With the release and celebration of Avengers: Infinity War, I wanted to take a break from our typical Heroclix content. Instead of a team build or lists, I figured it would be neat to look at each of Thanos’ different dials through the game. NO MOVIE SPOILERS HERE! #ThanosDemandsYourSilence.

I’ve been reading comics since 2004, so I missed a large chunk of the birth of now classic characters. However, I didn’t let that stop me from really getting in to Thanos and reading the astounding Infinity Gauntlet book. At this point in time, I think I’ve read it 5 times, and I adore it each time I decide to re-read it. Ever since I discovered Marvel’s Darkseid, I’ve been infatuated with him. Thanos is easily my favorite villain of all time, sometimes dancing the line between villain and… responsible character? Certainly not a hero. Anyways, with the new movie and Thanos finally being in the spotlight after 10 years of crafting, AND the new Infinity set coming out in just two weeks, I figured there would never be a better time to look at every dial the Mad Titan has ever had.

Infinity Challenge #141

The lack of powers on this dial certainly don’t bode well for this Thanos in today’s game, but back when Heroclix first started, he was THE brick that you didn’t want to see across from you. Thanos did what he does best; he just. didn’t. DIE. With huge reducers for his first 5 clicks and still some of the best attack values in the game, this Thanos was a terror. Sure, he didn’t have Willpower, or the Power Cosmic team ability, or Running Shot/Charge to get him into the frey. Thanos would take his time to get into position and then brutally punish anyone foolish enough to stay or fail breakaway. He’s a testament to what Heroclix was when it first came out; simple yet elegant and full of tactical awareness. The sculpt was pretty neat too, albeit a tad too small for his mass making look more like a rage monster than the scientist he is.

Supernova #096

I wasn’t playing during these days, so I have to look at this dial from an observational standpoint. 267 points is a lot o pay, but you get a monstrous kit as it typical for the Titan. He carries over the same themes; slow engagement, high numbers, and big reducers, but this dial represents the keen mind that Thanos has. With Outwit on his top four clicks, dipping into Probability Control, this is a much more brutal dial than the classic iteration. We get huge attack values up front with a nice helping of penetrating damage to keep that feeling of “if I see you, you die”. Every click on this dial is capable of one-shotting a lot of pieces today. Unfortunately, he’s simply not worth the 267 point cost in today’s environment. 18 Impervious isn’t as untouchable as it used to be, so this Thanos is simply outclassed. The sculpt here is fantastic with an homage to some classic Thanos panels. I like when the sculpt matches the somewhat passive nature of his dials. No rush to get into combat. Thanos knows when and how he’ll beat you.

Infinity Gauntlet 008a Issue #1

Unfortunately for me, I never played this Thanos nor do I own him. This is the Thanos we all know from the comics, with the complete Infinity Gauntlet and full of universal power. This dial does a fantastic job of immortalizing what happens in the beginnings of the Gauntlet story. He’s big and brutal, but the dial doesn’t measure up to that staggering 800 point cost. There’s some great flavor here with the Exile to Soul World power, and the Multiattack ability certainly helps to offset that cost, but it’s so difficult for him to actually deal a decent chunk of damage to a lot of characters. Shape Change, Super Senses, and Impervious foil him so easily that you’re wondering if you’re playing a fully powered Titan, but it does speak to Thanos not understanding the full depths of his godhood yet. The best part about this dial though is that hitting Thanos just makes him stronger as his best clicks are mid-dial. That and he honestly never has a low point for offense. He’ll always have a way to one-shot characters. Of course the sculpt is gorgeous on all these iterations, but I honestly don’t like how big Thanos is compared to the shrine.

Infinity Gauntlet 008b Issue #2

A much more formidable 300 point dial. While this dial replicates the common slow threat of his dials, his Psychic Wave of Annihilation makes him a very hard piece to engage on without him simply landing the first hit. This Thanos can easily hold tight and wait for his threats to come to him while he picks them off with his 12 range. The dial holds up pretty well with some great offense until his 7th click, but his defenses are pretty easy to break through for 300 points. His Unnatural Disasters power is very flacvorful, but not very good when you only have this guy on your force and no one to follow up. I’m sure that when he was released he was a lot more menacing.

Infinity Gauntlet 008c Issue #3

We get a much more tactical Thanos for 100 additional points with a little bit more health, and we actually get a little beefier defense values. This version is actually pretty good in that his trait completely destroys theme teams and theme related abilities. What’s odd is that the Terraxia spawn is an ability rather than a trait, meaning we get the most immobile Thanos since he doesn’t have Phasing/Teleport on top dial. What I really like about this dial is how brutal he is when he targets someone with his special attack. Not only does he have Pen/Psy, he also counters all speed and attack powers on that character, so unless they have PROTECTED: Outwit, he’s going to do a pretty good job of nuking enemies before they get a chance to hit him. There’s a lot of Outwit on this dial along with some Mind Control, so he’s not quite the brute that we’ve seen before. This is more of your manipulation Thanos with some ass-kicking built in. As for Terraxia, she’s not very good, but getting her for free makes her fantastic, and it really helps to have another player on the board other than your gigantic Thanos.

