by Jay Solomon
Hello, and welcome to another iteration of Why Don’t I Play This Piece?. This week, I’ll be taking a look at a colossal retaliator who doesn’t see as much play as he should. This week, I’ll be looking at TMTG002 Ymir. I’m only going to be looking at Ymir’s Colossal Retaliation point value, as the other values are either unplayable in competitive due to being high in points, or due to not being relevant/good enough.
Ymir has a trait, two special powers, and also has the Power Cosmic team ability, which reads:
Willpower. This character has PROTECTED: Outwit. Uncopyable.
Willpower could be relavant for Ymir, whether for carrying, moving after using Colossal Retaliation, or for doing RANGE Destroy Actions, with his 8-Range and 4-Damage. The PROTECTED: Outwit is not useless, since it will prevent his retaliation (the only important power) from being Outwitted.
(Trait) VULNERABLE TO FIRE: Characters that can use Energy Explosion modify their damage +1 when attacking Ymir.
This trait won’t matter much in competitive play, since Energy Explosion is uncommon in competitive play. Regardless, even if it is being used, the damage from Energy Explosion will still be 2, and Ymir only has Toughness at his lowest, colossal retaliation point value.
(Movement Special Power) COLOSSAL RETALIATION: BRING FORTH THE ICE REALM: FREE: If no other Colossal Retaliation power has been activated this turn, choose an opposing character that attacked Ymir or damaged a friendly character since your last turn. Place Ymir such that he can make a close attack targeting the chosen character and all other opposing characters within 4 squares and line of fire, then do so. Instead of normal damage, give each hit character two action tokens that don’t deal pushing damage.
This colossal retaliation power is (like most other retaliators) the main reason why Ymir is incredible. Being able to hand out action tokens to all other opposing characters within 4 squares and line is simply incredible, regardless of these tokens not dealing pushing damage. You either give yourself what is essentially a free turn, or force your opponent’s team to spread out, possibly affecting their strategy. Also, while giving your opponent’s characters multiple tokens is always good, it synergizes particularly well with some other often used characters who share keywords with Ymir, including Carnage and Groot, specifically to allow their bystanders more chances at attacking.
(Defense Special Power) COLOSSAL INDIFFERENCE: STOP. Toughness. If Ymir began the game on the 25 point starting line, he can’t attack smaller characters except via Colossal Retaliation.
This is a common power to see on colossal retaliators. When played competitively, as a colossal retaliator, it will prevent Ymir from normally attacking smaller characters, although he can still attack other colossal characters with his 4-Damage, or be shrunk by other game effects to otherwise attack normally, such as by Wasp, Heart of the Avengers. The Toughness is also not irrelevant here, thanks to STOP giving it Protected: Pulse Wave (as well as Protected Outwit, but Ymir already has Power Cosmic). Pulse Wave isn’t uncommon right now, whether picked by Lockjaw or via an Iceman call-in, so Ymir being unable to be KO’d by a multi-target Pulse Wave is important (outside of a critical hit being rolled).
Overall, Ymir does a lot, and warrants being mentioned among the likes of the other well-known Monster keyworded colossal retaliators, such as Carnage, Surtur, and Groot. The Ruler keyword is also quite decent now, with the aforementioned Surtur, Groot, Shredder Clone, Mephisto, and the new Starro. While Ymir is not necessarily the absolute best colossal retaliator, he is still up there, and should see more play, at least in my opinion. It’s hard to be the best in a league that includes Carnage and Groot. I’ve made two different teams with Ymir, both of which do different things.
100 WKDP18-009 The Joker
10 JW003a The Joker Thug
50 JW066 Bizarro Green Arrow
-4 TMTS102 Asgardian Shield
25 TMTG001 Surtur
25 TMTG002 Ymir
10 TMTG004 Carnage
20 AIG025 Groot
30 UND002 Dr. Frankenstein
3 XXSXID-006 All-New Wolverine
3 XXSXID-010 Chamber
5 XXSXID-021 Emma Frost
5 XXSXID-018 Cyclops
5 XXSXID-025 Wolverine
5 WKMVID-012 Professor X
300
Sideline: XXS036 All-New Wolverine, XXS041 Chamber, XXS059b White Queen, XXS052 Cyclops, XXS053 Wolverine, XXS037a Professor X, BTAS072 Firestorm, BTAS073 Hawkgirl, EW041 Sinestro
The point of this team is to have a primary character who is hard to deal with and KO, while all the Monster keyworded retaliators present a threat that can’t be forgotten about, even making your opponent have to consider whether they want to attack your bystanders. Having theme to choose a map such as the Star Trek Underground Caverns can protect your retaliators, while also forcing your opponent to get in closer to Joker, for the 3 square Poison. Carnage and Groot will provide Mastermind fodder for The Joker, while Bizarro Green Arrow will take any range hits for the Joker and his posse, including from the Mind Controlling non-prime Professor X, who normally counters Mastermind effectively. Ymir’s handing out tokens will give The Joker plenty of opportunity to deal Poison damage, and the two Leaderships will keep the bystanders clear of tokens.
130 SFSM 046 Mephisto
75 TMNT3 023 Shredder Clone
+ 10 TMNT3 023 Ocean Resurrection
20 AI G025 Groot
25 TMT G002 Ymir
20 WKDP18-001 Starro
5 WKMVID-012 Professor X
5 XXSXID-025 Wolverine
3 XXSXID-018 Cyclops
3 XXSXID-020 Jean Grey
3 XXSXID-010 Chamber
299
Sideline: TMNT3 035 Shark Shredder, XXS 037a Professor X, XXS 037b Professor X, XXS 053 Wolverine, XXS 052 Cyclops, XXS 063 Cyclops, XXS 065 Jean Grey, XXS 041 Chamber, BTAS 072 Firestorm
This second, Ruler themed team also has somewhat of a focus on maximising bystanders, but from a different direction. Both of the main attackers on this team are also hard to deal with and KO, but they also both punish the opponent for keeping them alive, due to Shredder Elite damage in Shredder Clone’s case, or for leaving Mephisto with his Unseen Manipulator power, as well as Perplex to buff call-ins. Mephisto also provides Probability Control to call-ins and bystanders, while healing when they KO (if he’s taken damage to begin with). Both retaliators (not including Groot) were chosen to disrupt opposing strategies as much as possible, whether it’s Mind Controlling (and therefore moving) opposing characters in Starro’s case, or handing out action tokens in Ymir’s.
That’s all I have for this week. Thanks for reading, and always remember that whether you’re playing the established competitive game elements, or a fringe piece, remember that practice makes your team better.
