[EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to our first ever Preview Week, which is devoted to–you guessed it–Previews!! With Deadpool and X-Force dropping in one week, we’re gonna devote the next five days to taking a look at what’s gonna be coming our way this year!]

Happy February!!

While we’re waiting on a Shredder’s Return Top 10 and a Build article from Ninwashui, I figured it was time to take a look at what we know about the first full set of 2017!!

That’s right! Deadpool & X-Force is coming to a FLGS near you in just THREE days! But there’s already a ton of information about this set out there on the interwebs, so if you know where to look, you can start evaluating the set right now!

Today we’re going to look at some of the Common and Uncommon figs that we know will be in this set.Tomorrow we’ll evaluate the Rares and SR’s, and finally, on Wednesday, we’ll look at the Chases and Primes. But before we do any of that, let’s run down what we know about the set’s Themes, Sub-Themes, Mechanics and Notes in a little feature I like to call…

THEMES, SUB-THEMES, MECHANICS AND NOTES:

–Sure, X-Force shows up quite a bit in this set, but this roster is all about the Merc With a Mouth. I think there are more versions of Deadpool in this set than any titular character from ANY previous set. Current estimates place the number of versions of Deadpool in the main set at approximately NINETEEN and counting.

And that DOESN’T include any Fast Forces versions.

So, if you’re one of the few who doesn’t like Deadpool… uh, sorry. But if you love you some Deadpool, good Lord, is this ever the set for you!!

–Speaking of Deadpool, the “Shifting Focus” mechanic has finally come to Marvel Heroclix, and Deadpool is the star! This set is stuffed to the gills with Deadpools capable of shifting on and off the Battlefield–my God, there’s even a Prime that has the Trait! We’ll be looking at some of those today.

–There is a new “Title Character” Mechanic that debuts with this set. It’s the Heroclix equivalent of Planeswalkers in Magic: The Gathering, and we’ll look more closely at that piece tomorrow (being that it’s a Super Rare).

–This set also sees a return/continuation of Team Traits. Wizkids will do this from time to time. Basically, a Team Trait is a Trait that is shared by most (though usually not all) members of a team or group from the comics. In Age of Ultron, for example, many of the Mighty Avengers had a special Mighty Avengers Trait even though they just had the Avengers keyword.

In the case of this set, many of the characters who have appeared in the comics as members of X-Force get the X-Force Trait (X-Force: [Insert name of character] can use Stealth.).

It’s essentially a way for Wizkids to add more Team Abilities to the game without having to actually add more Team Abilities. And stuff.

–The X-Statix are finally here! Uh… yay? Outside of Doop, who is unarguably awesome, I can’t say I’m too excited as I never really liked any of the other characters in the comic. But I’m sure there are some Mike Allred fans out there who are just digging it!

Alright! Enough Jibber Jabber!! Let’s take a critical look at some of the notable Commons, Uncommons and Rares!

COMMONS:

DXF001 Deadpool — 75 Points — Common: Our first “Shifting Focus” Deadpool, this guy offers an 11 Attack Value with an Attack Special (No Sharper Than A Serpent’s Tooth. A Sword.: Deadpool can use Blades/Claws/Fangs. When he does, the minimum result for his D6 roll is his printed damage value.) that essentially makes him a human Ginsu knife. Top dial he sports an 18 Defense Value WITH Combat Reflexes, so this is the Deadpool you want to shift to if you find yourself needing a Close Combat killer. As we’ll shortly see, the amount of situational versatility you get with these “Shifting Focus” 75 Point Deadpool pieces is pretty insane.

DXF002 Wolverine — 70 Points — Common: Nine Clicks for 70 Points seems like a bargain, especially combined with Stealth and dial-long B/C/F. However, with no move and attack on his own, he needs to be paired with some early game TK… and even then, he may still need some help getting to his target.

His lone Special (Wolverine can use Regeneration as a free action. Give Wolverine a free action and roll a d6. One time this turn, he can use that result instead of rolling for Blades/Claws/Fangs or Regeneration.) is great, except that it doesn’t come around until he’s already taken SIX Clicks of damage.

And even though he has the X-Force keyword, he does not have the X-Force Trait, which means that his Stealth takes up his Movement slot for most of his dial.

Essentially, this Wolvy is going to need a lot of help if he’s ever gonna get to show us why he’s the best there is at what he does.

DXF004B Madcap — 100 Points — Common: Easily damaged, but not easily KO’d. His recovery Trait (Instant Healing: When Madcap takes damage, after actions resolve roll a d6 and heal Madcap half of the result.) is hella useful as is the Poison and Perplex that he picks up on his second Click.

At 100 Points, he’s expensive, but he can also wreck your opponent’s plans, too.

DXF010 Tippy-Toe — 25 Points — Common:

More than just a tie-up piece, Tippy Toe has an Attack Special (Squirrel Talk: Give Tippy-Toe a free action to deal 1 damage to an opposing character within 8 squares and line of fire that occupies printed hindering terrain.) that can be REALLY annoying on the right map. Any ability that deals damage without needing to roll a die is a good ability, no matter how situational it is.

A high Defense Value coupled with Super Senses and Exploit Weakness down dial make Tippy-To well worth the points.

DXF014 Cable — 120 Points — Common: Wow!! You usually don’t see this many Traits/Special Abilities on a Common nowadays, but Cable is great!

Traited Stealth, a move-and-attack Movement Special that utilizes Phasing, Pen/Psy, Probability Control AND a native 4 Damage? Sign me up?

This is a great piece that will probably crack my Top Ten list!

DXF017 Deadpool— 75 Points — Uncommon: Another “Shifting Focus” piece, this is Deadpool with a sniper rifle, so he has Pen/Psy and Energy Shield/Deflection. Think someone is gonna shoot at your Deadpool ? Shift to this version and all of the sudden they have to hit a 19 or 20 Defense.

This is a wonderful piece to have on your sideline.

DXF029 Feral — 60 Points— Uncommon: Feral! We finally have a Feral, after all this time! And for 60 Points, she’s not bad at all for a Close Combat piece. Not great, but nowhere near the worst piece of the set.

Alright!! Let’s meet back here tomorrow and take a look at the Rares and Super Rares!!

And finally, I want to give special thanks to Wizkids, Scott Porter, all the eagle-eyed folks in the HCRealms.com community (especially Jaysol for putting everything there together), the good people at Married With Clix and everyone else who’s helped spoil this set. This article wouldn’t have been possible without all of their hard work.