What’s up Fixers? U.S. Nationals took place in Columbus, Ohio just two weeks ago and we got to see one final run with game elements that will be rotating in just a few days as well as what kind of effect ABPI has had with its limited release time. Today I’m looking over the top 8 players from Nationals with META TALK!

Nationals is a fantastic time to analyze where we’re at with the overall health and competitive nature of the game. What’s doing well? What’s seeing play from the newest set? What have we seen taper off? These big events are what shape players expectations for the coming season/months in what they build and what they need to be cautious of.

If you’re a regular reader of Clix Fix and/or Two Clicks From KO, you should be used to this type of article already. If you’re a new reader, these are quite special for me because my analysis of the 2017 ROC World Cup is what basically catapulted me into the spotlight and kicked off my writing for Majestix Apex Insiders, joining Two Clicks From KO, becoming a moderator for the Heroclix Subreddit, and so much more. I never thought this humble little blog would have thrown me into the world of Heroclix so hard… and I love every minute of it.

Anyway, if you haven’t read these types of articles of mine, I basically go through each person’s team with a complete team list (found here on Majestix) and why their team did so well and anything that I think is worth noting to those of you who aren’t into the competitive scene. Basically, I’m trying to bridge the gap between those of you who are casual players and are trying to understand the competitive scene of this game. Keep in mind that like last year, there was no video stream which means I don’t have a lot of information in terms of what plays were made or any other details. I can only hypothesize. I’m also not going to link figures/elements because holy crap that would take forever. I will add the exact unit number though so you can look them up at your leisure.

Let’s start off with 5th through 8th and work our way to the winner.

5th-8th – Mike Bachle

TMT058e Uni-Mind | 275 Points Forged in Blue Flame X4 | 20 Points

MP19-S101 Remaker Ring | 5 Points

Sideline: TMT046 Makkari, TMT057 Sersi, AI048 Starfox, SWB007b Thanos

Maps: Underground Caverns, Wakanda, Wakanda (Earth X)

Mike played what seems now to be a dying breed in the current environment; a massive tentpole utilizing the only Uni-Mind we see in the top 8. However, this is incredibly relevant. Even though Mike didn’t win the event, it’s a big deal that Uni-Mind is still alive and kicking. It’s been almost 2 years since his release, along with an errata, and the translucent green cosmic being is still doing well. In this high setting (and with tons of experience by now), the professional players know how to pop him rather efficiently, but he’s still more than capable of dominating smaller events.

The most important aspect of Uni-Mind is which Eternals are used as that greatly changes what he can access. Mike used the basic setup that most everyone goes with these days with Makkari (Hypersonic Speed/Probability Control), Sersi (Barrier/Stealth/Mind Control), Starfox (Flurry), and Prime Thanos (Running Shot/Pen/Psy) giving his Uni-Mind everything but Pulse Wave and Mastermind. If another Eternal is printed with Mastermind in this last year of Uni-Mind, be very afraid because there’s a very good chance he will storm back into competitive.

Notice the final clicks of the Eternals that Mike has chosen. While Makkari, Sersi, and Starfox are very average, Thanos has an incredible melee click with 9-Charge, 11-Super Strength, 16-Toughness, and 4-Exploit Weakness along with his ability to stockpile Infinity Tokens to modify his values and possibly keep him from ever KO’ing. By leaving out the giant Thanos from Avengers: Infinity, Mike doesn’t have a massive point swing if Uni-Mind does get popped. Each of these four he’s selected will still leave him enough points to win if one of them is KO’d, or possibly even two depending on which ones.

The Remaker Ring is an interesting choice here. Rather than the typical Venom Symbiote, Mike opts for the Plasticity and more importantly, Poison from Remaker. This is a good option as bystanders have previously been running rampart in previous events and WizKids doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of ceasing this.

This is a very good tentpole team, and should be the example you look to if you’re looking to compete with a single large-costed figure. Had Kobik not come out in ABPI, there’s a good chance this team would have gone further as it’s incredibly strong against something like Vulture and can usually blow up multiple figures before taking any damage itself.

