The Book of Groot (Baby)

[Lazy Orang]

The Book of Groot (Baby)

C3G MARVEL WAVE 28
MARVEL COSMIC


Comic PDF


Mini PDF

The figure used for this unit is a Heroclix figure from the Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 set.
Its model number and name are #002 / Groot.

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Character Bio - Grown from what remained of the original Groot, this young Flora Colossus (the latter part of that name now feeling somewhat incongruous...) has become something of a mascot for Star-Lord's Guardians of the Galaxy... particularly Rocket. Though far from the most responsible parental figure out there, it seems Groot's old friend is now a guardian in more ways than one...
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-Rulings and Clarifications-

• N/A

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-Combinations and Synergies-

Incoming Synergy:

• As a Marvel figure, Groot has these Marvel Synergies.
• As a small Enthusiastic Hero, Groot has these
  • Small Synergies and
  • Small Enthusiastic Synergies.
• As a Flora Colossus, Groot has these Flora Colossus Synergies.
• As a Sidekick, Groot has these Sidekick Synergies.

Outgoing Synergy:

• Groot can use his Hitching a Ride special power when you move any figure except for tiny figures.

Immunities, Benefits, and Weaknesses:

• As a small figure, Groot interacts differently with these special powers.
• As a Sidekick, Groot interacts differently with these special powers.
• Groot's Too Adorable to Kill special power does not affect Cruel, Nihilist, or Sadistic figures.

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-Strategy, Tactics and Tips-

• N/A

-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

• Initial playtest: Lazy Orang
• Second playtest: Arkham
• Third playtest: fret_gurglo
• Art: Comic, Figure, Background
• Art by Scapemage
• Groot created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby
• Comic art by Marco D'Alfonso

[Lazy Orang]

NAME = GROOT

SPECIES = FLORA COLOSSUS
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = SIDEKICK
PERSONALITY = ENTHUSIASTIC

SIZE/HEIGHT = SMALL 2

LIFE = 3

MOVE = 4
RANGE = 2
ATTACK = 3
DEFENSE = 3

POINTS = 105

RAGTAG TAG-ALONG
After revealing an Order Marker on the card of a Unique Hero you control and taking a turn with that Hero, if Groot is within 6 clear sight spaces of that Hero and neither Groot nor that Hero share a species or class with any other figures in your army, you may take an immediate turn with Groot. During this turn, Groot can only attack figures engaged with another figure you control. You may not take any additional turns with any other figures you control.

HITCHING A RIDE
Before a friendly figure that is adjacent to Groot and is not tiny is moved on your turn, you may choose that figure for Groot's Hitching A Ride special power. After the chosen figure is moved, you may place Groot on any unoccupied space adjacent to the chosen figure.

TOO ADORABLE TO KILL
An opponent's figure cannot target Groot for an attack or choose him for a special power if it could instead target another figure you control, and may not roll for leaving engagement attacks against Groot. Cruel, Nihilist, and Sadistic figures are not affected by this special power.

[Lazy Orang]

Comic:

Spoiler Alert!

Background:

Spoiler Alert!

If we could crop Groot out and put Groot there, this'd be ideal (or something like this)

Figure:

Spoiler Alert!

TBA

[Ronin]

Pulling this over here where it's more relevant now...

Originally Posted by Scapemage

That last combo raises caution to me, but the top combo of three turns is exactly what I think LO was looking for. Baby Groot is a small supporting figure that doesn't do much, but a free turn into the mix makes him a useful draft pick.

I wouldn't be worried about the Luke Cage thing because Groot's Ragtag requirement means that you can't get any redundancy for Cage: you can't draft anyone to bond with Cage besides one Crime Fighter (that can't be a Mutate).

Probably the generalist leaders that don't key in on specific species or classes would be more of a going concern to check for weird exploits (Robot, Ms. Marvel and the like).

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by Ronin

Pulling this over here where it's more relevant now...

I wouldn't be worried about the Luke Cage thing because Groot's Ragtag requirement means that you can't get any redundancy for Cage: you can't draft anyone to bond with Cage besides one Crime Fighter (that can't be a Mutate).

Probably the generalist leaders that don't key in on specific species or classes would be more of a going concern to check for weird exploits (Robot, Ms. Marvel and the like).

Ideally, I'd like it if the only way to get a chain of three turns with Groot was with Rocket vII... but honestly, chaining four isn't too big a deal with this guy? Ideally, I'd also like Groot to work well with Rocket vI, which is another reason I like 2 Range - more likely to force an opponent to engage him and face Support Fire, less likely to get in the way of a BFG shot.

[japes]

Originally Posted by Ronin

Pulling this over here where it's more relevant now...

