The following is an in-depth, step-by-step thought process of how I recently put together a team based on pure theory, then took it to a venue to research how it would do competitively.

So a while back, I was thinking about Tarot, and what a good figure she is when on the right power. The Devil is better than Armor Piercing and Poison combined, given the 3 square range of the power that doesn't require LoF.

The problem is making Tarot work competitively. The Hellions have some synergy (2-3 Perplexers, some Enhancement, some Prob) but no real strong attack pieces that can stand up to anything in the meta. Tarot herself has such a short dial that she's a glass jaw - a one hit wonder in the truest sense.

Understanding that the Hellions aren't a viable keyword theme team option, it makes sense to use her when theme team rules don't matter much, such as the IG events where the maps are static. So when I heard what the event was for month 3, I decided I'd try and use her. Now to figure out who to use her with.

As far as backup goes, Tarot needs to be paired with a survivor. Someone who can just draw fire and soak up damage from an opponent turn after turn and still remain standing. I briefly considered Ragdoll (or several Ragdolls) but realized they wouldn't tie-up an HSS'er and prevent them from making a strike on Tarot.

My second thought was Ulik thanks to his SP: STRONGEST OF ALL ROCK TROLLS: (Damage dealt to Ulik is reduced to 1. This power cannot be countered or ignored). Obviously, Ulik has some weaknesses - PB & EW to name a few. However, with the right tie-up support to protect him he can do okay. There's actually some good synergy between Tarot & Ulik. Ulik can take a few hits, and Tarot can Support him back to full health, provide Defend, PC and Perplex while she's hoping for The Devil.

I initially considered Ulik with the IG and Soul Gem, but that was shot down by the event house rules - no IG is allowed in play. Still the thought of Ulik & Steal Energy (with Quake to boot!) made me a little glossy eyed. Even without the Gauntlet, Ulik is a huge contender, especially now that One Man Armies seem to be the flavor of the month. Ulik can take a hit from the 300 point Superman and live to hit him right back for 6 clicks, so Ulik was a MUST.

From there it was a matter of finding some means of Delivery for my Ulik bomb. Tarot and Ulik are slow, lumbering walkers that get caught up on terrain. I needed someone with Phasing, when it occurred to me: X-Ray.

My beta test team looked something like this:

47 GX021 Tarot
118 HA021 Ulik
67 WS048 X-Ray
67 WS048 X-Ray
299

However, where Ulik had vulnerabilities, X-Ray had giant gaping holes in his defense. Superman, for instance, could just HSS and shoot him dead in about 1 hit. Not to mention the In-Betweener copying Pulse Wave and/or the ability.

So I had to eliminate X-Ray as a choice. Unfortunately, I'm not a big fan of Lightspeed as a taxi either, since she, like X-ray is easily KO'd in one hit. That's when I started thinking about removing HSS from the equation. Kid Zoom is too expensive, but Leech... now there's a thought.

And once I started thinking about Leech, I got to thinking about Dirk Anger... Simply to take care of Metron. Which brought me to this permutation of a team:

118 HA021 Ulik
35 GX026 Leech
25 SI013 Lightspeed
71 CA047 Dirk Anger
25 SI013 Lightspeed
25 SI013 Lightspeed
299

I dropped Tarot, which was something I didn't want to do. However, I had 3, possibly 4 actions, with 3 taxis to hunt down the Metron/Nightcrawler combo that I knew would be played for Month 3.

I played the strategy out in my mind as such - chase down Metron with Leech, Counter the Power Cosmic, and Charge with Ulik. Lightspeed can actually keep modest pace with Metron, especially if he's worried about carrying the blue elf. However, I'd have to constantly block LoF to Ulik so as to not let Charge be Outwit. I'd also have to push Lightspeed. A lot. Still, I could see chasing Metron until he had two tokens, and then moving Leech and Dirk in for the Outwit followed by an Ulik Charge.

I can see some big holes here, and I don't like the raw Speed on Nightcrawler or the Range on Metron especially when paired with the shallowness on my dials. I also didn't like that I had no way to heal Ulik. Dirk was now out- as I was putting 70+ points into dealing with 1 figure (Metron). Tarot was by far a better support piece than Dirk offering more than just Perplex. By adding Dirk, I basically committed myself to including Outwit as well.

