REVIEW: WizKids DC HeroClix World’s Finest Expansion Set

[Malevolus]

Superman & Batman Headline Diverse New Set...

CLICK HERE FOR A DC HEROCLIX WORLD'S FINEST EXPANSION SET PHOTO GALLERY TOUR!

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If you’ve been following our recent HeroClix stories you know that WizKids’ follow up to the last major expansion (Superman/Wonder Woman) is the DC HeroClix World’s Finest set celebrating Superman and Batman’s partnerships over the years. We took a look at a brick of World’s Finest a couple weeks ago (see that HERE) as well as the set’s accompanying Fast Forces pack (HERE) and even the Organized Play kit figure Streaky (HERE). Today we’re back to give you an overview of the entire expansion from top to bottom, featuring photography of each and every figure. World’s Finest features a new way to play headliners Superman and Batman and multiple figures of each plus the return of the Metal Men and Doom Patrol, cool Mystical characters and generics, and more. Let’s dive right into the main booster set, which breaks down to 17 commons, 17 uncommons, 17 rares, 13 super rares, and 6 chases PLUS 24 all new Justice League ID Cards that you can find randomly in boosters.

The commons in World’s Finest start with a pair each of both Superman and Batman that introduce the new Shifting Focus mechanic. I’ll talk more about this later but in short this set provides players with low-cost versions of these two characters that focus on different aspects of their powers/abilities and let you swap between them as you play! In the common slots you’ll also find the first members of the sub-theme teams Robotman of the Doom Patrol and Iron and Tin of the Metal Men, and the parade of mystical generics begins with the hooded Occultist, diminutive Black Cat, bearded Druid, Witch, and Warlock with a cool energy effect. Some classic DC heroes and villains show up too with time-traveling egomaniac Booster Gold, always interesting Creeper, and Poison Ivy, the latter in two versions with a green-skinned Prime. Lastly there’s the first of what I call “weird villains” with Doom Patrol foe Mr. Nobody.

Figures with green tabs on their bases are uncommons and here again we start with a Superman and Batman for Shifting Focus fun (super strength and studying one’s enemies respectively). The Prime uncommon in this set is based on this Superman and comes directly out of Hush when Clark is mind-controlled by Poison Ivy! The Doom Patrol gets Crazy Jane (based on the Witch sculpt), Mento with his weird helmet, and the Negative Spirit-oozing Negative Man while the Metal Men add to their ranks the sassy Copper and sturdy Lead. Other heroes among the uncommons include Supergirl’s mom Alura and Booster’s partner in crime Blue Beetle, while the forces of evil are bolstered by Major Force and DeSaad (based on the Occultist sculpt). Generic mystical characters here are the pointy-haired Apprentice and Demon while named figures include Blackbriar Thorn (based on the Druid sculpt), Jason Blood (from the Warlock), and the flamboyant stage magician the Wizard.

If you like what you’ve seen so far you’ll enjoy World’s Finest’s rares, which brings us the last Shifting Focus Superman and Batman (heat vision and batarangs). Doom Patrol members are getting sparse with only the giant Elasti-Girl here, while the Metal Men are still going strong with the field leader Gold, springy Mercury, and the inventor who created the team Doc Magnus. Fun hero characters among the rares are Hiro Okamura the Toymaster, black and blue suit Nightwing, amalgam (and Prime) Nightlantern, and Rex Mason the Element Man. There are still plenty of mystical characters with Mary Marvel (utilizing Alura’s sculpt), Etrigan (based on the Demon), Klarion the Witch-Boy (based on the Apprentice) with Teekl the cat, Ragman hovering on his cape of souls, and the long-awaited Zatara. Lastly the rares are anchored by two more decidedly weird villains: sauce-spraying Condiment King and colorful Crazy Quilt!

While there are no more Shifting Focus figures in the super rares this slot does begin with single figures of Superman and Batman with matching sculpts based on Jim Lee artwork (Superman from the cover of Superman #204 and Batman from Batman #608). And if you really love these two you’ll need to hunt down the final super rare from this set, the duo of World’s Finest together again! At this level you’ll also complete your teams with the Doom Patrol’s The Chief and Metal Men Platinum and giant conglomerate Alloy. The rest of the super rares are evil or at least influenced by it, with Doom Patrol baddie Monsieur Mallah (and the Brain), sometime Teen Titan classic Joker’s Daughter, Kingdom Come Harlequin, Bat-Mite-empowered the Joker, Kryptonite erupting Metallo, Supergirl brainwashed by Darkseid, and the amazing “World’s Worst” duo of Lex Luthor & Joker!

Thematic chases are all the rage these days, and World’s Finest brings players and collectors long-desired updates on some classic characters and HeroClix legends: the heroes from Kingdom Come! The 1996 mini-series imagines a near future in which reckless heroes have made a mess of things and the old guard return to right their wrongs. The chase lineup features the massively powerful Superman with a darker color scheme, Batman in a robotic suit, fully armored Wonder Woman, Green Lantern Alan Scot on his seat in New Oa, Shazam! calling down the lightning, and the ever-watchful Spectre hoping mankind will survive the clash of gods.

