Most powerful keyword group?

[AZS]

What's the most potent, powerful or just plain varied keyword group out there right now?

To me it looks like the Mutants are taking the cake. Marvel might have trimmed them down to just 198 after House of M, but that's not stopping them in Clix.

[sengirv]

Spy is pretty nice with warskrull, Iron Widow, Winter Soldier, Ghost Widow, agent Brand, etc...

And don't forget about robot with Danger, Ahab, OMAC, etc...

But Mutants give you the most flexibility.

[spacedye]

Scientist is pretty solid. Most of them have support-ish powers, and they have some solid tanks too. It's not hard to make a good team with that keyword.

[Jarimy123]

My top 5:

1. Teen
1A. Mutant
2. Robot
3. Spy
4. Mystical
5. Monster

Teen can be almost frightenly good, same thing with mutant. There are so many combinations and so many good figs they are almost the same. Robot is of course a very close 2nd to those too. Robot doesn't allow you as many figs on the team, and doesn't have as much flexibility. Spy could be #2 it and robot are very close. Spy offers tons of stealth and outwit, and offers figs that can take care of those powers. Also has the cheapest taxi that is tourney legal right now, with a couple heavy hitters that need a cheap taxi. Mystical has R Shazaam, SR Scarlet Witch, and V Red Tornado - enough said. Just hasn't seen much play with floor in effect. Monster has the beasts which can always cause a lot of problems especially with NGN Hulk's ability to move and attack.


By the way - awesome new idea for a new group of threads.

[magerunner]

Martial Artist is actualy a very good group.
Good move attack powers.
Great Damage.
Suport powers
Loads of mobility.
Range and close.

You can have quite a bit of fun with them.

[The Mattador]

Mutant is a gimme...but I'd say Martial Artist, Teen, Spy, Scientist, and Future all have a lot of power!

[Feral2k]

X-Men
Mutant
Martial Artist
Monster
Brute
Robot

That's my call.

[marosama1234]

all the generic keywords (teens, mutants, etc) tends to dominate due to its massive figures, if they took down the generic keywords and stick with keywords like legion of super heroes, X-Men, Avengers, i believe thats the time to call it theme, but currently, i can say all generic keywords dominate.

[batjester]

I've done real well with the Soldier keyword. There are some really good figures there. Spy, teen, mutant, and scientist are also pretty handy. Shield wasn't too shabby either.

[Scott Neelan]

It seems like Mutant and Teen are the most versatile as it is right now. With the moratorium on the Mutant keyword usage, I see Teen being the best of the bunch within a couple sets. Scientist and Martial Artist are pretty well-off as well, and will likely get better with time.

[zero_cochrane]

Martial Artist is actualy a very good group.
Good move attack powers.
Great Damage.
Suport powers
Loads of mobility.
Range and close.Martial Artist is good, but lots of support powers? Loads of mobility? I don't see it.

[Scott Neelan]

The "Martial Artist" mobility and support powers are there, but not in the numbers or the cost effectiveness that you'd see with other keywords.

[spacedye]

Martial Artist themes pretty much need Owlman. He brings outwit and PC to the table. People like Timber Wolf bring mobility. The rest bring ### kicking.

[Darth Sabre]

I have not really studied the Keywords closely, as I have used themed teams based on comic accuracy and the Keywords have essentially been more of a by-product of my team design rather than a concentrated effort of building a Keyword team. That being said, I can't help but notice that Spy/Soldier seems to be strong. I don't know if they are the most powerful but they seem awfully good.

[Draggor]

It seems like Mutant and Teen are the most versatile as it is right now. With the moratorium on the Mutant keyword usage, I see Teen being the best of the bunch within a couple sets. Scientist and Martial Artist are pretty well-off as well, and will likely get better with time.

I was thinking pretty well the same thing. Teen will end up the clear number one, if it's not already, now that they've said no more mutants. Crosses both universes so every set should have at least a few of them. already have a wide selection of powers and points costs available, from cheap support up to one man armies. Scientist and martial artist are always going to be fairly limited by the types of figures that have those keywords. Both those keywords come with certain expections. I think teen is another keyword that will end up not being used anymore.

