Defenders

Doctor Strange and Wong

Get ready for a two-for-one Panel to Play! In today’s Transmission, we are looking at Doctor Stephen Strange and his loyal companion Wong.

Once, Doctor Stephen Strange was a masterful—if arrogant—surgeon. A car crash robbed Strange of his ability to perform surgery, reducing his once fine hands to ruin of twisted bones and damaged nerves. In search of healing, Strange wandered the world and exhausted his funds, eventually becoming a drifter. It was then that he met the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth. From the Ancient One, Strange learned the mystical arts, mastering them and eventually taking up his mentor’s mantle as the world’s defender against mystical threats.

Wong is the companion and protector of the Sorcerer Supreme. Born in the hidden land of Kamar-Taj, Wong is the most recent in a long line who swore their loyalty to the Ancient One. From early childhood, Wong has studied the mystic and martial arts, mastering them in order to serve in his role. Upon reaching adulthood, the Ancient One sent him to the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York to defend Doctor Strange. Since then he has stayed by the Sorcerer Supremes’ side.

Doctor Strange and Wong both have miniatures that capture their approaches to conflict. The Sorcerer Supreme stands confidently amid a massive whirling mandala of mystic runes and shapes (the Shield of the Seraphim, perhaps?) while magical winds whip at his cloak.

Meanwhile, Wong stands in a defensive position drawing on the martial arts of Kamar-Taj. His miniature is poised to leap into action against any who would threaten the Sorcerer Supreme.

Doctor Strange skillfully commands the mystic arts in battle. His rules mirror this mastery with a set of potent and quite tricky attacks and superpowers.

When it comes to attacking, the good doctor doesn’t rely on the brute force of Physical attacks, using Energy and, appropriately, Mystic attack types instead. This gives Doctor Strange an edge on his foes, who often are less resilient to these attack types. Bolts of Bedevilment has a decent Range 4, but the iconic Crimson Bands of Cytorak attack is a true showstopper. By default, this attack allows Doctor Strange to inflict the Stagger special condition, but if the attack roll produces a critical, wild, and a regular hit, Doctor Strange can use the Mystic Binding special rule instead, giving the target an activated token—monkeying with your opponent’s action economy as a result!

Doctor Strange has four different superpowers, each taken from one of the many classic spells the Sorcerer Supreme has used in defending the world from mystical threats. Each one is potent and useful, but special mention goes to the Eye of Agamotto innate power. Not only does this permit Doctor Strange to modify and reroll failures, once per attack he can reroll all the dice of an attack or defense roll. Wielding a Vishanti’s weapon of wisdom has its benefits!

Doctor Strange defends the world aided by his loyal protector, Wong. While he lacks the breadth of abilities the Sorcerer Supreme possesses, he is a valuable addition to any crisis team’s roster! With a Threat of 2, Wong can help to fill in the gaps and put another character on the field, which can be quite useful when you’re trying to secure valuable assets or hold critical locations.

Wong’s rules are a reflection of his role in supporting Doctor Strange. Most of his superpowers benefit other characters in Wong’s vicinity, from Faithful Assistant which allows a friendly character within Range 3 to gain 1 additional power to the potent The Vishanti’s Blessing power that allows an ally of Wong to remove 2 damage or a special condition.

That’s all for our look at this duo of magical protectors. Be sure to check back when From Panel to Play returns, as we take a look at another of the characters coming to Marvel: Crisis Protocol.

See you then! Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off.