5th-8th Place – Tylor Spees

TMNT3033Mini Shredder | 90 Points

AIG017e Giganto and Namor | 50 Points

AIG017e Giganto and Namor | 50 Points

TMTG001p Surtur | 25 Points

AI025p Groot | 20 Points

TMTG004p Carnage | 10 Points

TMTG004p Carnage | 10 Points

TMTG004p Carnage | 10 Points

Iceberg Lounge Location Bonus | 5 Points

Full ID Cards: Wolverine (Faculty), Harley Quinn, Professor X, Colossus (Faculty) | 5 Points Each = 20 Points

Student ID Cards: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Chamber | 3 Points Each = 9 Points

Monster Theme Team: +8

Sideline: XXS053 Wolverine, HQGG049 Harley Quinn, XXS037b Professor X, DPXF056 Colossus, XXS052 Cyclops, XXS065 Jean Grey, XXS041 Chamber, BTAS072 Firestorm

Maps: Icerberg Lounge, Sporting Arena, Underground Caverns

Tylor made another big impression ranking in the top 8 after his win at Worlds at PAX last year. This build is very similar to his win there with only a few differences: We see only 1 Groot here, swapped out for another Carnage to make room for 10 more points which he used for the Colossus ID card and the Iceberg Lounge Location Bonus. We also see a drop off on Troubalerts with just a single Firestorm and the loss of Wonder Woman.

This team has been discussed quite heavily as it’s been around for a few months and Tylor has played more or less the same team through different events through the beginning of this year, so there isn’t too much to discuss. Basically, the two Giganto & Namors walk through the map using Quake as they go and drop Mini Shredder off to base people for free damage, and then bring in big ID card summons to deal a lot of his damage, followed by a ton of retaliation making it very difficult and scary to hit anyone on his team (along with the resurrection on Mini Shredder and STOP clicks on Giganto & Namor).

Instead of going into the team in detail, let’s look at the two different factors. First up, dropping to a single Groot in place of another Carnage. I don’t think this is a good play for on-the-board figures as Tylor loses two Walking Wood bystanders which do so much damage, along with losing the second Leadership. Carnage is a lot easier to hit and KO in a single hit than Groot is, and while his bystanders are more annoying, they don’t deal the steady damage that the Walking Wood’s do. However, Carnage does have better movement, so he can get around the map if needed, and the bigger picture here is that this gives Tylor room for more ID cards and in this case a location bonus.

With 5 points open for an ID card, Tylor opted for Colossus which is probably a head-scratcher. It’s cool – I was confused too. The Super Rare from Deadpool and X-Force has a decent click of Charge that goes through walls with 11-Quake, and 4-Close Combat Expert, so he can summon him adjacent to someone and hit for a massive 6-damage strike, or can send him through some walls. The bigger reason for Colossus though is his ID inspiration as it grants his characters Impervious, making it so much harder to deal with either the Mini Shredder/Giganto & Namor squad, or all his retaliators in the back line depending on his positioning.

The Iceberg Lounge gives Tylor the ability to steal equipment on turn 1 which is a huge advantage, especially since he’ll most likely be winning map roll with a massive +8. There isn’t as much blocking terrain to keep his giant squad in the back as safe as somewhere like the Underground Caverns, but that’s fine because the penguins he gets will cause more trouble for his opponents than the blocking is worth, especially with how heavy equipment is in modern right now.

Now there is one thing that surprises me about Tylors build, and that’s the lack of Captain Venom. When this guy was revealed, I have a feeling that Tylor got about 50,000 PM’s or notifications on social media/forums about how this guy was made especially for him. There’s no doubt about it; Captain Venom is incredible and already has a winning track record for Monster teams, but it’s surprising to see him missing. Adding Theme Team Probability Control and raising attack values is very strong, but if anyone knows the winning formula to this build, it’s Tylor. I would love to see how this team evolves with Captain Venom though.

5th-8th Place – Brad Milburn

ABPI074 Thanos | 160 Points

AI043 Unseen | 65 Points

AIG025p Groot | 20 Points

TMTG008p Flora Colossus | 10 Points

TMTG008p Flora Colossus | 10 Points

ABPIS005 Soul Gem | 10 Points

EAXS006 Venom Symbiote | 4 Points

Full ID Cards: Wolverine (Bounty), Storm (Faculty), Harley Quinn | 5 Points Each = 15 Points

Student ID Cards: Cyclops, Jean Grey | 3 Points Each = 6 Points

Cosmic Theme Team: +5

Sideline: XXS053 Wolverine, MP17 Storm, HQGG049 Harley Quinn, XXS052 Cyclops, XXS019 Cyclops, XXS063 Cyclops, XXS065 Jean Grey, BTAS072 Firestorm

Maps: Underground Caverns, Wakanda (Earth X), Junkyard

Brad was who I was routing for once I heard what teams were in top 8. I cannot help but hope for Thanos to win everything because… well, I think you guys know how much I love Thanos. It was incredibly exciting to see this figure do so well at the end of Saturday, and even though he didn’t win, this is a very big deal. More on that later.

