Team Tactics – Why Don’t I Play This Piece? – Skurge – Jay Solomon

Majestix - Team List

Jay Solomon by Jay Solomon

Hello, and welcome to another iteration of Why Don’t I Play This Piece? This week, I’m turning my spotlight to a specific iteration of an overlooked character we got in The Mighty Thor. This week’s article is on the prime Skurge, during his last stand at Gjallerbru!

Skurge has one trait and two special powers:

I WILL STAY BEHIND AND THE LAST LAUGH WILL BE MINE: FREE: Once per game, generate a Last Laugh marker in the square Skurge occupies. As long as Skurge occupies the square with the Last Laugh marker, he modifies defense +2, takes a maximum of 1 damage from attacks, and can’t be moved or placed by opposing characters.

This trait is what makes Skurge prime worthy. Once you’ve set him up in a good position, he’ll be incredibly hard to kill, thanks to the +2 to Defense as well as the only being able to take one damage from attacks at a time. I should also point out that this part of the trait kicks in after reducers. The not being able to be moved or placed by opposing characters also helps, although he can be Mind Controlled to move out of the square. However, Pulse Wave can ignore this whole trait, although it isn’t the most common power right now.

WHEN YOU ARE NEXT IN ASGARD, LAUGH SKURGE’S LAST LAUGH TOGETHER: STOP. FREE: Deal Skurge 1 unavoidable damage and heal a friendly character 3 clicks.

On top of only being able to be hit for one click at a time, Skurge also has a STOP click, which coincides with him having an 18-Defense again, so 20 in the Last Laugh marker square.  The STOP will also protect against Pulse Wave somewhat.

‘TIS SKURGE’S LAST LAUGH: Close Combat Expert, Ranged Combat Expert.

This power helps Skurge deal damage out, as well as keep his options open for close or ranged combat. Taking this power into account, his offensive stats are good, or at least decent across the dial.

Overall, Skurge is a hard character to deal with, although he does have some weaknesses. The Last Laugh marker does force him to stay in one square, so that can leave him vulnerable on certain maps, such as ones with a lot of walls or blocking terrain. The Last Laugh marker effects can be ignored by Pulse Wave, although it is thankfully not that common. Finally, in general, Nighthawk prime prevents Skurge from using his modifier-based effects, so he can’t be nearly as effective. I feel like Skurge will be a better play in the future, once Nighthawk is gone, but he is still worth considering, if only as an ID card battery, which is what I have done with the team for him:

125 TMT029B Skurge
-25 SMWW063 Brainiac
65 TMT002 Loki
– 10 God of Trickery optional trait
25 TMTG001 Surtur
15 FFNFAOS099 H.E.N.R.Y.
5 WFR100 Justice League Teleporter
-5 WFWFID-020 Nightwing
-5 NFAOSNFID-007 S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 7
-5 WFWFID-004 Green Arrow
-5 WFWFID-001 Superman
-5 WKDCID-004 Lex Luthor
WKDP17-008 Boxing Ring
300

Sideline:  WKD15-008 Nightwing, WKMP17-004 Captain America, ADW067 Hawkeye, NFAOS052 Hulk, NFAOS056 Nick Fury, EW049 Green Arrow, SMWW041a Superman Blue, WF017A Superman, HQ066 Lex Luthor, God of Apokolips

The idea here is to use Skurge as an ID battery, while also maximising how much the Teleporter dial will turn. The Lokis serve two purposes here, being to serve as annoying 0 point characters that will die to turn the Teleporter, as well as to bring the total initiative roll bonus up to 5, thanks to the two 0 point Lokis counting towards the number of characters on the team. As far as ID cards go, it’s mostly the usual, with the newer option of Lex Luthor, God of Apokolips as the Power 3 call-in. His inspiration will also be great for the Teleporter’s power 2, to give to the Lokis, making them an even bigger annoyance. There are two different options for characters to replace the 65 point Loki, depending on the matchup. Earth X Captain America’s Leadership will be able to pull tokens off Skurge and both Lokis, as well as protect Skurge from Mind Control, to prevent opponents from using it to move him out of the Last Laugh marker.  If the opponent has Jakeem Thunder or another Pulse Wave option, you have Superman Blue. The positioning for this team will have Skurge on the edge of the Boxing Ring, so as to be able to call in characters just outside of it. Between Skurge’s +2 to Defense from the Last Laugh marker and the -2 to opponents shooting into the Boxing Ring, he’ll be at an (essentially) 22-Defense on his first click.

That’s all I have for this week. Thanks for reading, and remember that whether you’re playing the established competitive figures, or an unknown Fringe figure, practice makes your team better.