HeroClix Figure Spotlight #10 – Monsterex from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Greetings Fellow Clix Fans!

 

Welcome to the next installment of my HeroClix Figure Spotlight series! For this month’s article, I chose a piece that’s sure to get you into the Halloween spirit, Monsterex (022) from the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set!

What I Don’t Like

It’s really difficult to find something that I dislike about this piece. If I had to pick one thing I didn’t like, it would be his point value. I think 125 points is 25 points too much, even for this guy with his nine clicks. If he were 100 points, he would probably see more action on 300 point teams. For 125 points, he could have started with one click of Invincible instead of Invulnerability.

What I Like

I like just about everything that this piece has to offer. He has decent enough stats, good generic keywords, a deep dial, and great abilities. Which Monster Dominates? and Which Legend Controls? are probably my favorite special abilities in the entire game. They make him a versatile piece that can adapt to almost any situation you’re in. He has both of those abilities at the same time and they’re on his first four clicks (almost half his dial). Those abilities make him a threatening piece and also make him difficult to deal with.

Werewolf and Vampire are my preferred choices on those two abilities. If he’s got an action token and I want to do something that pushes him, I usually won’t pick Vampire if I don’t need the Flight. I’ll typically go with Frankenstein’s Monster so he gets Indomitable, and won’t take push damage. Frankie is also great if you’re using objects because he gets Super Strength and can pick up heavy objects. Gill Creature comes in handy mostly for Sidestep and Stealth. We were playing on the Wakanda map recently, and I gave him Gill Creature and Vampire to move him deep into the hindering terrain. That made it almost impossible for my opponent to get to him quickly. My opponent had one piece that could reach him, and it was left without support because of the hindering terrain. Monsterex made a meal of it!

He’s got Invulnerability and Toughness for most of his dial, then he gets Regeneration. Damage reducers are always nice to have and if he gets too far down his dial, you can retreat and try to heal him.

He also has Shape Change and four damage on his top two clicks. If he makes his Shape Change roll and he’s hidden deep in the Wakanda jungle, that attacker won’t have anyone else to go after! Four damage is nothing to sneeze at either. Monsterex can easily break off from the pack and take on an opposing piece on his own.

Favorite Build and Strategy

I absolutely love playing this piece on 300 and 400 point Monster theme teams. I don’t usually win map rolls because I only have three and four pieces, respectively, but I love my two Monster Teams.

Team Build
75 points – Batgirl (HQ 037 – Bombshell)
125 points – Monsterex
100 points – Horta (ST:TOS 035)
and/or
100 points – Rat King (TMNT2 024)

Batgirl and Monsterex are always the base of my Monster teams. For my 300 point build, the Horta and Rat King are easily interchangeable. The one I use is dependent on the type of event and the experience level of the players at the event. I usually put Rat King back in the box if there are newer players. He can be a bit of a pain to deal with and not very much fun for inexperienced players to play against. Horta is a great piece, but not overpowered or near as much of a nuisance as Rat King.

For 400 points, I use all four pieces. Each piece can usually handle themselves and that’s why I love my Monster team so much. Rat King has Perplex and Probability Control, so I try to keep him in range of everyone – or a majority of the team. But the team can survive just fine if they need to, without his Perplex and Prob.

What do you think of this figure?
Do you have a figure you would use in place of this one?
Is there a figure you would like me to Spotlight?
Leave me a comment here or on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty!

Thanks for reading and remember to like, follow, and sub for more HeroClix content!

     Live long, and Prob it!

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Dice Masters Confusing Card of the Week #143 – Jay Garrick: The Crimson Comet

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Jay Garrick: The Crimson Comet from the DC Green Arrow and The Flash set.

* Note – There are two other articles that may be beneficial to read prior to this article. One is Dice Masters Confusing Card of the Week #141 – Hal Jordan: Green Lantern’s Light for Crossover character explanation, and the other is Dice Masters Confusing Card of the Week #142 – Free Chimichangas: Delicious for Impulse.

Ruling – Crossover

For a full breakdown of Crossover character dice, see my Confusing Card of the Week article about Hal Jordan: Green Lantern’s Light, here.

Ruling – Keyword Ability: Crosspulse

We’ll discuss this card’s individual Crosspulse ability in the Ruling – Ability section below. This section is focusing on the keyword and not the ability granted by the keyword.

WizKids Keywords Page:

“Crosspulse: Crosspulse is a special version of Impulse found only on Crossover Characters. When you only spend the matching type of energy to purchase them, you get to use their Crosspulse ability.“

You can read about Impulse, here.

When you purchase a die with the Crosspulse ability, you will be able to activate the bonus listed as the Crosspulse ability. Crosspulse abilities vary from card to card.

All of the energy used to purchase the die must match the energy types of the Crossover die you’re purchasing. You can use Wild energy to purchase a die with Crosspulse and it will count as the required energy and allow you to trigger Crosspulse.

