Character review – Magik

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Ministravaganza gave us plenty to look at and talk about – We finally saw the Character cards for Ms. Marvel and the Hulkbuster, and we also got the big reveal of the second wave of X-Men – Gambit, Colossus, Magik and Rogue. Although we didn’t get all of their character cards, we did get a look at the ones for Magik and Rogue.

Today I’m going to break down and review the character card for Magik, and take a look at what she might bring to the table. We did see the Unhealthy side of her character card during the stream, and like most other characters nothing actually changes.

Magik is the younger sister of the Russian X-Men member Colossus, who we all know from the Deadpool movies and many many comics. She first appeared in Giant size X-Men #1, and since then she has been a feature in plenty of the Uncanny X-Men comics. Her main mutant power is her abilities of Teleportation, although she is also a capable Sorcerer.

Magik

As always I’m going to start off with the character stat line. Magik has a very average set of stats for a three threat – She has five health either side, a Medium move and is size two like most other human sized characters. Her defences are the only place where she has something slightly above average, as she has 3/3/4. The higher Mystic defence is always welcome and is going to come in handy on the back of all of the Mystic releases!

Attacks

Magik has three different attacks on her character card. The first one is Bolts of Oshtur, which is a range four, four dice energy attack that costs you zero power. After the attack is resolved, Magik gains one power. Sadly I don’t see this attack dealing much damage, unless your picking out specifically weak targets like Carnage and Hawkeye.

Magik’s second attack is Soulsword. This feels like it is more her go to builder, and I do find it odd that it’s listed as her second attack rather than her first over Bolts. Soulsword is a range two, five dice Mystic attack that costs zero power. After the attack is resolved, the character gains power equal to the damage dealt. On the roll of a Wild it has the Pierce trigger – Which is a great special rule to have, especially on a Mystic attack as that is generally the lowest defence. In a situation where you need the guaranteed one power you might go for the Bolts of Oshtur, but as I said I think you’ll generally be using the Soulsword to deal damage and gain power.

Magik’s final attack is Darkchylde. This is a costly attack, and is going to set Magik back four power, but I would say it is definitely worth it. It’s a range three attack that throws six Mystic dice, but it’s special rules are what really make it shine. When calculating successes for this attack, Magik adds the number of failure (Skull) results in both the attack and the defence rolls to its total. The only other character we have seen with a similar rule to this is Dormammu, and it can really add some spikiness to your attacks. If your opponent rolls a couple of Skulls, not only are they failures and can’t be modified – They are also adding to your total successes. The icing on the cake for this attack is that after it is resolved, the target characters gains the Bleed and Incinerate special conditions – If Darkchylde hasn’t already finished them off.

Superpowers

Limbo Step

Magik has two Superpowers, the first being active and the second being Innate. Limbo Step is the active superpower, and I think it is the highlight of Magik’s card. With a power cost of X, Limbo Step gives Magik a super versatile place. Magik may spend 1 to 3 power to use this Superpower. Once you have, you can place this character within X of it’s current position – Where X is the amount of power spent.

This is such a unique and useful place – The fact you can tailor the distance based on your needs, and then only have to spend the respective power is insane. With a character like Miles Morales, spending two power to place within three with his Web Swing when you only need to move ever so slightly might feel like a slight waste of power. With Magik, she can simply spend one – Then placing herself within one and being super efficient with her power.

The only restriction on this Superpower is that it can only be used once per turn – So although you can’t just keep placing until you run out of power, there is nothing stopping you from using it whilst holding an objective. This is going to open up some real movement Shenanigans, and can act as either a Charge or a Hit and Run if needs be. In an affiliation like the Midnight Sons or Uncanny X-Men (Led by Storm) where there is already movement shenanigans, your going to be able to really leverage some movement from Magik with Limbo Step.

Sorcerer Supreme of Limbo

Magik’s final superpower is the Sorcerer Supreme of Limbo, and as it is innate it requires no power cost to use. When Defending against a Mystic attack, for each Wild in the Defence roll, Magik can change one of the attackers Hits, Crits or Wilds to a Blank. This is sort of like reverse Pierce, and we have seen a very similar rule on the newest Doctor Strange. The nice bonus is that for each dice you change this way, Magik gains one power. Although this isn’t going to make her completely invulnerable to Mystic attacks, it should quite regularly be triggered and help mitigate some damage and let Magik gain some extra power. You will have the occasional Spikey rolls, where Magik gets a couple or even a few Wilds, leaving her Mystic attacker confused as to why their attack didn’t do a fat lot.

So overall Magik is a very interesting package for three threat. Her builder attacks might not be doing tons of damage, but for a three threat Darkchylde gives Magik access to some serious offensive potential. Limbo step is an amazing Superpower, and I think Magik will find a role as a Hit and Run assassin and as an objective character. She definitely fills a gap for the Uncanny X-Men, and I’m sure Dom and Jon will be happy to be able to add her to their rosters. Let me know down in the comments what you think, and whether you believe in Magik!

As always please leave a thumbs up if you enjoyed reading, or a thumbs down if you didn’t! Please comment with any thoughts you have on Magik, and where you might be using her! Board in Brum still currently has some sales on, including the Uncanny X-Men leaders, which you can find here!

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