The Book of Sub-Zero

[japes]

Originally Posted by Soundwarp SG-1

I can probably get some tests in late tonight after the Caps game.

I'm actually pulling for #8

[Arkham]

Originally Posted by Soundwarp SG-1

I can probably get some tests in late tonight after the Caps game.

If you could that’d be awesome! Thank you.

[Scapemage]

Finally subscribed here. I remember quite a few conversations about what franchises were yay and nay, but I was super stoked when Street Fighter got approved by the group. I never got to see it play out further than Ryu, but now I see a ton of those units completed! I imagine you guys feel a similar way about Mortal Kombat.

I found a typo in Ice Blast:

ICE BLAST 7
Before moving with Sub-Zero, you may choose a figure within 4 clear sight spaces without the Ice Resistance special power, and roll the 20-sided die. If you roll 7 or higher, until the end the end of Sub-Zero’s turn or the chosen figure receives one or more wounds, the chosen figure may not move, subtracts 2 from its Defense number, and must subtract 4 from any twenty sided die they roll.

[Arkham]

Thanks!

I’ve been a life long fan of MK so it’s definitely a passion project for me. It’s a gaming franchise I’ve spent thousands of hours discussing with people online over the last 17 years when I first started going to online forums. Bringing them into C3G feels like a nice final bucket list item for me to check off, and I’ve been fortunate enough to do just about everything I’ve wanted to in that regard.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Got some tests with the new version done, I'll get them written up tomorrow as it's already hella late.

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by Scapemage

Finally subscribed here. I remember quite a few conversations about what franchises were yay and nay, but I was super stoked when Street Fighter got approved by the group. I never got to see it play out further than Ryu, but now I see a ton of those units completed! I imagine you guys feel a similar way about Mortal Kombat.

As the person who sort of pressed the issue on this, I'm not actually someone who knows the characters that well or has played the games much at all. That being said, I'm really excited to see this moving - they've always seemed cool to me, and my brother has loved MK since he was a kid, and wanted to see them in since we started C3G. It'll be nice to see him get to use them.

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by Arkham

Thanks!

I’ve been a life long fan of MK so it’s definitely a passion project for me. It’s a gaming franchise I’ve spent thousands of hours discussing with people online over the last 17 years when I first started going to online forums. Bringing them into C3G feels like a nice final bucket list item for me to check off, and I’ve been fortunate enough to do just about everything I’ve wanted to in that regard.

Hope you aren't leaving any time soon, chap.

[Lazy Orang]

Originally Posted by Dysole

Ahem. I lurk like crazy. I've just fallen off on the checklist stuff. No go me.

That said, I know close to nothing about this character and I think you'll be fine once you implement lazy's suggestion for balance concerns.

~Dysole, who couldn't resist and will try to be more active

Great to see you around again, Dysole!


- Theme Test - Tentative Pass - I don't know this guy super well, but from what I do know he's seeming really good.
- Mirror Test - Pass
- Bonding Test - Pass - Assassin synergy gives him a lot of powerful options, and he's a pretty damn strong Assassin to benefit from them, but that's nothing unprecedented for Assassin builds. He's going to be a solid, powerful and scary option for them, almost certainly, and I expect he'll probably end up being used in a lot of Assassin builds, but when they've already got Lady Deathstrike, Winter Soldier and Gamora as options, this guy's not breaking any molds. Should also be noted that, while he likes most Assassin builds, you won't want to take him in a Kingpin (vII) build - forcing you to either take a turn with Fisk himself or give up Ice Clone is impractical or a waste of Sub-Zero's capabilities, respectively. He wants that X for himself.
- Synergies Test - Pass - See above.
- Power Check - Pass - All of his powers are really strong and useful, but they aren't really exploitable. He appreciates stat-boosters, of course, just like everyone, but without a multi-attack, he doesn't really appreciate them more than any strong melee character with a counter strike-esque power - less than some, since his counter strike is once per round.
- Fun Test - Definite Pass - He's mobile, he's scary, he's got interesting tactical options for both offence and defence, his combination of powers make him unlike anyone else in combat, but he doesn't feel too super-strong. I really love playing him.
- Fun Competitive Test - Definite Pass - Pretty much like the above, fighting him isn't quite like fighting anyone else. Ice Clone can be irritating at times, but that's like any defensive power, particularly ones with a counter strike element - it's no worse than Defensive Premonition or Evasive Strike, arguably better since it's strategy rather than luck based.
- Drafting Test - Pass - I'd take him in either a generalist or Assassin build, definitely.
- Usage Test - Pass - All of his were used often and felt like an integrat part of his fighting style.
- Strategy Test - Definite Pass - This guy is incredibly strategic to play, impressive for a single-attacking melee fighter. Ice Blast is fairly straightforward, but Slide, as well as allowing you to set up for a stronger blow depending on positioning (which in and of itself is very strategic) also acts as an interesting form of Disengage/Phantom Walk, where he can move through figures and avoid disengagements at the cost of only being able to move half his movement and in a straight line. That’s a pretty unique ability. Timing when to use Ice Clone Counter is inherently strategic, as with all once per round abilities, but arguably even more so due to essentially having two separate and valid schools of thought over the best situations to use it in - do you want to employ it when the attacker rolls high, doing your best to keep Sub-Zero alive longer, or do you make use of it when they roll low, making them pay harshly with counter strike? It’s a really, really interesting and tactical ability now it’s a once per-round affect.


