AdamWarlock
03/23/2003, 19:24
With Xplosion coming in 2 days, I'd say it's safe to assume that the stats here are correct. I'd been maintaining a list of all 34 previously existing uniques (IC, HT, CT), rating them in order from 34-1; 34 worst & #1 best. The unique quotient is now 46; a bigger project. This is just my first draft at it and is likely to change as I've yet to use any Xplosion figures in a game, much less every unique.
Note: No single figure entirely makes an army; it is the whole army functioning as a unit that wins games. These uniques are being rated on how efficient they are on their own or with a mere taxi, or if they themselves ARE a particularly notable taxi or are notable (in a good or bad way) for some other reason. Being a huge bargain pricetag (Ic Elektra) is also a huge bonus just as being way too expensive (Parasite) kills you. NOTE2: I am partial to making certain figures place low on this list just for being "dull" (Juggernaut, Weapon-X, Captain America, more). I feel that being a "Unique" should MEAN something.
Just the ordering right now; individual reasoning comes later.
NOTE: Older figures marked as having gone up or down are only ones who moved NOTABLY up or down. With the addition of 12 new uniques, obviously people's numbers will be quite different from before. Ones marked are figures I've either come to like a lot more (Medusa, Desaad) or ones I've gotten far more critical of (Superman, Thanos) or ones I've come to feel do not do quite enough for their price-tags (Thanos, Superman, Quasar, Nightmare, MR. FIXIT)
46. Parasite D+ (Still the worst! You bad, boy!) 6 straight clicks of SE are nice, especially when 2 are coupled with 3 damage. almost constant L/C is nice. Superman enemy team ability is VERY nice. Parasite is not. He can be manhandled on his first click so that he's so hurt you've wasted 107 points; his defensive abilities vanish so fast they won't do a thing and his DV drops to nothing in no time at all. He can be totally destroyed in the blink of an eye and without even employing an particularly clever strategy. That's not something you want in a 100+ point figure. For 19 points more than Vet Rogue; the next-up figure in SE quantity, the only thing he buys you is praise for being a risk-taker by using him on a dare.
45. Commisioner Gordon C (--- For 44 points you can have Gordon or Unique Wasp. Tough choice. Gordon stands around and shirks off damage onto weenies and gives you a 50/50 chance of gaining an action every turn; occasionally he'll ping an enemy figure for 1 click of damage. Mostly he just stands there and your opponent ignores him. Wasp gives you less leadership but far more other uses. Gordon doesn't do anyting at all but stand around and let you roll. If you want cheap leadership and a figure who doesn't do anything, conserve points and go with R or E Kingpin.
44. The Enchantress C (---She's got a great assortment of powers: Mind Control, Psychic Blast, Perplex, Phasing, Toughness... it's just a shame that almost none of them other than Perplex are put to truly good use. Mc is always good but her AV is low to the point that she's hard pressed to get a success, and the same goes for her later dial when she has psychic blast (with a whopping ONE damage; having already lost perplex). Her toughness keeps her in the game longer but your opponent will be wise to ignore her for a while and not care about that anyway. She's arch enemy with Thor, and she has NO chance in heck of doing anything to Thor. She's Masters of Evil but can't do anything positive in close range. A lot of these things helped to raise her cost to a whopping 91 points. She's be good if she costed sixty something, but, like parasite, she's too much of a risk for too high a price.
43. Weapon-X C ( --- For 10 points more you get Spiral. That should be enough said right there. Spiral's a great figure but is still a pain to navigate around due to her battle fury. Weapon-X also has constant battle fury, only he doesn't have a good AV like Spiral or flurry. He's not worth the hassle of accomodating for. Willpower lets him swipe twice in a row without pushing, but he still will often have to move into contact within his own means and risk being attacked the next turn before he can launch his own attack; wherein he will likely lose willpower from the damage or die. Not one of the good ones.
42. Juggernaut C+ (Up a smidge; used to be next-door to Parasite) His speed is horrible and his AV drops off pretty fast... but it DOES start off quite high, he's got 6 straight clicks of invulnerability and he's the only Juggs version that can be taxi'd. The risk of him being mind-controlled is fairly trivial; there are much more lethal guys to have that happen to (logan, plenty more) and the mind-controller will take a damage. He's still a boring figure but he can actually be used on occasion to pretty good effect.
41. Lady Deathstrike C+ --MUCH nicer than Weapon-X. For just 6 points more than rookie Sabretooth you have Lady Deathstrike with her extra click of life and higher AV with her BCF. She's no GREAT shakes, but cheap BCF figures who have a chance of connecting are worthwhile bargains more often than not.
40. Superman B- (WAY down) Superman ally ability gives him great mobility sure... but with this version of superman lacking any range, he's taking the big cost of the superman ally ability without the most crucial benefit: sneaky ranged attacking. He still has uses; constant Impervious or toughness, 7 straight clicks of force blast (a bit with 3 damage, more than anybody else in the game)... but for a figure that's well over 100 points he can't do enough. His AV drops every bit as badly as Quasar's and he can't do anywhere near as much. Like Thanos he dodges death for a while but fails to do much else beyond the whole not dying thing. He delays the inevitable but changes nothing.
