New year count down.

I'll. Keep this short for every one. I think this was a great year for clix. I think we saw what more sets in the meta can do. We got a lot of most wanted figures like worldbreaker, the batmobile and master mold.

It was also a bad year for clix. We saw sculpt reuse abuse. Mechanics are introduced that are not fully thought out. We saw figures that came in the game and defied rules that were in place for years.

This last year the show has grown thanks to you all. I want to say thanks. Thanks for putting up with the lectures, rambles, mistakes and the pure wtf moments. I look forward to bringing you all more and higher quality content.

Some days I feel I am midget who walks around giant thinkers. Some days I feel I am the only one that gets "it" whatever "it" may be. No matter what I know I am still growing. I don't want to be alone on that path.

Get your dice and figs because it is a good year to start over!

Happy New Year,
Edward Shelton aka Darklogos

OOOO-MAC

Hello,

          Today we are going to be looking at Omac from SOG. The main reason we are looking at him is due to the fact that he can fuel our evil robot army. We are going to focus on strengths,weaknesses, and good figures to pair with him.

          The first thing to remember with OMAC is that since he is a robot and doesn't have any other good keywords. Warrior is ok but he doesn't really gain anything right now in the meta by it. The next thing to consider is that he has a lot of clicks of life with damage reduction. All of his clicks past his starting click are very useful. He has 4 clicks of charge with super strength on one of the charge clix. End dial phasing and regen combo is nice as well. The 8 range is nice but you have to consider most of the targets in the meta now are stealth.

        The biggest weakness of the piece is that he has only one good keyword. I thought he was on some sort of team. I could be wrong. Not having a good keyword other then robot means he will not be seen that much in normal play. Omac doesn't quite have the numbers to be considered for a normal min-max team. The next thing that is a bit bad is that his attack caps out at 10. While it is a stable attack value one click of 11 would be nice.

      The best figures to team Omac with is Manhunter Grandmaster. Being able to take that square move for free is awesome. The next figure that gives Omac some love is Avengers Movie set Tony Stark. He can perplex up his attack and give Omac that +1 defense when adjacent that really helps him survive. Last but not least we can not forget the Toysrus Sentinels. They can carry Omac and go off when Omac lands an attack.

    Omac is a fun piece that can be moderately considered for a modern age robot team. Sadly there is not much else he can do right now.

    Check out the latest episodes of the training series. Let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading,
Edward Shelton aka Darklogos

   

I'm stuffed.

Hello,

           Today's blog post is inspired by Big Will Holland. The implication of the Spiderman and Teen Titan sets is major in several areas.

1. Mole Men Assemble

         With Spiderman set having confirmed monsters in the set it means mole man will have many options to control. Dracula attacking twice in the same turn maybe really strong.

2. Teen Titans may mean more teen keyword

        A lot of general keywords have been undergoing a slow death. Teen is a fallen giant of the past. Teen Titan has the chance to bring life into the fallen. If the team dials have teen keyword then it's on.

3.  The pace has not slowed down for releases.

       This year has taught us that Wizkids can crank out major product releases at a rapid rate.  I think that is not a good thing. But we will have something the first two months of next year.

4. Fools rush in.

       With the flood of product it is best just to wait for prices to drop. I will not buy blind next year because the secondary market prices are way to cheap.

That's it,
Edward Shelton aka Darklogos

It's stake out time! On the night before Christmas.

Hello,

            Today's blog post is about combining the old with the new. I've been vocal about trying to maintain value with our figures and only buying those figures you will use. While the tech stream has really been on vehicles I would like to point out something interesting. I came across this figure while talking with Tom aka Silent Scream.

            First look at the old. First lets look at GG Nova Prime and his trait.  

SHARE THROUGH THE WORLDMIND: Friendly characters with the Nova Corps keyword can use Leadership, but only succeed on a roll of 6. Give an adjacent friendly character of 50 points or more with the Nova Corps keyword a power action and remove an action token from Nova Prime.

