by Jay Solomon
Hello, and welcome to another iteration of “Why Don’t I Play This Piece?”. This week, I will be focusing my attention on Batman’s smartest foe, the Super Rare Riddler from Joker’s Wild.
While this version of The Riddler isn’t as immediately scary as the Limited Edition Edward Nigma from Arkham Asylum, he has some intimidating tricks of his own! He has one team ability and two traits:
BATMAN ENEMY – Characters using the Batman Enemy team ability may replace their attack value with the unmodified attack value of an adjacent friendly character using the Batman Enemy team ability.
This Riddler will be able to share his attack values with other Batman Enemies or wild cards. While The Riddler’s Attack values to lend out are average for his points, he will be able to borrow a better value for attacking, if and when that happens. The team ability will also be used to pull off one of his main tricks with one of the traits:
THIS IS HOW I DEAL WITH THE BAT: Once per turn for all characters with this trait, if a character uses the Batman Enemy team ability to replace its attack value with The Riddler’s, after actions resolve, that character can use Outwit until your next turn, but only to target one hit target.
This trait will essentially hand out a use of Outwit to a Batman Enemy or a wild card that borrows Riddler’s attack value and hits. I should note here that like all other “team ability+” traits like A Simpler Time and the like, the other character does not have to use The Riddler’s printed value. Instead, if they have a higher value than him, they can lend their value back and borrow it back to gain the benefit. With the change to Outwit under the new rules, Outwit will be even more useful and important, so the more of it you have on the team, the better. Adding an Outwit on top of a successful attack is even better.
I’LL GIVE YOU A HINT, BAT-BRAIN: The Riddler begins the game with the Clue attached. Give The Riddler a free action to either: reattach the Clue to The Riddler -or- choose an opposing character within 6 squares and line of fire, detach the Clue and place it in a clear, unoccupied square within 6 squares of that character and when you do, choose a standard power and the target can’t use that power until an opposing character moves into or through the square with the Clue or the Clue is reattached to The Riddler.
This trait is what makes the Riddler so playable on the competitive level. Like Peggy Carter and Nick Fury, The Riddler has a “can’t use” mechanic. This one will allow him to shut off a standard power by placing his attached Clue on the map. If you are on the right map or position your characters properly, you could make it so that your opponent will not be able to move into or through the Clue’s square, preventing them from shutting off the can’t use effect. It should be noted that Stealth can stop The Riddler from using the trait, but there are some ways to get around that in modern, such as some ID card inspirations that give Improved Targeting: Ignores Hindering Terrain.
As far as the dial goes, there’s not as much going on, but The Riddler does also have Outwit on his dial as well, adding to his utility. Overall, The Riddler gives so much value for his points. For 50 points, he adds up to 2 uses of Outwit to your team, as well as the can’t use effect. On the keyword front, Gotham City Underworld isn’t a somewhat playable keyword, with some of the pieces that are included in its ranks, such as prime Harlequin (who I wrote about here), both Fast Forces and Super Rare Penguin, and 059 The Joker. It is a keyword worth considering. However, for this article, I’ve decided to go off theme for the team I’ve made:
50 JW051 The Riddler
125 WKMP16-004 Punisher Van
10 WKMP16-004B Weapons Dial
50 ADW030 Punisher
35 DXF019 Dr. Killebrew
30 WF036 Toymaster
300
Sideline: ADW 009 Punisher, 7 WKMP16-S110 Rocket Launcher, 6 WKMP16-S111Gatling Gun, 4 WKMP16-S113 Surveillance Device, 3 WKMP16-S103 Flash Bomb, 3 WKMP16-S104 Molotov Cocktail, 3 WKMP16-S107 First Aid Kit, 4 WKMP16-S108 Sniper Rifle
This team combines a bunch of seemingly random characters together to make full effect of what they each do as a surprisingly effective unit. The Punisher’s ability to choose to be a wild card with his Marvel Knights trait will help him get the Outwit from Riddler as well as to potentially use one of Toymaster’s two useful team abilities. The minimum 10-Attack option can also be useful against Bizarro Green Arrow, should he pop up, letting Punisher not worry about his combat values being affected by the Bizarro Ranged Combat Expert special power. Toymaster is there to give the attack bonus for Doctor Killebrew’s Unique Modifier as well as to use Support with a +1 to the healing on the Punisher Van, which has the Armor keyword to qualify for it. The Punisher Van’s dial length and lack of click numbers will be especially annoying with Support to add even more clicks of life to it. This team will be able to help Riddler with his Can’t Use trait, as the Surveillance Device will allow him to ignore hindering terrain for line or fire and therefore Stealth. Giving him one of the weapons can also allow him to be an attacker himself, such as by giving him the Rocket Launcher. On this team, both Punisher and Riddler can be hitting for 5 damage dealt thanks to Doctor Killebrew.
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading, and remember that when whether you’re playing the established competitive pieces or a fringe figure, practice makes your team better.
