The Book of Jinx

[japes]

This passes. However the team I coach grabbed the #2 seed in the Playoffs so depending on how we play it could be a long couple of weeks.

Some small armies I have lined up...

Shimmer, Mammoth, Jinx (170) (510)
vs Raven, Superboy - Kon-El, & Krypto (510)
vs Raven, Starfire, & Kid Flash (510)
vs Nightwing, Raven, & Beastboy + T-Rex or (Grizzly Bear and Pterodactyl) (510)

[japes]

In Progress....

C3G INITIAL PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Jinx

Unit Questionnaire

Spoiler Alert!

- THEME TEST/ Check to see if there are any powers or stats on the test unit card that does not accurately reflect the theme or likeness of what the character would and could do. Also consider destructible objects, and whether or not this characters powers should affect them.
PASS

- MIRROR TEST/ Check to see if the unit were played against itself, if there would be any loops that would upset the balance of the Game.
PASS

- BONDING TEST/ Compare the unit card with all possible currently existing Bonding abilities to make sure there are no continual Bonding possibilities that do not stop appropriately or do not stop at all. This is to prevent loops in Bonding.
PASS

- SYNERGIES TEST/ Compare the unit card with all possible currently existing synergies to make sure there are no factors that could break the game by making any unit too powerful or too weak.
PASS

- POWER CHECK/ Consider the test unit and all existing units and all glyphs to compare to and check for any powers that could be over amplified and break the game. Each power must define when it takes place, who or what it affects, and What are the stipulations on the power if there are any.
PASS

- FUN TEST/ Consider whether or not the design was fun to play.
REALLY PASS

- FUN COMPETITIVE TEST/ Consider whether or not the design was fun to play against.
PASS

- DRAFTING TEST/ Consider whether or not this design is worth drafting.
PASS

- USAGE TEST/ Consider whether or not all of the powers on this card were used or at least usable.
PASS

- STRATEGY TEST/ Consider whether or not the design offers any real strategy or interesting tactics to the overall game.
PASS

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Heavy Hitter or Mid-Level Hero Tests
- Does it pass, Yes or No? YES
- What should be the unit's point value? 150
- Give a brief overview. 3-7 So Far.

Spoiler Alert!

Map: City Park
Units: Jinx (160 Points) vs. Red Robin(160)
Summary: This was just bad luck. Red Robin was one shot 4 Skulls vs 0 Shields on the first Attack
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Jinx with Full health


Map: City Park
Units: Jinx (160 Points) vs. Red Robin(160)
Summary: Red Robin with Bo Staff allowing multiple attacks minimized Magical Defense and Jinx Field somewhat (though Jinx Field hit a lot in this game
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Red Robin with 1 Life Remaing


Map: City Park
Units: Jinx (160 Points) vs. Red Robin(160)
Summary: Bo Staff and height helped start this off and then after losing the height advantage it still allowed for lots of multi attack goodness
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Red Robin with 2 Lives remaining


Map: City Park
Units: Jinx (160 Points) vs. Beastboy + T-Rex and Pterodactyl (160)
Summary: T-Rex missed all the Dino Bite rolls and Jinx Field was hot.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Jinx with 1 life remaining


Map: City Park
Units: Jinx (160 Points) vs. Beastboy + T-Rex and Pterodactyl(160)
Summary: Beastboy's T-rex form worked out for a two wounds with Dino Bite bypassing MD and JF for a an early advantage
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Beastboy with 3 lives remaining


Map: City Park
Units: Jinx (150 Points) vs. Deadshot (150)
Summary: Finish the Job came in handy here to finish off Jinx. Jinx Field was successful in 3 of 6 chances, canceling 6 Skulls
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Deadshot with 2 of 4 wounds


Map: City Park
Units: Jinx (150 Points) vs. Deadshot (150)
Summary: Jinx Field Successful 2 of 5, Canceling 2 Skulls. Once again Finish the Job...Finished the job
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Deadshot wins with 3 of 4 wounds


Map: City Park
Units: Jinx (150 Points) vs. Elite League Assassins (150)
Summary: Ran this just for fun as I anticipated her getting owned by squads but Jinx actually fared better than I thought she would due to some good rolls for Jinx Field and working to keep away
Who won and how many wounds did they have? ELA 1 left


Map: Corner High Rise
Units: Jinx (150 Points) vs. Batman (Terry McGinnis) (150)
Summary: Batman not being able to be attacked on OM 1 when Jinx won initiative gave him an advantage that he took
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Batman with 2 Life Left


Map: Corner High Rise
Units: Jinx (150 Points) vs. Batman (Terry McGinnis) (150)
Summary: This one felt pretty good as neither seemed to have an obvious advantage with luck
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Jinx with 1 Life Left

___________________________________________________________

Army Test 1
- Does it pass, Yes or No? YES
- What should be the unit's point value? 160
- Give a brief overview. Jinx Field worked nicely and saved the team a few wounds. Magical Defense is what it is. Jinx was actually the lone survivor in this as Mammoth and Shimmer made themselves a threat early. Magical Defense helped her outlast Starfire but barely
Map: City Park
Units: Jinx (160), Shimmer, Mammoth (510 Points) vs. Starfire, Raven, Kid Flash (510 Points)

Spoiler Alert!