This trait is great if you are playing a ton of Nova Crops figures. I think that the fact that you only get leadership on a 6 is a bit suck. But you still get leadership.

         Now lets look at the new. Harvey Bullock from Streets of Gotham has two solid special powers.

LEMME SHOW YOU HOW WE STAKEOUT: Harvey Bullock and adjacent friendly characters who possess a keyword or team ability in common with him can use Stealth.

I WANT THE BIG FINISH: Opposing characters within 6 squares and line of fire can't use Mastermid or Shape Change.

Stake out is the key element here. With this power you can keep Harvey and Nova Corps figures safe as long as they have the police keyword. Also you can carry Harvey during a running shot so you can negate your opponents Mastermind and Supersenses. Watch out Spiderman Harvey Bullock has your number.

      The over all tactic you have to keep in mind is that you can spin your gauntlet just about every turn using Share through the World Mind. Harvey and Nova Prime are great on a Police Keyword team. If your opponent thought they were going to get over because you didn't pack Batman TA. They will be in for a surprise.

      You have survived the Mayan calender ending. Now it is time for some law and order huh.

Check your stocking on Christmas. You may see something from Starting Over Podcast if Left for Dead game doesn't eat my time.

Check you later,
Edward Shelton. 

I guess they are burnt out or just don't care

Hello,

          Read this link here. Go down to Lancelot's post. Then cry a bit. They care to get our money, but don't care to actually do the job well. That is frustrating fact of where we are at with Wizkids/Neca when it comes to cards and mechanics. I don't think the Golden Goose has been killed and served for dinner. I do think we are in a rough patch for a game design and management perspective.

         Now for some meta talk. We are going to look at Klaw from CA. We will look at number 29 version. The first thing to look at is the running shot pulse wave combo coming in  under 150. You get a solid 4 damage but an ok 10 attack. Super senses and toughness allows for a good amount of survivability. He as a special power that allows him to use barrier and punch through them.

         I bring this figure up because for one solid reason. He is 8 clicks deep. You don't really get something that solid hardly anymore for that low price of 127. I think that is something to consider. Most clix now are around 6 to 7 clix deep. After taking the major of the standard 4 damage he can keep on being functional.

        Klaw by far is not the best piece in the meta but he is a unexpected gem that will surprise your opponent.

Thanks for reading,
Edward Shelton aka Darklogos.

Breaking the Utility Belt some more...

Hello,

           Sorry for the late post. Read this link first. Read this before you read anything else. Thanks to Silent Scream, a guy I'm mentoring in Clix, I found this idea. It means a lot. First off this ruling hurts the gauntlet but breaks the utility belt wide freaking open. Yes I said it. Here is the thing. Prep time is the problem. Yes I said it. Prep time is the problem. Without prep time this is not abusive. You can set yourself up in so many ways that prep time all of sudden turns into deus ex machina.

         I present to you the raw trial team.

Quicksilver 111

Secret Avengers 5

UB no costume 12

Insider 100

Catwoman 68

       With this set up you can outwit from stealth. Move every turn if need be. Catwoman can always be were she needs to be or tie up a figure due to Insiders mobility. You can't be outwitted unless they do damage to you first on Quicksilver. You can pick up outwit on the utility belt so that you have a second outwit that will only be effective on your turn. You can negate your own or your opponents gauntlet when need be. 

       The current weakness is that you have no prob control. Other then that the team seems more then golden.

That is it for today. Show coming soonish. I'm trying to have Dan come on next episode to talk about Streets of Gotham. Sadly for me it seems a lot like a no-buy. Oh well.

Check  you later,

Edward Shelton AKA Darklogos

2v2 and what it takes to win

Hello,

           I thought about this for a while now. I think I've found some key elements to make 2v2 actually work our if you are able to plan for it. So here are some team building teams to assist all of you in the future.

