by Tony Rodriguez
Hey Apex Insiders, my name is Tony Rodriguez and I had the pleasure of participating in the first 2018 Majestix Open Series event last weekend, which used the always interesting 300 ROC Age format! I’m not your average competitive clix player because I always try to incorporate my favorite comic book characters into my teams instead of just sticking to the best available competitive figures. Adam Friedman’s Apex Insiders article about this format pointed me in the direction of Thanosi – which is close enough to my favorite Marvel villain, Thanos – so I spent the time leading up to the Majestix Circuit trying to think of a team that utilized his amazing “BUILT TO TEST MY FOES” trait:
[100 PTS] BUILT TO TEST MY FOES: KA-ZAR: Opposing characters within range can’t ignore terrain for movement purposes.
Between this trait and terrain-producing effects available in ROC Age like the Black Light ring, Wall construct and Net construct, I realized it’s possible to make a team that makes getting to me exceptionally difficult. The Indigo Battery was an easy choice for my resource because it forces opponents to be within 4 squares to get a line of fire to my characters and it gave me access to those constructs. From there, it was just a matter of filling out my team and figuring out map. I immediately realized that if you place the Invisible Jet special terrain correctly on the Harley’s Apartmnet map, you can block off stairways to the different levels of elevation. If Thanosi is in range of the edge of that building, going from one level to the next is impossible if you don’t have access to Telekinesis! With map choice being so important, I settled on making a Mystical theme team for a map roll boost. Shifting Focus Dr. Strange gives me some mobility, and Yondu’s ability to shoot through everything makes it so I can snipe opposing figures while they struggle to figure out how to even get to me.
(Mystical Themed Team) 
100 Thanosi
101 Yondu + Proselyte
50 ADW Dr. Strange
5 Invisible Plane
8 Black Light Ring
5 Green Arrow ID Card
30 Indigo Tribe Power Battery:
-Ring
-Wall
-Net
-Sniper Rifle
Sideline: All Shifting Focus Dr. Strange, 80 EW Green Arrow
Maps: Arthur’s Castle, Harley’s Apartment
Round 1 – Tyler
AoA Magneto 150 + Parallax 25, Lyla Cheney 25, XXS SR Cyclops 50, Wizkid 25, Serpent Spider-Man 15, Cosmic Spider-Man ID 5
Tyler’s X-Men theme gave him +4 to the map roll, which he won. He put us on Prison 42, which is actually still a very good map for my team. He spent his first few turns giving Magneto his Scrap Metal markers and moving his team up with Lyla, while I moved up and assigned my characters their constructs. I was able to one-shot Lyla through some walls with Yondu, which slowed down his team’s mobility. I probably could have positioned myself to never get hit, but I didn’t realize that his Cyclops could see through walls and he got a shot off on my Thanosi. I then killed Cyclops with Thanosi and killed Wizkid with Yondu, putting me significantly up on points until I again forgot about IM: Blocking and he called out Cosmic Spider-Man to take out Thanosi. With Thanosi having the Black Light ring, this put Tyler up 105-108, and I knew that we were very low on time. Luckily, Tyler made a fatal mistake and called out Green Arrow to take out Doctor Strange from eight squares away, forgetting that he had to be within four squares to draw a line of fire to Strange. Winning by only 2 points here made me pay much closer attention to my positioning and my opponents’ figures’ improved targeting for the rest of the tournament!
Round 2 – Tyler Locke
Carnage 200, Carnage 10, Carnage 10, Symbiote pog 10, Full Infinity Gauntlet 40, Maximum Carnage ATA 12, IDs
I played against Tyler’s awesome Maximum Carnage team a few days earlier at a practice tournament, and he beat me because I forgot that Colossal Retaliation allows characters to bypass Thanosi’s anti-improved movement trait and jump over terrain to get to my team. Luckily, I didn’t have to worry about Retaliation in this game, because Tyler won map roll and actually put us on Blue Line, an indoor map that allowed me to Barrier up and make him unable to retaliate against me! Tyler moved his 10 point Carnages and symbiote pog to a point where my sniper rifle-wielding Yondu was able to kill them one by one, and thanks to one of the rooms in Blue Line, I was able to put up walls and keep his main Carnage from being able to retaliate. He had no way to get to me, and I couldn’t kill his main Carnage due to his frequent healing, so I won this game 38-0.