Jinx Field: Successful 7 out of 14 times and the rerolls resulted in a reduction of 12 skulls
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Fearsome Three: Jinx 1 life remaining
Recap: This was actually a really fun game for both of us. There was one time that playing Jinx I was hoping for a fail on the Jinx Field roll for the following reason…
First Round I moved up Shimmer and Jinx and left Shimmer open for an attack hoping to get to sneak Mammoth up with Brotherly Duty so that he’d be closer to the action for the Order Marker 3 reveal on his card so he could get in striking range. The way I read the cards is that after the attacker rolls a skull you roll for JINX FIELD and I needed that to fail so that Shimmer would have to defend because BROTHERLY DUTY requires her to have to defend to kick in not just roll an opponent rolling a skull. Had it been a situation where I got to choose the order as I originally thought before the 8 year old rules lawyer pointed out otherwise I would have pulled BD and then rolled for JINX FIELD. Instead Mammoth took two wounds in the first round. I did get to use my trick and was able to get Mammoth right in Starfire’s face and return the favor before Raven could move up and start exchanging wounds. Later in the game I got to use an initiative switch to get Shimmer engaged with Raven on OM3 and then on OM1 the next round I was able to use ELEMENTAL TRANSMUTATION to bypass Magical Defense and take down Raven. Taking down Raven was a key to the victory here as she kept using SOUL SELF to heal Starfire and bypass JINX FIELD. Once she was gone the Fearsome bunch felt more confident since Jinx’s Magical Defense and Starfire back to 1 attack per round meant that Jinx was safe as Starfire and Kid Flash concentrated on taking down Mammoth and Shimmer because they didn’t believe they could survive the onslaught of Mammoth’s big hits while they took out Jinx one wound at a time.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test 2
- Does it pass, Yes or No? YES
- What should be the unit's point value? 150
- Give a brief overview. JINX FIELD wasn’t as hot this time and failed all four times in the 2nd round including 2 vs Jinx. After Jinx went down at the end of the 3rd round the rest of the now Fearful Three went down quick.
Map: City Park
Units: Jinx (160), Shimmer, Mammoth (510 Points) vs. Starfire, Raven, Kid Flash (510 Points)

Spoiler Alert!

Jinx Field: Successful 3 out of 7 times and the rerolls resulted in a reduction of 4 skulls
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Titans: Raven with 1 life remaining Starfire and Flash with Full Life
Recap: This one was over quickly. The bad luck of missing JINX FIELD 3 straight times and big rolls from and anguished Starfire with height took down Jinx and Weakened Mammoth in a nightmarish 2nd round. Not much to go on in this one other than to say there was still some tension (good) when Starfire is rolling 5 skulls and both sides are anxious to see what comes up on the D20 for JINX FIELD.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test 3
- Does it pass, Yes or No? YES
- What should be the unit's point value? 150
- Give a brief overview. The Fearsome team could have used some more luck but Jinx Field only seemed to work on small attacks and fail on large ones. Once Jinx went down the team fell fast.
Map: City Park
Units: Jinx, Shimmer, Mammoth (510 Points) vs. Raven, Superboy - Kon-El, & Krypto (510)

Spoiler Alert!

Jinx Field: Used 9 times failed 5. Reduced 2, 1, 2, & 0 skulls for a total of 5.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Raven 2 life left and a full health Superboy Recap: Round 1: Superboy rolled 5 skulls and Jinx Field failed Jinx only had 4 defense dice so she took 1 wound thanks to MD
Round 2: Raven hit Jinx for 1 wound
Round 2: Krypto Hit Jinx and Shimmer for 1 each
Round 2: Jinx is saved by Jinx Field vs Superboy and then attacks Krypto for 2 Wounds
Round 3:Shimmer KO's Krypto with Elemental Transmutation
Round 3: Mammoth hits Superboy for 1
Round 3: Shimmer hits Raven for 2 with ET
Round 4: Superboy KO's Jinx
Round 4: Raven Soul Swap to heal Superboy and hit Mammoth for 1
Round 4: Superboy hits Mammoth for 3
Round 5: Shimmer once again uses the Initiative switch to be lined up for ET but only gets 1 on Raven
Round 5: Superboy KO's Mammoth
Round 5: Shimmer hits Raven for 1 more using ET
Round 5: Raven SS -1 from her and +1 to Shimmer
Round 6: Superboy KO's Shimmer

