AZS
03/04/2003, 11:30
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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.
This review has been “revisited.” Meaning I’ve gone back and looked at it again since the new rules took effect Oct, 2003 and added some thoughts about how the playability of this figure has changed under the new rules.
The revisited part is in a different color at the end of the original review.
I’m still new to many of the rules, just like all of you, so if I got anything wrong, speak up. I don’t want to spread misinformation.
Magneto (http://www.hcrealms.com/cgi-bin/get_unit.cgi?num=ic127)
80/89/103
Magneto, the Master of Magnetism, the man who’s gone through more name changes than your local phone company. First he was Magnus, then he was Eric Magnus, then he was Eric Lesshussurhrs (or something, Maybe JonL knows how to spell it). But in the end I guess you can just call him Maggie, or maybe Mr. Neeto. But you probably shouldn’t call him that to his face. And Magneto is the paradigm of bad comic continuity, he’s died and been resurrected more times than he’s changed his name. A cat’s got nothing on this guy; Nine lives are what he goes through over a bowl of cereal in the morning. (Damm you infernal Grape Nuts!)
In his Clix version, Magneto is moreso the Master of Telekinesis, with more clicks of TK than anyone else in the game. But that is as good a representation of his magnetic powers as you can get.
You’d think that being the originator of the Brotherhood of Eeevil Mutants should be enough to put him on that team for all his versions, but I guess everyone can let go of the hate for a little while. Magnus takes time out in his Experienced version to join the X-men. Even though through some fluke in the rules he still can’t be on the same team as his Arch Enemy Professor X. For people looking for an explanation for that, Prof X was off in space for a while (I use that excuse occasionally too) and in his absence, Magneto turned over a new leaf and became headmaster of Xavier’s school. This lasted for about 1.5 years of issues until Magneto realized that Wolverine kept making rude gestures behind his back, and every time Colossus armored up he was inexplicably attracted to ‘The Master.’ Magneto then went back to his evil ways, and not surprisingly, Colossus followed.
Anyway, back to the clix.
Maggie actually suffers from Swiss Army Syndrome. He’s useful for too many things and can end up being stretched too thin. Do you use him as a taxi thanks to the free move? Use TK to move your teammates around? Or how about using him to attack? Is he support or is he an attacker? Its easy to think that he can front a team and you’ll get to use all his abilities all the time. But because he gets weak quickly, you actually don’t get to use him for everything that you’d like and can end up just pushing him past his useful clicks without getting what you want out of him.
Most people focus on Magneto’s glass jaw, and might not actually see his overall playability. Even though you’d like the rookie to be a major attack piece for his 80 points, that just isn’t the case. However, he is still playable as a heavy duty support figure. For starters, he has the Brotherhood team ability for your wildcards to copy and he has leadership down the whole dial to help with actions. That’s a 2 action advantage in 1 figure. There’s also the respectable 18 defense against range, and he has a consistent movement of 8 for several clicks. Add his TK into the mix, and you have a figure that is great for getting your team around regardless of who they are. TK people into position 10 squares away, and even though his damage is just a low 2, he can still TK objects for greater damage, and at a greater range. Plus he’s good to use TK to expose stealthed enemies hiding on objects. None of these things require a good attack value or high damage, but still make him useful.
All around he’s very playable, just not as a front running attacker, and definitely not in small point games. If you want to experiment, you might be able to fit him on 300 pt teams, but he’s probably better off in even larger games where you can afford the 80 pts and still have room for your big guns.
For 9 points more the Experienced Magnus is a little bit better. Nothing really stands out about him over the rookie, just a slight increase in stats down the dial, and most notably a better starting damage. Also as mentioned before he is a member of the X-men in this incarnation. If you’re big into the X-men teams, this can be useful, but overall I personally prefer the Brotherhood team since you don’t need any other figures to be able to use it, it doesn’t cost you an action to use (actually saves you one), and you don’t have to be adjacent to anyone either. But with all the new X-men coming out in Xplosion, there might be some new uses for this middle Magnet.
