by Tom Kerr
R O Canada
A Heroclix Play In Two Acts
PROLOGUE
I’ll ask you please to pardon my pretense
In writing this report as if it were
A play. You see, this choice makes much more sense
If you know me (hello, my name’s Tom Kerr)
And know that I’m a thespian by day.
And now that that’s resolved, on with the play!
SETTING
The first ever ROC Canada Cup ran on August 6-7 at 401 Games in Toronto, Ontario. Great organizers, great judges and a great venue made for a great experience, with the first day consisting of five Swiss rounds and a cut to the Top 16, followed by a blow-off Brown Bag “sealed” tournament, and leading into day two where the top 16 played single elimination alongside a variety of side events. 31 people made the trek to compete in the tournament, and several others came out for the side events. Thanks to the passion and hard work of all involved, the whole thing ran so smoothly that it’s amazing to think that this was the first event of its kind in the city.
Perhaps a brief word on the competitive environment of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) would be valuable. The Heroclix community is large and passionate, and there are several venues within and near the city that run regular events. However, comparatively few people frequent multiple venues, meaning that rather than a single base player group defining the local metagame, the GTA contains multiple independent pockets of players and priorities. Furthermore, the larger Canadian Heroclix community seems to be pride itself on uniqueness and originality in building – perhaps a natural extension of the very Canadian tendency to define ourselves as much by what we aren’t than by what we are.
All in all, this climate makes it difficult to predict what sort of tech might show up to large tournaments. On this particular weekend, there were only 2 Quinjet builds, only 2 Lex Luthor + Atomicas builds, no massive robot swarms and no Krang+Juston Seyfert+Baxter Stockman builds. Instead, there was a wild mix of alpha strikers, balance builds, retaliation builds, don’t die-tech, swarms, John Cena builds (“U Can’t See Me!”), and more. As ever, the Canadian Heroclix scene is unpredictable, and the only reliable part of Nationals-level play this side of the border has been the tendency for Americans to win the events. Would the pattern hold? Read on…
CAST OF CHARACTERS
My team consisted of the following:
Mary Marvel 150
Nighthawk 65
FF Jean Grey 50
Justice League Teleporter 35
-Captain America, S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 7, Thor, Batman, Green Arrow, Iron Man
Sideline: 250/200 Steve Rogers, 150/75 SR Captain America, 120 SR Nick Fury, 200/100 AoU Thor, 150/100 AoUFF Thor, 145 SR Thor, 150/85 TW Batman, 135 TWGF Green Arrow, 150/100 AoUFF Iron Man
The basic strategy for the team is simple: Jean Grey uses a free action to TK Mary Marvel forward, Mary Marvel calls in an ID character to attack my opponent, then Jean Grey uses a power action to pull Mary Marvel back. The ID character disappears, negating any chance for Colossal Retaliation, and I’m back in my starting zone. Next turn everyone clears, and the cycle repeats until my opponent moves across the board, whereupon Mary Marvel goes on the offensive herself, using call-ins as necessary. Nighthawk generally frustrates opponents, particularly in the defense-bump-heavy environment of Pandora’s Box and the Rock of Eternity. By making clever use of Call-Ins and playing Mary Marvel conservatively, the team tries to whittle down my opponents until they are unable to adequately fight back.
I feel it important to note that depending on which characters and which starting lines I use for which ID cards, there are actually 160 distinct setups for my Teleporter. I only mention this point because I sometimes think the flexibility of the Round Table/Teleporter is underrated, and it always disappoints me to see people with empty space on their sideline where they could be diversifying their ID options. I can guarantee that I would never have done nearly as well as I did if I hadn’t carefully considered my Teleporter setup before each match. Never underestimate the value of having options! Okay, off the soapbox and into the tourney results.
ACT ONE
Swiss Rounds
Round 1 – Trevor Vessair
Mary Marvel 150
-Eclipso 25
Element Man 100
S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 7 ID Card 5 (SR Nick Fury)
Pandora’s Box 20 (Sloth, Wrath)
Trevor is a fantastic player and a fantastic guy, with the only negative point being he’s fiendishly difficult to defeat. His team was a well-balanced and flexible squad, with potent defenses, lots of healing potential, burst damage potential, map-crossing alpha strike potential, and control elements like pick-a-power and the Outsiders ATA. Not quite a “Don’t Die” team, but maybe a “Die Hard” team.
