It’s that time again: another big set of HeroClix. And again, we’ve got a pocket checklist for you.

XavierSchoolchecklist

No 1. 

Miss America [WizKids M17-009]

A number of times this and previous years, figures have won a place among my favorite F.U.N. figs.

America, though? She DEBUTED on the list. At the top. The No. 1 spot was hers to lose. And she didn’t.

Already one of my most wanted characters in clix, her dial also turned out to be superb. Starting with an Invulnerable 11AV Charge, 4 damage with Super Strength before shifting to Sidestep+CCE, she ends with Hypersonic Speed. She’s got no bad clicks. But you’re playing her for her trait to make a Space Portal when she makes a melee attack, hit or miss. She can call as many allies as you have actions and squares next to the Portal that those allies can make close actions against America’s original target.

It is super Useful yet completely balanced. It’s also incredibly true to the character.

How F.U.N. is it?

Friendly/Fellowship: Trait is appropriately high-risk/high reward.

Useful/Utility: Trait can really make a melee team work. Strong brick for the cost

Nifty/Nerdcore: America is ALREADY GREAT

Annnnd that does it for our mass look back at HeroClix in 2017.
With Xavier’s School dropping today, Heroclixin’s next post will be a little nerding out over the new clix we either enjoyed in sealed already or that we’re looking forward to playing soon. Then we’ll look further ahead with our lists of most wanted remakes/unclixed characters.

Heroclixin’ is BACK.

No. 2

Moon Knight [Avengers Defenders War 062]

Some figures I like for the gameplay. Others for the sculpt. This one? Both.

Love the white suit look. But the dial is the real thing: Charge+Running Shot, IM: Hindering+Elevated, 11AV, Indomitable wildcard with Perplex. He’s got a STOP click, too, with Regen. He’ll need it if you employ his ability to warp to the spot where an ally was KO’d. Better to use the trait’s feature of dropping tokens from him when friendlies are hit and hurt.

It’s a figure that I constantly want to play and so he ranks very high on my favorites list.

How much F.U.N. is Knight time?

Friendly/Fellowship: Low range, high cost, best traits require damage to and/or loss of allies

Useful/Utility: Wildcard, Perplex, good mobility, action advantage

Nifty/Nerdcore: Moon Knight avenges night travelers and HeroClix

NEXT: ¡Numero una!

No. 3

Troll [The Mighty Thor 039]

She completely snuck onto this list. With a dialful of Exploit Weakness, she’s a solid melee piece. But she has so much more to offer:

• Anti-Stealth. Adjacent friendlies can use IM:Hindering.
• Mobility. SP Leap/Climb and Charge that ignores most everything
• Early Blades backs into late Steal Energy and Regen for a shot at a second wind.
• Oh and she’s got Thunderbolts for the ATA or other team-up games
• All this for just 60 points, and yet still F.U.N.

How F.U.N. is it?

Friendly/Fellowship: Fairly fragile at range

Useful/Utility: Great melee mobility, low cost, anti-Stealth aid

Nifty/Nerdcore: Delightfully feral sculpt and background

NEXT: HE OWNS THE NIGHT

No. 4

Elijah Snow [Elseworlds 046]

My friend Bob traded him to me, saying, “You’re really going to like this one; he’s your kind of figure.”

Bob knows me.

In a great bit of design, Snow can, once per game per type, force enemies to take an extra token or unavoidable click for doing any of the four costed action types. Got an Indom. foe all set to push to use Hypersonic to punish you? Pick POWER; he’ll take a click for daring to use it. Is there a sniper worrying you? Buy time by picking RANGE; she’ll end up double-tokened and pushed. Elijah also can force non-flyers to slip and slide, only able to move in direct paths. (The F.U.N. catch is that this one affects friends as well and is a once-per-game effect that lasts the WHOLE game as long as Snow is alive.)

He’s also a solid figure beyond these traits. Sidestep 8 range, Outwit/Perplex, Indom+Barrier, triple Incap top his dial at 120 points. His second dial at 70 points is focused on Running Shot Pulse Wave and Leadership.

A winter wonderland of F.U.N.?

Friendly/Fellowship: Completely unarmored. Traits are double-edged

Useful/Utility: Unusual methods of tempo control can’t be stopped. Good stats, powers

Nifty/Nerdcore: Snow days are fun

NEXT: Trolling

No. 5

Muhammad Ali [WizKids DP17-004]

The amazing thing about HeroClix is that any character can be made into a figure and this is a key example. “The Greatest” lives up to the name with extra-Precise punches (dealing 2 through defenses rather than 1 on the first half of his dial), team play with Empower and constant Sidestep and Indom. His lack of early armor keeps him from being un-F.U.N. but he lacks a single bad click — back half yields CCE to edge up his waning stats, Flurry to hedge your attack bets and Toughness to help him survive the shots headed his way.

He works best with a Superman (gaining him semi-optional Battle Fury and easier theme team options beyond his Celebrity and Warrior ones), but that’s not my ideal team for him. I’m not sure what IS, exactly, so he’s not higher on my list.

F.U.N. like a butterfly:

Friendly/Fellowship: Not well armored, stats are pretty human

Useful/Utility: But that Precision-plus and Indom, tho.

Nifty/Nerdcore: He’s the Greatest

[tie]

No. 6

Sand [Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls 060]

So there was a time when I was a JSA completist. Those days are gone but I still harbored dreams of running this team:

Sand was the last one missing for a VERY long time. We almost got him as a result of the first Fan Vote contest WizKids held in 2011. But he was the runner-up behind Big Barda who, even at the time, was a remake of an already clixed character — as far too many of the contestant characters were. Over the ensuing years and subsequent fan vote contests, Sand remained unmade despite the near miss — until now.

The dial is a bit of a disappointment, though, which is why he’s not higher in my top ten. He’s short-lived and fragile with no armor at all. But his interesting form of moving attack (No-cost Force Blast after Phasing) and late-dial Prob Control combine with his very low cost to make him a hidden gem. Neat sculpt, too.

F.U.N. in a sandbox?

Friendly/Fellowship: Sand is soft

Useful/Utility: But Sand gets everywhere to irritate the foe

Nifty/Nerdcore: I like Sand

This green-clad hero winds up sharing space at this spot with another green fellow:

Hulk [Avengers Defenders War 052]

An early candidate for this list, Amadeus Cho here was briefly forgotten in my first draft. (There have been a LOT of figures released since May.) But this is a piece I frequently want to run for its supreme F.U.N. qualities. He’s a bruiser with Perplex and conditional Outwit, making him quite the Utility piece. What also makes him F.U.N. is a focus on punching up instead of down via his “Battling Monsters” trait that drops action tokens from him when he hits a Monster or any foe with 4 damage. But his other trait that heals him when he lands KOs also helps keep him going.

Totally Awesome F.U.N.

Friendly/Fellowship: Not overwhelmingly smashy for a Hulk

Useful/Utility: But still a Hulk. With Perplex and Outwit. And SMASH

Nifty/Nerdcore: Amadeus, Amadeus … oh oh oh Amadeus (Cho)

No. 7

Bat-Knight [WizKids DP17-006]

I was surprised to receive this one in a Secret Santa exchange over at HCRealms.com. It almost immediately became a new favorite. First, I love giants. I like the Utility that is Sidestep with 8 range, giving the Bat-robot a nice 10-square swing. Bat-Stealth, Indom, KC TA, Outwit protection and Precision round out the 60-point package. Even getting hit to late dial only raises the AV from 11 to 12 with a shot at Regen — and double-target Incap.

With all that, it’s hard to want to use its traited Ram ability when there’s so much use out of the rest of the dial. But maybe the multi-hits could be worth it.

F.U.N.bot

Friendly/Fellowship: Damage, armor aren’t the best

Useful/Utility: Only 60 points for so much

Nifty/Nerdcore: Bat-Knight keeps city under control

NEXT: All tied up

No. 8

Uhura [Star Trek: The Original Series 038]

I was not very interested in the Star Trek set. But then I saw this fantastic figure. Not only did I need it for my Black Box collection, the dial looked good and F.U.N. as well.

She starts Stealthy to protect her soft 17 Senses until she can base her foe. If said target is 100 points or less, she can turn off its defense as FREE then vivisect with Blades, possibly with Flurry. She also has the new Mirror Universe team ability: Mystics without being Mystics to get around the occasional immunity to the TA.

How F.U.N. is she?

Friendly/Fellowship: Zero moving attack or Willpower hurt her cause.

Useful/Utility: But nixing defense and Mystics-y and Blade tho.

Nifty/Nerdcore: Uhura in a belly shirt? Sign me up

NEXT: Vision of another dark future

No. 9

Peace Machine [What If 0043]

In addition to being one of our top figures of the year, alternate timeline James Rhodes squeaks onto my list of favorites. Aside from his fitting a couple of themes I collect (black characters, Stark armors), Peace Machine is a figure who very squarely fits my meta play style, which is to plan to get punched in the mouth. PM allows that to happen thanks to his trait limiting to 3 the damage a single strike can do. The Utility of TK, Outwit, Support, 3-range Force Blast and high DV got him onto the top figs list.

Peace Machine, along with 2016 Top Ten pick Jakeem Thunder, Taylor’s No. 3 F.U.N. fig Iron Heart and Captain America [Avengers Defenders War 069] allowed me to at last fulfill a HeroClix dream I’ve had since joining the game back in 2005: to build a top-flight team of nothing but black characters. And for that, he makes my list of top favorites.

Call him F.U.N. Machine cuz:

Friendly/Fellowship: Fewer one-shots is better for everyone

Useful/Utility: C’mon, he was Heroclixin’s No. 8 Top Fig

Nifty/Nerdcore: GIVE PEACE A CHANCE

NEXT: Reflections of … the way she used to be