The Tease of Things I Don't Need

Little Magic Man

Another Avengers sneak peek this week: Wiccan

I'm no booster of the Young Avengers, a series which became so top-heavy with teen intrigue, back-stories involving secret, famous parents and even a gay romance that it reminded me with each sampling why I didn't watch the TV series creator Allan Heinberg was also one of the writers responsible for, The O.C. -- but I know the makings of a solid support piece when I see one.

(Okay, I'm probably being unfair to The O.C., it just wasn't something I was interested in - the steamy times and trials of the mostly young, hormonally-hyped and wealthy; I can't run from that sort of thing fast enough, but it's just a matter of my avoiding it. I've resented the trend in recent years to seemingly blindly invite people who have written for other media to come in and screw around with mainstream comics characters and continuity, though. It's one thing if they turn out to be huge fans, but too often it seems they're only passingly familiar, at best, with what they're coming to meddle in.)

Updated: Dial and resulting comments now included.

I must admit, I'm at least initially impressed with the dial being 6 clicks deep and the sensible coordination of Attack Values and corresponding powers. Certainly, Wiccan has "supporting player" stamped all over him, a sort of doctor and transport engineer all in one, so while he is capable of attacking it's never his primary role.

His opening click of Enhance (the green in his Damage stat) will increase the damage of an adjacent, friendly ranged-hitter. After that, it's three clicks of Probability Control -- useful on both his team's turn and during one of his opponent's turns once each round. His final two clicks are of Support, when he's ready to heal a teammate; corresponding to the importance of this, his Attack Value rises back to 8 for those two clicks.

No damage-reducing powers of his own, Wiccan is about avoiding damage. His first four clicks have Energy Shield/Deflection, raising his Defense Values by 2 with respect to anyone trying to take a shot at him from range. On his final two clicks, when he's focused on either getting his allies around or healed, his defenses are down. With that in mind, he should generally have a teammate near enough to watch his back.

On his second and third clicks he's able to get one of his companions from place to place, and is best used to get into position to help tilt the battle in his side's favor with Probability Control.

His first three clicks include Energy Explosion (orange on his Attack Values) which, along with his 8 range, allow him to potentially hit and deal damage to a cluster of opponents. With only one target this is likely to be of minimal use, but it may be of help and could surprise an opponent who may mistakenly think he's there solely for support.

Some appropriate Feats for Wiccan:

Thunderbolts, to change the Team Ability to something especially useful. Just keep in mind if you're building a team with more Avengers-TAed pieces that they'll all be stuck with the same one. Ultimates/Superman TA, allowing them to ignore hindering terrain and see into Stealth is my favorite default, though I could understand someone deciding to go with the reactive damage-dealing of Mystics since we're looking at a magical character.
Force Field would lay Toughness over his Energy Shield clicks, letting him shrug off 1 click of damage each time he's hit. Not a major aid, but anything to help keep him from sliding down through his dial quickly is good.
Armor Piercing could be appropriate, as it would help him with the possibility of dealing damage to anyone, but may mainly serve to make him more of a target. As always, too many points spent on Feats could have been spent on adding another character for your team.

Here's Seth's write-up:

Marvel HeroClix: Avengers
Wiccan Preview
by Seth Johnson, HeroClix Lead Designer

Classic Avengers, Ultimate Avengers, West Coast Avengers, Secret Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Avengers has Avengers from many of the team's incarnations, including the newest Avengers: the Young Avengers.

When a crisis forced the Avengers to disassemble, a contingency plan put together by the Vision recruited young heroes with links to the Avengers legacy to take their place as the Young Avengers. Among these heroes was a young man whose costume was patterned after Thor but whose powers were of a mystical bent much more like the Scarlet Witch. These days he calls himself Wiccan.

Wiccan comes to HeroClix as a rookie with the Avengers team ability but the Mystical, Teen, and Young Avengers keywords. With an 8 range and the ability to cast LIGHTNING (Energy Explosion), Wiccan has some offensive punch, but he's most useful for his ability to support the other members of his team.

Chief among these support abilities is his special power:

Group Teleportation Wiccan can use Phasing/Teleport. When he uses this power, he can carry up to three friendly characters. If more than one character is carried, after the action is resolved deal 1 unavoidable damage to Wiccan.

The combination of Group Teleportation with MYSTIC SHIELD (Energy Shield/Deflection) and Enhancement allows Wiccan to help his team as they move into battle, though he may want to fall back using the Phasing/Teleport later in his dial once the fight gets too close.

Wiccan's abilities as a SPELLCASTER (Probability Control) will help him help his allies (or himself), and when Group Teleportation returns late in Wiccan's dial he'll be able to use it in conjunction with his HEALING MAGIC (Support) to help carry his friends away from battle and get them into shape to go back in.

At 54 points, Wiccan is an affordable support character with just enough punch to be a valuable ally not just to his teammates in Avengers but to any force he joins.