1. Do you know in advance who your partner is?

       In many venue situations you do not  know who your partner is before you play. If you do talk to them before you make the team. Talk about play style and over all tactics. If you don't know who your partner is...well assume the worse. Assume you are going to be paired with the worst person in the venue. Then build a team that fits covers their weakness. That leads to my next point.

2. Bring support

      You are going to need support for your team and support for your opponent. You can not assume they will bring anything that is good if you are randomly paired. In these situations you need to have at least 2 probs, tk, and 2 perplex in some form or another. Trust me not doing so means that either you or your teammate won't have the needed power when you really need it.

3. Know the mentality of your teammate.

    If your teammate is not willing to take risk and just wants to sit back try then you have to deal with it. You can't control your partner. You can say whatever you want they will control their turn. So don't bank on a high risk manuver if your partner is questioning if they should come out the starting area. At the other tend if your opponents are charging head long and your teammate is riding out to meet  them then you better have a plan for that as well.

4. Powwow.

    Get away from the game and talk. I can't emphasize this enough.  Being able to talk on the side lets you get a good grip on what each person is thinking and why. Also you don't have to hear the comments of your opponent while you talk. Some people think that the Powwow is lame but it helps you win games.

6. Because 5 is for losers...

Just kidding.

5. Talk about your opening play.

      Maneuvering your figures into position so the whole team can be maximized is essential. You can't just think about your figures you have to think about your teammates figures as well and how they will deploy. If you have no deployment concerns you can ignore this.

6. Post game Conference

      After each game, win or lose, talk to your teammate and opponents about their perception of the game. See what everyone thought of the team as a whole. Who knows you might just get ideas for other teams in the future. The main reason you want to do this is to have your teammate understand what was not just going on in your head but your opponents heads as well.

      I hope you enjoyed this post. I will try to have everything up on time during the Holiday Season so people have something fun to read while on break. Hit me up if there are any topics or figures you want me to focus on.

    Big shout outs to Silent Scream, Maj Raymond Spiak, and Landon Hill.

Check you Wednesday with new content,
Edward Shelton aka Darklogos

Thoughts...a little randomness here

Hey,

        I've been on Glass Cabinet films. Check out the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9p2yPSrm4o&feature=g-high-c .

       The show is an excellent meta conversation. Thanks for everyone that watched. Big up to AgentAxion and the Push to Regen guys in the comments section. I want to have Steve on the show eventually. I gave away some HCO codes in show. I wanted to some people to have some rewards for listening live.

        Listening to the video now  recognize that having apps running in the background it ruined my sound quality in compared to my other google hangout appearance using my phone. I'm my biggest critic when it comes to the show and I'm not happy with the sound.

       I had someone bring up the idea of looking at map selection. We will be going over that in the future. I will say that the previous episode of Push to Regen helps a little to start the conversation off. Map needs to focus on giving you an edge. Next the map should hurt your opponent. Finally if you can do both pick that map. If you have a lot of flight and your opponent doesn't and has no stealth pick a lot of hindering. If you have little range pick a map with lots of walls to shut down your opponents ranges. That is where we must start. If you want to post a comment about a team and a good map go ahead.

       Another listener had some questions about how to make Black Adam work in games. The biggest thing I feel is looking at him as a figure to start the fight but not end it. You can protect him with barrier or with tk yo-yo. I also think that you have some simple options when it comes to picking maps with walls to limit how many figures that can attack him. Walls protect Black Adam. Lastly I would say Monster Society is awesome because it can give you free bonus damage or the Society ata so you are harder to outwit. The mindset is that you need to keep in mind he is either going to die in a blaze of glory to set tempo or he is going to plow through the whole game while taking point.

     I will announce it here first. I got a job offer to  work temporarily in Topeka from January to May. Does that mean the show is cancel or on hiatus? No. But I don't know what my internet access and other options are going to be. This means that there will be more coming from the blog then from the channel. I will really try to see if I can bring my rig with me but I can't guarantee home internet. I live in Kansas City currently and have family here. So I know now and then I can drive home to record and upload. Nothing is set in stone but be mindful the first half of next year may be a little rough for the show over all. Hopefully you can hang with me.

