Top 10 Figures in the Modern Age ROC Limited Format

 

 

 

 

 By Kevin Afrooz

 

With the new ROC format in full swing and our very own Patrick Yapjoco placing 1st at the first ROC Super Qualifier of the 2016 ROC Cup Season I figure it’s time we begin to predict the top 10 pieces that will show up on most Top 16 teams. The pieces I will be looking at vary from support pieces, secondary attackers to main attackers. Most of the time I will be listing the pieces in order and although one piece may rank higher than another it does not necessarily mean that the higher ranked piece will outright beat a lower ranked piece. It just means that a higher ranked figure on the Top 10 list has a more devastating power set or ability than the, or may appear more frequently, than a lower ranked figure, but may lose outright to a lower ranked figure, if there is proper support and a team built around it. With that said let’s look at the figure in 10th place:

10. RICK JONES or MAXIMUS

 
I place the two of them in the same spot because they are the same points and do nearly the same things and become a preference between damage verse versatility.

• More attackers. Both of these pieces bring pieces from outside of the game and allow for some really great secondary attackers. Rick Jones starts with Captain America who can tie up and damage just about everything really well. Maximus brings in the Alpha Primitives which have Super Strength and Empower. It comes down to a preference of if you need to deal more than 3-Damage on a consistent basis or not. If so, play Maximus otherwise Rick Jones has more versatility.

• Both pieces have the ability to perplex if a contingency is met. With Maximus the figure being perplexed needs to be an Inhuman, and with Rick Jones he needs to be on click 2 to gain the power.

• Both figures are perfect support pieces because they can use Telekinesis to fling out the main attacker and allow for the first strike. Maximus loses it after pushing off of his first click, but has a super Outwit, whereas Rick has Telekinesis throughout half of his dial, but never gets Outwit.

• Mind Control. Both of these figures can use Mind Control. Rick has three bolts and 10-Range whereas Maximus has a “super” Mind Control that increases his target’s attack the closer he is to them when using it.

• Secondary Attacker / Support. Don’t think of these pieces as just support to the figures that they bring into the game they can truly change the tide of battle all on their own with Rick Jones triple bolt Mind Control or Psychic Blast at 10-Range, and Maximus gets Pulse Wave later in his dial.

 

9. ATOMICA (Fast Forces)
   

 

 

 

 

 

• CSA Team ability. For those of you who don’t know the CSA Team ability here it is: “Characters using the Crime Syndicate team ability can use Probability Control. When a roll is ignored because of this team ability an action token must be placed on a friendly character on the battlefield or the roll is not ignored.” This means that Atomica, who has the team ability can use Probability Control as long as she is within 6 of the attacker and can then place the token that is needed for her use of Probability Control on any friendly character no matter where they are on the board, whether or not they have the team ability. The team ability essentially gives Probability Control to a character that normally shouldn’t have Probability Control.

• Tiny size. Being tiny size means that you can carry around Atomica with your main attacker and not have to decrease your speed while doing so. Having a Probability Control that essentially always sticks with or is in the vicinity of the attacker is amazing.

• What’s more annoying than having Probability Control on a tiny size character? Plasticity also being on that character. With the new size rule changes all that happens between normal size characters trying to break away from Atomica is that they get a +1 to their breakaway roll, but she still gives a -2 with Plasticity. Essentially a normal size character with no other enhancers to breakaway rolls would succeed only on a 5 or 6. That’s a 1/3rd chance to succeed and never worth it unless extremely necessary. Even better is the fact that Plasticity makes it to where Atomica cannot be ignored for movement purposes unless they ignore characters entirely on movement which means that she can plug up holes and stop an opposing figure from using Hypersonic Speed to hit her.

• It’s not like even if the opposing character could attack Atomica they would hit. This tiny champion starts with a 19-Defense, with PC to back it up in case they hit. The fact that she’s also tiny size makes her have a 20-Defense from Ranged attacks.

