Thar be no help for ya now, lads and lasses. Welcome aboard the ol’ creaky Clix Fix and another installment of the Deadpool Chase Series. We be plunderin’ for booty with yer mate Pirate Deadpool and his crew!

Ahoy mateys, and welcome to the fifth article in me Deadpool Chase Series. If ya didn’t happen upon the first few, you can find them all on th’blog page. Ya scurvy dogs got quite the treatment last week with not one but two bonus articles about competitive results and a bit of the space pirate set review, but now you’re back; back in it for the long haul, hohoha! What? Other stuff be comin’, too? Aw, you’re no fun!

Whew, okay let’s get down to business, shall we? If you couldn’t tell, today is all about Pirate Deadpool, my favorite of the Deadpool Chases. Not only is this guy good but he’s also super fun and his sculpt is probably the best (in my opinion that is).

Pirate DP has 8 clicks of life, 6 range with a single target, and has the Dolphin symbol for movement, along with Indomitable. He’s got two traits and a Special attack power. You’ll have to pay out 135 gold doubloons to recruit this scallywag (meaning he’s 135 points). His keywords are pretty lackluster with just Deapdool Corps and Pirate, although three of the chases in this set have this keyword. Pirate DP does have a really great dial, so let’s dig in like we normally do before getting to traits and his Special.

Movement starts out with 9 Running Shot and doesn’t drop down to an 8 until his fourth click. On fifth click, Pirate DP puts the guns down and draws his rapiers moving into 8 Charge, dropping to 7 on his seventh click. His last click has a naked 7. Attack looks pretty bad with a 10 Special Attack up front which drops to a pitiful 9 on clicks three and four. Once he goes melee on click five, he goes to 11 with Blades, dropping to a 10 on click seven, and a naked 9 on click eight. His defense is surprisingly strong with 18 Invulnerable until his fourth click which goes to 17 Toughness. This changes to 16 Regeneration on clicks seven and eight. Damage starts out with 3 Enchancement, which falls off on click four. On click five, he drops to 2 with Perplex, and his seventh and eighth clicks are just a natural 2. Overall, he seems very good except for those week attack values on half of his dial. Let’s look over his traits and specials before judging him and saying “why the hell is he so expensive?”

First up, the trait we all know and love:

DO YOU SEE THE COMIC PANELS TELLING ME WHAT TO DO?: At the beginning of your turn, if Pirate Deadpool has no action tokens, you may attach a comic panel to him, removing an already attached one. He can use the listed effect.

You know it, you love it, it’s the trait that just keeps giving on these guys. As usual, ES/D, Combat Reflexes, Stealth, and Precision Strike are going to work wonders here. However, Pirate DP might be the first to really benefit from that extra target panel.

Let’s see his next trait, the one that really makes him fun.

BOB, YOU’LL BE MY PARROT: Other friendly characters have the Pirate keyword. At the beginning of the game, place adjacent a Parrot Bob bystander.

First part of that is just plain silly and awesome. How cool is it that this guy just instantly turns your team into a band of jolly ol’ pirates?! This won’t help for map roll or anything like that as you don’t get this benefit until the beginning of the game rather than during force construction. What this will do is make all your characters share a keyword, meaning you can get some wild combo’s running. While there may not be any huge upside to this in Modern right now, this could be a huge benefit with the next few sets coming out.

The second portion of this trait gives Pirate DP his trusty/not-so-trusty Hydra goon Bob in a big parrot mascot outfit. What does Bob look like? He’s not much; 6 movement, 8 attack, 17 Toughness, and 0 Perplex. Ah, there we go! Pirate DP brings a Perplexer with him to the party, much like the LE Nightwing does (although his bystander also had Support). There certainly isn’t any downside to getting a free Perplexer on your force who is also sharing keywords with everyone!

Alright, how about that Special Attack Power?

MY SOLID GOLD GUN WITH DIAMOND BULLETS – “THE COMPENSATOR”: Pirate Deadpool can use Penetrating/Psychic Blast. When he does, replace his attack value with the highest attack value from all characters on the map.

Deadpool, did you break the fourth wall with your picture up there? You did, didn’t you? Anyway, now that attack value isn’t looking so bad. Who cares what Pirate DP’s attack value is when he just steals the highest value on the map? Granted, this only works if he uses Pen/Psy, but why wouldn’t he? What makes this power super good is that it doesn’t say highest printed attack value of characters, so if you manage to Perplex with someone on your team (oh gee, do we have something that does that?) and raise one of your guys’ attack values, you’re essentially Perlexing Pirate DP’s value too. The other thing you can do is Perplex his own attack value up, and since the rule is replace then modify, you’ll be adding to whatever his new value is. With the proper planning, Pirate DP will have 11 or higher attack for his first six clicks. Now that point cost isn’t looking so bad, is?

You know the drill by now; let’s do that Positive VS. Negative analysis paralysis!

