Marvel Heroclix: Supernova previews

[drunken_mage]

Well I promised you guys reviews, and they may be even later than I thought they would be, but still here they are. I'm gonna start off with a new REV, Kang the Conquerer!

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=11989
The rookie starts off at 87 points with the Masters of Evil team ability, and honestly, for the points, this REV features some of the best numbers so far; at least in attack. He starts out as an extremely competent ranged attacker. An opening slot of running shot is paired up with two of energy explosion and three of ES/D. He gets even better after his first click with three slots of RCE. After all of that comes two slots of probability control, two of force blast, and three of mastermind. His final click is pretty impressive as well, with phasing, willpower, and outwit. The previously mentioned attack numbers are definitely nothing to sneeze at, starting at 10, climbing to 12, and only then dropping to a 9 on his final click. Again, for the points, he's a very impressive package. Of course, that's nothing compared to his higher versions...

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=11990
The experienced jumps up to 129 points, and his numbers get even better. On this version his attack starts high and just gets higher...and doesn't drop at all! From a 10 on his opening slot to a 12 on his final click, this guy is hitting you no matter what. Many of the same powers show up here with the exceptions of willpower, running shot, and probability control. However there are a couple of additions. Phasing and force blast still show up on his movement track, while leadership starts it off on his damage track followed by outwit and RCE. He gets a defensive boost on this version with two opening slots of invulnerability, which is then followed by ES/D and mastermind. Besides the incredible numbers his attack track is still very impressive, with pulse wave on his first and last clicks, accompanied by energy explosion and incap. Throw in a 10 range, and not only can he hit you, he can hit you from anywhere. Of course, there's always the veteran...

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=11991
This guy makes another point leap up to 199 points, and he loses the MoE TA so those points have to go somewhere. There are powers aplenty on this version, and his numbers remain impressive. For attack this time he starts high and decreases, but that's ok when his attack starts at 13, making its slow way down to 8 on his final click. Running shot makes a triumphant return for his first two slots, with phasing following close behind. Invul surrounds ES/D this time around, and then they're both followed by mastermind and a final slot of willpower. His damage track is fully stocked, with an opening click of perplex, three of RCE, two of probability control, and finally three of outwit. Attack has psychic blast, incap, and pulse wave in a very good progression down the dial. His range drops to 8, but really, with those numbers and powers, I don't really think that matters.

With such a great and point effective REV, you would wonder how WK could possibly top it, but in my next post I'll answer that very same question. Look forward to it later today.

[drunken_mage]

And now, as promised, I have two LEs to share with you. These have actually been up on the website for a few days each, so I'm just now getting to them. I apologize, but real life can be a b*tch sometimes. But without further ado, the figures:

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=11965
Dr. Donald Blake is 202 points with the Avengers team ability, and is the LE for the Thor REV, as well as the Fellowship prize for the Supernova Marquee. He's got a very interesting dial with plenty of options, and the ability to do a very good amount of damage for 90 percent of it. He starts with a dreaded "activation click," which could actually be one of the most useful activation clicks so far. It represents the man, Donald Blake, before striking his fist on the ground to summon Thor's mighty hammer. As such, he's earthbound, but with support to show his medical knowledge. After bringing forth the power of Asgard he becomes an appropriate beatstick for the rest of the dial. An opening click of charge, quake, impervious, and RCE gives him the aforementioned options. He can either blast from his 8 range for massive damage; run in and quake, hitting a bunch of people; or just run in and smack one person. The theme remains for the rest of his dial, as on the next three clicks he gets running shot with energy explosion; CCE to hit someone for massive damage; and invulnerability for his defense. He has super strength for his last five clicks, as well as more RCE with a single slot of CCE stuck in the middle. Flurry shows up for two with force blast for the last three. Defensively, toughness comes in for three slots and his last two clicks have willpower. All in all a very good package, with consistent number and plenty of options, which is what this game is all about.

And now for the LE that everyone's been waiting to see...DOOM!

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=11964
There's only one thing that this picture makes me think of, and that's..."DOOM WANT PANTS TOO!!"

Okay, now that I've gotten that out of the way, let's take a look at the dial. First and foremost, he's 241 points with the Power Cosmic; which kind of makes sense, as this is the version of Doom from the Secret Wars, right after he's absorbed the power cosmic. He starts off strong, phasing in with energy explosion, four clicks of outwit, and impervious. On his second click force blast shows up, along with invulnerability and psychic blast. On his third click, while he still has psychic blast, he gets a 13 attack, which sticks around for a total of three clicks! After psychic blast goes away energy explosion comes back along with super senses, and probability control shows up one click after that for four clicks on its own. Psychic blast and invul come back for a single click, and then he goes into toughness and pulse wave. On his last two clicks he realizes his own mortality as the power cosmic leaves him weakened, and as such he gets earthbound and takes a dive in all of his stats.