• Point Cost. If all of this wasn’t good enough she’s only 25 points. For 25 points you can play 1 of 4 things: S.H.I.E.L.D. Space Rig, Lockjaw, Atomica, or Bizarro. I don’t know about you but I always need Probability Control on my team, so unless one of my other figures has Probability Control I’m going to choose Atomica over Lockjaw or Bizarro at all times.

 

8. COPYCAT

 

 

 

 

 

• INFILTRATE MY ENEMIES. When talking about antagonizing your opponent there is nothing more agonizing than having your team synergy messed up by Copycat taking a great piece like Rick Jones or Maximus. Any time I play Copycat I fill my sideline with pieces I figure I’ll be taking like Alpha Primitives if I pull a Maximus, or Giant Man / Wasp if I get an Ant-man.
• Shape Change. This power is the sole reason why people almost give up on trying getting their piece back once Copycat has swapped. As the Shape Change is a trait it can’t be Outwitted and it is very difficult to ignore Shape Change. It is interesting to note that if you Pulse Wave and KO Copycat, the re-swap doesn’t happen as it is ignored during Pulse Wave. It is for this reason that when playing Copycat I almost always play a Pulse Wave attacker on the same team.

• Copy of Powers. Being able to copy a friendly character’s standard power makes it to where sometimes you may not want to swap Copycat as you may be exchanging for a Despotellis and can just choose to copy your friendly Nick Fury’s Probability Control instead.

• Actionable Swap. A good Copycat player will control when the swap is occurring. If possible you want to have your opponent deal damage to their own piece while Copycat is at top click then swap back and KO the now opposing swapped piece, then use Copycat to Exploit or tie-up their main attacker.

• Know the rules. This isn’t so much a positive but something that is necessary if you wish to play Copycat. You need to know that when swapping figures you can’t place the new friendly piece in a vehicle, when you swap back you just change control and keep the amount of tokens on each piece, you can’t roll Shape Change any longer when someone is Pulse Waving, the Errata to her swap as well as the difference between beginning of game and before placing.

 

7. KYLE RAYNER

 

 

 

 

 

• I CAN BE EVERYWHERE I NEED TO BE. Without entities or constructs you would think that Kyle would be useless but this power alone still makes him a formidable piece. The best thing about the Duo Attack is that Kyle gets to place anywhere within 6 squares prior to attacking. Along with his 9 range you basically can’t escape from him.

• Stop Click. You can’t talk about Kyle’s Duo Attack ability without bringing up the fact that he has a stop click which puts him on it. Having a 19-Defense on this stop click means that most people are going to have to hit him to it with their secondary attacker and then have their main attacker attempt to hit him past it. With the stop click giving Kyle the Quintessence team ability, the opponent needs to have his attack hit Kyle off of his stop click and past the Duo Attack ability because he can’t Outwit it.

• Perplex. Most people don’t see Kyle’s Perplex on top click as being anything amazing however I would argue that this Perplex is just as important as his stop click because it allows for him to either have a 12-Attack in order to hit, a 19-Defense to make him harder to hit, or a 10-Range if necessary to outrange some of the longer range pieces like Nick Fury.

• Can pilot a vehicle. With vehicles being back in Modern what better character to pilot a vehicle than Kyle Rayner who, when the vehicle is KO’d, can instantly pop out on his stop click. Better yet, you can continuously increase the Sky-cycles attack by +2 with its power and attempt to roll the “1” necessary to put Kyle on his stop click when your opponent may not want him on it.

• 7 clicks and a Stop Click. With 7 clicks of health and a stop click Kyle may be expensive at 180 points but he isn’t going down without a fight. It generally takes more attacks than an opposing team can muster to kill Kyle in one turn, so as long as you play smart you can keep the upper hand and make them fear things like you using Support on him when he gets hit past his stop click.

 

6. FANTOMEX

 

 

 

 

 

• V.A. The one thing everyone hates when going up against this piece is his beloved ship E.V.A. With a token that flies, has 8-Movement, 17-Defense with Super Senses, and Outwit all for 0 points you will wish that Wizkids had made this bystander worth 3 points per KO. The best part about E.V.A. is that Fantomex can shoot through her with his 5-Range essentially making him have a Running Shot of 13 squares (8 + 5) without ever having to move out of the starting area, and that each new iteration of E.V.A is considered a new character so you can never keep her bogged down by just using Outwit.

