The first thing to know about Proteus at either point value is his trait. It gives him Barrier, Shape Change and Smoke Cloud and lets you use Barrier or Smoke Cloud for free with limited affect. For a 20 point colossal retaliator, free Barrier on-top of regular Barrier is an absolute game changer, but that’s not all, as a kind of lackluster ending to the trait, it also stops characters within 3 of him from using Improved Movement and Targeting abilities. I suppose it’s a fair trade off, as most of the characters that will be within 3 of him are your own, but it’s more than worth it. As a retaliator, Proteus makes a normal close attack as a retaliation, but has Battle Fury to get through any Shape Change. If he hits, the hit character modifies their attack value on their next two attacks by half a D6 roll, even if he dies. It’s an interesting, but possibly lackluster ability on Proteus, but it doesn’t matter because he can do that, and create a Barrier in a single turn.

At 150, Proteus becomes a more offensive figure with an interesting movement power that let’s him use Mind Control for free with his 5 range, and if he hits, he can choose that the hit character can’t make attacks next turn, and Proteus teleports beside them. There are so many options here, it’s insane. Proteus can just use it normally as a free Mind Control every turn, or he can use it as a pseudo move and attack, placing himself next to the newly neutered character, before following up with a Pulse Wave. Proteus also can’t be ranged attack when he’s placed like this, making it even harder to approach him. Play him at 150, play him at 20, just make sure you play him.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 4/5

g005 Exodus

This might be my favourite of the uncommon 2×2 bases. Exodus is by no means the most powerful of the uncommons, but I love the Genoshan Force Field trait, and the interesting options it gives you at the beginning of the game. The trait does two things, stops characters from moving when they move a number of squares from Exodus during a non-move action, and lowers the attack value of characters making attacks outside the same number of squares at targets within that number. What makes it great is that you get to decide what that number is. If you’re running a close combat team, you’re going to want to choose a low number to give them, and Exodus protection from ranged attacks as you move up, as well as stopping characters with Charge from using it to get adjacent. If your opponents team is full of move and attack, choosing a large number allows Exodus to stop them in their tracks, and forces them to wait for Exodus to get closer, or to waste an action moving. Of course, if an opponent moves closer, Exodus can always move away, forcing them to repeat the cycle. Aside from the trait, Exodus can be played at 150 or 75 points, doubling the amount of clicks of life at 150 from 5 to 10. There’s not much of a difference in the dial between the two besides a better reducer, and higher values. Exodus has a massive attack power that grants him 4 different attack powers including a Precision Strike that works with Energy Explosion, and a special Leadership that lets him take tokens off of up to 3 characters, increasing his values for each character he removes a token from. While his 75 point dial looks a little weak after taking some damage, I’d almost always play him at his lower point value to get the best use of his force field trait, as I think that’s what really makes him a pain to deal with.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 3/5

g006 Onslaught

Onslaught is the first of the colossals to have the “Behind the Scenes” trait, which protects them from being targeted from more than 5 squares away. This is honestly a huge deal for a figure that can be targeted over everything when they’re outdoors, and gives Onslaught a huge boost to his defense. Onslaught only has a single starting line that’s relevant to sealed, 125, and it’s a pretty interesting dial for the points. He’s only got 6 clicks of life, but with a top-dial reducer, an immunity to Outwit and Penetrating/Psychic Blast and Probability Control and Shape Change, those six clicks are fairly well protect. Offensively Onslaught is depending entirely on his trait that grants him Incapacitate, Telekinesis or Mind Control as free. With his 9 range and 3 targets, a free Mind Control can potentially give you an extra three attacks (using your opponents figures) each turn, and it lets Onslaught move and attack consistently. He’s got decently high attack and damage values insuring he’s dangerous on turns he makes ranged attacks, and keeps his free options strong. The last thing Onslaught’s got going for him is a special attack power that ignores Charge and Combat Reflexes and knocks back characters his by his close attacks and forces them to drop any equipment attached to them. Ideally Onslaught won’t ever be close enough to make close attacks, but I guess it’s a nice bonus to have, especially since all of his knock-back ignores those two powers, not just the knock-back from his close attacks. Onslaught is a tempo machine who just generates straight value every turn he’s able to target multiple characters with Incapacitate or Mind Control. He’s not as squishy as he seems, just keep him far enough in the back to avoid strong ranged attackers

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 3/5

g007 Juggernaut

When you look at Juggernaut’s top-dial values at his 300 point starting line, it’s drool worthy. 13 attack, 5 damage and 19 defense with a full move Quake. It’s almost, ALMOST worth the 300 points, especially since Juggernaut is going to be destroying 3 pieces of blocking terrain every chance he gets to remove action tokens and heal himself. Sadly, it’s too likely that Juggernaut will end up on a map that lacks blocking terrain, leaving him vulnerable to being overwhelmed quickly. 200 points is similarly strong, but missing that key 19 defense top-dial. I think even with the high values, it’s still too much to invest in a single figure, but once again he’s got some potential with enough blocking terrain. Finally, the most cost effective price point is his 100 point dial. It’s 6 clicks long, and even with the numerous reducers down the dial, it seems a little lackluster. He’s got 6 clicks, with decent values, and the ability to run through walls and full move and Quake, as well as a trait that removes a token from him when he destroys 3 or more pieces of blocking and heals him as well. With the right aggressive plays he can put you in really strong positions, but he needs enough blocking terrain on the map to reach his full potential. I can see him being a figure with huge swings of effectiveness. If you can get him in without issue, and get the first attack off, he can cripple an opposing figure, and hopefully rely on his defense powers to survive a turn, before continuing his rampage and healing himself. Acting every turn can be very powerful.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 2/5

g008 Sasquatch

Sasquatch is a definite step down from the previous uncommons, but he still has his place as a giant close attacker. Sasquatch has three point values, 175, 125 or 75, and very similar clicks across each. He’s a straight-forward close attacker with Charge on almost every click, except for a few with Sidestep, and a few with his special Charge that also lets him place himself within 5 squares and line of fire, and then Quake at no cost. The cool thing about this power is that since it’s not a move, you can rotate him whatever way you want placing parts of his base farther than the 5 squares, giving him an extended reach for his Quake. Sasquatch also has Outwit on the top-dial of his 75 point starting line, a fantastic power to have, especially on a close attacker. That being said, Sasquatch is 75 points for 5 clicks of life with a 17 Toughness on the top-click. There’s really nothing here that makes him worth that investment, and it’s even worse at 125 where he loses the Outwit for a more offensive set of powers and Perplex. If I pull any other Outwit figure, this guy’s getting passed over, but if he’s my only choice, there’s no way I’m not having Outwit on my team. Literally that single power makes him worth playing in my opinion, and I guess you’ll just need to try your best to keep this giant target from being easily wiped out.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 1/5