For example: If I were wanting to purchase Jay Garrick, I could purchase him normally with one Bolt, one Shield, and two Fist energy. If I do, his Crosspulse ability will not trigger. If I purchased him with one Bolt, one Shield, and two Wild energy, his Crosspulse will trigger.

You do not need to have a copy of the die active in the Field Zone (which isn’t possible in some cases), you only need to purchase the die to trigger Crosspulse.

You can reduce the purchase cost to the minimum, which would be a Bolt and a Shield energy for Jay Garrick, and still trigger Crosspulse. Crosspulse only requires that you spend specific energy types to purchase the die, not a specific amount.

Ruling – Ability

“Crosspulse – When you purchase a Jay Garrick die, all of your character dice in the Field Zone gain Fast (until end of turn). (You can only use a Crosspulse ability if you paid this character’s purchase cost using only their energy types.) (Character dice with Fast deal combat damage before non-Fast characters.)”

When you purchase a Jay Garrick die using only Bolt and Shield energy, his Crosspulse ability will trigger and all of your character dice that are in the Field Zone will gain Fast until the end of the turn. Only your character dice that are in the Field Zone at the time you purchase Jay Garrick will gain Fast. Any character dice you field after purchasing his dice will not benefit from his Crosspulse ability.

Ruling – Keyword Ability: Fast

WizKids Keywords Page:

“Fast: Characters with Fast deal combat damage before other characters, all at the same time, instead of at the regular time for combat damage.”

A die with Fast will deal its combat damage before character dice without Fast. If two or more character dice have Fast, they all deal their combat damage simultaneously, but before character dice without Fast.

If an attacker with Fast is blocked by a character die without Fast, the attacker assigns and resolves its damage first and could potentially KO the blocker before it can assign and resolve its combat damage. For example: I’m attacking with a Sidekick die that has Fast from Jay Garrick’s Crosspulse. My opponent blocks my Sidekick with one of their Sidekicks, which doesn’t have Fast. My Sidekick will deal its combat first, which is enough to KO the blocking Sidekick. The blocker was not able to deal damage to my attacking Sidekick because of Fast.

If an attacker with Fast is blocked by a character die with Fast, they assign and resolve their combat damage to each other, like normal, but before the other character dice in that combat.

If an attacker with Fast is blocked by a character die with Fast and another without Fast, it may be possible for the attacker to KO the blocker without Fast before it can deal its combat damage to the attacker. But, the other blocker with Fast would also assign and resolve its combat damage at the same as the attacker.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Jay Garrick is a Bolt and a Shield type character card.
~ He has the JSA (Justice Society of America) affiliation.
~ He has a Max Dice of four.
~ This card is a Uncommon and is #62 of 124.

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF)

There is not a ruling for this specific card.

You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Opinion

I think Fast is an underappreciated keyword. I love using characters with Fast, and I actually used this Jay Garrick more than a few times. This particular card is a great card for casual play and draft, but he’s not going to see much Golden Age competitive play.

I like that he’s not really expensive to purchase, and you can use Blue-Eyes White Dragon Global to reduce his cost so you only need a Bolt and a Shield to purchase him and still get his Crosspulse trigger. Fast characters are very useful as attackers and blockers, especially since there are Globals that force dice to attack and Globals that force dice to block.

For the next casual event that comes your way, give some consideration to Fast and test play with it – especially if you haven’t before!

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on?
Is there a combo that seems too good to be true?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Need to find a card? Check out The Dice Coalition‘s Team Builder!

Roll on, Dice Masters!

Dice Masters Confusing Card of the Week #142 – Free Chimichangas: Delicious

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Free Chimichangas: Delicious from the Marvel Deadpool set.

Ruling – Non-Basic Action

Free Chimichangas is a non-basic action card with non-basic action dice. Any card that references an action card or die could affect this card or die. If an ability only references basic action cards or dice, this card and its dice are not affected.

This card takes up a character card slot on your team and the dice count towards your 20 dice maximum. You can only purchase non-basic action dice that are on your team. For example: If I have Free Chimichangas on my team, it’s placed in a character card slot and its dice count toward my 20 dice maximum. My opponent can’t purchase my Free Chimichangas dice.

When you use this die on your turn, it goes Out of Play until the Clean Up Step. If you have a any action dice in your Reserve Pool after your Attack Step, those dice are sent to the Used Pile. You can only use action dice on your turn.

Ruling – Keyword Ability: Impulse

We’ll discuss this card’s individual Impulse ability in the Ruling – Ability section below. This section is focusing on the keyword and not the ability granted by the keyword.

WizKids Keywords Page:

“Impulse: Impulse abilities happen when you purchase a character die with the Impulse ability.  The character does not need to be already active to use the Impulse ability.”

The description from the WizKids Keywords page is a little dated. It specifically mentions a ‘character die’ with Impulse, but as you can see, other card types can have the Impulse ability.

When you purchase a die with the Impulse ability, you will be able to activate the bonus listed as the Impulse ability. Impulse abilities vary from card to card.

