Brace Yourselves, Rotation Is Coming

Holy cow, it’s already March! We’re full-swing into the Limited season and Spring WKO’s are going off like crazy this month. However, something is lurking in the shadows that threatens your collections and the competitive scene; it’s the dreaded Modern Rotation!



Every spring, WizKids announces what sets and LE figures will be rotated out of the Modern Environment in Heroclix, and that’s always a big deal in our world. Figures you know and have come to love over the past two years retire, but more importantly, it vastly changes the metagame. Today I want to discuss just how the environment will change and what we’ll be losing with this year’s rotation.

While we don’t know exactly what WizKids will decide to retire, it’s a solid theory that all main sets before Superior Foes of Spider-Man will get the axe. There’s a decent amount of evidence to point to this:

The new card faces started with Superior Foes, so it would mark a very clear timeframe of what’s Modern and what isn’t. WizKids usually rotates up until the August set from roughly two years ago, which would again be Superior Foes. Most resources would be rotated out with just the lonely Punisher Van remaining, which hasn’t seen really any competitive play.

So needless to say, I’m going to be taking this approach to our roadmap to your new Modern Age. Regarding LE’s, that portion of the puzzle is much harder to figure out, so I’m going to skip them (sans one). Instead, I’ll just be focusing on regular sets as, like I said, we’re almost positive on what rotation will be.

First, let’s look at the sets we’ll be losing come summer.

Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Superman/Wonder Woman

World’s Finest

Batman V. Superman

Captain America: Civil War

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Uncanny X-Men

Civil War SLOP

Supreme Intelligence Resource

There’s some real firepower in that list, and I’m sure many of you are already thinking about certain figures that are in that list and you’re bummed about what’s leaving us. I am too! There’s some good here though, so don’t get too down. Speaking of which, let’s go over exactly what’s leaving us, set by set. But first, perhaps the two biggest blanket changes.

ID Cards and Resources

More than anything else on this list, the loss of about 90% of our ID cards in the Modern age are going to be rotated out, along with the two remaining resources that see play with Supreme Intelligence and the Justice League Teleporter. This is a very big deal and will see huge ripple effects across the game. While we were looking at a potential Modern with no ID cards (or very little of them), Xavier’s School shattered that idea and debuted new ID’s, signaling that they’ll be the go-to competitive tool on teams for years to come.

Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

H.E.N.R.Y. – It’s been some time since we’ve seen Henry on teams, but man is he efficient. Boosting damage by +1 to whoever he’s by for 15 points is solid, but the carry rules with size change did impact him a bit.

Peggy Carter – She hasn’t seen much play as of late and the new Outwit rules made her a little worse than she once was, but Peggy is still a Common Prime to which a ton of her ilk are compared to. She’s efficient with great Keywords and was always a pain to deal with.

Hulk – While he wasn’t a mainforce piece, he was a brutal ID summon. The newest version from The Mighty Thor seemed to take this spot over, but he’s still an insanely strong summon at 100 points.

Nighthawk Prime – Let’s not beat around the bush here; this is the figure that is going to completely change the landscape of Modern. Nighthawk was huge when he came out, took a small break, and has since roared back with a vengeance. He’s one of the few pieces keeping Uni-Mind in check, so it will be interesting to see what happens when his blanket effect is no longer a factor.

Nick Fury – Part 2 of the dynamic duo of the set that will completely change the game. Nick has been a competitive must-have in every game type since his debut almost 3 years ago. While he’s mostly been relegated to the defacto ID summon, he was still insanely strong on a regular force.

Hulkbuster Pieces (mostly Torso) – Guaranteed powers from items is always nice, and picking up Flight or Reducers like Invulnerability for 10 points was a great way to keep a squishy character in the game.

Superman/Wonder Woman

General Lane – Once again, this super support piece has popped up in competitive play, showing just how effective he is. He’s taken a back seat as of late, but it’s going to be tough to find something that puts out this much firepower for your team for only 40 points. Great Keywords, too.

Eclipso and Brainiac – Yes, another game element is going away as well; possession. This is another huge change for Modern as we’re still seeing teams possessed with one of these two. I for one am thankful this mechanic is going away as it’s a huge pain for newer players to grasp.

Mr. Mxyzptlk – The little Imp has taken a vacation as of late, but with the new Probability Control rules, he’s seen a resurgence in power. He’s been another staple that I’m sure will have a large impact once he’s gone (although Trelane from Star Trek did help to fill that slot).

