Click "full story" below to find out how the Super Rares will rate for sealed play!

Welcome back to another sealed primer review.

For the Commons of Chaos War and the rating guide click here.
For the Uncommons of Chaos War click here.
For the Rares of Chaos War click here.

Also, keep in mind some figures have Alter Egos. Some have a Minion/Master or Morph Ability. Some get a combat value modifier when near another figure. For figures like this, consider rating them one higher if you pull the corresponding piece that grants a bonus.

Now, on to the reviews!!

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cw042 V Loki
Team: Mystics
Range: 8
Points: 138
Keywords: Asgardian, Avengers, Deity, Mystical

10 10 17 3

9 10 17 3

8 10 16 3

8 9 16 3

7 11 18 3

7 10 17 3

6 10 17 3

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Special) My Unwitting Pawns: Loki can use Shape Change. When Loki rolls a 6 for Shape Change, friendly characters can't be targeted by ranged attacks this turn.

The trickster god returns sporting the Avengers keyword to really confuse his opponents. At 138 points, he's a costly investment for a figure that can't reliably deal penetrating damage for most of his dial. Topping out at 3 damage, Loki needs to stay at range and make the best of his Psychic Blast, though one should hate having to push a Mystic TA figure off a click of Invulnerable to get it. Laufey-son could be played aggressively with the front loaded Poison drawing attacks and hoping to make the Shape Change trait work in favor of the rest of his team, but wise opponents will save Loki for a last attack.

Click 5 sees Loki abandon his sorcery and go with the time honored tradition of stabbing opponents - Outwit will make the damage stick, which kind of helps push the decision towards a B/C/F roll rather than hit for strait 3 damage. Pair him with some Shield TA figures (Sharon Carter?) to make the most of his range, and keep a few tie-up pieces handy, because Loki is easily tied up and thwarted.



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cw043 E Binary
Team: X-Men
Range: 9
Points: 158
Keywords: Avengers, Cosmic, Spy, Starjammers, X-Men

11 10 17 3

11 9 17 3

10 9 17 3

10 9 18 4

10 11 17 3

9 10 17 3

9 10 17 3

9 9 16 2

9 9 16 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Attack) Blinding Stellar Radiation: Binary can use Penetrating/Psychic Blast. If she does and hits, the hit character can't make a ranged combat attack during its next turn.

(Defense) White Hole Energy: Binary can use Energy Shield/Deflection and Regeneration.

By the end run of her 2006 solo title Ms. Marvel's powers had gone haywire and she regained the power set of her time with the Starjammers as Binary. This SR's sculpt and dial encapsulates issue #37 of that series as she starts out as a standard HSS brick before "flaming on" to eventually burn out. Despite the lack of Flight, Binary brings a versatile power set with Cosmic level range. Knocked a few clicks in to her deep dial Carol picks up Running Shot, and backs it with Pulse Wave or a Psychic Blast variant that nerfs opposing ranged attacks.

She'll want to stay at range, especially when she picks up Poison, which when backed with ES/D is a great defensive power. Poison keeps opponents from basing her, ES/D makes her harder to shoot. Keep in mind she can Phase away too, which may be useful even with a push, to buy time and regenerate. 3 clicks of Regeneration elongate her dial somewhat, and the X-Men TA gives her plenty of healing options should she find a Wild Card or to use it with. This marvel has a lot going for her, but at over 50% of build total, she's a risky investment to say the least.



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cw044 V Crystal
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 7
Points: 105
Keywords: Avengers, Fantastic Four, Inhumans, Kree

9 11 18 3

8 10 17 3

8 9 17 3

8 10 17 2

7 9 16 2

7 9 16 2

7 8 16 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Special) Tornado: Give Crystal a power action and choose an unoccupied square of clear terrain within range and line of fire. Crystal can use Quake as a free action as if she occupied that square.

(Speed) Twin Elements: Firestorm: When Crystal uses the Tornado trait, also deal 1 penetrating damage to each hit character after actions resolve.

(Attack) Twin Elements: Waterspout: When Crystal uses the Tornado trait, also give an action token to each hit character with zero action tokens after actions resolve.

(Damage) Twin Elements: Sandstorm: When Crystal uses the Tornado trait, after actions resolve, hit characters use Toughness instead of Invulnerability or Impervious for the rest of the turn.

