by Jay Solomon
Hello, and welcome to another iteration of Why Don’t I Play This Piece?. This week, I will be looking at the Kingdom Come based Super Rare prime, Harlequin from World’s Finest.
Harlequin has the Kingdom Come Team Ability, which reads:
KINGDOM COME – When this character would be hit by a range attack, if the attacker doesn’t have [Kingdom Come Team Ability Symbol], you may roll a d6. On a result of 5-6, this character evades the attack. Uncopyable.
This team ability is helpful for evading ranged attacks, which is especially useful for Harlequin as a range-based character.
Harlequin has one trait, which reads:
MURDEROUS JACK-IN-THE-BOX ON MY BACK: Give Harlequin a free action and place adjacent a Jack-in-the-Box bystander token printed on this card, then immediately give it an action as a free action. After actions resolve, remove that token from the game.
This ability is what makes Harlequin truly Prime worthy. The bystander has a 10-Attack with Blades/Claws/Fangs, and a 1-Damage with Ranged Combat Expert. The ability to make a bystander to make an attack every single turn in addition to Harlequin’s own attacks is amazing. In a 3 turn cycle, Harlequin and the pog can make up to 5 attacks, or 4 if Harlequin clears. The options that the pog has are also amazing. It can attack for 12-Attack and 1-Damage at range if you really need to hit, or 10-Attack and 3-Damage if you have Probability Control or are sure that you will be able to hit. The Blades option is similarly good, and can be a good gamble.
Harlequin also has a special attack power that she picks up in her late dial, which reads:
POP! GOES THE WEASEL: Harlequin can use Pulse Wave. When she does, once per game you may choose that her damage value becomes 3 and is locked and she can’t place Jack-in-the-Box tokens for the remainder of this game.
This is standard Pulse Wave, for the most part. In the late game, or if you fear that Harlequin will die anyhow, you can make it a locked 3-Damage Pulse Wave regardless of how many characters are hit. This combos well with Harlequin’s surprise 12-Attack value. It is also worth noting that nothing in the power prevents you from making a Jack-in-the-Box bystander before doing the Pulse Wave.
Overall, Harlequin is a consistent package that always has something to offer. She has Sidestep or Running Shot throughout the dial, as well as always having Penetrating/Psychic Blast or Pulse Wave. Her damage potential is both high and has options, taking the Jack-in-the-Box into account. Being able to attack every turn for a 90 point investment is quite effective.
Harlequin has 3 very useful keywords. She shares Arkham Asylum and Gotham City Underworld with other Batman villains, including some of the more recent additions in Joker’s Wild. She shares the Future keyword with the other Kingdom Come characters, and other competitive figures, such as Resurrection Man. Playing a theme team with her is viable, and the ATAs she has access to are usable as well:
The Arkham Asylum ATA will either give Harlequin more mobility, or give her Plasticity to better stay out of adjacency, which is where she wants to be.
The Mob ATA will help keep Harlequin alive, using Gotham City Underworld generics as mastermind fodder.
90 WF053B Harlequin
-4 ATA073 Arkham Asylum
140 JW059 The Joker
-4 ATA073 Arkham Asylum
50 JW060V The Joker
-4 ATA073 Arkham Asylum
6 SFSMS101 Symbiote
2 AVASS100 Pym Particles
300
The team that I’ve made for Harlequin includes the Symbiote object for Harlequin, to give her Shape Change to go with her Super Senses and KC rollout. The Pym Particles will go on HAHAHA Joker to make him tiny, so Camera Joker can carry him around for Mastermind. Harlequin will be the more aggressive piece, using the bystander to harass your opponents while she and Chair Joker make the big attacks. The Arkham Asylum ATA will help Chair Joker’s mobility, allowing him to Leap/Climb or Phasing/Teleport through terrain to get into Stealth. Plasticity also goes well with his Poison and Sidestep. Plasticity on HAHAHA Joker will make him even more annoying on the 10/12 clicks that he doesn’t have it.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article, and remember that when playing the established competitive stuff or a Fringe figure, practice makes your team better.