Positives: Controllable high attack for almost his entire dial. Move and attack powers for all but one click. Great reducers. Pen/Psy makes his hits hurt. Brings his own Perplexer. Gives everyone a shared keyword. Comic Panels grant lots of defense on an already tanky dial. Indom keeps him moving for his high point cost.

Negatives: 135 points is a lot and restricts what else you can use. Damage is low so you’ll have to burn stuff to make him count. Special attack can be countered which makes him mush. 6 range means he has to get somewhat close and can easily get based.

I would say the biggest downside to Pirate DP would be his cost. If he was around 100 points and had one or two less clicks of health, he would be a golden boy. He’s still very good, he’s just not out of hand which is okay.

Pirate Deadpool might be kick-ass, but he certainly requires help like any other staple piece out there. Mobility is going to be a big deal for Pirate DP because getting based is going to suck for him as he has to use Pen/Psy to replace his value, and you can’t do that in melee. A vehicle is probably going to be the best option to carry him so that it can just breakaway for free. His damage values are also kind of low so we should probably have something to raise that, although his Bob bystander will help with that task. If possible, it would be great to get some more ranged attackers to take advantage of his Enhancement. One thing we shouldn’t really need is Probability Control because Pirate DP can get some stupid high attack values.

Unlike others that I breakdown what they need to work correctly, Pirate DP needs some special help. He needs someone with a high attack value. Relying on your opponent to bring someone with an 11 or 12 attack is just asking for trouble, and it would royally suck to have a 10 attack on 135 points when you could have easily had higher.

Because of this, I’m going to run the Pirate Deadpool teams as Modern with no resources rather than Limited. I need Colossals to be okay in order to really take advantage of him (I’m sure some of you can see where this is going). I’ll be building a 300 point team with no resources as well as a 400 point team with no resources which is a bit easier to work around with his relatively high cost. Remember that I tend to go no resources as most LGS’s that I know of only allow them on rare occasion, and they’re pretty easy to work in if you need them.

300 Point Modern Pirate Deadpool Team – No Resources

Unlike other team builds, I’m going to walk you through my process of who I picked, when I picked them, and why I picked them.

The first thing I hunted for with Pirate DP was a piece with 12 attack. I know there’s higher out there, but if you’re hitting 13 or higher, it’s probably a 300+ point piece. 12 attack is a little more manageable. Solaris is without-a-doubt the best you’re going to get. For 25 points, you get your nice 12 attack as well as a 10 range Outwit which can see over everything on outdoor maps, and a 19 defense to protect him from shrimpy attacks. There’s really not much more to say about him; he’s just a 25 point support piece for this build and insures that we get our needed attack value. Runners up would be Shredder Clone, Lady Shiva, the Green Arrow LE, and Bane (Hello Venom Pump!) if you’re looking to go a different route.

Next, I knew that I wanted a way to buff Pirate DP in terms of his damage and range. If he’s going to be the main source of damage on the team (which makes sense at 135 points), I want a way for him to really hit hard, preferably up to 6 damage thanks to the rule of threes. Wiz Kid is perfect for this as he does both of those things simultaneously, and also increases attack value. Now with Solaris, Wiz Kid, and Parrot Bob’s Perplex, Pirate DP is shooting 7 squares out with a 13 attack and 5 damage which is penetrating. Pretty good!

Mobility is an issue and like I mentioned before, a vehicle is probably best for Pirate DP to get him in and out without breaking away. Vehicles also ignore speed symbols on characters for carrying, so they’re awesome to move Wiz Kid around as well. However, I was already at 185 points so I had to go cheap. Overdrive makes the most sense here, especially with Sidestep on the vehicle. This will get our team into striking distance and can keep Wiz Kid (and the team) out of danger with that Sidestep.

At 220 points, I knew that the last thing I needed was a secondary attacker. If Pirate DP went down, the team would just scoop. 80 points is good, but not grand, and certainly not enough for two attackers worth their weight. I opted for Deadpool, Merc With A Mouth thanks to his high values, incredible life-span, and ability to nerf opposing modifiers to make it easier for Pirate DP (and himself) to hit and nuke out Super Strength. He’s also very good at ranged attacks meaning he can take advantage of both Pirate DP’s Enhancement and Wiz Kid’s buffs. Now our secondary attacker is hitting at 7 range, 12 attack, and 5 damage, just one attack lower than Pirate DP and a lack of penetrating damage. Still, that’s a lot to dish out.

For items, I didn’t want to go with the Pym Pocket Tank (even tough it’s what I would personally use thanks to the STUPID attack values you have on this team) as I’ve been using it so much recently. That goes for the Pym Particles too. Instead, I opted for the Symbiote for Title Deadpool as he has no reducers and just ES/D to keep him safe. This will give him more adaptability and a chance to up all his numbers by 1 for a brutal turn. For fun, I included the Surfboard because how the hell are you not going to include that on a team with a bunch of pirates?! This means that both of our Deadpool’s can stride through water terrain. Feel free to drop this if you like as it adds no real value but is just there for the lol’s.