This set also introduces Justice League ID Cards to DC HeroClix, with 24 randomly packed in among the figures in your boosters. They too come in different rarity levels with 4 commons (Superman, Batman, The Flash, Green Arrow), 8 uncommons (Aquaman, Batgirl, Black Canary, Blue Beetle, Power Girl, Stargirl, Steel, Supergirl), and 12 rares (The Atom, Booster Gold, Cyborg, Deadman, Firestorm, Hawkman, Katana, Nightwing, Shazam, Vibe, Vixen, Zatanna). Just as with the Avengers ID Cards each card costs 5 points to add to your force and along with it you place a figure with that codename or alter ego on your sideline as your “ID Character.” Once during your game you can give one of your figures (costing equal to or more than your ID Character) a power action to Call In Help, placing that character adjacent to its summoner. The ID Character has a lifespan of one turn and is limited as to what it can do (no double power actions, etc.), but it can certainly be a game-swinging effect. Along with having the ID Character on the board for essentially one action, it also provides a unique Inspiration benefit to adjacent allies. There’s also a case incentive Justice League Teleporter resource that brings with it four more ID Cards (Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Red Tornado).

There are quite a few really cool sculpts in World’s Finest, which isn’t too surprising considering the variety of unique characters as well as the dynamic headliners who get multiple figures. Check out all the different “Shifting Focus” Supermen and Batmen with their classic, iconic poses that really convey what they do best. My favorites include the strongman pose 001 Superman, “in the shadows” 003 Batman, punching 004 Batman, and the rares featuring heat vision-blasting Superman and flipping off a rooftop Batman. And while the super rare versions of these characters aren’t part of the Shifting Focus gimmick we can’t overlook them as they look fantastic. Just some of the other excellent sculpts in the set include the retro techie Robotman, all of the Metal Men with their cool mix of musculature and rivets, Negative Man who’s erupting his energy-cloaked Negative Spirit, the classic stage magician outfit of the Wizard, Ragman with his intricately detailed costume and cloak, the devious and contrasting duo of Lex Luthor and the Joker, and of course the amazing Kingdom Come chases. In addition I love the poses of figures like the fearsome Demon/Etrigan, the ultimate showman stance of Zatara/the Joker, and the great giants Elasti-Girl as she grows and Alloy charging into the fray. And beyond the big, flashy figures there’s cool stuff happening in small details like the textures on figures like Poison Ivy’s costume and Doc Magnus’ smoking jacket.

Looking at the photos (or at the figures themselves if you’ve started collecting them) you’ll see a pretty wide array of styles and costumes among these characters making it a very colorful set. Heroes are typically bright with primary colors, except for Batman of course, while characters like the mystical folk tend toward the dark and earthy. Some of the paint job standouts among the figures I’ve seen in person include the intricate vine details on Prime Poison Ivy and Prime Superman, the bright eyes of the tiny Black Cat, Toymaster’s colorful costume with combo Superman/Batman logo, Condiment King and Crazy Quilt with their... unique costumes, Mary Marvel’s clean and bold outfit, and more. As always there are great looking figures across the different rarities, and notably the chases are all really nice. Metallic paint shows up a lot in this set on figures like Robotman, Major Force, Metallo, and of course all eight of the robot Metal Men, while as usual there are cool translucent effects like the speed blur on 002 Superman, Warlock/Jason Blood’s magical manifestation, rare Superman’s heat vision, Nightlantern’s energy bird, Metallo’s Kryptonite radiation, Green Lantern’s throne, the ethereal cloak of the Spectre, and of course the incredible crystalline backdrop on the chase Superman.

For World’s Finest WizKids continued the trend of featuring popular mechanics and introducing some new ones, giving players all new ways to field their favorite characters on the Clix battlefield. Of course the most significant new feature here is “Shifting Focus.” Found on four Superman figures and four Batman figures, SF lets you give one of them a free action (if he began your turn on the map) to replace him with another character with this trait on the same click number. This in turn allows for the Batman and Superman figures to be very cost effective at only 60/90 respectively, since each one is focused on one thing it does best, though during the game you can switch between them to use the best one for the job at hand. We’ve seen some other figure swapping abilities in HeroClix before, but nothing with this scope and ease of use! And, that’s not nearly all of what’s cool in World’s Finest. The Metal Men all have variations on a trait called “Metallic Property: X” that boosts an aspect of their dial AND gives them Sidestep when in proximity to their fellow teammates. “Weird Resurrection” is a trait that shows up on all of the Doom Patrol members and lets them come back from the dead (randomly) when they’d be first KO’d in a game. The Kingdom Come chases also share a feature called “Isolated from this Violent/Broken World” that gives you the option of using them at a very low point cost; in that function they are placed outside your starting area on a specific click that gives them some support powers; under certain conditions they can “heal” back to their regular dial and come out swinging! World’s Finest also includes some removable items (Klarion’s Teekl, Monsieur Mallah’s Brain), bystander-generating figures (Wizard and Tiger, Negative Man and Negative Spirit, Harlequin and Jack-In-The-Box), tiny and giant figures, and more. Lastly, I want to point out that the set introduces some new wording with the “Unique Modifier” as part of a push to streamline the game and make it easier for new players to learn, and the Kingdom Come team ability has been changed to grant essentially a bonus Super Senses roll against ranged attacks.

One of the fun things about a new set is checking out some of the unique (and sometimes crazy) traits and special powers used to capture the feel of characters from the comic books. World’s Finest is no different and has some real doozies! In the trait department some of my favorites include Prime Poison Ivy’s “No Man Can Resist Me; Not Even Superman” giving her super Mind Control with Enthrall tokens, “When A Black Cat Crosses Your Path...” letting the so-named feline hand out Bad Luck tokens to force re-rolls, Prime Superman’s combo of “Ivy’s Influence” pairing him with a Mind Controller and getting that figure’s keywords and “Yes, I’ll Fight For You” letting you and your opponent vie for control of him, Crazy Jane’s “Riding The Underground” to spin her to a random click each turn and then return to where she started, the possibility of hurting your enemies and your friends with Major Force’s “Each Hit Cracks My Containment,” the “Protoplasmic Physiology” that lets Elasti-Girl shrink and grow each turn, Nightwing’s “Flying Grayson” that could potentially let him move and attack every turn without ever getting a token, Nightlantern’s “Amalgam” trait celebrating weird comics and giving you an entity-lite, and more. Just some of the super cool (and fun!) special powers you’ll find in this set include 001 Superman’s “Defending The Helpless” boosting adjacent allies’ defenses, 003 Batman’s “Hiding Behind You” that’s reminiscent of “Out Of The Shadows,” the appropriately named “Sanity Is A Fleeting Thing” giving Mr. Nobody the ability to switch an opponent’s powers, the Occulist’s “Blood Magic” that gives an a friend uses of Perplex in exchange for being wounded, Blackbriar Thorn’s wicked “Heart Of The Briar Patch” with ranged/penetrating Poison, “Burn” letting rare Superman use Penetrating/Psychic Blast that does more damage to tokened enemies, Mary Marvel’s end-dial “Shazam!” stop click with super Regeneration, and the incredible “Time To Go Solo” stop click letting Alloy explode into up to SEVEN different Metal Men figures rather than be KO’d!

Along with the main booster set of figures that we looked at above, World’s Finest comes with several ancillary products that expand the roster even further. A Fast Forces pack offers alternate dials for Superman, Batman, Nightwing, Poison Ivy, and Toymaster along with a standalone Lex Luthor (based on the sculpt from the duo with Joker). It also comes with a really cool new special object called the Weapon Drop. See our full review of that Fast Forces HERE. There’s also a new entry in the super popular Dice & Token pack series, this time featuring six poker chips/action tokens with artwork of the Batman and Caped Crusader-themed dice.

At brick and mortar stores only you can sign up for events that use the World’s Finest Release Day Organized Play Kit with the prize figure of Streaky the Supercat! It also comes with a brand new double-sided map of Danny the Street and United Nations Conference. Lastly, as a case incentive World’s Finest offers the Justice League Teleporter, a HeroClix resource that functions similarly to the Marvel Avengers Round Table. With it you can use multiple ID Cards in fun and different ways, and it comes with four Cards that you can’t get any other way (Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Red Tornado).

So there you have it, a look at everything in the DC HeroClix World’s Finest set along with its associated items. All of these are out in the wild, and your best bet for finding a store with boosters and which is holding events utilizing the OP Kit is through the store finder on HeroClix.com. Oh, and World’s Finest boosters are in pretty high demand because in addition to all of the cool figures WizKids reintroduced a special kind of package; a very rare booster will have a colored sleeve and will contain FIVE CHASE figures! I actually saw one of these pulled at my venue, and the lucky player was quite pleased. So get out there and have some fun with this set, and you may even pull a chase pack.

Visit HeroClix.com for even more info as well as downloads of rules and maps, and check Figures.com regularly as we continue our reviews of new HeroClix!

CLICK HERE FOR A DC HEROCLIX WORLD'S FINEST EXPANSION SET PHOTO GALLERY TOUR!

Review and photos by Scott Rubin

Review samples courtesy of WizKids Games

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For hobby miniatures and all your gaming needs, including WizKids HeroClix, visit MiniatureMarket.com!

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[sumnerzzupa74]

Damn!! I want them all to be in my cabinet

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Cypress Concrete Pros

[kalvindarwan]

Players and collectors may now get long-awaited updates on some iconic HeroClix characters and legends thanks to World's Finest. concrete hamilton

[back2]

The inclusion of new ways to play headliners, along with the variety of figures and Justice League ID Cards, adds an interesting dimension to the game. Can't wait to explore it! | drywall installation