I hope you had a great couple of weeks, and thanks for coming back to Clix Bait! You have something you want to say about Clix? Feel free to follow the link to the Facebook page and and tell us about it – I’m sure there will be one or two folks that will have something to say!

I know I encourage folks who want to improve to play online, and that’s especially big right now, when not much else is going on, but I’ll be honest with you, I have trouble getting motivated to play that way. Heroclix, for me, is an experience…and the experience involves moving pieces on a table, looking your opponent in the eye, and looking about to see everyone else who’s there to share that same experience. So yeah, while I’ve played online a bit, I’ve not done it nearly as much as I should to get better.

So I’m understandably pleased by Howard Brock’s latest announcement (you can read it by following this link) that ROC States are starting to be rescheduled. Next month may give me the opportunity to get back into the game and see if I can come up with answers to Black Widow. Worst case scenario, I get to just be with my people! I miss that, and it’s part of why my motivation isn’t strong right now (as was demonstrated by last week’s vacation from the blog – sorry about that!).

That also limits what I can write about, as until I see it, I can’t really form a solid opinion one way or another. I can’t talk to you about the great teams, because I haven’t seen any that I haven’t already discussed. That’s not saying they’re not out there…just that I don’t know what they are yet. So yeah, next month is going to be good for me, good for the blog, and hopefully good for the community!

Based on what I know, I think I want to work on fine tuning my barrier team, but I still need some time to work on it. I’m losing the team’s main offensive weapon (Green Arrow), and there’s nothing really comparable out there, so I’m probably going to have to do a ground-up rebuild of the team. I’m pretty sure the tools are there to make my basic idea work, but I’m going to need to do some research to get things right. I hope to have it ready to share with you next week, so look for it!

As for this week, I’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic, so the team of the week is actually going to be my favorite team that would still work with the rules changes since it was modern legal. I wanted to add that last stipulation on what I wrote about so that I wouldn’t lose folks who might be new to the game – besides, some people might like playing the team in golden age events…who knows? As for my look at strategy, I’m going to talk about how Giant Reach works, so you can get the best use out of your colossals (and a few other pieces that can use the ability). We’ll have some custom works to share, and of course some fringe…so let’s get to it!

Team of the Week – Dormammu’s Sinestro Corps

As I said, we’re going to look at a blast from the past, and maybe something some of you can use in some golden age events. The best part about it (aside from still working after the rules changes) is that it’s probably pretty cheap to put together if you really like it. So let’s look at my favorite tentpole team I’ve ever played.

Link: Chris Cottrill – Dormammu Sinestro Corps

While on the surface, this looks like a one man army that takes advantage of the Yellow Power Battery to make Dormammu difficult to hit, there’s a little bit more to it than that. First off, Dormammu summon Mindless Ones, which can be equipped from the Battery as well. While their attack value is only a nine, their negative Perplex from being equipped from the Battery give them a chance to hit with their Psychic Blast. Dormammu is equipped with Brainiac, giving him “The World Is Working Like Clockwork,” to help him keep tokens off, and therefore be able to reduce penetrating damage. He also gets equipped with the Wall from the Battery, allowing him to Barrier himself off either againt the Battery or a wall.

While it doesn’t get out-actioned as much as a true one man army, you’re still limited in what you can do, and positioning is vital to allow Dormammu to wall himself up. Also, the positioning is difficult with the Mindless ones, as they don’t have a move and attack ability, or Willpower, so it’s rough getting good shots off with them. But hey, Dormammu himself has some good attack abilities, it you feel it’s safe to throw him out there.

It’s a very defensive minded team, but fun because you have a lot more flexibity than other teams that tried to abuse the Yellow Power Battery. Don’t forget that you can use his placement to make up for the lack of move and attack on the Mindless Ones, but then you have to choose whether to attack or to get a construct off the battery. You wouldn’t think a team with so few pieces would have so many choices, but play it and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Strategy Bytes

Giant Reach is something that gives you a bit more flexibility than you think. I know when I first started messing with it, I thought it was just something to give big characters the reach they deserve, but it can negate some defensive strategies, and open up some targeting options.

