I was in some kind of quandary. I could not decide which team to run.

Last go-round, I’d run a pretty min/max force with three good attackers backed by a full pit crew that did barely better than squat against teams that weren’t even the roughest out there. So this time I decided to run teams that were more F.U.N.

But, again, I couldn’t decide. Would it be:

Vixen plus two each of Killer Croc (No Man’s Land) and Black Lightning with a Bat Signal?

An all-Batman squad of Zur-En-Arrh, the Streets of Gotham marquee, Speeding Bullets and the 200-point Batman, also with a Bat Signal?

or

Justice League International, starring the 200-point Batman, Guy Gardner, August General In Iron and Rocket Red with the Utility Belt?

I often decide these with a random die roll. But I second, third, fourth and FIFTH-guessed this time around. In the end, I chose to go with the JLI troupe, trusting the flexibility of the Utility Belt.

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The first round was a slow affair slowed further by my opponent’s total unfamiliarity with his team (all the NML LEs except Lock Up, who was swapped out for Scarecrow). Hits were rare. I won it on a roll-off at the end.

Second round I was up against a Birds of Prey team complete with Big Barda and Oracle. I lost it early with my decision not to go immediately to the Rebreather tactic. Guy Gardner was alpha-struck and my team never recovered, esp. after Red’s fortuitous Energy Explosion was rerolled into a miss.

Third match was another disaster against Superman-as-Batman, Mr. Freeze, Harley Quinn, a Joker Thug, Void and a Joker who could Mastermind to nearly all of them. Early hits on Freeze were healed away by Void, my Stealth was of little use against SuperBat, and I simply couldn’t land the needed KO blows once Red and Guy were clobbered to near-uselessness by the Belt-wearing Kryptonian. I got Void and the Thug but lost more.

Final round saw me facing another SuperBat, along with a Mystic Batman, Black Queen and Deathstroke. I made some headway against this team, KOing the middle two (and an Alfred) but fell victim to the sheer power of the Kryptonian, who wiped me out in a few late-game blows.

______

Another dismal 1-3 performance. What made it worse is the feeling of not having any real answer to the Utility Belt and high armor/defense — and the knowledge that the Vixen-led team DID have those answers. Two Outsiders would’ve handled the +2 threats of the Belts, my whole team dealt penetrating damage, and the bruisers were unshootable in water.

More than anything, it was the team that, in truth, was closest to my heart. But I blinked and didn’t run it in favor of a team that had the stupid Utility Belt on it. Feh.

Thus ends my little flirtation with powergaming, such as it was. It’s just not enjoyable unless I’m winning. I’d much rather try to work a F.U.N. team into tournament-contending shape going forward.