by Craig Landers
Welcome Breaking the Meta, where our goal is to create a team that frustrates your opponent more than James Harden when he found out that the NBA was reducing foul calls next year. While most weeks we look at a single piece or a combination of pieces that can break some of the inherent rules of the game, this week, we’re going to do something a bit different, and look at a certain character, and how their iterations can fit the options for any budding Heroclix player as they attempt to find a new way to figure out their own playing style.
When I first started collecting Heroclix, I made the goal of creating every version of Bruce Wayne that was made in the game. At the time, I had no idea that not only was Bruce the most clixed character in the game, but that he would continue to be forced into sets that he really had no business in being (it was Harley Quinn and the Gotham GIRLS why are there three BatMANs in that set). Recently I was looking through my collection and realized something, a lot of these pieces can really bend the meta game in Bronze if used correctly. So I sat down and narrowed the list down to 10. Ten Bruce Waynes that have meta potential in the Bronze game today, which I present to you in no particular order.
DKR001 THE DARK KNIGHT
This version of Bruce comes with a hefty price tag at 129 points, which will turn some people off. As will the opening 10-ATK and 2-DMG. But what does bring to the game is an attack power that a lot of individuals won’t see coming, much like Bruce himself.
SONAR SURVEILLANCE: THE DARK KNIGHT CAN USE THE SHARPSHOOTER ABILITY. HE CAN ALSO USE OUTWIT BUT THE TARGET CHARACTER MUST BE WITHIN 6 SQUARES AND DOES NOT NEED TO BE WITHIN LINE OF FIRE.
Have an opponent that’s hiding behind MOLECULE MAN’S Wall? Someone that’s great with placement using elevated terrain? Even someone that uses the Hand ATA to make people want to pull their freaking hair out? It doesn’t matter, THE DARK KNIGHT doesn’t have to see them to take away those powers. That means that he can shut down their defense before your attacker swoops in to hit them with their pants down, or takes away that Barrier before they can put it up next turn. Not to bad even for the high price tag.
DKR003 BRUCE WAYNE
Now for a much more budget friendly version from the same set. This Bruce comes with all of the bells and whistles you have come to expect from the old school secret identity figures (albeit a bit harder to pull off with the removal of pushing damage from the game). He also has some funs powers just sitting on his dial with an 18-DEF DEFEND and a fairly cheap OUTWIT. But like a lot of pieces, he shines through his trait.
YOUR PLAN IS TO BLACKMAIL THIS PERSON?: WHEN ANY EFFECT OF AN OPPOSING CHARACTER WOULD COUNTER A POWER OR ABILITY POSSESSED BY BRUCE WAYNE OR AN ADJACENT FRIENDLY CHARACTER, AFTER THAT ACTION RESOLVES ROLL A D6; ON A RESULT OF 3-4, PLACE AN ACTION TOKEN ON THE OPPOSING CHARACTER; ON A RESULT OF 5-6, DEAL THE OPPOSING CHARACTER 1 PENETRATING DAMAGE.
Considering a lot of individuals are starting to move away from OUTWIT on a support character to just loading it onto one of their attackers, giving them a 2/3 chance that something bad is going to happen to that character is big. Giving them that slightly hesitation might be just enough to get in their head. They could have a thought like hey, I don’t need to OUTWIT those SUPER SENSES, it’s just a 1/3 chance. While their weighing that, you’re already getting a few steps ahead in the game.
BM053b THE CAPED CRUSADER
As we continue to hit nicknames rather than his most well-known moniker, we move to the Super Rare Prime version of Bruce from his namesake set. A lot of people were saddened by the council’s decision to ban the BAT SIGNAL from competitive play. And while it took away a lot of shenanigans that we came to love, there are several pieces in the game that can still pull off the bait and switch inherently. This bad boy might be the most deadly as he doesn’t rely on calling over a piece, he does it himself.
I SHALL BECOME A BAT: GIVE THE CAPED CRUSADER A FREE ACTION TO SWITCH PLACES WITH ANY FRIENDLY UNATTACHED FLOCK OF BATS ON THE MAP, EVEN IF THE FLOCK OF BATS DIDN’T START THE GAME ATTACHED TO THE CAPED CRUSADER.
If having the thought that at any time any of those bats (which don’t break theme btw) could become a 12-ATK Bruce Wayne with EXPLOIT WEAKNESS wasn’t enough, what if I told you that he also had a power to make those bat more mobile?
THE BATS OBEY ME: GIVE THE CAPED CRUSADER A POWER ACTION. GIVE UP TO 3 UNATTACHED FLOCKS OF BATS MOVE ACTIONS AS FREE ACTIONS.
Throw in some TK, and the Bats are already harassing the other team, and at any time Bruce could be switching with them. If he suddenly had FLURRY as well, your opponent could suddenly be in a whole lot of trouble as they don’t know where those attacks are coming from.
BM103 THE BATMAN OF ZUR-EN-ARRH
I promise, this is the last one before we finally get just a Batman on the list, but Bat-Mite’s hero is just too good not to include on our group of Bats. First thing’s first, Batman carries on board PROBABILITY CONTROL, which I have talked many times about its importance despite the changes to Themed Team Probability. But this Batman is sneaky in that it is traited instead of being on the dial. Ask anyone that played the HOX CORSAIR during sealed and BRs, and you’ll hear stories of opponents that were shocked that their opponent had prob just because light blue wasn’t staring them in the face. But what we’re really paying over half our points for is his attack power.
THE BAT-RADIA SEES THROUGH ALL DECEPTION: THE BATMAN OF ZUR-EN-ARRH IGNORES OTHER CHARACTERS’ STEALTH. CHARACTERS TARGETED BY THE BATMAN OF ZUR-EN-ARRH CAN’T USE MASTERMIND, SHAPE CHANGE, AND SUPER SENSES FOR THAT ACTION.
Not only are we taking away STEALTH. Not only are we taking away MASTERMIND, which the game has made harder and harder to get around, but we’re taking away BOTH key rollouts. Now a lot of people will complain that this Bruce only has a 9-ATK top dial. I ask these people, have you ever heard of a hammer?
GC001 BATMAN
Our first figure that is simply named Batman comes from the weird time when Wizkids was using Heroclix to sell board games. But if you can track down this game, it is very much worth having. Not only does it have several Bat villains that are worth having in your collection, but a version of Bruce that is worthy of this list. The easy thing to be attracted to this Clix is his attack power.
UTILITY BELT: AT THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME, CHOOSE A STANDARD ATTACK OR DAMAGE POWER THAT BATMAN DOES NOT POSSESS SOMEWHERE ON HIS DIAL; BATMAN CAN USE THAT POWER THIS GAME.
Being able to pick a Damage or Attack power is BIG in Bronze Limited where you won’t have those entities to help you get access to certain powers. But this Bruce also has a sneaky ability in the new game of clix. On his second click he has one of my favorite new power combinations. INCAPACITATE, FLURRY, and multiple targets. In the old game, this wouldn’t have mattered. In the new game, that means that you can give multiple targets next to Bruce two action tokens in a single turn. Locking down two attackers for two straight turns is very difficult for a lot of teams to come back to. Oh, and did I mention that Bruce can do INCAP for free?
JLTW051 BATMAN
This Batman was the definitive version of Bruce when he first came out. Now, over 6 years later, there really is only one version that can challenge him for that title. And that’s even without really looking at his trait that gives the Justice League STEALTH or his Improved Movement that with the modern rules means that only Blocking Terrain can slow him down. Instead, it’s a couple of powers that highlight Bruce being able to plan for any situation.
UTILITY BELT: GIVE BATMAN A FREE ACTION AND CHOOSE A STANDARD ATTACK OR DAMAGE POWER. BATMAN CAN USE THAT POWER UNTIL YOUR NEXT TURN.
His Utility Belt doesn’t have the restriction of his board game version. Just pick an attack or damage power and it’s yours for the turn. And of course, a damage power that is definitive Batman.
WORLD’S GREATEST DETECTIVE AND STRATEGIST: BATMAN CAN USE OUTWIT AND PERPLEX. WHEN HE HAS NO ACTION TOKENS, HE CAN USE PROBABILITY CONTROL.
That’s right, all 3 of the big powers in one provided you don’t have an action token. And even if you do, then you still have access to Prob through a Themed Team or through picking Prob via his Attack power. That’s a lot of power in one Batman.
BTAS040 BATMAN
A lot of people look at this Batman and make the mistake of thinking, hey, he’s ok. What they miss is the power that is packed into a second trait of the Kevin Conroy version of the Dark Knight.