39. Mr. Fixit B- (Down) Sure, he can perplex his damage up to 4... but Exp & Vet hulk have that anyway. Fixit doesn't have the useless "banner" starting point, but for a figure costing over 100 points to only have ONE click with an Av of 10 is a poor investment. Most expensive figures have much higher AV or DV, or, if niether of those, an evil assortment of special abilities... fixit lacks all 3. He CAN be used to good effect, but only with a lot of accomodations.
38. Captain America B- (Up) Experienced Black Panther is regarded as a great figure for 36 points with his one click of outwit. U cap has one more for one point less, though you can't always (or even often) control it, as when your opponent sees he's injured cap into those outwit clicks, unless he has no actions left, he'll move right on in for the kill rather than letting you have it. Still, for a mere 35 points, leadership support & outwit are 3 great abilities.
37. Cyclops B- (-- His AV is low to start and drops like a rock from there, plus he can hardly move and his DV is little to speak of at best... but a range of 10 is unheard of for any non-promo figure of under 40 points (promo being T.O Morrow). 5 straight clicks of RCE teamed with that huge range is just icing on the cake. His AV is lacking, but for 39 small points he's an all-star weenie-harrasser and a fairly solid choice.
36. Medusa B- (Up; for HER it is drastically so) She's pretty useless after her first 3 clicks... but for those first 3 she's a golden traffic controller. She can freeze 2 opponents at a time at range or adjacently, she can run away no problem or stop them from doing such while an evil ranged friend blasts them in the back. Ouch. But when she takes 3 damage, she's suddenly no use at all. She has flurry still and to the end of her dial, but the most she can do for damage, and that's IF she succeeds to hit twice (unlikely) is 2 damage. She'd be better off having a base damage of 2 till the end of her dial so that she'd only need to make the hard roll once.
35. The Leader B- (-- lots of MC, lots of incapacitate, the only figure with WP & MC at the same time, FOUR clicks of perplex... he's the enchantress but even MORE expensive, though not QUITE as hard on the luck; his AV not dropping off quite as fast. He's got a great assortment of abilities, but he's too hard to use and requires too many accomodations TO use him effectively for a figure costing over 100. His short range makes him require a taxi to be at optimal efficiency as does his low movement. The most actual DAMAGE he can do, even with perplex, is 2 (3 if you're lucky enough to roll critical success). He's got a great assortment of powers but 113 points is a hard pricetag to shell out on a guy who's fairly impotent by himself.
34. The Key B (-- He's got more range but less life than leader... but 89 points are easier to swing than 113 by a lot. Key still ideally needs a taxi, but he's got less chance of dropping off in one very bad turn thanks to his super senses. He still has a nasty glass jaw; which is a big flaw for a generally short-lived figure of close to 100 points, but he's one of the best harrassers in the game.
33. Spider Man: IC B (Down) He's got the 18DV and defend ability of Rookie Invisible Woman with the mobility (thanks to l/c) to allow him to use it on whoever he sees fit, while ol' sue pretty much only gives it to her taxi. However, 116 points is NOT something you dish out for once defense figure. Luckily, this spidey can do some other good stuff. The wildcard team ability is not to be reckoned with; there are more tricks to be played with it than you can wave a stick at. His superior range (for a spider man) puts his incapacitate to much better use. He's got a good amount of outwit. He's still hard to use justifiably at 116pts, but he can do a lot of fun things.
32. Apocalypse B (-- Superman & Thanos complex again, but not quite as impotent. Apocalypse stands around and refuses to go down due to his constant inv or Toughness, but he can't do much on the offensive. He can, however, do more different things than Superman U & Thanos. He CAN be used in interesting, crafty ways I think, and you can have him waiting in the wings as a phasing taxi until you're ready to prove it. Yet again, however, 133 points is usually too much to pay for a figure that has no obvious function.
31. Catwoman B (4 damage at close range for her first 3 clicks is great; and she's an infinitely free person as far as movement is concerned all through her dial with L/c plus bat ally; not to mention her super sense dodge chance on the off-chance somebody catches her out of stealth and connects. After her first 3 clicks though, her damage drops to 1 no matter what and her most lethal attack is perplex. Her DV stays high, making healing her complicated and her use is limited. She's great for those first 3 clicks but after that is just a very expensive close-range incapacitate figure.
30. Red Skull B (Gordon done right. Less leadership, sure, but his larger range and briefly higher damage, plus longer lifespan and POISON make up for that. Mastermind & Poison are the skull's main choice traits; he can just ping away at figures turn after turn, all the while shirking damage off onto doombots. Losing those, his use drops a lot; but he does have 3 clicks of willpower. He's unlikely to hit, and even when he does it'll just be for 1 damage, but he can try again and again without taking push damage. For 47 points, Skull's not even a risk; he's just not one of the "big boys".
