GSX Colossal Review Part 2: Nemesis

[anonym0use]

<img src="http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=14563" style="width:200px;padding-right:5px" align="left"> Giant Sized X-Men
Colossal Review
Part 2 Nemesis

Nemesis proves size doesn't matter as the smallest of the Colossal figures stacks a host of dangerous firepower into a small dial.



Click "Full Story" Below to read more!

[anonym0use]

Overview

The smallest colossal also has the shortest dial, which is not to say Nemesis is not powerful. Thanks to the Life Energy Drain trait Nemesis heals every time he damages an opponent with an attack (or Poison) and so he can push, push, push with relatively little worry.


gxG05 V Nemesis
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 8 :bolt:
Points: 400
Keywords: Armor, Exiles, Horsemen of Apocalypse, Ruler
m-boota-fistd-indomitableg-fist1011184101118410111841011184101017310101738111738101738101638101827918279182KOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKO KOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKO
(Attack) Cracked Containment Unit: Nemesis can use Pulse Wave. If he does, he doesn't halve his range value, and his damage value becomes his printed damage value and is locked.

(Damage) Bio Nuclear Blast: Give Nemesis a power action. Draw a straight horizontal or vertical line of fire to any single square within Nemesis's range and line of fire, ignoring other characters for line of fire purposes. Make an attack roll as though making a ranged combat attack, and compare the result to each character occupying a square along that line of fire, or a square adjacent to that line of fire but still within his range. Each character hit is dealt 3 damage.

(Special) Life Energy Drain: Each time an opposing character takes damage from an attack by Nemesis or Nemesis's Poison, Nemesis may heal 1 damage.



Powers like Pulse Wave allow Nemesis to stack healing from multiple targets, all while he's weakening the opposition (Note: Bio-Nuclear Blast does not heal the giant creamscicle). Penetrating damage will ensure opponents burn with Apocalyptic fire, and strong combat values throughout keep him a threat from his first click to his last.

Drawbacks

With the shortest dial of all the GSX "Big" figures Nemesis is relatively fragile especially if his damage reducers are countered. Looks can be deceiving however, and Nemesis can extend the length of his dial as long as he has someone to siphon energy from and heal himself throughout the battle.

<img src="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/80851/HCRealms.com/201105/nemesis.jpg" style="width:200px;" />
How many licks does it take...

Tips for Playing him

A shorter dial will make a well structured Alpha Strike against Nemesis lethal, so surgically strike at opponents that can deal a lot of damage in a single attack (Fastball Special, anyone?). Aim for the back row Outwit, and keep in mind that as a Colossal, lines of fire are not blocked and you break away automatically which should make a Running Shot to target the back row a cinch.

Bio-Nuclear Blast - use it whenever it would hit clusters of opponents to maximize damage output.

Be aggressive. Focus firepower on the damage reducing figures - let Poison take care of his thin skinned adversaries.

Stick and Move. Nemesis has Running Shot, so use it to break away from non-charging beatstick and non-ranged attackers. Make them burn actions coming to you.


Tips for playing against him

Scatter - clustering will only benefit his life stealing powers and optimize his area of affect attacks.

Push, Push, Push - it may seem counterintuitive to damage yourself, but you'll need to weaken him to softer, easier to hit clicks right away or he'll just Poison and heal his way back to full health.

Keep ranged attackers on diagonals - Bio-Nuclear Blast works on horizontal and vertical lines, lines that come strait out from his base (picture a giant cross with him at the center). Figures positioned off center should not be affected by his special power.

Thanks for reading! Got tips, tricks or otherwise great battle stories featuring this walking can of Tang? Share them below!

[hanzoslash]

Just wanted to be first to post.

I got nothing except that I want one.

[robedestroyer]

I was using him recently in a game. Though I was just playing for fun and not really trying to do well with him, he still demolished an opponent's team in a battle royale. I used his Bio-Nuclear Blast and rolled a critical hit to KO 3 figures with one attack. Not too shabby.

[DucksFlying81]

Another great review!