• MASTER THIEF AND MISDIRECTION. If it wasn’t good enough that Fantomex can shoot through E.V.A. he also has his own Running Shot which means when she’s across the map you can’t just hop past her and think that you’re now safe from Fantomex. He’s also incredibly hard to hit with his Shape Change and Stealth. That, along with his Super Senses means that you have to account for all kinds of “evading” on his end.

• ROOFTOP RUNNER. By having the ability to ignore Elevated and Hindering Terrain for movement Fantomex doesn’t just have to sit in the back. He can move out to the front lines if necessary. He also has an amazing way of getting away from opposing characters by being carried by E.V.A. or just running away while ignoring elevated terrain to places where a non-flyer can’t chase after him.

• Range Combat Expert. Normally people look to play a character that can penetrate defenses, but with Fantomex you have E.V.A. who can Outwit that defense and then increase his damage plus attack with a support piece like Weasel making him do 6-Damage straight through. Currently this format doesn’t have a lot of people playing Power Cosmic or Quintessence pieces and the majority of pieces being played don’t even have reducers like Banshee or Nighthawk prime, which makes using Range Combat Expert in this format over say Psychic Blast a better choice.

• 7 Clicks of health. With E.V.A. giving Fantomex Toughness and his 7 clicks of life, most opposing figure can’t just KO him in one turn. He has the ability to retaliate then run away with E.V.A. making Fantomex the ultimate guerilla warfare piece in Heroclix.

 

5. NICK FURY “Balls of Fury”

 

 

 

 

 

• WATCHER’S EYES TO SEE SECRETS. Without having the ability to play entities or resources in this format any power that essentially let’s you do just that is OVERPOWERED. This power is just like the Orange Power Batteries Emotional Spectrum and allows Nick Fury to turn off things on opposing figures that normally can’t be turned off. Examples include turning off a defense power that Super Skrull chose with his trait, Mxy’s Pulse Wave (even though he has Quintessence), etc.

• Improved Targeting. Nick Fury is prepared for everything and it only makes sense that he can use the Watcher’s Eyes power through all forms of terrain, minus Blocking terrain. The ability to target a character through Hindering, Elevated, and Characters, along with a range of 9 makes Nick Fury the ultimate sniper.

• COSMIC ASSASSIN, GUARDIAN OF EARTH. Not only does this power give Nick Fury a trait Shape Change but it also allows him to truly cripple the highest point opposing figure by increasing his Attack and Damage by +1, and making the damage penetrating. The only other figure with a 12-Attack and 4-Damage that is penetrating for 120 points or less is 208-Ronan the Accuser, but he doesn’t have Improved Targeting or the Watcher’s Eyes.

• Probability Control. Having Probability Control on this piece is huge because you can now choose to play some other support piece that doesn’t need to have Probability Control to increase Nick Fury’s damage even further. With a 9 range and the ability to ignore just about everything with Improved Targeting not a lot of pieces are going to hit Nick Fury without him having the ability to Probability Control the attack and eventually hit back.

• The biggest problem a main attacker always faces is not being able to cripple the opposing figure enough that they just can’t retaliate. Thankfully most figures don’t ignore Stealth. Nick Fury with proper placement can shoot through terrain while staying safe in Hindering Terrain that will possibly stop non-fliers from reaching him with a Hypersonic or Charge, and range attackers from seeing him.

 

4. MR. MXYZPTLK (Mxy for short)

 

 

 

 

 

• MESSING AROUND WITH THE ODDS. Ever had an impossible shot that you knew you weren’t going to make because you had to roll a 10+? Even with Probability Control the statistics are just so low that the attack may not be worth it, but with Mxy you suddenly control your own fate. Where Scarlet Witch dominated the scene for a bit because she could skew the result Mxy has the same chaotic nature and can change any re-rollable die with the one that is on his card making him the biggest annoyance in Heroclix to date. Just wait till he changes your attack roll from a 6 and 1 to snake eyes!

