In principle, legacy cards have been a F.U.N. way to bring some old fan-favorites back into Modern/Silver play and rework some old figs that never really worked right before (or don’t anymore due to rule changes).
In practice? They kinda fall into four overlapping categories:
- A card that takes an old meta piece and makes it right into a new meta piece. The least F.U.N.
- A card that takes an old piece that was lore-accurate at the time and makes it fit current/different lore. Potentially peak F.U.N.
- A card that takes an old piece that never really worked right before (or doesn’t anymore due to rule changes) and makes it right. Great F.U.N.
- A card that takes an old overpowered piece and balances it. More F.U.N.
Let’s review. By set number:
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L009 IRON MAN
(Marvel 10th Anniversary, 2012)
THEN: He had 50% chance of taking minimal damage from relics or resources. He also occasionally had Outwit and Sharpshooter and Perplex and Pulse Wave, depending on if he was on 225 top dial or 125 points. Overcosted even at the time.
NOW: His 50% thing is updated to key off equipment. An attack SP (buried in both his point costs, so good luck seeing it reliably) allows him to shift his stats — so -2 from, say, his Speed to pump +2 to AV or DV or range or damage. At full points — just 100 now! — he has SP Leadership and Perplex that are, respectively, map-wide and don’t need LOF.
F.U.N.? I like this sort of legacy treatment, where an old fig that doesn’t work anymore because it interacted with fully retired game mechanics gets an update in the spirit of the original. And at his 50-point line, he’s a solid attacker.
AM I GETTING THIS? I used to collect Iron Man variants, so I have the fig. We’ll see if the card comes to me.
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L036 CAPTAIN AMERICA
(15th Anniversary What If, 2017)
THEN: For 100 points, he basically only had “Intimidating Presence”: A SP Leadership that could also token adjacent foes. Energy Shield/Deflection and Ranged Combat Expert were a trait.
NOW: Shaved to 75 points, he makes bystanders — Falcon, Spider-Man, Hulk, Dr. Strange — if your team’s outnumbered. Also has a trait for Energy Explosion and ESD, plus a FREE range attack. The SP Leadership pairs with giving adjacent Avengers TA +1 DV.
F.U.N.? He’s totally inspired by the Avengers: Endgame movie Cap. I like it when these legacies do a different take on the original and reference other material.
AM I GETTING THIS? I have the figure coming in a surprise trade and I really want to play this one time.
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L044 MOLECULE MAN
(Future Foundation, 2021)
THEN: A meta staple, at first he could FREE Smoke Cloud, then -also- FREE change d6 of them to blocking. It got errata to rein that back to just 3 — and then he got banned from Silver entirely. Too good at just 30 points on low dial.(No one played him at 100.)
NOW: He’s much more aggressive. His LOF isn’t affected by terrain markers, he deals full damage to multiple targets, and can use his FREE actions twice at full 75 points.
F.U.N.? Normally I kinda hate when meta figs get legacies. I got tired of seeing them — or leaning on them — back then. But with the old version no longer available even in Silver Age, I’ll allow this. In fact, this is one of the best uses of the legacy format: to bring pieces that aren’t legal in any format back into play.
AM I GETTING THIS? I have the piece but don’t need to chase this card.
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L054 CAPTAIN MARVEL
(Captain America and the Avengers, 2020)
THEN: Good at either 150 or 95 points, Carol Danvers here was one of the best figs of the pandemic era, with HSS + 1 free damage to an enemy she moved through, 2-3 STOP clicks that gave her SAFEGUARD:Outwit, and FREE drop of a pog with Perplex, Plasticity and Giant Reach Flurry Blades.
NOW: She lost the pog, the SAFEGUARD, and the free damage during HSS but gains SHIELD TA, Super Strength, Willpower (and self-healing when she drops a token outside of the clearing phase). Her biggest buff is a new MOVE action that deals 1 free damage to EVERY enemy she moves through. But she still costs the exact same as before: 150 and 95.
F.U.N.? Usually they deeply discount redos. But old Carol was overtuned and they clearly wanted to make her more F.U.N. and less meta and more comic/movie accurate (i.e., less dependent on her pet bystander).
AM I GETTING THIS? Hopefully. This looks like a F.U.N. piece with great potential.
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L056 NICK FURY
(Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., 2015)
THEN: Back in 2015, when I used to rank the best meta figs, he topped that list thanks to:
- A titanic 9 range.
- That sees through hindering.
- And over buildings.
- And characters.
- That works with his better-than-Outwit SP to deny use of powers or abilities.
- And his Probability Control from the same SP to force rerolls of your dice.
- From the safety of Stealth [in addition to the aforementioned seeing through all that other stuff]
- Also with Shape Change. TRAITED.
- Which also gives him +1 attack and damage — PENETRATING — against the highest cost enemy.
His only weaknesses were that walls/blocking terrain cut off his view and he has a short 6-click dial for his 120 points.
NOW: See the green above? He still does all that for only 90 points — AND he adds Mastermind to his Shape Change, which can spawn LMD pogs for him to shift attacks to! He also can nix a target’s use of its equipment for a turn.
F.U.N.? He was a meta terror and the new version is the least F.U.N. kind of legacy — one that makes him work pretty much exactly as before. Fortunately, Stealth is no longer quite as difficult to handle as it was 10 years ago and he can’t Outwit ANYBODY like before. Still, nah, not F.U.N.
AM I GETTING THIS? …but I have kept the old fig around for for a potential “Nothing But Fury” team of all Nick Furys. So we’ll see if the card comes to me.
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L064 COLLECTOR
(Avengers Black Panther Illuminati, 2019)
THEN: He was one of the first to wear unlimited equipment (but the game kinda capped the amount of friendly equips due to object rules) and he got a bonus click of life if the enemy force had extra tactics like ID cards or equipment. He could also steal enemy equips with his SP Incap and, for a few extra points, start the game with the Reality Gem (Prob Control, TK, extra bolt). Not bad for 55 or 60 points.
NOW: He still gets unlimited equips but now can start with any one equipment for free, gets his bonus click if the enemy starts with pretty much any non-character thing on its Sideline, and his equip steal SP is no longer tied to weak Incap — instead the hit foe has to chose to either give up the equip (and Collector can then steal it as FREE if in range) or take all the damage. 45 points.
F.U.N.? I mean, the set’s namesake HAD to be here, right? This is a nice update now that so much of what triggered his old version has retired.
AM I GETTING THIS? Maybe. I’m not a huge fan of the character but I have the figure.
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L067 MACHINESMITH
(Captain America and the Avengers, 2020)
THEN: For 90 points, he was mostly standing/Sidestepping in Stealth and POWER generating a Robot Dupe pog that, in addition to using a chosen foe’s standard displayed powers and stats, could self-KO to keep Machinesmith from dying from anything less than a Pulse Wave.
NOW: Shaved to 75 points. This time he makes a FRIENDLY character a RoboDupe instead of a pog — and his death-cheating trait is Protected:Pulse Wave. He also keeps foes within 4 squares from doing terrain actions or equipping/picking them up. Finally, he gets a new team ability, Minions of Doom, to give his Steal Energy
F.U.N.? The old version’s Robot Dupes could only chose a target 100 points or less, which meant Machinesmith could be EXTRA dead weight against beefier foes. Also, the RoboDupe was likely to be doing all the fighting — and dying before it could save Machinesmith. Now he can build better around himself. It’s a nice upgrade to a fig that kinda needed one — exactly the best use of a legacy card. And it reflects his more recent face turn from villainy in an Ant-Man series from a few years back — the other best use of a legacy card.
AM I GETTING THIS? Maybe! I collect Masters of Evil.
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