Character Spotlight: Martian Manhunter

Welcome to the first Character Spotlight, featuring the Manhunter from Mars, J'onn J'onnz! My hcrealms compatriots might recognize the style of this blog (and the ones to follow) as similar to that of SLVRSR4's "Deep Dish Themes". It's not exactly the same, but similar. Anyway, from time to time I get the itch to talk about a character, and in HeroClix that usually means multiple versions since we've been playing for 10 years now!

J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter has long been one of my favorite members of the JLA. While not in my personal "big three" (which would be Barry Allen - The Flash, Clark Kent - Superman, and Bruce Wayne - Batman), he is definitely in the top 5. With powers similar to Superman and a few thrown in for good measure, J'onn is the last son of his homeworld. His fatal flaw? A vulnerability to fire! My first concrete exposure to the Martian Manhunter was with the Kenner Super Powers Collection figure. In celebration of the 10th Anniversary HeroClix sets, and the fact that I recently acquired the Con

From a HeroClix perspective, which is the nature and purpose of this blog, Martian Manhunter has a long, if not comprehensive history in the game. He is currently sitting on 11 different iterations in the game. Below is a list of each with a description of each figure and recommended theme team usage for them all. Lets get to it!

Martian Manhunter (Cosmic Justice)

The first version of Martian Manhunter we got in HeroClix was in 2003's DC HeroClix: Cosmic Justice. He was (is) a Unique figure, which back then was the highest in-booster rarity. Clocking in at 177pts., he was among the most expensive figures to field in those days. What is notable about Martian Manhunter is that while move and attack powers were powerful, Stealth was an extremely strong strategy in those days. Superman Ally figures were inordinately expensive, yet not very effective. It is safe to say that Stealth and Batman Ally was the overall most popular strategy. A 177 point figure starting with Stealth could potentially wreck the house all day long, right? Well...maybe. Another notable trait unique to this figure at the time was he was the first figure to have 3 printed damage appear along his entire 10 click dial. If he could hit you, he could hurt you. Four straight clicks of Perplex did not hurt him.

For all that, I personally only ever fielded him on Justice League teams of  800-1000 points, because he always felt to risky to pin an entire strategy on. He wasn't quite a tentpole, was more of a secondary attacker (!) and support piece rather than the centerpiece of a team, even in sealed. He had no movement attack powers, as mentioned, his range was a mediocre 6 and his attack topped out at a 10 for almost 200 points. I don't think he was terrible, far from it. But he wasn't a "tentpole". The only way to ones "money's worth" was to put him in a high point force and let him hang back. In that role, he could excel.

In a more modern setting with Feats and Keywords he would still fill the same role, but be much more vulnerable with his money 16 defense with Impervious. He's a figure that doesn't hold up all that well over the long haul, if you ask me.

It would be another 3-4 years before we would see another Martian Manhunter in HeroClix. The next time, he came back x 4!

Martian Manhunter (Origin)

The Rookie

The DC Heroclix: Origin set brought back some old favorites with some first-timers, and Martian Manhunter was among them, getting an REVLE set in this expansion. By this time, the old Cosmic Justice Martian Manhunter was definitely dated. The first iteration in this set gave us some of his old tricks with a new trick thrown in for good measure. A lack of Impervious with a still relatively weak defense of 16 was augmented with starting Stealth and the addition of two clicks of 4 printed damage. He moved into two clicks of Charge, new for Martian Manhunter (but deserved) and got some clicks of Phasing near the end of his dial to perhaps support his team rather than get KO'd. His 4 clicks of Perplex returned, but in the center of his dial rather than at the beginning, perhaps to add some strategy to the strategy. Once again, at 114 points and boasting 9 clicks of life we aren't looking at a bad figure, just not a stellar figure.

The Experienced

Once we reach this version, things start to get more interesting for our favorite Manhunter from Mars. He gains some new powers not seen on his dials to this point, in the form of Leadership (representing is long stint as leader of Leagues America and International), Running Shot, Penetrating / Psychic Blast, Super Senses (which seem to be his "intangible" clicks), Incapacitate and Probability Control. At 167 points, what he gained in "tricks" he did not gain necessarily in effectiveness due to his dial configuration, but at least we are getting a more active version of J'onn at this level.

The Veteran

The most expensive Martian Manhunter figure to date upped the ante on bells and whistles for his time. This version had upgraded to an attack value higher than 10, Outwit, Mind Control and Hypersonic speed. He also continued the tradition of 3 damage all the way down the dial.  He also gained some higher defense values sprinkled throughout. His Outwit/Perplex combo made him a candidate for the Brilliant Tactician feat card (although i never used it with him). While a more "powerful" version of J'onn, he and all his versions in this set were overshadowed by other beatsticks in Origin.

The LE

Detective John Jones seemed like a compromise piece between all three of the booster versions of Martian Manhunter. He added Shape Change and the Police Team ability rather than JLA for extra utility. He had a see-through sculpt. He was another Brilliant Tactician canditate, and one I would more readily reach for than the veteran due to point cost and the fact that the first click of this one was to be pushed or moved off of as soon as possible (which was made easy with the Phone Booth Special Object unique to Origin boosters). One risk of using the BT feat card on him was that he only packs one click of Perplex, which sort of takes him back to his roots as a semi attacking support piece with or without the card.

After this set, the Special Powers era of Heroclix "2.0" arrived, and the first DC set to be released was Justice League. It would seem like a no-brainer to get a Special Powers toting version of J'onn in so titled a set, but it was not to be. In retrospect, I'm glad he didn't as they would have undoubtedly be rife with drawbacks, as Special Powers tended to be in the early going. Unfortunately, we would wait another 3 years for a Martian Manhunter in the 2.0 era, because he was not released again until NECA acquired the HeroClix IP from the old Wizkids Games and brought it back...

Martian Manhunter (Brave and the Bold)

At this point in the game, traits had been introduced, which allowed for more flavorful powers and abilities to further differentiate characters from raw statistics and powers. This time, Martian Manhunter got full dial Shape Change and Phasing/Teleport to go with a pretty competitive package (especially in sealed play). He was also assigned the Telepathic Invisibility Special Power that allowed him to modify his defense by +3 against a specific type of attack (close or ranged) for a turn. What he didn't get were keywords representative of his many tenures with the League, and an attack value higher than 10 at 202 points (it's okay, Superman got similar treatment in this set). We can't fully blame Wizkids for the keywords, as this J'onn is representative of his cookie-madness phase.

This Martian Manhunter qualifies for the excellent Camouflage feat card, which he can use all dial.


Black Lantern Martian Manhunter (Brave and the Bold)

In the comics at the time (or slightly before), the hotness was the Blackest Night...a DC Mega Crossover event that had many heroes and villains returning as zombie-ish monsters in service to Black Hand, the herald of the Black Lantern Corp. In the interim, in the comics, Martian Manhunter was killed off in the opening salvo to DC's also world-shattering Final Crisis, which led to his (very entertaining) return as a Black Lantern as well as inclusion into Brave and the Bold as a Chase figure (which may or may not seem all that entertaining to some).

First off is the Trait, Power Levels Rising, which exemplifies the early strike Black Lanterns used by Nekron (the true threat of the Blackest Night) to fill the Black Power Battery to 100% capacity by sending Black Lanterns after those whom their targets would get the greatest emotional response from. Couple this with the Black Lantern Special Object, whose effect is identical and when Black Lantern Martian Manhunter is involved in a KO, or is merely within 4 squares of an ally's KO, he will heal up to 2 clicks (or 3 if both players have Black Lanterns on the board and within range).

Martian Manhunter also received a Special Power titled "decaying Embrace" that gives him use of Phasing and Plasticity. In addition, it deals one damage to anyone who fails to break away from Martian Manhunter. This power seems okay on paper, but in truth I've never seen it come off. There are probably several reasons for this - (1)This is a Chase Martian Manhunter, so not everybody has one. (2) It is in the middle of his dial, where it might be easier to just get rid of him than (3) only breaking away on a roll of 6, which seems altogether like a waste of time.

Feat wise, Martian Manhunter is a candidate for Vampirism and Automatic Regeneration, and being Indomitable, Protected is a favorite. He has enough slots of Shape Change to roll with Camouflage should you feel the need to protect him a bit more.