g009 Green Dragon Puff

While Green Dragon Puff might not be at the same level as a lot of the 2×2’s, I do like them more than Sasquatch, especially at the higher levels. Green Dragon Puff has access to a trait that grants her Force Blast, and lets her activate it at no cost when she moves, but only once per action, stopping her from using it with Hypersonic Speed. This seems like a fairly basic ability, but it combos perfectly with her special movement power, which gives her Sidestep (which will be another Force Blast activation) and twice a turn lets her freely destroy adjacent blocking terrain to make a ranged object attack with a light object.. While light objects only do 2 damage each, Puffs power lets her make two attacks, which each knockback their target, as well as using basic Force Blast twice. Imagine if you will, Green Dragon Puff is 10 squares away from one of your opponents figures, who’s adjacent to a wall. Puff flies over and Force Blasts them into said wall. Then she destroys two pieces of blocking terrain beside her, and makes two ranged attacks, that each knock said character into a wall, and then she Sidestep’s adjacent to another character and knocks them back. While it’s unlikely you’ll be doing all of that on a single turn, it gives Green Dragon Puff a surprisingly offensive dial, especially against the smaller figures in the set. At 150, Puff starts with Running Shot+Energy Explosion, a combo I’m not excited about at that high of a point value, but, surprisingly, at 225 Puff stands a chance. With 16 clicks of life and top-dial Hypersonic Speed, Puff can use her Force Blast as well as make an attack against anyone within 11 of her. I don’t think 225 is a must play, but I can see situations where it’s the best option to take.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 2/5

g010 Phoenix

The last of the uncommons is also the first of the Colossal Retaliators, and probably a figure you’re going to want to exclusively play as a retaliator as well. If you’re not playing her as a retalitaor Phoenix is a colossal ranged attacker with a massive 10 range with three targets. She’s starting off with Running Shot and Penetrating/Psychic Blast almost insuring that she’ll be getting the first attack off. Defensively she’s only got a 17 with Impervious, but with traited Energy Shield and Power Cosmic, she’s surprisingly safe from a lot of attacks. Her damage powers switch from Perplex to Ranged Combat Expert, and her only real weakness is the 4 clicks of Super Senses she has leading to her retalitation stop-click. It all sounds pretty good, and it’s certainly not bad, but you’re paying 175 for that. Phoenix also has traited Poison that she can use to heal herself, or adjacent friendly characters when she hurts someone with it. I don’t see it coming into play too often, but it’s a nice way to keep her alive if she gets surrounded. Her dial is probably worth the 175 points, but it is a huge chunk of your build total, especially compared to what she brings at 25 points. When you’re playing her on her last click, she’s less able to utilize her massive range, but still can use it to pick off opposing colossals, and she’s still got traited Energy Shield and Poison. What makes her great at 25 is her retaliation power, and her Telekinesis. 25 points for Telekinesis used to be killer value, and now it’s just the cherry on-top of this retaliator who deals damage for each action token on the characters she retaliates on. She also lowers the combat values on characters with specific powers, but once again, that’s just a little bonus. Her retaliation wouldn’t be great by itself, but combined with the range, the Telekinesis, and the Poison, she’s just so good, for so cheap. 175 would have to be so much better to compete with what she brings at 25. In constructed she’s another TK for cosmic teams, and has the X-Men team ability for Kobik to swap, making her a likely addition to the most popular team in the format.

Sealed: 5/5

Constructed: 4/5

Rare

024 Storm

Storm’s a little expensive for what she brings, but she’s a great addition to any team in sealed with her Telekinesis, and ability to carry. With some average attack and damage values, Storm isn’t a fantastic ranged attacker, but her trait gives her a little boost to her damage with her lightning markers. These markers are possibly the least effective thing in the game, requiring her to hit a target, and then at the beginning of her turn choose a single marker to either move a single space, or to remove to deal a penetrating damage to a character occupying the same space. So in order to consistently deal damage with them, Storm must make attacks against targets unable to move during your opponents next turn, or else she’ll be spending her time harmlessly moving them a single space every turn, and even though she can generate multiple lightning markers with her two targets, and with multiple attacks, she can only activate a single one of her lightning markers, making multiple markers fairly useless. Aside from her trait, she’s got Sidestep and Stealth, which pairs well with her Telekinesis, and a 7 range. Later in her dial she’s got Ranged Combat Expert, Incapacitate and Force Blast, which can allow her to boost her values to reasonable levels. She’s just not great at anything, but her first click of Telekinesis makes her just valuable enough to see play in sealed.

Sealed: 2/5

Constructed: 1/5

025 Gambit

This Gambit has perplexed me a bit. Just looking at the dial, he underwhelms me. Running Shot+Stealth is a great special power, but Energy Explosion with a small chance to deal 3 damage to each hit character doesn’t. An 18 defense top-dial is great, and he’s got a long dial, but he doesn’t seem to do a lot outside of Energy Explosion. That being said, he’s 65 points, which seems like a great value for what he brings. He’s not an exciting rare, but he’s a strong figure for his points, and does just enough to be a great sealed pick.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 1/5

026 Jubilee

Jubilee is a budget alternative to Gambit, losing a lot of the defensive prowess and mobility for a slightly better Energy Explosion that lowers hit characters attack values by -2, completely crippling them in sealed. Jubilee’s only 35 points, and if she’s adjacent to friendly X-Men when she’s KO’d, she returns to her last click, giving her a one-time pseudo stop-click. She’s also got Regeneration at the end of her dial so that she can return back to her special Energy Explosion if she takes some damage. Like Gambit she’s really solid for her point cost, and just does more than you would expect, especially against Sentinels. In constructed she can be played on the Jubilee ID Card, but isn’t any better than the Jubilee we already have. On teams relying on low point characters, she could be a decent choice.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 2/5

027 Frenzy

I haven’t talked much about the Mutant Messiah trait, and so I might as well here, since there’s not much to say about Frenzy. Mutant Messiah allows a single X-Men, Acolytes or Brotherhood of Mutants member to get Mastermind that only works with characters with this trait. If you get some strong members of any of these teams (and you will, it’s an X-Men set), then giving them some extra survivabiltiy at the cost of one of these figures is well worth the deal. I personally believe that most people will forget about this trait while playing, so keep an eye out for situations to save your Cyclops from dying. Now, Frenzy isn’t doing much for me. Her big trick is moving 5 squares and using Close Combat Expert to tear apart your opponents. She’s got 3 clicks of this and a 19 defense top-dial making her really, really hard to deal with. I probably shouldn’t have said she “isn’t doing it for me” because I don’t think her dial is bad in any way, I just don’t think she’s very interesting. She’s decent for her points, can output a lot of damage, and has move and attack throughout her dial. At her core she’s just a Charge figure who makes close attacks, and I’ve seen that so many times. Play her if you pull her for sure, because she’s really good at what she does.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 2/5