___________________________________________________________

Army Test 4
- Does it pass, Yes or No? YES
- What should be the unit's point value? 150
- Give a brief overview. Wonder Woman managed to Lasso Jinx which took her MD and Jinx Field out of play until Shimmer could fly up next to her. My then the damage was done and the Fearsome Five couldn't come back even though Shimmer did her best with ET. It did seem like a little luck and the Fearsome Five had a chance.
Map: City Park
Units: Jinx@150, Shimmer, Mammoth (500 Points) vs. Batman I (200) and Wonder Woman (300) (500)

Spoiler Alert!

Jinx Field: 0/1
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Batman at Full Health Recap: Round 1: Wonder Woman hits Jinx for 1
Round 2: Batman hits Jinx for 2 with a Batarang
Shimmer hits Wonder Woman for 2
BM hits Jinx and Jinx Field Fails - JINX KO'd
BM hits Mammoth for 4 wounds
Shimmer hits WW with ET for 1
WW hist Mammoth for 1
Round 3:WW hits Mammoth for 1 - MAMMOTH KO'd
Shimmer ET on WW for 1
BM hits Shimmer for 2 wounds
Shimmer ET on WW for 1
Round 4: Shimmer ET on WW for 1 - WONDER WOMAN KO'd
Shimmer attacks BM but receives a wound due to Evasive Strike
BM finishes Shimmer off.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test 5
- Does it pass, Yes or No? YES
- What should be the unit's point value? In this matchup probably 120
- Give a brief overview. Superman alone pulled this one off but it was mainly due to a huge hit in the first round with a failed Jinx Field and a whiff by Mammoth that left Mammoth with one life remaining. Had it not been for that then I think the Fearsome Five pull this one off pretty handily.
Map: City Park
Units: Jinx@150, Shimmer, Mammoth (500 Points) vs. Superman (450 Points)

Spoiler Alert!

Jinx Field: 5 of 9, canceling 6 skulls total.
Who won and how many wounds did they have? Superman with 1 Life left Recap:Round 1: Superman hits Mammoth for 5
Mammoth hits Superman for 2
Superman vs Mammoth, Jinx Field successful and Mammoth blocks the result.
Shimmer hits Supes with ET for 2 on OM3 after he blocks her on OM2
Round 2:Superman KO's Mammoth
Shimmer ET on Supes for 2
Supes hits a 5 skulls vs 0 shields and a Failed Jinx Field KOing Shimmer
Round 3:Supes totals 2 hits on Jinx and blocks all of Jinx's attacks
Round 4: Jinx gets lucky on OM1 and Jinx Field cancels all of Supes Skulls
Jinx then its Supes for 1, taking him down to his final life
Supes hit Jinx for 1, blocks her attack and then hits her for 1 to end the game.

___________________________________________________________

Army Test 6
- Does it pass, Yes or No? ---
- What should be the unit's point value? ---.
- Give a brief overview. ---
Map: City Park
Units: Jinx@150, Shimmer, Mammoth (500 Points) vs. --- (510 Points)

Spoiler Alert!

Jinx Field: ---
Who won and how many wounds did they have? --- Recap:

___________________________________________________________

THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: 160 definitely seemed to high as her few wins where always with one life left and all her losses were usually blowouts. 150 seemed better but not much but I believe better players will get more out of her. As with the other Fearsome Five their draftability will be high together but outside of their group probably not. But thematically they don't have a lot of appearances outside the group.

GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: For the most part she doesn't do a lot but what she does is extremely useful to both herself and her team. It's a lot of fun when your opponent hits an all skulls roll and Jinx hits her Jinx Field roll and they have to roll all those skulls again. But it wasn't so annoying that either one of us playing against her got too upset. She's pretty weak to begin with so even with MD she can be taken out with multi attackers. Early have making the decision to fly and lose her Range or not adds a small amount of planning as well. Even though she lost a lot in these test she was still fun. I'm sure other players will be able to use her more effectively.

[japes]

About Half way done here and she's a lot of fun. I like how she make the current members of the team annoying in a fun way. None of them are super scary but Jinx Field helps them stick around longer. To me this is very thematic as they aren't a powerhouse team they just get in the way and aggravate the Titans. If they hang around long enough Mammoth has the ability to come up with the big hit. They are a little tricky for me to play against because I'm never quite sure who I should take out first. Without Magical Defense she'd be the first target for sure but unless you have a MD figure, a Multi-Attack, or a way to bypass MD Mammoth is the bigger threat since Shimmer is pretty untouchable until Mammoth is gone. Although I target her sometimes if Mammoth gets engaged with someone while not next to her just for the free LEA on him.

[Tornado]

Nice start japes.
Are we planning on testing Jinx with Spells?

[japes]

Originally Posted by Tornado

Nice start japes.
Are we planning on testing Jinx with Spells?

It may be hard to test the faction and spells at the same time but I wouldn't discourage it if that is your plan. She already needs to be tested with Shimmer and Mammoth as is.

[Tornado]

My thinking as well, just wanted to be clear.
Someone has to play devil's advocate in your thread.

Tornado: wondering if he used that phrase right.

[japes]

Quick Question...If Krypto uses his sonic bark, he rolls his attack dice once for all figures...

SONIC BARK SPECIAL ATTACK
Range Special. Attack 3.
Choose 2 spaces in a straight line from Krypto. All figures on or within 1 space of the chosen spaces are affected by this special attack. Kryptonians are not affected by this special attack. Roll attack dice once for all affected figures. Each figure rolls defense dice separately. Symbiotes roll 1 fewer defense die against this special attack.

If Shimmer and Jinx are target for this attack how does Jinx Field work. I want to say it just happens once for the one roll of attack dice as that eliminates my next question but I"m not sure.

[Viegon]

Well, the line "Jinx Field can only be used once for each attack" seems to already cover cases like that by limiting it to a max of 1 roll.

[japes]

Originally Posted by Viegon

Well, the line "Jinx Field can only be used once for each attack" seems to already cover cases like that by limiting it to a max of 1 roll.

True. Although the original intent of that from Blackcat was so that there isn't an infinite roll until no skulls were left but it's true in this case as well. It is just one attack even though multiple figures are being attacked. That's how we played it so it's not a problem.

Back to Business...

Heavy Hitters shes 2-3 and in the three army test I've ran so far shes 1 out of 3 with two big losses and her win was by a 1 wound margin.

3-6 in her 9 matches

I'm thinking 160 may be too high for her. Any one have an opinion?

[japes]

I don't want to drop her below 150 so I'm also contemplating lowering her Jinx Field by 1 to 13 which would put her on par with Black Cat's Bad Luck Aura.

Another option would be to give her a +2 to the roll if she is the defender...a little more into it when she's the one in danger.

@dok , @Dysole , @Soundwarp SG-1 , @weebaer - I know you've chimed in to say that nothing here is a big issue since it's a narrow focused pod but any idea of any of these suggestions would help or is it just that the matchups were strongly against them.

My next test involve Nightwing which will give the Titans multiple activations and that just seems like even bigger disaster for the Fearsome Five (well three so far)

Just so you know that won't be an issue in the long run, the leader has yet to be designed but he will give them the opportunity to have multiple activation.

[Viegon]

I think making smalls tweaks is okay (bringing her down to 150 points or lowering the roll on Jinx Field by 1 or 2), but I wouldn't rush into any major changes yet. 2-3 in Hero Tests is to be expected when you're talking about a faction-based design, and 1-3 in the Army Tests isn't that bad, especially considering the faction isn't complete yet and that the Titans can be a pretty tough bunch.

[japes]

Originally Posted by Viegon

I think making smalls tweaks is okay (bringing her down to 150 points or lowering the roll on Jinx Field by 1 or 2), but I wouldn't rush into any major changes yet. 2-3 in Hero Tests is to be expected when you're talking about a faction-based design, and 1-3 in the Army Tests isn't that bad, especially considering the faction isn't complete yet and that the Titans can be a pretty tough bunch.

The titans are a tough bunch but I've yet to actually play against Nightwing which really boosts the Titans with the 2 extra activation. If I was seeing these results with Nightwing in the mix I'd understand and know that Psimon would help there but these are pretty straight forward matchups. We've probably had more games with Titan builds than any others so I'm aware of there potential.

The 1-3 may not seem bad to you but the two losses weren't even close and the one win she had a lot of luck and barely edged out the win with one life left thanks entirely to Jinx Field hitting 3 straight turns as she went toe to toe with Starfire. For all intensive purposes she went 0-3.

Also I'm not looking for wholesale changes because she is fun, just tweaks so I'm asking which do you more experienced guys think is better, lowering cost to 150 OR lowering Jinx Field by 1 or 2?