Thanks for reading,
Edward Shelton aka Darklogos

   

     

The gauntlet has been thrown

The starting over podcast and glass cabinet teams are...

Darklogos
Dc10 Supes
Eradicator
Ig 40
Cypher
Harvey dent
Enchantress @ 50
Bm Alfred 42

Ryan
Magog
Full utility belt no costume
Sunboy
Gf Klaw 60
Dkr alfred
Nu52 green lantern 72
Cw tony stark
Secret avengers 6

Push to regen has a monster team. This will be tough. Check out push to regens new blog page.

Sen from my phone.

Who is that behind the wheel? Is that a baby?

Yo,

        Today's blog post is brought to you by the great mental thinking of George Massu the 2010 champ. I had a great converstation with George Massu and after watching his game against Ryan of Glass Cabinet Films I came to some realizations.

1. Anyone can drive a vehicle and get it into position.

    The first thing that even I over looked is that any figure, even a pog or Monkey Joe, can drive a vehicle. They may not get the piloted abilities but they can get the vehicle int position.

2. I call it the clown car effect. Redacted

   Edit(previous info was removed due to a misunderstanding on my part)

     You can have a pilot on turn 1 get inside. Deploy your force. You get the cop car into position next to a friendly piece that may be in trouble. Eject your current pilot and then put the figure in danger inside of the car. You now are able to save a figure while putting a major attacker out on the field. Since it is a free action you can do it any time.

3. There are more things to come.

Effects that happen when you go off the map or can't be ignored even off map then you have something broken. This is just month 1 of us learning all we can do. There are more exploits to come. Just wait until we get those figures with the pilot abilities.

      Overall we are

Why use #10 Firestorm from Nu 52

Hello all,

              By the time you read this I will be on a plane heading back to Kansas City. I did some thinking about some good figures that have been over looked in the meta. I think that #10 Firestorm from Nu52 is a gem that is not getting any press.

         So with all things considered why should we play this figure. Well first off he has a high damage option with an ok attack or standard damage with move and attack. By having running shot and rce on click 1 he can be tk'd to take a shot or he can running shot into position.  Having a 19 from range with ESD gives him a good level of survivability. The if he takes a standard hit he goes to hypersonic speed or barrier. If you choose to push you have perplex.

        Point cost wise he comes in at a great 105 points. Not only that he fits on a standard team really well or on a Justice League team. Justice League team really needs a figure like him. You see to many high point attackers or high point support figures with Justice League. With Firestorm you can come in do some major damage, push if you want to, and be a great use to your team.

       Firestorm works well with any of the Justice League ata's. I really like Justice League Silver age and Justice League Dark. Justice League Silver age lets you  once during each game, choose any team ability or opposing character. Each friendly character using this team ability modifies its attack value by +1 when attacking the chosen character or a character possessing the chosen team ability. This can help him up his attack by 1 which makes him really good for 4 points more. Then you have Justice League Dark when a character using this team ability is adjacent to a friendly character using this team ability, opposing characters modify their range values by -2 if not already modified by this effect. Uncopyable. For 2 points limiting your opponents range down is really useful.

     I hope you enjoyed this insight. Tell me what you think and if there is any figure you want me to talk about live a comment below.

Thanks for reading,
Edward Shelton aka Darklogos

Lets look at Magog. Sponsered by Alex Avilla!

Hello,

            The title is a bit of a joke but today's blog post is brought to by the great mind of Alex Avilla. Another gem from our conversations was the idea of Magog still being viable in the meta. Yeah the long forgotten beast from Supes Set. He has a great opening click. Now his defense is a bit low but that won't matter. By giving Magog the utility belt you can do a double power action so you can go to flurry and +2 stats. You now have a 14 attack 19 defense and 6 damage charge flurry and the ability to do another attack because you for sure are going to kill a figure. You have exploit weakness so damage reduction means very little. And just for fun you can pick up an object for pure insult to injury.

