From Panel to Play: Phoenix and Phoenix Unleashed

Blazing into today’s From Panel to Play, Jean Grey manifests in her most powerful form: the Phoenix, who can, in the heat of battle, become the potentially world-ending Phoenix Unleashed. All will be set ablaze to become pure energy in the wake of her rise!

Jean Grey was among the founding members of the X-Men, core to the organization as a major telepath and telekinetic talent. Her relationship with her powers was always difficult, going back to her youth when her telepathic ability exposed her to trauma when she bonded to the mind of her best friend who was dying after being struck by a car. For a long while she repressed her telepathic ability, burying these memories with them.

Charles Xavier (a.k.a. Professor X) intervened to train and assist Jean Grey personally, imposing mental blocks to mitigate her trauma and restrain her potential in an effort to allow it to mature more gradually. From early on, it was apparent to Xavier that Jean Grey had Omega-level telepathic powers, latent though it was. She formed powerful bonds with all of the original X-Men, eventually entering into a sometimes rocky relationship with Scott Summers (Cyclops), establishing a very close friendship with Ororo Munroe (Storm), and also getting close to Logan (Wolverine).

Her true telekinetic potential was not known until it became apparent Jean Grey was linked to the Phoenix Force, a sentient primal power of the universe. Thought to be an aspect of the creation of the universe itself through the Big Bang, this entity sometimes awakens within living beings. The potential destruction wrought by Phoenix has necessitated drastic measures by cosmic entities, including reversing the flow of time. This capricious force is strongly influenced by the mind of whomever it inhabits, and few others have handled it as well.

Jean Grey quickly became the favored vessel of the Phoenix Force, and while under its influence she can generate nearly unlimited energy or absorb it in turn. Able to telekinetically manipulate atomic structures on any scale, she is surrounded by a whirling blaze of fire that resembles the mythological bird of her namesake, becoming larger as she wields more energy. By barely tapping into her reserves, Phoenix can entirely transform a battlefield, unleashing whirlwinds of fire and neutralizing the most formidable adversaries amid a conflagration. Yet she can also draw on her power to heal and reinvigorate her allies, channeling potent life-restoring flows of energy.

The most miraculous power of Phoenix is a type of indestructibility. Even when overwhelmed by an adversary, Jean Grey’s last restraints fall away and her eyes blaze with an inner fire to reveal Phoenix Unleashed, an even more terrifying apparition of retributive flame. The fire in her eyes consumes any lingering humanity. She has in the past become Dark Phoenix under this transformation, twisted by the Hellfire Club to lose her sanity and, caught up in madness, consumed entire stars. Jean Grey’s mind is strong, however, and her moral convictions serve (usually) to guide Phoenix in a more heroic direction. Even should Phoenix Unleashed be overwhelmed and Jean Grey’s body perish, the Phoenix Force will restore her to life again. She may be truly immortal.

Jean Grey has been a part of Marvel: Crisis Protocol for some time, previously presented in her less incendiary identity as a core member of the X-Men, focusing upon her tremendous telepathic and telekinetic powers. There are reasons that Charles Xavier sought to seal some of her potential, as most of her teammates view the emergence of Phoenix as a frightening, ill omen. But there are times and adversaries requiring unleashing such power. She is at Threat Value 6 for a reason, and were it not for Jean Grey’s restraint, this might have been even higher! She is one of the most legendary of X-Men characters, and her appearance in Crisis Protocol is a truly exciting event.

Phoenix has a unique playstyle, as Phoenix and Phoenix Unleashed are treated as distinct characters, each with their own miniatures, albeit they swap places via transformation. There is no Injured side of their shared Stat Card, though in some respects Phoenix Unleashed is akin to this state as it is only in this form that she can be KO’d. We’ll get to that soon. Along with this pair of miniatures, they also come with a pair of Flame Pillars, which Phoenix Unleashed can explosively create and which linger after to become extensions of her will.

Let’s look at Phoenix first. She has well-rounded and formidable defenses (4 Physical, 4 Energy, 5 Mystic), being more difficult to harm physically than prior Jean Grey. Her fiery state also brings added resilience, with a Stamina of 7. Worth noting that Phoenix is Flying and is immune to both Poison and Incinerate. Though Phoenix is most remembered for the burning fires she creates, she has control over all energy and can safeguard or restore her allies. She is a potent support character who can substantially mitigate incoming harm while dealing out her own. As she is a Psionic Nexus, she accumulates Power swiftly, also aided by damage inflicted by her bolts.

Phoenix’s first attack is Bolts of Flame, fired in relatively close range but packing a serious wallop (Range 3 and Strength 6). Firing these bolts restores Power to Phoenix proportionate to the damage dealt and also causes Incinerate, reducing a foe’s defense roll by 1 die.

While Firestorm is an attack of the same 6 Strength and costs 6 Power, it is an area attack extending Range 3 from Phoenix, so can hit multiple adversaries, also inflicting Incinerate. Due to the extraordinary control possessed by Phoenix, this Firestorm actually removes damage from allies instead of causing them harm, erasing injuries amid a cleansing flame.

Being Phoenix brings with it Cosmically Empowered Telekinesis, a superpower costing 3 Power, which allows her to Throw characters up to Size 5 or interactive terrain features Size 4 or lower, if she’s within Range 2 of one.

Once again proving fire isn’t always a bad thing, the Rejuvenating Flames active superpower can be a balm to an ally within Range 3, erasing some of their damage and also removing a special condition for only 2 Power, making it quite efficient.