You do not need to have a copy of the die active in the Field Zone (which isn’t possible in some cases), you only need to purchase the die to trigger Impulse.

Ruling – Ability

“Impulse – Target character die gets +2D (until end of turn). (Impulse abilities happen when you purchase the character die with Impulse.)

Target character die gets +2D.”

When you trigger the Impulse ability on Free Chimichangas, you target a character die that will get +2D until the end of turn. You must target a character die if there are legal targets available. You can’t trigger the Impulse ability and choose to not use it if there are legal targets. If you don’t have a character die of your own to target, you must target an opposing character die. If there are no character dice to target, you may still purchase a Free Chimichangas die, but the Impulse ability will fizzle.

When you use a Free Chimichangas action die, you target a character die that will get +2D until the end of turn. You must target a character die. If you don’t have a character die of your own to target, you must target an opposing character die. If there are no legal targets for the action die’s ability, you can’t use the action die. Players are not allowed to use an action die for no effect.

Both of these effects give a target character die +2D, until the end of the turn. This is an applied effect. If you were to swap the character’s A and D with another ability, the +2D that was applied will swap to the A.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Free Chimichangas is a Mask type non-basic action card.
~ It does not have an affiliation.
~ It has a Max Dice of four.
~ This card is a Common and is #17 of 124.

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF)

There is not a ruling for this specific card.

You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Opinion

Free Chimichangas is fun in casual and drafts. I don’t think this card would ever have a spot in a competitive meta, which it would only be legal for Golden Age competitive events now.

But for casual play, this is a fun action to use on a team with Ant-Man: Pym Particles from the Uncanny X-Men set. You can use your Free Chimichangas to boost the defense of one of your characters, like any of the Blobs from X-Men First Class, and then swap his attack and defense with Ant-Man’s Global for a super heavy hitting character!

You can use Free Chimichangas to boost the defense of an opposing character so you don’t KO it. If you Polymorph a troublesome character (like Shriek) into the field to prevent your opponent from getting her ability, you don’t want to KO her with a Dragon’s Breath Weapon. Just use Free Chimichangas to boost her defense and an ability to prevent her from blocking, then attack with your dragon!

Free Chimichangas has plenty of uses. It’s really up to each individual player to test it on their various teams or build a team around it to see if the card fits their play style.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on?
Is there a combo that seems too good to be true?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Need to find a card? Check out The Dice Coalition‘s Team Builder!

Roll on, Dice Masters!

HeroClix Figure Spotlight #6! She-Hulk from Avengers Infinity

Greetings Fellow Clix Fans!

 

Welcome to the next installment of my HeroClix Figure Spotlight series! For this month’s article, I chose a version of one of my newest favorite comic characters, She-Hulk (024) from Avengers Infinity!

Figure Information

Point Value: 50 points
Dial Depth: 5 Clicks
Keywords: Avengers, Lady Liberators, Brute

Team Ability
None

Standard Powers/Abilities
They will be listed as Power: Click Number(s). This list does not include traited powers and abilities.

Movement
Sidestep: 1-4

Attack
Super Strength: 1-3

Defense
Invulnerability: 1-3
Toughness: 4-5

Damage
Close Combat Expert: 1-3 (part of a special ability), 4-5

Improved Abilities, Traits, and Special Powers
She-Hulk has a special damage power.

Special Damage:
Fierce Litigator: 1-3
Close Combat Expert. When She-Hulk uses it and hits, after resolutions choose one to last until your nest turn: a hit target modifies attack -2 -or- a hit target modifies defense -2.

Opinion and Strategy

I really like She-Hulk as a distraction and utility piece more than a piece you build around. She’s great to run up onto a primarily ranged character because of her Fierce Litigator special ability. You can either reduce their attack or defense by two, making them much easier to hit or making it harder for them to hit you. She’s a great utility piece for a ranged team so the target is easier for them to hit while they’re tied up with She-Hulk. I use a character with Perplex to increase She-Hulk’s defense and I use my Probability Control to force them to reroll their Breakaway in hopes of keeping them adjacent to She-Hulk. If they run, I use Telekinesis to put her adjacent to them or close enough that she can Sidestep up to them. She’s got Super Strength, so she can utilize heavy objects. Her defense powers leave a little to be desired, but Invulnerability and Toughness are better than nothing!

I like that she’s got the Avengers keyword, so I can put her on an Avengers Theme Team as a utility piece. She’s makes it much easier for Thor or Iron Man to hit a target. She’s only 50 points, but I wish she had Impervious on her top click instead of Invulnerability. I also dislike that she doesn’t have Improved Movement of any kind. That’s just a little disappointing, but I can work around it.

She’s a great piece to play in casual settings, which is what I mainly focus on. She’s not meta worthy, but I’ve had fun with her on my Hulk team. I use a variety of Hulk pieces, like the FCBD Hulk, The Mighty Thor starter Hulk, and She-Hulk from Civil War and build according to point values. She’s great with ranged teams, but she’s even more fun with other Hulks!