The Vet is where this guy really becomes a super conducting magnet of power! Ok, maybe that’s a little over the top, but the Vet Magneto really shines compared to the others, and in clix overall. He is the cheapest figure that can deal 4 damage at range, and its natural damage, so it can be boosted with Perplex or Enhancement (as opposed to RCE which can’t) and can’t be outwitted. Plus he still has an impressive range of 8, and the attack value of 10 is fairly decent, if not great. Mr. Neeto’s defense is a marvel as well at 17 plus Energy Shield/Deflection, giving him a 19 to range. Park him in hindering terrain and he has a superlative 20 defense to range. Most people don’t even bother trying to attack him at that point, also figuring, hey, its Magneto, what’s he gonna do? Then they get smacked for 4 clicks!
This Magneto isn’t the supporting swiss army knife of the previous versions. Sure he still has all those great options, but this is where you won’t want to push him so he can remain on that great first click, graduating from supporting character to attacker. Give him a taxi of his own, and lay out your objects so he has a perch with a place to hide is a good way to set up. Then move him in and take your shot. If someone manages to land a hit on Maggie, he’ll take damage naturally and click down pretty quick. He still has all his powers down the dial, but after a few clicks he’s not too useful offensively. However, his defense falls embarrassingly fast, so he should be very easy to heal back up to his very first click and then head back out to the field for more magnetic mayhem. (like erasing your enemy’s credit cards). :)
Unfortunately even at 103 points Vet Magneto still isn’t up to snuff to front his own team. You should have other heavy hitters on the team to make up for Maggs glass jaw, and keep a medic nearby. Because of his impressive defense, he should be kept back as strictly a ranged attacker, but if need be, don’t forget that you can use TK on your opponent, and on the objects they’re hiding in too.
Vet Maggs fits well in a 300 pt team with enough room for other solid attackers. Be careful about protecting him though, with that glass jaw he could be a juicy 103 pt target for your opponent.
Overall Magneto isn’t quite the threat he is in comics, but strictly as a clix piece, he’s not the garbage people make him out to be either. In the lesser versions he can be excellent support pieces for a variety of tasks, and you can even push him if need be because his movement and powers stay strong even while his other stats take a plunge. In the vet version he graduates to be a true threat, but still not a front runner. When compared to other figures from Infinity Challenge he may not seem to rate, but with each expansion he fits in and falls in line more with the current balanced stats.
Pull the old purple caped one out of your tackle box and give him a look. He might surprise you.
---------------------------------------------
(Revisited - 10/24/03)
Many many sets later, and Vet Magneto is still the cheapest figure in the game with a ranged attack and base damage of 4. The only fig who is less is Vet Human Torch with 4 damage at the end of his dial for his ‘Nova Blast’ but that’s not quite the same (hard click to get to, low AV, etc).
Even though as pure offensive muscle Mags is seriously challenged by the similar but more powerful Elcipso who is just 5 points more.
Still, Mags still stands the test of time as an offensive bruiser. But his role as a support fig has changed significantly.
I covered a lot of the main points of TK in the original portion of the review, but there are still a few things were revisiting.
For starters, Magneto is towards the top of the rather short list of figs in the whole game with Telekinesis. And he has it in abundance. In addition to TK, Mags also has a dial full of Leadership. Many people don’t point it out, but leadership will play an important role under the new rules. Eliminating the majority of the free move taxis and making you rely on TK or moving figs out on their own is going to eat up your actions much faster than you’re used to. So the extra move that Leadership can provide can be key for getting done what you want each turn.
In the new light, the Rookie Magneto actually becomes a lot more playable while ironically the Vet falls to the wayside a bit. If you don’t look at the rookie as an attacker but rather as purely support then you can see you’ll get a lot out of him. The amount of TK is the most obvious. Don’t worry about pushing him repeatedly to get your figs out into the field because he has TK for 6 out of his total 7 clicks. His longevity is another plus, many of the other TKers in the set don’t have the depth of dial that even R Mags has. Of course many aren’t the high 80 points that he is either. But still, you can push him all you want since his usefulness doesn’t decline. That he is a brotherhood member and a flier too is just an added bonus. One one turn fly a fig up a bit into position, and the following turn push Magneto to TK your attacker into action.