• ULTRAAA PULSE WAVE! Mxy is best on his 2nd click because of his Pulse Wave power. For those familiar with Magic: the Gathering this power is “Time Walk” and just as dreadful. If Mxy succeeds in his Pulse Wave, which he most certainly will with a free die change and a 10-Attack, he can then put up to 2 action tokens on all opposing characters and not put any on friendly figures inside the area of effect. The Pulse Wave also deals no damage but with 2 tokens and Pulse Wave ignoring powers it’s basically the same as dealing 1 to all hit characters that you want to choose because they can’t ignore the pushing damage while Pulse Wave is in effect.

• Choosing sizes within 3 squares. With the size rule changes that were announced by Wizkids as Mxy was introduced into the game this ability allows non-fliers to ignore terrain, and people who may not ignore elevation for shooting to suddenly do so when they are turned into either Giants or Colossals. It also allows for figures to be easier to carry out of the fray by turning them Tiny. Really the combinations with this power are endless, but I would recommend using him with someone like 3-D Man who could now traverse over all types of terrain and properly Hypersonic Speed onto his victim.

• Quintessence Team Ability. A team ability like Quintessence is hard to find on pieces in this format and to have it on a piece that can stop a whole team dead in their tracks for 3 turns by using the Pulse Wave power means that Mxy doesn’t have to worry about ever having that power or any other power Outwitted.

• Free Action Phasing/Teleport. This power at first seems like a terrible thing that will rarely be used, but if you choose to pick Mxy with his size change power and turn him into a Colossal then use Colossal Stamina you can do a 3rd Pulse Wave then free action to Phasing/Teleport away to a safe place where he can clear without worrying about the opposing force potentially Side-Stepping and Poisoning him.

 

3. SUPER SKRULL (ZOMBIE)

 

 

 

 

 

• IT’S HARD TO EMULATE FOUR POWERS WITH HALF MY LIMBS. There is a reason why Super Skrull dominated this format last year, and it is all thanks to this trait. Normally no one would play a character that costs 170 points but when you get to choose any 4 powers like Running Shot + Pulse Wave + Invincible + Probability Control, or Hyper Sonic + Super Strength + Invincible + Probability Control you know you’ve got a piece that will dominate against all other pieces as the Ultimate Main Attacker. He has no equal in this format and copycats like Engineer or Vartox just aren’t as good as the Zombified Alien Super-Soldier.

• He’s the best zombie chase out there and the most expensive to acquire on the secondary market. By being a zombie he basically can never die unless the opposing team has Pulse Wave or enough attackers to KO him and then do another 10-Damage if he had 5 food tokens and Invincible chosen as a power. This Zombie is truly undying.

• 8 Clicks of Life. He is 8 clicks of health with half of his dial having Poison so he can easily gain Zombie tokens even while pushed. He also has Perplex on half of his dial so it leaves you open to choose generally Probability Control or Outwit for his damage power.

• Skrulls Team Ability. For those unfamiliar with the Skrulls team ability it is a Shape Change roll without actually being Shapechange and only succeeds on a 6. If you are playing against someone like a Banshee or a White Witch you may be better off to choose Shape Change + have the Skrulls Shapechange added on top so you can attempt 2 rolls to succeed on that special die roll of evasiveness.

• Improved Movement. With the ability to ignore characters for movement you can never be tied down and can just have a support piece TK Super Skrull into the front lines without worrying about if they hit you or not because you are 8 clicks of health and able to catch them no matter where they go on the map. I truly love being able to base a whole team while doing Running Shot + Pulse Wave and then next turn using his Sidestep if they hit me to put myself in a better position and Poison as much of the opposing team as I can before doing another Pulse Wave.

 

2. BANSHEE

 

 

 

 

 

• Running Shot + Psychic Blast = 14. With a 11-Movement being cut in half for Running Shot to 6 and an 8-Range adding onto that there is no other piece in this format that can outrange Banshee by themselves.

• Improved Targeting. If the range isn’t crazy enough for most people to want to play him his ability to shoot through Hindering + Elevated terrain makes it to where he can shoot while out of harm’s way. He also ignores any weird Stealth teams and has the ability to hit those hard to hit pieces like Fantomex from a good distance away.