What do you think of this figure?
Do you have a figure you would use in place of this one?
Is there a figure you would like me to Spotlight?
Leave me a comment here or on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty!

Thanks for reading and remember to like, follow, and sub for more HeroClix content!

     Live long, and Prob it!

Dice Masters Confusing Card of the Week #131 – Captain America: Superhero

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Captain America: Superhero  from the Marvel Uncanny X-Men set.

Ruling – Keyword

“Heroic: When fielded, Captain America may pair up with a different Heroic character until the start of your next turn.”

WizKids Keywords Page:
Heroic: Dice with Heroic can pair up with other dice (different character) that you control that have the Heroic ability. Place paired up dice side by side. Heroic takes place at the same time a character is fielded. Dice may only be paired up with one other die (the new partner replaces the old one). They attack and block separately. 

Heroic acts as a When Fielded ability. When you field a character die with the Heroic keyword, you get to use that ability. Characters can be fielded by paying their fielding cost and moving them from the Reserve Pool to the Field Zone, or by an ability that uses the term ‘field’ instead of swap, move, place, etc.

When you field a Captain America die, you may choose a different character die you control to be paired up with Captain America. The chosen die must also have the Heroic keyword.

If a character die is already paired with a different Heroic character die, the new pairing replaces the previous one, ending any static abilities from the previous pairing.

Each paired die may choose to attack or block and does not require the other die to attack or block (unless the ability would state otherwise).

The Heroic ability will only apply to the two character dice that paired up. Other copies of the same character dice in the Field Zone will not be affected when you use the Heroic ability on a different die. For example: I have two Storm dice with Heroic in the Field Zone. When I field a Captain America die, he can choose one of the Storm dice to pair up with. The Storm die that was not chosen will not get the benefit of being paired.

If one of the paired dice leave the Field Zone, the other die looses any static bonus for being paired up because the paired die is no longer in the Field Zone. Any applied effects would remain.

Unless otherwise stated, the Heroic pairing lasts until the start of your next turn. Using the Heroic keyword is optional.

Ruling – Ability (From Being Paired)

“While Captain America is paired up, he and his partner each gain +4A and +4D.“

When you field Captain America and choose to pair him with another Heroic character, each of those two dice will have +4A and +4D until your next turn begins. For example: I have a level one Storm die (2A/1D) with Heroic in the Field Zone. I field a level two Captain America (5A/4D) and pair his die with my Storm die. They both gain +4A and +4D until the start of my next turn.

This Heroic bonus is a static bonus. If one of the paired dice leave the Field Zone before the effect ends, the bonus will end.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Captain America is a Shield type character card.
~ He has the Avengers affiliation.
~ He has a Max Dice of four.
~ This card is an Rare and is #100 of 126.

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF)

You can find a rulings for Heroic, here and here.

You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Opinion

I went old-school this week, back to Golden Age stuff! Interesting facts – there are only 13 characters with the Heroic keyword in the entire game and they’re all from Uncanny X-Men.

I realized I had never featured a Heroic character… there’s a reason for that. I know there are folks out there that have tried their hardest to make Heroic work. It’s an ability that sounds awesome on paper but is so very terrible in execution. I wanted Heroic to be cool and I tried so hard… but it’s not good for constructed casual events and certainly not for any Golden Age competitive formats. It’s not even good in an Uncanny X-Men sealed event. But, I’ve had some newer players ask about some older cards and Heroic popped up.

Out of all the 13 Heroic dudes out there, Captain America and Storm are probably the better ones. And for all my trying with Heroic, back in the Uncanny X-Men days, it was never fun to use. This keyword caused me so much frustration and irritation. It didn’t feel worth it to try and make it work because of all the frustration.

But everyone has to try at least once. Go ahead and check out all 13 Heroic dudes and find at least two that you like (because you literally have to have two of them and at least one in the Field to even kick-start this ability). Give them a go and let me know how it turns out!

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on?
Is there a combo that seems too good to be true?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Need to find a card? Check out The Dice Coalition‘s Team Builder!

Roll on, Dice Masters!

Dice Masters Confusing Card of the Week #125 – Thor: A God Amongst Men

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Thor: A God Amongst Men from the Marvel The Mighty Thor set.

Ruling – Ability

“While Thor is active, when you would take damage, redirect that damage to Thor.“

Thor’s ability is a While Active ability. A While Active ability is one that works regardless of how many of the character’s dice are in the Field Zone. While Active abilities are like a light – it’s either on, or it’s off.

While you have at least one Thor die in the Field Zone, when you would take damage, you must redirect that damage to Thor. Redirecting damage changes the intended target of the damage to Thor, but it does not change the source of the damage. For example: My opponent uses a Get Thee Hence action die and targets me. I would take one damage, but it is instead redirected to one of my Thor dice instead.

If you have more than one Thor die in the Field Zone and a source would deal more than one damage to you, you would choose one Thor die to redirect that source’s damage to. You can’t split a source’s damage unless an ability or effect specifically tells you that you can.

