by Craig Landers
Just in here at Metro News One, Maria Hill is a naughty, naughty girl. When the Captain America and the Avengers set first started leaking, there was a lot of hype around big power values and hard to kill pieces. A small common that was 4 clicks long and 45 points with nothing overtly out of the ordinary got swept under the rug. I made this same mistake, and would have most likely thrown Maria Hill in my CAAV CUR box, and probably never let her see the 
light of day again until I moved. But then I played against her in sealed. When I was first hit by my opponent’s Mind Control, I asked to read her card, and was encountered with this trait:
WELCOME TO PLEASANT HILL: Mind Control. Once per turn when a friendly character uses Mind Control to target a character that hasn’t been damaged this turn, after resolutions that targeted character can’t make attacks or be attacked until your next turn unless it’s the only character on its force.
Although it might not seem like much at first, just a way of delaying one of your opponent’s pieces from attacking for a turn or two if you’re lucky, I noticed something that wasn’t there. It only says target a character, not an opposing character with Mind Control. With the recent increase in friendly Mind Control, my mind started racing. But I wanted to be sure that it worked. As a player that likes to pull off gimmick teams, there are a lot of my ideas that never pan out. I’m still working on that GOTGM016 The Collector team that most likely will never come to pass. So, before I jumped fully in on the Maria Hill band wagon, I set a goal for myself. If Maria Hill truly was a meta worthy piece, and not just a flash in the pan, I needed to show she had versatility. The goal was making Top 8 at 3 different WKOs with her, in three weeks, with no main force pieces in common on any of the teams. If I could pull that off, I really believe that there is more to Mayor Hill than just a gimmick. Let’s go to the mall, get her some teammates to see how she did!
Team 1 – Space Cadet Gaming Gaming – February 15, 2020
XDPSG006 Onslaught 125 
XDPS047 Jean Grey 75
CAAV008 Maria Hill 45
TREKRF021 Wesley Crusher 15
XDPS006 Friends of Humanity 10
XDPS006 Friends of Humanity 5
EAXLB Iron Avengers, Assemble 5
WKDOFP005 Storm 5
WKMVID018 Cyclops 3
WKMVID020 Jean Grey 3
WKMVID017 Beast 3
WKMVID019 Iceman 3
XXSXID010 Chamber 3
Total = 300
This one was a bit of a surprise team. It was the second week of WKOs, and therefore kind of the second week that Dark Phoenix Saga was legal at a non-sealed, non-pauper major line of events. Also, this was the debut week for the Cap set, and therefore the first week for the legality of my girl. Because of that, it was all new pieces on my main force except for a niche Trek piece that wasn’t seeing a lot of play. So not only was my gimmick new and there to shock people, but there were a lot of surprises on my side of the map in general. The plan was simple. Onslaught could free Mind Control Jean every turn, thanks to her movement power, and she could quickly get across the board. A 4-Damage attack from the Mind Control isn’t something to take lightly on its own, and then Jean could call in someone else for the secondary attack, because she isn’t the one launching it. Onslaught can then use his power action to either hit with his own attack if they don’t have retaliators for him, or re-position to be ready to Mind Control Jean the next turn. If Wesley is lucky, he can even take tokens off of him. That’s a lot of threats coming down their throat while Maria can hide behind her Barrier and Shape Change in the corner. With Maria still up, and Onslaught Mind Controlling her, Jean was free from attacks. With all that working for me, Maria lead the shock team to my first Top 8, eventually falling to a team with Savage Land Magneto, who stole Jean off the board and delayed my gimmick too long to come back from.