Round 3 – Alonzo Gutierrez
Hulk 200, Infinity Gauntlet 40, Bloodaxe 10, Lyla Cheney 25, Cosmic Treadmill 8, Gamma Bomb 5
I finally won map this game, and put us on Harley’s Apartment. It worked just as well as I could have hoped, as a combination of the Invisible Jet blocking off the stairwells on one side of the map and my Barrier and Smoke Cloud markers blocking off the stairs on the other side kept Alonzo from ever being able to roll a pair of dice to attack me. Yondu used the sniper rifle to take out Lyla in one shot, and for the rest of the game, Hulk just moved around the map hoping that I’d eventually slip up and leave myself exposed. I was very low on points so I did play very aggressively this game to try to score Hulk. After a hit to his STOP click and a Green Arrow call-in, I finally was able to get full points.
Round 4 – PJ Bolin
100 Mistress Death, 90 Mini Shredder, 20 Splitlip, 15 Skyscraper Wonder Woman, 10 Flora Colossus,10 Mjolnir, 5 Gamma Bomb, 30 Book of the Skull (Full)
Even though I was feeling confident at 3-0, nerves hit me hard this game because it was featured on camera and I was facing off against PJ, one of the best players in the whole world. I breathed a sigh of relief when I won map and put us on Harley’s Apartment. I moved up a bit too aggressively, though, and positioned myself in a way that allowed PJ to call in a Green Arrow with Mini Shredder to one-shot my Doctor Strange before I was able to assign him an Indigo Battery construct. I did my best not to let this shock affect the rest of the game, and got back up on points after killing Mistress Death once and taking out his Skyscraper Wonder Woman. If I had just stopped right there and focused solely on killing Mistress Death anytime she came close, I probably could have won this… but I foolishly went after Mini Shredder with my Green Arrow call-in and hit it to it’s last click. This meant that PJ’s Gamma Bomb knocked it to KO for the first time, which then led to Mini being placed over on my side of the map next to Yondu. Mini was then able to kill Yondu, and I had a chance to Pulse Wave Mini to death with Thanosi, but missed the necessary 7. Mini then called out Iceman, who killed Thanosi and ended the game.
Round 5 – Robert Gallagher
100 Mistress Death, 50 Lt. Sulu, 50 Captain Kirk, 35 Overdrive, 20 Splitlip, 30 Book of the Skull (Full), 15 ID Cards
Robert’s Mistress Death team is one of the most aggressive I’ve ever seen. The two Star Trek characters get free attacks if they haven’t moved, so Robert can move his team up with Charged Up, drop a Hammer on Mistress Death’s square to give characters the Touch of Death and Sulu and Kirk can then attack for free to finish them off. Unfortunately for Robert, however, I won map and put us on Harley’s Apartment. Thanks to the Invisible Jet, Thanosi’s Black Light ring and Wall construct and Strange’s net, he had no way to get to me. Meanwhile, I was able to snipe a few of his characters with Yondu and just relax until time ran out.
Top 8 – PJ Bolin
Well, here we go again. This was probably the worst match-up for me, because PJ’s team has a variety of ways to get around Thanosi’s trait and still get to my team. If I hit anyone, he can retaliate with Skyscraper Wonder Woman. He can do damage to my figures with the Gamma Bomb. I can’t KO Mini Shredder without having to place it next to my characters. I panicked a bit too hard throughout this game, and PJ was able to end it in a few short turns. Yet again, a misplay on my end led to Green Arrow killing my Doctor Strange. I shot one of his characters, which led to his retaliator damaging Yondu right before the Gamma Bomb exploded and killed him. The game was a bit of a blur, but I definitely didn’t play it right or do my team proper justice. That’s what happens when you don’t figure out your team until a week before a major event, though… especially if you’re up against someone like PJ!
FINAL THOUGHTS: Overall, the team functioned as well as I expected. I made it hoping to get to Top 8 and win the amazing Flashpoint Flood ROC map, and while I was successful in doing so, I know I could have done even better with a bit more practice and awareness. Retaliators, TK and overconfidence against IM: Blocking characters are some definite weaknesses, but when I win map roll and face a team that doesn’t have any of those, it’s practically untouchable. Hopefully I’ll get to go to more Majestix Circuit events this year, and improve on this performance!