He won map and took us to the Wizkids Office. For the first few turns we established a cycle: I would call in an attacker and do some damage, he would heal (Regen with Element Man, Sloth Relic for Mary Marvel), and we would repeat. He knew eventually the damage would add up, so he started across the map towards me. I was able to use the tight corridors to catch Element Man in a single target Pulse Wave from Batman. He was able to heal some damage back, and then came at me aggressively, planning to tie the team down. Nighthawk moved away from the rest of the team and was safe for now, and a Mary Marvel that can get a bonus from objects has a distinct advantage over one who doesn’t. Between call-ins and Mary’s own output, I was able to finish off his Mary Marvel, though mine was badly damaged in the process.
By this point I had gotten to SP #3 on the Teleporter, so I brought in Thor to produce a Jane Foster pog and start healing Mary Marvel. Thor then brought in Iron Man, and suddenly Element Man was quite outnumbered. After a couple turns the numbers game proved too much, and I finished him off. 1-0
Round 2 – Stephen Molnar
BvS Superman 225
FF Jean Grey 50
Justice League Teleporter 25
-Lex Luthor
-Batman
-S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 7
-Thor
Sideline: TW Lex Luthor, SMWW R Wonder Woman, SR Nick Fury, Quasar, 3 x Thor, Batman
Stephen’s team is operating on the same strategy as mine, but he doubled down on damage output with the beastly Target Exclusive Superman and some high cost ID characters. He wins map and chooses Nick Fury’s Safehouse since Superman can blast through the walls easily. For my part, knowing his can overpower me at my own game, my priority becomes dealing at least 3 damage to Jean Grey to take her off free TK.
He carries Jean forward to “safety” behind a wall, but this location isn’t safe from Green Arrow. I shoot through the wall and hit Jean, knocking her only click #4. What follows is a demonstration of lousy dice on both side, as Superman comes in and misses Mary Marvel, and I bring out Nick Fury who misses Supes. After clearing, Supes comes in and one-shots my Nighthawk, and I’m starting to sweat.
Fortunately for me, though, Superman can’t get far enough back to escape me calling in Batman and dual-targeting to knock out Jean Grey and damage Supes. I’m also able to reload the S.H.I.E.L.D. card onto the Teleporter. Superman hits Mary Marvel, but she is tough. Both sides clear, and I bring out Nick Fury and Jean uses the S.H.I.E.L.D. TA to boost his damage. He knocks Superman from click #2 to click #7. Superman tries taking a shot at Jean, but it is PC’d into a miss. Mary Marvel then swoops in and finishes the job on Superman for the win. 2-0
Round 3 – Matt Ryan
Iceman 110
Koriand’r 100
-Eclipso 25
Pandora’s Box 20 (Lust, Wrath)
Atomica 25
The Atom 15
Shang-Chi ID Card 5 (OP Shang-Chi)
Matt is great player who professes to still be learning, despite being a tough competitor and knowing the game pretty darned well. He has put together a neat little team that combines Koriand’r’s big-swing-damage output and a long dial with Iceman’s lockdown and control.
Unfortunately it does take a few 
turns to power up from Pandora’s Box, which is the opening I need. He wins map and takes us to Hank Pym’s Lab, and after he assign a sin to Iceman, I send out Lady Thor to wreck some house and splash damage onto Atomica. I pull Mary Marvel back and Thor disappears, so his Atom has no retaliation option. Recognizing that I’ll be able to keep us that pace every other turn, he starts moving toward me.