[Dr. Morbius]

Very good review, thank you :)

[E-roc]

According to the "Final Word" Forum, Bio-Nuclear Blast is not an attack and therefore Nemesis will not heal when using it and powers such as Super senses and Energy Shield Deflection do not come into play.

Has this been changed?

E.:)

[thanosstar]

i have him and have played against him. once i ko'd him in one turn with thor and loki and a asgardian warrior...not bad if played right and with the right support

[CowboyBebop]

I played against this figure in the 600pt Colossal event. He decimated my Apocalypse team with ease and a little assistance. A blast to play and great with the right support. I am pretty sure a different Nemesis team won the event as well.


Just wanted to be first to post.

I got nothing except that I want one.

Congratulations, it's called spamming. You are a true scholar. I only hope you will continue to share your wisdom with us in the future.

[anonym0use]

According to the "Final Word" Forum, Bio-Nuclear Blast is not an attack and therefore Nemesis will not heal when using it and powers such as Super senses and Energy Shield Deflection do not come into play.

Has this been changed?

E.:)

Has it changed? Probably not. I'm no rules expert. :sleep:

[songwriterz]

Bio Nuclear Blast: Give Nemesis a power action. Draw a straight horizontal or vertical line of fire to any single square within Nemesis's range and line of fire, ignoring other characters for line of fire purposes. Make an attack roll as though making a ranged combat attack, and compare the result to each character occupying a square along that line of fire, or a square adjacent to that line of fire but still within his range. Each character hit is dealt 3 damage.

I bolded the section that people tend to overlook. He is cutting out a swath of pain 3 squares wide. It hits characters on that straight line and on either side of that straight line.

[Thunderclese]

I bolded the section that people tend to overlook. He is cutting out a swath of pain 3 squares wide. It hits characters on that straight line and on either side of that straight line.

Yeah this is definitely something to be weary of, being on the diagonal only helps a few squares out, don't get right up on his corners!

This guy is ridiculously good for a cheaper colossal, thanks to that trait. Bio-Nuclear Blast not healing him does take some of the sting off, though.

[cattmoe]

I played him with Trevor Fitzroy, Dark beast, Fabian Cortez and the gem of Cytorrak and he was flat-out awesome. Fabian made sure he was dealing massive damage, Fitzroy made sure he hit and Dark Beast outwitted Damage reducers. It was ugly. :laugh:

[Miraclo]

Nice review (though you will need to change that part about Bio-Nuclear Blast healing him) and a little extra incentive for me to give mine a try.

[red king]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm Tang.

[anonym0use]

Nice review (though you will need to change that part about Bio-Nuclear Blast healing him) and a little extra incentive for me to give mine a try.

changed it!

[commandercool]

I've never seen him last more than three turns or four turns, but I think he has a lot of potential. Unfortunately I don't think he's capable of pulling his weight in a game under 600 or 700 points, but I'd love for someone to prove me wrong.

[tylerdrake]

Just like in AOA, Sabretooth is his nemesis.
One good hit with "MORTAL WOUND" and he is unable to heal.

I like it. May have to repaint my extra Sabretooth to match AOA (with a matching Wild Child of course)

[rorschachparadox]

changed it!

Also have to change it under "Tips for playing him" as it still says he can :) I was quite confused til i read all the coments.

Otherwise, great article, thanks! Makes me want to try and play him to victory again. The new rules should help plenty...

[NeckSnappingAdam]

We played a 600 point colossal game - Nemesis v. Nemesis.

I stacked my team with prob. controllers and an outwit, my opponent didn't. In that game I learned that outwitting Nemesis will lock him down more so than other figures - my opponent just couldn't do a thing with him.

I also learned that Nemesis is a tempo piece - you want to attack hard and fast and every turn - the PC'ers make sure you connect on your attack to heal up before you take pushing damage.

Against Nemesis - you need to take him down in as few turns as you can otherwise he'll either level your team or heal up.

I've read a few posts about him and also with my experience using him, games with him in it are decided in a few turns - he either falls quick or takes out a team quick.