Name Of The Playtest Unit: Sub-Zero

Army Test 1
Map: Island Plane Crash (no glyphs)
Armies:
Sub-Zero, Elite League Assassins, Man-Bat Assassins, 2x Hand Ninja (700 points)
vs.
Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo (700 points)

Spoiler Alert!

Overview of Sub-Zero’s performance:
Damage inflicted through normal attacks: 2 wounds on Leonardo, 1 on Raphael.
Sucessful rolls for Ice Blast: Three
Extra wounds inflicted thanks to Ice Blast: One on Leonardo, 1 on Raphael
Times moved with Slide: Two
Leaving engagements avoided with Slide: 1 from Raphael
Figures moved through with Slide: Leonardo, once, Raphael, once.
Extra wounds inflicted thanks to Slide: 1 on Raphael
Ice Clone used: Twice
Wounds blocked with Ice Clone: None
Wounds inflicted with Ice Clone: 2 on Raphael.

Round One

The Lin Kuei claim the initiative. Three Man-Bat Assassins and three Hand Ninja advance.
Don advances and fails to move Mikey with his Gauntlet (I swear I have no luck with that thing).
The Man-Bat Assassins advance, and one swoops in to strike Don from height, but is blocked, and three Hand Ninja advance.
Mikey leaps forwards.
A Man-Bat picks Don up and drops him between the planes and all three gang up on him, inflicting two wounds, causing him to drop his gauntlet. The three Hand Ninja on the front lines move up and fling shurikens at Don, inflicting a wound.
Leo activates the X on Raph and both advance.

Round Two

The Turtles claim the initiative. Leo activates the X on Don, who strikes twice, knocking out a Man-Bat. Leo activates the 3 on Mikey, who leaps forwards, knocking out a Man-Bat. Leo leaps forwards and knocks out a Hand Ninja.
The last Man-Bat flies over Mikey and picks him up, depositing Mikey in the chasm between the planes, next to Don, and inflicting a wound on him before striking Don to no avail. Two Hand Ninja throw shurikens at Don, but fail to harm him.
Raph advances.
The three Elite League Assassins advance and the four ninja on the front lines strike, killing Don and inflicting a wound on Mikey.
The Elite League Assassins advance and the Hand Ninja throw shurikens at Mikey, inflicting a wound and leaving him near death.

Round Three

The Lin Kuei claim the initiative, and the three Elite League Assassins charge Leo, striking him for a wound. The three Hand Ninja throw shurikens at Mikey, but have no effect.
Leo activates the X on Mikey, who leaps up to strike the ninja on the other side of the plane’s fusilage, knocking him out. Raph leaps up and attempts to knock out an Elite League Assassin, but he blocks the first blow and Vanishes from the second. Leo strikes two Elite League Assassins, both of whom Vanish.
The Elite League Assassins strike, inflicting a wound on Leo and a wound on Raph. One Hand Ninja strikes Raph for a wound while another throws a shuriken at Mikey, which bounces off his shell, while a third advances from reserve.
Leo knocks out one Elite League Assassin, but another vanishes from his blow.
Two Elite League Assassins strike Leo, but both miss wildly. One Hand Ninja throws a shuriken at Mikey while two strike Raph in melee, one from low ground, and inflict a wound on him.

Round Four

The Lin Kuei claim the initiative and the Elite League and Hand Ninja strike, inflicting a wound on Leo.
Leo activates the X on Mikey, who charges the last Man-Bat and knocks him out. Leo then activates the 3 on Raph - he attempts to strike an Elite League Assassin, who promptly Vanishes, before knocking out a Hand Ninja. Leo then knocks out an Elite League Assassin and a Hand Ninja.
The last Elite League Assassin strikes Leo, but is blocked. A Hand Ninja throws a shuriken at Mikey, shockingly killing him. Another Hand Ninja advances and throws a shuriken at Raph, to no avail.
Leo knocks out the last Elite League Assassin and a Hand Ninja.
Sub-Zero advances and the last Hand Ninja charges Raph, but his blow is parried.

