The Trophy Room: The Emerald Eye of Ekron

[ol_Dut]

http://www.hcrealms.com/temp/HDCD_061.jpg

Today we’re taking a peek at a piece that’s different, very different. The Emerald Empress, one of the most entertaining clix this side of Blackfire, has yielded the Emerald Eye of Ekron, a very unique and radically original LE. Come on in as we take a look at her dial and try to figure out how it compares to her regular REV counterparts so you know how hard to play to win her, how hard to trade for her, and how much to spend if you’ve got to buy her.

Please click “Replies” to continue.

[ol_Dut]

Things are apt to get a little bit bizarre as we discuss the various and sundry attributes of the Emerald Eye of Ekron, so let’s begin with a few irrefutable truths.

Emerald Eye of Ekron #209 (Emerald Empress)
Points: 93
Type: E Different. And by different I mean, “Nothing at all like the REV”.
Clicks: 5
Range: 8
Targets: 1

I’ll be honest right up front here. These pieces are so far apart it’s almost silly to go through the exercise of discussing gains and losses. This piece really exemplifies the rare occurrence of an LE making a radical break from its REV counterpart. Usually, most LE’s take a very Spinal Tap approach. Your REV goes up to 10? Our LE goes to 11! In this instance, however, it’s a bit like searching for common ground between polka and death metal. Once you get past the fact that both are forms of music, there isn’t much to say. So it is here. As far as the Emerald Eye and the Emerald Empress go, all they have in common is that “Emerald” bit in their names and the figure on top of the flight stand. However, in keeping with tradition, we’ll look at gains and losses anyway.

Emerald Eye of Ekron’s Gains v. E Emerald Empress
The Eye picks up a variety of blue-tinted powers that are not at all present on the Empress’s dial. She adds three (3) clicks of Mind Control, five (5) of Psychic Blast, four (4) of Mastermind, and three (3) of Probability Control. Breaking up this monochromatic madness, she closes out with two (2) clicks of Outwit. Numerically, the Eye receives an extra click of both nine (9) and eight (8) attack, making her enormously stable in that respect. Her opening attack is a nine (9), and she closes at (8). Perhaps not stellar, but as dependable as your dad’s Buick, and that has to be worth something.

Emerald Eye of Ekron’s Losses v. E Emerald Empress
As far as losses go, whether or not her complete and utter powers overhaul is good or bad, one certainty is that the loss of one click of life is never a good thing, and regrettably that’s what happens here. Aside from that, the Eye loses two clicks of four (4) damage, and all of the Empress’s Running Shot, Force Blast, Pulse Wave, Energy Explosion, Invulnerable, Toughness and Energy Shield/Deflection. In short, she discards everything that makes the Emerald Empress the Emerald Empress.

Neutral Dial Tinkering
Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Everything here is just too funky. So much so that nothing can be considered "neutral".


Cards that Work
Given her dial, the Emerald Eye of Ekron has some terrific attack options – Mind Control and Psychic Blast. To give her a boost, for 10 points try Extended Range so that she has more room to work with either of those two powers. Most of the time, though, it will probably make the most sense to use the enhanced range for her Mind Control. Why give up damage on that luscious Psychic Blast?

To save the points of Fortitude, try using White Noise to give the Emerald Eye some free protection against having her Mastermind Outwitted. Granted White Noise only gets her a 50% chance of being immune to her enemy’s Outwit, but every little bit helps. Between that, her PC, and her 17 defense, she’s got a very respectable chance to stay in the game for quite a while.

If ol_Dut had to Choose:
Emerald Eye of Ekron’s v. E Emerald Empress? That question is almost wholly and completely inappropriate and borderline ridiculous in this singular instance. It’s a bit like asking, “Hey ol’ Dut, do you want to order out for pizza or Chinese?” On different days you’re going to get very different answers. Both are correct and neither is wrong. So it is with these figures, and thus I choose both the Emerald Eye of Ekron and the Emerald Empress. Some days you may want the intricate delicacies of a mind-controlling, Psychic Blasting, Masterminding, PC’er. If so, select the Emerald Eye from the menu. If you’ve got a taste for a more straightforward Pulse-Waving, Wildcarding, Running Shooter, then the Emerald Empress is the hot and spicy bean-burger of choice. This is a rare opportunity to select between two dramatically different pieces that will suit wildly disparate teams, strategies and play styles.

As much as I’ve enjoyed playing the Empress, I can’t wait to give the Emerald Eye of Ekron a couple of spins around the map. Never have so many of my favorite powers been put together on consecutive clicks on one figure. Is her loss of a click of life critical? No, because thanks to Mastermind, she’s got as many clicks as her fodder will buy her. To heck with diamonds, suddenly Solomon Grundy is a girl’s best friend! Who knew? Are those missing four (4) damage clicks an issue? Not really, since thanks to PB, her three (3) damage goes straight through, and her PC will make hitting all the more inevitable. As a result, both of these seem to be perfectly acceptable “sacrifices”. Is the Eye better than the Empress, or vice versa? I prefer to think that they’re both very good pieces for very different reasons. And all of the differences make the Emerald Eye of Ekron one of the real “must have” LE’s from the set.

