Clix O’Clock: Pulling A Victory

Hey everybody! Welcome to Clix O’Clock, a new weekly feature here on We the Nerdy! Assistant Editor Henry has been playing Heroclix for a very long time and wants to spread his love of the game with everybody who’ll listen! This week he talks about the War of Light event system, and what it’s like to know from the moment you open your pack, that victory is within your grasp! Check it out and see where you weigh in on the topic!

Well, it’s October, which means that the Month 5 Events for the War of Light event system has started up. With these opens up plenty of new opportunities, since many stores with ample product will allow you to use one booster pack from each wave of War of Light. One of the great things about the standard system of two packs from each wave means that you have pretty solid odds of pulling at least one worthwhile piece. Heck, in all of my packs for months 1-4, there were only two occasions where I didn’t pull at least a super-rare (Out of seven total events). I had pulled chases, super-rares, rings. Always something cool. But with Month 5, you could pull terrible packs from both waves much easier, since they came from different pools.

I didn’t have to worry about that happening. I was very fortunate and pulled the Kyle Rayner as Parallax super-rare (With Sinestro Corps bonus figure Despotellis) and the Hal Jordan/Sinestro duo-figure super-rare. Since our format was 500 pts, allowing for any battery or construct from a previous months event, I played a full point Kyle, Despotellis, Hal Jordan/Sinestro at 100 pts, Brother Hymm of the Blue Lantern Corps, and a Green Lantern battery with constructs. I immediately knew how potent the team could be, and sure enough, I went 3/3 and won my first War of Light event. Yet, the victory felt hollow, because I knew how much of it was a direct result of what I pulled and others didn’t.

Sealed Heroclix play is easily the most frustrating way to play the game. With a firm time limit in which you can build you team, as well as what is most likely a limited knowledge of the random figures you pull, it can be difficult to plan your games out. This hurt me a lot in the earlier months, since I had no idea what anybody could do. But there is always that moment where you know the second you’ve opened your pack, that you have this in the bag. Certain figures have certain stats that easily outweigh those of your opponents. For example, if you pull an Entity from War of Light, you are going to have a distinct advantage. This was very clear to me in Fear Itself, where Sin was a hot commodity because she offered the only outwit in the set. When there are only so many figures that can perform certain feats, you know that they’ll give you a distinct advantage.

That being said, I think that War of Light is one of the most balanced sets in this capacity. Pretty much every figure has flight and most have some form of move-and-attack. Outwit is plentiful, and almost every figure has the potential to do serious damage if used properly. With the creative design surrounding each Lantern Corps, and the ability to pull the Lantern Rings in packs, each offers a distinct advantage in some capacity. Of course, there will always be exceptions, and I feel that pulling a Weaponer of Qward, Sodam Yat, Entity, or Black Lantern John Stewart can easily mean you pulled a victory. While Heroclix is a game of odds and strategy, sometimes the odds stack up enough that you just need to point and shoot.