Martian Manhunter is fun to play, but for 187 points, he suffers from synergy with the few other Black Lantern Corp figures released to date in terms of point cost...they pretty much all suffer this fate. He is Indomitable, which allows him to use dial-wide Willpower, but this almost always translates into a loss in statistical ability for the points. Kal-L just outdoes him in the effectiveness department, and since a game choice is usually required to play either one, Kal-L just seems to go over better for my money.

Martian Manhunter (Brightest Day)

At the end of the Blackest Night came the Brightest Day, and Wizkids released an "Action Pack", which is a prototype of the Fast Forces packs we get today. In this particular pack was the Brightest Day Martian Manhunter, which has combinations of life and death (somehow still alive, yet part of the Black Lantern Corps). As a dial, this may be my favorite Martian Manhunter up to this point. The figure possesses a trait that is still a very potent one -

Detective of the Dead -  If an opposing character is KO'd during your turn, Martian Manhunter can use Exploit Weakness, Outwit, and Probability Control until the beginning of your next turn.

Setting up attacks to ensure Martian Manhunter's trait goes off "early" enough in the turn is key, and is a great deal of fun to contemplate and execute. Add to that pretty great values and powers and you have a real winner at an economical 158 points.  Martian Manhunter can use Camouflage and Automatic Regeneration.

Martian Manhunter

The convention exclusive Martian Manhunter seems like he is bridging the gap between 52 and Final Crisis, if one is to go by the power names given him. At 140 points and with decent keywords, this Martian Manhunter is affordable and probably worth the points. I will have to let you know when I field him.

Stealth and Shape Change with Impervious is a great combination and incentive to try and keep this one on his top dial as long as possible, but the rest of the dial is good enough it isn't a requirement.


John Jones (DC 10th)

 The DC 10th Anniversary common Martian Manhunter is a throwback version of the Origin LE (like all the figures in 10th Anniversary are throwbacks to some other figure). For what he does, he is in my opinion, one of the best of the entire 10th anniversary lineup. 90 points of Police team and a bunch of keywords with a very competitive dial that might even be able to actually pull off the Battlefield Promotion trait.

As far as golden age play, he can use Brilliant Tactician and later use Camouflage.

Martian Manhunter (DC 10th)

 The "Veteran" version of DC 10th's Martian Manhunter pair is a potent-looking figure. I have to broach with "looking" because I haven't fielded it yet. However, on paper, traited (but situational) Shape Change looks pretty good. Stealth and Charge that ignores blocking terrain look pretty good on a flier as well. When losing Impervious, he gains Super Senses.

All in all, DC HeroClix has given us some hit or miss Martian Manhunter figures, but I think the good outweighs the bad. A character who is like a generic third rate Superman or Wonder Woman (in terms of power level) with a twist has got to be somewhat difficult to nail down. However, I will say many of the later dials do feel like the character, even if they all manage it in different ways. The worst thing about J'onn's interpretations are probably the bizarre keyword assignments or lack thereof over his releases....however, we house rule keywords where we think appropriate. Indeed, any of the blue keywords on the dials above are house ruled keywords.

I hope you've enjoyed this look at a beloved character in Character Spotlight. Next time, I will spotlight a Marvel character who can be found in Marvel 10th Anniversary with a moderate showing in the game. That character is the one and only Storm.

HeroClix: Summer 2012

I've been remiss in posting for almost two months, if you consider the last date I posted and the time between then and now. I just couldn't bear to let a calendar month go by without posting something, so I thought I'd discuss some big news in a kind of "quick beats" format.

The Dark Knight Rises

Batman returns one last time to save Gotham City from the likes of Bane in Christopher Nolan's final movie in his vaunted trilogy, and Wizkids produced a set to commemorate the event for us clixers. As much as I sometimes hate on Batman, I have to say - The movie was awesome, and the clix aren't far behind. My favorite figure is the last one anybody was able to acquire - Batman 100 Marquee figure. Excellent sculpt and dial.