Round Five

The Lin Kuei claim the initiative (again!). Sub-Zero freezes Raph and charges him, striking him from low ground to no avail. The last Hand Ninja strikes Raph for a wound.
Leo activates the X on Raph, who knocks out the last Hand Ninja before striking Sub-Zero from height. He rolls 4 skulls, and Sub-Zero conjures an Ice Clone, getting very lucky and not only managing to block the blow but make Raph pay, inflicting a wound on him. Leo charges Sub-Zero and strikes him twice from height, inflicting a wound.
Sub-Zero fails to freeze Leo and slides behind him, striking him for a wound.
Leo activates the 3 on Raph, who charges Sub-Zero and strikes him twice, inflicting three wounds. Leo strikes Sub-Zero twice, but is blocked.
Sub-Zero freezes Leo and rips his spine out. Fatality!

Round Six

Raph claims the initiative and strikes Sub-Zero twice. The first blow is blocked, while the second is also blocked, and Sub-Zero causes Raph to receive a wound with an Ice Clone.
Sub-Zero freezes Raph, slides behind him and shatters him (which he was only able to do thanks to the combination of both Ice Blast and Slide). Fatality!

Sub-Zero Wins! - Sub-Zero 4 wounds.

Overview: He feels better now. He feels... killable. I'd say he way probably looking closer to the 200/210 range now than 230 - don't know pricisely where you want him, but I'm definitely liking him more with the more tactical Ice Clone and wouldn't want to go back. If you want to boost him, I'd say to do so in other ways, but generally, I'm liking him like this.

Army Test 2
Map: Arctic Divide (No Glyphs)
Armies;
Sub-Zero, Star-Lord, Punisher, Indigo-1 (1,000 points)
vs.
Thanos (C3G), Red Skull (C3G), Penguin (vII), Diablo (1,000 points)

Spoiler Alert!

Overview of Sub-Zero’s performance:
Damage inflicted through normal attacks: 2 wounds on Red Skull, 4 wounds on Diablo, 1 on Thanos.
Sucessful rolls for Ice Blast: Four
Extra wounds inflicted thanks to Ice Blast: Four on Diablo, One on Thanos
Times moved with Slide: One
Leaving engagements avoided with Slide: 1 from Red Skull
Figures moved through with Slide: Red Skull, once, Diablo, once.
Extra wounds inflicted thanks to Slide: 2 on Diablo
Ice Clone used: Five times
Wounds blocked with Ice Clone: 3 from Red Skull
Wounds inflicted with Ice Clone: 2 on Red Skull, 1 on Thanos.

Round One

The Guardians of the Galaxy claim the initiative and Sub-Zero advances.
Red Skull advances and moves Diablo forwards with the Cosmic Cube.
Indigo-1 teleports Star-Lord and Punisher forwards.
Red Skull advances, moves Punisher to low ground with the Cosmic Cube and punches him from height, inflicting two wounds. Thanos flies forwards and punches Punisher from height, but he shockingly blocks.
Punisher opens fire on Diablo, inflicting three wounds with his first shot but failing to harm him otherwise.
Red Skull moves a wound from Diablo to Star-Lord before punching Punisher, who blocks his blow.

Round Two

The Guardians claim the initiative, and Star-Lord opens fire on Thanos with Distracting Fire, inflicting a wound and allowing Sub-Zero to advance.
Red Skull moves a wound from Thanos to Star-Lord, before punching Punisher for a wound and motivating Thanos to punch him as well, killing him.
Sub-Zero freezes Red Skull and charges him, but is kept from attacking by Penguin’s manipulation.
Red Skull moves a wound from Diablo to Star-Lord. Red Skull punches Sub-Zero, rolling three skulls, and Sub-Zero conjures an Ice Clone, blocking the blow and inflicting two wounds on Red Skull, inflicting two wounds on Red Skull and causing him to drop his Cube.
Sub-Zero fails to Ice Blast Red Skull, and would punch him, but Penguin manipulates him to keep him from doing so.
Red Skull punches Sub-Zero, inflicting a wound. Thanos flies up and punches Sub-Zero, inflicting a wound.

Round Three

The Guardians claim the initaitve. Sub-Zero is prevented from acting by Diablo’s Sleep Potion.
Red Skull punches Sub-Zero, rolling three skulls. Sub-Zero conjures an Ice Clone, which allows him to block the blow which would otherwise inflict a wound.
Sub-Zero is kept from acting by Diablo’s Sleep Potion.
Red Skull punches Sub-Zero, and would inflict a wound on him, but Indigo-1 protects him with the Indigo Light of Compassion, causing Red Skull to lose his third Order Marker.
Sub-Zero fails to freeze Diablo before punching Red Skull, inflicting two wounds.