He's also my favorite colossal - at 400 points, you can round out a team at 600 points (which is what we were playing) - he's not a one-man-army (none of the colossal pieces in GSX are) but he plays well with a lot of pieces as the primary attacker!

[Darknesspwns]

We played a 600 point colossal game - Nemesis v. Nemesis.

I stacked my team with prob. controllers and an outwit, my opponent didn't. In that game I learned that outwitting Nemesis will lock him down more so than other figures - my opponent just couldn't do a thing with him.

I also learned that Nemesis is a tempo piece - you want to attack hard and fast and every turn - the PC'ers make sure you connect on your attack to heal up before you take pushing damage.

Against Nemesis - you need to take him down in as few turns as you can otherwise he'll either level your team or heal up.

I've read a few posts about him and also with my experience using him, games with him in it are decided in a few turns - he either falls quick or takes out a team quick.

He's also my favorite colossal - at 400 points, you can round out a team at 600 points (which is what we were playing) - he's not a one-man-army (none of the colossal pieces in GSX are) but he plays well with a lot of pieces as the primary attacker!

Ouslaught used correctly can be a one man army

[Caff32]

Got paired up against him in a 1200 point game in which I ran a soldier theme green lantern tank. I won on points in the end, but he crushed me with a bio nuclear blast right through my GL and friends!

[UltraMANOS]

I absolutely love Nemesis.

On the night the tourney's requisits were 1 collosal and total build of 600 points. I chose nemesis, Elsa Bloodstone, Warlord(DC 75) and Vector WoS.
and a black lantern object.

I'll say this, it is priceless for an opponent to think he has you until you pull off that verticle line cannon blast hit 4 opponents and heal that much plus if anyone gets knocked out.

Another good point is later in the game when your opponents figures have been pushed or taken damage and you land on the clicks with shield deflection giving him a base 20 defense and a damage out put of 4 including the RCE.

Played right one can go an entire tourney and be victorious in a swift swoop kick in the butt.

[wintremute]

Overview
Powers like Pulse Wave allow Nemesis to stack healing from multiple targets, all while he's weakening the opposition (Note: Bio-Nuclear Blast does not heal the giant creamscicle). Penetrating damage will ensure opponents burn with Apocalyptic fire, and strong combat values throughout keep him a threat from his first click to his last.


Bio-Nuclear Blast - use it whenever it would hit clusters of opponents. This will help get the most milage from his "Steal Energy" trait, and hitting 3 or 4 enemies may put this walking orange Crush back on his top click.


I think you need to change the advice, too.

[NeckSnappingAdam]

Ouslaught used correctly can be a one man army

Onslaught fell to Nemesis that night as well, onslaught has a glass jaw which is he can be outwitted and outmaneuvered. Against multiple characters (at least using the current rules) all someone has to do is base him. He's now locked into CC battle, he can break away (or walk away) however no running shot means he can't triple target. In the game vs. Nemesis - no figure fell before the end, so I sac'ed (that heroic and lovable) Nemesis for the 'Heroic Sacrifice'.

Onslaught, IMO, needs some wildcard buddies to make use of all his team abilities, specifically F4 and X-men. As a one man army - the only TA he can use is Ult-X-Men - which is nothing to sneeze at. However if you toss in Cyclops, the Power pack, and a couple of cheap (or useful) wildcards - you're running a pretty damn good team.

So I don't really think he's a one man army unless your opponent lets him be one.

[JohnnyAngel77]

Nice review! I'd love to get my hands on this one for sure.

[superflyMP]

I love Nemesis. If you play Golden Age 600 pts Try him with BN Flash, Fortitude, Repulsor Shields, and 10 pts of something else. (I used swingline for Flash). Also fun to play with Adam Warlock in a bigger point game.

[SurreptitiousOne]

Confused:


Others have mentioned this, so I have edited this response.

[okagenologan]

Never Mind read the rest of the comments.

but cans someone explain why bio nuclear blast doesn't heal him?

[anonym0use]

I think you need to change the advice, too.

