Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst. 3 ... average.
5 is the highest rating
Cram-company
2006 Philly
Wizard World
Champion.
Top 10 regional player in Chicago.
REVIEWED BY
CRAMCOMPANY
Today we'll be reviewing Kang from Super
Nova
Kang is the classic time warrior and like most
people from the future, Kang dresses like a damn
idiot. I do not look forward to shopping for
clothes in the future.
Rookie: 87 points, Masters of Evil Team
Experienced: 129 points, Masters of Evil Team
Veteran: 199 points, No Team
Who is the Best:
Movement is everything in this game, the Rookie and
Experienced do not have a move and attack. Running
Shot makes the Veteran the best hands down.
Winner: Veteran
MOVEMENT:
Running shot for two clicks is moderate. Phasing at
the end and in the middle will help him Nanobots.
ATTACK:
Wow, overkill on attack values here. 13 going on
down is amazing. Psychic Blast with Ranged Combat
Expert is a terrible, terrible combo. Incap with
three targets is pretty nice. Pulsewave at the end
is nearly pointless.
DEFENSE:
18 with Invulnerability is decent. 17 with Energy
Shield seems scary, but given his point cost, it
basically means he does not have damage reducers.
He should have Prob Control when he has Energy
Shield as opposed to having it when he has a low
defense. Mastermind at the end just might save him,
but it can be hard to plan that way. His last
second defense spike makes him hard to heal. He
does have a 14 defense with Prob control for a
single click and that may be your best chance to
heal.
DAMAGE:
4 with Perplex front loaded is nothing short of
great. Ranged Combat Expert is not nearly god
enough for his point cost. He has Psychic Blast
with it, so you’ll always be making a hard choice.
Probability Control and Outwit are completely in the
wrong spot.
SCULPT:
Much improved over the last version. I love this
Kang.
feats:
Any character over 200 points needs any feat on him
that will keep him alive. Protected and Nanobots is
a must. Forget about Fortitude, but consider In
contacting his defense at the beginning. He will
probably need Outwit at the beginning, so use Oracle
on her card if you can.
OVERALL:
Very expensive
Best attack in the game
High Defense
Not very Mobile
Triple target with an 8 range
No Team
Not a very long dial
Awkward ability combos
Kang is definitely a figure they needed to remake,
but this figure is just not great. He’s definitely
a hell of a lot better, but he doesn’t really get
the job done. I would not recommend playing him in
any form of the game in Heroclix.
But do not despair, Kang has an LE that I will
review next week.
HE RECEIVES 2 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 5
THUMBS UP!
Good, Bad, I’m the Guy with the Clix
Cramcompany
Questions, comments, sexually
confused? Email me at cramcompany@hotmail.com.
Please no hate mail
Fun FACt:
Buy a programmable thermostat.
Automatically lower your monthly energy bill by
giving your heat and air conditioning a break while
you are asleep or out.
(Pounds of CO2 Savings Per Year = 1,050)
Rurouni KJS
The time-traveling Avengers foe gets
a new REV that's far better than the old set.
Rookie Kang
boot speed
87 points
Team: Masters of Evil
Range: 8 x 2
Link to dial:
http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figures_dials.asp?dialid=10554&unitid=11989&universeid=4
Starting with Running Shot, R Kang is battle-ready
from the start. Double targets, good range and
Energy Explosion can bring the hurt to clusters of
enemies.
But what's extra-impressive about R Kang is his
rising AV as the fight goes on. Using his MoE TA, he
can deliver a nonstop barrage at range with RCE,
with little chance of missing. Of course, enemies
can easily tie him up to neuter his firepower, but
nobody's perfect. Try to team him up with a cheap
flyer to taxi him and, later, to Mastermind to.
Feats: NANOBOTS is perfect (and thematic) on him.
HEIGHTENED REFLEXES is OK to boost his survivability
to alpha-strikes. WHIRLWIND may help against the
inevitable tie-up attempt from canny opponents (and
thanks to his TA, he can attack without ceasing).
TRICK SHOT has potential, but his range isn't quite
nice enough to make it a no-brainer. Really, though,
the most important cardboard to use is a pog or two
to soak up damage for him in his late dial.
Themes: He's a classic foe of the Avengers, so team
him up with others of his ilk such as Graviton or
the rest of the Masters of Evil gang. Also consider
playing with multiple Kangs to represent the Council
of Kangs from alternate timelines!
