The Clix Gentleman Rules Round Up 001: Nu Rules

Posted August 4th, 2021 by Joe Pangrazio


With the Clix Cup behind us, in person Heroclix looks to be making a strong return. As such, the new rules are going to become even more important to understand. And with that, any clarifications or errata become important to become aware of. So, with that, I'm going to try and keep an eye on the WIN (found here) to see what may be sneaking by our collective awareness.

First up, I want to highlight an errata that isn't in the new rules section (but is new rules related).

050 Mary Shazam

[E] SHAZAM! Once per turn, when Mary Shazam hits an opposing character with a close attack, after resolutions she may make a close attack using Quake and must choose to target all adjacent opposing characters.

So, this ties into the next entry, but it does bring Mary in line with the other similar effects. She gets to make a close attack but she has to use Quake and target all adjacent opposing characters. Which leads us into this fun little bit.

(Source) If a power/ability has an effect that triggers off the use of Quake, the effect now only triggers if you chose to use the optional effect of targeting all adjacent opposing characters (even if there is only one target, you may still choose the optional effect).

If a power/ability allowed the use of Quake “as FREE”, the effect is now instead an effect that states “FREE: Make a close attack using Quake and must target all adjacent opposing characters.”

If a power/ability allowed the use of Quake “at no cost” (either within an action or as part of a triggered effect), the effect is now instead an effect that states “Make a close attack using Quake and must target all adjacent opposing characters.”

- Since Quake is now a passive effect that grants an optional trigger, these clarifications allow older effects to function as close to original intent as possible.


So, this is a big one. People may not realize it, but this was needed for Quake to kind of work at all (and not just trigger off of characters using the KNOCKBACK keyphrase it grants). There was (/is) a ruling that powers that can be activated with an action only count as being used when you use that action. So, a character never uses Force Blast unless they are given the POWER to activate its effect. The comp contradicts this, but rulings and hard rules can be in conflict some times.

The issue comes in with Quake. Because we now have a Clarification, we know that Quake was only meant to be activated if you used the targeting portion of the power. However, because Quake is all passive now, it meant one of two things: 1) using KNOCKBACK qualified as using Quake (which could lead to some weird interactions) or 2) no character could ever actually use Quake (because passives don't count).

Thankfully Wizkids came through with the general errata/clarification so Quake now works as it should. Hopefully it makes it way onto physical rules documentation so people understand it going forward.

This next entry isn't super new, but is still quite relevant.

If a character has PROTECTED: Penetrating/Psychic Blast or PROTECTED: Exploit Weakness, it can be targeted with attacks by characters that can use either of those powers but treats the penetrating damage dealt by those effect as non-penetrating damage instead.

If a character has PROTECTED: Incapacitate, it can be targeted with attacks by characters that can use that power but can't be given action tokens by the effect.

- Since Penetrating/Psychic Blast, Exploit Weakness, and Incapacitate are now a passive effects, these clarifications allow the PROTECTED effect to function as close to original intent as possible against those powers.


This is important for powers that allow free attacks that must use these passives. You still can use those passives to attack characters with those PROTECTED /SAFEGUARD(s), you just don't get to use the additional effect. And while it hurts free attacks that use Incap a bit more, it leaves the penetrating attacks more or less usable (since you still get to deal normal damage).

And here's one that I felt coming but still hurts a little...

(Source) References to "Named Themed Teams" or "Generic Themed Teams" are now considered to reference "Themed Teams".

- Since there are no longer Named or Generic Themed Teams, this clarification allows effects that look for either of those types of themed teams to function as close to original intent as possible. Note that this clarification does not apply to effects looking for a themed team that uses a specific keyword.


All themed teams are now equal in the eyes of Holy Wizkids. This could lead to some odd interactions with old figures but overall, will not mean much. I will also reiterate what the WIN says, this doesn't change any effects that look for themed teams with a specific keyword. Or that allows multiple keywords to be treated as one when establishing themed teams. Those still work the same.

NEW SECTION

12.4c “Instead of Normal Damage”

Some attacks don’t deal normal damage and use the phrase “instead of normal damage.” You deal the specified amount of damage, or apply the specified effect, instead of dealing (or dividing) the attacker’s damage value to the target(s).

If multiple optional effects that do something “instead of normal damage” would apply, the active player chooses one to apply and the others are ignored.

As per above, the concept of “Instead of Normal Damage” was given it’s own entry. Additionally, we added the word “optional” to the second paragraph for better clarity (When activating an action that includes a non-optional "instead of normal damage" effect, players must apply that effect and ignore any other "instead of normal damage" effects).

Buried in the explanation is a very important detail. When there are multiple “instead of” effects, if one is non-optional (say, Mind Control, that you have to use because you activated the power) you have to use that one. You cannot “switch” to an optional instead of effect. This is better for the game and if effects are clearly optional or non-optional going forward, this will be much better for general understanding of the game.

And that's it for this week.

If you have any questions or comments, you can send them along to joenexus36@gmail.com And if you appreciate these articles and the site itself, you can always support us on Patreon. Every little bit helps.

Until next time, please be courteous, be kind, and read the rules.

Login

Quick Search

Seperate terms with "|" to search multiple terms

© 2024 ClixNexus - All Rights Reserved.