AZS
02/14/2003, 09:52
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Welcome to my reviews and thanks for reading.
I’m writing these to start discussions, have some fun, and I hope you will too.
These reviews look at stats, cost, playability and strategy in the context of 200 and 300 pt games. Also, while I have nothing against mixing sets, to make this a little easier, these are only discussed in relation to the Marvel Universe.
Feel free to object or agree with anything! If you have a valid point, I’ll be more than happy to back you up.
I’m departing very slightly from the regular format and writing a mass review for all versions of everyone’s favorite overproduced bad girl: Elektra
This ninja chick is somewhat unique in that she has multiple versions of her character all with the same name. So this will be a review of all the versions of the Sai wielding wacky woman starting with the ‘classic’ Infinity Challenge version.
Standard IC Elektra is pretty straight forward with an average dial depth and powers that increase in depth over the versions.
Elektra is very similar to other Blades/Claws/Fangers in IC with stealth and some hack ‘n slash. She does stand out though as being one of two in IC with stealth and a ranged attack. The only other being Exp Captain America. Even in CT, only a handful join that club; Black Cat (later in her dial), Black Widow, Invisible Woman, and the only guy in the group, Nick Fury.
Back to Elektra, thanks to her fairly low attack values across the board she isn’t a terribly great attacker. But you can’t really complain when you see that she only costs 18, 22 and 34 points. The Rookie and Exp being Uber-cheap. Prior to Clobberin’ Time’s Vampire Lackey, these two Sai wielding vixens were the cheapest b/c/f in the game, not too shabby.
Cheap b/c/f is great, if that’s the sort of thing your into. For me, I can’t help but think for those 18 points there are a lot of other things I would rather do with the points than field a limited figure with a weak attack value. Now mind you I’m not looking for an 11 AV in a figure under 20 points, but I have to be realistic that a 7 isn’t going to hit much. I also can’t help but think of what else I can do with those 18 points. I can make an even swap for a R Quicksilver, my fig of choice for running interference, a R Vulture or even Exp if I have some fudge room. In CT I have R Black Cat whose L/C is good for getting across the board to tie up medics, and R Avalanche is great for cheap barrier. All of these figs have more strategic advantage for *my* play style than an 18 pt Elektra with 1 click of b/c/f and some stealth.
In the exp version, again I feel my own strategy can do better with 22 points of other figs. Maybe a rookie Doc Ock from CT, or just splitting the points up among my existing figs to upgrade my taxis and medics. So I’m not too keen on this fig so far.
The Vet has a respectable attack of 9, but then again so does Blade. But the real kicker for the Vet is that she’ll always be overshadowed by the Unique for a very mere 2 points more.
So with that all said, I can admit that I don’t play with regular Elektra. If I ever get the urge to put one on a team I always go with the Unique. Her stats are almost exactly like the Vet, but with the Attack Value being significantly better. In fact I think Unique Elektra might be the cheapest figure in the entire game with an 11 attack value. Add to that the b/c/f and you finally have a worthy figure. A great figure. Its interesting what a significant difference 2 points in the AV can make, but it’s the difference between needing an average roll of 7 to hit an 18 defense, or reaching to hit with a roll of 9. This is where the rest of Elektra comes together too; the stealth means she can move on her own across the board, or if you pair he with a taxi that can make short hops across the map while stopping to hide in terrain. B/c/f makes her dangerous and the high AV makes her playable. This is where it all comes together.
Over in Clobberin Time we get another version of the princess of pointy things with “Glaive” Elektra. This figure just looks great. Plus the added security of the new style bases so she won’t snap off when clicking her and the extra care WK took in packaging her so we didn’t end up with a box full of bent wookies.
However, for all the posturing, this similarly costed version of Elektra doesn’t even hold up to the fairly low standards set by her predecessor. The same attack values are there, 7, 8 and 9, as well as the good movement and ample stealth. But she’s traded out the b/c/f and the seemingly short range of 4 for Ranged Combat Expert and a long stick with which she can poke you (cut it out!) from 2 squares away.