Green Light and Red Son Wonder Woman – Two outliers of Competitive, but still worth mentioning. With the lower point formula, Green Light was a great headpiece for swarm teams, and Red Son Wonder Woman is a pain once you actually play against her. The tentpole game suffers a little from her loss.

World’s Finest

Shifting Focus Superman – Another piece that hasn’t seen play lately, but has dabbled in competitive. This is an incredibly valuable 90 points, and his versatility will be missed.

Mr. Nobody – He never really saw much play, but he was a fantastic ace as items became more relevant (especially after Thor). He’s a unique figure and it’s a shame to see him go.

Klarion the Witch-Boy – Another piece that dabbled in competitive play, but did have some results. Klarion is terribly efficient and a deadly bullet for Mystical teams. Personally, I’m glad to see him go.

Kingdom Come Chases – Most of these didn’t see much of a takeoff after the initial spark wore off, but pieces like Green Lantern and Shazam! did see some play. Green Lantern is still a very good sniper tentpole and works well on JSA teams, but their presence won’t be terribly missed.

Batman V. Superman

No Pieces

Captain America: Civil War

No Pieces

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Krang – He had quite the ride a few years ago as players didn’t know what to do about his incredible Alpha Strike potential, but the loss of Juston Seyfert really hit Krang hard, and he hasn’t seen play since. While he isn’t a threat today, I couldn’t help not mentioning him for his extreme gatekeeper ways.

Chase Turtles – Surprisingly strong picks for their low cost, the chase turtles still pop up every once in a while. The new Outwit did hurt them quite a bit, but these guys are incredibly vicious when paired up.

Uncanny X-Men

Magneto Uncommon – He might not have been a huge player in competitive, but the fact that we just got an ID card for him and we’re losing a piece that can make two attacks as a call-in is worth mentioning. He’s already doing work in WKO’s this season. He’ll be a fantastic ID character that we lose.

Mystique – Since the rotation of Deadman and Resurrection Man, Mystique has been quite absent, but damn is she annoying when you have to play against her. She’s been a fringe piece in the meta for a long time, and I know most people will be happy to see her leave.

Beast Super Rare – Again, not a competitive piece when he was released, but with the new ID card, he’s a downright destructive call-in option. I’m curious if we’ll see him on sidelines for the few months he’ll still be legal.

Iceman Super Rare – Huge when he came out, has taken a back seat since then, but has been seeing some play again with ID cards. That’s where he’ll be missed. That and his gorgeous sculpt.

Quicksilver – Another piece that was strong on release and sort of subsided in the metagame. Quicksilver is one of the best Hypersonic pieces in the game, and there will be a noticeable hole once he’s gone at his point level.

Proteus – While he was mainly relegated to Shifting Focus to make their power levels incredibly stupid, that got cut by the new rules, so Proteus hasn’t seen much play. However, he was the center of a lot of combo teams built around cheating him into play, so he’s worth a mention.

Magneto Chase – Mags has seen a little competitive play almost his entire lifecycle, and it’s easy to see why with his triple attack and cheating people into theme teams. He’s one of the best high-point call-ins right now.

Civil War SLOP

No Pieces

To be completely honest, going through the various sets and building this list made me realize that in today’s’ game at the competitive level, there are only two big figures that we’re losing, and those are Nighthawk and Nick Fury. Everything else is practically a fringe piece or hasn’t seen play in a long time, or isn’t fit for what’s being seen currently.

Don’t let the size of the list fool you thought; the loss of the ID cards adds a completely new list of figures that will be completely change the landscape. Figures like Nightwing won’t be able to pop in for a nasty Flurry and drop a Tony Zucco pog anymore. Likewise, other answers in the game are losing their playability thanks to their ID card rotating out. The Chase Green Arrow from Elseworlds is a prime example of this. What will happen with him once his means of play is no longer around?

As with any rotation, it will take some time for players to adjust and a new meta is established, but this is a relatively big one. However, it’s nothing compared to what’s going to happen next year.

Once we have a list from WizKids and it shows which LE’s are being rotated, I’ll do a part 2 to this article and specifically list which LE’s we’re losing that are going to be felt; that is unless it’s something like 2 pieces and it doesn’t constitute an entire article.

What are your thoughts on the sets we’re losing? Do you think something else should be added to these lists? Let us know in the comments section!

I’ll see you next week on Clix Fix! Have a great week and remember, the real fun begins when you’re Two Clicks From KO!