Infinity Gauntlet 008d Issue #4

Huzzah, Running Shot for the first time on Thanos! At 500 points, we get a VERY beefy dial with plenty of aggression throughout. We even see some powers that Thanos has never wielded or has since; Flurry and Hypersonic Speed. This is a much more down to business Thanos that wants to get the job done himself, and while he’s a bit easier to hit, you get 20 clicks for that huge point cost. The Grab for the Gauntlet trait is so conditional that you’ll probably never see it come up (as it should be), so it’s not really a downside, and the Shrinking the Hulk trait adds insult to injury once Thanos actually hits someone. The fact that there’s no duration on this trait makes it insanely powerful. While he might be the easiest to actually punch through once you get through that top 19 Impervious with Probability Control, pound for pound this is the most deadly dial we had seen for the Mad Titan.

Infinity Gauntlet 008e Issue #5

Truly, this is the closest we will ever get to a god-dial for Thanos, and rightfully so as this represents when he ascends to actual godhood after beating the cosmic abstracts including Eternity. Combat Values and Powers are just crazy on pretty much every click, with no reprieve for his opponents until around click 11. With his ability to treat penetrating damage as regular damage with Impervious, it’s incredibly frustrating to burn though his dial, and the mulitattack with ignoring hindering terrain for lines of fire means that no one is safe from his onsalught. Outwith and Prob just make him ever more daunting, and his top clicks actually make a good case on whether 20 clicks are worth 1000 points. Amazingly, his Drown in Time ability really isn’t all that great, and probably isn’t something you want to action yourself on when you have 1000 points facing you, but that’s fine. It’s an option and it’s nice to have. I love that this dial ramps to incredible levels with one of the highest damage values in the game at the very end at 7. You get a brief reprieve when he hits his 15th and 16th clicks, and then he just ramps one last time to KO everyone in his path.

Galactic Guardians 045

I recently got to replay this Thanos and he’s still pretty deadly. The Invulnerability instead of Impervious at top dial is a little bit of a bummer, making him pretty easy to actually deal damage to and chew through his dial, but the 19 certainly helps. This is a much more aggressive Thanos with tons of Pen/Psy and Pulse Wave on his dial, along with very good damage for 300 points. His trait is a bit odd because it doesn’t stipulate time frames so it’s tough to determine when the effect wears off (and not that it really matters since he’s probably the only person on your force), but the free healing is very good. Perhaps the best part about this Thanos is his Avatar of Death trait that simply stops all healing by anyone other than himself. At 150, the dial hasn’t aged well at all, and is more reminiscent of a 100 point dial today. As for the sculpt, it’s simply stunning and gets big points for making him the proper height. The skulls under his feet are a great touch.

Galactic Guardians 049

I LOVE this Thanos. Deemed Chanos by many, we get the Titan with a different artifact; the Cosmic Cube. This dial is monstrous and even though there are a couple clicks of Energy Shield/Deflection that really hurt if you land on them, it’s a perilous journey trying to fight him. Thanos redefined the Killbox strategy with the amazing ability to teleport the two biggest threats on the board right next to him and let his allies go to town on them. Of course, the issue with this is that the dial really isn’t mean to be played by itself whereas every other dial on this list can be. This Thanos really does need allies to make him worth the points, otherwise you’re just bringing two people over and saving them the hassle of traversing the map. For that reason, he’s a very conditional piece, and probably the last Thanos people should track down if they want a good version of the character. The dial is very strong, but it doesn’t do a very good job of representing Thanos not needing anyone to destroy his foes. True, he can be played at 300 points and not use the Teleport My Greatest Enemies! trait, but honestly, if you want to pay 300 for a Thanos for a fight, just play the Super Rare above instead. Conditional but amazing. The sculpt is exactly the same as the Super Rare, but that Cosmic Cube and the energy coming from it are pretty amazing.

