by Zack Strong
This past weekend Married With Clix posted a Black Widow Movie Set Gravity Feed review on their YouTube channel, previewing 18 new pieces coming out in the Black Widow Movie gravity feed. I usually find movie sets to be disappointing. However, after seeing how great some of the pieces from this set are, I am considering ordering a whole box! This is an examination of the new set and my thoughts on what I think can, and will, see competitive Bronze Age play and how they may impact the format. Let’s begin by taking a look at…
Shifting Focus Black Widow:
There have been some very good Shifting Focus pieces released over the years, and a handful of turds, but this might be my favorite set of pieces with the mechanic. She comes in at 75 points with a somewhat shallow 5 clicks of life and sports the Avengers and Spy keywords. What makes these pieces incredible is the various ESPIONAGE traits that each of them have. All of their traits contain this team requirement:
“If Black Widow is on a themed team or your starting force has two other characters from [Black Widow Movie Set Symbol]…”
Thankfully, it’s incredibly easy to build an Avengers theme team and there are plenty of good Spy pieces. With the Avengers Initiative team ability and solid stats, averaging 8/11/18/3 top dial, she is definitely worth a look for the sheer versatility of options she provides.
001 Black Widow:
Espionage: Technology and Training: If Black Widow is on a themed team or your starting force has two other characters from [Black Widow Movie Set Symbol], opposing characters can’t use Improved Targeting abilities to target her or adjacent friendly characters.
The very first piece in the set got me excited about the possibilities she presents. Along with her trait she comes with top dial Stealth and a full dial of Perplex. In the range-heavy format of Bronze Age, the ability to be protected from range is important (that’s why the Indigo Power Battery and the WWE pieces are so popular). With many of the new CAAV pieces having a combination of Avengers keyword and traited Stealth, I can easily see her being played with CAAV010 Quake for a team that hits hard while hiding. For something older, there are lots of fun options with CW022 Sharon Carter to give your entire Avengers team Stealth. The clear weakness of using her as your protection is Pulse Wave. So plan accordingly for a Magneto or Storm piece sitting across from you. But at least her trait can’t get disintegrated!
005 Black Widow:
Espionage: Misdirection and Misinformation: Leadership.If Black Widow is on a themed team or your starting force has two other characters from [Black Widow Movie Set Symbol], opposing characters on the map more than 6 squares from her can’t be placed within 6 squares of her.
We all know Colossal Retaliation is good. So any power that makes it more difficult for your opponent to pull off is probably good too. Preventing placement of characters within 6 squares of her not only works as anti-retaliation tech, but is helpful against other core game-play mechanics such as Carry or Telekinesis. It also helps against some Bronze Age stars such as WXM010 Shatterstar.
Along with the trait, this version packs a full dial of Sidestep, Probability Control and Leadership. She also has a special attack power for her entire dial granting her Telekinesis, but only to place characters 75 points or less. After placing the characters she gives them Empower or Enhancement for the rest of the turn. It’s an fantastic support piece for Avengers teams.
009 Black Widow:
Espionage: Uncertain Allegiances: If Black Widow is on a themed team or your starting force has two other characters from [Black Widow Movie Set Symbol], and an opposing character is generated or placed on the map from a Sideline, within 6 squares of her, after resolutions both you and your opponent roll a d6. If your result is higher, give that character two action tokens.
This version has the ability to severely limit bystander generation based teams, such as those running XDPS048 Jason Wyngarde or MP19-105 I.S.A.A.C. The requirement to be within 6 squares and roll higher than your opponent makes the ability very situational, but it could absolutely hurt any team that relies on the bystanders it is generating. However, that’s not the best part of this dial. That honor belongs to her special Attack power:
Who Can You Trust?: Smoke Cloud as FREE. Opposing characters occupying her Smoke Cloud Markers can’t use Improved Abilities or Team Abilities.
This ability is amazing! For FREE, you can turn off WWE, Power Cosmic, or Quintessence. All it requires is that you be able to drop a Smoke Cloud marker underneath them. With a 0 printed Range they’ll normally need to be within 4 squares in order for her to pull this off but this is Bronze Age — everyone can easily get 10-Rrange thanks to the Sniper Rifle. She packs a full dial of Stealth and Outwit to go along with that, so you can really make it hurt when you turn off their team ability and get rid of their best powers. As icing on the cake, because the Smoke Cloud markers remain even if the power is lost, you can use her to drop 6 squares of hindering for FREE and then replace her with the 001 Black Widow to have a nice safe space wherever you want.
