Marvel HeroClix: Sinister Six OP

WizKids wishes all of our HeroClix players and collectors a very Happy New Year! As we enter 2016, we suggest that you log in or register with the WizKids Event System at www.WizKidsEventSystem.com to find tournaments at venues near you! To kick off 2016, our newest Marvel HeroClix: Sinister Six OP Kit features a trio of Spider-Man’s gallery of villains from the Sinister Syndicate. First up is the dastardly Doctor Octopus!

Looking at the sculpt, we see Doctor Octopus being carried into battle by his famous metal tentacles. Moving to the top of the dial, Doctor Octopus has the standard movement, attack, defense and damage symbols. Doctor Octopus also sports the Sinister Syndicate team ability, which lets him replace his attack value with the unmodified attack value of an adjacent teammate using the same team ability. With a point cost of 80, Doctor Octopus leaves plenty of room for other teammates who also have a score to settle with the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!

As we begin looking at Doctor Octopus’ card, we see he has two keywords, Scientist and Sinister Syndicate, with the latter keyword making him the perfect companion to the other characters in this Monthly Organized Play Kit. Doctor Octopus has an Improved Movement ability called My Own Form of Brachiation that lets him ignore elevated terrain to move over buildings and raised platforms. He also has a trait, The Arms of the Octopus, which lets you place up to two Tentacle Pair Tokens on his character card at the beginning of your turn. Doctor Octopus’ defense value is modified by +1 for each Tentacle Pair Token on his card. Additionally, he can be given a power action to remove 1 or 2 Tentacle Pair Tokens from his card. Until your next turn, he can use the Giant Reach ability, lock his damage value at its printed value, and use Flurry once as a free action for each Tentacle Pair Token that was removed.

Moving to the dial, we see how The Arms of the Octopus works with the rest of Doctor Octopus’ power set. He starts with two clicks of Plasticity, a 10 attack, a 16 defense with Willpower, and Outwit. Flurry from The Arms of the Octopus lets him get in multiple attacks while Outwit can be used to counter oppose powers as needed. Doctor Octopus’ power set switches on click 3, which features Sidestep, Quake and Super Senses for the remainder of his dial. Doctor Octopus likely won’t be your main attacker but, he can tie down opposing characters while getting in some hits of his own.

The traits on all three of the figures in this OP kit make for some interesting choices by players— for Doctor Octopus, the question is if you will keep your four arms back to give you an 18 defense, use only one pair of arms to make 2 attacks (from Flurry) with a 17 defense, or do you go on an all-out assault making four attacks(!) but leaving yourself with a 16 defense?

The next character available through Marvel HeroClix: Sinister Six OP Events is the rampaging Rhino!

Checking out the top of Rhino’s dial, he’s got the standard speed, attack and damage symbols, and the Indomitable defense symbol that grants him the ability to push without taking damage. Like Doctor Octopus, Rhino has the Sinister Syndicate team ability, and his point cost of 90 makes it easy to include other attackers and support characters in your force.

Also like Doctor Octopus, Rhino has only two keywords, Brute and Sinister Syndicate. Additionally, Rhino has a trait, The Rhino’s Charge, which lets you add up to 2 Momentum tokens to his card – to a maximum of 2. For each Momentum token on his card, Rhino’s defense is modified by +1. Additionally, you may give him a free action to remove 1 or 2 Momentum Tokens. For each token removed, modify his speed and damage values by +1 this turn. If both tokens are removed, Rhino can use Improved Movement to ignore blocking terrain and destroy it as he moves through it. Rhino’s lone special power is found in his speed slot and is called Mess with the Rhino and You Get the Horn. This special power lets him use Charge normally. You may also choose not to halve his movement when using Charge; if you do, Rhino can use Improved Movement to ignore hindering terrain and must move in a direct line.

Mess with the Rhino and You Get the Horn appears on the first three clicks of Rhino’s dial, which are highlighted by attack values of 10 and defense values of 16 with Invulnerability to absorb some damage dealt to him. Once Rhino is off his first three clicks, he switches to standard use of Charge and his defense downgrades to Toughness. As far as damage values go, he begins his dial with a solid 4 damage then drops to 3 for the remainder of his dial. Rhino makes for a solid attacker with very consistent stats who can hit harder than what his base values show, thanks to The Rhino’s Charge trait.

For Rhino’s trait, the choice to make is if you will keep an 18 defense, use one Momentum Token for a +1 speed and +1 damage and a 17 defense, or run full force with a whalloping +2 speed and +2 damage (for a potential 6 damage!) but leaving yourself with a 16 defense.

Mysterio is the last member of the trio represented in the Marvel HeroClix: Sinister Six OP Kit. Mysterio has the standard speed, attack, defense and damage symbols, and he can shoot a single target up to 4 squares away. Like Doctor Octopus and Rhino, Mysterio has the Sinister Syndicate team ability and team-friendly low cost of 50 points.

Also like Doctor Octopus and Rhino, Mysterio has two keywords, Celebrity and Sinister Syndicate. Mysterio hits the battlefield with a pair of traits. The first trait, The Mysteries of the Mind, lets Mysterio start the game with two Illusion Tokens. Mysterio’s defense is modified by +1 for each Illusion Token on his card. You can also give him a power action to remove 1 or 2 Illusion Tokens and place that many Mysterio Illusion bystanders adjacent to him. When these bystanders are KO’d, place an Illusion Token on Mysterio’s card. Actions taken by Mysterio Illusion bystanders do not count against your action total. Mysterio’s second trait, Ah… But That Was Just an Illusion, lets him use Mastermind but only to shift damage to the Mysterio Illusion bystanders. Here’s a closer look at the Mysterio Illusion bystander:

The Mysterio Illusion bystander has Phasing/Teleport to help it get around the map (remember, their actions do not count against your action total) and Shape Change to help protect it from attacks. The Mysterio Illusions also have Incapacitate with an attack value of 0—but with the use of its Sinister Syndicate team ability, the illusions can share the attack value of an adjacent friendly character with the same team ability.

Mysterio has a short dial that features Stealth on each of his four clicks. Smoke Cloud on his first two clicks supports Stealth by creating hindering terrain to block lines of fire to Mysterio. If that’s not enough, the same clicks also feature Super Senses to help Mysterio potentially evade attacks and Perplex to modify friendly or opposing combat values as needed – so you can bump up his defense by +1 or mess with an opponent by lowering an attack, damage or range value. Poison and Shape Change round out the rest of Mysterio’s power set. Mysterio’s low damage output means he’s definitely not playing the role of attacker on your force but his mixture of powers makes him a viable teammate. His traits, coupled with Stealth, Super Senses, Smoke Cloud and Shape Change add to his annoyance factor.

The choices for Mysterio are, if you will keep an 18 defense backed by his Super Senses, remove one Illusion Token to create one Mysterio Illusion for a 17 defense and some Mastermind fodder, or leave yourself with a 16 defense and send out both Mysterio Illusions for a double dose of gas-infused mayhem!

That’s all for now! Don’t forget to visit the WizKids Event System to find Marvel HeroClix: Sinister Six OP Events for the chance to collect these limited edition figures. Again, we at WizKids Headquarters wish everyone a prosperous and joyful new year. Until next time, may all your die rolls be ever in your favor!

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