Moon Knight is a great character that we were lucky enough to get two versions of last year. The character is really fun, and I realized that I never built a team around him. I’ll be focusing on the Superior Foes of Spider-Man version. Onward to 2017!

I started reading Moon Knight after the newest Secret Wars and that new book has completely sold me on the character. Also, two of my good friends are huge Moonie fans, so I feel like Marc has gone on long enough without a build here. As I mentioned in my subheader, I’ll be focusing on SFSM 037 Moon Knight. As per usual with piece builds, let’s break down Moon Knight and see what about him we want to capitalize on.

Clocking in at 90 points, Moon Knight has 6 clicks of health which is a tad bit expensive but nothing too terrible. He’s got 5 range with a single bolt, standard combat symbols, and the Spider-Man team ability. He does have Improved Movement: Ignores Elevated Terrain which is really nice. He’s also got a single trait, which we’ll get to in a minute.

For his dial, his numbers are pretty middle-of-the-road for the most part. He starts off with a 9 Running Shot, 10 Special Attack, 18 Toughness, and 3 damage. His second click drops his movement and defense by 1, and by his third click, he drops movement again and takes a big -1 hit to attack, but picks up Flurry. His attack climbs on click 5 and he picks up Close Combat Expert, and his last click is pure win with 8 Running Shot, 11 attack, 18 Toughness, and 4 Close Combat Expert. Just a quick note; he does have Toughness on his whole freakin’ dial which is pretty sweet.

Now that we know his dial, let’s take a look at his Trait and Special Attack power:

AVATAR OF VENGEANCE, COLLECTING FOR KHONSHU: When Moon Knight damages an opposing character, place a Tribute token on this card. At the beginning of your turn, give Moon Knight a free action and remove a Tribute token from this card to heal him 1 click. When Moon Knight would be KO’d, you may remove 2 Tribute tokens to instead turn him to click #6.

I really like this trait. Just the healing aspect alone feels a little more fair than your typical Wolverine/regeneration piece since Moon Knight has to dish damage, and that really makes sense for the character. The kicker to his trait is that if he would be KO’d, he can come back to life on that sweet click 6 with monster stats. Your opponent better pray that he isn’t double tokened when they attempt to KO him!

How about that Special Attack power?

I WANT THEM TO SEE ME COMING: Modify Moon Knight’s attack value by +1 for each opposing character within his range that can draw line of fire to him.

Again, another ability that really fits the character and who he is, and boy is this a doozy. For 90 points, we can potentially get this guy to 13 attack which means he’s gonna hit. This really makes his low attack values not count since he’s always going to be within line of fire of one opposing character; the one he’s attacking. So realistically, as long as this power isn’t Outwitted, his attack values are a minimum of 11, 11, 10, 10 on his first four clicks. Now he’s not so bad, right? Nah, he’s killer.

I really dig that this trait/attack power combo makes you play Moon Knight the way the character really acts; he’s brutal, reckless, and aggressive. If you don’t play the piece this way, you’re not maxing your points. It’s fantastic when WizKids gives us a piece that links so magnificently to the comic character.

Alright, so how do we abuse this guy? Buffing attack values aren’t really going to help him since he’s probably going to end up with a +2 on those first four clicks (based on a typical game layout and how meta bystander armies are). My only real complaint with Moon Knight is with only Toughness and 6 clicks, he can go down pretty quick. We have to keep him alive in order to get those two Tribute tokens so he doesn’t die, and with his crazy attack power, he’s gonna be a big target. At the same time, I don’t want a big bruiser piece to take the focus from him since this is his build article.

A big boon that shouldn’t be overlooked is that Spider-Man team ability which is a wild card. This adds so much value and can really change how Moon Knight plays even further if you select the right pieces. That’s where I’m focusing. Without further ado, let’s dive into the first Team Build of 2017!