I finally got to play Thanos, and it’s clear how overwhelming he is for his cost. The ability to strip opponents of Protected: Outwit and PROTECTED: Outwit anywhere on their dial (including STOP clicks) while also lowering a combat value, or giving an ally Power Cosmic and raising one of their values is crazy-good and in a competitive setting, this can be the difference of a Uni-Mind lasting the entire game or 1-2 turns. Thanos is poised to be the best ID battery of possibly all-time as he has the capability of giving out +3 to combat values by himself thanks to his Skreet bystander that he can generate once per game. Thanos’ big downside is that he’s slow with just Sidestep, but that’s fine because when you’re playing this guy you’re in no hurry. Like his line from the films, he is inevitable, and the ID summons he’ll throw out on his approach will hurt even more than on any other team.

Teaming up with Thanos is Unseen, the dude who’s seen play since his release. Nick has found a permanent home in competitive as another powerful ID summoner as he’s an absolute monster to try and KO, and he pairs incredibly well with Thanos as he has one of the strongest Outwits in the game thanks to his improved targeting and massive range. Between the two of them, they can dismantle just about anyone they face off against.

Groot and two Flora’s round out Brads’ team as a 40-point +3 to map roll. Groot provides token removal for Thanos (though it will be tough for him to follow with his terrible 3-speed), Walking Woods which he most likely generated 100% of the time since there’s basically no one to Outwit on his team (hint: ALWAYS spawn the Walking Woods), and a strong retaliator. I’ve said it before; Groot is pound-for-pound the best figure you can play in Heroclix. The two Flora’s are insanely good, too. Once the laughing stock of The Mighty Thor, Flora’s have made more competitive appearances than pretty much any other figure since their release. They work incredibly well as both easy additions to your force to help you win map roll and incredibly efficient walking walls that your opponent will most likely have to at least double-tap to take them down (or even more if your dice are hot). No wonder these branchy bois are back up to $30 each.

To round out his team on the board, Brad brought the Soul Gem for Thanos (+1 defense and Steal Energy from ALL attacks, healing 2 on a 10 or higher), and the Venom Symbiote for Unseen making him basically impossible to kill without a single-target Pulse Wave. With this setup, it’s incredibly hard to score any points on Brad as the only somewhat-easy points are the Flora’s and Groot. Thanos will be rocking a 21 defense on most turns, Unseen has incredible roll-outs, and he has huge range Prob with Unseen.

As I mentioned, Thanos is a killer ID battery, so Brad’s ID suite is very important, and with Thanos sitting at 160 points, he can freely use higher-point starting lines if he so chooses. Wolverine and Cyclops super rare’s are the must-have ID cards, but notice that Brad brought three different Cyclops’ to the event. This gives him a ton of choices in how he wants to utilize his sniper card based on the threat he’s facing. Remember that being able to adapt to your opponent is a huge factor, and that’s exactly what he’s doing. He’s also got the LE Storm with that terrifying Running Shot/Pulse Wave opening click, which is event worst thanks to all the number boosting Brad has on his team. Dropping Power Cosmic and STOP on any opponent and then hitting with a 7-damage Pulse Wave is pretty much curtains for anyone. Finally, we see the Title Harley Quinn, another huge staple that gives so much utility.

I think this is a brutal team, but it’s just the start of what we’re going to see from The Mad Titan. With only a couple weeks to test the big guy (and most people waiting to grab him thanks to his huge monetary price-point), this is most likely only the start of what we’re going to see with him.

5th-8th Matt Greichunos

ABPI069 Kobik | 100 Points Hi, I’m Kobik | 15 Points

APBI048 Astronomer | 75 Points Bearer of an Infinity Gem | 5 Points

ABPI050 Trader | 50 Points Bearer of an Infinity Gem | 5 Points

RE052e Mister Oz | 40 Points

Harley Quinn ID | 5 Points

Student ID Cards: Cyclops, Rusty, Jean Grey | 3 Points Each = 9 Points

Cosmic Theme Team: +4

Sideline: HQGG049 Harley Quinn, XXS052 Cyclops, XXS019 Cyclops, XXS063 Cyclops, XXS014 Rusty, XXS065 Jean Grey, BTAS072 Firestorm, BTAS 068 The Flash

Maps: Galador Promenade, Trenches, Poison Ivy’s Greenhouse

Unfortunately I don’t know which gems Matt used on his Elders of the Universe, but I can almost guarantee that he used Kobik’s own Cosmic Cube – ABPIS008 Cosmic Cube. So obviously I won’t be able to review this team to the fullest without knowing those two gems.