29. Nightmare B (Down a little) He's VERY impressive at close range. 10 straight clicks of life, and not even one of them is with an AV of less than 10. Yowza. Starting AV of an amazing 14, coupled with 8 straight clicks of incapacitate, and finally 6 clicks of enhancement. He doesnt' fly or attack at range, so he needs a taxi, but with all that enhancement he is a greatful patron. His taxi's lay devestating cover fire while nightmare swats guys for 3 damage or freezes them with incapacitate, and is almost guaranteed to hit most times unless he rolls snake-eyes. But enough praise. Nightmare is 163 HUGE points and he has NO RANGE!!! His arch enemy can snipe him from 10 huge squares away and this guy's a sitting duck... even with invulnerability strange can do 2 damage to Nightmare with the RCE on his first click... it's ridiculous that he has no range. If Nightmare is the flagship figure in your army; as his price-tag and necessary taxi adornment suggest, he can be one nasty enemy, but he's way too vulnerable, even with 3 clicks of invulnerability for a figure with a cost getting closer to 200.
28. Quasar B (Down a little) He can do a lot of things. Tk-toss 2 objects at a time, RCE blast guys from 10 squares away for 3 damage at any click on his dial, barriers, a ton of defense, even just free-movement taxi service... and now where he falls. His AV starts at a NICE 11, then drops by one every single click, down to a laughable 4 on his last click. He keeps RCE all the way around, but the only people he'll be roasting when he's at the end of his dial will be thugs. Thug-duty is not a thing for 122 point figures. Quasar has a lot of good uses, but when he gets winded they all go away very fast.
27. Titania B (--She's dull, but she's a very affordable high damage brick, and she's got the BEST damage value of any masters of evil figure at close range. FINALLY a good MOE figure that doesn't specialize in ranged attacks. Again, dull; but she's totally solid.
26. Spider Man: XP B+ (-- lots of outwit, all the abilities he should have had from day one, high DV defend... he's never devestating but his price tag doesn't really DEMAND for him to be. He's pretty solid.
25. Professor Xavier B+ (Down) One of the head Mind control specialists in the game; lots of it with an almost always decent AV... but 92 points on a one-trick pony is always a hard choice to make. His 7 straight clicks of leadership help a good deal, though.
24. Thanos B+ (WAY down) Like John Claude Van-Damme, Thanos is: HARD TO KILL. And that's that. He blasts away at guys again and again for his base damage from range and stands there soaking up damage. He has no other abilities. One well-orchestrated outwit turn on your opponent's side can cripple Thanos or even kill him so fast you wouldn't believe. 185 points needs to buy you more than security for one figure (himself); it needs to buy you versatility.
23. The Flash B+ (Down) 20 movement is just insane; with or without HSP. No matter how good or bad this figure may be, it's undeniable that it'll be fun to play. As it just so happens, with decent AV & DV, this figure IS decent, but it has a big flaw: as a full one-trick pony, if the HSP is outwitted it can't do ANYTHING except move a lot, and only in convoluted ways that avoid adjacency to enemies. Still, he can practically go anywhere whenever he wants. Sweet.
22. Phoenix B+ (---Moondragon's taxi side jacked up on speed. Flight or Tk to taxi, toughness to keep it with higher AV for a bit longer, x-men healing, consistent 2 damage, 12 range for maximum cover fire... she's a lot of fun and very useful, but for almost 100 points you need more than a taxi.
21. Spider Man: CT B+ (Up) Very affordable and with a few good uses. great mobility, incapacitate, more flurry than any figure other than Spiral, senses, some outwit... just a good price for a VERY solid figure.
20. Desaad B+ (WAY up) He won't devestate any opponent's forces, but for just one point more than vet black panther, he has one more click of outwit (for 3 total) plus 3 clicks of support, and finally, 6 straight clicks of EE at a range of 8. His speed, AV AND damage value are low all the way around, but he's a very efficient suisse army knife.
19. Super Skrull B+ (Down) The Skrull ability is very rarely useful, but I don't feel it really raised Skrull's cost by much. 9 clicks of life, none of which totally useless; 4 damage or EE from 12 range (w/running shot), 4x invulnerability, consistently high AV and 3 damage. He's very solid, just outshone by higher placing guys and his price is a bit hard to swing.
18. Mojo A- (Down) His mobility drops like a rock, but Mojo is just too interesting to ignore. He's got a wide array of powers; many of which are fairly unrepresented in marvel (poison, steal energy, perplex). His range is short but he's got a lot of different things he can do, and every single one of them is a big problem. Another of the absolute best harrassers. Just a bit expensive.
17. Batman A- (Down) 6 straight clicks of willpower and 5 total outwit throughout his dial. He does a lot of crafty stuff with those 2 abilities along, but with only one click of incapacitate he really doesn't do many other things. Still, even basic attacks are lethal when they can be repeated again and again without push damage.
16. Elektra: XP A- ((-- obviously she's lethal. 8 straight clicks of perplex is insane. However.... 160 points is flagship. Perplex is, at its heart, a support power. Elektra may as well just have a base damage of 3 as she'll usually be perplexing herself and that's that; would've kept her cost down a bit. She's a great figure, dont' get me wrong, but that price is HARD to pay unless you're prepared to have Elektra be your one and only star.
15. Nick Fury A- (Up) None of his abilities make him particularly lethal, but he's a steady nuisance almost everywhere on his dial, and he's very affordable. 2 damage almost all the way around, damage boosting through shield, leadership, outwit, 2 target range attack with running shot, stealth... he's got TONS of use and he doesn't set you back more than he should.
14 Shadowcat A- ((- Just a taxi, but a magical, WONDERFUL taxi. 36 point great figures gain another member. Phasing cheap taxi, and EE for cover fire. Ouch.
13. The Joker A- (Up) Strange choice I bet many thing. Joker's hard to use, but I've seen him used to devestating effect. With CONSTANT EE & Mastermind for 7 clicks, he can roast guys again and again, not to mention outwit and perplex. Only from a range of 6, but so long as you keep shirking off the damage he would take onto the likes of Bane (95 points allows for a lot of cattle he can mastermind damage onto) he'll live to strike another day, and another, and another.
12. Wolverine (Ic) A- ((--Essentially dull for a unique placing so high, but one can't deny his bargain pricetag and utility. HIGH starting AV, charging BCF, all around solid. This guy's MEAN.
11. Moondragon A- (up) Great taxi by flying & having TK; huge range on her mind control (matched only by Vet Xavier), a lot of evade potential with 5x senses, 2x psychic blast for 2 damage, and she regenerates to some of her best clicks. Tons of uses, all big ones unlike Fury.
10. Green Goblin A- (Weak for combat purposes after his first few clicks, but constant willpower for a taxi is incredible. And for his first 3 clicks, with perplex, he can do a lot of good in combat alll by himself! He mainly shines as taxi, but he can do much more if played right; thanks to his super strength, perplex & EE. All hail the God taxi.
9. Spiral A- ((she's inconvenient to move around thanks to all that battle fury, but she's worth the hastle. BCF/Flurry is one mean combo, and it's worth fighting for. Logan does it too; but spiral's a bit cheaper, even with her MOD team ability; which helps her to huge extents if she has to move herself around. Not to be messed with.
8. Deathbird A- ((all around nasty figure. She's a taxi, she blasts you for 4 damage from range, she slashes you for up to 6 up close, she incapacitates... just a pure jack (or jill in this case) of all trades.
7. Savage Hulk A ((Obviously he's just INSANE in battle. 7x inv, no banner click, 2x 5 damage with HIGH dv, constant l/c... he has no downside on his dial at all. The 201 pricetag is a BIG undertaking, but Mr. Banner earns it. And he can even be taxi'd! Sure he can be mind controlled as well, but that's 2 damage right away due to the cost. Ouch. He's a big investment but it's very safe.
6. Darkseid A ((( 5x Outwit. Mind control. 2x Psychic blast for 3 damage (making it so he doesn't even need the outwit for his own attack purposes and he can use it to help a bud!). 4 damage at range to the end of his dial after the outwit goes away. He's got some of the most lethal abilities in the game, and the defenses to keep em; but not the mobility. 151 points is hard, but he's actually worth it.
5. Nightcrawler A (((Less speed on the HSP than unique flash, but the 2 damage sets him a lot higher, especially since he's cheaper, and, finally, if HSP is outwitted he still has some other stuff at his disposal. His Xmen healing is also crucial. He's still crippled a lot by outwit, but for all intents and purposes it's not enough of a detriment to drop Kurt down, not at all.
4. Wasp A (((Another incredible bargain. Free moving taxi, 2-target incapacitate, leadership, HUGE Dv. She's not a star for combat but her free-movement taxi skill puts who IS a combat star where they need to be. Crucial maneuvering use and leadership to boot for a very nice price.
3. Sauron A+ (((he slices, dicec, taxi's, captivates, takes a ton of damage without falling, then heals back up again; all for an easily justified cost. Sweet. If there's a downside to him I dont' see it.
2. Vision A+ (Down one notch. Can't top Elektra's 36pt efficiency)
Forget Thanos; Vision is the toughest guy to kill in the game. Due to his constant phasing letting him get away every time, it takes more organization and cunning to take out the Vision than any other figure. And unlike thanos, Vision DOES stuff while laughing off your opponent's assault. Super strength, free-move taxi, constantly decent values, he is so solid it's hard to believe. No matter what, however, 112 points isn't and will never be an easy cost. It doesn't hurt vision at all due to how he earns it, but #1 will prove with her price WHY she beats out this former #1 figure.
1. Elektra (IC) A+ (up a little from before) 36 points. 2 target ranged attack, 11AV with BCF, stealth. Not the most creative figure but her 36 point tag is the greatest bargain in the game. Her AV lets her cut straight through the defenses of all but the absolute toughest enemies; guys that usually are only threatened by figures in the price range of twice this unexpected beauty's price. She is unbelievable.
So as you can see.... Xplosion's placing quite highly for me... and Dc has a lot of catching up to do with Cosmic Justice. It's the only set with just one top 10 entry and it has the TWO lowest placings. Ouch. Infinity Challenge has 3 top 5 entries but after that falls off the map DRASTICALLY. That all leaves the best set for uniques to be CT or XP, I'm still not sure which one. X-planations on my choices to come later, comments welcome and encouraged whenever.
Note: No single figure entirely makes an army; it is the whole army functioning as a unit that wins games. These uniques are being rated on how efficient they are on their own or with a mere taxi, or if they themselves ARE a particularly notable taxi or are notable (in a good or bad way) for some other reason. Being a huge bargain pricetag (Ic Elektra) is also a huge bonus just as being way too expensive (Parasite) kills you. NOTE2: I am partial to making certain figures place low on this list just for being "dull" (Juggernaut, Weapon-X, Captain America, more). I feel that being a "Unique" should MEAN something.
Just the ordering right now; individual reasoning comes later.
NOTE: Older figures marked as having gone up or down are only ones who moved NOTABLY up or down. With the addition of 12 new uniques, obviously people's numbers will be quite different from before. Ones marked are figures I've either come to like a lot more (Medusa, Desaad) or ones I've gotten far more critical of (Superman, Thanos) or ones I've come to feel do not do quite enough for their price-tags (Thanos, Superman, Quasar, Nightmare, MR. FIXIT)
46. Parasite D+ (Still the worst! You bad, boy!) 6 straight clicks of SE are nice, especially when 2 are coupled with 3 damage. almost constant L/C is nice. Superman enemy team ability is VERY nice. Parasite is not. He can be manhandled on his first click so that he's so hurt you've wasted 107 points; his defensive abilities vanish so fast they won't do a thing and his DV drops to nothing in no time at all. He can be totally destroyed in the blink of an eye and without even employing an particularly clever strategy. That's not something you want in a 100+ point figure. For 19 points more than Vet Rogue; the next-up figure in SE quantity, the only thing he buys you is praise for being a risk-taker by using him on a dare.
45. Commisioner Gordon C (--- For 44 points you can have Gordon or Unique Wasp. Tough choice. Gordon stands around and shirks off damage onto weenies and gives you a 50/50 chance of gaining an action every turn; occasionally he'll ping an enemy figure for 1 click of damage. Mostly he just stands there and your opponent ignores him. Wasp gives you less leadership but far more other uses. Gordon doesn't do anyting at all but stand around and let you roll. If you want cheap leadership and a figure who doesn't do anything, conserve points and go with R or E Kingpin.
44. The Enchantress C (---She's got a great assortment of powers: Mind Control, Psychic Blast, Perplex, Phasing, Toughness... it's just a shame that almost none of them other than Perplex are put to truly good use. Mc is always good but her AV is low to the point that she's hard pressed to get a success, and the same goes for her later dial when she has psychic blast (with a whopping ONE damage; having already lost perplex). Her toughness keeps her in the game longer but your opponent will be wise to ignore her for a while and not care about that anyway. She's arch enemy with Thor, and she has NO chance in heck of doing anything to Thor. She's Masters of Evil but can't do anything positive in close range. A lot of these things helped to raise her cost to a whopping 91 points. She's be good if she costed sixty something, but, like parasite, she's too much of a risk for too high a price.
43. Weapon-X C ( --- For 10 points more you get Spiral. That should be enough said right there. Spiral's a great figure but is still a pain to navigate around due to her battle fury. Weapon-X also has constant battle fury, only he doesn't have a good AV like Spiral or flurry. He's not worth the hassle of accomodating for. Willpower lets him swipe twice in a row without pushing, but he still will often have to move into contact within his own means and risk being attacked the next turn before he can launch his own attack; wherein he will likely lose willpower from the damage or die. Not one of the good ones.
42. Juggernaut C+ (Up a smidge; used to be next-door to Parasite) His speed is horrible and his AV drops off pretty fast... but it DOES start off quite high, he's got 6 straight clicks of invulnerability and he's the only Juggs version that can be taxi'd. The risk of him being mind-controlled is fairly trivial; there are much more lethal guys to have that happen to (logan, plenty more) and the mind-controller will take a damage. He's still a boring figure but he can actually be used on occasion to pretty good effect.
41. Lady Deathstrike C+ --MUCH nicer than Weapon-X. For just 6 points more than rookie Sabretooth you have Lady Deathstrike with her extra click of life and higher AV with her BCF. She's no GREAT shakes, but cheap BCF figures who have a chance of connecting are worthwhile bargains more often than not.
40. Superman B- (WAY down) Superman ally ability gives him great mobility sure... but with this version of superman lacking any range, he's taking the big cost of the superman ally ability without the most crucial benefit: sneaky ranged attacking. He still has uses; constant Impervious or toughness, 7 straight clicks of force blast (a bit with 3 damage, more than anybody else in the game)... but for a figure that's well over 100 points he can't do enough. His AV drops every bit as badly as Quasar's and he can't do anywhere near as much. Like Thanos he dodges death for a while but fails to do much else beyond the whole not dying thing. He delays the inevitable but changes nothing.
39. Mr. Fixit B- (Down) Sure, he can perplex his damage up to 4... but Exp & Vet hulk have that anyway. Fixit doesn't have the useless "banner" starting point, but for a figure costing over 100 points to only have ONE click with an Av of 10 is a poor investment. Most expensive figures have much higher AV or DV, or, if niether of those, an evil assortment of special abilities... fixit lacks all 3. He CAN be used to good effect, but only with a lot of accomodations.
38. Captain America B- (Up) Experienced Black Panther is regarded as a great figure for 36 points with his one click of outwit. U cap has one more for one point less, though you can't always (or even often) control it, as when your opponent sees he's injured cap into those outwit clicks, unless he has no actions left, he'll move right on in for the kill rather than letting you have it. Still, for a mere 35 points, leadership support & outwit are 3 great abilities.
37. Cyclops B- (-- His AV is low to start and drops like a rock from there, plus he can hardly move and his DV is little to speak of at best... but a range of 10 is unheard of for any non-promo figure of under 40 points (promo being T.O Morrow). 5 straight clicks of RCE teamed with that huge range is just icing on the cake. His AV is lacking, but for 39 small points he's an all-star weenie-harrasser and a fairly solid choice.
36. Medusa B- (Up; for HER it is drastically so) She's pretty useless after her first 3 clicks... but for those first 3 she's a golden traffic controller. She can freeze 2 opponents at a time at range or adjacently, she can run away no problem or stop them from doing such while an evil ranged friend blasts them in the back. Ouch. But when she takes 3 damage, she's suddenly no use at all. She has flurry still and to the end of her dial, but the most she can do for damage, and that's IF she succeeds to hit twice (unlikely) is 2 damage. She'd be better off having a base damage of 2 till the end of her dial so that she'd only need to make the hard roll once.
35. The Leader B- (-- lots of MC, lots of incapacitate, the only figure with WP & MC at the same time, FOUR clicks of perplex... he's the enchantress but even MORE expensive, though not QUITE as hard on the luck; his AV not dropping off quite as fast. He's got a great assortment of abilities, but he's too hard to use and requires too many accomodations TO use him effectively for a figure costing over 100. His short range makes him require a taxi to be at optimal efficiency as does his low movement. The most actual DAMAGE he can do, even with perplex, is 2 (3 if you're lucky enough to roll critical success). He's got a great assortment of powers but 113 points is a hard pricetag to shell out on a guy who's fairly impotent by himself.
34. The Key B (-- He's got more range but less life than leader... but 89 points are easier to swing than 113 by a lot. Key still ideally needs a taxi, but he's got less chance of dropping off in one very bad turn thanks to his super senses. He still has a nasty glass jaw; which is a big flaw for a generally short-lived figure of close to 100 points, but he's one of the best harrassers in the game.
33. Spider Man: IC B (Down) He's got the 18DV and defend ability of Rookie Invisible Woman with the mobility (thanks to l/c) to allow him to use it on whoever he sees fit, while ol' sue pretty much only gives it to her taxi. However, 116 points is NOT something you dish out for once defense figure. Luckily, this spidey can do some other good stuff. The wildcard team ability is not to be reckoned with; there are more tricks to be played with it than you can wave a stick at. His superior range (for a spider man) puts his incapacitate to much better use. He's got a good amount of outwit. He's still hard to use justifiably at 116pts, but he can do a lot of fun things.
32. Apocalypse B (-- Superman & Thanos complex again, but not quite as impotent. Apocalypse stands around and refuses to go down due to his constant inv or Toughness, but he can't do much on the offensive. He can, however, do more different things than Superman U & Thanos. He CAN be used in interesting, crafty ways I think, and you can have him waiting in the wings as a phasing taxi until you're ready to prove it. Yet again, however, 133 points is usually too much to pay for a figure that has no obvious function.
31. Catwoman B (4 damage at close range for her first 3 clicks is great; and she's an infinitely free person as far as movement is concerned all through her dial with L/c plus bat ally; not to mention her super sense dodge chance on the off-chance somebody catches her out of stealth and connects. After her first 3 clicks though, her damage drops to 1 no matter what and her most lethal attack is perplex. Her DV stays high, making healing her complicated and her use is limited. She's great for those first 3 clicks but after that is just a very expensive close-range incapacitate figure.
30. Red Skull B (Gordon done right. Less leadership, sure, but his larger range and briefly higher damage, plus longer lifespan and POISON make up for that. Mastermind & Poison are the skull's main choice traits; he can just ping away at figures turn after turn, all the while shirking damage off onto doombots. Losing those, his use drops a lot; but he does have 3 clicks of willpower. He's unlikely to hit, and even when he does it'll just be for 1 damage, but he can try again and again without taking push damage. For 47 points, Skull's not even a risk; he's just not one of the "big boys".
29. Nightmare B (Down a little) He's VERY impressive at close range. 10 straight clicks of life, and not even one of them is with an AV of less than 10. Yowza. Starting AV of an amazing 14, coupled with 8 straight clicks of incapacitate, and finally 6 clicks of enhancement. He doesnt' fly or attack at range, so he needs a taxi, but with all that enhancement he is a greatful patron. His taxi's lay devestating cover fire while nightmare swats guys for 3 damage or freezes them with incapacitate, and is almost guaranteed to hit most times unless he rolls snake-eyes. But enough praise. Nightmare is 163 HUGE points and he has NO RANGE!!! His arch enemy can snipe him from 10 huge squares away and this guy's a sitting duck... even with invulnerability strange can do 2 damage to Nightmare with the RCE on his first click... it's ridiculous that he has no range. If Nightmare is the flagship figure in your army; as his price-tag and necessary taxi adornment suggest, he can be one nasty enemy, but he's way too vulnerable, even with 3 clicks of invulnerability for a figure with a cost getting closer to 200.
28. Quasar B (Down a little) He can do a lot of things. Tk-toss 2 objects at a time, RCE blast guys from 10 squares away for 3 damage at any click on his dial, barriers, a ton of defense, even just free-movement taxi service... and now where he falls. His AV starts at a NICE 11, then drops by one every single click, down to a laughable 4 on his last click. He keeps RCE all the way around, but the only people he'll be roasting when he's at the end of his dial will be thugs. Thug-duty is not a thing for 122 point figures. Quasar has a lot of good uses, but when he gets winded they all go away very fast.
27. Titania B (--She's dull, but she's a very affordable high damage brick, and she's got the BEST damage value of any masters of evil figure at close range. FINALLY a good MOE figure that doesn't specialize in ranged attacks. Again, dull; but she's totally solid.
26. Spider Man: XP B+ (-- lots of outwit, all the abilities he should have had from day one, high DV defend... he's never devestating but his price tag doesn't really DEMAND for him to be. He's pretty solid.
25. Professor Xavier B+ (Down) One of the head Mind control specialists in the game; lots of it with an almost always decent AV... but 92 points on a one-trick pony is always a hard choice to make. His 7 straight clicks of leadership help a good deal, though.
24. Thanos B+ (WAY down) Like John Claude Van-Damme, Thanos is: HARD TO KILL. And that's that. He blasts away at guys again and again for his base damage from range and stands there soaking up damage. He has no other abilities. One well-orchestrated outwit turn on your opponent's side can cripple Thanos or even kill him so fast you wouldn't believe. 185 points needs to buy you more than security for one figure (himself); it needs to buy you versatility.
23. The Flash B+ (Down) 20 movement is just insane; with or without HSP. No matter how good or bad this figure may be, it's undeniable that it'll be fun to play. As it just so happens, with decent AV & DV, this figure IS decent, but it has a big flaw: as a full one-trick pony, if the HSP is outwitted it can't do ANYTHING except move a lot, and only in convoluted ways that avoid adjacency to enemies. Still, he can practically go anywhere whenever he wants. Sweet.
22. Phoenix B+ (---Moondragon's taxi side jacked up on speed. Flight or Tk to taxi, toughness to keep it with higher AV for a bit longer, x-men healing, consistent 2 damage, 12 range for maximum cover fire... she's a lot of fun and very useful, but for almost 100 points you need more than a taxi.
21. Spider Man: CT B+ (Up) Very affordable and with a few good uses. great mobility, incapacitate, more flurry than any figure other than Spiral, senses, some outwit... just a good price for a VERY solid figure.
20. Desaad B+ (WAY up) He won't devestate any opponent's forces, but for just one point more than vet black panther, he has one more click of outwit (for 3 total) plus 3 clicks of support, and finally, 6 straight clicks of EE at a range of 8. His speed, AV AND damage value are low all the way around, but he's a very efficient suisse army knife.
19. Super Skrull B+ (Down) The Skrull ability is very rarely useful, but I don't feel it really raised Skrull's cost by much. 9 clicks of life, none of which totally useless; 4 damage or EE from 12 range (w/running shot), 4x invulnerability, consistently high AV and 3 damage. He's very solid, just outshone by higher placing guys and his price is a bit hard to swing.
18. Mojo A- (Down) His mobility drops like a rock, but Mojo is just too interesting to ignore. He's got a wide array of powers; many of which are fairly unrepresented in marvel (poison, steal energy, perplex). His range is short but he's got a lot of different things he can do, and every single one of them is a big problem. Another of the absolute best harrassers. Just a bit expensive.
17. Batman A- (Down) 6 straight clicks of willpower and 5 total outwit throughout his dial. He does a lot of crafty stuff with those 2 abilities along, but with only one click of incapacitate he really doesn't do many other things. Still, even basic attacks are lethal when they can be repeated again and again without push damage.
16. Elektra: XP A- ((-- obviously she's lethal. 8 straight clicks of perplex is insane. However.... 160 points is flagship. Perplex is, at its heart, a support power. Elektra may as well just have a base damage of 3 as she'll usually be perplexing herself and that's that; would've kept her cost down a bit. She's a great figure, dont' get me wrong, but that price is HARD to pay unless you're prepared to have Elektra be your one and only star.