Regarding Comic Panels, the obvious ones make a lot of sense; Combat Reflexes against a melee-heavy team, ES/D for a ranged-heavy team, and Stealth on approach. Precision Strike works, but isn’t that necessary since we’re already doing penetrating damage. The extra target is probably going to be the best panel for Pirate DP so that he can hit two people and get them off their top clicks.

This team is a little risky with just two attackers, but they both have long dials and can deal so much damage it’s not even funny. There’s a distinct lack of Prob, but with these incredibly high numbers and stopping opposing modifiers, you probably won’t need it to be honest. The Outwit from Solaris is a nice touch and will surely be helpful to take out opposing Outwit so you get to keep your 12 attack on Pirate DP, or Invincible/Shape Change since those are the only two abilities really keeping us from annihilating everything. Let’s jump into the 400 point build.

400 Point Modern Pirate Deadpool Team – No Resources

I think it’s high-time I added Bebop and Rocksteady into a team build! I love these two idiots, their names are awesome, and they have neat synergy here. This time I’m running the build like normal in terms of just listing pieces and why I chose them.

Bebop and Rocksteady were picked for one main reason; Pirate DP gives everyone a shared Keyword. If you do a search on the Realms, there are currently 22 results (and that’s counting things like multiple point costs). Bebop and Rocksteady are probably the best you can get if you can afford them, so yay 400 points. Both of them have a trait that’s nearly identical wherein if they miss an attack, they get a token. With Bebop, you can remove two of these tokens to heal another friendly character that shares a keyword for 2 clicks. With Rocksteady, you can remove two of these tokens to remove all action tokens from another friendly character that shares a keyword. Since Pirate DP makes everyone a Pirate, Bebop turns into an awesome healer and Rocksteady peels tokens off of your tentpole.

It’s not like these two are slouches either. Both have three clicks of Invincible, a final click of Regen, 3 damage throughout their entire dials, and four clicks of move and attack. Bebop has Running Shot, so he can take advantage of Pirate DP’s Enhancement while Rocksteady can be our tank with Charge and Super Strength. The pair might be a little expensive, but I feel like this is the perfect place for them.

I wanted to branch more on the Keyword sharing, so I went with Fitz instead of a taxi. Fitz brings TK, increased range thanks to the SHIELD team ability, pushes into Perplex, and adds H.E.N.R.Y. to your team, so now we can boost all damage by +1 (and carry him because he’s tiny). The Keyword sharing works for Fitz because his Perplex is actually a Special that says he can be given a power action and choose a friendly character in line of fire that shares a Keyword and they can use Perplex until your next turn as well. With Fitz and Parrot Bob, that’s three Perplexes in just 50 points. If you count H.E.N.R.Y., we can max out damage pretty quickly.

Solaris makes sense as the attack sharing piece, so he stays in. He’s also cheap, so Bebop and Rocksteady have no problem eating up 160 points. With my last 30 points, I started hunting for another good piece, and halfway through my search, I stopped and immediately added The Penguin.

Lately, I’ve seen just how efficient this Penguin is. At the start of the game, we can choose Pirate DP to get the loyalty token which gives us 2/3rds of Wiz Kid in giving +1 to attack and range, but Pirate DP doesn’t need to be next to him. This naturally gives Pirate DP a 13 attack and 7 range at all times. What’s really neat about this Penguin is that when someone attacks him with a free action, the attacker gets to choose any character to gain the loyalty. This means Parrot Bob, H.E.N.R.Y., or Fitz can all make use of this to move that +1 attack around as we need it. If you move that loyalty to Solaris, now Pirate DP is basing his attack at 13, and any Perplexes will increase that further. Before you know it, you could be at a 16 attack value which means nothing is safe. This guy is just gravy for 25 points.

With 5 points left, I opted for the Pym Particles yet again, but it makes a lot of sense here. Since we have no Taxi and only TK, we need a way to move both Parrot Bob and H.E.N.R.Y. around without eating actions. H.E.N.R.Y. is already tiny, so no issue there, but Bob is standard. If Fitz TK’s the particles to Bob on turn 1, we can now taxi him around, so it’s necessary to the build. If you’re outdoors, why not make it giant, TK it to Pirate DP, and let him grow in size so that no one can escape his range? Options! Again, the surfboard is purely for fun. Might want to drop it for another heavy object for Rocksteady. Comic Panels are the same as the last build as well.

Both of these builds look like tremendous fun to me, which is what Pirate Deadpool should be about in my eyes. If you’re looking for other pieces to play off of his Keyword sharing, try Emma Frost from Uncanny X-Men who can Perplex everyone within 5 squares, or Captain America from the Original Avengers Fast Forces to move anyone on your team half their movement for free (Renet Tilley seems great for this). There might be/probably are some pieces that I didn’t think of, and I’d love to hear what you’ve come up with. Show your build in the comments below, or any recommendations you have! That Cap + Renet could be the start of something beautiful!

Things are getting a little crazy on Thursday as we climb aboard our starship of the imagination and head to the stars to confront POOL CAPTAIN. Those are gonna be some expensive builds.

Yo ho, Yo ho, a pirate’s life for me!