Matt’s team is the first we’re seeing Kobik, the breakout star of this event (as you’ll soon see). Kobik was revealed to a mostly questioning public that didn’t know what to think of her. Most people thought she was overcosted and was gimmicky character that required a ton of effort to make work properly and didn’t provide enough firepower for her cost, especially with a Cosmic Cube attached. Well, that turned out to be the exact opposite. If you read my Clix O’ The Week last week on Majestix, you’ll know how good Kobik is. If you didn’t, I’ll basically sum it up here.

Kobik gives you incredible control with huge range for double Mind-Control, big defenses with two roll-outs, a full dial of Probability Control, completely neutralizes team abilities by giving them to your allies, and is another incredible ID battery as her 3-square placement from her cube gives her one of the best ways to “poof” and ID character, prevent them from being KO’d and scored. All for 115 points.

Matt rounds out Kobik with two Elders of the Universe, borderline running a full ABPI team. Trader is a disgusting little creep that brings him another Perplex and swaps out his own items for the much more powerful items your opponents have brought to the game. Why go through all the trouble of destroying an object when you can simply take it from them? And that’s exactly what Matt (and Isaac) did. The best part is that Trader is incredibly cheap for this effect at just 45 points, or 50 points if he brings a gem (he should always bring a gem, and usually it should be Space).

Riding shotgun with Trader is Astronomer, the Elder capable of TK’ing twice at no cost, and when he does so to place a friendly character with either Power Cosmic or has the Cosmic Keyword (i.e. his entire team), they modify +1 defense until his next turn. That means Kobik is sitting at a 20-defense on her own, Astronomer can have a 19, Trader can have an 18, and Mr. Oz can have a 19. Astronomer also brings Probability Control, a massive 11 range, and improved targeting: hindering and elevated making him incredibly hard to hide from. This gives Matt a ton of repositioning as he can move his characters from 11 squares out, making it very hard to find a place to stay safe from either his Mind Control from Kobik, his item stealing from Trader, or any ID character he brings in.

If Astronomer’s TK wasn’t enough, Matt also played Mister Oz for yet another massive range Probability Control (12 and improved movement: everything). Mister Oz actually makes Astronomer better as now Matt gets to place his characters 2 squares away after every TK, and he reduces all opposing TK by 2 squares and he gets to pick the final placement. Oz is very hard to KO as well as he has Stealth, Super Senses, and the Hypertime team ability, making it a total pain to try and base for melee attacks.

This team has a ton of mobility, but I’m honestly a little amazed that it did so well. There’s not a ton of on-board offense on this team, basically relying on Kobik’s Mind Control (which won’t do squat to a solo Uni-Mind) or his ID cards to do all of his damage. I have a big feeling that this is the type of team that you have to see or play in order to realize just how many things it can do. There’s certainly a ton of control, so I would imagine a lot of this team is KO’ing a large target or two, and then maneuvering so much and so far that counter-attacking is nearly impossible. It’s absolutely a creative team!

EDIT: I’ve been informed that the way this team functions is Kobik uses her cube to give an action token to a character (like Uni-Mind one-man armies), then Trader swaps his gem with her to activate the same effect. The following turn, Trader uses the cube and swaps back with Kobik so she can do the same. It’s an infinite lockdown and absolutely kills a one-man army build. Brutal.

3rd/4th Place – Isaac Arnold-Berkovits

ABPI069 Kobik | 100 Points Hi, I’m Kobik | 15 Points

ABPI050 Trader | 50 Points Bearer of an Infinity Gem | 5 Points

SWB063e Sheriff Strange | 50 Points

TMTG006p Mangog | 30 Points

ADW071 Iron Heart | 25 Points

TMTG004p Carnage | 10 Points

Wolverine (Faculty) ID | 5 Points

Professor X ID | 5 Points

Student ID Cards: Cyclops, Iceman, Jean Grey | 3 Points Each = 9 Points

Sideline: XXS053 Wolverine, XXS037a Professor X, XXS037b Professor X, XXS052 Cyclops, XXS063 Cyclops, XXS065 Jean Grey, XXS064 Iceman, BTAS072 Firestorm, BTAS063 Batman

Maps: The Great Mound, Underground Cavern, Poison Ivy’s Greenhouse

Issac played a similar build to Matt, but he placed just a bit higher, defeating Mike’s Uni-Mind team to claw his way into the Top 4 cut. I’ve already covered Kobik and Trader, so we don’t have to double back there. Instead, let’s look at what else Isaac was playing.