        While this killer combo is super strong it does  break some common analysis in the meta right now. You spend over 150 points for Magog. Then you add in the cost of the Utility Belt. You will need tk or some cool taxi. It will be tough in 300 pts. But it doesn't mean it is impossible. The offensive power of your major strike is surpasses the two main attacker meta we are in now.  Doing 24 damage is well, pretty strong. Yes I said 24 damage because it assumes you will be able to charge and flurry twice in a row.

       How do we react to this. We can assume that this will allow for some change ups in the meta. At the other hand it will a highly risky play. Since you only have a 19 defense instead of the common 20 or 21 that one can easily get in the meta now. The Utility Belt gives aggro based teams a great advantage to actually come and put pressure on. This may be the solution melee figures have really needed and this is the first drop into the bucket of a new melee powered or melee considered meta. We have been ruled by range for far to long. Time for us to think of something new. Beware of the "turn 3" death demon.

Long live melee,
Edward Shelton aka Darklogos

Get inside and bring your friends

Hello,

              I had a fun talk with Alex Avilla last night. He pointed out how broken vehicles can be with relics. Imagine the batmobile with the soul gem during a ram attack. Think about the mind gem so you can compel other figures to become the pilot. There is more then meets the eye. Transform your meta thinking. New show soon.

Check you later,
Edward Shelton aka Darklogos

The Insider

Hello,

          I got this pm from hcrealms so I decided to answer it here. 

Really enjoyed the bell curve analogy. As I have been learning I have been thinking about character playability in point range but you really took it from abstract and congealed it into something I can better use.

I know you said you were willing to analyze units if we asked. I just pulled the insider. As I have been testing him I have found him to be a great taxi and secondary attacker plus the outwit and range are handy. Early on I have him move around alfred to heal my primary attacker and gain better control of the map. Then as time goes on I switch to picking off peoples support but I find myself wondering what a more experienced player like you would do. I was thinking he might be a good candidate for the bat belt seeing as he has the ability to move for free. He could use the +2 to move and base weaker units then attack next turn with +2 before having to spin the dial.

Thanks again for your input and insight`

 Well first of all grats on pulling a chase. The biggest issue with the insider is his trait is rather weak. He can keep phasing every turn as a  long as he doesn't get an action token. That is the only thing that can be abused. But you are paying a really high cost to get that. The first thing I would say is not to play him in 300 or 400 pts. He is to much of a target in those games. You want him to be in a big point game where he is not as much of a threat.

There are two figures that I think go with him really well that let you do a lot with him. The first is Wonder Woman from the Justice League Fast Forces. The second figure is Beta Ray Bill from the Annihilators Fast Forces. Wonder Woman has the ability to do do a power action after being carried. This means Insider can carry her, put himself in a good position for a follow up attack next turn, and let Wonder Woman do her thing. This works best if you are able to keep the pressure on another part of the board.  When you look at Beta Ray Bill he allows Insider to stay alive from range attacks and outwit. Also the Insider is a great taxi to get other stealth pieces in position to protect Beta Ray Bill or other key pieces on the board.

Sadly the Insiders stats are nothing to write home about. He can do a lot of cool things but just not in a way that gives you a lot of options you can control. You are banking your game on clicks two and three. Most of his cost is in that phasing trait. The best thing I can tell you is keep him if you want him but trade him for other figures you might need in the collection. You could in all honesty trade him for most of the rares in the set. If you want to keep him I understand a 100% . Chases make your collection feel special. Even more so when you pull them.

That's it everyone. I will be recording a new episode soon. I will also be thinking about advice for the training series.