This Inhuman princess is all about Crowd Control, with her Tornado trait granting plenty of ranged Quake options (Stealth Buster!) enhanced when combined with the trifecta of SPs. If that weren't enough, powers like Barrier and Poison also control movement of the battlefield. She's no slouch when it comes to dealing damage either with 3 separate ways to deal penetrating damage and Sandstorm, which lets her soften up opposing figures for the rest of her teammates.

Combat values start strong, and when they taper off she picks up Force Blast & Poison (no attack roll necessary!). The real selling point for many will be the first strike - Running Shot with Psychic Blast and an 11 attack. She won't break the bank either at 105 points. Not quite a primary attacker, but not a full on support figure like Scarlet Witch, Crystal falls somewhere in between with a whole lot of utility. Bottom line: you should be able to figure out something to do with her.



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cw045 V Void
Team: Power Cosmic
Range: 9
Points: 299
Keywords: Cosmic

12 12 17 4

12 12 17 4

11 11 17 4

11 11 17 4

10 11 16 3

10 10 16 3

9 10 16 3

9 10 16 3

8 10 15 3

8 9 15 3

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Special) He is the False One!: After an action resolves during which Void healed, you may replace him with CW #035 Sentry on the same click number.

(Special) The Void Always Finds You: The Void can use Plasticity. Give Void a free action and place him adjacent to any character that caused Void (or a replaced Sentry) to take damage since your last turn, and then deal 1 damage to all adjacent opposing characters.

The Void is going to carry so much more weight if he's pulled, and played with the Sentry. Just be sure to start as the Sentry, then switch to the Void after taking damage to get the free "auto damage" SP. Unfortunately the Void is one of those figures that can dish it out, but can't take it in return. 4 damage Pulse Wave is great, but there's a whole lot of defensive 16's and 15's on that dial that won't be hard to hit. Where the Sentry can sweep in and hit somebody hard for a one hit KO, the Void is going to get out-actioned fast.

Shape Change & Stealth might keep him safe from a few attacks but Toughness won't soak up much. Consider he has a lot of healing, though if he's burning actions to Regenerate he's not dealing damage. Power Cosmic is tempting, but means less and less in an age full of penetrating damage named and special powers. He's going to dish some damage out, but likely not enough to win a game on his own.

With Sentry:
Going Solo:

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cw046 V The Unspoken
Team: Power Cosmic
Range: 0
Points: 236
Keywords: Inhumans, Ruler

9 11 18 5

9 10 18 5

9 9 17 4

9 11 17 4

9 10 16 3

9 10 17 4

9 11 16 3

9 11 17 4

8 10 16 3

8 12 17 3

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Special) Life Underground: When The Unspoken occupies a square on the lowest elevation of the map, he can use Leadership and Stealth.

(Damage) Slave Engine Degeneration: Opposing characters within 3 squares possess Battle Fury and can't be given power actions.

Note: on a map featuring one level of terrain, that terrain is both highest and lowest. This is important to realize as the Unspoken's biggest weak spot is Psychic blast, a threat he can negate if using Stealth and/or is close enough to give ranged attackers Battle Fury. Slave Engine Degeneration is this figure's biggest asset and requires him to be in close. Teamed with a cheap taxi, he can easily dominate by opponents who are flummoxed that they can't do certain things like Charge, Hypersonic, or use CCE/RCE.

Players with experience using Harry Leland or Leech will have an edge using this figure, though he requires a vigilant controller to make sure an opponent isn't circumventing some of the "Power Action" powers. Aside: it would be great if character cards included a symbol or plain out noted what was a power action so the game wouldn't be slowed down as players fumble through the PAC checking to see if an action is legal. My suggestion is to bring a list: Charge, Mind Control, Force Blast, Hypersonic Speed, Running Shot, Smoke Cloud, Telekinesis, Barrier, Regeneration, Ranged Combat Expert, Support, Close Combat Expert, Duo Attack, MultiAttack, some Team abilities, special powers, etc.

His dial is laid out as such, that he could easily cripple an opposing team with a one shot KO leaving opponents scrambling. His damage output drops off on click three, so if you're facing him, try and deal 4 damage in a single blow. Attack values remain steady and damage reducers may be hard to hammer through. Unspoken but not unbeatable by any stretch of the imagination.



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cw047 U Mr. Sinister
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 8
Points: 225
Keywords: Horsemen of Apocalypse, Marauders, Scientist, Weapon X

8 11 18 3

8 11 18 3

7 10 17 3

7 10 17 3

7 10 17 3

7 9 16 3

6 9 16 3

6 9 16 3

10 8 15 2

10 8 15 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Special) Create New Marauders: As you reveal your force, friendly characters possess the Marauders keyword this game if they possess the Brotherhood of Mutants or X-Men keyword or team ability.