I wouldn't be worried about the Luke Cage thing because Groot's Ragtag requirement means that you can't get any redundancy for Cage: you can't draft anyone to bond with Cage besides one Crime Fighter (that can't be a Mutate).

Probably the generalist leaders that don't key in on specific species or classes would be more of a going concern to check for weird exploits (Robot, Ms. Marvel and the like).

Good point here and a free turn with Groot doesn't seem that big of a concern anyway.

[Yodaking]

I like the no LEA addition, makes sense and will be useful.

On the Luke Cage/Non-Mutate Crime Fighter/Groot chain, I could see myself drafting those 3 into a Star Lord army. Yeah, Luke only has one figure to bond with but most Star Lord armies don't have any bonding at all and they are pretty good. So having one bonding pair in the mix could be a nice boon since both Luke & the Crime Fighter should still be good OM placement option once their partner is gone. Unlike a Symbiot Vigilante Venom & Human Sidekick Robin combo, if Venom goes first you don't really want to put an OM on Robin.


*edit* Oh, and I got pulled into this thread because I was quoted above but from another thread, send out the PM's if you have not done so already.

[Scapemage]

Originally Posted by Lazy Orang

I'd also like Groot to work well with Rocket vI, which is another reason I like 2 Range - more likely to force an opponent to engage him and face Support Fire, less likely to get in the way of a BFG shot.

Thinking about it a bit more, 2 range might promote some interesting gameplay. Too Adorable to Kill seems to suggest that Groot will be the kind of character that rapidly engages and then disengages an enemy to change targets. If your opponent is trying to burst down a tough figure of yours, you can move Groot into and out of engagement with the bonding turns to constantly force the opponent to swap between attacking your heavy hitter and attacking Groot, effectively making him a meat shield. 2 range would allow him to be very pesky and attack while doing this, which may or may not be the intent.

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by Yodaking

I like the no LEA addition, makes sense and will be useful.

On the Luke Cage/Non-Mutate Crime Fighter/Groot chain, I could see myself drafting those 3 into a Star Lord army. Yeah, Luke only has one figure to bond with but most Star Lord armies don't have any bonding at all and they are pretty good. So having one bonding pair in the mix could be a nice boon since both Luke & the Crime Fighter should still be good OM placement option once their partner is gone. Unlike a Symbiot Vigilante Venom & Human Sidekick Robin combo, if Venom goes first you don't really want to put an OM on Robin.


*edit* Oh, and I got pulled into this thread because I was quoted above but from another thread, send out the PM's if you have not done so already.

Why do I have a mental block about those bloody PMs!

Originally Posted by Scapemage

Thinking about it a bit more, 2 range might promote some interesting gameplay. Too Adorable to Kill seems to suggest that Groot will be the kind of character that rapidly engages and then disengages an enemy to change targets. If your opponent is trying to burst down a tough figure of yours, you can move Groot into and out of engagement with the bonding turns to constantly force the opponent to swap between attacking your heavy hitter and attacking Groot, effectively making him a meat shield. 2 range would allow him to be very pesky and attack while doing this, which may or may not be the intent.

A pesky irritating little attacker getting free turns is absolutely the intent, and I feel 2 Range is thematic to his stretchiness and promotes that.

[Lazy Orang]

Okay, guys... anything? I'll consider the silence positive.

Time for our sanity check!
@dok , @Dysole , @Soundwarp SG-1 , @weebaer

[Soundwarp SG-1]

I don't especially grok having a Carried power and a Bonding power on the same card. Seems like that's covering very similar ground mechanically and it makes using Groot as a suicidal missile one of the best plays, which seems a bit weird thematically.

Outside of that, this is a very, very strong design. Atom is already an A ranked figure and this Groot is better then him in most of the ways that actually matter. Restricting the Carried bit to only work on Small figures would limit his power by a fair degree, until some better small figures come out anyway, but I don't quite get the theme there beyond trying to do a Rocket Raccoon tie-in (which if that's the case, it seems like it could just be a a power that specifically works with Rocket).

Sidenote, was it ever decided how the Carried/Clingy powers were actually supposed to work in regards to chain carrying and teleports and what not? I remember that discussion being started up, but not a concrete verdict being reached.

[Lazy Orang]

The thing is, being Carried is fairly necessary thematically, and Ragtag Sidekick is necessary to make him worth using. I'm pretty happy with him - you could use him as a missile, sure, but throwing him out ahead of everyone will just result in him dying quickly. I think keeping him a bit behind so he's protected with Too Adorable to Kill so he has more opportunities to make his free, weak attack worth something is the best play with him.