Xplosion sealed/draft strategy

[scowlingone]

This has been discussed tangentially in the "Are you going to the Marquee?" thread, but I though that we should create a new thread for this topic.

Now that Xplosion is out there are going to be a great many booster draft tourneys and sealed booster tourneys (including the upcoming Marquee) in the very near future. One of the local stores in my town is running a 3-pack sealed Xplosion booster on March 29th. (!)

So the question at hand is: which figure in the Xplosion set are good to pull or draft in sealed play at the 200-point level and at the 300-point level?

I'll start it off with ome of my picks:

200 and 300 point play:

R/E/V Paramedic: medics are always vital in sealed play, and I think that this will be even more true in Xplosion sealed play with the wide range of figrues with low Defense scores.

R/E/V Destiny: with the generally low Attack values, Destiny's free move, low cost and many clicks of Probability Control makes her more useful in this set than Black Cat was in CT.

V Doc Samson: that first click of Charge, Super Strength, 4 Damage and Perplex makes Samson the She-Hulk of XP. and anyone who faced she-Hulk in CT sealed play knows how effective a big close-combat bruiser can be.

R/E Iceman: The only free-moving flyer in XP is Iron Man, and he's far too expensive to use as a taxi, and far too ineffective to put your hopes into. Bdetter to stick with low-cost flyers like Iceman. Iceman is great because of his reasonably good speed (8), low cost and Barrier. A fast, flying Barrier-tosser for under 30 points? Sign me up!

R/E Shadowcat: The other side of the Iceman equation, Shadowcat is a cheap (but slow) taxi who is very difficult to kill and virtually impossible to pin down.

U Deathbird: Deathbird is, in her own way, this set's Firelord: a cheap flying model with a good attack and high ranged damage. After her first couple of clicks she starts to become pretty ineffective, but that's what the Paramedic's for.

U Sauron: He's a cheap mid-level multitasker; charge in with B/C/F. Push to do it again, and once you take a hit, Mind Control the opposing model. Sauron's very effective when teamed up with Iceman and Detiny. Use Destiny to re-roll those 1s when rolling for BCF, and use Iceman to taxi in Sauron and then Barrier your opponent aftr Sauron has pushed.

R/E/V Taskmaster: Taskmaster's an odd duck. He has both ED and Stealth, which are never used together, so you're paying for tools you don't always need. But this makes him flexible. And his powers change on just about every click on the dial. He has a brutally high attack for his cost, but he doesn't have a lot of clicks of life. Just remember that you'll need to taxi him out of the bushes because he doesn't have Leap/Climb.

V Beast: Very effective and flexible, with Perplex, Support, Charge, good Attack and good Damage plus a reasonably deep dial, all at what I think is a bargain cost.

300 point play only:

V Crimson Dynamo: too expensive for 200-point play, he really shines in 300-point play, with his decent attack, massive ranged damage and Invulnerability.

R/E/V Mandarin: Outwit at the start of the dial, high Defense at range, Mind Control and a very good range.

R/E/V Abomination: not versatile enough for 200-point play, IMHO, due to the lack of Charge. That lack of Charge makes Abomination one of the cheapest 4-damage/Inv brawlers in the game.

So -- what have I missed? Who o you think are must-haves in sealed/draft play?

[kepha]

I would add R,E,V silver Samurai to your list. Great mobility, BCF, AND a 11 AV for 40pts(vet one). _Sorry, did you say 40pts??? I know what you'll say: laughable defense. So what about using R Silver samurai (28 pts) as a sacrifice piece? I think it could be pretty effective as he could ko bigger figs(maybe with the help of a con-artist).
BTW, you didn't mention con artist in you list? Thanks to their low pts value, they're not your opponent'first goals, means they're on the battlefield for a long. I think they're definitively must-haves in sealed plays.
Let me know about that.

