In principle, legacy cards are a F.U.N. way to bring some old pieces back into Modern/Silver play, rework some old figs that never really worked right before (or don’t anymore due to rule changes).
In practice? Well, let’s see. After a a short break with the Disney Plus release, they’re back in X of Swords.
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L020 Fabian Cortez
(X-Men: Dark Phoenix Saga, 2019)
THEN: Able to boost an adjacent pal’s stats for a term, at the cost of maybe dealing them a click, Fabe was almost pure support. SP Enhancement and Leadership was maybe the better use for him since the above trait was a POWER action. He also had a “Mutant Messiah” shared trait that allowed the likes of, say, Magneto to Mastermind to his followers.
NOW: He loses “Mutant Messiah” and his stat boost is now only limited to Attack Value and the chances of harming his ally are a bit lower. But it’s no longer a POWER so it’s easier to use. He gains Empower in his SP. And he’s a Mission Points character, racking up possibly 5 at a time — but only if he KOs a pal with his Overload trait.
F.U.N.? YES! It’s much more playable AND more comic accurate. The “Messiah” trait never quite fit him due to the character’s not-exactly-loyal nature.
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L026 Leech
(Giant-Size X-Men, 2011)
THEN: He was hell of a nerf piece, barring all Power Actions within 6 squares. Park him in Stealth (harder to deal with in 2011 than now) and hinder friend and foe.
NOW: He’s both more limited and more potent, keeping all adjacent characters from using any powers from any source. Easier for foes to get around but easier for you to weaponize.
F.U.N.? He’s a lot more comic accurate than before, which rates him high on the F.U.N. factor for us. But this is also a potentially mega-meta piece, especially in Silver Age, where he’s all asset and low liability due to his having a 3-point ID card with his name on it.
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L039 Havok
(Mutant Mayhem, 2005)
THEN: At 44 points, this old vet version of Alex Summers was just a TK away from dealing a massive 4 damage, making him one of the giant-killers of his day.
NOW: He only drops a few points to 40. His gain: +3 attack if he hasn’t been moved or placed this turn. New keywords of Avengers and Starjammers round out his modest upgrades.
F.U.N.? He’ll take a little more finesse than before (no TK to get the AV bonus) but he’s still a giant-killer.
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L042 Unus the Untouchable
(Mutations and Monsters, 2007)
THEN: An early Special Powered piece, he boasted a strong defense SP (Impervious AND Super Senses) but little else. His other SP just dealt knockback in close actions but without Charge or another TKer besides himself to get him in position, he’d never use it. A waste of 90 points nearly every time.
NOW: He slims way down to 50 points and his losses are zero: His defense SP keeps the ImperviSenses and adds a once-a-turn rider where if a foe would move or place into his 4 range, on a 1-3 d6 roll, they … can’t. And then his other SP just becomes KNOCKBACK — no qualifications needed.
F.U.N.? Yes, this piece is actually playable now. Could even have some minor meta use, but not enough to make him un-F.U.N.
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L046 Warlock
(Wolverine and the X-Men, 2013)
THEN: An overcosted mess of a piece. He had a nifty pick-a-power SP, but with no move+attack ability and really short 4 range, most of his options (limited to the Attack powers) were worthless for him. He also had traited Perplex with an option of +2 for himself and fellow New Mutants (except damage). Oh and then there’s his weird Dune Buggy trait to permanently turn into a vehicle that could Ram … which I suppose was intended to make up for his lack of move+attack. Not great for 164 points at ALL.
NOW: He gets absolutely SLASHED in price to just 80 points. What’s he lose for the savings? First, his Perplex, sorta: it only works on friendlies with a shared keyword and the +2 is gone. He also loses his attack-power-picking SP and his transform into a car trait. But despite costing less than half his original weight, he still makes gains: He can use ANY one power on his Perplex target’s card (including his own) and his SP grants him Giant Reach: d6.
F.U.N.? Yes, and actually effective now.
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L051 Banshee
(Deadpool, 2014)
THEN: Super overpowered! Like Leech earlier in this list, he could nerf powers up to 6 squares away (rendering all reducers to just Toughness and nixing Super Senses altogether) but only foes, not friends, who could take on the weakened target while he was safe behind a wall or something. Then he dealt extra damage to those who normally have better armor — not that his Penetrating/Psychic Blast even cared about most. And should he actually take damage (either pushing/X-Men TA/getting hit), he got an attack SP allowing him to Pulse Wave through walls. All this plus Improved Targeting: Elevated and PD TA, too? At 98 points, he was one of the more unbalanced pieces ever made.
NOW: He still bars Super Senses but now his sonic trait just keeps enemies from reducing damage to 0 and he doesn’t deal the extra damage when he attacks them. His SP is improved to deal full printed Pulse Wave damage instead of just 1 like everyone else. Points shave down to 75.
F.U.N.? Not really — he’s still in the conversation for being a top meta piece. (IT:Elevated is really top tier on ANY figure.) But at least he’s a lot better balanced than before.
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L051 Iceman (Uncanny X-Men, 2016)
THEN: A 110-point SR who saw much meta play with his Frozen Solid trait that basically gave him a no-cost close attack on a target he moved through. So he could get two attacks a turn (vs. different targets, though), then make the second of the targets Immobile and unable to act for a turn. Oh, and he also had Incap-lite as well (damage SP) and Barrier+Regen (defense SP).
NOW: Mostly the same, except he no longer paralyzes that 2nd hit target but keeps them from clearing tokens until his Ice Wall token is gone. He also gains Toughness in his defense SP along with FREE Barrier on top of his normal Barrier. And he only costs 60 points with all these upgrades???
F.U.N.? That is WAY too undercosted for this piece to still be this good.
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L085 Forge
(Sinister, 2006)
THEN: From the pre-card age, HeroClix’s first take on the inventive mutant was anemic even at the time, with then-average 9AV Running Shot but zero defense power to start. His Outwit worked from 10 squares but 84 points is a lot to ask. He could push to click 2 for Perplex (which wasn’t as good then, anyway) or, in mid-dial, become a Support piece before ending on Leadership. Not great at all.
NOW: He’s just 45 points, for a couple of new traits. One allows him to FREE remove objects 1 or fewer squares away to gain Tinker tokens, which he can FREE spend to boost his or adjacent friendly stats other than damage +2.
F.U.N.? Yes? He’s still not that good, though.
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L129 Magneto
(Infinity Challenge, 2002)
THEN: From the very first HC set, he was nothing but TK and Leadership and a bit of ESD to protect him for his hefty 103 points. (Well, OK, he has 4 damage to start.)
NOW: He gets a couple of traits: First, one that grants him Mastermind for defense and for offense, a +2 attack and damage when attacking Armor or Robot targets — and a FREE shot at enemies with those keywords. Second trait gives Brotherhood of Mutants allies the X-Men symbol. He also gains the X-Men symbol himself along with his original Brotherhood one. And he only cost 50 points!
F.U.N.? Yes, very flavorful. Heroclixin board member Chadd wishes he had this.
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LG01 Sentinel Mark II
(Giant-Size X-Men, 2011)
THEN: Despite his fearsome 300 point cost, this anti-mutant robot was never reliable. Its first SP required rolling doubles. Its next SPs in mid-dial, required A) KOing a foe — hard to do with just 10, 9 or 8 AV — and B) it to take fire to boost its DV … which sank about is much as it rose.
NOW: At top dial, it still has the same doubles-needed damage SP. That’s the only bad news. The good: It’s exactly half the cost at 150 points, and even better, its other SPs now populate a new 100-point start line. Those SPs are also markedly improved: one grants Running Shot and Force Blast — the latter with a FREE option — and the defense grants ESD and Toughness instead of a totally conditional stat boost. Add to that a free beginning-of-turn move similar to other Sentinels past and a new trait that heals it when it KOs targets, and you have a solid upgrade.
Oh, I didn’t mention the 30-POINT start line, which offers Running Shot, Pulse Wave, Invulnerability and Perplex for such low investment. Sure it’s only 9 AV, but still.
F.U.N.? Yes. Sentinels’ Great Size makes them easy targets. But you’ll never feel completely outclassed when using them.
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LG02 Sentinel Mark V
(Giant-Size X-Men, 2011)
THEN: This more advanced model of Sentinel worked better with an improved Incap SP (made a hit target immobile or gave it 2 tokens) and more solid defenses. But it also cost 400 points and its lower 200 level was an average Charge piece and the 8 range isn’t as good. Its Outwit SP that allowed it to counter multiple targets if they had 2 tokens (which worked well when it the Incap SP was also active) was pretty OK, though.
NOW: Like its Mark II brother, its cost is halved, with even lower price points of 125 and 40, respectively. It also shares the free move trait at beginning of turn and the heal traits. But it loses the multi-target Outwit in its Speed SP in favor of a more aggressive Running Shot + Plasticity + 3-square tie-up zone combo. More importantly, it gets starting click access to this SP on the 125-point line, along with its new Attack SP, which is like old-school Incap but better, because A) it works with ANY range attack, B) it gives Immobile and C) it deals 1 penetrating if they can’t be tokened.
Best is that all these powers are available on the 40-point line, too — also with Enhancement.
F.U.N.? Yes. Sentinels’ Great Size makes them easy targets. But you’ll never feel completely outclassed when using them.
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LG03 Apocalypse
(Giant-Size X-Men, 2011)
THEN: Apocalypse writ large was kind of a point sink. Sure, he couldn’t be Outwit and had traited Shape Change, but penetrating damage could and did tear through his dial. His Speed SP “You Appear More Worthy,” with which he could swap an adjacent wounded enemy for one of his teammates, was clunky and almost impossible to pull off, since he was 500 points and likely to either be alone on the force (either from taking up all the room or outlasting his allies — or both).
NOW: His max price got slashed to just 300, and along with his he loses a few steps. His Outwit is gone (replaced with the more team-friendly Empower, Enhancement and Prob Control) while his defense SP lost its old Invulnerability for Combat Reflexes and Energy Shield/Deflection. So he’s got a big soft spot middial. But it almost doesn’t matter: He can generate Horsemen Bystanders at the beginning of the game and when he rolls Leadership AND every time his dial passes a new starting line (or via a POWER action middial). Those pogs work well with his new traited Mastermind (usable at his range, too, not just adjacent!) and Leadership to go with his Shape Change — and, of course, his svelte price points of 300, 250, 200 and 100. He also gains the Deity and Warrior keywords.
F.U.N.? The pogs are his classic original 1980s X-Factor run Horsemen. That’s super F.U.N. But better still is that he can actually be played on a 300-point team!
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