Sheriff Strange makes his only appearance in the Top 8 on Isaac’s team, and it’s very easy to see why. Strange has the Baron of Battleworld trait that brings Leadership and Perplex to the team (although the only person he can pull tokens from are Mangog, Iron Heart, and Carnage, but the +1 to actions is good), but more importantly, his other trait forces opponents to use Double Power Actions to activate ID cards. Take a look at every team on this list (except for Mike’s Uni-Mind team) and you’ll be able to tell that ID cards are responsible for a lot of heavy lifting and damage output. This single figure greatly drops off how frequently characters are able to call-in others and locks them down so that Isaac can follow up the next turn and take a shot. Stephen also has a decent offensive opening click with 8-range, 10-Precision Strike, and 3-Ranged Combat Expert, along with Force Blast to make his hits count. I’m honestly quite surprised that Strange didn’t show up more, but we could see more from him in the coming months after rotation.

Issac also included a staple with Iron Heart, one of the best taxi’s in the game, and a figure I’m super bummed will be rotating this year. Iron Heart packs in all the major support powers and can take anywhere from 1 to 6 hits depending on your luck. Chances are Iron Heart was used to get Trader into the field quickly and then shuttle the good Sheriff around so that he could position himself to make a rather large ranged attack the following turn.

Two retaliators rounded out the rest Isaac’s team with Mangog and Carnage. The Mangog is a fearsome figure as he’s rocking that 19-Impervious making him one of the hardest retaliators to take down, and his counter attack is massive dishing out up to 7 damage to everyone within 2 squares and 4 damage to everyone within 3 squares. Sidestep will also help aid Isaac with moving up the map without tokening down his main characters, and Kobik and Strange’s Perplexes can bring him up to a 21-defense to make him an adequate wall that people have quite a hard time dealing with. Carnage is, as always, a fantastic option for just 10 points, giving Isaac some more attackers by spawning Symbiotes, and he’s a bit better risking for a retaliation than Mangog depending on the circumstance as he only gives 10 points as opposed to 30.

Of course, Isaac had his own suite of ID cards which looks pretty identical to what we’ve seen.

This team is all about stripping your opponent of anything they want to do. Equipment-based team? Trader will steal that. ID card battery? Strange will massively hurt that. What’s surprising is that Isaac was able to defeat the big Uni-Mind team as Kobik’s Mind Control doesn’t accomplish much other than moving Uni-Mind into position for a hit from an ID character, he has no way to take out Uni’s massive reducers or STOP clicks, and the retaliators are going to have a hard time landing a hit on the glowey goober. This is a matchup I would love to see as Uni-Mind with no ID cards doesn’t have any weakness that I can see that Isaac could exploit. (See my previous edit on Matty G.’s team about how Kobik and Trader kill a Uni-Mind)

Isaac is one hell of a player, and his early career in the game is plenty of evidence.

3rd/4th Place – PJ Bolin

CMM018 Phil Coulson | 75 Points

ADW069 Captain America | 70 Points

TMNT4015 Foot Elite (Boomerang) | 25 Points

TMNT4015 Foot Elite (Boomerang) | 25 Points

TMNT4015 Foot Elite (Boomerang) | 25 Points

WIG001p Ameridroid | 15 Points

WIG001p Ameridroid | 15 Points

WKMP17-007 Pym Pocket Tank | 8 Points

BTAS005 Suited Henchman | 5 Points

BTAS005 Suited Henchman | 5 Points

JWS100 The Joker’s Gas Canister | 3 Points

Iceberg Lounge Location Bonus | 5 Points

Full ID Cards: Iceman (Faculty), Professor X, Cyclops (Faculty) | 5 Points Each = 15 Points

Student ID Cards: Jean Grey, Chamber, Cyclops | 3 Points Each = 9 Points

Soldier Theme Team: +7

Sideline: XXS018 Iceman, XXS037a Professor X, XXS037b Professor X, XXS052 Cyclops, XXS019 Cyclops, XXS065 Jean Grey, XXS041 Chamber, WKMP17-006ar Pym Particle Tank, BTAS072 Firestorm

Maps: Bifrost, Genosha, Iceberg Lounge

If you want the full details on how this team plays, make sure you read PJ & Easton’s Majestix article as there’s a lot to unpack here.

