Panel-To-Play: Mirage & Havok

The mutant corner of the Marvel Universe continues to grow with Mirage and Havok joining Marvel: Crisis Protocol. With new Leaderships for the New Mutants and X-Factor, both characters give mutant players new ways to approach the battlefield and build their rosters.

Dani Moonstar, also known as Mirage, is a member of the Cheyenne people and has served as both a member and leader of the New Mutants. Her psychic abilities allow her to manifest images of a person’s deepest fears or desires, while also creating weapons from her own mind.

That psychic connection is at the heart of how Mirage plays. Neurokinetic Arrows gives her a Range 5 Mystic attack with Neural Connection on a Wild, placing a Neural Connection token on the target. Only one of these tokens can be in play at a time, but Mirage can move it to a new target when the opportunity presents itself.

Once an enemy is connected, things start to get interesting. Figment of Fantasy allows Mirage to spend 2 Power to Advance an enemy character Short regardless of Size. Normally that character needs to be within Range 1, but an enemy carrying her Neural Connection token can be manipulated from as far away as Range 5. Afterward, the token is removed.

Telepathic Emotion Manifestation gives Mirage another way to cash in that connection. When an enemy attacks, she can spend 2 Power to interfere with the attack during the Modify Dice step if the attacker is nearby or carrying her Neural Connection token. Stealth makes approaching her at range more difficult, giving Mirage room to establish those connections before deciding how she wants to use them.

She is not limited to manipulating the enemy either. Dark Angel is a Strength 7 Mystic attack that can trigger Rapid Fire on a Wild and Critical, allowing Mirage to immediately make another Dark Angel attack against the same character.

She also brings Coming of Age as a Leadership for the New Mutants. When an allied character flips its Stat Card to its Injured side, it gains 3 Power and a Self Discovery token. That token adds 3 dice to the character’s defense and dodge rolls until the end of its activation. A New Mutant getting Dazed can suddenly return with more Power and a much better chance of weathering whatever comes next.

Confront the Demon Bear gives Mirage another way to establish Neural Connection when she needs it most. For 2 Power and an action, she gains access to Soul Pierce, a Range 5, Strength 7 Mystic attack that places the Neural Connection token on the defender. It gives her a direct way to connect with the character she wants before putting the rest of her kit to work.

Next up is Havok.

Alex Summers, better known as Havok, is the younger brother of Cyclops and a powerful mutant who has served as both an X-Man and leader of X-Factor. Able to absorb cosmic energy and release it as powerful plasma blasts, Alex has spent much of his heroic career forging an identity and path separate from his older brother.

As you might expect, Havok brings plenty of plasma to the table. Plasma Blast is a Range 4 Energy attack that generates Power from the damage dealt and can hand out Incinerate on a Wild. Plasma Wave gives him something much bigger to work with, firing a Beam 4 attack across the battlefield with Pierce available on a Wild.

The real question is how much plasma Havok can afford to throw around. Cosmic Energy Absorption costs no Power and uses an action to immediately give him 2 Power. From there, Blast Off can spend that Power to Place him within Range 2.

That combination opens up some interesting activations. Havok can generate the Power he needs, reposition without spending a move action, and line himself up for the attack that matters most.

Plasma Dispersion makes those attacks even more dependable. For each Wild in his attack roll, Havok can change one die to a Hit. He is also immune to Incinerate, which is fitting for someone constantly surrounded by plasma energy of his own.

His X-Factor Leadership, Government Sanctioned, brings consistency to the rest of the squad as well. During the Power Phase, up to three allied characters can receive an X-Gene token. When one of those characters attacks or defends, it can spend the token to reroll up to 2 dice.

Tactical Operation gives X-Factor another way to capitalize when an enemy carrying an extract goes down. After that character is Dazed or KO’d, an allied X-Factor character can Advance its Speed and then interact with any number of objective tokens without spending Power. When an extract hits the ground, X-Factor can be ready to move in immediately.

Mutant X asks for a much bigger investment. Havok spends 5 Power, drops any objective tokens he is holding, and can then be Placed within Range 5. Afterward, another nearby allied character gains Alternate Reality for the rest of the game. The first time that character deals damage with an attack during each of its activations, it can remove 1 damage from itself.

Between those two Tactic Cards, Havok has more ways to suddenly change his position than opponents may expect from a character built around ranged firepower.

Mirage and Havok bring two distinct approaches to the battlefield, backed by some incredible looking sculpts and new Leaderships to build around. Which one are you most excited to bring to the table?

Next week, we’ll continue our mutant spotlight with Jubilee and Multiple Man!

Till next time,
Atomic Mass Games