By Easton Brock
Hello, readers! I’m back and this time I’m writing about one of my favorite topics in all of Heroclix! What is the topic you ask? Well, the title had to do with odds, so I must be talking about the oh so talked about Mr. Myxzptlk, right? WRONG! With all the talk about him, I figured I would write this article. It’s not about messing with the odds, but instead BEATING the odds and overcoming adversity while playing heroclix. Hopefully these few tips help out next time the odds are against you.
- Don’t Psych Yourself Out
The old saying, “It ain’t over till it’s over” is truly fitting for clix. The ability to take a hit and keep fighting is so crucial in Heroclix. Too often I see players take a huge hit or alpha strike and just give up. You can see it in their eyes that they are finished, stick a fork in them, if you will. When I was younger, I used to be this way. Any time one of my big figures got hit hard or I started to lose, my head dropped like a rock and I was done. I was hurting myself by getting in a mindset where I couldn’t win. My own mind was hindering me; I wanted to finish the game as soon as possible just get it over with. I wasn’t looking for a clever move to sway the odds a bit, or even get a few points before going down. But the ability to look adversity in the face and overcome it is something I learned as I got older. I am a completely different player now. I will fight to the last minute and there is not a thing that can knock me off my game.
The thing about beating the odds is it does not take any experience to do so. You have to remember this is a DICE ORIENTED GAME! With that in play, there is ALWAYS a chance. I have seen miracles performed in this game at the highest of levels… Need to roll a 12 with a Despotellus to KO a character off the side of a building? Go for it, crazier things have happened my friend. You just have to have a little belief that it’s possible. Sometimes all it takes is one thing to go right to change the entire course of a game.
- Don’t Worry About the Guy Across the Table
I too often see big name players intimidate newer or less experienced players. When they get paired up against these type of players, they get incredibly nervous and tend to make mistakes and crumble under the pressure. This is just throwing fuel on the fire. When in a tournament, you have to walk in with the belief that you can and will beat anyone in that joint. The fact is, when you let who you are playing against get to you, you are beat before you ever take a seat. You MUST throw this aside. Trust me, I understand it, the first time I played Patrick Yapjoco, I was sweating bullets. But I had to throw it aside and focus on the task at hand. Given I did lose that game, it was down to the wire and I gave it my all. You can only be responsible for your own moves, make sure you are focusing on them and not your opponent.
- Team Builds Can Be Countered, YOU Cannot
Another thing I hear too often, and I am guilty of myself: you sit down in your chair and look at the opposing team build. The moment you read that sheet you immediately think, “There is NO way I can beat this team.” This is the most untrue thing you can tell yourself. First off, that team counters yours on paper, but once you get on the map it’s an entirely different world. Secondly, bad dice happens to everyone, and so does hot dice. You cannot do anything about it but the fact that that dice are in this game means anything can happen. Just remember that no matter what team you are up against, there is a way to win. You may have to adopt a totally different strategy and play your team unlike you have ever played it before. You just have to become creative and figure out how to beat your opponent.
- Dice
Every person in the history of Heroclix has had a bad dice game at some point. It’s something you can’t control unless you were to cheat. You have to understand that this part is out of control, and you have to keep persevering and making attacks as easy to hit as possible. With all the dice manipulation in the current metagame (i.e. Myxzpltk and Faust), hitting an attack can seem dang near impossible. On top of that, Nighthawk Prime is out here saying you can’t raise your combat values? It’s gross and very frustrating, but nothing is impossible. The key to beating these odds is not losing your cool and making sure you are taking moves to get closer to your best shot. Take your shots when you can get them, if you hit that’s great, if not you should be in a defensible position.
- Never Quit, Never Surrender!
My apologies if I sound like a broken record but…. PLAY UNTIL YOUR LAST CLICK IS KO’d! In this game it is important to understand that nobody is perfect, everyone is bound to make mistakes. What separates the good players from the great players is how one responds after they make a mistake. A great player may not make many mistakes, but once they do they scrape tooth and nail to give themselves a chance to win the game. Once they sit down to play, they are in the zone. These players learn to tune out any distractions or worries and just play the game to the best of their ability. Again, for most people this comes with experience, but I’m writing this to help you guys realize the importance of never getting down on yourself, never quitting, and overcoming adversity.
- The Mental Clock
Every player should have a mental clock constantly ticking in their head from the moment that match starts. This clock will affect the decisions you make in the game. The reason I bring this up, is that you have to know what you have to do if you want to make a comeback in any game. You have to methodically climb your way back in the amount of time left in the game. This is where the clock comes in. Managing your time well in a game can really make a difference. When you are down and time is running out, you need to make swift and precise moves in order to get some momentum going. Once a few things start going your way your moves will get even more fluent and you can take back control of the game right before last action is called.
Thanks for reading guys, I hope you enjoyed what I had to say on beating the odds! I can’t wait to put out another article!
