NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Professor X (Visionary)
Version Tested:
Spoiler Alert!
NAME = PROFESSOR X
SECRET IDENTITY = CHARLES XAVIER
SPECIES = MUTANT
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = VISIONARY
PERSONALITY = RESOLUTE
SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 4
LIFE = 4
MOVE = 4
RANGE = 4
ATTACK = 4
DEFENSE = 4
POINTS = 190
TELEPATHIC CLOAK
While there is an Order Marker on this card, Professor X and adjacent friendly Unique Heroes cannot be targeted by non-adjacent enemy figures for any attacks or special powers that require clear sight, unless that enemy figure is an Android, Construct, Telepath, or has the Mental Shield special power.
MASSAGE THE TRUTH
Once per game, if you lose initiative, you may instead win initiative.
MIND BLAST X
Once per round, instead of attacking with Professor X, you may roll X unblockable attack dice against a figure within 10 spaces of him that is not an Android, Construct, destructible object, and does not have the Mental Shield special power. X equals the number on the Order Marker you revealed this player turn.
MENTAL SHIELD
An opponent may never take temporary or permanent control of Professor X.
Army Test
Map: Ivy’s Greenhouse
Units:
Professor X (190), Cyclops (II) (240), Angel (90), Psylocke (250), Nightcrawler (AoA) (230) (1000)
Luke Cage (190), Ronin (180), Daredevil (200), Two-Gun Kid (140), Wolverine (280), Skrull Infiltrator (10)
Results:
Big win for the X-Men. Angel and Professor X make a very tough-to-crack pod that keeps Cyclops safe.
R5T3 is where I realized I had misplayed Nightcrawler starting from R4T2 by targeting the same figure for multiple teleports, so, likely the Fighters would have evened things up a bit more, but that’s not a Professor X thing, and the X-Men basically had the game locked by that point anyway.
The Fighters lack range in general, but Prof X forced Two-Gun Kid and Ronin to engage.
Mental Blast was devastating against Luke Cage, who thought better to retreat after the initial two wounds from Mental Blast in R1T3. Its a bad map for Luke as well, due to being long, and not easy to cross without the single-file bridges on the side, which the X-Men took hold of quickly.
Didn’t have to use Massage the Truth because Cyclops already boosts initiative and I had the advantage through the duration of the match.
Spoiler Alert!
Spoiler Alert!
Game Summary:
Prof X is Two-Gun Kid’s bounty
Initiative: Fighters
R1T1(Player): Luke and Ronin move up
R1T1(Player): Cyclops, Angel and Psylocke move up.
R1T2(Player): Ronin and Luke move up
R1T2(Player): Cyclops fails to wound Ronin, Angel moves him back, and Psyclock fails to wound tree.
R1T3(Player): Two-Gun moves up
R1T3(Player): Cyclops fails to wound tree. Angel carries up Prof X, Mind Blast X lands two wounds on Luke.
Initiative: X-Men
R2T1(Player): Cyclops fails to wound palm, Nightcrawler gets rid of Evergreen.
R2T1(Player): Ronin is blocked by Psylocke. Luke retreats.
R2T2(Player): Cyclops puts 1 wound on Ronin. Angel repositions Prof X.
R2T2(Player): Ronin retreats.
R2T3(Player): Cyclops puts 2 wounds on Ronin. Angel carries up X. Prof X’s Mental Blast whiffs.
R2T3(Player): Two-Gun attacks Cyclops twice, Angel carries Prof X and Cyclops away.
Initiative: X-Men
R3T1(Player): Cyclops fails to wound Two-Gun, Angel moves Psylocke to Two-Gun, and she inflicts 3 wounds.
R3T1(Player): Wolverine moves up.
R3T2(Player): Cyclops destroys Two-Gun. Angel moves up Prof X.
R3T2(Player): Wolverine and Luke move up.
R3T3(Player): Ronin blocks Cyclops, Xavier destroys Luke with Mental Blast, Angel moves Prof X.
R3T3(Player): OM3 Luke.
Initiative: Fighters
R4T1(Player): Wolverine puts 2 wounds on Psylocke.
R4T1(Player): No one wounds Wolverine
R4T2(Player): Wolverine puts 1 wound on Psyclocke.
*R4T2(Player): Cyclops, Psylocke and Nightcrawler put combined total of 4 wounds on Wolverine.
R4T3(Player): Psylocke takes 1 wound. Wolverine heals.
*R4T3(Player): Cyclops, Nightcrawler, and Professor X’s combined effort destroys Wolverine. Skrull takes his place.
Initiative: Fighters
R5T1(Player): Ronin moves up and whiffs
*R5T1(Player): Psylocke destroys Infiltrator. Nightcrawler destroys Ronin.
R5T2(Player): Daredevil moves up.
R5T2(Player): Nightcrawler destroys a tree.