This team is all about hitting hard and taking the opponent by surprise. Coulson provides the transportation and support powers the team needs, as well as Leadership to pull tokens off of Samantha Cap. The three Foot Elite soldiers all have Enhancement, so you’re getting a wicked +3 to damage on anyone you call in with Samantha, and Phil can carry all four of these characters around the map with a massive speed value. If PJ loses anyone, the Foot Elite gain Sacrifice Swarm tokens that allow them to make a free attack, which means they’re hitting for 5 each after being carried.

The rest of the team is designed to manipulate the battlefield and displace the enemy team. Ameridroids don’t have to hit on their retaliation; they just throw their enemy, putting them right into PJ’s sights so he can machine gun anyone down with the Foot Elite or any call-in. The Tank rides along with Coulson for free as it’s placed after resolutions and can be used by Sam, a call-in, or even a Foot to displace a big grouping of enemies and deal them each 2 damage.

So what about these Suited Henchman? How do they fit in? Two reasons; to fill PJ’s starting area completely to prevent Groot from spawning a Leslie Evans at the beginning of the game (which prevents Walking Wood from generating as well), and as fodder to get Swarm tokens on the Foot Elite.

The amount of damage that PJ can throw out, combined with the ability to get basically anywhere on the map (or at the very least, draw lines of fire to anyone on the map) is pretty crazy with this team. With the 3 Enhancements and ability to call-in a character after being carried, which we’ve seen for years now with Cap, this team has the capability to blow up pretty much anything it comes across.

PJ ended up defeating Brad to make it into the top 4, and I can see how this team could deconstruct a single, point-heavy character like Thanos. While Brad’s team is absolutely capable of calling in a nuke thanks to all his number boosting (or having the Titan himself do the heavy lifting), PJ has enough raw firepower to burn through Thanos’ defenses in a single round, as long as he can hit his defense, and PJ has so many characters on his force that losing one, two, or five isn’t the end of the world, especially since he’ll get to keep racking up tokens on his Foot Elite. This isn’t to say it was an easy win, but I can see how PJ had the tools to come out with the win here.

2nd Place – Easton Brock

ABPI069 Kobik | 100 Points Hi, I’m Kobik | 15 Points

AI043 Unseen | 65 Points

ABPI064 Collector | 55 Points Bearer of the Reality Gem | 5 Points

AIG025p Groot | 20 Points

TMTG008p Flora Colossus | 10 Points

BTAS005 Suited Henchman | 5 Points

MP19-S101 Remaker Ring | 5 Points

Wolverine ID Card (Bounty) | 5 Points

Professor X ID Card | 5 Points

Student ID Cards: Jean Grey, Cyclops, All-New Wolverine | 3 Points Each = 9 Points

Cosmic Theme Team: +5

Sideline: XXS053 Wolverine, XXS052 Cyclops, XXS063 Cyclops, XXS037b Professor X, XXS All-New Wolverine, XXS065 Jean Grey, BTAS072 Firestorm, BTAS067 Wonder Woman

Maps: Arthur’s Castle, Bifrost, Metal Arena

Easton’s team seems to be a mash up of everyone who played Kobik with a few different aspects, but I believe Easton had the best setup to run with the sentient Cosmic Cube, and his 2nd place win should prove that.

Kobik is brutal, we know this. But what’s even more brutal than Kobik? How about the best Outwit figure in the game that now can strip away whatever power he wants now that Power Cosmic/Quintessence is gone. Brad did something similar with Thanos and Unseen, but Kobik is 45 points cheaper than Thanos and provides more overall control than the Titan does. Not to mention those 45 points means a world of difference. Unseen also gives Kobik smoke cloud to work with so that her defenses can sit at 20 from range at all times. These two are a star-studded combo for just 180 points, leaving you 120 points to throw in pretty much whatever you want. In my opinion, Unseen is a must-play with Kobik to take her to victory.

