by Craig Landers
Welcome back to Breaking the Meta, where instead of winning games by brute force, we look to win games through breaking your opponent’s sanity. We’re kind of like the Bulma of Heroclix strategies. If you’re confused by that reference, remember that the Prince of all Saiyans only had one opponent that he gave up to and didn’t spend the rest of his existence trying to destroy.
Hidden in Heroclix, if you look close enough, are sets that really scratch the itch of certain types of team builders. For players that hated range pieces, there was WWE. For players that loved their beatsticks, there was Fear Itself. And of course, for players that wanted to throw away massive amounts of money on Heroclix with little to no reward, there was Rebirth. For Clix players that love the gimmick game, there was Flash.
There was a piece that was built to destroy special terrain squares (like was a golden falcon that was messing people up at the time), a piece that damaged turtlers, a piece that nerfed entire pieces because of colors, a piece that limited opponent’s movements (and gridded BRs to a halt), and an early keyword cheater just to name a few. And while all of those pieces could have their own articles written about them. I’m going to focus in on pone of may favorite gimmick pieces of all time, FL029 Fiddler.
Upon initial look, Fiddler doesn’t seem to be much. After all, 76 points for only Sidestep as a move and attack initially seems like a pretty big L. But the more you look at him, the more you start to fall in love. First, is on-dial Prob, an ability that more and more people seem to be forsaking because of high attacks and die manipulations sadly. Next, he had what I still consider to be the best improved targeting ability. A standard sized character that can see over elevated can be deadly on the right map and can limit your opponent’s selection. But where he will always shine is in his defense power.
SONIC FORCE BUBBLE: Fiddler can use Defend. Adjacent friendly Characters with a lower point value modify their defense values by +1.
Remember when I said 76 points and you got super turned off by the figure? This is where design insight truly comes in for a figure, as Fiddler ups the defense of all adjacent characters that are 75 points or less, which is a fairly significant boon. With his 18 Defend, it gives all adjacent an effective 19 defense if they’re a lower point value, which isn’t too shabby.
But gimmicks never live and die based on a single piece (although Fiddler is pretty close to being a gimmick in and of himself). Let’s look at some of his partners in crime that can truly help.
Figures that help up a team’s defense
WOL099 Despotellis – A piece that forced a change to the Meta as you could no longer build a walking 20 Defend with Adara. But in Bronze, you still have that beautiful Legion Flight Ring to still give the virus the same power. You just have to rely on a roll now to get it. This team does have a bit of a mitigation built in though. While Splitlip is normally a liability due to his defense, on a Fiddler/Despo team, he suddenly has a 21-Defense if he’s adjacent to both, something that’s nothing to sneeze at.
WKM15-011e Doctor Strange – Another beautiful piece that has been lost over time, Strange simply increases the defense of everyone adjacent by one. While usually this is a boon, when you’re working in tandem with a piece that already gives the same bonus, you’re building up a defensive tank. Add on top of that Strange’s point value (75), and he is seemingly meant to be played with Fiddler.
Figures that down an opponent’s Attack
SMWW066e Wonder Woman – While Diana doesn’t have the low points to get the boost from Fiddler, the high point actually HELPS her. Because most of your team will be lower points, when they are attacked with her on the field, the opponents will have to deal with a -1 to their Attack and Damage.
FL026 Rainbow Raider – OK, I tried to be sneaky by not saying his name earlier, but most people knew he was coming in this article. Raider not only reduces attack, but can decrease an entire team combat values, which is just gross.
SLOSH037a The Riddler – Want to perplex down someone’s attack? Are they hiding behind someone or a wall? In stealth? On the other side of the board? Who cares?
Figures that block Outwit
ADW041 Foggy Nelson – Unfortunately, Fiddler can be Outwitted, and even though he’ll be body blocked by his team usually, there are a lot of figures out there that can see through characters and a lot of maps with elevated that can see down upon his wigged glory. Foggy takes away that problem by allowing him to essentially give a power Protected: Outwit. Usually this is a one trick pony because of Foggy’s low Defense and short dial, but on this team his 16 D can quickly become a 21…
WKM-G001d Galactus – Herald Dial OR wol065p Parallax – While eliminating the team from limited (in Parallax’s case), these possessors give Fiddler his PROTECTED: Outwit.
GOTGS102 Cosmic Control Rod – Be sure to pack Splitlip for the trip, but only 8 points to block Outwit is a treat that’s tough to beat. Also, thankfully online you’re not going to lose this piece, something that all players had the fear of when they first got it.
A Hat on Top of a Hat
NFAOS059b Nighthawk – I love when gimmicks come together. What if I told you there was a pair of pieces that could up your entire teams defense to 21? What if I then told you that there was a piece that blocked your opponent from perplexing themselves up. Fun Fact, in Bronze there are exactly 2 pieces with a 14-AV printed (and 0 higher). These two pieces are the only two that would have a greater than 50% chance of hitting anyone on this team without using Perplex or Pulse Wave (or some other gimmicks that I’ll talk about in other articles).
SMWW041ae Superman Blue – The more you read these articles, the more you’re going to get tired of hearing about him, but with gimmicks, you almost always have to have a plan for Pulse Wave. Superman Blue is the easiest way to do it.
So there you have it. Another piece that is meant to confuse your opponent to know end. Something that is always my favorite thing to do in this game. Until next week, I’ll be here trying to figure out the cheapest ways to get mission points onto a team.