I hope you enjoyed these. Hopefully at some point I'll be able to come back and review all of the cards that they released, but not right now.

[drunken_mage]

Every time I think I'm getting caught up, WK goes and sticks more up on their site. Well, regardless, I've got two more REVs to share with you, so let's get right to it; starting with Night Thrasher!

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12008
The rookie is just starting out as the leader of the New Warriors. At 37 points with the Spider-man Ally TA, he's not really expected to be much, but turns out to be pretty good. This version is completely close combat, with an attractive opening click of stealth, smoke cloud, willpower, and leadership, designed to get him and his friends into the best position possible. After that he gets into combat with a single slot of flurry and toughness accompanied by two of battle fury. The back half of his dial is similarly oriented, with three slots of charge to get him back into the fight, and two of combat reflexes to keep him safe. His numbers are pretty average, but for only 37 points it's a pretty good filler figure.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12009
The experienced jumps to 46 points and loses the TA, but he gets just a little bit better because of it. He starts with charge and toughness with ok numbers, but on his second click he gets an boost in attack value along with outwit, willpower, and the first of two slots of incap. Flurry comes back a click later and is followed at the end by leap/climb, while combat reflexes comes in at the end once again, along with a slot of exploit weakness on his second-to-last click, and blades on the final click. He does get range in this version, but it's only 2, so you're better off keeping him in close combat. Of course, the old Cloak figures showed us how creatively a 2 range could be used.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12010
The veteran gets a big jump in points to 73, and gets the Spider-Ally TA back. This one starts once again with charge and toughness, but also a slot of outwit and a higher attack value. Don't worry too much about pushing him though, because he gets flurry, incap, and perplex all on his second click. After that, you may be tempted to get him away from close combat because he gets some energy explosion, but his range only increases to 4, and he still gets combat reflexes; so the EE is really only a last ditch thing for special circumstances. The end of his dial is where he gets really effective, not so much in numbers, but in the combo of charge, willpower, and close combat expert. This means that once he charges in to hit, he can then safely push to hit for even more damage.

All in all a pretty good representation of a character that I've always liked, and am glad they finally got around to making.

Up next (when I get around to it)...Thor!

[drunken_mage]

And now, as promised: Thor, the God of Thunder!

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12053
The rookie is pretty straightforward as the character goes, at 112 points with the Avengers TA. This is the Thor that works best with his teammates, hence the lower cost. He starts out with the basic package of charge, super strength, and invulnerability leading into toughness. A few clicks in he gets some force blast to spread around, just in case he gets in close with someone he'd rather not be. Along those same lines, quake shows up for a couple slots, allowing him to spread the love around a little bit. His last couple of clicks here show when he gets pissed and leaps in for the killing shot, with two slots each of willpower, flurry, and battle fury. With a range of 6 he can be a competent long range combatant, but I think you'll want to keep this version in close.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12054
The experienced pumps it up to 163 and loses the TA, and he switches up the beginning of his dial a little bit. With an increased range of 8, he now starts with running shot and energy explosion, as he runs in throwing thunderbolts to clear out large groups. Another new addition is CCE, which shows up on his second clicks and sticks around for two more. After the EE, super strength comes back, but for only two slots, followed closely by quake for four clicks, the last two of which are accompanied by charge, as well as combat reflexes. Of course the CR is preceded by the usual damage reducers: three slots of invul and three of toughness. Then the final click, once again, is to deal as many finishing blows as possible, with flurry, EE, and willpower.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12055
The veteran makes an even larger jump in points to 235, and regains the Avengers TA. This is Thor at the forefront of every major battle. He's the Avengers' big gun for a reason, and this figure demonstrates that. His mobility is a nonissue, as he starts with running shot, goes into charge, and then back to running shot. His defenses get really beefed up, as he starts with two slots of impervious, followed by three of invul. Those are followed by two of willpower with a jump in defense value, and then finally toughness comes in to finish it off. Super strength gets a big presence with four slots, then two of EE and three of quake as Thor goes into his crowd-thinner mode. What's great is that those slots of EE coincide with running shot, allowing for more target options. Both CCE and RCE come in for two slots each on his dial, but you almost won't expect them unless you plan for it. Finally on his last click he calls on the power of the storm as he gets pulse wave paired with phasing. His numbers are fantastic, especially in movement, which stays consistently high allowing for more range with RS and charge.