Easton also brought a new Elder to Top 8, one that most of us thought was instantly competitive; Collector. While Tanaleer doesn’t have the strongest dial in terms of maneuverability as he lacks any engagement power, he’s very tanky for his cost and is the absolute king of objects. With a +5 to map roll, Easton has a very good chance at winning map roll, which means he has the tools to take any special object placed by an opponent on turn 1. Against certain teams, this is devastating as it can completely destroy their strategy or greatly hinder their offense (like stealing the Octopus Arms from a Vulture team). With the Reality Gem attached, he also has Perplex and TK, so Collector is never a figure that will sit around doing nothing.

Rather than a Venom Symbiote, which Unseen has been picking up a lot lately, Easton opted for the Remaker Ring which also gives Shape Change, but it also gives Poison, a useful tool against swarms and bystanders, as well as opposing Kobiks.

We’ve seen Groot and the Flora a lot so far, so there’s no point in getting into them again; pretty much the best 30 points you can spend on a Cosmic team. Suited Henchman is a great figure for tie-up or used as a body blocker, but most importantly, he’s a perfect target to exchange team abilities with someone, gaining something like Power Cosmic and handing off a worthless Underworld team ability for most players.

In order to make the cut to the finals, Easton had to defeat Isaac, and it was probably a difficult matchup. Both of their teams function in very similar ways, but I would imagine that Unseen gave Easton the edge here. Even with the double token ID card actions, Easton can Outwit any of Isaac’s characters and take a kill shot whereas Isaac didn’t have that luxury.

1st Place – Patrick Frazer

AI043 Unseen | 65 Points

ADW067 Hawkeye | 65 Points

EAX019b Vulture | 50 Points

RE052e Mister Oz | 40 Points

AIG025p Groot | 20 Points

HQGG004 Big Tony | 15 Points

HQGG004 Big Tony | 15 Points

EAXS004 Ocotopus Arms | 10 Points

JWS100 The Joker’s Gas Canister | 3 Points

Harley Quinn ID Card | 5 Points

Iceman (Faculty) ID Card | 5 Points

Cyclops Student ID Card | 3 Points

Jean Grey Student ID Card | 3 Points

Sideline: HQGG049 Harley Quinn, XXS064 Iceman, XXS052 Cyclops, XXS065 Jean Grey, BTAS070 Apache Chief, BTAS067 Wonder Woman, BTAS068 The Flash, BTAS063 Batman, BTAS069 Green Lantern

Maps: Amok Time, Wakanda, Underground Caverns

And here’s your winner; Patrick with a hybrid build of two of the most aggressive figures to be printed in the last 2 years with both Hawkeye and Vulture on one incredibly scary team.

Patrick decided that running an Avengers Hawkeye team or a build-to-burst Vulture team didn’t make a lot of sense. With those teams, a good Unseen placement (or other Outwit character) neutralizing Running Shot on Clint or Charge on Blackie Drago completely hoses that build and leads to a quick death. Instead, Patrick fused these two ideas together and built a support line that can boost either one of them.

On the neutral ground side of things, Patrick brought Unseen to de-power a large, important target as well as Prob (and as an ID battery), Mister Oz for 8-square TK and even better Prob, and Groot to summon Walking Woods for backup damage, Leadership to give enough actions for both of his attackers to run, and retaliation.

For his boosting, he included just a pair of Big Tony’s as a +2 is all he really needs to run the game. On either character, a +2 is a massive increase, and with the Gas Canister giving Vulture a +1 to attack and damage already, he has enough number manipulation to injure plenty of figures on the board with his archer and have Vulture run cleanup. But he doesn’t have to commit to either specifically. The beauty in this Hawkeye build or Vulture build or whichever you want to call it, is that Patrick has the option to choose he commits to for each game, based on who his opponent is.

The other huge aspect of this team is the psyche out. You have no idea on whether Patrick is going to dump everything into Hawkeye and hit everyone on your team for a good amount of damage and stay relatively safe, or if he’s going to all-in with Vulture and eat your entire squad for lunch. Against big targets like Uni-Mind where Vulture fails to perform, this team is perfectly capable of having Clint run strafing missions, pinging through those reducers until Vulture can Charge in with a big Flurry and take him through both of his STOP clicks.

Patrick played PJ to get to the final match, and I can see how this team would devour PJ’s soldiers. PJ has the upper hand with theme team and going first, but with first-round immunity, Patrick can answer back with a massive hit if PJ moves out of his starting area making it a tougher decision to gain field advantage. Patrick’s team is designed to eat through a ton of small characters, so I can see how he was able to defeat the great bearded king.