028 Random

Don’t get your hopes up when you see his pick-a-power, because Random’s attack and damage values are too random to be trusted. Random comes in at 100 points for 6 clicks of life with a variety of defense powers and values throughout his dial. What makes Random bad is the fact he’s got two clicks of 3 damage on his dial, and 4 clicks of 1’s and 2’s. That’s just not what you want from your 100 point primary attacker, especially when they’re depending on a Sidestep and 6 range to actually get within shooting distance. Click 2 is especially rotten with a 9 attack and 1 damage with Ranged Combat Expert. Even with the pick-a-power Random’s sitting at a 10/2 or 9/3, limiting his effectiveness, and making a bunch of attack powers completely useless outside of Precision Strike. This guy is an absolute mess, and all you need to do to beat him is to his him for 1 damage, and force your opponents to push him to click 3. I guess it’s nice he can take Telekinesis, but I just don’t think he’s dependable as a 100 point ranged attacker in a set with huge ranges. Pass on him.

Sealed: 2/5

Constructed: 1/5

029 Morph

Morph is a straight-forward tie-up figure with a little boost from Perplex and Outwit. As a tie-up figure, Morph doesn’t quite live up to the hype, since he relies entirely on Stealth and Shape Change to keep himself safe. 4 clicks of life give him the chance of staying around, but the only reason opponents wouldn’t attack Morph is the 1 in 6 chance that he turns the attack against an opposing character. Blades/Claws/Fangs keeps him dangerous if he’s close. Morph isn’t great, but as a 40 point figure who can Perplex, tie-up and can roll some Blades/Claws/Fangs, he’s going to see play on a few teams. It takes a really, really bad dial to make a top-dial Perplex unplayable in sealed.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 1/5

029b Morph

Morph is not nearly the prime that Magneto is. At best, he’s a cheap tie-up figure with a 50/50 Shape Change that let’s you decide on the next target for the attack. At worst he’s 25 points for your opponent when you miss the Shape Change on the first attack against him. If you pull him he’s probably worth playing, as he is a good tie-up figure, but that’s really it. With proper placement, his opponents can easily overcome the effect of his Shape Change. I don’t love Morph, and he doesn’t have Perplex like his non-prime friend, but he’s only 25 points.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 2/5

030 Bastion

Bastion fulfills the role of the beefy, expensive Running Shot+Psychic Blast figure. They’re in almost every set, and they’re always pretty powerful in sealed. Bastion is no exception with a straight-forward primary attacker dial that starts with ranged, turns to close and ends with some Regeneration. Bastion’s biggest boons are his Perplex and Leadership, which he can use to generate Friends of Humanity if you so choose. Bastion’s other trick is a 50% chance to generate a better version of any bystander he ko’s, and this set has some decent options to choose from. It’s all window dressing though, as Bastion has the dial length, reducers, values and powers to make him an all star in sealed. He’s a little boring, but he’s going to be a real threat when you see him across the board. Like most of theses figures, he suffers in constructed where a generic strong dial won’t get you as far.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 2/5

031 Avalanche

Avalanche is a weird rare figure in this set. He’s 50 points for 5 clicks of life with pretty basic values throughout. He’s not particularly mobile, as he’s relying on Sidestep on every click, and he’s got a very minimal reach with 4 range. Avalanche’s namesake comes through in his special attack power which lets him use Quake with the choice of giant reach: 4 or free Barrier after his Quake. He’s also got a special damage power that lets him destroy blocking terrain for free. I don’t think Avalanche really does anything special. Hitting lots of people with Quake is cool, but having only Sidestep to rely on isn’t very exciting, likewise, using Barrier for free after Quake is great, but it’s only working when he’s adjacent, and if he doesn’t knock someone back, he’s stuck with them adjacent anyways. He’s probably worth 50 points, but he’s nowhere near a must play.

Sealed: 2/5

Constructed: 2/5

032 Phantazia

Phantazia is a weirdly put together character, she’s a ranged Stealth attacker relying on 4 range and 1 damage. So Phantazia might not be dealing any damage, but she’s got Incapacitate to hand out tokens and activate her trait which either gives out Immobile, or lowers attack or defense on hit characters. Why are you paying 60 points for a figure who’s only Incapacitating and weakening characters, and only doing it once every two turns since she doesn’t have Willpower. She’s hard to deal with when she’s in hindering, and when she doesn’t have tokens she’s almost impossible to attack from range, and when she’s on click 2, it makes her one of the most dangerous Outwitters in sealed, but you’re paying 60 points for that. She’s a big miss.

Sealed: 2/5

Constructed: 1/5

033 Mesmero

Mesmero and Phantazia clearly had their points switched by accident, because Mesmero is worth far more than 45 points. Mesmero might not have any mobility, but with 7 range and two targets, he’s a very capable Mind Control user, especially when he can choose to forgo making attacks with his targets, and instead deal them 2 damage by throwing them off elevated terrain. It’s an effective, flavourful and fun power, and I can’t wait to use it. Mesmero’s second trick is a special Mastermind that lets him choose opposing characters within 4 of him to take ranged attacks for him. It’s not incredibly hard to work around, but it can keep Mesmero safe even as characters are moving up on him. Mesmero might not be a slam dunk figure, but you cannot overlook the strength of 7 range two target Mind Control that ignores hindering and elevated for line of fire.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 2/5

Colossal Rares

g011 Cerebra

Cerebra will either be a 75 point 5 click long taxi for an X-Men theme team, or a 150 point, very average Hypersonic Speed primary attacker, either way, Cerebra might not be what you want to pull in sealed. OMutants or X-Men members, which make up a huge portion of this set. If you want to stretch it, you could also play Cerebra at 200 or 300 points, but her values don’t get much better, and at 200, she starts n her 150 point line, Cerebra only has a 10 attack and 3 damage, and with a low speed and range value, isn’t creating much of a threat. At 75 points, Cerebra loses all move and attack, but has Outwit and the ability to carry up to 6 X-Men when she moves. This is the most value you can get from Cerebra, especially with her trait that boosts the attack of friendly characters attacking Brotherhood of with her taxi ability, rather than move and attack. If you pull her, you’re using her as a taxi that boosts attack values and Outwits, or you’re putting your eggs into one very rickety basket that can have up to 19 clicks of life, but a huge weakness to Outwit. If you decide to go all in, her dial length will help, but if they can get through your reducers, she won’t last for 40 minutes. In constructed Cerebra isn’t great either, as we already have so many taxi’s for X-Men. Why play Cerebra over the Blackbird? She’s a good budget option, but doesn’t bring anything new to the table.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 2/5