I also didn't like having a taxi taken out in one hit so I started scanning the units section looking for a more reliable taxi when I stumbled across Doorman.

This is everything I was looking for. To start, Doorman can evade attacks. His Carry ability is a trait, and I might catch someone off guard by using "Doorway Through Me" to cut a corner of blocking terrain for a Charge from Ulik. Most importantly, Doorman can take a hit for 4, and is push friendly.

I put Tarot back on the squad as intended and ended up with 10 points left over. I wasn't about use an object that I may or may not pick up, and with Ulik in play, a Nurse seemed like a viable option.

Here's what I came up with:
118 HA021 Ulik
45 CA024 Doorman
47 GX021 Tarot
45 CA024 Doorman
35 GX026 Leech
10 WS004 Nurse
300

The strategy is this: Doormen move Ulik & Leech around, locking down HSS and providing some Outwit. Tarot can roll for The Devil, and free move if need be. Ulik gets dropped into base to base combat while the Doormen act as tie-up if necessary on ranged attackers.

The big problem? Leech. The kid is just too powerful, and too weak for his own good. I have to move Ulik up alone, so that he can use Charge or CCE safely. Also, Nightcrawler just needs to base Leech, then push to hit (with Damage Perplexed up) to KO the Morlock.

So I try another variation with Harry Leland, instead of Leech.

While Harry has a shorter effective "dampening" range than Leech (4 squares vs 6) he doesn't nerf my powers as well. Also, what I like about Harry is that he halves movement values, making it harder for someone like Nightcrawler to just walk out of range and then HSS back and hit him. Plus he has Incap at a 4 range that almost totally shuts down movement. Harry has a good defense (better than Leech anyway) a deeper dial, and Plasticity making him a good tie-up piece if I should need to base a Psy-Blaster to protect Ulik.

Unfortunately, with Harry on board Leech has to go. I take the Nurse off as well and start looking for Taxis. I'll need someone as fast as Doorman to keep Ulik and Harry as my first line of defense. Unfortunately, I'm only left with Lightspeed if I want Flying/Phasing/Carry (Cave Carson just wasn't fast enough). With 12 points remaining, I'm back to including the Nurse. Down to 2 points, and with no useful ATAs, I stop my build at:

47 GX021 Tarot
118 HA021 Ulik
45 CA024 Doorman
53 GX020 Harry Leland
25 SI013 Lightspeed
10 WS004 Nurse
298

The theory behind the team is this: Ulik & Harry get carried close enough to an opponent so that the opponent can't move and attack me. If an opponent pushes to shoot, they're hitting a Doorman (if I don't evade) or Lightspeed(!). But I need my taxis to block LoF to Ulik so Ulik can charge.

Ulik Charges to hit someone and either takes a hit, or pushes to attack while they are forced to clear. They attack Ulik, and then Ulik is Evacuated to a Medic. Meanwhile Tarot is rolling for the Devil, using anything else to help support Ulik (PC/Perplex/Barrier).

So the BIG question is... Will this work? Does it stand a chance competitively? Specifically How does this team fare in a 300 point competitive environment, with a tournament scene of 20+ internet savvy players?

I took the team with me to a huge, award winning game store (Eisner, Spirit of Retail) located in one of the biggest cities in the Midwest, with an IG tournament player base in the low to mid 20's.

What do you think happened Next? Post your answers below, and I'll update with the results of my experiment.

Also, those of you that were there - no fair chiming in...

I'm a little disappointed that I read that whole post and then you didn't post the results.

I would guess that they used NC to either take apart your support or to ping Ulik. Ulik probably got PWed by Metron teams. I could also see people just being stunned and unprepared for this team and getting stomped. Let me know what happened.

Oh, I'll post an update. I'm just curious what people think of this team.

We were test subjects???!!!!!

I am appalled that you would use us like that, experimenting on our little brains with your fancy schmancy big city Strategy.