If there are multiple sources dealing damage to you simultaneously, such as from unblocked attackers, you would redirect all of that damage to your Thor die. If you had multiple Thor dice in the Field Zone, you can choose a different Thor die for a different source. For example: My opponent is attacking me with a Hulk (7A), another Hulk (6A), and a Sidekick (1A). I have two Thor dice in the Field Zone on level one (6D) and level two (8D). I do not block so that all of the attackers would deal damage to me. I now redirect that damage from each source to whichever Thor die I choose for that source’s damage. I redirect the seven damage from one Hulk to the level one Thor die. I redirect the six damage from the other Hulk to my level two Thor die. I then redirect the one damage from the Sidekick to my level one Thor die. Now that I have redirected the damage, it resolves simultaneously. My level one Thor die will take eight damage and be KO’d, and my level two Thor die will take six damage but not be KO’d. I could have redirected all three sources of damage to one Thor die, or redirected the damage to both Thor dice in such a way that they would both be KO’d.

When you redirect damage from an attacker that’s not blocked, it does not become blocked. The attacker is still unblocked and will go Out of Play when the damage is resolved, then to the Used Pile during Clean Up.

Attacking characters that are not blocked will not take damage from Thor because he’s not blocking those characters. The damage is being moved from the player to Thor.

Thor can redirect any type of damage, but he can’t redirect loss of life. Losing life and paying life are not considered damage.

Thor’s ability is not optional. When you take damage – any damage – it is redirected to a Thor die. Thor’s ability would have the word ‘may’ in it if it were optional to use.

Ruling – Global

“Global: Pay [Bolt] [Bolt]. Once per turn, deal 1 damage to target character die.”

Thor’s Global is only able to be used once per turn, per Thor card. If you and your opponent both have the same Thor card, you may use each Global once.

To use this Global, you must spend two Bolt energy. You may spend one die showing two Bolts or two dice showing any combination of Bolt and Wild energy. Energy spent for this Global on your turn will go Out of Play. Energy spent for this Global on your opponent’s turn will go to your Used Pile.

Thor’s Global can only target a character die, unless an effect says otherwise. This Global does target, so if an ability prevents a character die from being targeted, you can not target that character die. If there are no legal targets, you can’t use Thor’s Global, because you can’t use a Global for no effect.

Thor’s Global will deal one damage to a target character die. If the character’s defense is one, then the die is KO’d when it’s damaged by this Global.

This Global can be used by either player during the Main Step or during the Actions and Globals portion of the Attack Step.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Thor is a Bolt type character card.
~ He has the Avengers affiliation.
~ He has a Max Dice of four.
~ This card is an Uncommon and is #87 of 136.

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF)
There is not a ruling for this specific card.

Relevant Rulebook Text on Redirecting:
“Other powers redirect a game effect (usually damage). When an effect is redirected, the target of the effect changes from its original target to the new one as described in the game text…”

You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Opinion

This is a whopper of character and I thought he’d be a great feature this week since I’ve seen some discussion about him recently. His Global is a little lack luster when compared to other Globals that deal direct damage to characters, because his has a ‘once per turn’ limitation and it cost two Bolt energy. Unstable Canister outshines his Global, so it’s safe to say that we won’t be seeing him on teams for that reason – unless he’s the only option for that type of Global.

But that ability of his is just silly. His ability is like a supercharged Ronin: Between Employers. Ronin can only redirect one source per turn, but he is much cheaper at a cost of three versus Thor’s seven. Thor’s purchase cost is appropriate for his ability, but it’s still a little expensive for competitive play. If you have a way to effectively ramp up to seven energy to buy Thor, I would have to wonder why you’re buying him and not a win condition. If you’re playing casual settings, you may see some folks playing this card. I highly doubt we’ll be seeing him outside of the casual scene, even though he’s got an ability worthy of a Norse God.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on?
Is there a combo that seems too good to be true?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Need to find a card? Check out The Dice Coalition‘s Team Builder!

Roll on, Dice Masters!

Dice Masters Confusing Card of the Week #121 – Cosmic Cube: Energy of the Beyonders

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Cosmic Cube: Energy of the Beyonders from the Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy set.

Ruling – Ability

“Whenever an Action die or character ability deals damage this turn, increase that damage by 2.“

The die for this card is a non-basic action die. Any card that references an action die could affect this die. When you use this die on your turn, it goes Out of Play until the Clean Up Step. The effect of the die will remain until end of turn.

The damage boost from Cosmic Cube is applied to each instance of damage. For example, if a character ability allows you to divide ability damage among two character dice, you will increase the damage dealt to each of those dice by two.

Any time an Action die or character ability deals damage, it will be increased by two for each Cosmic Cube die that was used that turn. For example, if two Cosmic Cube dice were used, damage from an Action die or character ability will be increased by a total of four.

The damage boost from Cosmic Cube is added to the damage total first, then the damage is applied to the target of the Action die or character ability. Reducing or preventing the initial damage from the Action die or character ability will not prevent the additional damage from Cosmic Cube.