• IT’S GOING TO GET A LITTLE LOUD. The best thing about Banshee is the fact that if the opposing character is within 6 squares of Banshee then they can’t use Super Senses or defensive reducers and replace their defense reducer like Invincible with Toughness instead. He doesn’t have to have a line of fire to the opposing character and gets to increase his damage by +1 to any character that is affected by this power. With this ability you can have pieces that normally couldn’t do very much damage to a character with a defense power like Impervious just demolish that piece. I love combining Banshee with Maximus so the Alpha Primitives that get summoned in from Maximus’s trait can start doing 5-Damage with a Heavy Object to opposing characters.

• Pulse Wave. Ever been hit for 3 damage and cried because your main attacker just turned into the worst figure on the board with their new stats? Well not Banshee. He drops from Psychic Blast into Pulse Wave and if it wasn’t crazy enough with his ignoring terrain he can now Double Power Action to also ignore Blocking Terrain. He’s officially ignoring everything on the board that can stop him when he uses Pulse Wave.

• -100 points. Banshee is less than 100 points. He totals in at 98 points and has the PD as well as X-Men team abilities. Why he’s not a Prime is beyond me, but he is both your primary attacker and your support for just 1/3 of the total team build. I’d take that over any other combination in this format like a Weasel + Cerise, or Nighthawk Prime + Bizarro.

 

1. AVENGER’S SKY-CYCLE + ULTRON DRONE (6-ARM)

 

 

 

 

 

*DISCLAIMER* I’m sorry guys. I hate to have the 1st place piece technically be a two piece combo but what do you exactly call a transformer that has two separate bodies linked together, Captain Planet? This combo is so devastating that I’m willing to overlook the technicality of it being two separate pieces and consider this a single piece formation because the drone goes into the Sky-cycle and dies if the Sky-cycle ever dies. *DISCLAIMER*

• 80 point (30 + 50) Running Shot, Pulse Wave, Outwit, with 6-Range, 11-Attack, and 3-Damage. There is no other piece in Modern that does this for 80 points or less.

• 6 clicks of health. With the Sky-cycle being a vehicle it has a lot of health for what it does. Having 6 clicks with the same stats no matter what click it is on because it just free actions to take the Attack, Damage, and Range values from the 6-Arm Ultron means that this Sky-Cycle is a new, better version of an old robot like M-11 (yeah, go look that up!).

• A special that’s called “UNBELIEVABLE UPSIDE-DOWN SHOT” and means it. You get +2 to an already 11-Attack, making it a 13-Attack to hit and potentially kill those hard to hit pieces like Despotellis with his natural 20-Defense. Only needing to roll a 7 to hit compared to a 9 as those stats kids know is almost 2x as likely to hit the luck 7’s.

• Can Carry 1 passenger, ignoring their speed symbol, and ignoring the -2 to speed for the Carry. This means that I can now carry that flyer along with a Tiny character and not have to reduce my speed while doing so. Have an Enhancer and a Main attacker that’s pushed, Carry both while doing a Running Shot and don’t worry about that speed depreciation.

• 80 points tertiary attacker. This means that the Sky-cycle + drone combo which is an effective main attacker costs the same amount as a secondary attacker. Just picture having 2 on your team. With the ability to technically Outwit twice, if you pop 6-arm Ultron out of the bike after using the bike’s Outwit which is given through Ultron, having a Flurry figure for those hard to hit Energy Shield figures and having the Avengers Team ability which makes the Sky-Cycles movement free towards your overall actions in a turn, I don’t see one bad thing about this combo.

When looking at all of these figures I realize that a Top 10 list isn’t enough as honorable mentions include Ant-Man, Red Tornado, Blind Al, White Witch, etc. The Limited format really is a rock, paper, scissors, bazooka kind of format and there are still teams and ideas that are being tested. Hopefully this weekend we will see a new team that doesn’t use any of these pieces win the Tulsa Super Qualifier. Until then keep testing and post your comments on what you believe the top 10 figures in this format are.