Both a strength and a weakness for the team. He’s priced like a tentpole but powered like a support player and difficult to know how to use as a result. The best solution, for me, was to run him as support and one of the team’s few taxis until the mid- to late-game, when he could weigh in with his offense. Not sharing keywords with those who really could use his Perplex keeps him from being an effective Brilliant Tactician on this Guardians of the Galaxy theme, but he’s otherwise quite featable with Contingency Plan and Invigorate, either of which makes him excellent in that early supporting role. Recommended for only for builds over 500 for this theme.

Still ticked that he's *tik* not on the "A-list."

He was largely inconsequential tie-up in most of the games I played with him. But his mobility (Leap/Climb to get in any position), defense (Super Senses with a 17 to loan to Star-Lord in particular), damage ability (Exploit Weakness makes him impossible to safely ignore) and surprise 4 range makes him worth every point. He’s filler, but he’s gooood filler. Like the cream in a Twinkie. Feat him with Lunge, if anything. Fine for any size GotG build, especially the keyword themed versions.

Lacking the keyword and tentpole-heavy in points, Drax is only there for the comic accuracy and my desire to play a neat mod. The trouble with Drax is that he’s a damage magnet. Because he’s another piece that’s impossible to ignore (Charge, Exploit Weakness + Super Strength to start), opponents are going to concentrate a great deal of fire on him. He’s got to be run as a team player. If you throw him out there alone like you might other grounded bricks in his point range (or even those much cheaper), he’ll get murdered. Resist the temptation to push him off that first click to get his Outwit until you’ve got all enemy shooters tied up somehow…he has a lot of soft spots in his defense. In addition from cheap defensive feats like Protected and Alias, use Unstoppable and Cannonball to give him maximum flexibility when he does make his move. Only for larger builds.

It’s quite a boon to the GotG that the Deadliest Woman in the Universe is a member. She’s just the fellow brawler that Drax needs to be most effective; while the enemy tries to collect Drax’s points, Gamora tears them to shreds. But again, that’s the challenge…using them together. For as good as Gamora is, she just can’t hold it down alone with her total lack of damage reduction. She NEEDS Protected. Play her in 300 and up. Too bad she doesn’t have the keyword.

10 range and 3 damage and Impervious on his first click is about the only thing worthy on this piece. Well, there’s some Leadership, too, but he’s maybe the third piece you’d reach for on this team for that power. Thus, he’s utterly unpushable. But if he does lose that bit of life, at least he’s got Energy Shield/Deflection to help. Another good thing about him? He has a 17 DV to loan to Star-Lord via the Defenders TA. But he might work even better with the Guardians of the Galaxy alternate team ability (ATA) feat, which makes that Impervious uncounterable. And Contingency Plan is a fine fit as well. He’s best saved for keyword-specific builds of any size.

The ultimate Vietnamese ex-pat.

As I wrote a few posts ago, Mantis was just lost points, mostly, only offering what the far cheaper, more synergistic Bug does much better (mobile tie-up and close combat). She can be brutal, true, and I’ll fit her on if I can (and I certainly will once we get a proper Groot in the game to make the team’s second incarnation) but she is the first dropped if room’s needed. She’s a bit more effective with Lunge, which she can use most of her dial.

(I don’t have her anymore, but Celestial Madonna, Mantis’s LE version, is actually a more comic-accurate piece for the team and a tad cheaper, if less outright effective a fighter.)

Like her dad, Drax, Moondragon is another piece that lacks the GotG keyword yet still belongs. 10-range Psychic Blast is what she’s about. Perplex on her 2nd click and TK mid-dial makes her very push-friendly. And then she turns into the Dragon of the Moon, with renewed powers and stats. A bit expensive (nearly twice the old Moondragon’s cost) but fine for the higher-point GotG teams despite lacking the keyword. No feats.

Leap/Climb-ing Probability Control and 17 DV with Super Senses make this critter indispensable for the theme. In between forcing rerolls and loaning his defense to fellow Defenders, his 8 range keeps him in the fight. Getting hit only turns him into an Running Shooting Outwitter. Excellent combination of secondary fighter and support piece. Lunge is the only feat to consider with him, if any. He belongs on all builds; the only reason to leave him off the team (he’s actually the only member to have stayed on active duty without interruption) is if you need more natural 3 damage.

Top-loaded Perplex wouldn’t seem the best use of her high points, but that’s what Phyla’s good for, and it’s not as pathetic as it sounds. For example, since she’s one of the team’s main taxis, it’s good that she can boost the defense of her fare or herself during that round she’s not attacking…and being able to make herself a nigh-unhittable 20 DV at range (in hindering terrain) isn’t a bad way to pass the time. Moreover, she can still make herself useful when she’s got two tokens after using Power Cosmic to push for free (being the cheapest fig with the TA to date) and shoot someone for 3 or 4 (again thanks to Perplex) with her high 11 AV.

‘Course, all that paints a day-glo bull’s eye right on her chest (um…literally), so she needs Protected in case her high DV and Super Senses both fail and she would take 5 or more damage. But if she’s NOT taking 5 damage, just take the hit and and get Hypersonic Speed and thank your opponent with beatdowns two of every three turns. The new Elite Sniper feat is quite good on her as well. Do not ever use Guardians of the Galaxy ATA on her unless your plan is to push her to Hypersonic Speed with all haste.

I’ve mentioned him needing defense help from his teammmates over and over, and it’s true. He’s very soft and very short-dialed for his near-100-point cost. And with Gamora and Phyla hogging the Protected feats, you might not have room for another. Compounding the problem is that Star-Lord’s Running Shot makes him a key attacker ahead of the bigger-pointed but stationary Adam Warlock and Phyla-Vell or the melee-oriented Drax and Gamora, especially on  builds too small to accommodate Moondragon.

His SP “Galactic Marksman” is good enough to counterbalance ALL that.

It gives him the choice to boost his AV +2 against a single target or his damage +2 against two. And here’s where the seemingly wasted passive big-point support pieces show their worth; Adam’s or Phyla’s Perplex + Galactic Marksman allows Star-Lord to have his cake and eat it like a sugar-starved depressed fat kid. And suddenly this fragile, 9 AV piece is blasting for 4 clicks all over the place again and again (because he’s quite pushable). Basing him doesn’t help; he’s a Sharpshooter with Combat Reflexes. And hitting him may only knock him into Stealth (thanks, perhaps, to those Combat Reflexes and their little-used voluntary knockback feature) and Ranged Combat Expert for continued 4+ damage. Feat him with Contingency Plan and field him in any size build over 100.

I own, but didn’t play these: