HC Team-Building Question

[Lieutenant Kije]

I'm posting this in a new thread so it doesn't get mixed up with the ongoing "when will our case arrive" and "when is the next game" topics.

I have a team building question I'd like to pose to the 'clix players.  There's a 300 point team I've built which has come to be one of my favorites, and I'm thinking of altering it a little to shore up some weak spots.  I want your opinion on which direction I should take it.  The core of my team consists of the following two figures:

U Iron Man (Ultimates) 144 pts
E Captain America (Ultimates) 89 pts

This leaves me with 67 points.  To use those points I have several options listed below:

E Hawkeye (Ultimates) 60 pts
This was how I spent the points when I originally conceived the team.  He's a nice fit with the Ultimates team ability, and he's a powerful ranged attacker.  The problem is he is not very strong defensively and is almost always the first fig on the team to get knocked out, and fairly early in the game.  I think he draws the attention because a) he's much easier to damage than Cap or Iron Man, and b) people just seem to have an adverse reaction to him, as in, "ooh, Hawkeye!  I've got to take that guy out immediately!"  The latter sounds silly, but strangely enough there is some truth to it.  The fact that he does draw that attention adds an advantage in that he draws the focus away from Cap and Iron Man, freeing them up to make some strong attacks early on.  

V Sidewinder (Ultimates) 35 pts
E DEO Agent (Unleashed) 18 pts
E Paramedic (Xplosion) 10 pts
This is the option I'm currently leaning towards.  One of the weaknesses of the team as originally conceived was Iron Man's average attack value, which has the potential for creating some costly misses.  One way to address that would be the DEO Agent: police team ability gives a +1 to attack, and when you push her up to her second click perplex gives a +1 wherever you need it.  Sidewinder is perhaps the best harrasser in the game.  Not only is he extremely mobile but he's durable with a decent dial length for his cost, and super senses for most of it.  He would be used mostly to base opponents' ranged attackers and block line of fire where necessary, which I see as a very helpful role here.  If the opponent's busy trying to take out Sidewinder they're not focuising on Iron Man or Cap.  The paramedic's here because I suppose she's useful and she's the only worthwhile fig I have under 15 points, although part of me doesn't like the idea of medics.  

E Scarlet Witch (Infinity Challenge) 36 pts
R Vanisher (Mutant Mayhem) 18 pts
E Paramedic (Xplosion) 10 pts
This option was also attractive to me.  Scarlet Witch's probability control would help to control Iron Man's potential misses, as well as my opponent's potential hits.  Vanisher functions as a harasser much like Sidewinder, although he's not as durable.  The paramedic's there for reasons explained above.

R Black Queen (Critical Mass) 51 pts
R HDC Trooper (Unleashed) 15 pts
The big benefit of this team is Black Queen's telekinesis, which means that Iron Man could potentially make a first-turn strike (TK + running shot + 8 range) on a standard 26' by 26' board.  Black Queen can be useful with mind control later, although flinging Iron Man moves the center of the battle to the other side of the board and she takes some time to get there herself.  HDC Trooper has the police team ability (helping Iron Man to hit when he can get adjacent to him,) as well as willpower.  The problem I have with this option is that 51 points is a lot to spend on a one-shot deal (first-turn strike) which may not even pay off.

E Vertigo (Mutant Mayhem) 56 pts
E Paramedic (Xplosion) 10 pts
Vertigo brings two benefits to the table: triple incapacitate and perplex.  And Paramedic's there because...yeah.  Downside to Vertigo: range of six.  And considering the other options, is triple incap. worth it?

V Daredevil (Critical Mass) 59 pts
This Daredevil would be a nice harasser: 17 starting defense, super senses, and stealth makes him hard to hit.  His wild card would give him the Ultimates team ability which helps with ranged combat as well as giving him first click leap/climb on top of his stealth.  He's not quite as mobile as Sidewinder, so it would take him longer to get into harrassing position, but he would last longer.  He also gains outwit at the end of his dial.  The problem is that this option does nothing to address Iron Man's capacity for missing attacks.

So given the above options, which do you think is the best way to go?  I understand that there are probably other options out there that I haven't listed that you may think are better, but they probably include figs that I don't own.  That being said, any and all advice is welcome.

[Fellfrosch]

I think the problem here is that you aren't sure which weakness you're trying to shore up. You mentioned some of the best harrassers in the game (I too am a big fan of Sidewinder), but is that what you need? Are you trying to boost Iron Man's attack, harrass the enemy, gain an extra attacker, all three, or something else?

Right now I'd say that the build with Sidewinder and the DEO agent is probably the best on your list, simply because it can harrass and help Iron Man's attack at the same time. On the other hand, don't discount the helpfulness of a piece like Hawkeye--if he draws as much hate as you say, you can probably trick your opponent into some dumb mistakes.

Your probability control idea is good, but Vanisher and Scarlet Witch are both too expensive for what they do, in my opinion. E Black Cat is the best choice, of course, but depending on who you're playing with they might not let you play a retired figure (I don't care, and everyone at GPP seems fine with it as well). Destiny's a good one too.

I can't think of any very specific suggestions because the problem is still a little undefined for me. You obviously think it needs something--what do you think it needs the most?

[Lieutenant Kije]

Yeah, I guess I worded that poorly.  The team originally included Hawkeye, but Hawkeye rarely ever got to do what Hawkeye does best: slam from ranged.  He'd almost always draw the focus and get taken out early.  So was he worth it, for the role he was playing (running interference)?

Iron Man's capacity to miss is another problem that didn't loom as large in my mind but has the potential to be a game-breaker.

Another reason I decided to tweak is that in solitaire play I've been trying out a wide variety of teams, and I've seen a trend where teams with some support designed in (outwit, perplex, pc, etc.) succeed more often than teams without.  The Hawkeye version had no support, really.

Adding a harasser isn't addressing a problem as much as adding an advantage.  In a 10 turn tournament game a harasser would add a huge advantage if I can get them to waste their time on the harasser instead of the real threats I pose.

Scarlet Witch vs. Black Cat: I used SW because BC is retired.  Also, I like that SW keeps PC down her dial.  If BC takes anything more than 1 click she loses PC and thus her reason for being on my team.  But her cost (4 points less than SW) would mean that instead of paramedic I could throw in R HDC Trooper which would help Iron Man with the police TA.  So...I don't know.

Another issue: if I do substitute support/harrassment for Hawkeye, I'm losing a legitimate third attacker.  Is that wise/worth it?

[Fellfrosch]

So even though Hawkeye doesn't get to do what he's supposed to do, he ends up acting as a decoy to let the rest of your team move in for the kill; which is an effective form of harrassment. I wonder if a decoy would be nearly as useful if it focused on harrassment instead of on damage--people shoot Hawkeye because they're scared of him. I'm just thinking out loud now: a nice combination of abilities would be someone who is so scary that they draw fire away from the rest of your team, but can still use their abilities while they're doing it.

I can think of a few: Nightcrawler would draw fire based on reputation only, but by the same token he's so rare that none of us stand a chance of getting him. Any version of the Hulk is liable to attract hate, because people know he just gets tougher--it's kind of stupid to attack the Hulk in a lot of situations, actually, but most people don't know how to play against him. You can't get any for 67 points, though. So really those suggestions don't help you.

I'm going to suggest some Spider-man villains like Doctor Octopus or Kraven--they have good support powers, but can still go offensive if they need to, and they're generally cheap enough to fit your 67-point budget.