Hello and welcome back!
As we are getting near the end of 2023, I wanted to do something special to wrap up the year. So I reached out to some of the most experienced X-Men players out there to do a retrospective on the X-Men in 2023. In this series, I'll be asking open questions about characters, Team Tactics Cards the state of the game and what's coming on the horizon. In today's article, I have the pleasure of hosting GhostDeer!
Section 1: New Releases
X-Men received a few characters in 2023, namely Logan, Emma Frost and Psylocke. What are your impression of them, what they bring to X-Men and their place overall in the affiliation?
Logan
Logan is an incredibly strong model and my pick for the best 4-threat in X-men. He's fast, durable, good at damage and has control along with 4 defense in the relevant pay to flip stats. He does have some weaknesses that stops him from being an every game kind of piece, but I think he should be in every X-Men roster.
Emma Frost
Emma is a very poorly designed 4 threat who still has a place in the roster. Her diamond form is largely unimpressive, but her normal form is one of the better guns in faction (especially at 4 threat) and there's times you just want more guns. Shield Mind has some niche uses, but otherwise there's not a ton going on here.
Psylocke
Psylocke is a perfectly acceptable model that gets overshadowed by all of the other 4s in X-Men. She only offers durability and good damage with no other utility or displacement, which means she ends up competing poorly with models like new Colossus and Rogue. I wouldn't fault someone for playing her, because there's nothing wrong with her card, but I think she's easily replaced by our other options.
Headmistress
The biggest and best reason to take Emma, this card rules so much and is very much under-explored. It's a ton of nearly unconditional movement for very little cost, besides the not-insignificant cost of playing Emma.
Positive Standout
Logan for sure.
Negative Standout
Emma, in that AMG finally made a transform model boring to play. I didn't think that was possible! Transform is so cool!
Section 2: Errata and current place in the meta
Going over the changes to both X-Men Gold and X-Men Blue with the recent character overhaul, how do you think the errata changed the affiliation?
I don't think they significantly change the affiliation in terms of what models they play (Storm, Beast, Domino, Logan are still a good bit stronger than anyone else), but they do change how they need to approach their victory conditions.
How does the latest errata shape the affiliation and your roster building overall?
The changes (along with the Voodoo nerf) have really impacted their ability to be a solely crisis focused team and now requires them to be more of a mid-range team.
How have you found the updated characters overall?
They're largely fine but I don't think any of them replace what I consider the X-Men staples listed above. They do compete reasonably with the flex spots though, so I'm not complaining
Is there any positive standouts?
Colossus is now a strong roleplayer with a unique niche, Cyclops finally feels like a good gun with great superpowers (instead of a bad gun who sometimes got to use his excellent kit).
Is there any negative standouts?
Wolverine is still bad and a trap option in X-Men unless you go out of your way to bring him some dice consistency. And even with that, I don't think he's a part of any of the strongest plans X-Men can put together.
What would you say is the biggest gain X-Men made this year and why?
For affiliated options, Storm being an incredibly strong model with a top 5 leadership is extremely exciting. She now contributes a ton on the table while making everyone else better at the game.
What would you say is the biggest loss X-Men made this year and why?
The loss of Storm cover significantly changes how the faction approaches engagements. There's a lot of models that used to be much more reliable in surviving punishment (Psylocke, Logan, etc) that now require more finesse or be played less often. This also has second order impacts on the grab and run-away plan, as our models are less good at surviving when they run away.
Section 3: Things on the horizon
With what we know of what's coming in 2024, what are your initial impressions of the characters and TTC that were spoiled so far?
Nightcrawler
These answers will be short because I haven't spent a ton of time thinking about unreleased stuff. Kurt on paper looks like a great 4-threat who doesn't unseat Logan as my #1 choice but is a strong contender for being in the top 3. Mobile, good damage, good utility. The lack of control is the only thing stopping him for being a lock at #1
Shadowcat
An affiliated long mover is cool and exciting, but the rest of her kit isn't as exciting as it could be. Her attacks are all fine but there's nothing crazy there and her two super powers are both totally fine. Maybe a TTC will push her over the edge, but as is I don't see myself playing her over Storm/Beast/Domino (though I do have a slot for a 4th 3 at the moment so maybe!)
Cerebro
Bad card, too expensive to use and not a very exciting effect. Mildly buffing a single model for one turn is not worth 20% of my tactics cards.
Xavier's Dream
Excellent but already over hyped card. Reducing damage is a great effect, but this should not be called X-ceptional Healing #2. There's a lot of times where you'll have models dazed or low on power and not willing to contribute to playing this, which means sometimes it'll just be a card to reduce 2 or 3 damage. And that'll be good enough a good amount of the time, so I'm definitely sleeving this card. But I'm not convinced it will be an every game kind of card.
I would like to thank GhostDeer for taking the time to answer my questions and give feedback on what's been a pretty busy year for the Uncanny X-Men. I'd also like to thank you for taking the time to read this article and as always, don't forget to have fun!
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