Quick and Dirty Price Guide
While the Emerald Eye of Ekron may not yet be a household name, nor that of the Emerald Empress for that matter, her very unique dial makes her pretty sought after both for game play and collection purposes. Those wanting the green lady will need plenty of green themselves, as her price tag is sitting between $25-$30. While her price may go down a bit as the month wears on, I’d never expect it to dip so low that one could call her the Emerald Eye of Enron. She’s a great piece and her price will reflect that.

Next Week - more Collateral Damage! Thanks for reading!

[jacobb]

I think the reason the LE is so different is that it represents the Emerald Eye itself, rather than the Empress who typically (but not always) controls it. In fact, the Eye sometimes controls its erstwhile wielder - hence all those clicks of Mind Control in the LE.

[shin-goji]

I'm really looking forward to playing the V Empress and the Eye at the same timee along with Persuader and Validus.

[krusticlese]

It's on my list for mods, a giant green eye with a few rookie Green Flame figures donated for the lightning surrouding it.

And once Gene grafted Brain comes out I'll run them together on a Deadly Organs team. :p

[The Charlatan]

I won her for fellowship tonight, and promptly traded her to the first place guy for a Rex Mason. It seems he needed mine because he had promptly traded away his for yet another figure... I guess not much love for her here.

[spider_ham]

I, for one, am glad WK is making LEs unique again!

[lance_grr]

I, for one, am glad WK is making LEs unique again!
Totally agree.

I'm loving this figure

[2 Gun Kid]

Shes a killer piece, shes the best WTF LE since Cameron Chase.

[Top10]

I really look forward to the LE reviews. I usually pick up a little insight on how to make the LE most effective (ie: extended range and white noise)

What really makes me happy is the writers. Great work


"Emerald Eye of Enron" - that is killer

[Wolverine_Hulk]

Emerald Eye of Enron.



:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[BigSoph]

The piece is interesting but way too expensivefor what it does. IMO

If it was around 60, maybe

[PresidntVictor]

it's the 6 movement that brings her playability way down. she can't be carried, so only tk can move her any worthwhile mobility.

[tidge]

I was sad to have lost on the chance to win this piece, but aside from theme teams, I'm not sure it will see much use....primarily because of the price.

I would happly use one with the Emerald Empress (and a Shrinking Violet, if we ever get one), or go the 'organs route' (with Hand Ninjas 'natch)

I am very happy with the 'odd-ball' LE design...this is a great approach; see also Matches Malone.

[mr-coffin]

It's on my list for mods, a giant green eye with a few rookie Green Flame figures donated for the lightning surrouding it.

And once Gene grafted Brain comes out I'll run them together on a Deadly Organs team. :p

Don't forget to include 2 Hand ninjas

[Puuka]

It's on my list for mods, a giant green eye with a few rookie Green Flame figures donated for the lightning surrouding it.

And once Gene grafted Brain comes out I'll run them together on a Deadly Organs team. :p

I made my mod already. Cut the eye off of a Emerald Empress rookie, took the figure of the flight stand disk and glued it down. If you do this I recomend cutting off the whole hand and shaving off the bottom so it's flat. Then you have a better base to glue it down with.

[Uberman]

Hmmm.... Last night I opted for the Colossal Boy rather than the Emerald Eye as my prize cause I'm all like "I already HAVE Emerald Express! I don't NEEDS another one!." Maybe I shoulda taken the Eye, what with it, conceptually, being a different character. But whatevs, I never got the Giants set and I still loves my Colossal Roy, even though he's promo.

[AZS]

And once Gene grafted Brain comes out I'll run them together on a Deadly Organs team. Is 'Man-Thing' on that team too?

[ol_Dut]

I made my mod already. Cut the eye off of a Emerald Empress rookie, took the figure of the flight stand disk and glued it down. If you do this I recomend cutting off the whole hand and shaving off the bottom so it's flat. Then you have a better base to glue it down with.

Thanks for the advice, I'll have to work on that this evening. Now I just need the LE...

[absolutvt69]

One of my favorite LEs from the set (along w/ the Brain LE). I can't wait to try her. Yes her dial is shallow for the points but it doesn't matter how many clicks you have when you can just give the damage to Lockjaw or Solomon Grundy. She's one of those figures that between the MM and Prob Control could be near impossible to hit/damage. I'm looking forward to using her.

[ShellShock]

hmmm....the most riiculous change in powers since the red hood with a lot more playability. sign me up

[SimonMoon5]

it's the 6 movement that brings her playability way down. she can't be carried, so only tk can move her any worthwhile mobility.

Yeah, that's what I keep looking at and trying to find a way to deal with. All I can come up with is the all-purpose tool, TK. But if the Eye is TK-ed, then it can't carry its own mastermind fodder. Of course, there's always the ever-useful Lockjaws to run up next to the Eye on their own, but that's not making the most out of Lockjaw's ability to carry people. Perhaps the Lockjaws would carry up some extra fodder? Or maybe they'd carry the TK character so that the Eye can be TK-ed again if needed?