The Rookie is a great fig for the points, but the Exp is a little trickier. He’s not a lot more expensive, but you also don’t get a lot more use out of him. If he were an attacker his improvements would be great, but as support he doesn’t gain you much more. The biggest difference is the change to X-men which will change your strategy a bit. No longer is he a free move flier. But now you can do a few different tricks with him. For starters, he can take clicks of life from your damaged X-men, it still won’t hurt his playability, then when he’s healed them a bit he can TK them back into action. Another trick is to Push him to TK some figs into the field, then trade a click with Colossus (a SS charger) to activate him, then TK Colossus into action. It’ll take a couple of turns, but at least Colossus won’t otherwise waste those actions doing the pee-pee dance alone.
Finally we come back to the Vet. Whereas previously I really liked this fig as an offensive piece, he even started to grow on me as general defenses in the game got lower his 10 AV was better and better. But now that fliers can’t carry fliers he’s not as easy to get into battle to set up his nice attack and damage. Sure he can still be TKed like anyone else, but its not as sweet, and he just loses a bit of his shine. Plus he does not bode Pushing well, and having a TKer in the field and not using him to move your team around will just eat at you.
Ultimately the Rookie gets significantly better in the role of a support piece, offering you many many options for his variety of talents, none of which (thankfully) rely on his attack value or damage. Ironically though the Vet gets correspondingly worse just for the fact that he’s a flier and is now shunned by other fliers and thus can’t be carried. He still packs a great punch for the points, but he’s more difficult to use and there ~are~ other figs out there that can deal 4 damage at range, its just not 4 natural damage. But I think we can learn to live with that.
The Exp Magneto is still the odd man out with the X-men team ability. The huge jump in the number of X-men alone makes him a more appealing choice for some teams, but the majority of the time the Rookie will fill the same function for fewer points.
I hope you enjoyed my first revisit. I’ll try to get these out on some sort of regular basis, but since I’m still doing the regular reviews too, I can’t make any promises. You can always subscribe to Mr. Pilkington’s review list thread to be notified whenever a new review or revisit goes up.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you’ll reply with some comments of your own.
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.
This review has been “revisited.” Meaning I’ve gone back and looked at it again since the new rules took effect Oct, 2003 and added some thoughts about how the playability of this figure has changed under the new rules.
The revisited part is in a different color at the end of the original review.
I’m still new to many of the rules, just like all of you, so if I got anything wrong, speak up. I don’t want to spread misinformation.
Magneto (http://www.hcrealms.com/cgi-bin/get_unit.cgi?num=ic127)
80/89/103
Magneto, the Master of Magnetism, the man who’s gone through more name changes than your local phone company. First he was Magnus, then he was Eric Magnus, then he was Eric Lesshussurhrs (or something, Maybe JonL knows how to spell it). But in the end I guess you can just call him Maggie, or maybe Mr. Neeto. But you probably shouldn’t call him that to his face. And Magneto is the paradigm of bad comic continuity, he’s died and been resurrected more times than he’s changed his name. A cat’s got nothing on this guy; Nine lives are what he goes through over a bowl of cereal in the morning. (Damm you infernal Grape Nuts!)
In his Clix version, Magneto is moreso the Master of Telekinesis, with more clicks of TK than anyone else in the game. But that is as good a representation of his magnetic powers as you can get.
You’d think that being the originator of the Brotherhood of Eeevil Mutants should be enough to put him on that team for all his versions, but I guess everyone can let go of the hate for a little while. Magnus takes time out in his Experienced version to join the X-men. Even though through some fluke in the rules he still can’t be on the same team as his Arch Enemy Professor X. For people looking for an explanation for that, Prof X was off in space for a while (I use that excuse occasionally too) and in his absence, Magneto turned over a new leaf and became headmaster of Xavier’s school. This lasted for about 1.5 years of issues until Magneto realized that Wolverine kept making rude gestures behind his back, and every time Colossus armored up he was inexplicably attracted to ‘The Master.’ Magneto then went back to his evil ways, and not surprisingly, Colossus followed.
Anyway, back to the clix.