Thanks all! I have corrected it (again!)

[NeckSnappingAdam]

Never Mind read the rest of the comments.

but cans someone explain why bio nuclear blast doesn't heal him?

Sure -

BIO NUCLEAR BLAST: Give Nemesis a power action. Draw a straight horizontal or vertical line of fire to any single square within Nemesis's range and line of fire, ignoring other characters for line of fire purposes. Make an attack roll as though making a ranged combat attack, and compare the result to each character occupying a square along that line of fire, or a square adjacent to that line of fire but still within his range. Each character hit is dealt 3 damage.

So since the power is written with "attack roll as though making a ranged combat attack", that "as though" means that it is not an attack. Since he heals only on an attack or poison and since he didn't make an attack (just a power action -> power) he does not heal. Don't worry dude, this power is more than awesome since he can use it to fire out of adjacency and it ignores among, other things, shape change, stealth, mystics TA damage, super senses, and anything else that triggers on damage from an attack or line of fire targetting.

[jeff]

i played against him with the horsemen an the hulk smacked him around like a ragdoll

[scotrick333]

The ruling on Bio-Nuclear Blast is ridiculous. Even though it says "as though making a ranged combat attack" it still says to first "Make an ATTACK roll". It really is that power that is supposed to give him a chance to heal up again with his lovely 9 attack.

[HavokTX]

Ambidextrous and Armor Piercing. Good times.

[saturnflight]

I've already played him twice (Onslaught and Frost Giant once each, otherwise I've not used any of the Colossals), and yet I still want to give him another go asap! Poor Apocalypse will never get a trial run at this rate.

[iMaraud]

He's got a lot of potential. 400 points is a lot to ask for with his 11 ATK and 18D though.

[Gobby91]

SOOOOO want this guy!!!

[T Rez]

I was using him recently in a game. Though I was just playing for fun and not really trying to do well with him, he still demolished an opponent's team in a battle royale. I used his Bio-Nuclear Blast and rolled a critical hit to KO 3 figures with one attack. Not too shabby.

I might be wrong on this, but I think he can't get a critical hit from Bio-Nuclear blast because it is not an attack.

Could someone please clear this up for me?

[dariusq]

The ruling on Bio-Nuclear Blast is ridiculous. Even though it says "as though making a ranged combat attack" it still says to first "Make an ATTACK roll". It really is that power that is supposed to give him a chance to heal up again with his lovely 9 attack.

Rules lawyering at its finest. Now the real question: was this done intentionally or did they fabricate the ruling off of a misworded SP? A good rules lawyer never tells. :laugh:


Don't worry dude, this power is more than awesome since he can use it to fire out of adjacency and it ignores among, other things, shape change, stealth, mystics TA damage, super senses, and anything else that triggers on damage from an attack or line of fire targetting.

QFT. As nice as it would be to heal from the attack I think ignoring evasion powers is more useful.

[szude]

I was using him recently in a game. Though I was just playing for fun and not really trying to do well with him, he still demolished an opponent's team in a battle royale. I used his Bio-Nuclear Blast and rolled a critical hit to KO 3 figures with one attack. Not too shabby.

I'm not sure, but if BioNuke isn't an attack and doesn't heal him, then I don't think it would be subject to critical hit (or miss for that matter) rolls. Basically, if you roll more than their defense, it deals 3 damage, period.

[Surfer13]

Shouldn't have been a colossal.

The loss of one click and :g-colossal: to put him on a standard dial would have been more than acceptable to me, along with reductions in numbers to maybe get him down to around 300.

He just isn't that large. Maybe a giant. Maybe.

As far as what it is, his ability to extend his dial is good, but I wonder why the decision was made to remove his big attack from the equation.

An opponent would be able to spread his team out and not have to worry about it, so it doesn't seem like a huge deal to me to let it also work to heal him.

[cattmoe]

Shouldn't have been a colossal.


I intially thought the same thing, and still do to some degree.