[TheComedian]

Mutant
Mystical
Scientist
Soldier
Spy
Teen

Justice League of America
Avengers
X-Men

Future
Martial Artist

[fivestarvtec]

i like using
1.robot- superman robot,danger, ahab, deathlok, red tornado,hourman...
2.scientist- Kang the conq, doom, living laser,giant-man, The Leader...
3.future-starhawk, kang the conq, Kc flash/Green Lantern, proffessor zoom
These are just a few i like going with

[MrFurious87]

im gonna have to go with-
1. mutant(most flexible)
2. spy
3. teen(my favorite)
4. martial artist
5. future (a bunch to choose from)

[Goken]

For Constructed:
1. Mutant
2. Scientist
3. Spy
4. Teen
5. Mystical (possibly Robot)

For unrestricted:
1. Scientist
2. Avengers
3. Teen
4. Spy
5. Mutant or Mystical (possibly Robot after CRISIS)

[tidge]

For "non-Generic", 300-point, restricted (and no-dupes):

I actually think Justice Society has several excellent permutations.

In restricted play, especially if duplicates are allowed, I think Mystical should do better than almost any other team. Rookie Shazam (with available TK, Prob Control, and Phone Booth) should be able to outplay enough other theme teams.

Personally I like "Future" but it looks better at 400-points. "Spies" have a tremendous problem with ranged attack pieces that can break Stealth...and the only way to counter that is to commit to Ghost Widow(Support) and/or Winter Soldier (10-range, with no easy Stealth breaking of his own)

[spangdog]

Throughout this M&M release tournament games. I have decided to go with a different keyword each time that I played. So I must agree that mutant is the most popular out of this set. Go figure that one out. My favorites are Future, Animal, and Warrior. Althuogh you do have mutants in there at least once. Plus I try not to mix up the two comic realms unless the points call for it. That is why I like the D.C. for the keyword over marvel.

[doctor_x]

Future is my fave and I think it's the most versatile/powerful.
It has some great figs from DC Marvel & Indy.

I can't wait till floor events are over so we can build theme teams unrestricted.

It has a good variety of doublebased, giants, and heavyhitters for decent point values to build from.

It can shut down Ootsman and Danger teams quite easily.

It will soon get the best piece IMO from the Crisis set-which is DAWNSTAR, also Rip Hunter will be a great addition.

Karate Kid could be a fun piece too.

I think those are the 3 main future figs from crisis.

[weaponizedsoul]

Before looking for the best keyword in restricted, we'll need to look at the best figures first..

R Shazaam
COG Stardust
Man of Steel
Thanos

granted that is a very long list. But those above have brought more wins than other teams lately in the world's. Which one of them has the best team to support them in a keyword scenario?

R Shazaam..

plain and simple. TK, PC and lots of secondary hitters.

I think mystical is the best keyword right now. Until they retire collateral damage;)

[adamkomar]

I took a good look at the martial artist characters while building a force last night and it has some great cost-effective characters with that keyword. I wouldn't discount it.

[darthbaugh]

In restricted I have had the best luck with robot, teen and mutant. In unrestricted it is definately future for me. you grab any kc piece, catgirl and a boat load of legion pieces and you got yourself a winner.

[shaka]

for the best is:
scientist
mystical
robot
mutant..

[TheVagrantKing]

Well, honestly? It HAS to be 'future', almost for the new KC Superman alone.

You've got the entire Legion of Superheroes. Kang the Conquerer. Emerald Empress. All the KC Figures. Those are just the heavy hitters.

M&M Bishop is pretty nasty

Col. Logan is a darn fine Wolverine.

Ahab isn't just a robot, he's a futuristic robot.

The entire 2099 set.

Championships have been won with at least 3 figures with the future keyword. I can't see anything else comparing with the power and versatility of this one.

[Shuttle]

Teen gets my vote as the most powerful as it includes some very powerful pieces (veteran Origin Supergirl anyone?) while being backed up by a horde of lower points, but still useful support guys. With Crisis offering several new Teen Titans and the continuing support for the Runaways to get figures I expect to see them getting better.

I have played a Soldier team which did well (Winter Soldier, USAgent, Bucky, Ultimate Falcon and Moon Knight) against considerably tougher opponents. (They beat up the Batman & Robin duo figure, and had JL Superman on the run.) So yes, I like Soldiers as well.