Chaos War

After having a month to play with this stuff, I have to say - this is the best HeroClix set since Giant-Size X-Men. Yeah, it's laden with redoes of popular characters - but they're my characters. Yeah, they got Cap's sculpt wrong - but I took care of that. There are always downsides. However, the upsides more than compensate. And when you consider an all Chaos War team took World's this year, the implications for future World Championship metagaming is turned on its' ear (more on this later). Anyway, to the upsides.

Don't like redoes? Can't imagine why.

The character design in this set rocks. Even the many-times-released big three got really awesome new versions between the Primer Set, Fast Forces and regular release. A villain heavy SR selection didn't hurt things, either.

And let's not forget the Chase figures. While Chase figures are always controversial, I think Wizkids have picked some pretty interesting ones for this set. Mostly Avengers duos, they are also accompanied by Kang and Dr. Doom. I have a hard time picking a favorite. Actually, no I don't. It's easily Avengers Prime.

The Chaos War Fast Forces might well be the biggest Fast Forces release yet, with Scarlet Witch and Mockingbird as figures found only in this set. Oh, and Scarlet Witch was on the World Championship player's team.

Convention Exclusives

This year's selection of convention exclusives was the most ambitious yet. Besides the somewhat enraging release of a Superman and Superman duo figure, the promotional figures from this year are all at least interesting, even if not 'meta-worthy'. The list of DC figures are - Dr. Fate, Martian Manhunter, and of course Superman and Superman. The list of Marvel figures are Apocalypse, The Punisher, and Venom. Being of limited funds this time out, I have not acquired them all as yet, but between increasing income and Supremacy League play, I'm sure I'll get around to them all soon enough.

Really, I could do a whole blog on this figure, but I'll skip it.

World Championships at Gencon

Alex Avila, winner of this year's World Championship at Gencon used Morgan Le Fay, Scarlet Witch and Wasp (Rare version) with Secret Avengers ATA to defeat previous year's World Champ (and this years US Champ) George Massu using 200 pt Black Adam (designed by George), Harry Leland and the Infinity Gauntlet (assigned to Black Adam). Congratulations, Alex!

Wanda to the top 8 - "No more Championships".

The metagame implications of Chaos War cannot be understated enough here. Morgan Le Fay was definitely not looked upon by many (me NOT being one of them) as even sealed worthy to play, let alone meta-defining. I still don't think she is meta-defining, as say, Metron. She is an excellent figure. I pulled her in a sealed and didn't think I could make her work, so I played some other configuration with Hawkeye and won the tournament using that. However, I did put her on a constructed team ASAP and she did extremely well for me. Scarlet Witch has people paying 40 dollars for her on ebay, and she's from a Fast Forces Pack. Nuff said. Rare Wasp is another sleeper hit (the other being Fast Forces Wasp, who I think is just as excellent as Scarlet Witch, but as usual gets no airtime) with her ability to get around Mystics damage with Incapacitate that deals damage after actions resolve. All this, and it qualifies as an Avengers Themed Team.

Infinity Gauntlet 8

The final tournament in the Infinity Gauntlet storyline event was held at Legends Comics and venues all around the country. The winner and points runner up received a Colossal Thanos as the prize. I had a chance to play mine, and it is a pretty fun figure (even if it's not Cosmic Cube powered Chase Thanos broken).

Courtesy of Figures.com

Justice League New 52

DC made its proper return to HeroClix this month with the Justice League New 52 CTD set. This set of 21 figures features characters from the Justice League and New 52 comics line currently promoted by DC. The characters sport their updated "not a reboot..but yeah, it is" looks and dials. While DC's marketing moves might be controversial, the sculpts and dials on these figures are not. The Justice League has never looked better. Justice League Dark is also included in the set, and we actually got a complete roster. Also, lone villain Deathstroke makes his way into the mix with a sculpt that looks better than the panel to panel interpretation.

 

I make this look good.

That's all I've got for this super general update, but that was quite a bit. I will be posting more often in the coming months. I have some other irons in the fire that require me to use my free time a bit more constructively, yet still involves games. I will update more on that sometime soon as well. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to 10th Anniversary (DC and Marvel) and Batman, and I will have something up involving all those sets. Til then, keep those pips off double ones!

