Technocrat seems like a fun piece to build around and has some real potential for high damage for an uncommon. Let’s take a look at what kind of builds we can make with him.

Although I don’t really like the majority of Joker’s Wild, that’s not to say that there aren’t good pieces in the set. Like any set, there’s bound to be a handful of good pieces to make it worthwhile. Of those pieces, I really dig Technocrat, a ranged uncommon with a natural way to buff himself.

As I usually do with team builds centered around a particular piece, I like to break them down. For 80 points, Technocrat has 6 clicks of health which is pretty average. He’s got the Outsiders team ability which is just boss, and 6 range with 1 target along with standard combat symbols except he has flight. He does get improved targeting: ignores elevated, so that’s absolutely a strength we can play off of. His numbers and powers are fairly average; 8 Running Shot, 10 Special Attack, 17 Toughness, and 3 damage. He does decline rather poorly dropping into a 9 attack and losing Running Shot after two clicks, but his defense stays pretty decent and he picks up Energy Shield/Deflection to help him escape and get to some healing, along with a Special damage power that also helps him out. The last click of Earthbound/Neutralized is probably the worst thing going for him as it really just screws his changes of survival.

Looking at his Special powers, it’s his attack power that really makes Technocrat a good piece.

SKYLINE TARGETING MICROBOTS: When Technocrat makes a range attack targeting a single character, increase his damage value by 1 for every 2 squares away the target is from Technocrat.

With a 6 range, Technocrat can raise his damage value up by +3, bringing him to a whopping 6 damage for 80 points. That’s really good since most ranged pieces don’t dish that much damage by themselves, let alone that much damage for under 100 points. Usually it’s big melee brawlers or tanks that get within one-shot damage range.

His damage power that he gets on the back half of his dial isn’t bad either.

NEED TIME TO RUN THE NUMBERS: Give Technocrat a power action and choose Outwit or Perplex. Technocrat can use the chosen power until he uses this power again or until he takes damage.

I like that this power lets him pick up either Outwit or Perplex and just keep that power until he chooses again; this let’s him adapt to the board and have a better chance of getting away and recovering. I’m pretty surprised at how much he brings to the table in order to keep himself going. Sure, regular Outwit would probably be better, but what if you really just need that extra +1 to movement to ensure you get to your healer? I like options, and this power is all about options.

So what can we do with Technocrat to make him better or really abuse him? His lack of Willpower is kind of a bummer so it would be nice to do something about that, but it’s pretty tough to do without resources (Pandora’s Box, Supereme Intelligence) so we probably just have to deal with it. His improved targeting can really be a great asset if we win map roll as his biggest weakness heavy hitters reaching him as he’ll go down in no time. If he can draw line of fire first, he can either Outsiders their damage (Super Strength), or perhaps their movement to make sure tricky Perplexes don’t ruin your day.

Before jumping into the builds, I want to make mention that my last team build got two separate comments about building more financially efficient teams without big money pieces. It has been some time since I’ve acknowledged this and built a somewhat ‘pauper’ team build, so I’m including that today for you folks that don’t want to drop lots of money! Enjoy!

300 Point Modern Technocrat Theme Team ‘Pauper Edition’ – Figures Only

WKD15-004 Lex Luthor | 98 Points

JK 024 Technocrat | 80 Points

AOU 003R Ant-Man | 50 Points

JW 036 The Flash | 35 Points

NFAoS 022 Simmons | 35 Points

Sideline: Morph Ant-Man’s, preferably one with the “Ant Swarm” trait

Build Total: 298 Points

Scientist Theme Team

As I mentioned above, I think map is going to be Technocrat’s biggest advantage. If you pick something that has lots of elevation changes, it’s going to keep him safe while he can pick everyone off. He has two keywords in Outsiders and Scientest, and although Outsiders are cool, they have relatively low attack values, so I opted for Scientist giving us a +5 to Initiative.

The LE Lex Luthor is a really nice “mini resource” as he gets to pick a friendly character on your first turn and buff them for the game. You can give that character a free action and choose a number of combat values equal to Lex’s click number and modify them by +1 each. This is a great way to buff Technocrat’s attack, range, and movement which he could use throughout the game to help him tag his targets first. Lex also places a Bounty token on any opposing character which gives them a -1 to defense value. I love pieces that can affect my opponent anywhere on the board, and this gives Technocrat an effective +2 to his attack value. He’s also got Enchancement/Empower to buff people that are attacking the Bounty target. Pretty damn good for 98 points.

Ant-Man serves two purposes here; his ants clog up the battle field when you morph to a different piece (and on elevation, they can sit on ramps/ladders pretty much eliminating any progress), and he also has Perplex to help Technocrat even more. Since he’s tiny, Technocrat can carry him for free and have his own personal Perplex. Let’s not forget that he can also make Technocrat tiny or giant based on what you need (which will almost always be tiny size to make him harder to hit). More number boosting is always good!