[NateTG]

Marquee rules of thumb:
1. Fliers are important
2. 3 or more damage is important

V Storm, Flying 4 Damage 10 move, 10 attack 50 points. You might call her firelord's little sister.
V Iceman - Taxi/Shooter Combo like Storm, but not as good.
REV Mystique - Perplex/Stealth Free move, It's a Black Panther lookalike.
REV Madame Masque - Rules over figures without damage reduction powers.
EV Psyloke - Well rounded figure with usefull powers.
REV Silver Samurai - High mobility & BCF are a good combination
REV Gambit - Bonus points if used with Psyloke.
R Colossus - Even better if you have an X-men taxi

Do not use:
SWAT Officer -- The latest victim of incapacitate cost
The Leadeer -- How do you say waste of points?

[Spookythecat]

I'm not so sure about Medics. I don't think I've played a sealed game yet where a medic has made that much of a difference. Granted, I'm a pretty darn aggresive player, and I make killing any medics on the board a special project. People have used medics effectively against me... But only after I'm good and beaten. Also, in a set with as much emphasis on close combat as X-plosion has, most of the rounds are going to end up with a big mess 'o figures in the middle. So if you use your medic, you've got to (A) sucseed in a breakaway, and (B) spend BOTH your actions running away and healing (A defensive action that may well let your opponent run roughshed over the rest of your force.)


If I get a bunch of ranged combat folks or a buncha figures with leap/climb or phasing I might throw a medic in, but most of the time I'd rather put my points towards a figure that can do some damage.

[CaptainCarl]

im with spooky on this one i dont usually use medics in sealed play cause one its only 200 points for marquee where i play at and since their are no free moving fliers besided iron man your goin to waste both actions healing

id spend the extra points on offense make sure you have a taxi any taxi doesnt matter the points unless its 100+ so you can have first strike advantage ive seen unlucky players with zero taxis none ever make it into the winners bracket

with all this perplex you can basically use almost any figure and get a hit in with perplexing AV so use perplex if you dont your opponent will i sure this will happen

so perplex and taxis are the way to go and be aggressive the is only so much the opponent can do with 2 actions for retaliation so make your initial attack count

one things for sure if i pull any kind of PC its definately in with limited figs your average attack will most likely be 9 with def ranging from 16 to 17 they will have to roll an 8 PC will be a big factor in sealed tourneys

just my 10 cents folks

thecaptain

[ludd_gang]

A couple random ideas concerning 200 pt games:

Got to go with the mob concerning the Paramedics- not worth it in 200 pt. Xplosion medics can't even double for combat duty.

V Iceman is really good- he taxis in the early game then with his high D and RCE cleans up during the end game. 10 range too! Don't let his low AV scare ya, but don't expect him to take on undamaged figs.

E Taskmaster is great- Leadership is huge in 200 pt games. As for V, his Perplex is slightly redundant (would you try BCF to beat 3 damage? You ain't gonna need to beef his AV so its strictly for his pals). Although V keeps a higher AV, I think in a 200 pt format E version is superior.

Con Artist- you aren't going to want to waste points or actions on a fig with such fragile utility, especially in 200 pt. Think how Willpower can lack synergy during the early game.

Madame Masque- I'd love to team her up with R Scorpion.

Destiny- With the amount of low DV's and tons of Perplex to boost AV's, she's not as useful as you'd think. The best counter to high AV's is Supersenses or damage reduction, not PC. She doesn't cost actions, but she does cost 20 relatively-easy-to-ko points. However if Daredevil and some BCF figs are in the picture, then maybe we'll talk.

Green Goblin: Willpower synergy issue in 200 pt game makes his cost a bit hefty. Why spend points on a power if you can't use it? 300 pt + is a different story....

Shadowcat: You can't ask for a better taxi in 300 pt. But like I said, in 200 point, Medics cost a lot, and their existance is a large part of Shadowcat's value. Spending 40+ pts for low-threat figs that require a large investment of actions to utilize isn't a good idea.