(Special) Skinshifting: Mr. Sinister can use Shape Change.

(Defense) Complete Cellular Regeneration: Mr. Sinister can use Regeneration, Toughness, and Willpower. If he has no action tokens, Mr. Sinister may use Regeneration as a free action but subtracts 3 instead of 2.

(Damage) I Can Rebuild You, Mutant: Mr. Sinister can use Perplex. When another friendly character possessing the Marauders keyword would be KO'd, you may roll a d6. On a result of 6, instead place them within 6 squares of Mr. Sinister and turn them to their last non-KO click, then roll another d6. Heal that character of half the result.


Like a fish out of water, Mister Sinister arrives in a set that won't see making much use of the 'New Marauders trait. Full dial Shape Change, backed with Impervious will make him a pain to put down, especially if he keeps to the shadows. Damage output is modest for a character of his cost. Top dial he can deal penetrating so long as he's not based, and Outwit helps make his 3 damage stick.

In 300 Mister S feels more like a really annoying tie-up piece than a true threat on the board. Lots of Regeneration and damage avoidance powers will keep him around on his mid dial, where his attack values are appropriately middling. He's a figure that's meant to serve as the glue of a 500+ point team, where he can lurk behind the front lines, pumping up his teammates and Outwitting defenses. On his own, he gets out actioned fast and will require a bit of luck to make it 3-0 in 300 sealed.



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cw048 V Taskmaster
Team: Minions of Doom
Range: 6
Points: 139
Keywords: Agency X, Frightful Four, Hydra, Martial Artist, Thunderbolts

8 11 18 3

9 11 17 3

8 10 17 3

8 9 16 2

8 11 18 2

7 10 17 2

8 10 16 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Special) Still Got Those Photographic Reflexes: Give Taskmaster a free action. Choose any standard power an opposing character within 8 squares and line of fire and with one or more action tokens can use. Taskmaster can use that power until the end of this turn.

(Special) You Hold No Surprises: Taskmaster's combat values can't be modified by opposing characters' powers or abilities.

(Damage) Super-Villain Training: Taskmaster can use Enhancement and Leadership. When he succeeds on an roll for Leadership, adjacent friendly characters modify their attack and range values by +1.

Taskmaster might as well be nicknamed Attackmaster dropping as low as a 9 mid dial, this figure defines marksman with no less than 3 clicks of natural 11 AV that can't be modified down. Damage is a modest 3 but could be modified if Tasky can copy a power like RCE or CCE. Super-Villain Training is an amazing SP that grants a bonus to Attack, Damage and Range, while taking tokens off friendlies, making him a good tentpole to build around. His utility increases thanks to the MoD TA, but remember he needs to be paired with some useful TAs to make it work.



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cw049 E Morgan Le Fay
Team: Minions of Doom
Range: 7
Points: 122
Keywords: Mystical, Past

12 10 17 4

9 9 16 3

9 10 16 3

8 10 16 3

7 10 17 3

7 10 17 2

7 9 17 3

6 9 18 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Special) My Alternate Avengers: Morgan Le Fay can use Perplex, but only to target a character with the Avengers keyword. When she does, she may use it normally, or she can modify any value except damage by +2 or -2. An Avengers themed team may include Morgan Le Fay and is still a themed team.

(Special) Cold Steel is My Bane: When an opposing character hits Morgan Le Fay and rolls for Blades/Claws/Fangs, add 1 to that die roll.

(Defense) Astral Form Fade: Morgan Le Fay can use Toughness. At the beginning of your turn, choose either Combat Reflexes or Energy Shield/Deflection. Morgan Le Fay can use the chosen power until your next turn.

Another Villain that can run with the Avengers without busting keyword bonus, Morgan has a strong opening defense (assuming she choses wisely) backed with Shape Change for her protection. Mind Control, Perplex & PC on her second click, and a vulnerability to a certain type of attack (B/C/F) evoke the Queen of Fables dial, appropriate given Morgan's most famous story arc. She plays a lot like Mr. Sinister - a piece that hangs back and controls the battle, but unlike Sinister this witch has a lot more room to include attackers to draw fire away from her.

A slightly higher AV or DV and she'd really stand out, but without guaranteeing any synergy pulls she's falls closer to a 3 than a 4.