Chaos War GF Impressions

So this week, I had a chance to play almost all of the Chaos War Gravity Feed (or CTD) figures. Since 8 of 10 are Avengers, it was pretty easy to make a 1000 point team with them (especially for me if you consider how much coverage the Avengers get around here). I was able to key up some primary likes and dislikes for this one, so I'm gonna start there.

Likes

Avengers - Obviously, as the Avengers are my favorite superhero team/movie/franchise this is an easy purchase for me. And if you discount the Avengers movie figures, this is the product that would get the easy money from me rain or shine.

There's another angle to this sculpt

Spider-Woman's sculpt - I had to say something.

Dislikes 

Bio omission - This is a big one. A huge drop in quality as far as I'm concerned. I wasn't aware of any focus group that decided character biographies were unneeded fluff. No one reads every comic book printed. Okay, there might be somebody. But most people do not. Bios can help get people to go out and read a book they may not have before, thus improving revenues for stores, which in turn helps keep venues open and people buying more and more heroclix. Take care of your customers and they will take care of you.

Cap's Ultimate look - is wrong.

Cap's sculpt - I love Cap. He's pretty much my favorite superhero character of all time. I like Ultimate Captain America just fine, too. But if I'm getting an Ultimate Cap sculpt, then the dial and the character should be Ultimate Cap, not 616 Cap. NOW, I'm hoping the #001 Cap in the Chaos War set proper is actually Ultimate Captain America since we know the Fast Forces one (also with the same sculpt is also the 616 version). I have some HeroScape Caps on order to take care of this imbalance, as there aren't many viable choices for replacement in HeroClix. I'd love to carve up a Smokey Feet Cap from HoT, but even I can't destroy a 20+ dollar Rare to stick on a 1 dollar common...it would be an economic disaster.

General Commentary

This set was originally titled "Mighty Avengers", and the content clearly reflects that earlier title better than the new one. I don't know if the change was due to a perception of Avengers overload by Wizkids or a licensing change, but several key figures are direct cast members of the Mighty Avengers comic book which ran from the conclusion of Civil War to the end of Siege and the rebranding of the Heroic Age of Marvel Comics. I don't have a particular beef with the change, as I trust them to know what the market needs (on some things, but not on others, like character bios of course) in general.

Guess Tony couldn't pay for a better sculpt. Or a newer one.

Where the figures are concerned, the sculpts are all fairly nice, with the exception of Iron Man. It is, in my opinion, just a bad sculpt. In addition, it seems like Wizkids is burning through some kind of backlog, because we are finally getting late 80's Iron Man and another early to mid 2000's sculpt, although we can't seem to get late 90's or the actual current suit Tony is wearing in the comics even if everybody else is updated. As an example of what I'm talking about, the current Iron Man armor seen in the Avengers titles predates Steve Rogers' Super Soldier look, but we've got Steve as a figure. The Future Foundation also appears AFTER Tony Stark rebuilds the Iron Man armor (which happens in Iron Man 25). If we're gonna get 15 Iron Man figures a year, can at least ONE of them be the "current" one. If I read correctly, he might be about to change armors again. It's not really a beef, just commentary.

Janet-tron. Mmm.

I love the Frank Cho inspired Janet Ultron as a concept for a sculpt, but the execution probably leaves something to be desired. Hmm...perhaps a poor choice of words.


The dials are mostly what I would term as good. Not excellent, not bad, but good. Very 'general purpose' in most cases, which with popular headliners isn't a bad way to go, but in the main set I would hope they pack somewhat more of a punch. We already know Thor does this, so it may be academic. We shall have to see. I really like the Vision and Wonder Man figures just as they are, though. I thought Masque was a cute inclusion.

Conclusion

The Chaos War GF/CTD (whatever you like) micro set is a nice whet your appetite morsel before the main course, offerning some variety in play from the normal set, but nothing that really 'stands out' from a min/max abusability standpoint. I would probably say it is not a "must have", but I know most of us "must have it" anyway, so I'll not belabor the point. I am still looking forward to the full release of Chaos War (and the FF set) in a little over a week. Till then, keep those pips off double ones!