***R5T3(Player): Daredevil takes 1 ruthless Teleport wound, and inflicts 1 wound on Nightcrawler.
R5T3(Player): Xavier and Nightcrawler inflict 1 wound each.
Initiative: X-Men
R6T1(Player): Nightcrawler makes Daredevil go the distance.
R6T1(Player): Daredevil fails to wound Nightcrawler
R6T2(Player): Cyclops destroys Daredevil.
Who won?
Psylocke 4 wounds, Nightcrawler 1 wound, Cyclops, Angel, Xavier unwounded.
Army Test
Map: Conflict Chernobyl
Units:
Professor X (190), Black Panther (210), Beast (200), Rick Jones (80), Doctor Strange (320) (1000)
Upside-Down Man (705), Tarot: The Fool, Flesh to Stone, Hypnotize, Mesmerize, Final Ruin Mystic Flames x5, Lightning Bolts x4, Hellfire: Fireball x3, Healing Energy x3, Hellfire: Fireline x1
Results:
This was extremely quick, with the Illuminati destroying Upside-Down Man from start to finish in round 2.
Massage the truth gave the initiative I needed, despite Upside-Down Man’s 20+ initiative, and luck went all my way after that. Strange landed 6 skulls vs 1 shield, Rick Jones miraculously clung on for two turns in Round 2, which helped Strange and Beast land the wounds I needed before Prof X finished the job with Mental Blast R2T3.
Telepathic Cloak was bypassed by some of UDM's spells, but he still had to get fairly close to use them.
Out of habit, I had my OM3 on Strange for Round 1, so losing initiative meant no Mental Blast. I adjusted Round 2 by putting OM3 on Xavier.
Spoiler Alert!
Spoiler Alert!
Game Summary:
Astute Avenger will not affect Upside-Down Man
Initiative: UDM
R1T1(Player): UDM moves up, no wounds on Palm from Lightning bolt.
R1T1(Player): Strange moves to Prof X.
R1T2(Player): UDM moves up, no wounds on Palm from a Lightning Bolt.
R1T2(Player): Strange retreats further into Startzone.
R1T3(Player): A 2-Skull Mystic Flames bypasses Telepathic Cloak, but is blocked by Black Panther, Rick Jones, Beast and Professor X .
R1T3(Player): Strange is blocked.
Rick moves up
Initiative: Upside-Down man uses The Fool to add 10 to his initiative for 20+, but the Illuminati win, thanks to Massage the truth
R2T1(Player): UDM mesmerizes Strange, who still inflicts 2 wounds, and Beast inflicts 2 wounds.
R2T1(Player): Upside-Down Cruelty fails, Fending Daggers fails. Fireline inflicts 2 wounds on Rick, and 1 on Beast, who repositions. Rick blocks attack.
R2T2(Player): Strange inflicts 5 wounds, Beast inflicts 3 wounds.
R2T2(Player): Cruelty destroys Rick, a Palm, and inflicts a wound on Strange. Healing Energy heals 1 wound. Attacks for 1 wound on Strange.
R2T3(Player): Mental blast destroys UDM.
Who won?
Strange with 2 wounds, Beast with 1 wound, Black Panther and Prof X unwounded.
THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY:
Extremely draftable, should go up some points with some balancing measures to make him less oppressive.
I would consider making Telepathic Cloak require an unrevealed OM on the card, so if you win initiative, and there is no X on the card, that means your opponent can target you on their Turn 3 once you reveal OM3. Also means you don’t get to use the X to boost Cyclops (II)’s initiative on top of using it for Telepathic Cloak.
I would also cut down the range on Mental Blast so that a character like Luke Cage isn’t charging to his death in order to reach Xavier. I might go so crazy as to reduce it down as far as Range 4. If the range goes down that far, I don’t think his points would need to go up that dramatically. Strange's Teleportation or a Reed invention can help him with his lack of mobility.
Alternatively, he can keep the Range 10ish, but substitute X unblockable attack dice for X D20 rolls, requiring a 14 or higher.
GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT:
Nails the theme, and will benefit the Illuminati by forcing engagements and providing reliable autowounds. He does pose some risk by encouraging tight pods against opponents with AoE attacks that don’t require clear sight, but that is niche. Really shined in Cyclops (II)’s army, and I’m sure will do great with Chuckernaut.
SHIFTREX’S THOUGHTS:
In his most competitive builds I think this unit is too overpowering. Taking away all ranged interaction with himself and all adjacent friendlies is a huge impact in how you play the game. You have an 'invisible' pod that can still take ranged actions. In the build with Scott, Xavier can just throw unblockables at the end of the round with very little commitment. I would expect that he needs to cost more, the themes are correct and I completely buy Xavier being able to do something like this. I think he is a bit polarizing at this point total, he brings a lot to the table and is a great figure. Xavier slots into some strong builds and makes them considerably stronger.