Selina Kyle
Hypertime #133
Based on: Catwoman
Type: V+
Current eBay Value: $14.45 (21 April @ 9:30 PM)

With the Marquees come and gone, we're back in the flow of things with a reader request! A ringslinging fan writes...

I can understand your confusion, to an extent. Selina's not the bowl of skittles that the Doctors Strange or Doom are, but her role on a force isn't as obvious as other pieces.

The designers did a lot of shuffling around on this figure. The first thing you'll notice is that Selina is no longer a Batman Enemy. This really a handicap, though. As we move on, you'll see that Catwoman works best off on her own instead of trying to stick to another's side... well, an ally's side at least.

Across the top of her dial, there's a solid row of Leap/Climb. The dial for her Veteran version also got shoved one click to the right by the beefy 10 move she starts out with. With an extremely slow decline, this means that even on her final click Selina can move 7 squares completely unhindered. Many pieces in their prime can't keep up with that, so it's a fair bet Selina can escape to a medic if the going gets rough, or get in position for the nasty surprise at the end of her dial.

Attack remains the same through the numbers. Her 9 Attack isn't bad, but the real good news is that it also has a slow decline. A starting attack of 9 is just okay, but wielding an 8 in the middle of her dial is fantastic. They jettison most of the Smoke Cloud from the Veteran, which isn't really a loss on a figure with zero range and no Stealth. Incapacitate remains. Normally I'd be down on zero-range Incap as well, but in this specific case they found a way to make it work.

Defense is again the same by the numbers, but Selina's survival chances get a serious boost with two extra clicks of Super Senses. This comes in handy because unlike Movement and Attack, Defense has a steady decline. Starting with a 17 is awesome, but by the time she hits 14 you're pushing it. On the other hand, this also means it's incredibly easy to heal her. She can reach the Medic without stopping, get patched up easily and dart right back into the fray.

Again like the Veteran, Selina comes in with three clicks of two Damage and three clicks Outwit in front. But Outwit also makes an encore performance on her final click. It's not always easy to land there just right, but it will seriously baffle your opponent if it does.

(War Story: I played in a tourney once where my opponent was desperate to get rid of Selina's Outwit, which was locking up one of his big guns. She was perched on top of a building, and Nightwing fired on her, scoring a critical hit. When I missed the Super Senses roll, my opponent was celebrating, certain Selina would no longer be a problem as she took four clicks and then Knockback over the opposite edge. So you can imagine his surprise as I click through her dial with a smile on my face, revealing the Outwit on that final click, and Selina was now safely on the opposite edge of the building! )

Selina's a strong support figure, bounding across the board with that huge 10 Movement and Leap/Climb in order to find a perch and work her Outwit mojo. There probably won't be a moment in the game where you can't get her in position for that. But even with her mobility, 75 points is a lot to spend on someone who's only there for Outwit.

To gain the maximum benefit, you need to take advantage of that enormous Defense combined with Super Senses *and* mobility. Normally, there is a tremendous disadvantage to running up on your opponent and waiting to hit him. With her phenomenal dodging ability, Selina can do so safely. Not only does your opponent have the odds against him hitting her, but if he tries an action Selina can Incap him, all the while removing whatever powers need to go away. And if by some chance the opponent *does* land a hit, there are precious few situations where she can be taken down with one shot. Her Speed and Leap/Climb abilities allow here to make a graceful exit and dash to your Medic..

In order to fully understand the advantage, let's go to fantasia's probability chart again. Suppose Selina needs to tie up V Bane. Your opponent's in a pickle now... do you swing at Selina, knowing you've only got a 39% chance of hitting, or do you go for the 50% chance of breaking away? Tough call, innit?

Normally, I don't play backup figures over fifty points, but Selina adds so much to a team she proves worth it. Send her out there early on to Outwit key powers for your heavy hitters, then move her in and tie up your target for the kill. With her huge movement and Leap/Climb she's quite self-sufficient, so you won't need to give her a taxi, and with her Defense stats and powers it's easy to keep her active throughout the game. You *could* use the Veteran in a similar fashion, but all those little changes make her worth a lot more than the seven points difference could buy.

Selina's held her value surprisingly well, commanding up near $15 regularly on eBay. I'm not surprised -- she does tend to turn up less often, and she may be the most playable of the LE4s. I'd have no issues at all buying her for the going rate; you'll probably get your money's worth.

*** *** *** ***

*Huge* shout-out to everyone who attended the Crooked Hat Marquee on Saturday night. We had sixteen people playing that night, and everyone seemed to have a blast. Thanks to all of you for coming!

And a double-shout to Winslow, for responding to "Please?" Who'd guess that's what it would take?

Thursday we're going to switch out from the usual format as we go back and revisit my first twenty reviews from a different perspective. azs and I both write from a certain point of view... now it's time to look at the other side of the table. See you then!

-J

You know, I rarely look at a figure's use the way you propose here. A L/C, Super Senses, Incap figure could be very useful to just tie up an enemy figure. If you can base a taxi and it's heavy-hitter fare, then you can threaten each of them with Incap or breakaway. That could get mean! Granted, the rest of your team better be doing their parts or else Ms. Kyle is going to become a big target if she annoys your opponent enough. Interesting...

Cool review, RavenProject. It's getting harder and harder for me to not hop on ebay and add some of these LE's to my collection!

On a somewhat off topic side note -
Did you ever notice that powers aside, V Catwoman and Unique Catwoman have the same exact dails, numbers-wise?

Thanks for answering my request. I can see some ideas forming now. I think that what causes me to lose some games (in general) is a) not using Incap (or not making a successful Incap roll) or b) not breaking away soon enough.

hmm...you compared her to the REV Catwoman, but how about the unique Catwoman? I have yet to use my Selina Kyle because I have Catwoman U, who starts with the same high defense, CCE, and that ever-useful batman team affiliation..

A lot of folks I know keep U Catwoman in another category due to her lack of Outwit. The Bat-team helps, but most times I've seen Catwoman played it is for an Outwitter that is hard to knock off of her Outwit clicks thanks to Super Senses.

Maybe it's because I'm not a big DC fan, but this was my first tourney win figure ever and I just can't play with her that well. Her smoke cloud without a Batman Team ability seems useless.

Great review as always RP. I've actually won 3 different Selina Kyles as she seems to be the most popular 1st prize for DC tournaments in my area. I of course kept my first one. I then traded on here to get a Super Skrull with my second one but got ripped off and never got my skrull (see the bad trader forum). Then I traded my third one for a Red Skull and a couple non-uniques.

shin-goji, the LE Selina Kyle only has smoke cloud on her last click, that's one of the reasons she's so much better than the vet

This situation is exactly where I'd argue you're often better off waiting for the enemy fig to clear and then Incap to force a push. It requires double-teaming with ranged attacks, but the best move for the enemy is usually to try and break away, which is never a positive action. Worst case scenario for the enemy- break away fails and he's stuck for 2 turns. Best case scenario- he breaks away.... and then is stuck in that spot for 2 turns.

Of course, I'm the only person that I've ever heard say this, so maybe I'm wrong.

I'm glad to see this review. Selina is one of my favorite figs- though Kitty Pryde will probably serve a more point effective purpose, replacing Outwit with taxi capabilities. In fact, I believe Kitty has a better use of Incap; taxi a brick/ranger, and hit. Kitty and her fare instantly become unhittable targets. Whenever the enemy clears, Incap pastes him down for an unsavory break and further walloping.