Maggie actually suffers from Swiss Army Syndrome. He’s useful for too many things and can end up being stretched too thin. Do you use him as a taxi thanks to the free move? Use TK to move your teammates around? Or how about using him to attack? Is he support or is he an attacker? Its easy to think that he can front a team and you’ll get to use all his abilities all the time. But because he gets weak quickly, you actually don’t get to use him for everything that you’d like and can end up just pushing him past his useful clicks without getting what you want out of him.
Most people focus on Magneto’s glass jaw, and might not actually see his overall playability. Even though you’d like the rookie to be a major attack piece for his 80 points, that just isn’t the case. However, he is still playable as a heavy duty support figure. For starters, he has the Brotherhood team ability for your wildcards to copy and he has leadership down the whole dial to help with actions. That’s a 2 action advantage in 1 figure. There’s also the respectable 18 defense against range, and he has a consistent movement of 8 for several clicks. Add his TK into the mix, and you have a figure that is great for getting your team around regardless of who they are. TK people into position 10 squares away, and even though his damage is just a low 2, he can still TK objects for greater damage, and at a greater range. Plus he’s good to use TK to expose stealthed enemies hiding on objects. None of these things require a good attack value or high damage, but still make him useful.
All around he’s very playable, just not as a front running attacker, and definitely not in small point games. If you want to experiment, you might be able to fit him on 300 pt teams, but he’s probably better off in even larger games where you can afford the 80 pts and still have room for your big guns.
For 9 points more the Experienced Magnus is a little bit better. Nothing really stands out about him over the rookie, just a slight increase in stats down the dial, and most notably a better starting damage. Also as mentioned before he is a member of the X-men in this incarnation. If you’re big into the X-men teams, this can be useful, but overall I personally prefer the Brotherhood team since you don’t need any other figures to be able to use it, it doesn’t cost you an action to use (actually saves you one), and you don’t have to be adjacent to anyone either. But with all the new X-men coming out in Xplosion, there might be some new uses for this middle Magnet.
The Vet is where this guy really becomes a super conducting magnet of power! Ok, maybe that’s a little over the top, but the Vet Magneto really shines compared to the others, and in clix overall. He is the cheapest figure that can deal 4 damage at range, and its natural damage, so it can be boosted with Perplex or Enhancement (as opposed to RCE which can’t) and can’t be outwitted. Plus he still has an impressive range of 8, and the attack value of 10 is fairly decent, if not great. Mr. Neeto’s defense is a marvel as well at 17 plus Energy Shield/Deflection, giving him a 19 to range. Park him in hindering terrain and he has a superlative 20 defense to range. Most people don’t even bother trying to attack him at that point, also figuring, hey, its Magneto, what’s he gonna do? Then they get smacked for 4 clicks!
This Magneto isn’t the supporting swiss army knife of the previous versions. Sure he still has all those great options, but this is where you won’t want to push him so he can remain on that great first click, graduating from supporting character to attacker. Give him a taxi of his own, and lay out your objects so he has a perch with a place to hide is a good way to set up. Then move him in and take your shot. If someone manages to land a hit on Maggie, he’ll take damage naturally and click down pretty quick. He still has all his powers down the dial, but after a few clicks he’s not too useful offensively. However, his defense falls embarrassingly fast, so he should be very easy to heal back up to his very first click and then head back out to the field for more magnetic mayhem. (like erasing your enemy’s credit cards). :)
Unfortunately even at 103 points Vet Magneto still isn’t up to snuff to front his own team. You should have other heavy hitters on the team to make up for Maggs glass jaw, and keep a medic nearby. Because of his impressive defense, he should be kept back as strictly a ranged attacker, but if need be, don’t forget that you can use TK on your opponent, and on the objects they’re hiding in too.
Vet Maggs fits well in a 300 pt team with enough room for other solid attackers. Be careful about protecting him though, with that glass jaw he could be a juicy 103 pt target for your opponent.
Overall Magneto isn’t quite the threat he is in comics, but strictly as a clix piece, he’s not the garbage people make him out to be either. In the lesser versions he can be excellent support pieces for a variety of tasks, and you can even push him if need be because his movement and powers stay strong even while his other stats take a plunge. In the vet version he graduates to be a true threat, but still not a front runner. When compared to other figures from Infinity Challenge he may not seem to rate, but with each expansion he fits in and falls in line more with the current balanced stats.
