OK, so I went to my 5th 300-point sealed game of HoT so far, right? And there’s a decent turnout for a Sunday afternoon. Here’s what I pulled from my first booster:

Yeah, somewhat underwhelming. Don’t get me wrong; Sif is a winning piece, and Malekith’s Telekinesis is good, too. But he’s not worth much beyond that, and with this assortment of characters, I stood a chance of being out-ranged, out-maneuvered and underbuilt. So I opened the next booster:

REALLY. So now I’ve got to build a team out of this duplicate crud, and the underbuilding concerns just got amplified. I decided to go for high AV’s and higher build total over TK mobility: Sif, Pluto, Bi-Beast. Basic strat: Sif carries Pluto to a building and he shoots next turn if possible while Bi-Beast slowly gets into the fight.

ROUND ONE against teenager Morrison’s Daredevil, Phalanx Soldier, Captain America, Namora and Hand Ninja went well. He’s a great player, but his team’s general lack of damage reduction made my eventual hits hurt. Wiped his team, losing none. 1-0.

ROUND TWO against Morrison’s neighbor Conrad’s Phyla-Vell, Rocket Raccoon, Pip the Troll, Spider-Man and Fire Demon*. I scored an early hit on Phyla-Vell when he unwisely moved within Pluto’s line of fire. Or, at least I would’ve, had not Rocket Raccoon seen it and forced the reroll, which she Super Sensed out of. I tried basing the team but he rocked me like a hair band in the 1980s. I got the Fire Demon but was wiped out. 1-1.

ROUND THREE was against Jay’s Balder, Venom and Star-Lord. He played the most cautious, not giving my Pluto that first shot. But he got just a little too close, and Sif was able to base Star-Lord (taxiing Pluto), who missed his counterattack and was gone a turn later. Wiped Jay’s team and lost none for a solid 2nd-place finish.

(*Yeah, for the second week in a row I played someone using a way-overbuilt team. I have GOT to start checking behind other peoples’ math!)