[joh-marko]

i like my odds with future. its not the biggest list but its definately a strong candidate

[invisibo]

crisis is going to buff the future keyword significantly with the additions of Rip Hunter and dawnstar, who both look like they're going to be seeing a lot of play. (Rip seems a bit expensive but I think he provides a lot of utility and an awesome TA for the points. I wouldn't be too surprised to see LoSH Rip teams popping up in the next couple weeks).

[BigSoph]

Martial Artist is good, but lots of support powers? Loads of mobility? I don't see it.

Martial Artists, 312 (point range 11-205, avg 50.09)

1 with Support
3 with PC (I am excluding all versions of Foom)
1 with TK
57 with Outwit
27 with Perplex
33 with Leadership
9 qualify for Brilliant Tactician

Compare with Mutant, 107 (point range 17-250, avg 71.17)

2 figure with Support
5 with PC
8 with TK
17 with Outwit
16 with Perplex
9 Leaders
7 qualify for Brilliant Tactician

And now Scientists, 262 figures (point range 13-251, avg 83.52)

15 with Support
11 with PC
10 with TK
101 with Outwit
76 with Perplex
18 with Leadership
36 qualify for Brilliant Tactician

Teens, 193 (point range 14-232, avg 61.83)

7 with Support
7 with PC
8 with TK
11 with Outwit
20 with Perplex
7 with Leadership
2 qualify for Brilliant Tactician

Soldier, 190 (point range 9-275, avg 61.32)

8 with Support
7 with PC
5 with TK
28 with Outwit
13 with Perplex
35 with Leadership
3 qualify for Brilliant Tactician

I am going to have to say Scientist is the best supported!

[The Arachnid]

I'm going to have to go with X-men. Various powers and combos.

[vamroc]

I'd say its a tie between Avengers and JSA simply because there are just so GD many of them. Plus you can Thunderbolt the Avengers T.A to give them just about any damn T.A. you want. Because Thor needs the Batman or Mystics team abilities like Mary Jane Parker needs breast reduction hahahaha.:laugh:

[zen007]

JSA Team Ability. There is nothing like someone outwitting Jakeem Thunders 19 Defend with V Ray beside him. They "hit" the Ray and then you go "D'oH!" defend IS the team ability numbskull.
Outwiting and playing cutsie is nice. But the meat and potatoes of HeroClix is a move and shoot power, stealth, and a high defense.

[BigSoph]

I'm going to have to go with X-men. Various powers and combos.

X-Men

160 figures, averaging 88.68

7 with Support
4 with PC
25 with TK
16 with Outwit
17 with Perplex
16 with Leadership
4 qualify for Brilliant Tactician

Justice League of America

61 figures, 80.95 average

1 with Support
4 with PC
8 with TK
13 with Outwit
9 with Perplex
6 with Leadership
4 qualify for Brilliant Tactician

Let's compare to Police

110 figures, 47.23 average

8 with Support
0 with PC
1 with TK
15 with Outwit
12 with Perplex
7 with Leadership
3 qualify for Brilliant Tactician

[zero_cochrane]

Generic keywords have taken a small hit form the new rules, now that specific keyword thematic teams are much easier to build.

[Ouchmaker]

I think the whole Justice League franchise has taken a hit from the keywords. Justice League, Justice League of America, JLA, etc. I can understand why some of the are separated, but having both, JLA and Justice League of America?

[wantoch]

The exiles should be near the top of your list now and when the team point limits go up they'll be "Heart breakers and Name takers".:devious:

[spangdog]

I have had the most fun with the monster key word group

[doctor_x]

In unrestricted it is definately future for me. you grab any kc piece, catgirl and a boat load of legion pieces and you got yourself a winner.

Yours is the only mention of Catgirl I've ever seen here on HCRealms. :knockedou

I just picked up Catgirl, Svhaughnn Erin, and a bunch of old Legion pieces to go along with my ever expanding future figs roster.

Future is what I primarily collect and play now.

The entire 2099 cc set are future keyword figs, and are really good pieces that play well.

Some of the Indy 2000AD figs are actually useful as future keyword support pieces.

I also have all the REV Science police.
They are great support pieces for their TA.


The Past keyword has shaped up some with the retired figs getting keywords. They have figs like M&M Apocalypse, 2 Gun Kid, and Mystique.

May as well time travel from future to past!


:cool: