The Book of Matt Murdock

[IAmBatman]

Yea

[tcglkn]

Yea

[Tornado]

Yea

[Arch-vile]

yea

Don't forget to link the initial playtest in the OP.

[redstang]

Originally Posted by Arch-vile

yea

Don't forget to link the initial playtest in the OP.

Got it! Thanks!

[Lord Pyre]

Yea

[redstang]

This Passes!

[redstang]

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: MATT MURDOCK

Version Tested:

Spoiler Alert!

NAME = MATT MURDOCK

SPECIES = HUMAN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = CITIZEN
PERSONALITY = FEARLESS

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 4

MOVE = 4
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 3
DEFENSE = 4

POINTS = 80

BLIND JUSTICE
You may draft this figure into the same army with one other Matt Murdock figure that is not a Citizen. Start the game with this figure on the battlefield. At the start of any round after this Matt Murdock or his Client has been destroyed, remove this Matt Murdock from the game and place the other Matt Murdock figure on an empty space next to any figure you control.

ATTORNEY CLIENT PRIVILEGE
At the start of the game you may choose one Unique Hero you control to be Matt Murdock's Client. After revealing an Order Marker on his Client’s card and taking a turn with that Hero, you may move Matt Murdock up to 4 spaces.

PUBLIC DEFENDER
While Matt Murdock is adjacent to his Client, if either is targeted for an attack by a figure within 4 spaces, you may reveal an “X” Order Marker on this card. If you do, Matt and his Client may not be targeted for any attacks or special powers for the rest of the targeting figure's turn.

Army Test
Map: ARV – Ruined City
Units: Team A: Daredevil (II), Matt Murdock, Hired Guns, Kingpin (II), Venom 245, Penguin (II) – 1,025 Points
Team B: Frankenstein, Werewolf x2, Leatherhead, Sam, Blanka – 1,035

Game Summary

Spoiler Alert!

Murdock chose Venom as his Client. No attacks, just movement in Round 1. Round 2 saw the Hired Guns put 4 wounds on Leatherhead and 1 wound on Frankenstein. With Criminal Syndicate and Kingpin bonding with the HGs, they tore through the creatures in Round 3, putting 1 wound on Frankenstein with Criminal Syndicate and another 2 wounds from the HGs double attack. Sam took 5 wounds from the HGs and Venom rolled a five skuller against a werewolf, who rolled 0 shields. I thought Murdock would have a tough time keeping up with Venom, but he really didn’t have a problem. He was able to use his Public Defender power 3 times before being destroyed by Frankenstein. Definitely helped save Venom, as he took 4 wounds from Frank on the 3rd turn of the Round 4 after getting a save from Murdock in Turn 2. Also In Round 4, the HGs destroyed Leatherhead and Syndicate was used to wound Frankenstein again. I didn’t keep complete track of Venom’s Collateral Damage 15, but I would say he was successful on 50% plus, which is high for 15 or higher. After the HGs were all destroyed and Murdock was off the board, DD and Venom were moving via Syndicate and Venom got a few more CD 15 rolls in. Frankenstein was destroyed by Criminal Syndicate movement and CD 15 in Round 6, and DD rolled a 5 skuller on the last of the werewolves to end the game.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes):
Team A won: Kingpin Full Life, Venom 1 Life, DD Full Life, Penguin Full Life.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: ARV – Ruined City
Units: Team A: Songbird, Spider Girl, Matt Murdock, Daredevil (II), Venom 245 – 845 Points
Team B: Wonder Girl 240, Nightwing 200, Cyborg 200, Jessie Quick 120, Lagoon Boy 90 – 850 Points

Game Summary

Spoiler Alert!

Murdock chose Spider Girl as his Client. This game was a lot closer than the score would make it appear. There were two or three times in the game where I thought Murdock’s crew was going to crumble. Murdock only used Public Defender once as Spider Girl successfully rolled for BMF 12 three times. The turning point in this game came when Cyborg completely whiffed on his special attack late in the game, otherwise Venom and Songbird were on the verge of death and would have been wiped from the board. Probably should have selected Venom as Murdock’s Client, but wanted to mix things up. Spider Girl and Murdock were able to handle Wonder Girl by themselves, so if you do the math, maybe Matt should go back up to 100 points. However that’s a pretty tough defensive stack.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Team A: Songbird 1 Life, Venom 2 Life, Spider Girl 2 Life, Murdock Full Life, DD not activated.

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: Not sure if the result of the playtests is indicative that his cost should be raised, even though they would suggest otherwise. He meshed well with both teams and had more of an effect in the game in which his team was more dominant, so I guess maybe his cost needs to go back up a bit. To me though, in that first game, it felt like Penguin, Venom, and the Hired Guns were just a really solid criminal synergy, especially with Venom hitting Collateral Damage several times along with the unblockable attack die provided by Penguin. Murdock did his job, by shutting down three attacks on Venom, and when his opponent offed him, it actually reinvigorated the Criminal Syndicate power, as Daredevil was then unleashed and allowed to move with Venom through Penguin. It was really nice to be able to bring in a fresh 200 Daredevil into the back half of the battle, a demoralizing prospect for an opposing team that doesn’t have a ton of flight or range. If anything, to keep his cost at 80, I would rather propose a move to a Life of 3 instead of 4, as I found myself wanting my opponent to off Murdock before his Client so that Daredevil would be set loose. Definitely draftable at 80, but probably needs to go back up to 90 or 100 if his life isn’t dropped. The second game saw Murdock pair with Spider Girl, which itself, I think is an abnormally strong defensive pairing.

If life stays at 4, I would say a move back up to 90 would be warranted, which I think is acceptable. Ideally Foggy would be in the 30 point range so knocking Matt’s life to 3 might be a better thing for the team all around. Although a 90 and 30 would make 120 which lines up nicely with Daredevil 180. I don’t think he needs to go up past 100 though, unless the other tests indicate it.

GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: I like the direction Murdock and Nelson are taking as support units for either Crime Fighter or Criminal Builds, as private attorneys with alterior motives, it makes sense they can cross those lines and work both sides of the aisle to accomplish their goals. The framing of Daredevil by Kingpin is thematically great, and having a Murdock figure that fits into that theme playing out on the board is the cherry on top. Murdock’s power that allows him to move 4 spaces after his Client reveals an order marker works well with Songbird’s synergy as she also requires the other figure to reveal an OM. Once Foggy is done, I see a strong thematic build with Luke Cage and Jessica Jones as well.

[Tornado]

Hmmm. My initial thoughts are that the first build is really good and the the army they fought is not.
Hired Guns alone is great but that team is really impressive.
The second build has Spider-Girl who can be incredibly good at her cost. She is one I quit using in playtest.
The opposing army looks pretty solid.
I would not sweat it too much and see how it plays out. Maybe advise the next tester to run him at a higher cost the second game if he wins the first game.
I would keep an eye on that first build though.
Nice work.

[Ronin]

Yeah, the first match-up, just eyeballing it, looks good for the DD team, so I wouldn't much sweat a big win there.

[Arch-vile]

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Matt Murdock

Army Test
Map: Custom
Units: Matt Murdock (80), Daredevil (200), Luke Cage, Moon Knight, Swordsman (700) VS Captain Cold (II), Trickster (James Jesse), Golden Glider, Plunder, Abra Kadabra (700)

Spoiler Alert!

Matt chooses Luke as his Client. Matt stays adjacent to Luke to discouraging attacking either of them, so the Rogues go after Swordsman first, killing him. Abra Kadabra then switches places with Matt to get around Public Defender, and the Rogues target Luke. The Defenders kill Abra and Luke gets near Matt again for protection.

Golden Glider also falls, then the Rogues finally kill Luke - Matt protected him well! Daredevil then enters the fray at the end of the round. (In retrospect, killing Moon Knight first might have made more sense to avoid summoning Daredevil.) Moon Knight kills Plunder. The Rogues kill Moon Knight. Daredevil kills Plunder. Cold activates Go The Distance on Daredevil. Daredevil throws a baton to kill Cold.


Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Daredevil (3 wounds) wins.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: Custom
Units: Matt Murdock (80), Daredevil (200), Luke Cage, Moon Knight, Swordsman (700) VS Green Arrow (I) (150), Red Arrow (150), Black Canary (190), Oracle (110), Robin (Dick) (100) (700)

Spoiler Alert!

Matt chooses Luke as his Client. The Defenders use the same strategy here, but Black Canary gets around Public Defender by using her Canary Cry (which doesn’t target anyone). Despite that she rolls terrible with it, and Luke kills Canary quickly. The Arrows take out Swordsman.

The Arrows take out Moon Knight as well. Luke takes out Red Arrow. Green Arrow takes out Luke Cage, then Matt Murdock kills Green Arrow. With no friendly figures alive, Matt cannot turn into Daredevil. Robin kills Matt to win.


Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Oracle (0 wounds), Robin (0 wounds) win.

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: Nice addition to Luke Cage builds to better protect Luke Cage. His big weakness is that you can kill all of Luke’s allies, then kill Luke, and you’re left without a Daredevil as there is no way to bring him in. That’s fine, but not the most fun interaction.

It also occurred to me that it may be worth taking Matt without Daredevil in any build that has a slow walking leader figure like Luke that you need to keep alive. Matt keeps up with his Client and protects them with the “X”, and I felt that was pretty impactful. Of course there are easy ways to get around it, such as going beyond 4 spaces away from Matt, or using attacks that don’t target, or using special powers that damage. But it might be worth considering any competitive non-Defender builds that could benefit from adding Matt in. I think White Canary would be a figure that benefits from Matt, for example.

[redstang]

Thanks for the tests @Arch-vile
I did realize during my tests that there exists a scenario where Daredevil doesn't make it into the game. Not sure if there is strong opinion on that.