Mephisto has claimed the soul of mutant mistress Jean Grey, but now he's got his eyes on the souls of an entire team of mutants...the X-Men!

To see a 600-point force of Mephisto and some classic X-Men, follow the link.

Synopsis: It is this issue in which the story begins to fall apart, as the concept of 'double-bagged mystic mylar' is introduced as Mephisto's preferred manner of preserving souls...but apart from that silliness, we see Mephisto's continued manipulation of Reed Richards, as Mr. Fantastic unknowingly tricks the X-Men into contacting Mephisto. They think that Mephisto is after the soul of Storm, but really he is after the souls of all the women on the X-Men team! What a devil!

145 Unique (Secret Invasion 055) Mephisto
128 (Giant-Size X-Men 030) Rogue
103 (Giant-Size X-Men 009) Wolverine
66 Unique (Mutant Mayhem 085) Longshot
65 Experienced (Armor Wars 056) Psylocke
48 (Mutations and Monsters 011) Dazzler
40 Experienced (Xplosion 083) Storm

= 595 points

Mephisto is not interested in either Wolverine or Longshot: Wolverine is "too feral" (this comic is from an era in which a possible origin for Wolverine is that he really was just a mutated animal) and Longshot, who as an artificial creature had no soul to speak of.

The Mephisto dial is the same as from previous articles. I have nothing new to add about this dial, but I think this comic is the first one in which a character kisses Rogue and doesn't suffer from her mutant power. Eat your heart out Gambit!

U Mephisto Points: 145 Range: 8
Team: Mystics
Keywords: Deity, Mystical

8 11 17 1

8 11 17 1

8 10 16 1

7 10 15 1

7 9 15 1

7 8 15 1

6 8 14 1

6 8 14 1

KO KO KO KO

Dark Bargain: Mephisto can use Incapacitate. When Mephisto successfully hits a target with Incapacitate, the controller of the target can choose either to give an action token to the target normally, or to roll a d6; on a result of 1-4, deal the target 1 unavoidable damage.

Prince of Lies: Mephisto can use Leadership and Outwit. When Mephisto successfully uses Leadership, only he can be given the extra action.

The star of the comic is Rogue, so it is only right that she be the next most costly figure on the force. The figure on this force is the excellent version from the Giant Size X-men booster set. Of all the HeroClix figures that have been remade over the years, Rogue is the one that has clearly been benefiting from smarter and smarter dial design. The Power Absorption trait is effective, and does a good job of mimicking her power in the comics. This figure is an effective tentpole, and does a great job of staying alive as long as she is adjacent to the correct opponents...or teammates!

E Rogue Points: 128 Range: 0
Team: X-Men
Keywords: Brotherhood of Mutants, X-Men

10 10 17 3

9 9 17 3

8 9 16 3

8 10 16 3

7 9 16 3

7 9 16 2

7 9 15 2

KO KO KO KO

Power Absorption: Once during your turn, you may give Rogue a free action and choose an adjacent character and a standard power (other than Outwit or Perplex) that they can use. Until your next turn, Rogue may use the chosen standard power. If Rogue has no action tokens or the chosen character is friendly, deal 1 unavoidable damage to the chosen character.

This force needs more offense than just Rogue, so I've chosen one of the more modern versions Wolverine with significant staying power. The power layout is straightfoward, but brutal. The beauty of this dial is the Healing Factor, which forces opponents to concentrate attacks to try to finish the figure off. Notice that if Wolverine is unlikely to be targeted by significant firepower, Rogue may choose to steal a power (and a click of life) from him that he will recover on the next turn.

V Wolverine Points: 103 Range: 0
Team: X-Men|Avengers
Keywords: Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D., The Hand, X-Men

10 10 17 3

8 10 17 3

8 10 16 3

7 11 16 2

7 10 16 2

6 9 15 2

KO KO KO KO

Healing Factor: At the beginning of your turn, you may heal Wolverine of 1 damage.

There is another advantage to using this Wolverine: his keywords are very friendly for the use of Additional Team Abilities. There are 5 points left over, which suggests a particularly sneaky one to take advantage of:


Note: The ATA point cost in the units section of HCRealms disagrees with the current Player's Guides.

As long as Wolverine is on the map, all his allies can use their support powers at range 10. This is very likely to catch some opponents by surprise...at least once. One such friendly figure is Longshot, a character that has only been made once in HeroClix. The figure was a Unique from the Mutant Mayhem 4-figure booster set. Just as does the character in the comics, this figure doesn't bring as much offense as it does annoyance. The starting Probability Control is probably going to be very useful for this force, but don't lose sight of how mobile this figure is at the top dial. Pay attention to the damage track, as you may need powers other than Probability Control...with both Rogue and the X-Men team ability, it will be possible to move down the dial if necessary.