Team 2 – Collector’s Ink – February 22, 2020
ABPI069 Kobik 100 
ABPIT069 Hi, I’m Kobik 15
CAAV038 Steve Rogers 50
CAAV051 Moonstone 45
CAAV051T Manipulating the Team Against Zemo 5
CAAV008 Maria Hill 45
ABPI010 S.H.I.E.L.D. Diplomat 20
WKMDOFP005 Storm 5
WKMDOFP001 Wolverine 5
WKMVID019 Iceman 3 WKMVID018 Cyclops 3
WKMVID020 Jean Grey 3
Total = 299
As promised, this was a totally different team. It carried with it some major advantages. First, it was themed (S.H.I.E.L.D.) thanks to old Steve bringing Moonstone onto the team. Secondly, Kobik is a lot harder to hit than Jean was. Finally, Kobik being a higher point value made my ID choices much more creative and deadly. But there were also disadvantages. Moonstone’s Mind Control is a power rather than a free, leaving her relying on Cap and Maria’s Leadership to try to keep tokens off of her. Also, this team doesn’t really have a strong of a secondary attacker (or to be fair primary attacker outside of IDs) like Onslaught was on the first team. Finally, Moonstone doesn’t have the protective abilities of Onslaught, so there were turns that Maria’s Barrier had to go towards Moonstone rather than herself. But in the end, just like week one, I was able to pilot it to another Top 8, eventually making it all the way to the Finals before losing to a Captain Marvel team, as I didn’t really have an easy way through multiple STOP clicks quickly. Maria made it 2 for 2, so was it time to go safe with my next pick? Maybe Bastion and Ultron? No. If this was going to work, I was going to have fun, and rely on another piece that no one would see coming. Unless they listen to the vastly underrated Majestix Podcast that is.
Team 3 – Hobbytown U.S.A. – February 29, 2020
WKTP17003 Bebop and Rocksteady 125 
AI047 Tigra 50
CAAV008 Maria Hill 45
TMT033 Throg 45
TMTS009 Mjolnir 10
EAXS006 Venom Symbiote 4
EAXLB Iron Avengers, Assemble 5
WKMDOFP006 Magneto 5
WKMDOFP005 Storm 5
WKMVID019 Iceman 3
WKMVID017 Beast 3
Total = 300
Yes, that Bebop and Rocksteady. This was a bit of a prove themselves game for everybody’s favorite inept henchmen (sorry putty patrol and Ginyu Force) as well. There’s always been a bit of a teetering on them after it was ruled that they could make two attacks after being Mind Controlled by a friendly. But there was still some hesitation. Their vanilla attack, their high Defense against Mind Control, and the fact that even though they had a long dial, that they lacked rollouts, Outwit protection, or even -2 reducers. But this team took care of all of that in certain ways. While they still had a vanilla attack, they could make their attack then call in someone that could Pulse Wave the socks off a piece. Tigra’s natural 12-Attack along with the +2 Perplex from Throg actually made this team the easiest to hit Mind Control of my three (only needing a 5 in most cases). Finally, who cares about the lack of rollouts if they can’t be attacked? This team had some serious damage potential very quickly, which was masked by people laughing at the Rhino and Warthog initially. Plus, they had backup with two characters able to target them with Mind Control (remember that to activate Pleasant Hill you only need to target with Mind Control, not hit) and a call in (Beast) that could target them in emergency, they are potentially dealing out 8-damage a turn without being able to be attacked unless Maria is taken care of. Big question time. Did she make it? Of course. This is Maria Hill, baby. She made the cut to Top 8 with a third completely different team before I lost in the elimination round to some guy playing a die manipulation team. I can’t remember his name though. He didn’t seem that important. Is Maria Hill viable? I can’t directly answer that. But she did make cut with 3 different teams at 3 different venues. To confirm it, Alan “Boogeyman” Mason played two of the teams at two different venues in Texas finishing 3rd and 4th at two additional WKOs. If evidence speaks to you, that’s a lot of evidence that says that she’s a really good piece that a lot of people dismissed initially, going 5 for 5 at WKOs for cuts. I would say that if nothing else, she’s a whole lot of fun and nuttier than a Tim Horton’s Maple Log. And don’t forget that this doesn’t even cover all the Modern pieces that can do some friendly Mind Control shenanigans. And when it comes to Bronze, the options shoot through the roof. Mole Man is smiling wherever he is in your box of old clix (as well as Black Talon!), ready for his day in the sun again. Hopefully this opens up your mind to looking back at some of the forgotten pieces that gave you the small itch that there maybe, just maybe, was a way to bring them out into your competitive scene. But until then, I’ll be on Fantasy Island with Collector, trying to figure him out.
