Oct.13-19 - More Returns and Changes

Among the things I've missed mentioning is the first figure we've seen in detail from late June's Avengers set: The Mandarin!

He's the clix brick mail-away figure, and the first Marvel figure to have the "white" power slots. (Those will have a black box around them on the printed dials to distinguish them from plain, un-powered clicks.) Seth's using them to good effect here, allowing the options of a man wearing 10 rings each with its own power to shine through. Yes, there's still the Heroclix limitation of not allowing him to use two of the powers at once -- something the character has done in comics -- but we're closer to a good representation of the character with these options than we were.
To clarify, on each of the white clicks in his Speed slot he has the option of using Energy Explosion, Incapacitate or Mind Control. During the white clicks in his Attack slot he has the considerable options of Barrier, Force Blast, Quake, Smoke Cloud or Telekinesis.

I'm using "or" in each case -- rather than the "and" Wizkids is currently using because it's misleading. The player only has the option of using one of those powers during a turn. Also, any of the powers mentioned in these white power slots cannot be used as a prerequisite for Feats, which is presumably one of the ways Seth's keeping them from adding the points each would normally overlay on a dial's cost. (Here's a brief write-up Seth added later in the day.)

For a comparison at-a-glance, here's the Veteran version from XPlosion alongside the upcoming mail-away version:
All in all, a nice bump for 15 points.

The old, 141 pt version has that ES/D boost to his Defense for the first three clicks, but a steady 17 on the first three clicks of the new one -- two of them with Willpower -- isn't a bad trade-off. The 12 Range was held steady between versions, which was wise since had the 12 been pulled back to 10 that alone would have been enough to sink him in the eyes of many.

The new version's a little faster, maintains higher Defense levels and holds a steadier Attack. His Damage is higher on Average, too.

The trading of Incapacitate for Psychic Blast (the blues on the old and new version's Attack slots, respectively) means that while the old version was an excellent choice for the combination of Armor Piercing and Stunning Blow, the new one won't be. On the other hand, with that Psychic Blast he won't need the Armor Piercing. Losing some clicks of Ranged Combat Expert makes the new version less of a choice for Trick Shot, but it's not a major loss.

The new version definitely has it over the old in terms of choices. Keeping track of those options and remaining mindful that the white powers don't count as Feat prerequisites will likely be the biggest challenge. Even though the new one won't be able to get as full a use out of it as the old in terms of protecting him from feedback from Mind Control, Mental Shields remains a good feat choice. Force Field, which made good sense for his older version, is a highly questionable 10 points to spend on the new model as it'll only be useful on three of his clicks.

As with the original version, he's a formidable opponent but not a game-breaker. Over the halfway mark on a 300 pt team before any Feats are considered, I could see many players deciding not to go with him.