WK posted more, but I'll get to them in a bit.

[drunken_mage]

And now for yet another review of an REV, only each figure in this set is a different character, with the exact same point cost. These are the Super-Apes!

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12047
The rookie represents Igor, the ape who got stretchy powers. All of the apes are only 50 points and they all have the Minions of Doom TA; of course this allows for quite a bit of diversity among their dials. Igor, for example, has plenty of powers to confound and frustrate his opponents. His first two clicks have leap/climb and shapechange, so that he can get around undetected, but after that he switches to perplex and plasticity for the rest of the dial, with the exception of a final click of shapechange and two ending clicks of super senses. His numbers aren't anything special, but they are pretty consistent, especially his 4 range that can be a surprise to those who think he can only attack in melee. The only problem is his damage actually falling to 0 on his last slot, without even perplex to bring it back up.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12048
The "experienced" ape is Mikhlo, the ape with super strength. He's a very cheap and straightforward brick. Super strength and toughness start things off for a few clicks each, then battle fury comes in for the back half of his dial. His last two clicks truly represent his rage, as he gets flurry and combat reflexes representing not only his wild swinging but also his incredible agility.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12049
Finally, Peotor, the ape who got telekinetic powers. His dial is very appropriate, as he has a full four slots of telekinesis, as well as four of force blast (one up front and three at the end). In the middle of all of that are two slots of leap/climb, letting him get out of combat if he needs to.

I can see these figures seeing a lot of play, especially Igor and Peotor, if only to have some cheap perplex and/or tk on a team. Now we just have to wait until they put up the stats for Red Ghost.

[drunken_mage]

And I've got another unique for you today, and he's crazy! Both in the dial and literally. That's right, it's Graviton.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=11972
This guy has got to have some of the most extreme mood swings, and it's actually reflected somewhat in his dial. Let's get the easy stuff out of the way first. He's got all three damage reducers: impervious for two slots, invul for two, and toughness for four; and then his last two slots are unprotected. His damage stays high, fluctuating between 3 and 5 for his whole dial. He's pretty mobile at first, with three opening slots of running shot, then later he gets three of force blast to push people around. Now then, his attack track is the big story here. He starts with incap with a nice 11 attack, then he gets tk one slot later and his attack dips to 9. Quake comes in for two clicks and his attack stays consistent. Then he gets incap again for three more clicks and his attack is on an upswing. Finally, on those last two clicks he has some last ditch pulse wave. My favorite feature here is his incap. Why? Well, for the simple fact that he has a 12 range with three targets. Especially on that first click with running shot and incap, he's going to be able to dish out some major pain. Since on his incap clicks he only has 3 damage, you can stick both stunning blow and armor piercing on him, and you can effectively double the damage you're doing to each target.

Overall a great figure and one that I can't wait to put on my team of all 12 range-ers.

[drunken_mage]

Today I've got yet another REV and an LE for you. Let's get the REV out of the way first. It's another characer that just can't settle on a name, but people should recognize his real name: James MacDonald Hudson from Alpha Flight!

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12065
The 69 point rookie represents Weapon Alpha, and has the Avengers TA (just because it's the prereq for the Alpha Flight ATA). He's a very straightforward low-cost brick, with nothing really special to report. Charge and leadership on his opening click, with super strength on the whole dial, toughness for the first four slots, then willpower for two after that. Stats stay pretty consistent, with a dip at the end, and an 8 range rounds him out. As I said nothing special.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=11973
The 91 point experienced version is Guardian, who keeps the Avengers TA, and gets slightly more interesting. He loses the leadership and willpower, but gets a couple of things to make up for them. Invul is now on his first click, giving way to five clicks of toughness. That single slot of charge is still there, but later down his dial he gets two slots of phasing. His attack numbers are a little better, and are accompanied by five slots of super strength (three up front and two at the end), two of energy explosion, and a single slot of incap. This version is better than the rookie, but still not all that impressive.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12061
At 123 points, the veteran represents the short time when he called himself Vindicator. This figure is a lot more impressive than the others. Everything gets beefed up here, starting with his mobility. Up front this time around is a single slot of running shot, accompanied by EE and invul. His second slot is equally impressive, with charge, super strength, and barrier. After that super strength sticks around, invul comes back for two slots, and he gets perplex for two slots as well. Then toughness comes in for  three clicks, EE comes back for two, and his final two clicks only have incap. Some great combinations in the front of his dial, and the rest of it is consistent enough so as not to feel like wasted points. Did I mention his range goes up to 10?

