Heroclixin’ usually takes a break for the weekend. But not this time. Straight on ’til morning!

No. 6

Dracula [Amazing Spider-Man 016]
Dracula [Fear Itself 028]

These literal monster tentpoles are sort of a tie and sort of the same piece, just each with a slight difference in play style and focus.

The older Drac is a Stealthed Charging brick of the first order, one that, thanks to the “wild dial” mechanic, gets markedly better with traited Steal Energy from his starting click. But the lord of the vampires makes the list with his late dial SP granting him free action Regen AND a free choice of Combat Reflexes or ES/Deflection even if he heals off the power. A modest Regen roll puts him on solid Flurry+BCF clicks, which facilitates the possibility of him Stealing Energy all the way to his top click.

A trait to get Mind Control against foes he’s hit or Monsters and Animals is just gravy on this steak.

The newer Dracula adds 6 points of cost for an opening SP of Stealth+Charge+Flurry. So he’s a bit more vulnerable to Outwit (but not really, with Stealth) than his brother but far more aggressive with his Steal Energy trait to potentially reach his peak power in half the time.

The trade-off for his extreme aggro ability is that his late dial is FAR less survivable than the ASM Drac’s. But then, almost EVERY character’s late dial is less survivable than ASM Drac’s.

These vampire kings share the same throne: the No. 6 position on Heroclixin’s Top Ten of 2013.

Honorable Mentions:

Absorbing Man [IIM 103] is about as unkillable a figure as exists in the game, what with his ability to shrug off damage 85% of the time. He’s really high-cost for not a lot of fighting prowess, so he fails to make the true Top Ten. But even a little luck should make him work for you.

Scarlet Witch [AvX] No more…whatever. For the cost of a double power action, she’s got an 85% chance of totally getting rid of a team ability you don’t like facing. Beyond that game-changer, the latest Wanda is a solid attacker, Perplexer, Probber and healer — all with a DV power that FORCES an initial hit to be rerolled. She’s a little pricey and a little soft, even with Stealth and Mystics to deter initial hits. But she’s one to look at as a key piece this year.

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Next: It’s prime time again.