013 Black Widow:
Espionage: Bait and Switch: If Black Widow is on a themed team or your starting force has two other characters from [Black Widow Movie Set Symbol], and hits an opposing character that’s equipped, both you and your opponent roll a d6. If your result is higher, equip that opposing equipment to a friendly character (even if it has Equip (Friendly)).
The last of the Shifting Focus pieces is probably the weakest. Her trait has the potential to be situationally good, but it is not reliable thanks to the D6 roll and 0 printed range. Her trait gives you a chance to steal their Possessor and give it to one of your own characters, which is never bad. Giving out action tokens to characters she hits with Quake is, again, potentially good in the right scenario. I see this version being used the least and the first one I would personally remove if Sideline space was a problem.
Now let’s do some shifting focus of our own and talk about the other pieces in the set.
002 Yelena Belova:
Espionage: Disinformation: If Yelena Belova is on a themed team or your starting force has two other characters from [Black Widow Movie Set Symbol], opposing characters within 6 squares and line of fire can’t have their combat value positively modified.
On a Widows or Spy theme, you’ve got a Nighthawk Prime-like ability if you’re within 6 squares of your target. Running Shot, Stealth, and Shape Change with 9/11/18/3 isn’t awful for 50 points either. The right build could use her effectively to combat a piece like TMT058 Uni-Mind.
003 Widows Initiate:
Espionage: The Widows: During game setup, Widows Initiate counts as two characters for themed teams. (Each can increase your TTPC uses by +2 and your bonus to roll for first player by +2.)
At 25 points, this generic is the best Spy or Widows theme fluff available and can be used to make sure you get the map you need.
004 Task Force Henchman:
Decent Soldier or Assassin filler at 25 points with the potential to be attacking a 11/4 or 12/3.
006 Widows Recruit:
A great Spy generic that can be an incredibly annoying tie-up piece with Poison (potentially penetrating), Super Senses, and Shape Change. What makes this piece even better is that it can be generated by Black Widow 017 in the set for FREE.
007 Taskmaster:
Taskmaster has an interesting die manipulation effect that would be better if it didn’t just apply to himself. At 50 points he’s probably too costly for what he offers compared to other Soldiers in the format.
008 Red Guardian:
If for some reason you really need an 18-Defend that doesn’t break theme, use RE014 Prez Rickard instead.
010 Yelena Belova:
Espionage: Defending the Widows: If Yelena Belova is on a themed team, your maximum number of Themed Team Probability Control uses this game is 10 (instead of 5).
The Old Ways: Stealth, Plasticity. When Yelena Belova uses Themed Team Probability Control, she isn’t given an action token.
Pairing her with the 003 Widows Initiate on a Widows named theme is something worth considering to maximize her trait. Maybe something like Shifting Focus Black Widow, this Yelena and four Widows Initiate is 250 points and a +10 named theme with room for a Resource and ID cards.
011 Widows Spy:
At 50 points, I think this piece is too expensive to be played as filler and with the abundance of Pulse Wave in the format, the trait is too easy to get around. If it were fewer points I could see an argument.
012 Task Force Mercenary:
With Running Shot and an 11-Attack Energy Explosion that gives out action tokens to anyone they damage, I can see a case for this piece on Soldier teams. Most Soldier teams are ranged based, so bringing along Enhancement is always useful.
014 Widows Assassin:
Espionage: Apex of Training: At the beginning of your turn, if Widows Spy is on a themed team or your starting force has two other characters from [Black Widow Movie Set Symbol], you may choose a standard power that a friendly character has printed on their card. Until your next turn, Widows Assassin can use that power.
The dial is great for 75 points (if you ignore the missing Willpower), and the trait helps push this piece to be very playable on Widows, Assassin, or Martial Artist theme teams. A great pairing is the Shifting Focus Deadpool for the variety of powers you have access to. Start with DXF017 Deadpool for the Assassin theme and access to Pulse Wave and Sidestep.
One big weakness, and one of my personal irritations in dial design, is that this piece has Stealth with no Improved Movement or Targeting.
015 Taskmaster:
I looked long and hard at this piece to try and find something worth considering, but I don’t think he’ll be relevant in the format because of his average stats and incredible susceptibility to Outwit. His FREE attack is neat, but it requires the opponent to miss which they likely aren’t doing with his naked 17-Defense after removing his special power. You could make a case for giving him something like Parallax to help with that but there are far better uses of 100 points.
016 Red Guardian:
He has a fun trait that allows him to attack a bunch of people for 3-damage. That’s about it. His Leadership ability is just bad and I wouldn’t use it unless I was throwing a Hail Mary. Too many points and too easy to kill.