This ability will also apply to any Action die character ability that your opponent can use on your turn. For example: If you you use one Cosmic Cube die and your opponent has Batgirl: Babs active, when you deal damage to her, she will increase her damage by two. Typically, an opponent will not be able to use an action die on your turn, but if they have a way to do so, damage dealt with that action die will also be increased by two.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Cosmic Cube is a Bolt type non-basic action card.
~ It has no affiliation.
~ It has a Max Dice of four.
~ This card is a Rare and is #86 of 124.

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF)
There are rulings for this card, here and here.

You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Opinion

I don’t have much to say about this card, and not because it’s a bad card. There is no denying that this card is super powerful, especially with the new Attune ability that debuted in the Tomb of Annihilation set. There are plenty of crazy builds around this card, and that makes Bishop: Butterfly Effect from the X-Men First Class set a very important character for your team. He will prevent all of the non-combat damage you would be subjected to, until they Shriek him.

I would not recommend using this card in smaller, local scenes that are mostly casual. This is definitely a powerful and meta worthy card.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on?
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HeroClix Figure Spotlight #1! – Uhura – Star Trek Away Team: The Original Series Set

Greetings Fellow Clix Fans!

 

I’ve decided to introduce a new monthly article series called HeroClix Figure Spotlight! In this article series, I want to showcase a figure that I enjoy playing with and think other players might enjoy as well. I want to keep the choices Modern Age, but I might occasionally throw in an older piece here or there. All the showcased figures will be pieces I’ve used multiple times in various types of games, unless stated otherwise. I want to help fellow players and I’m hoping that this article series is helpful for a variety of players!

Welcome to my first article of HeroClix Figure Spotlight! I had a very difficult time choosing the figure I wanted to highlight for this article. I decided to go with a figure from the Star Trek Away Team: The Original Series set, Lt. Uhura!

Figure Information

Point Value: 40 points
Dial Depth: 4 Clicks
Keywords: Starfleet

Team Ability
United Federation of Planets: When this character is given a MOVE action, modify speed +1.

Standard Powers/Abilities
They will be listed as Power: Click Number(s).

Movement
Sidestep: 1, 2, 3, and 4

Defense
Defend: 3 and 4

Damage
Perplex: 4 – Also 1, 2, and 3, but with a special power.

Traits and Special Powers/Abilities
Lt. Uhura has one trait and one special damage power.

Trait:
Communications Officer
At the beginning of the game, you may choose a copyable team ability that an opposing character can use. As long as Lt. Uhura is on the map, adjacent friendly characters and friendly characters with the Starfleet keyword can use that team ability.

Damage Special: 1, 2, and 3
Monitoring All Channels, Captain
Perplex. When Lt. Uhura uses it, she has a range value of 10 and can use [Improved Targeting][Hindering][Blocking][Elevated].

Opinion and Strategy

Back when I did my review of the Star Trek Away Team Starter, I was test playing those pieces against some of the locals and their Modern Age casual teams. The starter plays well on its own, but since the set released, I’ve played several variations of Starfleet themed teams and this Uhura is the usually the first piece I choose. Uhura is only 40 points, which leaves plenty of room on a 300 or 400 point team for plenty of other pieces.

I love using this piece because she can use Perplex with a range of 10 and she can see through almost anything (except characters). She’s easy to keep hidden from the enemy’s line of fire but can still benefit her own team. She has Defend on her last two clicks, which I haven’t found very useful yet. Sidestep is invaluable when trying to move her into a more favorable position.

One of my favorite teams to play using this piece is:
(40) Lt. Uhura (Rare) #29
(100) Captain Kirk (Rare – Title) #26
(45) Dr. McCoy (Uncommon) #20
(15) Nurse Chapel (Common) #9
(50) Mr. Scott (Starter) #103
(50) Lt. Sulu (Chase) #50
(300 points)

I know that some folks think two Support pieces is too many, but I’ve found them to be very useful in my local meta. This is not a team I’d take to a WKO or ROC, but it’s great for our local play. Kirk can pull in Starfleet Security Officers (Common #3) so they can take a KO, or Yeoman Rand (Uncommon #22), whichever I need at the time. I will sometimes substitute Dr. McCoy for Ensign Chekov (Common #7) so I have Probability Control, but it depends on who is playing and what they’re playing. I typically only swap those two if folks say they’re using Prob pieces. I don’t like using Prob when nobody else is in small local games.

Uhura has been invaluable on all my Starfleet builds, because my opponent is usually tied up with Kirk or Sulu or trying to kill my healers and they neglect to pay Uhura any attention. All the while, she’s buffing someone’s combat values and making it that much harder to hit Sulu, or giving that extra bit of damage or attack to Kirk. I’ve even used her to buff McCoy’s speed so he could get in base contact with Kirk, who was one square away from where McCoy would have stopped. I also love that Uhura can use her special Perplex on opposing figures too, because it doesn’t say that she can’t!