g012 Cyclops Sentinel

With a well deserved errata, Cyclops Sentinel has gotten much better than they initially seemed. Now that they can choose when they release the Sentinel Head bystander Cyclops Sentinel needs to be killed in one hit, or the create a terrifying bystander that is incredibly hard to KO. The bystander itself has a 12 attack with 8 range and 4 damage, with only Sidestep for mobility and a special defense power that protects it from everything but a critical hit (and Outwit/Pulse Wave). It’s easy to out maneuver, but the head can do some serious damage if left alone. The Sentinel’s dial is similarly centered around offense with high attack and damage values, Running Shot for most of the dial, and a fantastic attack power that combines Penetrating/Psychic Blast with a choice of giving the hit character and all of its adjacent friends an extra penetrating damage, an action token or 6 squares of knock-back. He does have to give up all of his range in order to put out the amazing bystander, but it insures that if Cyclops Sentinel is going to be hit past his good clicks, you don’t lose all of his value. Now comes the tough part, what starting line do you play him on? 300 points is a little much (even though the values are great) due to his weakness to Outwit and the amount of his dial he’ll want to use before putting out the head. 150 is a good mix of offense and dial length, but his values are pretty average for that point line. 50 has the same values, but no reducers, and a good chance he’ll be killed before he can generate his bystander. Depending on your other colossal, I probably would go for 150 with him, but if you’ve pulled a lot of strong figures, stick with his awesome 50 point line.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 3/5

g013 Bastion

If you’ve played the game for a while you know just how powerful friendly Mind Control can be, and Bastion brings it with two targets, but only to target Robots. Bastion is also 100 points, limiting the strength of the Robots you can play with him. There’s definitely going to be a lot of fun teams built around Bastion, but because of Mind Control’s reduction in power, I don’t think he’s going to be quite as good as he once would have been. Now in sealed, I don’t love Bastion. He comes in at 100/200/300, with the same first 5 clicks on each starting line. He’s got decent values, but mediocre powers until he gets to his third click. On click 3 Bastion gets a special defense power that gives him Impervious and free Barrier that only lets him place markers adjacent to him, and these markers block line of fire to Giant and Colossal figures. This power is a game changer in sealed, and can easily make Bastion a winning investment. Every turn he’s on one of these clicks he can Sidestep up, make 4 blocking terrain markers, and then fire through them at smaller characters. Free Barrier is always useful and he gets a full 4 squares of it too. His last trait grants him Leadership and the ability to generate Sentinels, as well as improve the likelyhood of hitting his Leadership when an opponent has an X-Men or Brotherhood character. Play Bastion at 100, and try your hardest to get him to click 3, because when he gets there, he won’t be getting off of it without a huge turn from your opponent.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 4/5

g014 Proteus

Proteus’s second coming is another retaliator, and has a 4 different starting lines to choose from. The things that are shared across all of them are two traits, the first of which lets him generate terrain markers whenever a character within 5 of him is given a non-free action. This power is weird, but I think it can really hinder your opponents figures from getting up close to him. This triggers on both your characters and your opponents, and so with enough friendly characters, Proteus is basically giving your team free Barrier. In constructed, I think this guy is a must play on Deity, Monster and Ruler teams where it makes every single action a free Barrier. With Tri-Sentinels, Proteus gives them free blocking to Sidestep into and deal penetrating damage. Aside from that, Proteus also has a trait that heals him whenever an opponent misses him with a ranged attack, and that healing lets him move past starting lines. The great thing about this trait is that every one of his stop-clicks has Super Senses on it, giving him a better chance of getting more use out of those clicks. In sealed Proteus can be played at 250/150/70/10, with each starting line adding an extra stop-click to his dial. At 250 he has very little in the way of mobility, but brings some great values. The thing you have to decide is if you think your opponents will be able to get through all of those stop-clicks on Proteus before the game ends. With his long dial as well as his ability to freely create blocking terrain, Proteus can be a nightmare to deal with. If you don’t feel like putting all your eggs into one basket, Proteus at 70 points is a decent attacker with a stop-click and retaliation that can generate barriers for free.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 4/5

g015 Magneto

Magneto is another retaliator, and doesn’t have colossal indifference allowing you to make attacks even on his 25 point starting line. Magneto’s last click is a doozy with Telekinesis, Sidestep and Leadership giving him a veritable arsenal for a retaliator. At his other point values he gets a special attack power that gives him Pulse Wave that ignores blocking, and then destroys all blocking. It’s not great for calling in due to him only having Sidestep at 100 points, but if you’ve got an ID Battery that’s 200 points or more, this is a great Magneto for calling in. In sealed you’re probably going to want to stick with 200 or 25 for his starting line, either making him a utility figure that earns far more than his cost, or a primary attacker that can Pulse Wave after retaliating. Defensively, Magneto has a special power that protects him from Penetrating/Psychic blast and modifies his defense depending on the distance between Magneto and his attacker. He’s a great attacker with strong values and powers, and while I don’t think he’s the best rare colossal to pull for sealed, he’s not losing you any games.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 3/5

g016 Red Onslaught

Red Onslaught’s best ability is the bystanders he generates for FREE as long as your opponents have more figures than you, something that is actually surprisingly hard in this set, unless you go in big with Red Onslaught. Luckily, Red’s got a great power to go with his bystanders, Mastermind. With a free bystander every turn, and the ability to pass on all oncoming damage to them, Red Onslaught can become very difficult to hurt. His bystanders are great too, with Outwit and 10 attack with 3 damage. By forcing them to push, Onslaught can make 3 attacks a turn, two with bystanders, and one by himself. The issue with Red Onslaught’s dial is that to get the best clicks you’re going to have to pay 300 points for him, otherwise you’ve got a very average close attacking dial for 150, but that 300 point dial isn’t outstanding. Onslaught does have the Behind the Scenes trait that forces opponents to get within 4 of him to attack, but he doesn’t have the longevity to survive a whole game unless you get very lucky with his bystanders, and your opponents aren’t able to Outwit him. I feel a real hesitancy to recommend him, but with his bystanders I think he does more good than harm, without them, he’s lacking.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 3/5

g017a Eugene Torbit Witterspan

Eugene is a straight-forward close attacker that doesn’t count against your theme team and has the best Quake ever that stops hit characters from doing anything except moving on their next turn. At 25 or 50 points it’s hard to pass him up, at any other point value he just doesn’t have much to make him worth it, beyond that Quake. Get him in there, get that Quake off and you get a free turn to do whatever you want.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 2/5

g017b Colossus

Colossus is another close attacker, similar to the other two Juggernauts, as a close attacker with some limited mobility. The difference with Colossus is that he retaliates and he deals damage to anyone adjacent to blocking terrain he runs through. It’s pretty good, but only works with his Charge which is always a 4 movement Charge. He’s not too exciting except that he’s a 10 point call in for Colossus ID Cards that can deal penetrating damage without needing to roll. It’s an amazing call-in and a decent figure.