Thanks for reading,
Edward Shelton Aka Darklogos

Learning from Defeat

Hello,

         Three crashes later I'm back. I played  against George Massu the other day. I lost the two games we played. I learned  a lot. I learned that placement is my major weakness. George is a master of placement and map manipulation. The level of skill between a good player and a great player is placement. I may be a good player but it is obvious after playing George that I am not a great player. I will be working on placement in the podcast and in my personal game. I can't count how many world championships have been won and lost on placement.

Placement it is what for dinner,
Darklogos

Hiding in the Shadow of the Thunder Cloud

Limitations:700pts no gauntlet or theme teams

Personal Challenge: Two main attackers the rest is support

Odin 250

Beta Ray Bill 150

Cypher 38 perplex

Dirk Anger 71 perplex

Shadow Assassin 35 enhancement

Alfred Pennyworth 55 support perplex

Howard Stark 33 outwit enhancement

  John Constantine 59 prob stops other prob wild card

Tank Turret 2

 Part of this team was built around Beta Ray Bill. The other part was me just finding what support I enjoyed in theory but haven't played. John Constantine main goal just to limit my opponents chances of retaliating against my main attackers since I only have two.  Now with that said with the induction of the cop car in the meta I can't see Beta Ray Bill being as viable. Give me your feedback on the team design and limitations.

Thanks for reading,

Edward Shelton aka Darklogos

The balance... it is hard to find

Hello,

          I had a great conversation with Dan the 2011 Champ last night about heroclix. He wanted my input on a team he was designing to win The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh. He wanted to win the piece but not in an over powering way. The conversation reminded me a lot of this episode. I wanted to give him some nice Batman, Beta Ray Bill, Cypher combo that would pretty much guarantee that he would walk away with the figure with little to no resistance. 

        Then the rub came in. He wanted to have a strong team, but it had to give everyone a chance to win. This is where, if I had hair on the top of my, head I would be pulling it a bit. I would not be pulling my hair due to Dan, but to the fact that I had to restrain my mind. When you come from a meta where there are 4 other guys that could hand you your clix you tend to be default on "Go for the throat" mode. 

       Dan's main concern was valuing and growing the player base at the venue. Dan wanted not to scare off the newer players at the venue. There were some players, as of this posting, had only played 1 heroclix tournament.  Accommodating that level of skill level is a tough thing to try to do. Valuing a new player base at the risk of a desired figure is at times a tough thing. In many situations venues can only afford one OP kit. This means there is one chance for you to get a figure. In venues like that I can see why it can be tough to put the kids gloves on. It can be even harder if you don't have a lot of money and you are looking at prize support for either income or trade bait. Keep in mind that I'm not saying a person should go around sharking venues. I'm talking about this from a singular venue perspective. 

     In the end we designed a team that had  certain strengths yet gives his opponent a chance to fight back. I really felt good about the team we made. Could we have created a Death Star surrounded by Decepticons charged with toxic waste rays from the 80's? Oh yes we could have. We didn't because we knew Optimums Prime flying in wielding the force was a galactic long shot.

Thanks for reading,
Edward Shelton aka Darklogos

Hello,

           Welcome to the Starting Over Podcast Blog. This is where you will see some of the detailed thoughts and insights about the game of heroclix and myself. To tell you the truth there are just some things that are just easier to type then it is put on to a recording. Some times by golly you just need helpful pictures. Helpful pictures is one thing that I really wanted to have for a while but I soon realized that it just would not work in the format that I have in the show.

         One element that I thought would really help everyone is just pure and simply putting up elements from my personal heroclix notebook. Yes you will get to see the teams I actually play. So it is not just game theory but actual battle tested teams. I will put up the limitations for team building as well. Also I will indicate if it is a going for blood day or a lab day.

         So what can you expect from this blog? I will try to update 3 times a week. This means you will see a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday or Saturday post. I will be *gulp* rejoining the twitter-verse sooner then I thought. When that happens I will try to put blog updates out on Twitter or just simple put brief snippets of info out. I'm not going to lie. Any prizes I do will be based on the blog and the show.

Thanks for walking with me,
Edward Shelton AKA Darklogos