She also has the ability to give all your Starfleet dudes a copied opposing Team Ability. That’s pretty handy with ones that give Stealth or Improved Targeting into Hindering terrain, which is really nice to have with Kirk’s first two clicks.

What do you think of this figure?
Do you have a figure you would use in place of this one?
Is there a figure you would like me to Spotlight?
Leave me a comment here or on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty!

Thanks for reading and remember to like, follow, and sub for more HeroClix content!

 Live long, and Prob it!

Dice Masters Confusing Card of the Week #117 – Angela: Hunter of Demons

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Angela: Hunter of Demons from the Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy set.

Ruling – Infiltrate Ability

WizKids Keywords page:
“When a character die with Infiltrate attacks and is not blocked, you may choose to remove that character die from combat and not deal combat damage to your opponent. If you do, that character die deals 1 damage to your opponent and the die remains in your Field Zone instead of going to your Used Pile.”

Infiltrate is an ability that allows you to choose between dealing combat damage as normal, or keeping your character active in the field and only dealing one ability damage to your opponent instead.

Infiltrate damage is dealt after blockers are assigned during the Attack Step. After blockers are assigned, you can choose to activate the Infiltrate ability on each character die that has Infiltrate. When you activate the Infiltrate ability, the dice are immediately removed from the Attack Zone and placed in the Field Zone. The Attack Zone is still part of the Field Zone, but only attacking and blocking dice are placed here to show they are in combat.

Infiltrate damage is considered ability damage and not combat damage. If another ability would affect damage being dealt to a player, this damage can be affected. If the ability specifies combat damage, Infiltrate damage cannot be affected by that ability.

If a character die is blocked, they cannot use their Infiltrate ability, even if the blocker is removed prior to combat damage being resolve. Once a character is blocked, they are considered to be blocked for that entire combat.

If a character die is not blocked, that die can use it’s Infiltrate ability to deal one damage directly to the opponent. If they do, that die does not deal any combat damage.

Example:
Attack Step – Assign Attackers
~ This is where attacking dice are assigned.
Attack Step – Assign Blockers
~ This is where blocking dice are assigned.
~ Any dice with Infiltrate can be activated in this step after all blockers have been assigned and those dice with Infiltrate are not blocked.
~ Once activated, the dice will be removed from the Attack Zone, remaining in the Field Zone, and your opponent will take one damage from each dice with Infiltrate. Those dice are no longer considered to be attacking.

Ruling – Ability

Angela has an additional ability on her card that says:
“While Angela is active, your character dice with Infiltrate cannot be blocked and deal no combat damage.“

Angela’s second ability is a While Active ability. A While Active ability is one that works regardless of how many of the character’s dice are in the Field Zone. While Active abilities are like a light – it’s either on, or it’s off.

While Angela is active, any character dice that have the Infiltrate keyword will not be able to deal combat damage. This means that any of your dice that have Infiltrate will not deal damage to a character die that they’re blocking. The dice with Infiltrate will still take combat damage from any dice they block.

You will also not be able to deal combat damage to your opponent with any character dice that have Infiltrate. You can choose to not activate a character die’s Infiltrate ability while Angela is active. If you choose not to activate Infiltrate, that character die will deal zero combat damage to your opponent and then go Out of Play.

Example:
I have one level two Angela (4A/3D) and one level three The Spot: Dr. Jonathan Ohnn (2A/3D) in the Field Zone. Angela and The Spot have Infiltrate.
Attack Step – Assign Attackers
~ I assign The Spot to attack, moving his die to the Attack Zone.
Attack Step – Assign Blockers
~ The Spot cannot be blocked because of Angela’s ability.
~ I now choose if I want to activate Infiltrate.
~ If I choose to activate Infiltrate, The Spot will be removed from the Attack Zone and he’ll deal one damage to my opponent.
~ If I choose not to activate Infiltrate, we move to the next portion of the Attack Step.
Assign and Resolve Damage
~ If The Spot’s Infiltrate was activated, then there isn’t anything to assign or resolve in this step.
~ If I didn’t activate Infiltrate, The Spot will assign and deal zero damage (not 2, because of Angela’s ability) to my opponent and immediately be placed Out of Play.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Angela is a Bolt type character card.
~ She has the Guardians of the Galaxy affiliation.
~ She has a max dice of four.
~ This card is an Super Rare and is #117 of 124.

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF)
There isn’t a ruling for this specific card.

You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Opinion and Strategy

I featured Angela: Art of the Hunt (uncommon) a little while back, but I noticed several questions popping up about this specific Angela, so I decided to feature her this week.

I know that a lot of folks get nervous when they can’t deal combat damage to their opponent or even to blocked attackers. But, this Angela guarantees that you can get your Infiltrate damage done. And with cards like Black Widow: Spider’s Bite out there, I think it’s a fair trade off. There are a few inexpensive Infiltrate dudes that can help you get more dice in the Field quicker than trying to buy multiples of Angela or Black Widow.

