Marvel X-Men the Animated Series, the Dark Phoenix Saga HeroClix Preview

Another new Marvel HeroClix set is on the Horizon, and WizKids has provided ComicBook.com with four exclusive previews. The new set is Marvel HeroClix: X-Men the Animated Series, the Dark Phoenix Saga. The set draws inspiration from the popular animated series that introduced a legion of fans to X-Men and the Marvel Universe on Saturday mornings in the 1990s but also draws wider inspiration from the entirety of 1990s X-Men comics.

This set is special because every booster is a super booster. That means each five-figure boosters includes four standard figures and one 2x2 base figures. Our four previews include three standard figures and one of those 2x2 figures. Let's take a look:

Up first is 042 Colossus, a standard-sized super rare. Colossus is a longtime X-Man, but this version of the character represents the time in the 1990s when he defected from the X-Men and joined the Magneto-worshiping cult called the Acolytes, which is reflected in his design. Nonetheless, he still gets the X-Men keyword, as well as the Acolytes and the Excalibur keyword. He also gets the X-Men team ability and the Brotherhood of Mutants team ability. He costs 75 points to play.

Colossus has the Mutant Messiah trait shared by all Acolytes figures. The trait reads, "At the beginning of the game, for all characters with this trait, choose a friendly character with the Acolytes or Brotherhood of Mutants or X-Men keyword. That character can use Mastermind, but only to choose characters with this trait."

Colossus' betrayal is represented by the "Temporary Traitor" trait. It reads, "When Colossus is KO'd, don't remove him from the map. Instead, turn him to click #1 and an opponent places him adjacent to a character on their force. He is now friendly to that opponent's force. For the rest of the game, if Colossus would take damage, instead remove him from the game without scoring him."

He also starts with a special defense power called "Defend the Defenseless," which gives him Defend and Invincible as well as, "During an attack, adjacent friendly characters that replace their defense value with Colossus' can use Invulnerability." Colossus starts with 18 defense to share via defense, plus 9 move, 11 attack, and 4 damage. His dial includes Charge, Sidestep, Super Strength, Invulnerability, Toughness, Exploit Weakness, and Perplex. He's an efficient and powerful melee piece and a team player. HeroClix players will have to weigh that against the potential backfire of that "Temporary Traitor" trait.

Up next is one of this set's chase figures. The chase theme is the Hellfire Club, key players in "The Dark Phoenix Saga" that gives the set part of its name. Our figure is 044 Donald Pierce, the cyborg member of the Hellfire Club who went on after "The Dark Phoenix Saga" to lead the Reavers. As such, he has the Hellfire Club, Reavers, Robot, and Scientist keywords. He costs 100 points to play.

Donald Pierce packs a version of the shared Inner Circle Club trait tailored to his role as the White bishop. It grants him PROTECTED: Outwit as well as "When Donald Pierce KO's a higher-point character, after resolution remove all action tokens from him and heal him 2 clicks." He has a second trait called "Humans Will Not Be Relaced By Homo Superior." It reads, "When Donald Piece attacks a higher-point character, modify his attack and damage #1. Donald Piece can reduce penetration damage dealt to him by higher point characters." Sounds like a figure built to punch above his weight class.

He also has two special powers. He starts with the attack power "Morphing Cybernetic Arms," which grants "FREE: Choose a standard attack power. Donald Pierce can use the chosen power until your next turn." He has that power until his last click when he loses everything but his defense power, "Nothing Left But My Head." That's a STOP power and reads, "When this power is revealed, place Donald Piece on his card then generate a 'Donald Pierce's Head' object in the square he last occupied. If Donald Pierce is on his card and 'Donald Pierce's Head' is KO'd or he's the only character on your force, KO Donald Pierce."

"Donald Pierce's Head" is light object equipment that is Indestructible. It reads, "If this object is in Donald Pierce's starting area, adjacent characters can be given a DOUBLE POWER action to place Donald Pierce in the object's square on click #2 and then remove this object from the game," offering a chance to rebuild the cyborg. His dial also includes Charge, Sidestep, and Invulnerability.

Now let's look at the big guys! We're starting with one of the first-ever Prime Colossal figures, the G001b Stealth Sentinel. Based on the piloted Sentinels of the O*N*E, the Stealth Sentinel gets the Sentinel, Armor, and Robot keywords and has starting lines at 200, 150, and 100 points. Note on the card that the figure has two different dials, one with red numbers and the other with blue numbers. The red dial appears more aggressive, while the blue dial seems more defensive.

Stealth Sentinel packs two traits. The first is "Prime Directive," which reads, "At the beginning of your turn, Stealth Sentinel may move 1 square. If an opposing character with the X-Men or Brotherhood of Mutants keyword is on the ap, it may move 1 additional square." Its second trait is "Power Adaptation," granting "Stealth Sentinel can't be healed accept by this trait: FREE: Turn it to the same click number of a different color, then heal 1 click," allowing easy healing and a way to swap dials.

Stealth Sentinel has two special powers. On the entirety of the blue dial, it has "Stealth Capture Mode," granting Icapacitate, Poison, and Smoke Cloud as FREE. On the final two clicks of the red dial, it has the Emergency systems, a STOP click that grants Toughness. Between the two dials, Stealth Sentinel packs Running Shot, Charge, Sidestep, Stealth, Penetrating/Psychic Blast, Quake, Invincible, Invulnerability, Toughness, Super Senses, Combat Reflexes, Close Combat Expert, Ranged Combat Expert, Probability Control, and Shape Change.

Our final preview is the Super Rare 2x2 G024 Madrox. As you can tell by the sculpt, this represents the Multiple Man in horde mode. As such, he's packing quite a few keywords: X-Factor, X-Men, Assassin, Celebrity, Detective, Pirate, Police, Politician, Reporter, Scientist, Soldier, and Spy. He has starting lines at 400, 300, 200, and 100 points.

Madrox has two traits. The first is "I Can't See the Bottom fo the Pile Yet." It reads, "At the beginning of the game, generate a number of Madrox Dupe bystanders corresponding to his point value" at 1 for every 100 points of Madrox. Also, "If Madrox would be KO'd while adjacent to a Madrox Dupe, instead KO one of those bystanders and turn him to click #22." Madrox's second trait is "The Original Multiple Man." It reads, "When Madro is hit by an attack or hits with a close attack, after resolution generate a Madrox Dupe bystander." Those Madrox Dupe tokens pack Plasticity, Energy Shield/Deflection, and Empower (and can be found printed on the back of one of the tokens included in this set's Dice and Tokens pack).

Madrox has two special powers. On attack, he has "The Copies Have Been Learning on Their Own." It reads, "Madrox and his Madrox Dupes can use the standard attack and damage powers that opposing characters adjacent to them can use" ON damage, they have "Argh! Stop Making New Layers!" which grants Shape Change and "When he uses it, on a result of 5 generate a Madrox Dupe bystander and on a result of 6 generate two Madrox Dupe bystanders. Protected: Outwit." The rest of the dial includes Sidestep, Plasticity, Flurry, Energy Shield/Deflection, and Empower.

What do you think of these Marvel HeroClix: X-Men the Animated Series, the Dark Phoenix Saga previews? Let us know in the comments! Pre-release events begin on September 4th and the set goes on sale on September 11th. Check with your local game store for more details.