Laura Kinney, clone of Logan and the all-new Wolverine. Being the successor to one of the biggest X-Men in the franchise are big shoes to fill, so let's see how she does it in Crisis Protocol.
At first glance, we have a pretty underwhelming stat line for a 3 threat, with 5 health, a medium move on a 35mm base, 3 physical and energy defense with 2 against mystical attacks but there's some caveats to an important amount of these stats that we'll get to later. Nothing changes on her injured side.
Adamantium Slash was already a solid builder on the original Wolverine, with 5 dice and two wild triggers, with, most importantly, a pierce to get additional damage through. It becomes stronger when wielded by a model costing 1 threat less.
Claw Rush is X-23's spender and it is impressive! Costing only 2 power, with range 3 and the pierce trigger on a wild, combined with a free medium advance gives her cheap and reliable mobility and action economy. Being able to use a spender to get in range for her to make a builder is a strong play pattern. There not much to dislike on an attack like Claw Rush.
X-23's first and only superpower with a cost is Frenzy, which, when she dazes or KO's an enemy model, gets to do make short move followed by an Adamantium Slash. Frenzy gives her additional mobility and action economy. This superpower can make X-23 really shine, especially against wide lists with 3 and 4 threat characters.
Adamantium Skeleton makes X-23 effectively a size 3 for throws, meaning she's a little harder to displace than an average 3 threat. Despite having the same name as Wolverine's ability, does not have the same effect. Where Logan's ability count him as 3 for both throws and pushes, X-23's version only affects throws, meaning she can still be pushed like most size 2.
Assassin Training is what changes her defenses from below average to good, and her attacks from solid to above curve. It gives her a very welcome consistency both offensively and defensively.
Big Sis is an interesting superpower. If Honey Badger is damaged by an enemy effect within R3 of X-23, she gets to move medium towards Badger. Because Badger has access to a taunt, X-23 is more likely to benefit from the extra movement. It's an interesting effect that adds a synergy with her sister and offers a nice bonus, but I don't think it's an effect worth forcing either model on the table if the scenario or match up doesn't warrant it.
Last but not least, we have Healing Factor 2 which makes her more resilient and gives her access to X-Ceptional Healing as an emergency button to say alive if she needs to.
Overall, X-23 has a solid stat line and an above average action economy thanks to Frenzy and her spender. However, she doesn't bring any displacement or control to the table and is there mostly to brawl. Laura is a solid and reliable pick for X-Men when you need a character that can dish damage and be mobile.
Thank you for taking the time to read this piece and as usual, don't forget to have fun!
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