017 Black Widow:
This is the crown jewel of the set. Let’s start with the dial. Up top she’s 10-Speed Running Shot, 12-Attack Penetrating Psychic Blast, 18-Defense Combat Reflexes, 3-Damage Special with the Avengers Initiative team ability. She is 100 points with the Avengers and Spy keywords. She has two traits that are the highlight of her dial:
Espionage: Patience…: If Black Widow is on a themed team or your starting force has two other characters from [Black Widow Movie Set Symbol], standard friendly characters can’t have their attack rolls of 10 or more rerolled, and opposing characters targeting those characters can’t have their attack rolls of 4 or less rerolled.
This is obviously good, even if it is something you cannot control. Forcing your opponent to be stuck dealing with their critical miss or your critical hit (if they aren’t running dice manipulation) can be painful and powerful.
Espionage: …and Opportunity: Stealth. Black Widow starts the game with 5 Tradecraft tokens. FREE: Remove a Tradecraft token to choose an opposing character within 6 squares and line of fire. Until your next turn that character can’t use a standard power unless it’s displayed on their dial (as a colored square) and can’t have their combat values positively modified.
Traited Stealth is always great, but it’s overshadowed by the triumphant return of the Tradecraft token mechanic from the Captain Marvel Movie set. Removing a Tradecraft token to provide the double tap of “can’t use” and “can’t be increased” is very strong. Nick Fury meets Nighthawk Prime — in one power. You’ve got a maximum of 5 uses of it during the game, but realistically you probably won’t use more than 4, keeping one in the chamber for her STOP power so she requires at least 3 hits to kill (in most cases). While you cannot use it to remove powers displayed on their dial, you can get rid of powers granted by Special Powers or gained from other sources such as resources, objects, or relics, and entities.
Web of Intrigue: Leadership, Outwit. FREE: Remove a Tradecraft token to generate a [Black Widow Movie Set Symbol] #003 Widows Initiate -or- a [Black Widow Movie Set Symbol] #006 Widows Recruit on click #1.
If everything above wasn’t enough, give her two of the most essential support powers and the ability to generate strong tie-up pieces to disrupt your opponent’s game-plan. Her Outwit in combination with her “can’t use” power allows you to get through almost any obstacles you may face.
At 100 points she can call in almost all relevant ID characters in the format, strip your target of defensive abilities, and watch them get melted. Worth noting is that because her ability is “can’t use”, it gets around Protected: Outwit so you’re able to use it on WWE, Power Cosmic, and Quintessence pieces. She is absolutely a must-play piece to me and you will surely see her pop up on builds as soon as she is available.
100 Black Widow:
Espionage: Secret Mission: Hypersonic Speed. When Black Widow uses it and hits with a close attack, if she’s on a themed team or your starting force has two other characters from [Black Widow Movie Set Symbol], after resolutions you may place the hit character in any square she moved through after the attack. If you do, deal them 1 penetrating damage.
This piece is not technically in the gravity feed and is a separate purchasable, but I’m including it as it is still connected. The Motorcycle Black Widow has the ability, if themed, to place a hit character in one of the squares she moved through after attacking during Hypersonic Speed. If you can get it off, it’s great for separating teams and disrupting setups.
Just Enough Gas in the Tank: FREE: Once per game, halve speed, then move. // When Black Widow leaves the map, generate a heavy object in one of her squares. Protected: Pulse Wave.
Using this trait you can set up your Hypersonic Speed movement to be able to get the maximum effect of “dragging” their character away or you can simply use it to self-equip one turn one. Generating the heavy means you’re giving the Black Widow that comes back in a nice hiding spot no matter where they come in.
Time To Get Off the Bike: During force construction, you may include a character named Black Widow of 75 points or less on your Sideline. The first time Black Widow would be KO’d, instead replace her with that Black Widow on its last non-KO click then roll a d6 and heal that Black Widow half the result. This game, that Black Widow can’t be healed any other way. Protected: Pulse Wave.
She’s got a Living Legend style ability to come back after death, but with a twist. You replace her with another Black Widow that is 75 points or less. I think the Shifting Focus pieces from this set are a nice option for that.
My concerns are that she is too easy to take out for 75 points. She has 5 clicks of life with a single roll-out, but she does have to be double-tapped to be KO’d. There’s a lot to like about her and I think she is worth trying in a kill box style team.
Final Thoughts:
There’s a lot to like about this set and I absolutely think the Shifting Focus pieces and the 017 Black Widow will see play in Bronze Age. On top of those, there are various generics that can be used as good Spy or Assassin filler, which are keywords that I don’t feel have been fully explored. Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the set!