Sealed: 2/5

Constructed: 4/5

g018 Wendigo

Hello the new lord and savior of monster teams. Wendigo is a 15 point figure with Charge/Flurry and Steal Energy who can use it to heal past his starting line. He also gives characters “Wounded tokens” or actually, allows wounded tokens to be placed on opponents figures. When he moves, he may make a free attack against a character with a wounded token. This does mean that he can Charge, Flurry, then attack again after giving a wounded token with his Flurry, and then he can Sidestep and make a fourth attack. That is 4 attacks and 4 potential triggers for Steal Energy, making this guy a 15 point monster after a single turn. Oh I guess he has other point options too, but does it matter? I think the most I’d play Wendigo at would be 200 points so that he can heal past that starting line, but with no real way to protect himself beyond healing, I don’t love Wendigo as a primary attacker. Instead use him to terrify your opponents, and crush them under his hairy foot.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 5/5

g019 Vange Whedon

Vange is a big dragon who starts every game as a tiny human. Vange’s trait stops her or an adjacent friendly character from taking damage, and turns Vange to the starting click you decided on. This isn’t forced upon you, but it might as well be because forcing your opponents to waste an attack is always worth it. Vange’s special click makes her a standard character allowing her to be carried, and gives her Outwit, a great power for your team. When Vange switches to her dragon form, she becomes a little average. At 75 points she’s a 5 click Charge character that deals some good damage, and at 175 she’s an average ranged attacker with Energy Explosion. 275 has some really great powers and values, but she’s taking up your entire force. I’d always suggest playing them at 75 and using them to protect your vulnerable characters from your opponents alpha strike, and retaliating with a big dragon. I like her concept, but her dial is a little lackluster.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 2/5

g020 Dark Phoenix

You’ve got 2 options here, 300 or 30, and let me tell you, it’s really 1 option. I’ve played her at 25, and i’ve played her at 300 and let me tell you, that 30 point click is amazing. With a little Perplex support, Dark Phoenix can easily heal past her retaliation click and start climbing through her dial, but all she needs is a single heal to become a danger. On her second last click she picks up Sidestep and Ranged Combat Expert, giving her the potential for 5 damage with an 11 attack at 10 range. Her retaliation is awesome as well, dealing 2 penetrating damage to everyone within 3 of her and giving them an action token. With a 10 range and 3 targets it’s going to be hard for your opponents to out-range her, and she can easily heal two clicks by both Ko’ing a character and dealing them 4 damage. She’s easily does what a 50-60 point character can do for half the points, and in rare games, can completely overwhelm a team with a few lucky hits.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 4/5

Super-Rare

034 Archangel

With Archangel, let’s divide him into his traits and his dial, starting first with the dial. Archangel has a, vanilla dial with no special powers, but a lot of strength. He’s got 6 clicks of life for 100 points which is a little shallow for my liking, but he’s got mobility on every single click, starting with Running Shot, and shifting to Hypersonic Speed in the middle. With a mediocre 5 range, but good speed, he’s got a pretty hefty swing, and with great offensive powers and good attack values, he’s able to do some significant damage. Archangel is just a straight-forward ranged attacker dial, something that’s never unwanted in sealed, and with his traits he might be even better. Archangel’s first trait is very strange. At the beginning of the game you mark off your opponents highest point character and then at any point during the game if Archangel starts his turn within 5 squares of that character he loses all of his ranged prowess in favor of Charge/Super Strength, with the clause that you can only target that character. What I wonder, is if you actually want that. Most of the time I’d rather have the range and Penetrating/Psychic Blast, and what makes it even worse for me is that your opponent has control over this trait. If they want Angel to waste close attacks against their beefiest character, they can toss them up beside Archangel, forcing him to attack that character without penetrating damage. His other trait is more interesting; it gives Archangel Sidestep and Energy Shield whenever he moves in a direct line. I’m not sure an effect like this exists on a ranged attacker, so it’s certainly interesting, and at worst you’ll get a few activations of it to boost his defense. Angel is a let down for me, he’s a ranged attacker who can be forced into close attacks by your opponents, potentially limiting his effectiveness. He’s also only 6 clicks, making him very vulnerable to any Penetrating/Psychic Blast unless you’re always moving in direct lines. I think the extra protection from Energy Shield keeps him from being bad, but he’s a very unimpressive primary attacker in a set full of beefy dials.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 1/5

035 Professor X

This is one of the most interesting dials for Professor X i’ve seen yet. He can sit around on his first few clicks with some weak attempts at Mind Control, while using his Outwit and Leadership to help his team, or he can use his Influence tokens to tag enemies for future attacks through walls and use his Colossal Stamina to keep his influence going every turn until he dies. If your opponent starts killing off your characters, Professor X picks up Penetrating/Psychic Blast that he can use to great affect on his last few clicks, especially if he can find someone to heal him. All that being said, he’s 100 points for 5 clicks of life that he needs to spend to utilize his powers to the best of his ability. If you pull him, I would only use him if you feel really comfortable with his Influence tokens, if you don’t this is a 100 point liability that’s one attack away from being wiped out. If you get him on a map filled with blocking terrain and walls, Professor X can systematically wipe out your opponents team by giving a character an Influence Token, and then following up with a Mind Control through walls, atleast, if your opponent decides to keep the figure with the token within 9 of him, and if you hit with his starting 9 attack. Professor X had the potential to be competitive, but with his weakness up-front and his inability to combine his Influence Tokens with the fantastic values at the end of his dial, he’s just a miss.