Comic accuracy: He's close enough, showing off his
advanced tech through the high AV and leadership
ability with Mastermind.
In sum: At less than 90 points, Rookie Kang is a
bargain of a piece just for all that double-digit
Attack Value! He's the ideal 2nd attacker in big
games and nearly a 1st-stringer by himself in
smaller ones.
Just make sure he has taxi and MM fodder.
Rating: 4/5
Experienced Kang
wing speed
129 points
Team: Masters of Evil
Range: 10 x 2
E Kang isn't a straightforward upgrade over the
Rookie. For one, he loses Running Shot (and the
1st-strike ability it offers) for Phasing and Pulse
Wave. But he gains flight, a range boost and vastly
superior damage values, so he's still more
self-sufficient. He also retains the MoE TA to push
and push and damage and damage while his AV never
drops. Yeah, you read right: It. Never. Drops. It
RISES.
Still, it always takes some finesse to use a figure
lacking move&attack powers. I recommend using him as
a long-range sniper.
Feats: NOVA BLAST is tempting, but you'd sacrifice
his Outwit click to use it -- with a damage of only
3, I don't know if it's worth it. If you do opt for
NB, consider STUNNING BLOW to get the most out of
the Incap clicks you'll land on afterwards -- at a
potential 5 damage dealt before modifiers/reducers,
it's WELL worth the points. But the card that may
shine most on E Kang is INSPIRING COMMAND, to get
even more mileage out of a MoE theme team.
Themes: See above and the Rookie.
Comic accuracy: Better technology and more
experienced after losing to the Avengers, his first
defeats in a while. This is Kang at his arguable
best.
In sum: Like the Rookie, a very affordable figure
that can hold down a team as a prime or 2nd
attacker. Lack of move & attack is his only
downfall, but play him anyway.
Rating: 4/5
Veteran Kang the Conquerer
wing speed
199 points
Team: none
Range: 8 x 3
Link to dial:
http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figures_dials.asp?dialid=10556&unitid=11991&universeid=4
V Kang costs a whopping 70 points over the Exp.
What's that buy him? A 13 Attack Value...something I
never expected to see in any standard Heroclix
again, let alone one under 200 points. And so right
away you know V Kang means business, able to Run and
Shoot you for 5 clicks unaided. Three targets gives
him more damage options, too, but for most of his
dial he lacks the damage levels to truly leverage
all three. But when he gets Incap and PC mid-dial,
watch out.
V Kang falters a bit at endgame, where his AV dips
below 10 and his damage to 1, making that last-ditch
Pulse Wave not so cool. But his defense and speed
edge back up so he can Phase away to save that
200-odd points from going the other way, and he can
nerf the enemy with Outwit.
Feats: FORTITUDE is a must to keep him alive --
beyond that, you may be loath to add any more but
the very best cards. HEIGHTENED REFLEXES may help
after he loses his opening Invulnerability, DAMAGE
SHIELD may give bricks pause in attacking, and TRICK
SHOT offers some benefit. But none really justify
bumping his cost up to the mid-200s. Best leave it
at PROTECTED.
Themes: This is the Kang of the modern classic
Avengers Forever series and after...the One True
Kang, as it were. For reallllly high point games,
you could build a team on those characters.
Comic accuracy: this Kang is more of a front-line
general than a schemer, so the shorter range
surprisingly fits him.
In sum: At nearly 200 points, a 9-click dial with
only one click of starting Invulnerability is a bit
of a disappointment. But most of those clicks are
excellent, and a 13 attack (WITH Running Shot!) in
today's game shouldn't be passed up.
Rating: 4/5
Dario
Today we have a look at Kang, the Conqueror
from Supernova. Both the rookie and the experienced aren’t
total crap, but not really good (although I don’t think I’d
blame you for trying one, once, in a team). But it’s the
Veteran the best of them, so let’s take a look at him: 199
points… so he’ll pretty much be your team on a 300 points
match… 8 range 3 targets (not bad at all!), no TA, flight, 9
clicks of health and:
Stats:
Speed: 10, 8, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6, 9, 9. 1st and 2nd click have
Running Shot, 3rd, 4th, 8th and 9th clicks have
Phasing/Teleport.