From what I’ve heard from my fellow Apex writers, Patrick utilized Hawkeye much more than Vulture in his final matchup against Easton to be crowned champion. Regardless, the point is that Patrick had the versatility with this team to go all-out in any way he wanted to rather than committing to one character every game, and that probably gave him plenty of ammunition to defeat Easton, whereas a straight Hawkeye or straight Vulture team might not have fared as well.

Insights to the Top 8

The most used main force figures were: Groot (4), Carnage (4), Unseen (3), Kobik (3), Flora Colossus (3), Suited Henchman (3), and Foot Elite (Boomerang) (3)

The most used ID cards were: Cyclops Student (7), Jean Grey Student (7), Harley Quinn (4), and Professor X (4)

The most used ID card summons were: Super Rare Cyclops (7), Chase Jean Grey (7), Chase Cyclops (5), Cyclops Uncommon (4), Professor X Prime (4), and Title Harley Quinn (4)

15 Colossal Retaliators were played.

ABPI made quite a hefty showing for Top 8 with 6 unique game elements with Kobik (3), Trader (2), Collector (1), Astronomer (1), Thanos Ultra Chase (1), and the Soul Gem (1). This isn’t taking into account the Cosmic Cube’s with Kobik, or the gems attached to various characters as I don’t know which gems were played.

made quite a hefty showing for Top 8 with 6 unique game elements with Kobik (3), Trader (2), Collector (1), Astronomer (1), Thanos Ultra Chase (1), and the Soul Gem (1). This isn’t taking into account the Cosmic Cube’s with Kobik, or the gems attached to various characters as I don’t know which gems were played. ID cards still seem to be the biggest source of damage from teams as half of these builds require a vast portion of damage through summoning characters.

Troubalerts were present on all but one build with Firestorm being the overwhelming pick.

The teams with the oldest game elements collectively (Mike’s Uni-Mind team and Tylor’s Monster team) placed in Top 8 but could not make the cut to Top 4.

I think we’ve only seen the start of what ABPI will bring to the competitive scene. With rotation coming in just over a week, the dynamic will dramatically shift and characters like Thanos and Kobik could be set to make huge impacts moving forward. I honestly think Thanos will see more play as people acquire him and test him out, while Kobik might see a drop in play as people flood the game with her thanks to her performance. This also means more people will attempt to develop counters for her.

Without Hawkeye to team up with, Vulture is looking to be a Krang character; a gatekeeper that you have to plan against, but probably won’t come up with a win very often moving forward. This could be completely opposite from the truth, but I think this is were he’ll fall.

As good as Vulture is, I’m on record of thinking WizKids should NOT errata him. Figures like this, while toxic to casual players when used on the right team, give everyone an entry into the competitive field. As an Uncommon Prime, he’s not that tough to get ahold of and building a team around him can be done with somewhat cheap support. The new Everett K. Ross looks like a brilliant addition to the team to keep this as a wonderful pick for someone who wants to play competitively but doesn’t have the dime to build these massive teams.

These large events are always fantastic as it makes me re-examine where the game is and what figures people should be looking out for. What teams should you develop and what should you expect to play against? I think the biggest question is how will ID cards shift the game this year as we have both X-Men: Regenesis starting in July and X-Men Animated: Dark Phoenix Saga coming late summer/early fall, with an emphasis on that set as we’ll see the return of summoning giant and colossal figures, something we haven’t really seen since the days of The Atom.

Either way, this year’s rotation is going to change the game massively, as will 2020 when The Mighty Thor and X-Men: Xavier’s School rotate out, which technically should completely change how the game is played as almost all ID cards will be gone, sans convention exclusives. Will WizKids keep printing these game elements, perhaps redoing Avenger and Justice League ID’s, or have we seen the last of ID cards starting next year and the game will finally return to what’s on the table? It will be a very interesting year moving forward.

Which of these teams did you like the best? Which did you like the least? Do you think there should be any changes to game elements with these results? Let me know in the comments section below!

Just to give you all a heads-up; San Diego Comic-Con takes place next month, so I’ll be on a small hiatus for a couple weeks towards the end of the month. My schedule ramps hard leading up to the convention, and I certainly don’t have time during that weekend to write, so I’ll most likely be skipping two or three weeks in July. More to come as I figure out my schedule.

I’ll see you guys next week on Two Clicks From KO as I dive into another Team Build! Have a great week!