The Book of Phoenix Force

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Has it been tested with Mastermind yet? That seems by far the best pairing, since he is cheap and will force enemies to take Phoenix Fire wounds. Seems a little weird that the design in general encourages trying to get as many cheap telepaths as possible. Like isn't this thing supposed to only be attracted to fairly high level types? Other than that, I don't think there's anything super broken at the moment, but it will limit future design space for Telepaths quite heavily. IDK how much of an issue you guys consider that to be.

[tcglkn]

Good point about the Psychic Camo. Definitely a strong defensive power with Phoenix Fire. Luckily, he only has 4 life and he can’t use his bonding power while being the chosen Avatar.

[IAmBatman]

Originally Posted by MrNobody

Imo, it's a very powerful unit but can be counterplayed easily enough.

I agree with this assessment. Your results made me feel better about my own.

Originally Posted by tcglkn

Good point about the Psychic Camo. Definitely a strong defensive power with Phoenix Fire. Luckily, he only has 4 life and he can’t use his bonding power while being the chosen Avatar.

Nothing Gypsy can't do better, IMO. She can make it so you have to come adjacent AND make it really hard to hit her there. And Jean can make it so once you're adjacent you can't move away half the time. Honestly, I think we've covered our bases with nasty combinations.

I'd like to see the results compiled here, but I think we have enough data to vote on. Phoenix Force is really nasty, but at the point levels you'll need there's room for the auto-wounds, threat range, and synergy you need to take it out. Going with a very loose synergy army in my first test didn't get the job done, though. Phoenix Force armies are going to be competitive, IMO, but not broken.

[dok]

I'd basically echo SSG1 again here; a gaggle of telepaths that are tough to hit from range seems like the obvious option. Also Cable for his double attack of course.

I can't totally break this without playing Phoenix Force + Doctor Manhattan, at which point we're well into silly point totals.

[quozl]

Originally Posted by tcglkn

Luckily, he only has 4 life and he can’t use his bonding power while being the chosen Avatar.

Why not? You can still take turns with the Avatar by putting OMs on its card.

[IAmBatman]

Originally Posted by quozl

Why not? You can still take turns with the Avatar by putting OMs on its card.

Not WHILE it's the chosen Avatar. Choosing an Avatar requires all your Order Markers on the Phoenix Force.

I suppose there are some shenanigans you can pull with Order Marker rearrangement, but I believe those all require an Order Marker on the card of the figure you use to rearrange, right?

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by quozl

Why not? You can still take turns with the Avatar by putting OMs on its card.

Gotta go all-in on the Phoenix Force to choose an Avatar. You can still get OMs onto the Avatar's card if you draft another figure to help you out with that (Manhattan is your only surefire bet, like dok is alluding to). But usually the Avatar won't be getting OMs.

EDIT: Actually, I see Manhattan wants an OM to work his magic as well... I guess Captain Marvel (Billy) is the only way I can see to get an OM from the Force to the Avatar, and he can't do it that efficiently.

[quozl]

Yeah, but what if Sage was your avatar?

[IAmBatman]

Originally Posted by quozl

Yeah, but what if Sage was your avatar?

Nothing would change? You're not putting the Order Markers on the avatar. You're putting them on Phoenix Force.

[tcglkn]

I tried to curtail as many of these loopholes as I could with that requirement.

[Ronin]

pre-yea for editing.

[IAmBatman]

Added the rest of the tests to the OP. Looks like the overall record was 5-5 without too many blowouts in there. Pre-yea for Final Editing.