Patriot

Once a surprise hit of a team, the Young Avengers are rather thinned out these days, and Patriot’s actually left the team. He and his crew are a decent cautionary tale in HeroClix for “too much, too soon.” We got them too early in both their careers and in the Special Powers era of ‘Clix. The quintet introduced in 2007’s Avengers set are all underpowered and barely playable:

• Giant-girl Stature is both in the wrong costume and lacks even the basic giant-size brick powers of damage reduction (ANY!) and her AV is possibly the worst overall in the game for 50 points. She does have some use as a giant taxi and Plasticity-boosted tie-up, and her dial is long.
• Iron Lad is a design fail, too. While his AV is appropriately low, he ought to have much better damage numbers. That said, Invulnerability + Shape Change is a decent defense.
• Hulking is a hulking mass of powers wasted on horrid combat values. But the Invulnerability + Shape Change is even better on him, allowing him to soak a lot of attacks, and he can deal a lot of damage.
• His BF Wiccan is the useful one — Enhancement super-taxi that pushes to Prob Control (and how they need it) and Support) — but like his mom Scarlet Witch, he’s underpowered.

It’s  their leader Patriot who’s the most in need of a redo, though. His dial is a hot mess like the others’ but, as I’ve recounted above, each of them still brings a strength to the team.

Patriot?

He starts with Battle Fury, representing his short-lived addiction to the Mutant Growth Hormone drug to give himself powers. But the enhanced battle ability is nowhere apparent in the 8 Attack. Moreover, Energy Shield/Deflection on a 15 DV for a character with no range is unfortunate. He can’t even be carried to serve as a meatshield by any of the taxis. He has a single solid click in #2, with improved stats across the board — well, except for damage slipping from 3 to 2. The Leadership he gets is wasted on a team full of free-moving Avengers who also all cost more than him. His DV slides from a good 17 Toughness to a crap 15 and lower to 12 Combat Reflexes…blech.

So, to recap: he’s poor at tie-up. No range. Can’t be carried. Leadership too low. Short-lived with poor DV. Good at nothing, really.

By the end of the initial Young Avengers series, he’s gotten a transfusion of the Super Soldier Serum from his grandfather (Captain America (Secret Invasion 019)) and he’s a much more capable hero.

In fact, a dial a lot like his grandpa’s would be ideal. Toughness from the shield, Charge and Flurry for the fighting skill (the long run of 9 AV being solid, too), some Willpower later with the DV to make it work, and, most of all, some Leadership up front — perhaps a SP version that works better with Young Avengers, to make them the force they can be, and finish the job that Secret Invasion’s Hawkeye started (and to build on what upcoming member Speed in Chaos War may bring to the team).

Bettering the Young Avengers. It’s a worthy goal and is why Patriot is Heroclixin’s #4 Needed Remake.

Captain Cold

I mean, Weather Wiz is a bit of a terror in the comics, and none of the others are pushovers, either. Yet all of them hold a healthy respect for Captain Cold, and it’s time he got a dial that shows why he’s the unquestioned, if unofficial, leader of the Rogues.

• Leadership is a must. A boosted version for Rogues would be key.
• He’s got to have the usual ice powers — Incapacitate, Barrier — but they need to be juiced somehow, or made cheaper. There are plenty of example Special Powers that could be lifted and applied to Mr. Snart here (such as Icicle (Justice League)’s “Copsicles” SP). If WizKids would just go ahead and make Incap worth its points by using my suggestion — that an Incapped character can’t make free actions — it’d be fine. But since they haven’t, maybe Cold should get the first shot at the Incap upgrade. Running Shot is also a must — and it’d be neat if he could use Barrier instead of shooting with it.
• A representation of his “cold field,” a subtle use of his freeze gun that slows molecular movement (including the Flash’s super speed) that could make him a silver bullet to moving attack powers similar to Star Boy or Harry Leland. But it should to be connected to an action instead of being a passive power.
• Finally, he needs excellent combat values. As he’s said, he’s a fellow who tangles with a guy who moves close to the speed of light. Normal-reflexed characters shouldn’t stand much of a chance.

He doesn’t play too well with non-Rogues, so it’s the only keyword he’d need. And no team symbol would save points for all the costly powers he needs to hover around 100 points. A Captain Cold that chills opponents’ hearts across the table is Heroclixin’s #3 Most Needed Remake.