BATARANG: BATMAN MAY START THE GAME WITH THE [BTAS] #S001 BATARANG EQUIPPED. // BATMAN MAY ACTIVATE AN EQUIPPED [BTAS] #S001 BATARANG AS FREE INSTEAD OF RANGE AND DOESN’T ROLL TO KO IT.
To get the full effect of this beats of a click, let’s also look at the Batarang itself.
Equip: Any Unequip: DROP EFFECT: RANGE: + TARGETING: IGNORES ELEVATED TERRAIN, IGNORES HINDERING TERRAIN, IGNORES CHARACTERS, MODIFY DAMAGE -1. MAKE A RANGE ATTACK TARGETING A SINGLE CHARACTER WITHIN 4 SQUARES AND LINE OF FIRE AND ROLL A D6. 1-3: IMMEDIATELY AFTER RESOLUTIONS, KO BATARANG.
Thanks to the trait on BATMAN, you can ignore the last, negative effect on the BATARANG, instead looking at the ability to shoot over characters, elevated terrain, and through STEALTH. But the key point is that it’s Free, meaning that you could shoot twice, or more importantly, be carried into position and then take your shot. If that doesn’t excite you, look at the most recent modern tournaments and the number of MAGGOT teams that made the cut.
RE062 THE MURDER MACHINE
With his ability to shoot through Blocking Terrain and onboard Prob, the Cyborg version of the Dark Knights would be a borderline member of this group, but there is something that earns him a membership card very easily. One of my favorite things in the game is when the rules team at WizKids tries to write things to clarify the rules, but in the process, accidently kind of break a piece. Let’s look at the trait that put MURDER MACHINE on the radar when he was first made.
THE ALFRED PROTOCOL: KNOCKBACK. WHEN THE MURDER MACHINE KO’S AN OPPOSING CHARACTER (DOES NOT INCLUDE KO’S BY KNOCKBACK DAMAGE), AFTER RESOLUTIONS HE MAY MAKE AN ATTACK. (CAN TRIGGER MULTIPLE TIMES PER TURN.)
Remember when the annoying guy at your shop threw a tantrum when the rule changes made it so he couldn’t just bring VULTURE and win every week? Thanks to a little bit of a rule clarification on MURDER MACHINE’s card, that isn’t a problem for him. As long as you keep KO’ing pieces, he can just keep shooting away with the glee that earned him his name.
JLU005A BATMAN
When Justice League Unlimited hit, one piece unfortunately made it so most of the other pieces in the game were ignored (don’t worry, he’s coming). This was never truer than with the alternate version of the same piece. Let’s ignore the Justice League Unlimited Trait, which can be gross depending on how many members of your team have it, first let’s look at the severely under looked Team-Up Card ability, which is not just for AMAZO people. Depending on your team build and opponents, Bruce could see through hindering, have ESD and be a taxi, block opposing PERPLEX, have SENSES, gain limited PROB, or gain SHAPE CHANGE. That’s quite a Swiss Army Knife. But let’s look at the attack power that really sets Bruce apart.
I’LL TAKE IT FROM HERE: OPPOSING CHARACTERS WITHIN 6 SQUARES AND LINE OF FIRE USING IMPERVIOUS, SHAPE CHANGE OR SUPER SENSES DECREASE THEIR ROLL FOR THOSE POWERS BY -1 (A 6 IS ALWAYS A SUCCESS).
Remember all those rally dice your opponent has been placing on COLOSSUS and MYSTIQUE? They don’t matter anymore. Have a Wonder Woman team ability? Doesn’t add a thing. Skrulls? Regular SHAPE CHANGE my guy. Also, I can’t tell you the joy you get when the smarmy player at your venue rolls a 5 on SUPER SENSES and sit back, just for you to point to BATMAN’s card.
JLU005B BATMAN
What more can be said about the Steve DiCarlo memorial version of Bruce. Full board targeting of an entire team can’t be spoken about enough. There are articles written about him on this site that could sing his praises more than I could on this article of Bats. A lot of people have stated that he has lost his luster after the lose of pushing damage. Man, if only there was a way to give him damage while keeping him near your starting area.
And that’s it for this week’s look at the Bruce Wayne’s that could make their way into Bronze Age teams. Join us next week as we take a closer look at another mechanic that has been overlooked and can cause your opponents to have their hair grey early. Until next time, please help me figure out how to get THE COLLECTOR to work!