Sealed: 2/5

Constructed: 2/5

036a Legion, Fractured Savant

Legion might be the first figure to come with two separate dials, and no mechanic that changes between them. We’ll start with his A dial, his title character dial. For 85 points, Legion gets 6 very basic clicks of life, with decent values, Toughness and Sidestep. Legion’s power comes from his title character abilities . The first lets you choose two powers, one of which your opponent will let Legion have. For the most this will make Legion more of a support character, allowing your opponents to choose between Outwit/Perplex/Probability Control/Telekinesis or other useful support powers. With 6 clicks of life, Legion needs to be able to heal to keep himself towards the top of his dial, and if your opponent isn’t giving you Regeneration, you’ll need to use his -1 to be able to freely choose 2 powers. Finally his -4 gives him all the standard powers in the game to use for a turn, which is cool, but doesn’t provide him with many more benefits than being able to choose two powers. Legion might be one of my least favourite title characters. Giving your opponents the choice of powers insures Legion will never get the power you really want in the moment you want it, and with his limited dial length, he doesn’t have much to work with on turns he doesn’t make attacks. The only saving grace will be the WWE characters and their other standard powers which Legion will have access to if he’s paired up with one of them. In sealed, the title version of him is strangely the safer choice than his other dial, as it will always give you atleast one support power to use on a turn. An extra Perplex or Outwit with the potential for a Running Shot/Pulse Wave the turn after is worth the 85 points he costs to run, but be wary of his very short dial.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 2/5

036b Legion

Now this is the Legion for me. Every turn Legion is gaining a new set of powers, with the potential for some really, really scary clicks if you roll well. Legion is hard to talk about because his value to your team will depend on how well you roll, as there’s very little you can do to control him. Only on 3 of his 7 clicks does he have move and attack, but luckily, no matter what you roll he’ll have some value to your team. On a roll of a 1, you get access to his click 0, with a massive 12 attack and 5 damage, paired with Sidestep, Penetrating/Psychic Blast, Probability Control and a special defense power that deals the damage he takes back to whoever dealt it to him. This power really means that your opponent will be trying to hit him with their lowest damage dealing characters, but it’s still a neat effect. If you roll a 2, you’ll get to choose between a Probability Control figure, a Support figure with Energy Explosion that needs a 5 to heal, or a strange weak close attacker that generates another close attacker (who can generate another close attacker) when he hits. This is probably the weakest of his rolls, but it provides enough value not to be a complete waste. On a 3, Legion picks up the chance to Flurry/Blades with an 11 attack. A 4 gives him Mind Control and, strangely, Steal Energy. A 5 makes him a beefy close attacker and a 6 gives him an insanely powerful Running Shot/Pulse Wave click. Legion isn’t a sure thing, but unlike his Title Character form, I think that he’ll be more consistent, with the potential for a long dial that can heal up any damage dealt to him, and with far more good clicks than bad. This will be a fun figure to field, and just as often as he ends up on click 4 and is killed in a single turn, he’ll end up on click 0 or 7 and kill an opposing figure with a single attack.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 3/5

037 Colossus

I do not like super-rares that have generic close attacker dials, and Colossus just barely escapes with a great defense power and a decent point value. Colossus’s defense power is really great, giving him a good reducer while simultaneously sharing his 18 with Defend and giving anyone who benefits from his defend Invulnerability. Basically every character adjacent to Colossus takes two less damage from attacks and has an 18 defense. If you build your team around this, it can be very, very hard to deal with, and easily win you a sealed tournament. Without that power, Colossus has good attack and damage values, and a very average dial built around Charge. If you’re not utilizing his defense power, do not play him. Colossus also has a traitor trait, but it’s a little different than the other traitors, as it only triggers once (stopping him from returning to you) and he only has a single click when he joins your opponents force. Since Colossus really only has two great clicks, it’s a big deal that your opponent gets him on those clicks, and gets his special defense. I’m not sold on Colossus, but that defense power is a make it or break it kind of power for a sealed team.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 2/5

038 Mystique

Wizkids has been looking at my custom dials, because Mystique’s Shapeshifter trait is exactly the same as my Shapeshifter trait. That being said, I love her trait, it forces your opponents to really think about their positioning, or Mystique becomes basically unhittable. Even without that trait, Mystique has a very respectable dial with 6 clicks of life for 60 points with 6 range and some good powers and values besides her 2 damage down her dial. Mystique always has access to a power that insures she’s able to do damage, and has Stealth and Combat Reflexes to keep her even safer than her trait allows. She might not have any mobility, but she’s just so hard to hurt. The only thing you need to be aware of when playing Mystique is the common Wolverine who takes away her Shape Change and Stealth (and is so great that he’ll always see play when pulled), and her Shape Change being Outwitted, leaving her vulnerable when she’s not in Stealth. While she’s not as impactful as other 60 point characters, she’s very, very hardy, and can really mess up opponents plans.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 2/5

039 Pyro

Pyro is another in the same vein of Mystique. He’s a very suitable 50 points, that maybe makes you question why he’s a Super Rare, but is in no way bad. Pyro is built as ranged version of Avalanche, who’s Energy Explosion can have 3 targets, or allow him to use Barrier for free. Since he’s a ranged attacker, he’s way better than Avalanche, and his top-dial Ranged Combat Expert and back dial Pulse Wave allow him to hit a lot harder than it initially seems. Pyro’s also got a special damage power that let’s him destroy objects for free, and removes tokens from him (healing him in the process) whenever he uses a ranged action to destroy blocking terrain. It’s a very serviceable dial with a lot of powers and tricks. I’m not in love with this Pyro, but it’s a really good 50 points.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 3/5

040 Sauron

Sauron is another decent figure for his points that really doesn’t do much to excite. He’s a close attacker with a Stop-click and traited Poison that both removes a token from him when he uses it, and heals him (because of the Brotherhood trait). He’s a good taxi, with average values, and a lot of ways to heal himself, but I don’t think it will matter much in the long run. I wish there was more to say about him but there just isn’t. This is the definition of a boring super-rare.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 1/5

041 Spiral

Sourak has a massive 7 click dial for 80 points, and has a strange combination of mobility, utility and tie-up. Spiral’s most impressive ability is her special movement power that gives her Phasing and Plasticity and let’s her use Incapacitate and Telekinesis for free when she moves 5 or less squares. With 3 targets, Incapacitate becomes really dangerous, especially when Spiral follows it up with a heavy object to the face. Defensively she’s scary as well with 18 defense and both Super Senses and Shape Change giving her two chances to roll out of it. When she takes damage, she reaches her middle dial where her defense falls, and her offense becomes godly. Flurry/Blades and Perplex/Probability Control making her a serious danger to anyone adjacent to her. Spiral is just great on every click, she can handle so many different scenarios, that make her a great figure in every situation.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 3/5