However, size has always been relative in clix. Ultimates Hulk, for example - he's a giant, but so is Ultimates Giant Man, and Giant Man was massively larger than Hulk in the comic. (So much so that he could pick the Hulk up in one hand.) Yet in clix terms, they're both treated the same way (as giants) even though one is substantially larger than the other.

I'm with you, I think he probably should have been a giant. But hey, he's really cool, so I'm not sweating it too much. :)

[sherwizzle]

Wow I never realized that Bio Blast isn't considered an attack. Why would they word it like that? It doesn't even make sense that it wouldn't be an attack; after all, you have to roll for it and it deals damage... sounds like an attack to me.

[kallisti]

According to the "Final Word" Forum, Bio-Nuclear Blast is not an attack and therefore Nemesis will not heal when using it and powers such as Super senses and Energy Shield Deflection do not come into play.

Has this been changed?

E.:)

Seriously? That is idiotic, what is it meant to be? A tickle contest? A quasi-attack? You make an attack roll; you deal damage. It is stuff like this that makes the game harder for new players to get into.

[Cruftworld]

i have teh question.

Since he is a 2 x 2 base, does that mean that when you do Bio Nukular Blast, you can choose to draw the straight line from either his "left" or "right" base square? (Assuming an enemy character was standing directly in front of him)

[Dragon_Rose]

My Elsa Bloodstone has faced him twice, and defeated him twice! Of course it helps when he crit misses on the BNB that would have hit everyone:)

[dwidabill]

I've played mine twice, in a 1200 point tournament, and in a 750 point tournament. I won the 1200 with Nemesis, Rip Hunter, 2 Jason Bloods, and 6 Mindless Ones. It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't even close. Total domination! I finished 2-1 in the 750, losing to an Onslaught team. I had an Armor theme team with 3 Guardsman, Az-Bats, Batman Beyond, and Kristoff. The only reason I lost was stone cold dice. I beat a team with Cosmic Spidey and GSX Phoenix!

[PONX]

Played Holocaust in a 4 any piece horsemen team. Phoenix= pestilence, Dr. Zenhattan= famine, Thor's Mighty Chariot= war, Nemisis= Death. Nemisis survived every round and did way more than his share in damage for his points and pushing 80% of the time while not worrying to much came in really handy.

[Bat-Phreak]

i have teh question.

Since he is a 2 x 2 base, does that mean that when you do Bio Nukular Blast, you can choose to draw the straight line from either his "left" or "right" base square? (Assuming an enemy character was standing directly in front of him)

When attacking or drawing a line of fire to or from a multi-base character, the player attacking or drawing the line of fire can choose to attack or draw the line of fire to or from any one square occupied by the multi-base character.

Yes, you may!

[W.I.T]

This is a figure/character that I've wanted for a long time. I am not disappointed in that dial (or sculpt).

Great figure, and I can't wait to get one and play it.

Thanks for the review Anon, and keep up the stellar work :)

[Bat-Phreak]

I played against Holocaust over the weekend.

My team: (monster theme team)
Cassandra Nova
Frost Giant Warrior
Giant Man
Doppelganger
Man-Bat Assassin
SI Moloid
2 x Lila Cheney Pogs

Opponent's Team:
Nemesis
2 x Warlord

Map: Mighty Maps (Adventurer's Atlas) Desert Village

I was able to keep Nemesis in check early on with Cassie's and Hank's Outwit, but Nemesis was able to push to get into position to knock Hank off his Outwit. Some good attack rolls by the Warlords took Doppelganger off his sweet spot, and Nemesis was able to use CRACKED CONTAINMENT UNIT to KO Frost Giant, Hank, and Doppelganger.

The game came down to Nemesis on has 3rd-to-last click, a Warlord on his .44 AUTO-MAG click, against Cassie on her 2nd click and a Lila pog.

Lila KO'ed the last Warlord, then made an insane number of Shape Change rolls. When she did not make her SC roll, Nemesis could not hit her 17 defense!?!

Cassie eventually rolled a 10 to KO Nemesis, but it was a very close battle.

[Zenose09]

Thanks for the tips.

