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. Here’s the latest batch, from 2022’s Avengers Forever set.
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L006 Black Knight
(Fantastic Forces, 2005)
THEN: Dane Whitman here was nearly as basic a Charging Exploit piece as you could get. Sure, he had the then-new Transporter Move And Attack ability (Hypersonic Speed, but only when not adjacent to enemies and at -2 Attack) but for 77 points, you could and would play something better, even in those pre-card days.
NOW: He gains the Defenders TA along with his original Avengers and a trio of traits:
- 1. Hypersonic Speed proper;
- 2. Super Senses and Combat Reflexes;
- 3. A complicated one called “Honor Bound Not Kill” that first gives him Close Combat Expert but also grants bonuses for hitting but not KOing enemies (token removal or healing or Mercy tokens, which up his AV).
F.U.N.? He’s a 50-point Charge piece. His Exploit Weakness notwithstanding, he’s not a scary enemy. So we’ll rate him pure F.U.N.: Useful and Nifty enough but Friendly for casual play as well.
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L012 Hawkeye
(Fantastic Forces, 2005)
THEN: 84 points was his base cost, but sky cycle Hawkeye was always played with the powerful Trick Shot feat allowing him to shoot through friends and enemies — and defeat the far-more-impenetrable-back-then Stealth — with impunity from 10 range. He was also a Transporter.
NOW: Busted down to 50 points, he gains a trait “Training the Thunderbolts” that mimics the now completely defunct T-Bolts Alternate Team Ability feat that used to go on every Avengers team if possible. He also has a “Trick Shots From The Sky Cycle” trait that boosts his AV and DV each time he hits — and when he maxes on those modifications, he can pick a power on his card to use.
F.U.N.? It encourages aggressive play in a neat way, without veering into game-breaking territory. We like it.
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L024 Black Panther
(Avengers, 2007)
He’s the great fighter he’s supposed to be, with an 11 Attack Value that never slides below 9, where the Infinity Challenge vet PEAKED. His three Blades/Claws/Fangs slots aren’t all front-loaded but are spread down the dial. He’s as much a thinker as a fighter, with double the Outwit (4 clicks in total) and Perplex everywhere else, including the opening slot. Like the IC vet, he lacks natural Stealth and instead has a full dial of Leap/Climb. But he’s a wildcard, giving him much more flexibility. Defensively, he sports Toughness and Super Senses to give him life in the fray, and his lone bare click, his last, spikes back up to a 17 value.
But a lot that was good about him — feats, 10-range Outwit, Perplex on his damage, Leap/Climb, wild card TA — has suffered or vanished altogether over the many years since summer 2007. So he could use an update.
NOW: Though slimmed down to 60 points, he gains a version of the classic “Out of the Shadows” SP in a trait (if he’s in hindering, FREE place him within 4 squares and line of fire) and another trait “Diplomatic Immunity” that keeps him from being shot at or Outwitted if he’s already been attacked that turn. He also gets Stealth.
But … he lost the Avengers keyword somehow.
F.U.N.? Seriously, how does a longtime Avenger in a set called Avengers Forever who had the Avengers keyword on the original figure not get the keyword?
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L033 Tigra
(Fantastic Forces, 2005)
THEN: Stealth + Blades + Super Senses was what 54 points often bought you.
NOW: Her nondescript dial is enhanced — and lengthened — by her “Nine Lives” trait that spends up to nine of her Lives tokens to heal up that many clicks.
F.U.N.? Yes. A simple, svelte upgrade well worth the 40 point price.
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L035 Jarvis
(Avengers Assemble, 2015)
THEN: He boosted the ID card meta at the time, sporting also a trait that kept him from damage while next to an Avenger. Granting fellow Avengers IM/IT:Hindering rounded out his utility for 40 points.
NOW: He lost all ID card interaction in favor of a new trait allowing him to clear out terrain markers within 4 squares. That’s OK, I guess? He kept a version of his damage resistance when adjacent to Avengers, but it’s no longer Protected: Outwit.
F.U.N.? I suppose? The new version loses a LOT of utility at only 5 points shaved.
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L036 Agent Coulson
(Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD, 2015)
THEN: Agent Coulson had Penetrating/Psychic Blast and Energy Explosion on his SP, the latter of which was not good on him at the time. He also had a SP with Enhancement and Leadership on 2 figs instead of one. But all this cost 75 points, and even his Field Team Backup trait giving corner-case Prob couldn’t help make him playable.
NOW: He’s slashed to 45 points. His Attack SP is Incap+damage instead, now, and his damage SP is Outwit+Leadership, with the ability to generate a SHIELD Operative from the set. But his real worth is the Sideline Active trait that brings him into the game from free if a 50-plus-point SHIELD Leadership roll works.
F.U.N.? Definitely as a main force fig. As a sideliner, he is potential meta material.
He’s prime TK for the team. He also bears Outwit (and immunity to same) with IT:Hindering. Mind Control (with +1 AV against multitargets) is hampered a little by 6 range, as is his second damage power to shut down POWER actions. Fortunately, he doesn’t need LOF for that SP. His last click is Charge with 12 AV and BCF and Battle Fury. … His short, unarmored dial is his one weakness, especially for [70] points.
NOW: He’s absolutely slashed in price to 45 points and gets much more useful SPs for the savings. His first still grants basic Mind Control, but … well, read it.
CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER OF K.N.O.W.H.E.R.E. AND I SAID NO!! Mind Control. // POWER: Choose a standard power. Until your next turn, Cosmo has “Opposing characters within range can’t use the chosen power.”