U Longshot Points: 66 Range: 6
Team: X-Men
Keywords: Exiles, X-Men

8 10 17 2

7 9 16 2

7 9 16 2

6 8 15 2

6 8 15 2

5 7 14 2

KO KO KO KO

In this comic era, Psylocke had not yet become a 'psychic ninja', so we are somewhat limited in terms of HeroClix figures to represent the character from her pink jumpsuit 'butterfly eyes' era: Rookie / Limited Edition from Xplosion, or Rookie / Experienced from Armor Wars. The 44-point Xplosion Limited Edition Betsy Braddock version has more-or-less the right power set but it is hard to come by, and it lacks the X-Men team ability. Instead I've chosen to use the Experienced version from Armor Wars. This version is a better offensive figure that feels more like the 'psychic' version of the character. Aside from the sculpt, only the Toughness is peculiar, but those are not deal breakers, at least for me.

E Psylocke Points: 65 Range: 8
Team: X-Men
Keywords: Mutant, Psychic, X-Men

8 9 15 2

7 8 15 2

7 8 15 2

6 7 14 1

6 7 14 1

5 6 13 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

I wish I was happier about the only HeroClix version of the 616 Dazzler, from Mutations and Monsters, but this figure is a disappointment to me. The power set is fine, but the sculpt and the lack of the X-Men team ability fail to convince me that this is supposed to be anything except a 'first appearance' version of the character. I suppose it is possible that the 8 combined with her powers may do some good, but she is likely to not be contributing much to the team. I suppose Rogue can steal her powers, but only the Energy Shield/Deflection is likely to be useful.

R Dazzler Points: 48 Range: 8
Team: No Affiliation
Keywords: Celebrity, Mutant, X-Men

8 9 15 2

7 9 15 2

7 8 14 2

6 8 14 1

6 7 14 1

6 7 13 1

KO KO KO KO

Another dial on this force that is rather lackluster is the Experience version of Storm from Xplosion, also reprinted in the Universe set. This is the only version of the character we have in HeroClix that represents her while she was without her mutant powers and relied only upon her physical combat skills and winning personality to lead the X-Men. Now that the last four HeroClix versions of the character have done a good job capturing her 'Storm Goddess' power set, I'm hoping for a remake of the character from this era. The dial is quite weak, but it does start with a 9 attack-value! Don't be afraid to use Rogue's power absorption to 'push' Storm off of Leadership to get to Perplex...the Stealth may be useful in early game positioning for Rogue.

E Storm Points: 40 Range: 0
Team: X-Men
Keywords: Twelve, X-Men

8 9 15 2

7 8 14 2

6 8 14 1

5 7 13 1

5 7 13 1

KO KO KO KO

That's the lineup for this week's Longbox force, next week the final issue of this classic mini-series will be wrapped up with an all-star team looking to bring down the big bad Mephisto!

Soon enough we'll have that "Holiday" Marquee Mephisto. I hope its for Halloween. Can't wait. Perhaps he'll be cheaper yet a bit more effective. :D

ME p histo is a terrible collxi. WHat a shame.....

He's not terrible. Just has low damage. With some perplex to his damage and some wild cards around to copy Mystics..he's quite formidable.

However he is quite over-priced in points. : /

I read this Mephisto vs. the X-Men comic too. A new and better Longshot is needed.

I've been waiting for a new Longshot since his run in Exiles.. many of those characters are long over due.

Many mutants are long overdue but I'm sure they'll be in the next Xmen set. Gambit and Collossus too hopefully. Also Lady Deathstrike and Omega Red perhaps.

I think tidge has just stockpiled Mephistos and is trying to get someone interested.

Great article!

Do you know if the Hydra ATA is like that, too?

The current 'The Player's Guide' has the Hydra Deep Science Division at 3 points per...not 5...and the mechanics are similar to the ATA suggested in the article except that it affects opposing character's effective range of Outwit, Perplex, Probability Control.

Edit to clarify:

HCRealms/Printed card for the SHIELD ATA is wrong; true cost is 5 not 3.
HCRealms/Printed card for the Hydra ATA is correct; true cost is 3.

What an awesome Conspiracy Theory! IIRC the Secret Invasion Mephisto is a figure I did not pull and had to trade to get into my collection...and of course, it was a figure that I had several potential trading partners insist was one of the most valuable figures from the set...I just chalked it up to them being under Mephisto's influence!

It should be obvious that I'd really appreciate owning a copy of the next Mephisto, no matter what the point cost or dial...see also a bajillion older Teams from the Longbox articles involving Martian Manhunter, Doctor Fate, Venom...but I have no reason to expect that I will ever actually own such limited-release figures and have the opportunity to play with them on a team.

It does seem like a shame that we don't have a new Longshot, Storm without her powers, and a Psylocke in her old costume, before the ninja body swap thing. I always wanted a figure of that version of her.

I hope this week's article points out some obvious HeroClix deficiencies on the X-team of this era: We essentially have no figure that looks like 3 of the main players on the X-Men from this time: 'butterfly' Psylocke, Maurader-boss Storm(*) and blue-suited Dazzler.

(*) I suppose one can argue that the mohawk sculpt from M&M and the experienced dial I used here could be a start towards the character, but neither really does it for me.

As for a modern Longshot: It's pretty easy to imagine how this character would look in the modern age: a special white power or trait combining some form of ESD/Combat Reflexes/Super Senses and shorter range overlayed on top of the existing dial.

It should be fairly easy to pick up at any game or comic shop I would imagine...unless you REALLY don't get a good chance to go to your local ones regularly. Tell you what...I'll get 2 and hit you up for another trade. Lol