I dunno, it's a lot of work to make this one figure useful.

[Mr Unstoppable]

If we ever get a Blackheart, you're money. It'll be like the MegaZord.

[DS-00-0, FSD]

Thanks for the advice, I'll have to work on that this evening. Now I just need the LE...


Then you've obviosly not checked out my sale thread...priced to move!!! ;)

[Darth Sabre]

Totally agree.

I'm loving this figure

She was given away here, last night!

[Glen Quagmire]

What's neat about her power set is it's actually unique in clix, upfront anyway. You'd think there would have been someone made by now that offered even 3 of these 4 powers upfront, but there's not. It's actually tough to find someone sporting MC and PC besides Calypso. Just for that, she's worthwhile.

The Eye is slow, though, and I hate low speed more than any other low stat out there; I can roll better to solve a bad AV, after all. I'd probably use Crosswinds just to get one round where Lockjaw can get her across the board.

[tyroclix]

Cards that Work
Given her dial, the Emerald Eye of Ekron has some terrific attack options – Mind Control and Psychic Blast. To give her a boost, for 10 points try Extended Range so that she has more room to work with either of those two powers. Most of the time, though, it will probably make the most sense to use the enhanced range for her Mind Control. Why give up damage on that luscious Psychic Blast?

Extended Range doesn't work with powers that do 1 or 0 damage.

Mind Control does no damage so I wonder if ER works?

For the Psy-Blast The Eye can do 3 damage at an 8 range, 2 damage at 9 range or 1 damage at 10 range.

ER does not work with EE or Incap because the damage value is replaced with a 1 or 0. But that Mind Control no damage thing - hmm, it sounds like it might work... Cool.

Oh, no interest in The Eye. If I get one I'm giving it to the Stygian Witches. "The eye! The eye! We must have it!"

[krusticlese]

The Eye can definately use Extended Range with Mind control. It's a favorite combo of mine on Shadow King and Nastirth.

As for the slow movement, I'd be more inclined to slap the fortitude on her and let her wonder across the board with prehaps a Cameron Chase figure (Stealth, PD, Outwit, Impervious) or another decent sponge.

[Heretic]

Good review but there is one thing that was missed... the eye loses the calculator team ability. While team abilities aren't the be all and end all, this is potentially a huge loss to the figure. Still not a bad figure over all.

[sayanything11]

I think the White Noise advice is great, but I think I will have a hard time resisting the 25pt "kick in the gut" that is Fortitude, when I play my lovely eye. First of all, I want to be able to use my outwit effectively, IF she is ever down on her clix... :) Secondly, in tournament play, I am only going to be using White Noise for one of the BFC's (if it isn't OD'd)

Great review, especially considering how radically different she is. I can't wait to read some of your reviews for the more 'interesting' of the Sinister LE's

[GoodMansBrother]

Is 'Man-Thing' on that team too?

BWAH-HAH-HAH-HAH...

I can't beleive nobody commented on this joke earlier...

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[uroboros1]

What makes this LE an asounting piece is her versatility. She has the ability to mind control someone to hit at range. Use Psi-blast to take down heavy-hitters. Mastermind to go toe-to-toe with close-combat rush-pieces and opponent heavy hitters. And PC is one of the most useful Support roles in the game. She can be used with extended range (as pointed out) as a long range finesse piece. Additionally if you consider what all of the support functions are in the game : Leadership, PC, MC, Barrier, TK, Support, Defend, Enhance, Perplex, Outwit ... The Eye has the rare situation where her dial sports two of them. Anytime this happens you end up with an incredibly useful piece ... other examples are : Selene (TK + MC), Calypso (MC + PC), Xorn (TK + Support), Shaman (PPX + Barr & Support + Barr), Dr. Mit-Nite (Defend + Support), Oracle on Card (Lead + Outwit + PPX!). CD Superman Red/Blue is interesting for a similar reason - Psi blast to take down their heavy-hitter, HSS to knock everything else. The Eye uses Psiblast+MC to take down heavy hitters, but can also just blast away and use MC for everything else. PC and MM keep her in the frey indefinitely if you use pogs (Lian Harper, Aunt May, etc) & regenerating pieces (with Auto-regen) properly.

Another interesting use might be Taunt. Force another piece to shoot at the Eye and then Mastermind it to a Regenerator. Have them use auto-regen then rinse and repeat.

[Mjolnir]

I most definitely wanted........ I hear the power gamers complaining but I don't care. I'll take a R Empress and cut the eye of od it...... now I have the Emerald Empress and her Eye as seperate pieces......... :)

[Shield001]

I most definitely wanted........ I hear the power gamers complaining but I don't care. I'll take a R Empress and cut the eye of od it...... now I have the Emerald Empress and her Eye as seperate pieces......... :)


why not just mod the fig that comes with the LE, its not like its a different fig or anything, is it really painted better?

but I do love the piece because its so different from the rev.

now I just need to mod it.