I’ve played a team using Angela, Black Widow, and The Spot – and I love that team! I haven’t played it much lately, but I need to revisit it now that a bazillion more sets have dropped in the last few months. It can be a very deadly combo if played effectively and that’s what I’m working on now!

There is a decent combo using Angela and True Believer’s Global too. The idea is that your attackers will be unblockable because they have Infiltrate. Once you get to the Globals part of the Attack Step, you use the Global on Angela and now your unblocked attackers can deal their combat damage to your opponent for a finishing blow.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on?
Is there a combo that seems too good to be true?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Need to look up a card? Be sure to check out DM RetroBox! It’s the best searchable card database I’ve found for when I’m at the computer.

Roll on, Dice Masters!

Confusing Card of the Week #108 – Bronze Dragon: Apprentice Dragon (Anti-Breath Weapon)

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Bronze Dragon: Apprentice Dragon from the Dungeons and Dragons Faerûn Under Siege Starter set.

Ruling – Anti-Breath Weapon Ability

“When a character die with Breath Weapon X attacks, you may pay X energy to prevent that damage.”

Breath Weapon:
“When a character die with Breath Weapon X attacks, you may pay X energy. Deal X damage to your opponent and all of their character dice. You may use multiple Breath Weapons in a turn, but only one per character (no matter how many copies of that die are attacking).”

This ability is a reactive type ability, meaning it can only be used if the triggering effect has been used. Anti-Breath Weapons will only work if a Breath Weapon has been activated by a player. You can use an Anti-Breath Weapon on your own Breath Weapon attack.

The energy used to pay for the Anti-Breath Weapon does not need to be a specific type. You can use any energy to activate this ability, unless a card effect would state otherwise.

You can use this ability as many times as you have the energy to pay for it. Unlike Breath Weapon, Anti-Breath Weapon does not state that it can’t be used more than once from a single character die.

When a character die with Breath Weapon attacks, you must be able to match the amount of energy to prevent that damage. For example, if my opponent attacks with a character die that has Breath Weapon 2 and activates it, I must be able to pay two energy to activate my Anti-Breath Weapon. If I only have one energy, I can’t activate my character die’s Anti-Breath Weapon against a Breath Weapon 2.

You can’t spend more than the amount spent on the Breath Weapon for Anti-Breath Weapon. For example, if I have two mask energy in my Reserve Pool and my opponent activates a Breath Weapon 1, I can only spend one of my mask energy for Anti-Breath Weapon. The only exception to this are dice that are not able to spin down to a single energy face, such as a basic action die’s generic energy face. You would use one of that energy for the Anti-Breath Weapon and the other energy would be lost because the die can’t spin down. However, you could use both of the energy for multiple Anti-Breath Weapon abilities if there are multiple Breath Weapon abilities activated. For example, I have a basic action die showing two generic energy in my Reserve Pool. My opponent attacks and activates two different Breath Weapon 1 abilities. I can spend the two generic energy to activate my Anti-Breath Weapon ability twice.

Ruling – Ability

Bronze Dragon has an additional ability that could affect the amount of energy you have to spend to activate Anti-Breath Weapon for your Bronze Dragon die. The ability is a burst ability, and it’s only found on the level three face of Bronze Dragon’s die.

Any level three Bronze Dragon die will allow you to pay one less energy to activate their Anti-Breath Weapon ability. For example, A Bronze Dragon with the burst showing, will allow you to spend one energy instead of two to activate their Anti-Breath Weapon 2.

If the Breath Weapon is a Breath Weapon 1 and you have a Bronze Dragon die on a burst face, you do not need to pay to activate that die’s Anti-Breath Weapon.

This ability is not optional and will automatically reduce the amount of the Anti-Breath Weapon.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Bronze Dragon is a Mask type character card.
~ It has the Monster affiliation.
~ It has a max dice of four.
~ This card is an Common and is #2 of 142.

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF)
There isn’t a ruling for this specific card.

You can find the cross IP compatibility wording, here.
You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Strategy and Opinion

I don’t think Anti-Breath Weapon gets the love it deserves and that’s likely because Breath Weapon is not widely used. If there were meta teams that actively used Breath Weapon, we would see an increase in the use of Anti-Breath Weapon. Maybe the upcoming D&D set will feature some nastier Breath Weapon dudes, or more versatile Anti-Breath Weapon dudes.

Overall, the die stats for Bronze Dragon aren’t the terrible and the purchase cost is average for a character with beefy defense. This particular version is from the FUS Starter, but there is another version in the set. That cost one more, but in a D&D draft, he’s almost a must have. There are too many viable dragons with Breath Weapon in both sets to pass up the Bronze Dragon from the set.

If you’re playing a D&D only type format, I would highly recommend adding this card to your team, for all the reasons stated above.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on?
Is there a combo that seems too good to be true?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Need to look up a card? Be sure to check out DM RetroBox! It’s the best searchable card database I’ve found for when I’m at the computer.

Roll on, Dice Masters!