That's it for Mac, I'll just go ahead and post this, and if I have time I'll tell you about the new LE.

[drunken_mage]

And now for the new LE, the Wizard mailaway for Supernova: Skymax, the Skrullian Skymaster!

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12040
This alternate figure for Super-Skrull represents the character from Earth 712 that was a member of the Squadron Supreme. He's not as powerful, 120 points, but he does have quite a few very useful power combinations on his dial. The main difference between this figure and Super-Skrull is the fact that Skymax only has a 6 range as well as the Defenders TA. He starts off pretty decent, with running shot, super strength, and super senses, each for two clicks except for super senses which has three. He then gets two slots of flurry, incap, and the first of four slots of shapechange. In the middle of the incap clicks he switches to invul with an 18 defense, which will definitely help out his teammates. The invul eventually gives way to toughness for one slot, and then super senses comes back for the last two. He also has the great combos of poison for his last four clicks first with plasticity and the last of his shapechange, then with the previously mentioned super senses along with charge and CCE. Not to mention a generous upswing in attack value. In my opinion those last four slots totally make him worth playing.

So what are you waiting for? Go preorder him!

[drunken_mage]

So another Unique for your viewing pleasure. The creator of the Super-Apes: Red Ghost!

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12023
Okay, right off the bat this guy doesn't look like anything special, but really, he's not supposed to be. At only 59 points with the Minions of Doom TA he's hardly going to be a significant part of your force, but he could definitely make a difference if utilized properly.First off, he's gonne be pretty difficult to hit. Super senses protects his first three clicks while mastermind covers the other two. Of course, him only having five clicks total is a liability. But if you team him up with the Apes, then that's three targets for his late dial mastermind. Not to mention on his second and third clicks he also has shapechange, and stealth on his second, making that the hardest to hit click on him. Consider, he's parked in stealth so someone has to take the time to move in to hit him. Then they have to get past two rolls in order to actually do damage. Being hard to hit is hardly his only advantage. He's pretty mobile, since on every click except the one with stealth he's got phasing. He's also a great support piece. Outwit is on his opening slot, while perplex comes in on his last two. He's way too cheap to justify putting Brilliant Tactician on, but with this combination of powers, he doesn't really need it, just keep him parked near the back of combat using his abilities as you see fit.

We're close to halfway through this set. I wonder who they'll put up next.

[drunken_mage]

Well, got yet another character for you today, and its another member of the Wrecking Crew: Bulldozer!

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=11955
The entire REV for this character is a pretty straightforward brick, and the rookie is a good start. At 60 points you get the basic spread of powers with a decently deep dial and ok stats. His signature thing is of course to run over people, so he has charge for his first three clicks and again on his last two. Toughness keeps him protected on his first four slots as well. Quake on his first slot helps him to charge in, and through, larger groups of figures; and then super strength for four slots after that keeps him in the game. Finally, CCE shows up on his very last slot to help his flagging damage value.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=11956
The experienced jumps up to 90 points and gets quite a bit better. He's still a brick, but now there's more to him. First of all he now has the Masters of Evil TA, which just keeps him going round after round, and that makes perfect sense. He's a little better protected this time around due to an opening slot of invul, which is then followed by the four of toughness. Charge is still his strongest power, with three slots of it up front and one more at the very end. Super strength leads it off this time around for two clicks, and is followed by three of quake. After all of that up-front greatness, he then has two clicks where he has nothing but force blast. In fact, you may want to push him to get to his very last click, because damn. The previously mentioned charge is teamed up with willpower and CCE with a higher attack value than he's seen all dial. So you run him in, then on the next turn you push him to hit for 4. Not a bad deal.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=11957
The veteran is 113 points, and once again has all of the same stuff, just swapped around the dial a bit; but he does have one significant addition that I'll mention in a bit. His combat values are the best  up front than they've been for any of the versions, you thrown in the potent combo of charge and quake and it gets even better. This time around charge is all over his dial. An opening slot, then two more around the middle, then two more at the very end, with force blast once again in between. Quake starts off again with three slots, followed by two of super strength. There is a lone slot of CCE on his second click, but other than that his damage values are pretty good, with two slots of 4 damage at one point. He starts off with two clicks of invulnerability for protection, which are then followed by four more of toughness, one of willpower, and then on his last click when he's the most vulnerable, he's got a click of impervious for added protection while he tries to get to your backfield for a medic.

And that's it for today.

