A few weeks ago, I learned that most of the regular players from the venue that I judge at had decided en masse to attend one of the Realms Open Championship qualifiers in a neighboring state, resulting in a likely empty venue that weekend. So I decided to come along and enter the tournament for fun (since I’ll be part of the judging staff at said ROC event at DragonCon, I can’t really compete in the finals).

I also kinda wanted to prove to myself that I could play this game at a high level after all these years of playing almost entirely for F.U.N.

The ROC Format, as it’s called, requires No Tactics force construction. That means

• No special objects/relics
• No resources
• No feats
• No Battlefield Conditions
• No Bystanders

The only tactic still allowed is themed teams. It also bans multi-base figures larger than peanut bases. It’s an interesting format that nerfs some strong abilities — for example, it prevents certain characters whose SPs or traits bring in bystanders from using those effects — and requires more care in team building than “Hey, I’ll make this team and give them all Hammers.”

Being a big Legion of Super-Heroes fan, I really wanted to use the team somehow. Here’s what I came up with:

Saturn Girl [Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes 202] 102
Cosmic Boy [Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes 202] 70
Sun Boy [Superman] 79
Jubilee [Wolverine and the X-Men 047b] 33
+ Legion Lost ATA 16
=300 points.

Unlike most F.U.N. teams, this force was built to win, with each piece serving its purpose.

• Cos is the core of the team with his SP Leadership + Perplex SP. His TK + Willpower combo helps get all deployed as needed and his Speed SP offers a little bit of Toughness to his unarmored cohorts.
• Sun Boy is the main attacker thanks to his Running Shot +Penetrating Blast /Pulse Wave combo granting him the flexibility to shoot from range, nuke Stealthed targets or get in adjacency. He can’t afford to miss, so Saturn Girl is there to use Probability Control. She’s also a potent backup attacker with the same 7 range and a better AV than Sun Boy (but lacking his moving skills) and an Outwit figure at need.
• Jubilee, invited to the Legion by the “Welcome To The Legion” trait, was to act as either a 3rd-string attacker or as a tie-up piece if necessary. At 33 points, I didn’t care which.

The real linchpin of the team was that it qualifies for the Legion Lost ATA. This would give it the flexibility to adapt its team ability to whatever map or force it’d face.

• Glass cannons? Mystics.
• Range? Batman Ally.
• Melee? Hypertime.
• Or I could chain the team together for sharing AV (Batman Enemy), DV (Justice Society), Outwit (Superman Enemy), healing (Suicide Squad, Teen Titans), whatever.

And, of course, it’s still a F.U.N. team through and through. Friendly thanks to no really cheap tactics and the characters are all a bit squishy; Useful because of all the above skills it brings to the table; and Nifty because it’s Legion.

I tried the team out in a playtest match prior to the tournament against Cyclops [Avengers Vs. X-Men ], Dark Phoenix [10th Anniversary], Madame Web and Bat-Mite. It lost, but not convincingly; my opponent got some truly edge-of-the-bell-curve rolls on Web’s SP that not once but twice completely swung a contested game wholly in his favor.

Still, when I unexpectedly found myself in the top 16 (after using another F.U.N. force that I’ll write about in a future installment), I had to make a decision whether to go with this weak-looking team or to try another I thought might do better against the team I lost to in the first tournament.

But my companions persuaded me not to give up on my original force, and I’m glad I listened.

This article is starting to run a bit long, so I’m going to hold the actual battle report for Friday’s posting. Check it out!