Round Four

The Guardians claim the initiative, but Sub-Zero is kept from acting by Diablo’s Sleeping Potion.
Red Skull punches Sub-Zero, but misses wildly.
Sub-Zero again subjects to the Sleeping Potion. (God this is getting tedious...)
Thanos punches Sub-Zero, rolling four skulls, and Sub-Zero conjures an Ice Clone, blocking the blow and inflicting a wound on Thanos with the Clone.
Sub-Zero Freezes Diablo before Sliding past Red Skull and Diablo to strike him from behind, inflicting two wounds when he wouldn’t have inflicted either if it weren’t for both Slide and Ice Blast.
Thanos flies next to Sub-Zero, punching him for a wound and flinging him into the water,

Round Five

The Guardians claim the initiative (again!) and Sub-Zero is once again left sleeping by Diablo.
Red Skull charges Sub-Zero, rolling 2 skulls. Sub-Zero conjures an Ice Clone, and uses it to block the blow.
Sub-Zero falls asleep again. Holy...
Thanos flies next to Sub-Zero and punches him from height, but shockingly blocks on 8 dice - apparently that bleeding arsing sleep potion’s catching...
Sub-Zero continues to be narcoleptic.
Thanos punches Sub-Zero, inflicting a wound.

Round Six

The Guardians claim the initiative (oh, shock...), but amazingly, Sub-Zero doesn’t fall asleep! In fact, he freezes Diablo before moving downriver to strike him from low ground, returning to Star-Lord’s aura. He finally kills that son of a *****, ripping his spine out (Fatality!) and therefore removing the Sleep Potion’s effect.
Red Skull punches Sub-Zero, who conjures an Ice Clone to protect himself, blocking the blow, just.
Sub-Zero freezes Thanos and climbs to height to strike him, taking a blow from Red Skull in doing so and leaving himself near death. He strikes him for a wound that he would not have inflicted were it not for Ice Blast.
Thanos moves to equal height and punches Sub-Zero, who blocks the blow.
Sub-Zero fails to Freeze Thanos but punches him anyway, and his blow is blocked.
Thanos murders Sub-Zero.

Round Seven

The Conquerors shockingly claim the initiative. Red Skull charges and punches Indigo-1, who blocks the blow. Thanos flies next to her and strikes her from low ground, and would inflict two wounds, but she burns her last marker to avoid the blow and remove his Order Marker 2.
Indigo-1 strikes Thanos from height, inflicting a wound.
Indigo-1 strikes Thanos from height, inflicting two more wounds.
Thanos strikes Indigo-1, leaving her nearly deadh.
Indigo - inflicts a wound on Thanos.

Round Eight

Balance is restored to the universe as the Guardians claim the initiative. Indigo-1 kills Thanos, eliminating the Conquerors’ last turn.
Red Skull rips Indigo-1's head off, prompting Penguin to waddle forwards.
Star-Lord would shoot Red Skull, but Penguin pulls his last few strings to keep him from doing so.
Red Skull charges Star-Lord, but his punch misses wildly.
Star-Lord shoots Red Skull, but the Nazi survives his blow.

Round Nine

Thanos is spurned by Lady Death, and returns to the field.
The Conquerors claim the initiative, and Thanos flies up to Star-Lord and murders him.


Conquerors Victorious, Red Skull 4 wounds, Thanos unwounded (reanimated), Penguin unwounded.

Overview: Well, that was fairly one-sided. It was honestly going to go that way from the moment Punisher was promptly shut-down and slaughtered in the early game - the remainder of the Guardians were never going to cut through two Thanoses and Red Skull backed up by Diablo and Penguin. Never the less, it was a valiant effort, and Sub-Zero performed admirably in spite of his Diablo-induced narcolepsy (seriously, Diablo really ruined Sub-Zero’s day here, and mine...) With Sleep Potion and Political Manipulation on one side and Ice Clone, Ragtag Tactics and Indigo Light of Compassion on the other, that game went slowly for a while, getting bogged down in a melee where no-one really seemed capable of achieving anything of note. Once Diablo was killed, it went a lot faster.

Thoughts On The Tested Unit's Cost, Balance, & Draftibility:

I think I said everything I wanted to above - I really, really love this guy, and think he’s a great addition to the game; really fun, interesting and unique. 210‘s feeling about right to me.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Huh, looks like I can finally access the site again. Was it completely down for anyone else yesterday or was that just me? Anyway, I’ll have my up once I get back home later today.

[Arkham]

Thanks for the tests!

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by Soundwarp SG-1

Huh, looks like I can finally access the site again. Was it completely down for anyone else yesterday or was that just me? Anyway, I’ll have my up once I get back home later today.

Yeah, it was down for everybody. Worked out okay for me, because I was moving yesterday anyway.

[Arkham]

Originally Posted by Soundwarp SG-1

Huh, looks like I can finally access the site again. Was it completely down for anyone else yesterday or was that just me? Anyway, I’ll have my up once I get back home later today.

Much appreciated!