[sinjin90]

I bought three bricks and got three Nemesis, not sure if i was lucky or not?

[kujonomore]

Ahhhhhh **pulling out hair** sooo confusing.....

OK so when Nemesis uses "bio nuclear blast"

(Damage) Bio Nuclear Blast: Give Nemesis a power action. Draw a straight horizontal or vertical line of fire to any single square within Nemesis's range and line of fire, ignoring other characters for line of fire purposes. Make an attack roll as though making a ranged combat attack, and compare the result to each character occupying a square along that line of fire, or a square adjacent to that line of fire but still within his range. Each character hit is dealt 3 damage.

stealth, shape change, supersenses are all hosed???

Impervious does not get to roll to evade damage but still reduces it by two???

Invulnerable and toughness work as normal???

Thanks in advance

[superflyMP]

Looks like the new Player's Guide will require editing the edits regarding his healing!

And there was much rejoicing...

http://heroclix.com/blog/2011/05/13/players-guide-for-2011-rulebook/

The other change is to Nemesis – by changing his Bio-Nuclear Blast to a non-targetting ranged combat attack, he can now use it to activate his Life Energy Drain trait, making him more lethal than ever! Since this attack neither draws line of fire nor targets, it is a great way to bypass Stealth and Shape Change, but at least Energy Shield/Deflection and Super Senses may allow an opposing figure to avoid the blast.

[cattmoe]

Looks like the new Player's Guide will require editing the edits regarding his healing!

And there was much rejoicing...

http://heroclix.com/blog/2011/05/13/players-guide-for-2011-rulebook/

The other change is to Nemesis – by changing his Bio-Nuclear Blast to a non-targetting ranged combat attack, he can now use it to activate his Life Energy Drain trait, making him more lethal than ever! Since this attack neither draws line of fire nor targets, it is a great way to bypass Stealth and Shape Change, but at least Energy Shield/Deflection and Super Senses may allow an opposing figure to avoid the blast.

That's awesome, if for no other reason than it makes him less confusing. Now pretty much any attack activates life drain, right?

[szude]

That's awesome, if for no other reason than it makes him less confusing. Now pretty much any attack activates life drain, right?

Plus you can heal up 24 clicks :)

[tyizle]

Played Holocaust in a 4 any piece horsemen team. Phoenix= pestilence, Dr. Zenhattan= famine, Thor's Mighty Chariot= war, Nemisis= Death. Nemisis survived every round and did way more than his share in damage for his points and pushing 80% of the time while not worrying to much came in really handy.

Finally someone that calls him Holocaust...great review

[dariusq]

Looks like the new Player's Guide will require editing the edits regarding his healing!

And there was much rejoicing...

http://heroclix.com/blog/2011/05/13/players-guide-for-2011-rulebook/

The other change is to Nemesis – by changing his Bio-Nuclear Blast to a non-targetting ranged combat attack, he can now use it to activate his Life Energy Drain trait, making him more lethal than ever! Since this attack neither draws line of fire nor targets, it is a great way to bypass Stealth and Shape Change, but at least Energy Shield/Deflection and Super Senses may allow an opposing figure to avoid the blast.

My head hurts from all this flip-flopping. :confused:

On the plus side it means that someone at WizKids is thinking clearly. The non-attack ruling on BNB, as sound as it seems from the wording analysis, was quite frankly ridiculous and confusing.

[Blubeard]

My Elsa Bloodstone has faced him twice, and defeated him twice! Of course it helps when he crit misses on the BNB that would have hit everyone:)

I think I'm still crying over that one :P

[LabRat]

I played Nemesis in three 400 point games against a team of Malekith, Loki, Karnilla, and Ulik prior to the rule change. He's fun, but I was simply against the wrong team (all of them had either Psychic Blast or Exploit Weakness). I lost all 3 games. It didn't help that I missed some rolls that I could've easily made (Pulse Wave against 17 DEF, rolled a 4), had a critical miss every now and then, and got Krakoa's 4 on the clicks where Nemesis didn't have any damage reduction. Ouch!