Similarly, her Burning Resolve Reactive superpower can bolster a nearby ally for 3 Power, telekinetically keeping them in place even if enemies try to move them with their powers.

The most important innate superpower of Phoenix is I Am Fire and Life Incarnate, by which peril to her, or her friends, risks her transformation to Phoenix Unleashed. This process is tracked by Phoenix tokens, 1 of which will accumulate each time an ally is Dazed or KO’d. If Phoenix is herself Dazed, she gains 3 such tokens. And after the accumulation of 3 tokens, next turn, Phoenix Unleashed blazes onto the scene in her stead. Her accumulated Power and these tokens transfer to this new form. Bear in mind there’s no putting Phoenix back in her bottle once the fiery genie is Unleashed! (Except with the White-Hot Room, which we’ll get to.)

Let’s take a look at the terror set loose by the fulfillment of this power. Phoenix Unleashed has a whopping 10 Stamina, being even more resilient and difficult to quench. Amid her rage, her Energy Defense rises to 5, but her Mystic Defense lowers to 3, a consequence of changes to her mind. The eruption of the flaming Phoenix energies around her increases her Size to 4 and slows her Speed to Short. More significantly, all of her superpowers change. No longer is she focused on restoring the health of allies, though harm to them still escalates her rising temper.

Her new first attack becomes Phoenix Blast, which strikes to Range 4 and can destroy an interactive terrain feature of Size 2, 3, or 4. At the same time, a Flame Pillar is generated within Range 4 of Phoenix Unleashed, if two are not already in play. Performing such destruction gains her 1 Phoenix token.

The more costly second attack power is Molecular Disintegration, a Range 4 beam attack at 8 Strength which costs 6 Power. If its attack does not Daze or KO a target character, Phoenix Unleashed loses 1 Phoenix token.

By way of the Temporal Domination superpower, Phoenix Unleashed can gain 1 Phoenix token to allow a reroll of up to 3 dice in an attack or defense roll (once per turn), improving the accuracy of her attacks or helping evade those of the enemy. Adding Phoenix tokens is a risk that can eventually result in her exploding in a great blaze of flame but can also give her the edge required for victory.

All Are Beneath Me is an innate superpower that allows Phoenix Unleashed to send her attacks through either of her Flame Pillars, measuring Range and LOS from it instead, provoking Incineration. These Flame Pillars are easy come, easy go, and will vanish after being used to extend Phoenix Unleashed’s attack range.

Phoenix Unleashed can’t fight forever before her flames expire, but she does go out with a big bang. Untamed Cosmic Entity is the central innate superpower, which details the use of Phoenix tokens essential to her time on the battlefield. Each time Unleashed Phoenix Dazes or KO’s an enemy, she can shed 1 Phoenix token. But if an ally is Dazed or KO’d, this gains 1 token. This is important because at the end of her activation, if she has 5 or more tokens (or would ordinarily flip the Stat Card to the Injured side), there will be a large explosion extending Range 5 from Phoenix Unleashed, with effects proportionate to the results of dice based on the number of Phoenix tokens held. This flaming explosion damages characters (friend or foe alike) and destroys terrain features but also KO’s Phoenix Unleashed at the end of the blast.

Don’t worry, she’ll be back soon enough, once the Phoenix Force makes her body whole again in the White-Hot Room (see below)!

Along with two character miniatures and her Flame Pillars, Phoenix also comes with three potent Team Tactic Cards. The first of these, I Am Reborn, can come into play when Phoenix is Dazed and about to turn into Phoenix Unleashed, pushing away and incinerating everyone within Range 2 of her.

A Phoenix isn’t worthy of the name unless it can burn to ash and rise again. For the Phoenix Force, there exists a special extra-dimensional space serving as a nexus for all realities, referred to as the White-Hot Room. This is where the mind and spirit of Jean Grey is sent when her body would otherwise perish, and from which she will return again, good as new! The White-Hot Room is a Reactive Team Tactic Card that can allow Phoenix a one-time return to the battlefield after Phoenix Unleashed has been KO’d, though it takes a little while. It’s entirely possible the battle may be over before she can get back, but if her allies can endure, she will return.

The fact that this card must be discarded should not discourage you that Phoenix is truly gone if she gets KO’d again; it just means it’ll take longer for her to return.

Flames of Life is the last of Phoenix’s Team Tactic Cards, representing her manipulation of living energies related to the flames already set in motion on the battlefield. This card behaves differently for Phoenix than Phoenix Unleashed. It’s a fact that Phoenix’s attacks tend to set people on fire (Incinerate), and Phoenix can draw on those flames, quenching them, to use that energy instead to heal her friends. This allows her to eliminate a Phoenix token. Things are a little darker with Phoenix Unleashed, who can instead manipulate her Flame Pillars to Incinerate characters near her, and then draw that energy to herself, recharging her own power. Doing so makes her gain a Phoenix token.

That will wrap up our From Panel to Play, reassuring with the knowledge that Phoenix will always come back and be ready to light things on fire, no matter what happens to her. Be sure to pick her up and let her spend some quality time with her fellow X-Men, keeping things warm and lively for everyone. Check back later for another From Panel to Play, the series where we give you your first look at how your favorite characters transition to the tabletop in Marvel: Crisis Protocol.

Until next time, Atomic Mass Games, signing off!