042 Cassandra Nova

150 points for no move and attack seems like a hard sell, but Cassandra Nova can completely run the games she’s part of. The reason she’s so good? Mind Control, because whenever she uses her Mind Control characters she hits will get either a Approved token if their follow up attack hits, or a Rejected token if it doesn’t. Approved tokens buff the characters attacks when they’re hit with your Mind Control, setting you up for some better attacks on following turns, but the real fire is with Rejected tokens. When a character has a rejected token, they modify their attack by -1 for the rest of the game (or until Cassandra Nova is killed). Normally a 150 point character using an action to modify attack values wouldn’t be a great use of an action, but Cassandra has 3 targets with her Mind Control letting her weaken a good chunk of your opponents team in one attack. If you’re worried about the characters hitting with an attack and getting a Approved token instead, don’t, because you can just choose to not attack with them, and insure they get the -1 they deserve. The rest of Cassandra Nova is almost as impressive with a long 8 click dial, a massive 8 range and some great defensive powers to keep her safe. Her defense power grants her an improved Super Senses that succeeds half the time, as well as lowering the damage she takes from close attacks to 1. Her damage power gives her Leadership (that spawns guard command), Perplex and Shape Change, and to top that all off, she’s got two clicks of Stealth to start her dial off. Offensively if you’re not using Mind Control, Cassandra has a full dial of healthy attack and damage values and Penetrating/Psychic Blast, letting her rip holes in characters she doesn’t want to manipulate. Your strategy with her is going to be getting as many character with her Rejected tokens as possible, and then laying waste to your opponents force, who will need to roll way better than they originally did to hit.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 3/5

043a Mister Sinister, Rogue Geneticist

The second title character in the set has a really interesting design where he generates great bystanders, uses them to give DNA sample tokens to your enemies, and then uses the DNA sample tokens to set himself up for huge 4-6 damage attacks. His dial is a vanilla dial like all title characters, but he’s got Outwit and Perplex on it, giving him some support for the rest of your team. All of his bystanders are really strong, and he can start making them as soon as turn two. If you pull someone with Support and him, you can just stay in your starting area and force them to come to you, but even if you’re not doing that, he’s a strong figure with great values that can put damage out himself, or with his freely generated bystanders.

Sealed: 5/5

Constructed: 3/5

043b Mister Sinister

Mister Sinister is the best of the Danger Room primes by a long shot. Not only does he have Shape Change to keep him top-dial, his top-dial also has Poison, Outwit, Sidestep and Stealth. Outwit is brutal on this figure, because your opponents are going to have to spend 3 attacks minimum to get him off of Outwit. As he reaches the later half of his dial, his values increase and he becomes deadly, if he’s picked up enough Error Tokens. At 40 points for an unstoppable Outwit, it’s hard think of ways they could have made him better, except for one thing. He doesn’t have Willpower, and you really don’t want to push him, limiting his actions significantly. That being said, he’s still stellar.

Sealed: 5/5

Constructed: 5/5

Super-Rare Colossals

g021 Krakoa

Krakoa is a really well designed figure that feels like you’re playing a mix between a living island and an enourmous kaiju-esqe creature. Krakoa also requires some really careful reading, because it’s nowhere near as good as I first thought it was. What I’m referring to is its trait that gives it Steal Energy and lets Krakoa attack from and forces opponents to break away from hindering terrain markers…that Krakoa placed. If it was just any hindering terrain on the map, this guy would be an all-star, but due to the wording, we’re going to have to look for ways for Krakoa to make hindering terrain to use with their trait. Krakoa’s main way of doing this is with their retaliation ability that starts as a Quake, and ands with generating hindering terrain in every square Krakoa occupied during the action, so 8 in total. This pairs wonderfully with Krakoa’s Stealth on their first click of their 75 point dial, but otherwise is kind of lackluster. Their values aren’t any better with 10/3’s throughout their 150 and 70 point dial. If you’re going to play Krakoa you’re going to want to stay on the 70 point line, and use the retlation to generate as much hindering terrain as possible, before running away to get the most use out of their trait. It’s just not as functional as it should be, leaving Krakoa in the dust a bit.

Sealed: 2/5

Constructed: 2/5

g022 Mojo

Mojo has a full dial accessible to us in 250, 175 and 75 point chunks, all of which are good if not great. Mojo has the same trait that a lot of the bigger figures do that stop characters from attacking him unless they are within 4 squares of Mojo. Once again, it’s a fantastic power that protects Mojo from the usual weaknesses found in colossal characters. Mojo has a pretty straight-forward dial that wants to see him getting into position to use his good values to make attacks. He’s got reducers, offensive powers and support powers making him a great all-around figure. Mojo’s two differentiating factors are a movement power that lets him Sidestep whenever an opposing character uses Sidestep, giving him mobility on your opponents turn, and potentially making it difficult to actually get within 4 spaces of him. His other ability is a trait that gives him tokens when a characters misses an attack. When he gets two tokens, he’s able to use them to make a free attack or place him anywhere on the map, both giving him some incredible flexibility. In sealed I’d play him at 75 so that you can collect as many tokens as you can so that he can be wherever your opponent wants him the least, but 175 is a good option if haven’t pulled anything good with him. He’s not going to change any format, but he’s a really consistent and fun figure that I can’t wait to try.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 3/5

g023a Shadow King

Don’t play Shadow King at 300. I’ve done extensive testing with that dial and every single time it’s come up short. Now at 150, Shadow King is a terror that your opponents will fear. Shadow King has the Behind the Scenes trait as well as the ability to reduce penetrating damage making his dial a lot harder to get through than it seems, and his special movement power is the combination of Mind Control (with 3 targets) and Phasing/Teleport, letting him use both powers in whatever order you want. With 8 range and 11 movement, he can basically Mind Control any figure on the map with ease. His dial is fairly long for a powerful colossal, he’s got a lot of protection, and his attack and damage values are very respectable. I think Shadow King has a lot of potential in sealed and in constructed where the only thing he’ll have to worry about is Pulse Wave. As a ID Battery, Shadow King has a lot of potential with useful support powers on every click and the inability to be targeted by anyone far away. I think this will be a solid figure to pick up if you want to run a hard to kill tent-pole.

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 4/5

g023b Storm

This will be the strongest figure in the set, and if you pull her, you’ve just pulled pure gold. Storm is a retaliator with multiple starting lines that can be called in, and at 150 points has Running Shot/Pulse Wave. Her retaliation is a trait, so you can use it at any point line, and it lets her use Mind Control with a massive +3 to attack. On-top of that she has traited Energy Shield/Deflection and a ranged, multi-targeting Force Blast. She’s going to be a mainstay in the game until she rotates, both main-force and as an ID Call-in. Who doesn’t want a 25 point call-in who can Mind Control three characters with a 14 attack and then hit two of them for 1 damage with Precision Strike, and then knock them all back up to 6 squares?