Attack: 13, 12, 12, 11, 11, 10, 10, 9, 8. Starts empty, then
Psychic Blast on his 2nd, 3rd and 4th click, Incapacitate on
his 5th and 6th click, 1 empty and then Pulse Wave on his
last 2 clicks
Defense: 18, 17, 16, 15, 15, 14, 15, 16, 17. 1st click has
Invulnerability, then the next 3 clicks have Energy
Shield/Deflection, after that he gets Invulnerability back
for 2 more clicks and then finishes with 2 of Mastermind and
Willpower for the final click.
Damage: 4, 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 2, 1, 1. 1st click has Perplex,
next 3 clicks have RCE, the following 2 have Probability
Control and the last 3 have Outwit.
Analysis:
His Speed is nice. Front loaded Running Shot is what this
guy needs, and having 8 range with 3 targets is pretty cool.
Phasing at the end to run.
Good values. Overall, pretty nice Speed; I wish instead of
Phasing/Teleport on his 3rd and 4th click, he had 1 more
click RS somewhere on his middle dial… but hey, you can’t
have everything, can you?
His Attack is awe inspiring… His values are sky high, this
dude can hit anyone with easy. Certainly, amazing attack. As
for the powers… Psychic Blast is always cool, but he needed
it front loaded… still, nice to have.
Incapacitate with 8 range 3 targets is very cool, but it’s
mostly an option… you don’t wanna be incapacitating with a
200 point guy, you wanna deliver damage! the fact that there
he has nice attack values and 3 damage might tempt you to
slap Stunning Blow on him… don’t do it. He only has that in
his middle dial, and just for 2 clicks… so probably it won’t
be useful as you won’t land on those clicks very often.
Finishing Pulse Wave is a never bad feature.
His Defense doesn’t suck, but it’s certainly far from great.
I’m not sure I like the way Invulnerability and Energy
Shield/Deflection are placed; and I don’t know how useful
can be Mastermind for this dude considering where he has it…
it won’t be easy to use well. Last click Willpower is nice
with such a high defense, but I don’t like figures having a
weak mid-dial defense while having it strong at the end… it
makes him un-healable, so Phasing ends being useless.
His Damage is very nice. It is low for this guy’s cost, but
it does make up for that with having the best powers you can
have on a damage dial.
Conclusion: Well, this time I put most of my conclusion
during the analysis, as you may notice :P I guess all I have
left to say is, try him.
He seems like he could work very nicely in a 300 points
match. Just slap ICWO and Protected on him, and then let him
go to town. With his own Perplex to enhance his speed or
damage (I don’t think you’d need it on the attack), and In
Contact making his defense a 19, he’ll be a force to
respect. You could even try make him carry around an Exp.
DEO Agent, which would make his attack a 14! with that, a 19
defense with ICWO, and both Perplex (his and
hers) for either his speed or damage… he could be a monster.
Speed: A click of running shot is always great with
an 8 range and 2 targets, Force Blast is the eternal point
pit, and phasing at the end to run away is always good
Attack: Ridiculous values for the points and EE
works good with 2 targets
Defense: Alright, but I wish the Mastermind was in
the front. Also, I like the spike towards the end. Phasing
and Willpower is the best combo to run away with.
Damage: RCE, 3 damage with Running Shot, Prob
Control, and Outwit...I just wish outwit was up front, but
he would be really ridiculous then.
The Good: Amazing attack values
The perfect secondary
attacker
Good range and multiple
targets
Masters of Evil team is
good for a push-friendly piece like this
Prob and Outwit always
come in handy
The Bad: No damage reduction
Damage gets low toward
end
Feats: His amazingness comes from his low cost. I
personally feel that he does not need more points put on
him.
Overall: Wow, this guy is nuts. Is it me, or did
Wizkids forget how to price figures with this guy? Amazing
attack values with useable defense values and good power
combinations makes me very happy. Watch out though, he is
very easy to take down. I used the experienced in the
Marquee, and he has damage reduction for 2 clicks. He did
not survive a single round. Luckily, I had a rookie Surfer
to back him up (amazing piece by the way). The rookie is
about 50 points less and just so amazing I can’t believe
it.
Constructed/Unrestricted: 4 / 5
Sealed/Draft: 4 / 5
Overall: 4 / 5
“Heroclix….they’re cool,
addictive, and available….the things practically sell
themselves.”