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cw050 E Kang
Team: Master of Evil
Range: 9
Points: 151
Keywords: Future, Past, Ruler, Scientist, Warrior

10 12 17 4

9 11 17 4

8 11 17 4

8 10 16 3

8 11 16 3

7 12 16 3

7 11 15 3

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Special) Come Back After I'm Rested and Try Again: Kang can use Probability Control during his own attack rolls.

(Speed) Timeline Reset: Once per game, give Kang a power action. Remove action tokens from all friendly characters that are Kang's point value or less. Characters that already took a non-free action this turn can't take another.

Kang Shoots! Kang Hits! Kang Outwits! Kang takes tokens off your teammates! Outstanding attack values and self PC mean Kang *will* hit (assuming they don't evade). The only question will be, what to stack the other 149 points with. The answer of course, is cheap tie up figures that can take a lot of damage, or evade a lot of attacks. Kang will be the backbone of many winning teams, guaranteed.



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cw051 V Chaos King
Team: Power Cosmic
Range: 11
Points: 350
Keywords: Cosmic, Deity, Mystical

12 10 17 6

12 10 17 5

12 10 17 4

11 11 18 4

11 11 18 5

10 12 18 4

11 11 18 5

11 11 18 4

12 10 17 4

12 10 17 3

12 9 17 3

KO KO KO KO

(Special) Enslavement: When Chaos King KO's an opposing character, after actions resolve he may use Mind Control as a free action targeting any number of other characters on the defeated character's force that total less points than the defeated character. These characters do not need to be within range or line of fire.

At 300 points, the Chaos King leaves a little to be desired. 10 attack and PC gives you two chances to miss an 18 defense, and Invulnerable just doesn't give a warm fuzzy the way Impervious does. He'll want to target bigger point figures to use his Trait, but likely won't be able to two-shot most of the 100+ point crowd, and he's going to need to reduce the opponent's action pool if he wants to win. Hypersonic/Outwit will be a pain to deal with, though he's still a walker, and will get tripped up in his own Smoke Cloud.

The very definition of win big or go home, even skilled players will find winning a challenge with this chaos warrior, so my advice would be to know if you can handle this raging bull. He's not your average Power Cosmic point and click win piece, but requires a lot of target prioritization and positioning. He's certainly capable of dominating, but has the feel of a 2-1, or even 1-2, more than a 3-0. Buyer beware.

350:
300:

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cw052 V Lockjaw and Hairball
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Points: 82
Keywords: Animal, Inhumans, Pet Avengers

13 9 17 3

12 9 16 2

12 9 16 2

11 9 15 2

11 9 15 2

11 9 16 2

10 8 16 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Special) The Name is... Hairball!: When Lockjaw and Hairball attacks, they may choose to knock back a hit character 2 squares after actions resolve.

(Defense) Don't Hit the Cat! Or the Dog, Really: Lockjaw and Hairball can use Toughness and Super Senses. When they succeed on a roll for Super Senses, after actions resolve you may knock back the attacking character 2 squares. This power can't be countered.

(Damage) Leader of the Pet Avengers... Plus Cat: Lockjaw and Hairball can use Leadership. If they succeed, they may use it to remove tokens from characters with the Animal or Pet Avengers keyword regardless of point value.

Lockjaw and Hairball are the new Tango and Cash! A whole lot of special knockback make this transporting leadership taxi an annoyance piece, with a Double Base letting them tie up twice the amount of opponents and uncounterable Super Senses/Toughness to keep them on the map. At 82 points they're a bit spendy to just throw to the wolves, and they really can't be relied upon to deal damage even with a solid 9AV, so their strength comes in wasting opponents actions and setting them up to make the most of their knockbacks.

What I played against:

Loki - as suspected he was too much of a point bloat to be much use. My Wolverine based him, and then Loki hit me for 3, reduced to one. And I healed right back to the top. My opponent could have probably played him a bit more aggressively and used him to tie up my primary ranged attacker...

Void - crumpled by a swarm team like a sack of potato chips. There's a lot of luck involved playing this thing solo. I still contend that he gives the Sentry more options, but if only it could be said the other way.

Chaos King - a very scary figure, if he could manage to get nothing but hits. I had to sacrifice a lot of pieces and push a lot of pieces, but in the end he was no match for my team.

I have played:

Kang. The way to beat him is to swarm him and push. Shutting down his PB/RCE really takes away his options. If it comes down to breaking away from his tie ups to charge or running shot him - do it. Just try and make sure you have PC in position to help with the break away roll.

Binary. This figure was a lot of fun to use (ran her with Quicksilver and Dinah Soar) and provides many options changing from beatstick to ranged attack monster. She can be competitive, but requires some support.