300 Point Modern Moon Knight Build – No Resources

SFSM 037 Moon Knight Possessed with Proteus | 90 Points + 35 points = 125 Points

WF 002 Superman | 90 Points

JW 009 Robin | 45 Points

WF 066R Spectre | 35 Points

ID Card of Choice | 5 Points

Sideline: WF 001 Superman, WF 017a Superman, WF 033 Superman

Build Total: 300 Points

I figured the best way to buff Moon Knight to keep him alive would be through raising his defense value. Let’s face it; if you play against Nighthawk Prime, you’re gonna have a bad day anyway, so I’m not going to worry about him. Anyway, rather than a typical possessor, I went with Proteus. This raises Moon Knight to a 10, 11, 19, 4 on click one, and a crazy 9, 12, 19, 5 on click six which he can resurrect to. Now we only need two opposing characters within 5 range and line of fire to max Moonie’s attack value. He’s also got that trait to help him heal so that when Proteus does eventually tick him for 1, Moon Knight has a good chance to reverse that effect and since they both happen at the beginning of the turn, you can resolve the Proteus effect first, then decide if you want to heal. I love pieces that can negate Proteus’ downside.

For the second piece, I went with Shifting Focus Superman. This guy is everything Moon Knight needs; he’s a taxi with Hypersonic Speed, a melee bruiser buddy, a sniper to tag-team dudes with Combat Reflexes or get through Impervious, or more importantly, another +1 to defense raising Moon Knight to a 20 on his top click. Shuttle Marc to where you can take a shot the following turn and then swap out to the defensive Supes to get that +1 to defense and it’s gonna be pretty tough hitting you.

Robin is a really nice tie-up piece, and since we don’t have a piece like Overdrive or Vanisher to carry multiple people, his Zip Line trait will be really useful for us. I also like the Empower to raise Moon Knights’ damage when he eventually comes in close for the kill (or is taxi’d there via Supes). Plasticity is what makes this piece and will do a great job of locking people down so that Moon Knight gets the max value out of his attack power.

Spectre was chosen as a cheap Probability Control piece as there’s just nothing in the game that matches him (expect for maybe Renet Tilley, but she’s 55 points). The nice thing about this comp is that Moon Knight and Superman want to be up in your face, so you don’t really have to worry about positioning Spectre in a way to where he’s going to be sniped. If the enemy team goes after him, Moon Knight is really going to punish them for it.

There’s one thing I failed to mention on each of these pieces and why they were chosen; team abilities. Remember that Moon Knight is a wild card and that versatility is your best friend in Heroclix. Let’s take a look at what each piece brings to the table: Superman (uncommon and rare) have the Superman Ally team ability which lets Moon Knight move and shoot through hindering (bye bye Stealth). Robin has the Batman Ally team ability which lets Moon Knight pick up Stealth if he’s facing off against a ranged-heavy team. Spectre has the Mystics team ability, which not only makes your opponent think twice about hitting Moon Knight; it gives him Tribute. There’s really no way that Moon Knight is going to get one-shotted aside form a massive Super Strength alpha strike, so equipping him with Mystics for those two hits will ensure that Moon Knight will come back at least one time. See, there was a lot of planning there after all!

For ID cards, it’s really up to you what you choose. Anything you want can be used for the last 5 points as the only real character I would feel comfortable using for call-ins is Robin, and 45 points isn’t a lot for an ID character. Maybe The Atom form SMWW would work well in this case, but it’s up to you. Pym Particles are another option, or the Web Shooter if you want to sort of reenact when Moon Knight thought he was all of the Avengers.

That wraps up my Moon Knight build. Have you had any other success with him? What did you use? Think the new Shredder goes hand-in-hand with him (cause he does)? Cool, I want to know your build! Sound off in the comments below!

Seeing as we’re now in 2017, and we’re in the glorious holding pattern that is new set releases (and lack of OP Kits), what would you like to see me write about? I’m running low on ideas, so anything is appreciated. This blog kind of revolves around team builds, so it’s a little tough to keep two posts a week going when we’re lacking product. Please comment below and let me know what you would like to see in the coming weeks while we wait for the now-delayed Deadpool and X-Force set (grrrrr….) and TMNT3! See ya Thursday!