The Book of Upside-down Man

[MrNobody]

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Upside-Down Man

Army Test 1
Map: Castle Dracula (Custom Map)
Units: Team 1 (790): Upside-Down Man (705), Tarot: The Fool (5), Hellfire Ignition x8 (80)
Team 2 (790): Cyclops II (240), Wolverine (280), Colossus (260), Nightcrawler (210)

Pre-game thoughts: N/A

Summary of the game:

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1: T2 wins initiative
-Upside-Down Man (UDM) inflicts a wound on Nightcrawler (NC)
-Scott inflicts 3 wounds on UDM with Optic Destruction
-Colossus inflicts a wound on UDM with a Fastball Special
-UDM inflicts 3 wounds on Scott

Round 3: T2 wins initiative
-Colossus inflicts 2 wounds on UDM
-UDM takes out Scott
-T2 had OM2 on Scott, so they lose a turn
-UDM inflicts 2 wounds on Logan
-Logan rages, inflicting 5 wounds on UDM
-UDM inflicts a wound on Logan with Cruelty
-UDM inflicts a wound on Colossus

Round 4: T1 wins initiative due to the Fool Spell
-UDM inflicts a wound on Colossus with Cruelty
-UDM inflicts 3 wounds on Wolverine
-Logan rages and slices UDM to death

Special power usages:
Normal attack: 5 wounds inflicted (3 on Cyclops, 2 on Wolverine)
Ignition: 7 wounds inflicted (1 wound on Nightcrawler, 2 on Cyclops, 1 on Colossus, 3 on Wolverine)
Upside-Down Cruelty: 2 wounds inflicted (1 on Wolverine, 1 on Colossus), 2 spells regained (The Fool x1, Ignition x1)

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Wolverine (3/6 wounds), Colossus (2/6 wounds), Nightcrawler (1/4 wounds)

Post-game thoughts: Adamantium > Magic, apparently! Wolverine dealt massive damage and was able to slice and dice Upside-Down Man within just a few turns. Otherwise, UDM felt pretty good.

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Army Test 2
Map: Castle Dracula (Custom Map)
Units: Team 1 (900): Upside-Down Man (705), Flesh To Stone (90), Healing Energy x3 (60), Hellfire: Fireball x5 (25), Waking Nightmare (15), Tarot: The Fool (5)
Team 2 (900): Avengers She-Hulk (370), Doc Samson (290), Avengers Wasp (160), Rick Jones (80)

Pre-game thoughts: Doc Samson, Wasp, and Rick have Avenger Markers. She-Hulk is Samson’s Focus

Summary of the game:

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1: T2 wins initiative
-UDM inflicts a wound on Jen
-Jen inflicts 2 wounds on UDM
-Jen objects to UDM, halting his turn
-UDM inflicts a wound on Rick with a Fireball

Round 2: T1 wins initiative (due to the Fool)
-UDM takes out Rick with a Fireball
-Samson inflicts 2 wounds on UDM
-Jen inflicts 3 wounds on UDM
-UDM heals
-UDM inflicts a wound on Jen
-Samson inflicts a wound on UDM
-Jen inflicts a wound on UDM
-UDM inflicts a wound on Jen with Cruelty
-UDM inflicts a wound on Jen
-Samson inflicts 2 wounds on UDM
-Jen inflicts 3 wounds on UDM

Round 3: T2 wins initiative
-Samson takes out UDM

Special power usages:
Normal attack: 3 wounds inflicted (3 on She-Hulk)
Fireball: 3 wounds inflicted (3 on Rick Jones)
Upside-Down Cruelty: 1 wounds inflicted (1 on She-Hulk), 1 spells regained (1 Hellfire: Fireball)

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): She-Hulk (4/7 wounds), Doc Samson (0/7 wounds), Wasp (0/3 wounds)

Post-game thoughts: An even rougher defeat for Upside-Down Man. Definitely too many points spent on spells here. Healing Energies especially felt like a waste, since the enemy could damage UDM faster than he could heal himself.

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THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: He feels pretty soft for his cost, but on offense he feels like a real threat.

GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: Really awesome to have a dedicated design that feels like you can go all-in on spells!

He's fun! But he felt incredibly squishy in both of my games. Wolverine and She-Hulk were both able to tear through him incredibly quickly. I think I'd prefer him at 13 Life (a more 'magical' number) and 5 Defense.

For comparison, we have a design going On Deck right now at 13 Life and 3 Defense at 275 Points - and tbf, this unit has a lot going on that the 275 Point unit doesn't, but that's not much of a difference in survivability for a huge point difference. I thought Healing Energy would help, but any army with a decent offense is dealing 2+ wounds to UDM per turn, which made healing feel like a bit of a losing proposition.

Also, it seems like the correct stylization of his name is Upside-Down Man, that seems inconsistent in the SP.

[Shiftrex]

Thanks for your test!

Looking back over the data from everyone. I think that I agree, UDM seems to be all offense and is susceptible to being focus fired. Not a bad thing but at 705 it would be good to see more surviveability as a big bad.

I think I like the suggestion to go with 5 defense and 13 life (unlucky number). 5 defense isnt a brick wall but it should help him along with the defensive spell line up, with full knowledge a character like this will just keep getting better over time (new spells). His matches would support he isnt overpowering.

[IAmBatman]

Sounds reasonable.

[Shiftrex]

I propose we move to final editing at 705 points with the adjustments listed below (-1 health, +1 defense).

NAME = UPSIDE-DOWN MAN
SECRET IDENTITY = n/a

SPECIES = OTHERKIND
UNIQUENESS = EVENT HERO
CLASS = TORMENTOR
PERSONALITY = MALEVOLENT

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 13

MOVE = 6
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 7
DEFENSE = 5

POINTS = 705

TRUE MAGIC
You may draft or cast Spell cards with Upside-Down Man as though he has the Magical Defense Power and any Special Powers, Class, or Species listed on them. Upside-Down Man never receives wounds from spells he casts. Whenever a Spell Card would be removed from the game, you may shuffle it face down into his Upside-Down Deck.

UPSIDEDOWN CRUELTY
Upside-Down Man is never attacked when leaving an engagement. While there are five or more Spell Cards in his Upside-Down Deck, whenever he passes over an enemy figure you may roll an unblockable attack die against the chosen figure. If you roll a skull, draw the top Spell Card from the Upside-Down Deck and add it to your army.

LIVING MAGIC
After Upside-Down Man casts a spell instead of attacking normally, he may immediately attack with his normal attack.

SUPER STRENGTH

FLYING

[IAmBatman]

yea

[fret_gurglo]

Yea

[MrNobody]

Yea

[tcglkn]

Was the life/defense change tested at all? Seems like it should be played at least once to make sure it feels ok. Not concerned about it being too strong, just don’t want him to be disappointing.

[Shiftrex]

I took the time to run some more offscreen tests in light of that thought so I could answer well enough.i think from my perspective he is playing well at the proposed point and stat total changes. Very offense based, mobile, can definitely be beaten down but the extra bump in defense helps.

I also play him with a variety of spells and leverage his ability to recycle spells. I'm liking where he is at unless there is a large opinion for him to be priced lower.

[IAmBatman]

If you're happy, I'm happy.

[Shiftrex]

I definitely am ^^

So, just looking for 2 more then.

[LordVenoc]

Yea