The Unspoken Pulled him in an at home sealed game with Dinah Soar, and used a Masque duplicate (for the Support). Just a brutal figure with a Taxi backing him up. And I mean Nightron brutal.

For those that wonder/care for my 3 round in store 20+ player sealed event:

I pulled:
Ares
Masque Duplicate
Dinah Soar
Max Fury
Shadow Council Soldier
Binary
Kang
Quicksilver
Egghead
Wolverine.

Bolded are what I played at 300. I can tell you that despite how good Kang is, he's not unbeatable. My first opponent watched as I moved Kang, on turn 1, attacked Tony Stark on turn 2 needing a 6 to hit, WITH the Hydra bump and missed twice. I MoE pushed Kang to attack the next round and rolled two sets of 3's. Kang could not hit the ground if he was falling, and he was.

Wolverine got smacked around a ton - I got him to a point where he had 1 token and was on Flurry/Blades. I decided to push him to attack - hit Tony and rolled a 1 for blades. Second attack, rolled a crit miss taking two damage (one for the push) to be on his last click for a quick KO. A turn later my Shadow Council Soldier Crit Missed himself to death. It looked like it was over for me.

Dinah was a godsend that game and tied up ranged opponents. They tried to hit her and she made her Super Senses rolls. They tried to break away and failed. I somehow came back from that confidence shaking streak of bad luck to win second place in the event. First place, IIRC, went to an Ares/Black Knight team (MoE IIRC).

My opponents played: (R1) Tony Stark AE, Wasp (Henry Pym), Sharon Carter, Wonder Man (sideboard Ironman & Ant-Man). R2 - Loki, Ms. Marvel, Victoria Hand. R3 - Chaos King.

Another great primer!

Burger King, I mean the Unspoken, will be difficult to deal with.

Great stuff, and yes Kang rocks in sealed. I played him, Hawkeye and Sharon Carter in a 300pt, and cleaned 3 teams out.

Great article, but why is "Loki (Van Dyne)" in the title?

I'd rate Chaos King a bit higher since he actually opens up with RS, 4 Damage at 11 range and , backed by PC to hit and to deny the opponent's hits, especially if he can get hindering to work for him on the defensive side. You can easily push onto the 2nd click for the Impervious and get pinged onto the HSS clicks. A good regen roll of 5 or 6 gets him back onto HSS/Impervious or Invulnerability/Outwit.

5 stars for me, baby!

(just try and explain WHEN and HOW he will use that Smoke Cloud, though, when he's got all that HSS/Outwitting action going on?)

p.s.

Since when did Janet put on a Loki outfit on?

Probably a cut/paste from the Rares article that starts out with "Wasp (Van Dyne)"

I gotta say, What I played/against is an awesome addition to these review threads. Puts everything into perspective and gives you some credibility for a noob (like me) who doesn't know you or your history of review threads.

Mentioned in one of the others, but totally agree- I'm really liking the battle report addition. The primers are the speculation, the battle reports are the performance, and even though it's a small sample, it's cool to compare the two and see who played better/worse/same as expected.

A-mouse bringing the A-game, as always!

Hahaha cause I was gonna say...you could probably call that figure Loki (Maximoff) because he posed as Scarlet Witch for the Dan Slott run on Mighty Avengers.

But yeah, not a Van Dyne. She was dead by the time that arc happened. That's kinda why Hank Pym was leading that Avengers team as Wasp.

I agree with the rating on Loki and Morgan Lefay as singles but if they are some how both pulled I would rate them a 5, the synergy between these two figures is unreal! Use Loki to base and hold down a figure followed by perplexing up his def by +2 with Morgan. Turn two perplex up Morgan's own attack by +2 and hit for 4 damage PB then follow up with Loki. Turn 3 use leadership from Loki to remove token from Morgan, have Morgan perplex up her own attack by +2 and attack with PB for 4 again. Rinse and repeat as needed. Throw on a Masque dup or Donald Blake for support and your set. Have gone 3-0 and 5-0 with this team against some tough compition.

I don't think Morgan le Fay can Perplex herself. She doesn't possess the Avengers keyword.

Edit: Loving the reviews Mouse!

Some days Loki still feels very pretty. Those Straczynski days refuse to fully fade, and he secretly admires Jan's fashion sense as only an Asgardian can.

Really enjoying these, and appreciating how quickly you had to write these -- and that you're posting them at a much faster rate than normal as you're trying to help everyone since so many are headed for sealed events this weekend.
I second that!