Thanos Imperative Tournament Report

This past Wednesday we had our biweekly tournament. This time, it was the "Thanos Imperative". Build a 900 point Golden Age force. This force must be a named keyword theme team. The force must consist of one nemesis of that team, at a point total of no less than 150 points. The nemesis gains the chosen keyword for this tournament.

This one had a lot of play possibilities, to say the least. And our players at Legends Games and Comics didn't disappoint.

SHIELD - Kelly

150 Baron Strucker
263 Quasar
76 Scorpion
75 The Covert Avenger
72 Captain America
70 Winter Soldier
67 Quake
50 Sharon Carter
50 Agent Colson

Total: 878

Commentary - Baron Strucker gets a lot of play at Legends. This team was pretty good. But what's not to like about Quasar and Smokey Feet Captain America? In our game, Agent Colson unfortunately didn't come into play too much, which could have been a real problem for my team, because I had only two guys on it that could even attack him! However, he stood by Cap and Perplexed / SHIELD teamed a lot, which isn't a bad plan on an outdoor SHIELD Helicarrier map.

Illuminati - Jason

124 Hulk (I guess Allan let it go)
202 Iron Man
196 Dr. Strange
123 Professor X
120 Namor
100 Mr. Fantastic
 20 Brilliant Tactician (Mr. Fantastic)
5 Gamma Bomb

Total: 900


Commentary - This one would get my vote for the most annoying if we had a vote for that sort of thing, but when you look at the teams, they all could be considered annoying. "The Worlds Worst Super Team" didn't exactly win many games, but to chew through them takes guts, tenacity and quite a bit of luck. In our personal game, I think what it mainly came down to was Dr. Strange getting Perplexed on values other than Range in key situations. Between hang back and Perplex Reed Richards, and shoot through guys Xavier, I really wasn't sure I was going to win for most of the game. Still, it was fun to play against. It was annoying, in a good way. I like the way Jason was thinking with this one, although Hulk technically was breaking the rules.

Avengers - The Sheriff

150 Thanos
150 Iron Man
150 Thor 
140 Hulk
100 Captain America
75 Hawkeye
35 Black Widow
30 Infinity Gauntlet (Soul, Time, Reality, Power) - Thanos
20 Brilliant Tactician (Iron Man)
16 Protected (Thanos, Cap)
12 Contingency Plan (Cap)
12 Automatic Regeneration (Thanos)

Total: 890

Commentary - Obviously, I love the Avengers. In the current storyline of "Avengers Assemble", the team (craftily marketed to be the "same" cast as the movie Avengers) are fighting Thanos. Also, there was no way I was going to let a tournament called "Thanos Imperative" have me NOT playing Thanos in some way or another. This team did well, but I didn't actually come out on top this time (losing my center place on the Supremacy League board to boot). I did consider going without Feats (and I didn't play BFCs) to get the Gravity Feed AVM Hulk on the team, and i might have done better to go that route, but I didn't. As it was, I lost to a team that in another tournament I did very well with, and always gets my vote for themey/competitive absurdity.

Gotham City - Lewis

194 The Joker
129 The Dark Knight
99 Commission Gordon
60 Harvey Dent
55 Alfred Pennyworth
49 GCPD Riot Officer
80 GCPD Officer A x2
40 GCPD Officer B
10 Outsmart (The Joker)
12 Ambidexterous (The Joker)
3 Alias (The Joker0
20 Swingline (The Dark Knight, The Joker)
5 Indigo Lantern
0 Black Lantern

Total: 900


Commentary - Last Week Wizkids released The Dark Knight Rises HeroClix. Lew decided he wanted to play something new, and hey look - a whole set of new DC guys to play. I must say, it looks cool (and because we've played a lot of these figures together piecemeal I know it plays well, too). Lew is always in line to win any event we run at Legends, and he might have been on track if not for a first round loss to:

Amazons - Kevin

272 Ares
248 Wonder Woman
84 Phillipus
150 Amazon x 3
38 Amazon of Bana-Migdhal x2
35 Infinity Gauntlet (Soul, Time, Space, Reality, Power) - Wonder Woman
25 Fortitude (Wonder Woman)
16 Protected (Ares, Wonder Woman)
32 Amazons ATA

