What’s scarier than sharks in the open sea? Orcas. See the apex predators of Atlantis — 126 points and higher — in the post below.

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Above 125 points: alpha predators
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Experienced Sub-Mariner (Fantastic Forces): Identical to the 122-point LE, except sporting the Defenders TA, costing 8 more points and strangely missing the three mid-life clicks of Flurry appearing on every other version in this set. The Defenders TA is useless unless you use another, better Namor. HEROCLIXIN’S VERDICT: 1 of 5. Only use him on a team of all-Namors or something.
CARDS TO CONSIDER: Atlantis, Defenders, The Order

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Tiger Shark (Incredible Hulk): 134 points gets a Master of Evil who can move full speed and attack when starting or finishing the action in water. Nice! Combining it with B/C/F only helps — when, of course, the roll isn’t too low. TS also has a trait allowing him to mark a target he’s bitten and to track them.
His drawback is, ironically, tied to his strength — he pushes poorly. Each successive click drops a stat: First DV, then Speed, then AV…you get the idea. HEROCLIXIN’S VERDICT: 2.5 of 5 stars

CARDS TO CONSIDER: Atlantis, Submerged, Offenders

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Veteran Sub-Mariner (Fantastic Forces): The reigning king of the Fantastic Forces pieces, Vet Subby isn’t bad with a great Charge speed, AV and 16 Invulnerability. He also sports a whopping 11 clicks of life, all with damage reduction. But for his 150-point cost you’re going to run one of the best of Atlantis pieces instead. HEROCLIXIN’S VERDICT: 2.5 of 5 stars.
CARDS TO CONSIDER: Atlantis, Avengers Response Unit, Avengers Heroic Age, Mighty Avengers, Secret Avengers

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Namor (Secret Invasion): This is the piece that showed everyone that Charge and Flurry are compatible powers. (Yeah, two of the Justice League Flashes did it first, but nobody cared.) He’s also the one that showed us a Flight character could be carried (as his SP grants him the Flight ability only, not the Wing symbol). Offering excellent defenses on the first half of his dial and massive offensive potential throughout, he singlehandedly made the Atlantis keyword competitive in his heyday and remains a top-flight bruiser for just 150 points. HEROCLIXIN’S VERDICT: 5 of 5 stars.
CARDS TO CONSIDER: Atlantis, Submerged, Avengers Response Unit, Avengers Heroic Age, Mighty Avengers, Secret Avengers, Defenders, The Order

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Namor [Wolverine + The X-Men 058]: Another 150-pointer, this Phoenix-empowered version brings a rare dose of shooting ability to the theme [9 range]. He’s also the first with the damage-halving Invincible defense power and Power Cosmic. Second click drops Charge for Hypersonic Speed and Support with a usable 10 AV. Minions of Doom TA means he can play well with other members of the swim team. Even his Phoenix Five trait works for him. Superb as one would expect. HEROCLIXIN’S VERDICT: 4 of 5 stars
CARDS TO CONSIDER: Atlantis, Immortal Contempt

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Namor [AvX 011]: The latest 150-point Subby to emerge, the starter set prince of Atlantis lacks the sheer damage potential of the Secret Invasion piece or the shooting ability of the Phoenix’d version. Instead, he looks more like an upgraded meld of the Fantastic Forces vet and the Secret Invader, with Impervious instead of Invulnerability to start and an end-dial Regen-in-water power that also hides him. He’s also Indomitable, which aids his trait giving him penetrating damage-granting Rage tokens when he gets 2nd tokens or is hit with attacks. X-Men TA could work with certain other Namor/Sub-Mariner figs. At only 6 clicks of life, he’s a risk to run, though. HEROCLIXIN’S VERDICT: 3 of 5 stars.
CARDS TO CONSIDER: Atlantis, Defenders, The Order

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Aquaman [Superman]: It’s a bit hard to know how to run Emperor Aquaman because he brings several variant methods of teamwork to the table. Do you:

• …Move him to leverage his “Invade the Surface” trait to move other swimmers in water 3 squares for free?
• …use his excellent stats and powers for front-line duty?
• …use his DPA SP to create water terrain and ruin enemy formations?
• …push him mercilessly to permanently flood all grounded terrain — ALL OF IT — upon his KO?

That’s a lot of options, and sadly he can’t do them all to really get his 156 points’ worth. But it’s great that he’s all but guaranteed to fulfill most of them. HEROCLIXIN’S VERDICT: 3.5 of 5 stars.

CARDS TO CONSIDER: Atlantis, Flashpoint

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Nerkkod: The Worthy, hammer-gifted version of Attuma weighs in at a whopping 215 points but with only 4 range Running Shot and Invulnerability to offer. And Force Blast. And Pulse Wave. And — oh. OH. His trait:

“When Nerkkod occupies water terrain, modify his damage value by +1 and his range becomes 10.”

So. Like many in the theme, he’s particularly good in the drink. But even on dry land, his short-range PW skills could prove very key. HEROCLIXIN’S VERDICT: 3.5 of 5 stars.
CARDS TO CONSIDER: Atlantis, Asgardian, The Worthy, Immortal Contempt, Nova Blast

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Namor [AvX 011]: 225 points gains another Impervious Namor. It’s a lot like Secret Invasion Namor yet less potent despite the extra 75 points. But the points aren’t wasted. First, this Namor is Indomitable, which pays dividends down his dial. Impervious is still a fine upgrade from Invulnerability. His 2nd and 3rd and 5th clicks sport Flurry and Precision Strike, a great combo. He can fly and carry and possibly heal with X-Men TA or his end-dial, only-in-water Regen (which also grants him a Submerged-like effect, along with Toughness).

Is he worth the bank-busting 225 points? Possibly. Is he one of the most accurate Namors in the game? Absolutely. HEROCLIXIN’S VERDICT: 3.5 of 5 stars.

CARDS TO CONSIDER: Atlantis, Defenders, The Order

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Namor [Wolverine + The X-Men 058]: At 295 points, he’s by far the most expensive Atlantean of all. The points are NOT wasted at all. First, he’s a HSS beast with 12 AV and 5 damage and 9 range and Power Cosmic and 19 Impervious. He’s also a wildcard and his Phoenix Five trait nerfs damage/attack avoidance powers.

But here’s where he gets good for Atlantis: his opening SP floods all squares of his elevation or lower from his row back to his starting area. YES, ALL. And on his 2nd-4th clicks, he deals penetrating damage to non-fliers/swimmers standing in water terrain.

What else is there to say? He’s the apex predator of the deep blue sea. Don’t forget to field TAs for him to copy! HEROCLIXIN’S VERDICT: 4 of 5 stars.
CARDS TO CONSIDER: Atlantis, Immortal Contempt

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There are some pieces that lack the Atlantis keyword but could be useful on non-keyword-yet-thematic builds featuring dolphin speed characters. See what some of those are next time as this F.U.N. Focus concludes.