Pull the old purple caped one out of your tackle box and give him a look. He might surprise you.
---------------------------------------------
(Revisited - 10/24/03)
Many many sets later, and Vet Magneto is still the cheapest figure in the game with a ranged attack and base damage of 4. The only fig who is less is Vet Human Torch with 4 damage at the end of his dial for his ‘Nova Blast’ but that’s not quite the same (hard click to get to, low AV, etc).
Even though as pure offensive muscle Mags is seriously challenged by the similar but more powerful Elcipso who is just 5 points more.
Still, Mags still stands the test of time as an offensive bruiser. But his role as a support fig has changed significantly.
I covered a lot of the main points of TK in the original portion of the review, but there are still a few things were revisiting.
For starters, Magneto is towards the top of the rather short list of figs in the whole game with Telekinesis. And he has it in abundance. In addition to TK, Mags also has a dial full of Leadership. Many people don’t point it out, but leadership will play an important role under the new rules. Eliminating the majority of the free move taxis and making you rely on TK or moving figs out on their own is going to eat up your actions much faster than you’re used to. So the extra move that Leadership can provide can be key for getting done what you want each turn.
In the new light, the Rookie Magneto actually becomes a lot more playable while ironically the Vet falls to the wayside a bit. If you don’t look at the rookie as an attacker but rather as purely support then you can see you’ll get a lot out of him. The amount of TK is the most obvious. Don’t worry about pushing him repeatedly to get your figs out into the field because he has TK for 6 out of his total 7 clicks. His longevity is another plus, many of the other TKers in the set don’t have the depth of dial that even R Mags has. Of course many aren’t the high 80 points that he is either. But still, you can push him all you want since his usefulness doesn’t decline. That he is a brotherhood member and a flier too is just an added bonus. One one turn fly a fig up a bit into position, and the following turn push Magneto to TK your attacker into action.
The Rookie is a great fig for the points, but the Exp is a little trickier. He’s not a lot more expensive, but you also don’t get a lot more use out of him. If he were an attacker his improvements would be great, but as support he doesn’t gain you much more. The biggest difference is the change to X-men which will change your strategy a bit. No longer is he a free move flier. But now you can do a few different tricks with him. For starters, he can take clicks of life from your damaged X-men, it still won’t hurt his playability, then when he’s healed them a bit he can TK them back into action. Another trick is to Push him to TK some figs into the field, then trade a click with Colossus (a SS charger) to activate him, then TK Colossus into action. It’ll take a couple of turns, but at least Colossus won’t otherwise waste those actions doing the pee-pee dance alone.
Finally we come back to the Vet. Whereas previously I really liked this fig as an offensive piece, he even started to grow on me as general defenses in the game got lower his 10 AV was better and better. But now that fliers can’t carry fliers he’s not as easy to get into battle to set up his nice attack and damage. Sure he can still be TKed like anyone else, but its not as sweet, and he just loses a bit of his shine. Plus he does not bode Pushing well, and having a TKer in the field and not using him to move your team around will just eat at you.
Ultimately the Rookie gets significantly better in the role of a support piece, offering you many many options for his variety of talents, none of which (thankfully) rely on his attack value or damage. Ironically though the Vet gets correspondingly worse just for the fact that he’s a flier and is now shunned by other fliers and thus can’t be carried. He still packs a great punch for the points, but he’s more difficult to use and there ~are~ other figs out there that can deal 4 damage at range, its just not 4 natural damage. But I think we can learn to live with that.
The Exp Magneto is still the odd man out with the X-men team ability. The huge jump in the number of X-men alone makes him a more appealing choice for some teams, but the majority of the time the Rookie will fill the same function for fewer points.
I hope you enjoyed my first revisit. I’ll try to get these out on some sort of regular basis, but since I’m still doing the regular reviews too, I can’t make any promises. You can always subscribe to Mr. Pilkington’s review list thread to be notified whenever a new review or revisit goes up.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you’ll reply with some comments of your own.