Giant Reach: X – When this character makes a close attack, instead of choosing an adjacent character (or characters, if able) for target(s), you may use Improved Targeting: Ignores Hindering Terrain and target character(s) within X squares and line of fire.

So first, let’s see what this allows you to do. Most obviously, it means you don’t necessarily have to attack the closest target, and gives you some flexibility in targeting. Since it grants improved targeting (for a close attack), it means it gets around stealth. It pairs up nicely with Quake, expanding your area of effect. Other powers that you can use when using Giant Reach are Flurry, Mind Control, Hypersonic Speed, Blades/Claws/Fangs, Super Strength, Incapacitate, Precision Strike, Steal Energy, Battle Fury, Exploit Weakness, and Close Combat Expert. So a lot of things can benefit from the added range of Giant Reach.

By the same token, there are some things that people commonly think CAN benefit from Giant Reach that don’t really work. Poison is a big example – Giant Reach works when making a close attack, and Poison is not an attack, so in order for Poison to work, the target must be adjacent. Also remember that while characters with Great Size generally have Giant Reach, Giant Reach does not grant Great Size. This means that if a standard size character has Giant Reach, they may not ignore characters for targeting, nor can they ignore outdoor blocking terrain. So while a character might be in range of a Giant Reach Quake, if line of fire is blocked by a character or a wall then that character can’t be targeted with the Quake.

So there are strategic options available to you through the use of Giant Reach, just remember not to make assumptions. I think it’s easy to mistakenly treat all pieces with Giant Reach as if they were colossals, but they operate differently. Be sure to be familiar with those differences when formulating your game plan.

Miniature Mutations

So, normally I have something to say about the customs I feature, unfortunately, this week, I couldn’t figure out who made the pieces. But I wanted to keep going with the Giant Reach theme and give you some colossal customs!

So, first off, we have a Death Magus custom:

Next up, we have an interpretation of the Juggernaut that came from the Deadpool movie series:

Finally, what colossal collection would be complete without the King of the Monsters! I give you Godzilla!

So, I look forward to you sending me your own creations! If you have some customs you want to show off, email me at Clixbait@digitaledengames.com!

View from the Fringe

Given that I talked about Giant Reach earlier, I thought it might be nice to talk about a piece you might have overlooked that could make use of that ability. Even better, what I have for you this week also might play a part in my Barrier build (probably not, but it has potential). This week, I want to look at Avalanche!

So let’s start with that use of Giant Reach:

“SPLIT THE EARTH: Quake. When Avalanche uses it, you may choose that he has Giant Reach: 4 -or- after resolutions, he can use Barrier at no cost.”

So that’s a lot of folks he can hit with Quake, and he’ll be able to see through Stealth when doing it, but don’t discount the back half of the power either. Remember with how things have been ruled, he doesn’t have to have a target to activate the ability, so while Quake might fizzle, he would still get the Barrier after, meaning that he could pretty much use it as Barrier normally works, even without the power on the dial. Sidestep gives him some maneuverability, and an 11 attack for a 50 point piece makes him fairly viable. He can also destroy blocking terrain for free, which can be useful, and his trait gives him a limited healing ability.

Defensively, I don’t love him, but Barrier helps make up for the low defensive value and Toughness. Brotherhood teams are solid, but the type of teams he works with aren’t really the Brotherhood teams being played, and Freedom Force isn’t setting the world on fire (he can be made into an Avenger by Steve Rogers, but again, there are probably better pieces to do this with.

I think there’s a place for him, but I’m not 100% sure where that place is. As I’ve said, I’m working on a barrier build, and he might fit, but I’m going to have to play around a bit (the good news is, it’s a non-theme build, so I don’t have to worry about him breaking theme). I think he wants some equipment, but I’ll have to take some time to think on what that equipment might be.

So that’s it for this week. If you have any ideas you want me to explore for next week, feel free to give me a shout out either on email (clixbait@digitaledengames.com) or on the Facebook page. Until then, stay safe, stay healthy, and have some fun!