As if the low attack value wasn’t a handicap enough on its own, the RCE with an embarrassingly short range makes Steven Hawkins look like an Olympiad by comparison. Just like many factors come together to make Unique Elektra so good, many factors conspire to make this dancing dame, well, lame. The short range to start pretty much speaks for itself. Again the attack value is sub par for a Resurrected-Ninja-Killer-Lady with a lead role in a major motion picture. But its really the RCE that hurts. This Elektra can only do high damage to an opponent who is specifically 2 squares away, or a flying character in base with her. Any farther than 2, or if she’s based with a grounded opponent, and ~pow~ she’s worthless. I do have to give credit to the designers for being creative with the characters in CT and for trying new things. But in my opinion if there is going to be an Elektra in every set, and thus some annoyed fans (I’m not one of them, its all the same to me), it might help to make the figure more playable so fans have less to complain about.
(then again, you could give them 24 ct gold figures for a nickel each and they’d still find something to complain about. “They’re too shiny” “I prefer silver” “My cat ate them.” Etc... fans will be fans :rolleyes: ).
In the end, Elektra is pretty much fish bait for filling my tackle box and gettin’ freaky with my Doc Ocks. (they’re always tangled together, I think there’s something going on there.) The one exception being the Unique version that is so spectacularly playable she makes me completely forget about the wastes of plastic that are IC and CT Elektras.
On a side note, I have no idea if the “list” floating around the net is accurate, but it seems to me that its more than likely there will be another Elektra in Xplosion. I have high hopes that this version is going to be completely different, and floor us all! Then again, I’ve had the same hopes that I was going to win the lottery, and yet here I am still mingling with the common folk. :rolleyes: ;)
Thanks again to all for reading, even after so long. I hope I’m still managing to remain interesting and fresh, and your feedback goes a long way towards keeping me going.
Starting next week, and here on out till Xplosion I will be posting two reviews a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
So ‘till next Tuesday, have a great weekend and I’ll see ya around the board.
Check out my other reviews at these links:
Marvel Reviews (http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16280) . . . DC Reviews (http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14015)
Welcome to my reviews and thanks for reading.
I’m writing these to start discussions, have some fun, and I hope you will too.
These reviews look at stats, cost, playability and strategy in the context of 200 and 300 pt games. Also, while I have nothing against mixing sets, to make this a little easier, these are only discussed in relation to the Marvel Universe.
Feel free to object or agree with anything! If you have a valid point, I’ll be more than happy to back you up.
I’m departing very slightly from the regular format and writing a mass review for all versions of everyone’s favorite overproduced bad girl: Elektra
This ninja chick is somewhat unique in that she has multiple versions of her character all with the same name. So this will be a review of all the versions of the Sai wielding wacky woman starting with the ‘classic’ Infinity Challenge version.
Standard IC Elektra is pretty straight forward with an average dial depth and powers that increase in depth over the versions.
Elektra is very similar to other Blades/Claws/Fangers in IC with stealth and some hack ‘n slash. She does stand out though as being one of two in IC with stealth and a ranged attack. The only other being Exp Captain America. Even in CT, only a handful join that club; Black Cat (later in her dial), Black Widow, Invisible Woman, and the only guy in the group, Nick Fury.
Back to Elektra, thanks to her fairly low attack values across the board she isn’t a terribly great attacker. But you can’t really complain when you see that she only costs 18, 22 and 34 points. The Rookie and Exp being Uber-cheap. Prior to Clobberin’ Time’s Vampire Lackey, these two Sai wielding vixens were the cheapest b/c/f in the game, not too shabby.
Cheap b/c/f is great, if that’s the sort of thing your into. For me, I can’t help but think for those 18 points there are a lot of other things I would rather do with the points than field a limited figure with a weak attack value. Now mind you I’m not looking for an 11 AV in a figure under 20 points, but I have to be realistic that a 7 isn’t going to hit much. I also can’t help but think of what else I can do with those 18 points. I can make an even swap for a R Quicksilver, my fig of choice for running interference, a R Vulture or even Exp if I have some fudge room. In CT I have R Black Cat whose L/C is good for getting across the board to tie up medics, and R Avalanche is great for cheap barrier. All of these figs have more strategic advantage for *my* play style than an 18 pt Elektra with 1 click of b/c/f and some stealth.
In the exp version, again I feel my own strategy can do better with 22 points of other figs. Maybe a rookie Doc Ock from CT, or just splitting the points up among my existing figs to upgrade my taxis and medics. So I’m not too keen on this fig so far.
The Vet has a respectable attack of 9, but then again so does Blade. But the real kicker for the Vet is that she’ll always be overshadowed by the Unique for a very mere 2 points more.
So with that all said, I can admit that I don’t play with regular Elektra. If I ever get the urge to put one on a team I always go with the Unique. Her stats are almost exactly like the Vet, but with the Attack Value being significantly better. In fact I think Unique Elektra might be the cheapest figure in the entire game with an 11 attack value. Add to that the b/c/f and you finally have a worthy figure. A great figure. Its interesting what a significant difference 2 points in the AV can make, but it’s the difference between needing an average roll of 7 to hit an 18 defense, or reaching to hit with a roll of 9. This is where the rest of Elektra comes together too; the stealth means she can move on her own across the board, or if you pair he with a taxi that can make short hops across the map while stopping to hide in terrain. B/c/f makes her dangerous and the high AV makes her playable. This is where it all comes together.
Over in Clobberin Time we get another version of the princess of pointy things with “Glaive” Elektra. This figure just looks great. Plus the added security of the new style bases so she won’t snap off when clicking her and the extra care WK took in packaging her so we didn’t end up with a box full of bent wookies.
However, for all the posturing, this similarly costed version of Elektra doesn’t even hold up to the fairly low standards set by her predecessor. The same attack values are there, 7, 8 and 9, as well as the good movement and ample stealth. But she’s traded out the b/c/f and the seemingly short range of 4 for Ranged Combat Expert and a long stick with which she can poke you (cut it out!) from 2 squares away.
As if the low attack value wasn’t a handicap enough on its own, the RCE with an embarrassingly short range makes Steven Hawkins look like an Olympiad by comparison. Just like many factors come together to make Unique Elektra so good, many factors conspire to make this dancing dame, well, lame. The short range to start pretty much speaks for itself. Again the attack value is sub par for a Resurrected-Ninja-Killer-Lady with a lead role in a major motion picture. But its really the RCE that hurts. This Elektra can only do high damage to an opponent who is specifically 2 squares away, or a flying character in base with her. Any farther than 2, or if she’s based with a grounded opponent, and ~pow~ she’s worthless. I do have to give credit to the designers for being creative with the characters in CT and for trying new things. But in my opinion if there is going to be an Elektra in every set, and thus some annoyed fans (I’m not one of them, its all the same to me), it might help to make the figure more playable so fans have less to complain about.
(then again, you could give them 24 ct gold figures for a nickel each and they’d still find something to complain about. “They’re too shiny” “I prefer silver” “My cat ate them.” Etc... fans will be fans :rolleyes: ).
In the end, Elektra is pretty much fish bait for filling my tackle box and gettin’ freaky with my Doc Ocks. (they’re always tangled together, I think there’s something going on there.) The one exception being the Unique version that is so spectacularly playable she makes me completely forget about the wastes of plastic that are IC and CT Elektras.
On a side note, I have no idea if the “list” floating around the net is accurate, but it seems to me that its more than likely there will be another Elektra in Xplosion. I have high hopes that this version is going to be completely different, and floor us all! Then again, I’ve had the same hopes that I was going to win the lottery, and yet here I am still mingling with the common folk. :rolleyes: ;)
Thanks again to all for reading, even after so long. I hope I’m still managing to remain interesting and fresh, and your feedback goes a long way towards keeping me going.
Starting next week, and here on out till Xplosion I will be posting two reviews a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
So ‘till next Tuesday, have a great weekend and I’ll see ya around the board.
Check out my other reviews at these links:
Marvel Reviews (http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16280) . . . DC Reviews (http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14015)