His other SP, which doesn’t appear until clicks 2-4, is Outwit that makes the target Immobile. It’s harder to use because he can’t get to those clicks without help. And I suppose it’s why he’s not more points.
F.U.N.? Nah. Being able to quasi-Outwit potentially a whole team without an attack or even line of fire is pretty busted. This is a meta piece that will be a little difficult to deal with.
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L040 Captain America
(Hammer of Thor, 2009)
THEN: He made Heroclixin’ first Top 10 of the Year list, back in late 2009:
Cap seems a bit of a disappointment until you note his special power “Deflection Trajectory.” Only walls and indoor blocking terrain block his line of fire. This means he can shoot:
- past characters, friend or foe (take that, Sharpshooters)
- around buildings
- from the middle of a roof to the ground, or vice versa
- at Stealthed characters
- at characters using the Camouflage feat(!)
- through Barrier(!!)
Improved Targeting wasn’t really a thing back then and so he was extra special, even at a slightly weighty 72 points for how otherwise sparse his dial is.
NOW: He’s just 50 points and his SP loses the IT:Outdoor Blocking he used to have. He gains a trait that heals a friendly character 2 clicks when he removes an action token from them — himself included.
F.U.N.? As noted above, he’s a lot less special now. Pure F.U.N.
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L043 Darkstar
(Captain America, 2011)
THEN: Heroclixin’ noted her as one of a new crop of characters who kinda introduced FREE Smoke Cloud to the game back in 2011. We thought it was fine on her, being a Phasing TK and Barrier piece at nearly 100 points, but could be problematic on cheaper figs.
NOW: Cut WAY down from 98 to 50 points, she becomes that problematic cheaper fig. Her old SP granting Toughness and Barrier now gives her the reducer and the ability to turn up to half her Smoke into blocking, a la Molecule Man.
F.U.N.? Along with Stealth, she is a piece that could very well make the meta once Molecule Man retires. Marginally F.U.N. in our opinion.
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L044 Ursa Major
(Captain America, 2011)
THEN: Wait, forget what we said about Black Knight earlier: THIS was as basic and unremarkable a Charging brick as you could get, despite existing well into the carded fig era. A bloated 102 points gave nothing interesting — you played him because you were running some sort of theme or not at all.
NOW: He slims down to a much more appropriate 75 points with a trait boosting his DV +2 if he’s in 6 squares of enemies and his AV +2 if he’s adjacent to multiple foes.
F.U.N.? Yes. Unbearably so. (Sorry, couldn’t resist)
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L048 Kang the Conqueror
(Supernova, 2006)
THEN: I mostly liked him back in the day.
At nearly 200 points, a 9-click dial with only one click of starting Invulnerability is a bit of a disappointment. But most of those clicks are excellent, and a 13 attack (WITH Running Shot!) in today’s game shouldn’t be passed up.
NOW: He loses 74 points of cost because the old point formula got COMPLETELY jettisoned some years ago, obviously. He gains a “Master of Time” trait that gains him Time tokens on hits that he can rack up to boost distinct values or spend (up to 3) to heal up. So that opening 10/13/18/4 can become 11/14/19/5 when he has 4+ Time tokens.
F.U.N.? Seems OK to us!
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L050 MODOK
(Captain America, 2011)
THEN: We had F.U.N. with him leading MODOK’s 11 back in 2011, though he’s overpriced at 160 points to just be a flying PPBing brick. Sure, he had a Pulse Wave SP on his back half that could selectively not hit his chosen keyword allies, but his soft defense at that point kept him from using it very often.
NOW: In addition to keeping the above PW SP, he gains a lot of new tricks. First, he can carry now, which is important for 2) traited Leadership and Mastermind, the former of which can generate minion pogs that 3) gain the AIM keyword. 4) AIM characters rack up Mission Points each turn instead of dealing damage if you like.
All this for exactly HALF the original cost, though. WizKids is wild.
F.U.N.? This piece looks F.U.N. as hell.
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L067 Rick Jones
(Avengers Assemble, 2015)
THEN: The first bonafide chase piece to legacy’d, Rick was also a bonafide meta figure back in the day. He started by spawning a Captain America pog, one of three bystanders on his card he could send into battle while staying safe in the back, generating a different when/if the previous one was lost. He also had 10 range TK/PPB, so he could get them into the fray with relative ease. Finally, he had a DOUBLE POWER that could token up every foe in the game under certain circumstances.
NOW: He can still spawn those bystanders on his card and send them into battle while staying safe in the back. He loses the TK and PPB for 10 range Incap that deals damage. All for an economical 45 points, down from 75.
F.U.N.? We hate that chase figures are getting legacy cards. That said, not being able to push at will to get to Perplex keeps him in the F.U.N. zone for me.
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L084 Thor
(Supernova, 2006)
THEN: At 235 points, he was always an overcosted pile of a piece. Yes, 12 AV was VERY good and rare in late 2006. 16 DV was NOT, even with Impervious. So he was highly dependent on his Running Shot and 8 range and 5 damage to get that first blast in, or he was getting Outwitted and swarmed down.
NOW: In addition to a massive three-figure cost cut to just 125 points, he gains the all-important Cosmic Energy TA to avoid the Outwit threat. He also gets a pair of traits that essentially allow him to throw a Mjolnir marker at a foe (this is either a CLOSE or RANGE) for +1 damage, then at the end of the next turn, call it back to him, wrecking blocking and enemies in the way.
F.U.N.? That hammer move is pretty Nifty. Time will tell if it’s too Useful to be Fair — that’s an ability to attack for huge damage every single turn.
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In a pretty cool move, WizKids packed each legacy card with Team Up Cards as well. But this isn’t a review of those. Maybe in a future feature.
