by Jay Solomon
Hello, and welcome to another iteration of Why Don’t I Play This Piece?. This week, I’ll be looking at another more recent addition to the myriad of Cosmic characters we have available these days, Cosmo, from Avengers Infinity.
Cosmo has Improved Targeting: Ignores Hindering Terrain. Cosmo also has a trait, and two special powers throughout his dial:
(Trait) ORIGIN: BEFORE THE GUARDIANS: If Cosmo is part of a Guardians of the Galaxy themed team, he has PROTECTED: Outwit this game. Otherwise, he modifies his attack and defense +1 this game.
This trait should look familiar, as it’s the same as colossal Groot’s. For competitive play, it will almost always give Cosmo the +1s to Attack and Defense. It gives Cosmo some very respectable numbers, considering that his lowest printed attack value is 10. His overall defense numbers aren’t as good, but he’ll still have a top-dial 19-Defense. On his last click, he’ll have a 13-Attack, which won’t be missing anything played right now, most of the time.
(Special Movement Power) I AM COSMO. I AM IN BRAIN.: Mind Control. When Cosmo uses it to target more than one character, modify attack +1.
Mind Control isn’t a very common power these days, but it is especially good here. Cosmo’s top dial 10-Attack becomes an 11 thanks to the trait, and if he’s multi-targeting, it becomes a 12, on top of his ignoring hindering terrain for line of fire. Mind Control can be especially useful these days, to do some damage while also not triggering Colossal Retaliation.
(Special Damage Power) YOU HAVE LOUD BRAIN: FREE: Choose an opposing character within range. Until your next turn, that character can’t be given POWER actions.
This power is one of Cosmo’s biggest strengths. POWER actions are very important these days, especially to use ID cards. Although it isn’t top dial, it’s an easy push away, and may be less useful than Cosmo’s top-dial Outwit, depending on the individual game.
Cosmo is an overall great package of support powers, while also offering some abilities that are unique and very useful. The top-dial Telekinesis can be used for Equipping (common on Cosmic themes, to give Mjolnir to Starfox), as well as possibly moving opposing characters out of Stealth. Ignoring Hindering Terrain for line of fire (and thus Stealth) is less common these days, and having both Mind Control and Outwit are useful to go with it. Being able to re-position opposing Stealth characters out of hindering with Mind Control can make or break a game, as can Outwitting something on a Stealth character. The ability to shut down POWER actions can also mess up an opponent’s strategy immensely, such as not allowing Sam Cap to use ID cards, or to prevent the Blackbird from using the POWER part of the resource dial.
This week, I haven’t built my own team, but have borrowed one (with permission) from Mike White, a fellow Toronto local, who has been playing Cosmo competitively since he came out, placing as high as second at a summer WKO.
70 AI039 Cosmo
-5 TMTS003 Frogjolnir
65 AI043 Unseen
80 AI048 Starfox
-10 TMTS009 Mjolnir
20 AIG025 Groot
20 AIG025 Groot
15 EWG001 The Skyscraper Wonder Woman
5 XXSXID-025 Wolverine
3 MVID-018 Cyclops
3 MVID-019 Iceman
3 MVID-020 Jean Grey
299
The game plan with this team is to have Cosmo TK Mjolnir to Starfox, while Unseen moves and Sidesteps, to pick up and drop off Frogjolnir for Cosmo. Cosmo equips Frogjolnir on turn 2, which will allow Unseen to carry him around due to the EFFECT of gaining the Tiny Symbol. Both Unseen and Cosmo start with Outwit that ignores hindering terrain for line of fire, although Cosmo might choose to push on turn 2 when equipping, to gain the POWER action shutdown power, depending on the matchup. Otherwise, the team has tried and true characters, such as Starfox and Groot, both of which can make many attacks thanks to Flurry, as well as very good stats and likelihood to hit, thanks to Starfox’s +2 Perplex, and Unseen’s long range Probability Control.
That’s all I have for this week. Thanks for reading, and remember that whether you’re playing an established competitive piece, or experimenting with a Fringe figure, practice makes your team better.