Sealed: 4/5

Constructed: 5/5

g024 Madrox

Either Madrox will be an unkillable nightmare who creates bystanders, or he’ll be killed in a single turn by an opponent who kills all the adjacent bystanders and then kills him. I love the design of Madrox, but I don’t think he’s actually as hard to kill at 100 points as he seems. I personally wouldn’t play him any higher than 100 unless i’m trying to play a “don’t die” strategy, because he doesn’t get any more threatening at 200 or 300. He always lacks mobility and strong attack powers in favour of generating more bystanders when he’s hit or makes his Shape Change rolls. I’m going to play him if I pull him for sure, but understand that if you play him, you need to get lucky with rolls, or get him in for attacks or you’ve just wasted 100 points of your build. Against a 300 point colossal, Madrox will almost always win, and against a team with a lot of offensive options, his dupes will be picked off before he can use them to survive.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 2/5

g025 Ice Man

We’ve got another super-rare colossal that will see a ton of play in the style of Groot from Avengers Infinity. This Iceman/Voltron fusion doesn’t have an exciting dial at anything but 15 points, where he becomes a colossal killer. His retaliation lets him make an attack and then follow up with an Incapacitate against any character within 3 of him, putting him on the weaker spectrum of retaliations. He makes up for this by being 15 points, having the X-Men keyword, being called Iceman so that he can be called in, and by having an incredible trait with Blades/Claws/Fangs and letting him Charge at no cost every time he kills another giant or colossal. If this guy can get into your opponents back row, he can wreck havoc, and potentially take down all of their retaliators in a single turn. Against teams of Tri-Sentinels and Groots he’s a huge threat, especially when any character of 15 points or more can call him in. He might change the way the competitive game is played, and he might make other retaliators completely useless.

Sealed: 3/5

Constructed: 5/5

Chases

For the chases, i’ll rank them from best to worst, as most are excellent figures and should always be played in sealed. (1/6 being the best, 6/6 being the worst)

044 Donald Pierce

In sealed Donald Pierce will be an absolute monster to deal with. He’s got protected Outwit and a dial full of reducers, as well as the ability to choose any attack power to keep him dangerous. You might be worried that he’s only got 6 clicks of life for 100 points, but Donald’s got a trick up his sleeve. Whenver he dies, he generates his head as an object, and when that object is in your starting area, and another figure takes a double power action, Donald Pierce comes back to life on click 2. Your opponent doesn’t score Donald unless no-one else is left on your force when he dies, or they destroy the object, which can only be destroyed by using it in an object attack. If you pull him, keep your forces on your side of the map to allow for fast delivery of his head, and you’ll be set for an unkillable figure, and a strong showing in sealed. In constructed, there’s too many ways to mess around with objects for Donald Pierce to be really successful. Opponents will chew through his dial, and then TK his head at you for a humiliating time. He still takes a lot of planning to kill, but it’s nowhere near as insurmountable as in sealed.

Ranking: 3/6

045 Harry Leland

Harry Leland is the newest figure built to curb colossal retaliation, and I don’t think he does a great job of it. His trait stops characters from being placed within 4 squares of him, and lowers the attack of any opposing character within 4 of him that moved during the turn. In sealed he’ll stop the few retaliators, and weaken figures that rely on close attacks, but with the massive ranges in this set, it’s unlikely his trait will have much of an affect. As the Black Bishop, he gets Outwit, but a very limited version that doesn’t increase his value by much. If Harry was less than 50 points, I’d love him, but Harry is just too expensive, and doesn’t do enough for me.

Ranking: 4/6

046 Emma Frost

Emma Frost is a defensive figure that boosts your whole teams protection from range with a nifty trait that stops opposing characters from attacking your team from more than 6 squares away. If the trait said 6 or more, it would be awesome, but as it stands, it really only protects you from those with the longest of ranges, something that a lot of characters have in this set, making her actually great in sealed. Her dial is interesting, with a big focus on defense and Mind Control. She’s got protected Outwit, Stealth, Outwit, Energy Shield/Deflection and Mastermind, so you really aren’t shooting her from range, and her Mind Control allows her to target every character that she can draw line of fire to, and that has a lower point value than her. What makes me dislike Emma is her 6 range, lack of mobility, and low damage. She doesn’t have a high enough point value to make her traited Mind Control really dangerous, and she’s not doing much else. She doesn’t have the flexibility I want in a Mind Control figure, and she isn’t enough of a threat to be a great secondary attacker.

Ranking 5/6

047 Jean Grey

If you loved Emma Frost’s Mind Control power, but thought her dial was a little lacking, then may I introduce Jean Grey. She’s got the same traited Mind Control, as well as 11 attack, Penetrating/Psychic Blast and 4 damage, to be a great threat. Where Jean Grey falters is in defense. She has a completly naked defense dial until she hits her stop-click, where she deals 3 damage to all characters within 6 of her. Jean Grey can also turn in to the colossal Dark Phoenix on her stop-click, which give her the opportunity to heal up and retaliate. Jean Grey’s last trick is her best; friendly characters can target her with Mind Control to get the full use of her amazing offensive abilities. Jean Grey is very strong, but also surprisingly durable with her stop-click making her a perfect storm of a figure. Play Mind Control with her to make her really dangerous.

Ranking: 2/6

048 Jason Wyngarde

In a lot of ways, Jason Wyngarde is the only great Chase in this set. He’s got an awesome Mind Control power that lets him chain it through your opponents whole team, easily re-positioning and damaging large numbers of characters. Jason’s also got Leadership that he doesn’t need to be adjacent to use, and an ability to generate any bystander generated by any figure less than 150 points, giving him access to the strongest bystanders in the game for free. Jason’s got two issues, the first is that aside from Mind Control, he has no other offensive capabilities, and defensively he’s very vulnerable. With only Shape Change on his first two clicks, Jason is not hard to kill with a single attack, but he’s just so strong, and his Vulture like Mind Control power will devastate opposing teams.

Ranking: 1/6

049 Sebastian Shaw

Shaw is a weird figure that has a gimmick worthy of being a chase, but perhaps not the effectiveness. Sebastian Shaw’s big effect is that he gets a charge token for each damage dealt to him, and when he removes these tokens he gets a growing list of powers, the number dependent on the number of tokens removed. The best part about this is that it’s damage dealt which means it calculates the amount of tokens, before taking into account how much of the damage is reduced by powers. When Sebastian gets to 6 tokens, he not only gets to Regenerate for free, but he gets boosts to his values, Charge/Flurry and Super Strength as well. With a massive 9 click dial, Sebastian can gather a lot of tokens during his lifespan, but is it worth playing him? He’s 125 points and he has very low mobility without depending on his tokens. He does hulk out at the end of his dial, but I don’t want to put so many eggs into a close combat basket that needs to be hurt, but not killed, to get anything out of it. I love the design for Sebastian Shaw, and it definitely fits the character to a tee, but it’s just not going to make it in the world of ranged attackers.

Ranking: 6/6