Guardians of the Galaxy 047a

Before I dig into the dial, I will say that this is the worst sculpt for Thanos. He’s tiny, his face looks like someone had about 2 seconds to apply it, and he’s incredibly dark. It stinks and I feel bad whenever I play him. Now then, dial-wise, this is probably the best Thanos we’ve gotten. At 300, we actually get a Running Shot + Pulse Wave combo, and we see Invincible pop up which is a very welcome addition. Outwit on top really helps to make him even more brutal, and his attack values age very, very well. There’s a lot of damage in this dial. His traits are fantastic and they do a great job of immediately disrupting the opponent’s team, and his commitment to a character that make his somewhat bad 4 damage actually works very well. It’s nice to see a Thanos dial that’s packed full of powers, all of which are good. Perhaps the worst parts of this Thanos are his special Leadership as it won’t do anything in a 300 point match, and the fact that relics and resources can’t be assigned to him. At 200 points, he’s still formidable, but frankly it’s just better to ditch the 100 points of support and play him as a very efficient one man army.

Guardians of the Galaxy 047b “Thanosi”

True, this isn’t actually Thanos, but for arguments sake he makes the cut. This is one heck of a prime, and still heavily sought-after today (I’m still trying to get one!). He’s a simple piece with a ton of different power combinations. What I really like about this dial is that really, there isn’t a bad click in the bunch. While he’s pretty wild in that you can’t ever count on the same thing popping up, he’s always going to pull his weight, which makes this non-Thanos potentially the most deadly Thanos of the group. He has 3 simple traits, which you can pick from based on his point value. His 300 point trait brings back one of the Infinity Gauntlet traits, disbanding theme teams and cancelling all team abilities; a VERY good asset which I covered earlier. At 200, he eliminates all Willpower within his 8 range, again very good. However, at 100, he gets his best trait which limits movement within his 8 range, stopping the ability to ignore ANY terrain for movement purposes. That trait made Thanosi a competitive piece, and he’s still being played today in ROC age events. This is a really great dial, and it’s a shame that it shares the same sculpt with the rare above. At least the colors are more typical for Thanos.

2018 Convention LE (with Thanos Copter)

I covered these two over on the Apex Insiders page, so be sure to look there for a detailed review of both the Titan and the copter. This dial is very good, and the cheapest Thanos we’ve seen to date at just 125 points. While his values aren’t huge, he does start with Running Shot, Pulse Wave, and Probability Control, a rare setup for him. He has his first-ever STOP click and it adds a lot of potency to the dial. His special damage power turn him into the typical Thanos that we know with tons of new toys at his disposal (including his missing Power Cosmic team ability), and makes him a bit more of a careless risk piece on his top dial. This click ages pretty well and it’s easy to see he was built with today’s gameplay in mind. The Dog Gone It! trait is fantastic in both spirit and play-ability and really adds another layer to the dial. The sculpt is pretty neat, but I like the GG Chase better for a Cube-wielding Titan.

Avengers: Infinity War G018 – Not Coded in HCRealms yet

First off, this is by far the best sculpt we’ve gotten for Thanos. If you haven’t seen it yet, it is just gorgeous. We get a very different approach to the newest version of Thanos; there’s a lot of close combat focus in this dial, which is frankly quite odd for him. At higher point values and his 150 line, there’s more of a ranged dedication giving him some sniping potential, but his giant size (yes, that’s not a typo) will make him a pretty easy target. What’s really a bummer about this dial are his combat values; there are a ton of 10 attack and 17 defenses which is weird because he’s almost always had big values, especially in his attack. Now to be fair, there is a lot of Prob Control on this dial to help makeup for that, and he has two VERY good traits that you can pay for the offset attacks and dish out free damage. It’s a tough package and a tough sell. Frankly, I think this Thanos needs to be played before anyone can really fairly judge him. Regardless though, there is an option to play him at just 100 points with no optional traits, use him as a rush piece, and then donate his gauntlet to someone else to give them Willpower and +1 to all their combat values. That alone could make Thanos a competitive piece, especially when Uni-Mind pops him out and he donates that gauntlet to another eternal.

We’ve gotten a pretty decent amount of Thanos throughout the now 16 years of this game, and it ranges from goofy appearances like this year’s Con LE figure to the strongest he’s ever been with his godhood, and everything in between. Honestly, he’s gotten a pretty good treatment from Wiz Kids and I’m eager to try out this new version that’s right around the corner. My gut says he isn’t going to play that well, but I could be pleasantly surprised.

I hope you enjoyed this tribute and review to my favorite villain of all time. What are your thoughts on these dials? Which one is your favorite? Who is your de facto, go-to Thanos? Let me know in the comments section!

I’m planning on releasing my set review for Avengers: Infinity next week on Two Clicks From KO as I’ve been jotting down character reviews during spoilers, and I’m just waiting on a couple more dials before I can drop the review. If it isn’t finished in time for next Tuesday, I’ll post it here the following week; I want to make sure you guys have it the first Tuesday that all the dials are revealed! See you next week on Two Clicks!