Before he can cross the map I’ve used Batman to finish off Iceman and Atomica, and now Koriand’r has to get the job done mostly alone. Tough as she is, she is badly outnumbered and between call-ins and Mary Marvel’s own attacks, I take her out. The Atom finally comes out and damages Mary Marvel, but she dispatches him easily to complete the win. 3-0
Round 4 – Eric Edwards
Lex Luthor 200
Atomica 25
Atomica 25
Wonder Woman ID Card 5 (SMWW R Wonder Woman)
Batman ID Card 5 (TW Batman)
Green Lantern ID Card 5 (WF Green Lantern)
Pandora’s Box 32 (Sloth, Pride, Wrath, Envy, Lust)
Justice League ATA 3 (1×3)
A few weeks prior to the ROC Canada Cup, I attended an ROC Win-a-Map in Ottawa where I faced the fiercely competitive Eric Edwards and the dreaded Lex + Atomicas team. I won that match more by good luck than good management, and this time I decided on a risky move: I used the “I’m Better Suited For These Foes” trait on the Teleporter to switch Mary Marvel out for TW Batman, so I would have a full-time Pulse Wave. It seemed clever at the time, but it almost cost me the match.
Eric wins map and takes us to the Manhattan Bridge. In the early goings, he is equipping sins and moving out slowly, and I’m using Green Arrow and Captain America to take out the Atomicas. Then, however, I get overconfident and TK Batman out to Pulse Wave Lex, which hits him, but can’t get the job done. Landing on his fifth click, he rolls Leadership successfully and is thus able to remove his own token and bring out Wonder Woman. She Charges and Flurries on Batman, and it would be all over for the Bat is not for her missing one of the attacks. The wounded Batman can no longer take Pulse Wave so I’m left to pulling him back, hoping to push him onto his own end-of-dial Pulse Wave. Before I can get there Eric brings out his own Batman to finish mine.
Now I’m in big trouble, so I go on the offensive with Nighthawk and Jean Grey, trying to stay next to Lex. For several turns in a row, he Sidesteps away using Plasticity, and Nighthawk follows, either with his own Sidestep or Jean’s free TK. Eventually, Eric thinks he can’t keep breaking away forever, so he Outwits Nighthawk’s defense special and makes an attack…that misses. Handed this uncanny luck, I make the most of it, Outwitting Lex’s defense and hitting him with Nighthawk to finish him off. A victory, but more good luck than good management. 4-0
Round 5 – Jason Collins
Quinjet 140
-Resource Dial 5
Ultron-6 Drone 30
Ultron-18.2 Drone 30
Atomica 25
The Atom 15
H.E.N.R.Y. 15
ID Cards 40 (The Atom, Iron Man, S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 7, S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 7, Nightwing, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Red Tornado)
Sideline: The Atom, NF SR Iron Man, SR Nick Fury, Peggy Carter, LE Nightwing, LE Black Canary, TWGF Green Arrow, UC Red Tornado
Jason is my friend, my teammate, and the man behind the Married With Clix channel on YouTube, along with his wife, Amber. He’s also an intense competitor and a great player who has piloted his Patrick Yapjoco-style Quinjet to victory over my team before, so I wanted to get the win back.
I lose map roll for the fifth consecutive round, and Jason takes us to the Jean Grey School. In the early goings Jason brings out a second Atom and his resource roll is good, allowing him to subsequently get Iron Man out to pilot the jet. In the meantime, I’m using my call-in-boomerang to whittle him down, knocking out the Ultron-6 Drone, H.E.N.R.Y. and one of the Atoms, as well as damaging the Quinjet marginally.
He then advances across the map and uses the Jet’s size and good Atomica placement to limit my HSS options. I take the fight to the jet itself and do some damage, but not enough to impede his plan of knocking out Jean and damaging Nighthawk and Mary Marvel. He’s calling in characters at an alarming rate, and while Nighthawk puts up a good fight he ultimately falls and a damaged Mary Marvel stands alone.
At this point I make a crucial mistake, as I call in Batman, but choose to use him for an aggressive Energy Explosion rather than using him to Support Mary Marvel. Jason sees his opportunity to bring out his last two ID characters – Peggy Carter and Nightwing – and they tag team Mary Marvel, knocking her out. So it goes. 4-1
INTERMISSION
The Brown Bag sealed is a great way for us to de-stress with some casual Clix. I pull a feeble team of Circe, Creeper, Triathlon and Manifold, and go 1-2 with it in some high spirited and fun rounds against Eric, Trevor and Amber. Afterwards a bunch of us go out for drinks, pool and pub food, and blab the night away about all things Heroclix. It’s such a genuine pleasure that this game creates such a passionate and friendly community. I resist the urge to put mild poisons in the drinks of anyone I might face in the single elimination rounds, but it’s not easy.