The Flash is a SUPER good piece, and a Hypersonic piece seems like a great secondary attacker. He’s a little fragile, but remember that Ant-Man doesn’t have to Perplex our main guy. He can boost Flash’s damage up, and if Lex pushes to Empower, Flash gets another +1 to damage if he attacks a Bounty character (as well as them having a -1 to defense). If you’re scared about attacks on his fragile little man-body, have Ant-Man chill with him and boost that defense to a 19 and shrink him for a +1 against range. Have fun hitting my Hypertime 20 defense Flash (yeah, I went there! I still have that dude!).

I didn’t know if I wanted to go with Fitz or Simmons because they’re both really good for only 35 points. Simmons ended up winning out for more utility. Outwit is HUGE and will be necessary to make our hits stick. Since Technocrat can fly, he can taxi her around so that his follow-up hits deal more damage, potentially dealing the final blow. If you push Simmons, you get a healer which we desperately need, and the ability to grant Force Blast, Incap, and Smoke Cloud to an adjacent friendly character. Someone getting to close to Technocrat? Give him Force Blast so that he throws them back after the attack (hopefully off the elevation they’re currently on!). That S.H.I.E.L.D. team ability isn’t something to scoff at either, boosting his range by +1.

I really dig this ‘pauper’ build; it’s got so much stat boosting that it seems like it can overcome pretty much anything that isn’t too insane (KC Green Lantern comes to mind). Just pray that Nighthawk Prime isn’t sitting on the other side of the board.

Okay, so you really want to play an Outisders team with Technocrat. I gotcha covered, but you’re gonna have to go up to 400 points.

400 Point Modern Technocrat Theme Team ‘Pauper Edition’ – Figures Only

JW 016 Batman | 120 Points

WF 040 Element Man | 100 Points

JW 024 Technocrat | 80 Points

FFWF 004 Nightwing | 50 Points

JW 037A Looker | 45 Points

Build Total: 395 Points

Outsiders Theme Team

We lose a lot of our number boosting with the Outsiders as they really don’t pack Perplex, which is a shame because their attack values are pretty poor with an average of 10 (actually, everyone but Batman has a 10 attack). Still, they can still get the job done since legitimately everyone on the team has the Outsiders team ability. We’re also still getting a +5 to Initiative, and we get Theme Team Prob Control which is really great.

This Batman is really cool. Granting free Outwit to one Outsider within 6 squares can really make Technocrat hit hard which is something we absolutely need. Leadership takes care of that pesky lack of Willpower on ‘crat, so double nice. Bats is also our strongest piece as he can choose what powers he wants to use with certain restrictions. He also packs Running Shot but he’s got double targets, a longer movement, and a better attack value, so he’s our borderline secondary/tied for primary attacker.

Element Man is a piece that should never be overlooked. Holy cow, is this guy good! With traited Plasticity, Shape Change, and Giant Reach, he’s our dream tie-up piece. Since he’s also got Super Sense, you get to make two rolls to see if they even damage him. Since he’s got the ability to pick attack and/or defense powers, you can pick up Impervious and give yourself three ways to roll out of damage. What we lose in Perplex, we make for in pick-a-power pieces with both Rex and Bruce. I knew as soon as I started look at Oustiders that this guy was going to be on the team.

Nightwing is a pretty beastly piece for his points. His big claim to fame is on his rookie dial as he brings the Outsiders team ability to any team for only 25 points. Still, his 50 point line shouldn’t be crossed off. Leap/Climb, Sidestep, and Stealth along with Combat Reflexes and 3 damage actually make him a really good tie-up piece. He’s gonna be really tough to hit while he moves into position, and anyone without damage mitigation is going to hurt if they let him stick around.

Looker rounds out our team with an incredible Mind Control special power and a whopping 8 range. I can see her being your designated TTPC’er and sitting in the back line around where Technocrat is running around, Mind Controlling anyone who comes near him. She’s not the best, but she’s only 45 points and Mind Control is one of those powers that I think a lot of people pass up.

If I had to pick one of these teams to play, I would most likely pick the Scientist team at 300 points as I think it has more teeth, but I like that the Outsiders team isn’t putting all of its’ chips down on one piece.

I hope those of you that were looking for cheaper team builds enjoyed this edition of Team Build. Technocrat is a really cool piece and although I think he’s a little too low in values to make a splash in competitive play, I can see him completely carving through LGS play (see what I did there? Thanksgiving jokes, can’t get enough of ’em). If you get a chance to play either of these teams, let me know how they did!

As I mentioned last Thursday, there won’t be an article on Thursday as we have the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S. It’s also the busiest time of the year for me both at work and in my personal life, so I’m working pretty hard at keeping the site updated as regularly as I have been. I apologize in advance if I end up missing a day.

Oh, one last thing; a new Majestix article should be live sometime this week!