Hello everyone and welcome back to another exciting reader-requested team build! Recently a member of the Reddit community asked if I could build around the new LE Hulk as he’s very nifty but quite the head-scratcher to figure out. How do you make this guy work and not feel like you bought that Gamma pack for just Weapon H?

Convention LE’s are usually very exciting and I feel like this year has some of the best. Miles and Gwen is potentially my favorite Con LE ever made, Robby Reed is a low-cost powerhouse that hints back to old-school comics… and then there’s this guy. Hulk with a squid on his head. This is a classic example how an odd moment in comics finds its way into Heroclix when it otherwise wouldn’t normally be possible.

While I haven’t been reading comics too long in the grand scheme of things (I guess 15 years is actually pretty long now that I think about it), I’ve never read or seen the specific issue that this guy is from. All I know is that this is a very different Hulk than we’re used to seeing and it’s a funny sculpt to look at. Therein lies the challenge; how do you build around a Hulk that doesn’t… well, Hulk?

Bruce is a cool 125 points for 7 clicks of jade giant goodness. He has no team ability, 0 range, Indomitable, and is Giant Size. Keywords are very light with just Avengers and Brute. His dial is packed with special powers with something special in every slot. As I mentioned above, this dial is very different from your typical Hulk build. There’s the hallmark big-attack values with reducers and Super Strength, but that’s where the similarities end.

Because there are so many special powers on the dial, we can’t really break down the different stages until we know what they do. Instead, I’m going to list the special powers that are present in his two “phases” and discuss the dial as we go.

First up is Hulk’s defense power:

RELAXATION BY POSITIVE CEREBRAL IONS: Invulnerability. In an attacking character’s printed damage value is 3, Hulk can use Impervious instead. If it is 4 or more, he can use Invincible instead.

Decent reducers for Hulk with Invulnerability but even better when he’s being attacked by stronger targets. This makes him much more resilient than he seems on paper as he appears to reduce less damage at first glance. Important to note; Hulk loves penetrating damage on characters with a printed damage value of 4 or more as he laughs directly into their face.

Next is his damage power:

NO ONE WILL NOTICE HULK NOW: Shape Change, but only succeeds on [6]. When Hulk uses it and succeeds, Hulk and characters adjacent to him can’t be attacked this turn.

Not the greatest Shape Change in the game, and one could argue that this is not a damage power we want on a melee-bruiser. Still, the aura effect of stopping all attacks against allies on a successful 6 is huge and can potentially shut down an opponent’s turn.

Now that we have the first portion of Hulk’s powers, we can look at the first half of his dial. An odd Phasing/Teleport click starts things off with a massive 12-speed before giving way to Charge for the first four clicks, while also dropping down to a 7-speed. His attack values are high with two 12’s up front, followed by two 11’s, and Super Strength on all four clicks. Defenses are stellar with a 19 to boot, two 18’s and a single 17 (the only click that low on the dial), all with his special power making him a bit tanky. His damage stays consistent with 3 across the board and his special damage power.

Once Hulk hits click 5, things get a bit different; he swaps over to Flurry with a 6-speed, while his attack climbs back to 11 and then 12 with his special attack power, 18-Impervious, and 4-damage. As for that attack power:

EXPLAIN MEANING OF LIFE VIA HULK: Poison. At the end of your turn, if Hulk didn’t move or make an attack this turn, give all other characters within 2 squares an action token. (Includes friendly characters.)

Now this dial is piecing together a bit more. Hulk wants to rush into the fight and stay there for the rest of the game. With his Poison and Flurry, he’ll be dishing out 9-damage when he’s close to KO, and those end-click stats and powers will take many players by surprise as he cranks up the heat from otherwise mellow clicks. If Hulk continues to stay in one spot, he starts giving out tokens like mad, not even requiring line of fire. Then there’s his final click with a single showing of his speed power:

BEAT BANGER MCCRUSHER FOR TWO WISHES?: When an opposing character of 25 points or more is KO’d during your turn, after resolutions place Hulk anywhere on the map and heal him 4 clicks.

While this isn’t a STOP click, Hulk has monster defenses to help him get to this point, and remember that you can always choose not to use Willpower in order to push him. Speaking of monster defenses, that’s not all; this click has 12-attack, 19-Impervious, and 5-damage, so there’s a very good chance that Hulk will hit someone and a decent shot that he KO’s them which allows him to heal a whopping 4-clicks and teleport to where he’s needed most.

As I sad, this is a very strange Hulk dial and he plays very differently than others that we’ve seen recently. He’s a tough cookie to figure out as he doesn’t really have an identity other than annoyance that’s tough to put down and bears his teeth late in the game once he takes some damage.

Keys to Success

What do you give a click like this? Hulk has steady values and works with his own mechanics, so how do you increase his potency?

Hulk has great engagement with 12-Phasing up front, but that doesn’t give him too many options. His Great Size will be a hindrance outdoors and makes him far easier to hit first. His Shape Change is also very specialized and shouldn’t be counted as one of his defenses as there’s a high chance it will fail.

I think Telekinesis is extremely useful for Hulk so that you have a better chance at getting him into the fight and getting some mileage out of those early clicks, and it will help him re-position when he’s on his lower clicks with just Flurry to do work.

A taxi can work as well, but you’ll need someone either the same size that flies, or a colossal to lug him around. The good news about this route is you block lines of fire to Hulk which could be a good thing. Perhaps running someone like Giant Girl could work as she’s only 10 points and can tank for Hulk.

Perplex is probably the best option with him as he’s already rocking a solid 19-defense up front, and Perplex can pull double-duty to increase his damage when he’s not holding an object. Hitting a 21 or 22 defense is much harder and can altogether negate his poor Shape Change.