ACT TWO
The Top 16 – Derek
SR Phoenix 140
-Optional Trait (Prime Phoenix) 10
Living Lightning 80
-Proteus 35
Morlock 10
Nightwing ID Card 5 (OP Nightwing)
Pandora’s Box 20 (Lust, Gluttony)
Derek is playing a team that is custom made to fight robot swarms, making me glad I’m not playing one. Living Lightning + Proteus + TK can cross the board in one turns and wreak havoc on any team, but Living Lightning can’t take it nearly as well as he dishes it – therefore, this is going to be a battle largely decided by who strikes first.
Unfortunately, Derek wins the map roll but gives me map choice, in the expectation that I’ll move out and he’ll be able to strike. I take us to the Turtles Lair map but pass my turn, and he understands his mistake. He tries to block line of fire to Living Lightning with Phoenix, but my Lady Thor uses Energy Explosion to kill the Morlock, damage Phoenix and splash onto Living Lightning, taking out his big swing and Phoenix’s TK in one move. At this point things go from bad to worse for Derek, who gets bad Proteus rolls as he crosses the map, leading Proteus to pop out at an inopportune time, as I bring in Nick Fury and nuke Proteus from afar. Phoenix stands alone and she’s a tough customer, but even she can’t beat the combo of Mary Marvel, my remaining call-ins, and Derek’s terrible dice rolls. I’m able to knock Phoenix to her Prime switch, and kill the Prime with a Batman call-in. 5-1
Top 8 – Mike Payne
Loki
-Eclipso 25
Loki 115
-Brainiac 25
Pandora’s Box 20 (Lust, Wrath)
Mike is a great friend, a great teammate, and a great player. His double Loki team is inordinately difficult to score points from, making it arguably the most feared force for me, since burning through my ID cards puts me on tilt. Also, most of my ID characters can’t target Loki, so while I arrange the Teleporter differently than usual (putting Batman on his Charge click, dropping Nick Fury and moving Cap to that slot, leaving the Cap card open for Steve Rogers Nova), it’s still going to be an uphill battle.
Mike Payne
I win map roll for the first time all tournament, and against a theme team at that. Go figure. Back to the Turtles Lair we go, and after immunity I come forward and bring out the only ID character I’m able to use to attack Loki from range – AoU Thor. His big damage Psychic Blast could hurt a Loki pretty badly, but I miss the 7 even with PC. Not a great start. Mike isn’t in an initial hurry to move out, but when he sees that my plan is to keep calling in ID characters in the hopes of a) being able to reload the Thor card, and b) eventually getting to SP #3 to bring out the big Steve Roger Nova, he decides to come at me.
We lock up the Lokis start whittling down Jean and Nighthawk. A Captain America Call-In is able to damage one of the Lokis, and I’m able to reload the Thor card, so a couple turns later Thor comes out and finishes the Loki off, putting me ahead on points. Mike makes an error in Sidestepping earlier in his turn than he would like, meaning that after he finishes off Jean he can’t lock down Nighthawk. Nighthawk runs as far away as he can, and gets over the Mary Marvel, who calls in Batman to support Nighthawk back to top dial. At this point I’ve reached SP #3 on the Teleporter, but Steve Rogers Nova doesn’t get his day in the sun as last action is called and I win on points in my only match all weekend that went to time. 6-1
Top 4 – Trevor Vessair
Mary Marvel 150
-Eclipso 25
Element Man 100
S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 7 ID Card 5 (SR Nick Fury)
Pandora’s Box 20 (Sloth, Wrath)
A rematch with Trevor, and I am sure it’s going to be a hard slog. I win map roll again,
Trevor V.
and we go to the Turtles Lair. Much like the last game, the early goings involve me doing some cross-map damage that he mostly heals back from. I make the mistake of bringing Jean forward a little to give me more options with my TK-and-call-in, and he is able to send Mary Marvel across the board to take Jean out. He then gets Element Man across the board to lock down Nighthawk. Things are looking grim.