Our players are just humble and lovable dice rollers.
You come in from your far off land like a Mad Scientist(sans Lab Coat) with your distractions of cupcakes and lovely wife, use us in some twisted dastardly experiment and walk away like nothing matters.

We are people(so is Soylent Green), we have feelings, we want to be treated with respect and not like mice in a maze searching for some cheese.

Next time good sir I will be onto your magician like tricks, watch your every move and maybe pair you off against Metron/Nightcrawler/Nurse team in round one!

hrrrrrm No RS PB or any such? No Mancha/Eradicator/Sunboy Stuff? With a MeL For Good measure to eat away misc. Blocking Cover?

The team isn't pushable really...and you likely played against teams with willpower (Metron and common Superman). My guess is it came down to positioning and luck of the roll with tarot. The strength of a lot of the teams out there is a good mix of powers, but your are entirely dependent on what you roll with tarot.

My overall guess is that you went 2-1, with the one loss coming because of unlucky rolls on tarot and ulik. Your lack of theme team and basically 1 overall hitter allows the other team to use up their PC all on Ulik's attack, and I've seen some so so rolls. But that 2nd click on Ulik and the high chance of landing on Tarot's defend with PC has got to drive in your favor. You had to have done pretty well.

Good guess, with some well thought out details.

I am curious. I will guess that you went 3-0. This was certainly not a strategy that folks would prepare to face, and even if Tarot doesn't get her Devil power, she's got good support. If/when Ulik staerts to take serious damage, you could just have one of your phasing taxis bring him over to Tarot and the Nurse for some healing while Leland and the otehr taxi continue to tie up the opposition.

Obviously dice will lay their part, and it could be that you faced a team that could handle this easily, but I imagine that your team might have been underestimated as well. I see a lot of folks underestimate Ulik.

I don't see how the story can end without you going 3-0. But I'm afraid I agree that one round was a matchup that saw you getting prob controlled out of landing that one strike that would of swayed the matchup. This is one of the best posts I've read on the realms though, can't wait to see the results. I really hope 3-0.

I need more info. Firstly how many games were played? With 20+ Players there should have been 5 games. Was there? Or was there 3? With 3 games and 20 plus players you could've played against all the "fun teams". What teams did you play against? I mean no offense to anyone, but I feel like I hear every day, multiple times "No, they didn't misplay me, my team was better! I can beat Metron/Crawler everyday with my Secret Six team!" It's impossible to determine the skill of your opponents, we don't have any kind of RPI in Clix. So we can only go by teams.

Also, one thing I have learned in Clix is that most players do NOT adapt or react well to new situations. If you sat down against me you would be using figures I haven't seen used outside of Sealed. Most players would have no idea what your strategy is or how to counteract it, at least in the first game. This is one of the reasons at big tourneys a lot of players break out off-the-wall teams that no one has seen. It's why we look at them and in hindsight say "How did that win? All they needed to do was____" Easy to say on the net, different to do when sitting across from it and when you're confused.

So what's my point? This might be a better experiment for "Surprise teams" than anything else.

My guess: 3 games? I would bet at -300 3-0. 4 games? I would bet at +100 3-1. 5 games? I would bet at +100 3-2.

Unless you were damned good with your positioning, I'd imagine NC yanked Ulik away from his taxis to get psyblasted. It seems like a solid idea, but hard to effectively carry out given the current Meta. I also see an issue with your Taki's getting killed and then Ulik simply getting outwitted. You've invested a lot your team into ferrying around the single member of your team (aside from Tarot) who can harm someone with invuln. Even then Ulik will have a heck of a time hitting the multiple save rolls with high def. crowds (NC, Eradicator, Cyborg Superman, ect.)

Tell us what happened dangit!

I am dying to hear the battle report!

It was 3 rounds. However, keep in mind, that winners get paired off by points, so as you win, you're fighting other winning teams, and thus the competition gets stiffer (as you'll see in my forthcoming battle report).

In re: Bolded point #1 - my team was definitely NOT better than the ones I was facing. All I could see was flaws with my team.

I'll touch more on bolded point #2 in my report.