This post was originally slated as a GSX release day tournament report; I would have examined my sealed pool, gone over all the teambuilding options in detail, and taken you through each round with expert analysis and commentary. Then I opened Magneto, Trevor Fitzroy, and a Hellfire club guard.
While I’m used to making treasure from trash, handing me a ready-made theme team in sealed is like locking Chuck Norris in a room with a bunch of knife-wielding street toughs and giving him a Machete. And an MP5. I went 4-0, my only tough round against a Phoenix who missed both of her Impervious rolls as well as a few attacks against Trevor. So, rather than recap four rounds of Magneto throwing around engine blocks and not taking damage, I thought I would talk about the other extremely broken mutant in the set: Professor X.
With all the chatter about the giants, Magneto, and Gambit/Rogue being able to Psychic Blast five times with one activation Professor X has slipped under the radar, at least around my area. But his ability to act from any square one of his keyworded allies can see is unheard of in clix, marrying the devastating consistency of Lockjaw with the reach of Nightcrawler. Wednesday evening kicked off our tournament season with a 300-point Modern Age contest for Deadpool, and since I knew everyone would be gunning hard for him it would be a great opportunity to see if this new Xavier had the stuff.
Xavier’s only drawbacks are his combat values and keywords. Outwit/Psychic blast is a power combination that can deal with almost any figure, but with only two damage and a mediocre AV he really needs support from his allies. I considered New Mutants, but Xavier + Cannonball + Tabitha Smith + Cypher is 301, with the rest of the options lacking mobility or more than three total characters.
If you really want to demoralize your opponents, use the Scientist keyword. Three Researchers in your starting area takes care of your damage problem as well as giving you theme re-rolls, while Iron Man, Flash, or even Living Laser takes the fight to your enemies. This is perhaps the only time I have ever or will ever recommend using Stingray in multiples to win a high-profile tournament.
Lacking Researchers, I decided on an X-Men theme:
Professor X 123
Psylocke 74
Angel 50
Cyclops (MM) 50
297
Even within what should be one of the most diverse keywords it was still tough to add three effective figures (why oh why isn’t Domino an X-Man?), but this team has mobility and range. Also, Psylocke is a monster in close combat even when she isn’t a channel for Xavier’s assault.
Round 1: Sentinel Mark II
Unfortunately for my opponent, the ruling that colossal figures can act each turn a la Masters of Evil was handed down the next day. With only one action per turn and Psylocke slicing away from an adjacent square of hindering terrain it doesn’t take long before Mutant-kind is one Sentinel safer.
1-0 (300)
Round 2: Magneto, Madrox, Vector
I win the map roll and choose Madripoor, starting out on the boat. After a few rounds of positioning, Angel and Psylocke are positioned in the crates along row 16, while my opponent’s team is in the alley along column P, between the elevated rooftop and the bronze monkey saloon. Cyclops took a running shot against Madrox (spawning an adjacent Jamie Madrox), and then Xavier shot the original Madrox. Fortunately it knocked him off his support powers and did not spawn an adjacent Madrox. Angel followed up with a charge against Jamie, knocking him down to his Regen click.
Magneto did not have a token, and since I couldn’t tie him up in base contact I decide to pass with Psylocke in hindering terrain, forgetting to outwit Jamie’s Regeneration. I am unsurprised when he rolls a five for it. Magneto and Vector relocate to the edge of the docks (while Madrox bases Cyclops). Since Xavier began the game on the corner of his starting area instead of behind the blocking terrain where a good player would place him, I am forced to push angel to base the rest of his team, Outwitting Vector’s Kinetic Control.
Cyclops KO’d Madrox and started in on Jamie, but Jamie eventually landed on his CCE click and finished off Cyclops. What followed was a bit of divine intervention; while Xavier took ineffectual shots at Magneto and Vector, Angel both dodged attacks as well as made a few Super Senses rolls. By the time Magneto imploded him in a cloud of iron and feathers, Psylocke was able to make her way across hindering terrain, pushing to base Magneto and Vector. After a few more rounds of misses by the worlds’ two most powerful mutants, Psylocke finished off Vector and time was called shortly after.
2-0 (464)
Round 3: War Hulk, Mindless One
My opponent wins map roll and chooses Krakoa. Crap. My reservations about the map are justified on the first turn; after moving up Hulk and placing the Mindless One to block my line of fire, he rolls a four for Krakoa, knocking Xavier off Outwit. Crap.
I compound my increasingly worsening position by moving Cyclops towards the center, placing Angel beside him. Angel set Psylocke directly behind him to keep her out of the line of fire, but this turns out to be a terrible move as Hulk has exactly enough movement to base them both.
While Psylocke tries to reposition, Professor X starts taking shots at Hulk while Cyclops is reduced to a perplexed damage value in close combat. Angel again makes a disgusting number of Super Senses rolls while Krakoa Earthquakes again, and Awakes once on each side. Psylocke takes three damage from an Awakening roll, while I miss the Hulk with mine.
Krakoa battered Psylocke onto her Psychic Blast clicks, but when she tries to flank the Hulk the horseman of War tosses Cyclops into the water next to her. I burn my second theme team PC to make him miss, pushing Psylocke, and another Earthquake roll finishes her off.
By this time Hulk is down to his Regen clicks, and while Professor X is still blasting away with his mediocre single damage, Mindless One finally manages to KO Angel. Cyclops retaliates with his RCE, taking out Mindless One, while an Earthquake roll finishes him off at the end of the turn.
His X-Men decimated, Xavier cranked up his hoveround, moving out of the starting area in order to outwit Hulk’s regeneration. Nothing happened Krakoa-wise. Hulk Lept onto the other side of the volcano and Krakoa Earthquaked, knocking Xavier onto his final click and KOing Hulk!
At the end of the day the only threat to GSX Professor X is Krakoa, and even though he came away with Deadpool I don’t see him trying to recruit the island again.
So Magneto and Xavier are stone cold clixers, but what about their psychic progeny Onslaught? How does he hold up in a 600-point environment? Will he fold to a swarm of Elsa Bloodstones? Will he KO himself if he faces his doppleganger? Find out next week when Around the Dial returns.
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