Puma, also known as Thomas Fireheart, is from an unknown Native American tribe where he is the sworn protector of his tribe. Protector from what? Well, it actually turned out to be The Beyonder. In order for Puma to protect the tribe they endowed him with magical powers to compliment his physical abilities. Through intense concentration, Thomas Fireheart is able to transform his body to take on beast-like attributes of a humanoid mountain lion. He becomes larger and stronger as well growing a fine tan fur over his whole body. Along with razor sharp fangs (blades/claws/fangs) and talons Thomas Fireheart is transformed into the Puma.

Let’s start the review by checking out the two important parts, Point Value and Keywords;
At 56 points Puma will be able to find his way on to any teams in general, but what theme teams should he be put on?

How about Animal, MODOK’s 11, Mystical, Outlaws

I must give WizKids credit for 2 keywords in this, MODOK’s 11 and Outlaws. The Outlaws were started in the late 1980’s consisting of Spider-man, Sandman, Puma, Silver Sable, Molten Man, Prowler, Rocket Racer, and Will-O-The-Wisp. However, only Silver Sable (Mutant Mayhem Veteran), Puma, and Spider-man (Mutant Mayhem Rookie) have the Outlaw keyword.

M.O.D.O.K.’s 11 is a more modern team consisting of; M.O.D.O.K., Puma, Living Laser, Mandarin, Chameleon, Rocket Racer, Armadillo, Nightshade, Spot, Armadillo, and Mentallo. This is a brand new keyword so no one has it even good ol’ M.O.D.O.K. from Mutant Mayhem. But it shouldn’t stop you from building a fun golden age team.

The Dial: The first thing you will notice about the dial is that there are no special powers. I especially like that it makes it a simpler piece to play and get new people into playing.

Opening click is the key to playing Puma and this one is a doozie! Puma has charge with blades/claws/fangs with a 10 attack. This is probably one of the most beloved combo of powers for any close combat clix. With that 10 attack you are most likely to hit your opponent and do some major damage. When Puma is based from the charge he can use his ‘were-mountain lion’ shape change and ‘animal senses’ super senses to avoid getting attacked and hit respectively. Clicks 2 and 3 are just as nasty with close combat expert, so Puma is pushable even though I wouldn’t. Why? Because if someone is going to hit Puma for 3 clicks of life they just happen to land him on click 4; Flurry, Blades/claws/fangs with an attack of 9, a 17 defense or 19 thanks to Combat Reflexes, and Outwit.

Puma is definitely worth his 56 points as being a hard-hitting attacker, a tie up piece, and a late dial support piece. With the low point cost and possible high damage output, he is going to be a staple on teams for sealed events and make it on to some very enjoyable teams. That is all easy to say on paper so we have to put it to the test with some teams.

Golden-age Native American team
WoS Puma 56
+Camouflage 8
AW Vet Warpath 68
AW Vet Shaman 74
FF Moonstar 90
+ Alias 3
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299 points

Golden-age Outlaws
WoS Puma 56
MM Vet Silver Sable 53
+Contingency Plan 12
CT Vet Sandman 106
AW U Spiderman 72
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299 points

Modern-age Animal (keyword theme team)
WoS Puma 56
HoT Moondragon 134
HoT Rocket Raccoon 65
HoT Bug 44
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299 points

Golden-age M.O.D.O.K.’s 11
WoS Puma 56
MM Unique M.O.D.O.K. 144
AV Living Laser 91
Xpl Rookie Mandarin 107
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398 points

wow sweet! Also I just noticed the card picture looks amazing. It looks better than the sculpt. I am wondering if they are using the orginal sculpt and picture for the cards now.

It is great to see HCR getting an exclusive preview like this. I like the figure also.

What a beast! Thanks for sharing this.

Awesome. And a Common, too.

But oh man, MODOK's 11 keyword? Could this be a clue that we'll someday get a 'clix of The Spot??? SO PSYCHED!

He breaks Impervious/Invuln on every click for 56 points. look at those ultra nasty Blades/Flurry clicks! Thats a solid dial for the points, I like it, well done NECA.

Edit: Holy Carp! He's got Super Senses and Shape Change on the first click!!! what a beast!

Looks like fun. I bet people will see a lot of him at Gencon.

For a character that is suppose to protect his tribe from THE BEYONDER, I expected a more tougher dial. But....it puma, a guy who can barely handle spider-man, let alone alien, mutant or some off-spring of humanity (whatever they retcon him to, i forget and too lazy to look it up). Now i hope they have The Beyonder in this set, but the one from the first secret war. But i'm glad were getting some lower common characters in this set.

Very nice! Would have liked the speed values switched on the first two clicks but that's just a minor thing for me, really.

Also, click #4 is just brutal. If he lands on that, whoever has him based is dead in one turn. Definitely feeling this figure.

Nice. Hopefully that's not the 'official' preview. I really want a look at this web-shooter mechanic.

Also @phantalien -

I think it's not cool to make a team of 'Native-Americans'.

I guess I should get crackin' on that team of Asians or African Americans now.

Puma!!!!! Will we see a SR M.O.D.O.K.????

IIRC Puma powered up when he met the Beyonder and got powerful enough for a very short while to kill him. That power is not part of his standard power set.