[drunken_mage]

Well Supernova released today and they still haven't released anything new on the website. So for many people the stats for the figures they pull will be complete surprises. I kind of like it that way though, you can figure out what each figure can do as you get it. I picked up a brick earlier today and got quite a few good figures. Two of the uniques I wanted are now in my possession (Graviton and Karnak) as well as a few other figures. Feel free to post what you got here in this thread.

[drunken_mage]

And now finally, WK has posted the complete set list in their online gallery. All stats are now viewable. The only problem is that there are a few pictures not uploaded yet. But that's not really much of an issue. There's so damn many figures that I'm not going to bother doing reviews for everything unless people want me to. In the past nearly all of the figures were up on the website before release, so I could review them all, but this time there's just too much. Feel free to check out the gallery though.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?releaseid=85

[drunken_mage]

So here's something that I have to do a review for. By now I'm sure most of you have heard about the special Marvel Zombie figures that have been inserted into one out of every 100 boosters. There are four of them (Hulk, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Colonel America) and WK has now posted the stats for three of them up on the Supernova gallery. The great thing about these characters is that they are also compatible with horroclix, and come with monster cards saying what powers they have in that game. When used in heroclix however, you interpret the powers on the dials as they should be in heroclix rules.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12383
First we have Zombie Spidey. At 40 points he's not really anything special, but he does have some interesting things going for him. Leap/climb covers the first half of his dial while plasticity take the back half. Same with super senses and willpower. He's got a buttload of steal energy (as do all of the zombies) to represent his hunger for living flesh. The wierd part is that on his first click he has energy explosion. It's wierd because he has no range. Everyone I know is waiting for the official word from WK about this one.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12384
Next is Colonel America. He starts off with running shot, but considering he's only got a 4 range (with 2 targets) you probably wouldn't be using that much. He also starts with two slots of ES/D, which then goes into willpower for the rest of his dial. Steal energy once again makes an appearance for three clicks, and he gets the added bonus of exploit weakness on another three clicks. All told, he's not all that bad for 55 points.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12386
And finally we have Zombie Hulk. For 100 points this figure is a pretty good beast. Super strength and steal energy trade off quite a bit on this dial, as do leap/climb and flurry, and invulnerability and willpower. To top it all off he has a sprinkling of exploit weakness throughout his dial. The usual Hulk-style stats also apply, with his best attack and damage values around the middle of his dial.

Unfortunately I don't have the cards so I can't give you the appropriate horroclix powers. Hopefully those, along with Zombie Wolvering, will be posted soon.

[drunken_mage]

And here we have what will most likely be the final piece for Supernova that I'll review. Zombie Wolverine!!

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12385
Not only does this guy look really kewl (he's missing an arm for cryin' out loud), but he's also 50 points of pretty nasty. He starts with a nice high attack with blades and willpower, then gets charge, steal energy, and combat reflexes. The click after that he switches back to blades, and after that he switches to willpower for the rest of his dial. Then he once again has steal energy for his last two slots. So he basically had the same basic package as the rest of the zombies, but with blades thrown in.

Here's hoping some of you hardcore Marvel collectors out there get these guys. I'm not interested, so if I get one I'll be holding out for some great DC trades (KC Green Lantern anyone?)

[drunken_mage]

So I promised a review of the 2007 Marvel con exclusive figure, and here it is: The Mighty Thor!

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp?unitid=12659
This guy is an absolute beast! Thor with the Odin-power weighs in at a hefty 286 points with the Power Cosmic TA. Only one other figure compares to that, and that's Ganthet from DC who's also 286 with the Quintessence TA (same thing anyway). Let's see, an attack value that starts at 12 and never goes down to 9? Check. Full dial of life? Check. Full dial of damage reducers? Check. I do have to say though that there are some disappointments. For one he doesn't have a single click of 5 damage. While he does have RCE on some clicks that allows him to deal 6, I would think at least one base 5 would be called for. Also, his average defense is 16. Sure it's consistent, but there's only one click on his dial that goes any higher, and that's only a 17. Ganthet even warranted an 18 on his dial. Granted he probably will have no problem hitting you with his amazing attack values, and he can cause some hurt with his RCE and also super strength, but some of the other powers seem kind of pointless. Quake and EE? You're not gonna want to waste time sending this guy to take out little mobs, you want him to bring the pain to your opponent's heavy hitter. That's where running shot, charge, and flurry come in. He also gets force blast...I'm not even going to comment. Don't get me wrong, I actually like FB, but on a brick like him? Nope. Still, I can see him being a real pain during gameplay, so take my review for what it is: my review.

You're gonna have to buy at least $100 worth of stuff at WK booth in order to get this guy, so you better start saving now!