Probability Control and Outwit are both strong contenders as well, though Hulk already has high stats so I would argue that Perplex is the stronger power. However, if you can fit either or both Prob and Outwit, it’s always a good thing. Hulk will have troubles against Shape Change, Super Senses, and big reducers, and a good Outwit will take care of those.

Unfortunately equipment are out of the question since Hulk is a giant. That’s a real shame because I honestly believe that this guy would be potentially the best candidate for the Infinity Gauntlet that lets you potentially pick 2 powers as a way to eat through his dial to hit that last click.

Tie-Up figures are another great option for Hulk as you can lock targets down while Hulk lumbers his way to them for a KO. This also helps you pick who you engage and when, or more importantly, who engages Hulk. Like any single figure, Hulk can be swarmed fairly easily, unless you’re pumping that defense value up.

There’s also some secret tech with Hulk, but you have to read the team build to get there.

The Team

Remember, all my team builds are 300 Modern Age, and we’re currently in the 2019/2020 Modern Age.

WKMP19-010 Hulk | 125 Points

WCR007E Gambit | 50 Points

RE020 Terra | 50 Points

BTAS013 Catwoman | 40 Points

SWB031 Alex Wilder | 25 Points

WKDP17-008 Boxing Ring | 5 Points

EAXS006 Venom Symbiote | 4 Points

Build Total: 299 Points

No theme team today as the idea behind this build is much more sinister. This might look like a hodgepodge of characters, but I promise this will all make sense.

Gambit serves the role of our secondary attacker/primary ranged attacker. The ragin’ Cajun has a dial that works incredibly well in melee or at range, packs Energy Explosion with Force Blast for some terrific anti-swarm team tech, and has Perplex to help himself or Hulk out. Gambit can change up how he wants to fight, shifting to Giant Reach: 2 with Quake for bruiser attacks and gives him yet another way to deal with swarms. He’s a little shallow at just 4 clicks for 50 points, but Gambit packs a ton of value for that cost and is honestly my favorite dial for Remy.

Terra brings our most important asset; TK to help Hulk get around. She also has Empower to serve as a pseudo-Perplex to give Hulk some increased damage in brawls and has a decent melee-dial of her own with Charge and Quake. Terra also is quite the little tank thanks to traited Shape Change and 6 clicks of health for 50 points, balancing out Gambit’s 4 at the same cost. Hulk carrying her into the fray on turn 1 allows for a second-turn TK for Hulk to get pretty much anywhere on the map. It’s a great setup and the secondary strike with Terra Charging in with that Empower can be brutal.

Catwoman is another super cheap source of Perplex with a decent offensive dial. Precision Strike with 3-range to simulate her whip makes her adept at making small cuts that will add up over time, and the Stealth/Combat Reflexes make her very difficult to get rid of. My favorite part though is that she hits her second stride with a combo of Flurry, Blades/Claws/Fangs, and Super Senses with an 11-attack on both clicks. Catwoman has no problems pushing to get to some real damage potential, which is what she should be doing on this team.

Finally, Alex Wilder serves as our super-support figure. Able to use 2 of 3 out of the holy trinity of support powers every turn, you’re always going to get some kind of use out of Alex that will hurt your opponent much more than his 25-point cost would seem to indicate. Outwit is almost always given to you, and in my experience it’s a 50/50 toss-up on whether you get Perplex or Probability Control. Whether it’s buffing Hulk, countering his opponent’s, or making rolls easier for you and harder for your opponent, Alex is worth his weight in gold.

Hopefully by this point you’ve figured out the common theme here that I casually left out of each of these three last figures – they all have a traitor mechanic. Remember that when Hulk hits his last click, if you KO someone of 25 points or more, Hulk heals 4 clicks and teleports anywhere on the map. Traitors are a fantastic way to guarantee that happening. None of these three characters has an overly-impressive dial that can’t be dealt with easily once Hulk is low on his dial. None of them can survive a Flurry attack with 4-5 damage and a hit from Poison. The strategy is that you always push these characters (maybe not Alex to keep his super-support click), and you always risk them so that they become bait. Once they swap sides, Hulk can KO them when he needs, heal back up, and bring them back onto his own team to turn the tables.

As for the last few points, I went with the Boxing Ring because it gives Hulk even more power with +1 to attack and damage while inside the ring, negates his Great Size for shots against him, and ties figures up when they try and get in while he has no issues climbing in or out himself. The Venom Symbiote is intended for Gambit to give him more protection as he’s fairly weak on defense, and doubles up as a tie-up figure if we need it.

This team takes a really radical approach to making Hulk work, but I think with a fun figure like this you can’t be too serious. It’s all about making your opponent pay for attacking, no matter what. If they go for Hulk, they only make him stronger. If they go for your team members, they’re providing ammo for Hulk to heal back up. It’s a interesting twist and I feel it’s vastly different from anything I’ve done before.

What are your thoughts on this team? Do you like the approach I took? How would you build around this Hulk? If you bought the Gamma pack, are you actually going to give this a try? Let me know in the comments section!

Thanks for joining me again today. I do need to let you know about some changes though. I recently was promoted at my job (those of you that remember this happening a few years back, this is different), so my time is going to get substantially tighter. On top of this, our work is moving to a new building, so things are going to get even more hectic as my time will probably drop off completely. I’m really hoping that I can keep pumping out weekly articles, but this may have to change either temporarily or permanently. Life comes first and while I won’t completely drop off writing, this does take a back seat to my professional career. I love Heroclix; I LOVE it, but it’s not my job.

Rest assured, I will keep everyone updated as time goes. Thanks to everyone for sticking around and I’m really hoping I can continue to write as much as I do. Take care and I’ll see you next week over on Two Clicks From KO for ID Card Roundup!