Unbelievably, Nighthawk rolls a 6 to break away from Element Man with a Sidestep, leaving Element Man vulnerable to a single target Pulse Wave from Batman. This hurts Element Man badly enough that Nighthawk is able to finish him off, after which Trevor comes in with Mary Marvel and finishes Nighthawk. After flurry of attacks, both our Mary Marvels get to their last click and heal up, and I hit SP #3 on the Teleporter and bring out Captain America and Iron Man. Just like our previous game, the numbers game becomes too much for Trevor, and I’m able to finish Mary Marvel off just before we would have run out of time. 7-1
Finals – Jason Collins
Quinjet 140
-Resource Dial 5
Ultron-6 Drone 30
Ultron-18.2 Drone 30
Atomica 25
The Atom 15
H.E.N.R.Y. 15
ID Cards 40 (The Atom, Iron Man, S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 7, S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 7, Nightwing, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Red Tornado)
Sideline: The Atom, NF SR Iron Man, SR Nick Fury, Peggy Carter, LE Nightwing, LE Black Canary, TWGF Green Arrow, UC Red Tornado
Into the finals, and another match against the still-undefeated Jason. I am determined to prove that my team can beat the Quinjet. Unfortunately for Jason, his dice seem to want the same thing. I win map roll – third time in a row! – and here we are again in the Turtles Lair.
Jason Collins
Like last time, Jason doesn’t want to advance until he has the second Atom out and Iron Man is piloting the jet, but unlike last time, his resources rolls aren’t being cooperative. Lady Thor once again takes out Ultron-6 Drone and H.E.N.R.Y., and as Jason struggles to advance the resource dial I’m able to also take out Ultron-18.2. Jason decides he can’t wait any longer and starts across the board.
Before we’re fully engaged in close battle, I get one more opportunity to bring out an ID character, and it’s Green Arrow, who is able to get into place to triple-target Energy Explosion, KO’ing both Atoms and Atomica, and damaging the jet, which now stands alone. Nighthawk uses the Batman inspiration to put up a Barrier to protect himself and Jean, and Jason finally gets to bring out Iron Man but uses him to destroy a Barrier marker and give Green Arrow a shot at Jean. PC from Mary Marvel turns it into a miss, and it’s definitely not Jason’s day. I take the fight to the Quinjet with Mary Marvel, but a well-timed Tony Zucco Support roll of 6 heals the damage back. Out comes Batman to use Energy Explosion and get rid of Zucco, also damaging the jet.
Jason is able to take out Jean Grey, but is running out of ID characters, and Mary Marvel is still hale and hearty. Jason hits Nighthawk with a Pulse Wave from Black Canary, which knocks him into the edge of the map and places him on his last click. On the next turn Jason pushes Black Canary to PW again and try to finish the job, but she misses the roll. The Quinjet now needs to move back and regroup, preparing for a last assault with the remaining unused ID cards of Peggy Carter and Red Tornado. Mary Marvel pursues, and while she does get tagged by Peggy, it’s not enough to stop her. After Nick Fury puts the jet near the end of its dial, Mary Marvel swoops in for the final hit and the game. 8-1, and the ROC Canada Cup Win.
EPILOGUE
While it’s true that my performance at the ROC Canada Cup might make me a bit biased, I can say with absolutely sincerity that this was the best-run tournament in which I have ever competed. Everyone played their heart out, and the excellent organization and execution of the event helped make it a great experience for all. I’m very proud to be friends and teammates with so many great players, and that so many of us did so well – the whole Meta Lab team of myself, Jason, Mike and Jay Solomon ended up in the top 8 (and in fact, only Meta Lab members beat other Meta Lab members on day 2), and Team Sorry Eh, our Team Worlds squad with myself, Jason and Mike White, secured the top 3 places at the tournament. And let’s not overlook the fact that at last a Canadian won a Canadian National Heroclix event, and at last we got an ROC event in the biggest city in our country, and my home! It was a great first, and I sincerely hope it won’t be a great last.