15. Nick Fury A- (Up) None of his abilities make him particularly lethal, but he's a steady nuisance almost everywhere on his dial, and he's very affordable. 2 damage almost all the way around, damage boosting through shield, leadership, outwit, 2 target range attack with running shot, stealth... he's got TONS of use and he doesn't set you back more than he should.
14 Shadowcat A- ((- Just a taxi, but a magical, WONDERFUL taxi. 36 point great figures gain another member. Phasing cheap taxi, and EE for cover fire. Ouch.
13. The Joker A- (Up) Strange choice I bet many thing. Joker's hard to use, but I've seen him used to devestating effect. With CONSTANT EE & Mastermind for 7 clicks, he can roast guys again and again, not to mention outwit and perplex. Only from a range of 6, but so long as you keep shirking off the damage he would take onto the likes of Bane (95 points allows for a lot of cattle he can mastermind damage onto) he'll live to strike another day, and another, and another.
12. Wolverine (Ic) A- ((--Essentially dull for a unique placing so high, but one can't deny his bargain pricetag and utility. HIGH starting AV, charging BCF, all around solid. This guy's MEAN.
11. Moondragon A- (up) Great taxi by flying & having TK; huge range on her mind control (matched only by Vet Xavier), a lot of evade potential with 5x senses, 2x psychic blast for 2 damage, and she regenerates to some of her best clicks. Tons of uses, all big ones unlike Fury.
10. Green Goblin A- (Weak for combat purposes after his first few clicks, but constant willpower for a taxi is incredible. And for his first 3 clicks, with perplex, he can do a lot of good in combat alll by himself! He mainly shines as taxi, but he can do much more if played right; thanks to his super strength, perplex & EE. All hail the God taxi.
9. Spiral A- ((she's inconvenient to move around thanks to all that battle fury, but she's worth the hastle. BCF/Flurry is one mean combo, and it's worth fighting for. Logan does it too; but spiral's a bit cheaper, even with her MOD team ability; which helps her to huge extents if she has to move herself around. Not to be messed with.
8. Deathbird A- ((all around nasty figure. She's a taxi, she blasts you for 4 damage from range, she slashes you for up to 6 up close, she incapacitates... just a pure jack (or jill in this case) of all trades.
7. Savage Hulk A ((Obviously he's just INSANE in battle. 7x inv, no banner click, 2x 5 damage with HIGH dv, constant l/c... he has no downside on his dial at all. The 201 pricetag is a BIG undertaking, but Mr. Banner earns it. And he can even be taxi'd! Sure he can be mind controlled as well, but that's 2 damage right away due to the cost. Ouch. He's a big investment but it's very safe.
6. Darkseid A ((( 5x Outwit. Mind control. 2x Psychic blast for 3 damage (making it so he doesn't even need the outwit for his own attack purposes and he can use it to help a bud!). 4 damage at range to the end of his dial after the outwit goes away. He's got some of the most lethal abilities in the game, and the defenses to keep em; but not the mobility. 151 points is hard, but he's actually worth it.
5. Nightcrawler A (((Less speed on the HSP than unique flash, but the 2 damage sets him a lot higher, especially since he's cheaper, and, finally, if HSP is outwitted he still has some other stuff at his disposal. His Xmen healing is also crucial. He's still crippled a lot by outwit, but for all intents and purposes it's not enough of a detriment to drop Kurt down, not at all.
4. Wasp A (((Another incredible bargain. Free moving taxi, 2-target incapacitate, leadership, HUGE Dv. She's not a star for combat but her free-movement taxi skill puts who IS a combat star where they need to be. Crucial maneuvering use and leadership to boot for a very nice price.
3. Sauron A+ (((he slices, dicec, taxi's, captivates, takes a ton of damage without falling, then heals back up again; all for an easily justified cost. Sweet. If there's a downside to him I dont' see it.
2. Vision A+ (Down one notch. Can't top Elektra's 36pt efficiency)
Forget Thanos; Vision is the toughest guy to kill in the game. Due to his constant phasing letting him get away every time, it takes more organization and cunning to take out the Vision than any other figure. And unlike thanos, Vision DOES stuff while laughing off your opponent's assault. Super strength, free-move taxi, constantly decent values, he is so solid it's hard to believe. No matter what, however, 112 points isn't and will never be an easy cost. It doesn't hurt vision at all due to how he earns it, but #1 will prove with her price WHY she beats out this former #1 figure.
1. Elektra (IC) A+ (up a little from before) 36 points. 2 target ranged attack, 11AV with BCF, stealth. Not the most creative figure but her 36 point tag is the greatest bargain in the game. Her AV lets her cut straight through the defenses of all but the absolute toughest enemies; guys that usually are only threatened by figures in the price range of twice this unexpected beauty's price. She is unbelievable.
So as you can see.... Xplosion's placing quite highly for me... and Dc has a lot of catching up to do with Cosmic Justice. It's the only set with just one top 10 entry and it has the TWO lowest placings. Ouch. Infinity Challenge has 3 top 5 entries but after that falls off the map DRASTICALLY. That all leaves the best set for uniques to be CT or XP, I'm still not sure which one. X-planations on my choices to come later, comments welcome and encouraged whenever.