Total: 900

Commentary - Amazons rule. Especially when Ares (DC 75th) is backing them up. This team swept the tournament, taking out Gotham City, The Avengers, and SHIELD and putting Kevin back in the center of the Supremacy League. It's a great team for this event - I like it so much I gave Kevin personal kudos for coming up with it, and actually wish I thought of it myself. In our personal game, a bunch of failures to damage Ares beyond this "Everyone Must Fight" Special Power really cost me big time. And because I wasted so much time on Ares, Wonder Woman was able to survive quite a beating before time ran out and she popped her Protected on me. A great, in-your-face team. Congrats on the win, Kevin!

Avengers - Allan

Giant Size X-Men Fast Forces (available today!)

Professor X

Cyclops

Beast

Wolverine

Rogue

Iceman

War of Light Fast Forces (available today!)

Atrocitus

Larfleeze

Sinestro

Saint Walker

Indigo-1

Star Sapphire

Thanks to Figures.com for the hook-up. More discussion tomorrow!

Tournament Report: War of Kings

Last week, I posted about themey rulers that would satisfy the requirements for our (then) upcoming War of Kings tournament. In that report, I also noted that there might not be that many actual qualifying rulers played because many of our players just don't read comic books. Turns out I was right, but a surprising number of theme fitting rulers did make appearances on teams. Below are images of the teams we had in play that night, followed by a short battle report from my perspective. Also, I'm not a photographer. Like everything else on this blog, that too will be an evolving skill.

Anyway, first up we have Hydra team 1, played by Jason -

This team revolves around Strucker and Red Skull...not sure who was the leader or who has the Infinity Gauntlet assigned.

Next up is Universal Church of Truth, played by Connor -

Magus is the holder of the Infinity Gauntlet on this team, as well as the Ruler.

Next up we have the Inhumans, played by Taj -

Black Bolt is the ruler, here. He also included Ronan from the Annihilators Fast Forces pack, who I missed the Inhumans keyword on.

Kevin went with the Illuminati -

Black Bolt was the ruler, but Dr. Strange has the Infinity Gauntlet.

Hydra team 2 was played by Kelly -

Not sure who was the ruler, Strucker or Skull, and not sure who had the Infinity Gauntlet.

Next we have the Gaurdians of the Galaxy, played by fellow judge and blogger, Allan -

Here, Groot is the ruler. We even got in a Supernova piece in Vance Astro.

The Atlantis team was piloted by Lew -

 Aquaman headed up the team on theme, but Hulkmariner was doing the heavy lifting! The Gamma Bomb was a nice touch, in a world of Infinity Gauntlets.

Finally, we have the Avengers, submitted by none other than the Sheriff -

Namor was the ruler. Basically, I wanted Steve Rogers to pick up the Nova Helmet. He did in one out of 3 games.

The field was pretty diverse, with the only overlap being from Hydra. Black Bolt and Ronan showed up, but no one from the Shi'ar side of the war.

I played -
Allan (bye) - Guardians of the Galaxy - Win
Kevin -  Illuminati (probably my favorite game, as it was Illuminati vs. Illuminati in that one, plus Steve picked up the Nova Helmet) - Win
Lew - Atlantis - Win

All three games I played were tough games. It took two turns of misses to finally knock out Allan's Drax. I couldn't get rid of Mr. Fantastic and Dr. Strange kept pooping out ghosts I had to KO, and I had to hold on against the Gamma Bomb in the final match against Atlantis. The end result was that I won the tournament, advanced to the center of the Supremacy League board and defended once (against Kevin...Lew couldn't challenge based on board position). The biggest thing, though from my perspective, is the Avengers won it all...them being my favorite team and all.

I wish I could have played some of the other teams, but there's only three rounds. For people who hate the Infinity Gauntlet, I have to say - "Why?" No one playing it ranked very high in the end. The top 2 teams (Avengers and Atlantis) didn't have it. It's annoying, but it doesn't run every tournament it shows up in.

Next up for tournament reports will be Infinity Gauntlet 6, for the Collector. In the meantime, keep those dice off of snake-eyes!