Character review – New Captain America

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I thought we’d finish off the week with another character review, and seen as we looked at an updated leader yesterday, I thought we’d now take a look at one of the first ever leaders we got – Captain America! We haven’t seen the unhealthy side to his character card just yet, but I’m going to just make some assumptions based off of what we have seen so far and his old card.

When the game first released, Cap was an absolute tank that could shield his friends from incoming damage. However as more pushes and pulls got added to the game, and more and more new characters started to hit the table, Cap got left behind a little. More recently with the addition of Sam Wilson, old Cap has seen less and less table time, even within his own affiliation. With some small buffs and changes though, Cap is set to return with a bang, as he’s bought more in line with the newer characters! 

A day unlike any other

Nothing on his card has drastically changed – But there have been a nice few bonuses and buffs here and there. Caps leadership is still the same as it has always been – And for those of you who might not be familiar with it, what it does is reduces the power cost of the first superpower used by each allied character once per turn, to a minimum of one. 

This is a great leadership that’s sometimes overlooked, and it really helps with some characters that are power hungry. Characters like Black Cat who have powerful superpowers like Master Cat Burglar really like the power reduction, and models like Steve himself who have the bodyguard mechanic really benefit from the reduction too, as they might use their superpower three or four times a round. Almost any character will feel the benefits of this leadership, and models with lots of reactive and active powers will always make use of the reduction. 

Steve Rogers 

Throughout hundreds of comics, and numerous MCU movies, Steve Rogers has become the soldier out of time that has stolen many peoples hearts. The most important part of Steve is that he is a good man, as well as a good soldier, and that’s what made him Captain America. Possibly one of the most iconic Marvel characters ever, a lot of people are happy to see Steve getting a rework and some updates!

Captain America

Starting off by looking at his basic stats, assuming that on his injured side his Stamina still bumps up to six, Steve’s stats are still very much the same. For four threat you get a size two hero who moves medium, and has five stamina on his healthy side with a solid set of defences at 4/4/3. Assuming his defences stay the same, and that his stamina does bump up, Cap has a total of eleven health across both his sides. This is pretty average for a four threat hero, although Cap does have some superpowers that make him into an absolute tank.

Attacks 

Cap still has the same three attacks he had before, although each one has changed slightly. His first attack and main builder is just called Strike – it’s a range two physical attack that rolls five dice. After the attack is resolved, Cap gains power equal to the damage dealt. Previously on the trigger of a Wild, before damage is dealt Cap would be able to push the target away Small if they were size two or less. This has now been increased, to let Cap push away characters up to size three – Which includes models like Thanos or Ultron. This makes the push a lot more useful, and it makes sense that Cap would be able to throw down with the big boys – He is America’s first Super Soldier after all.

Caps second attack is Shield throw, which has also had small changes. It’s a zero cost, range four physical attack, and it now rolls five dice instead of four. It also gained the special rule that after the attack is resolved, Cap gains one power. The attack still ignores Line of sight and Cover, and on the trigger of a Wild you still get the Ricochet special rule, which means you can make another attack against a different target within three of the original target. Of course now if you’re making the Ricochet attack, Cap will be gaining two power in total, which is a nice buff. This attack is definitely going to see some more use, the extra dice helping it be a lot more reliable and increasing your odds of getting the Wild.

The last attack that Cap brings to the table is Shield Slam. For two power, Cap gets to make a range two physical attack that rolls six dice. You used to be able to throw the target small after the attack was resolved if they were size two or less, but now that size restriction has been increased to three. Again, this makes sense as we’ve seen Cap perform extreme feats of strength that no normal man could – So characters like Kingpin and Venom are going to have to watch out for Cap throwing them away or into their friends.

Superpowers 

Cap still only has two superpowers on his healthy side, both of which are reactive – And the same as they were before. The first one is Bodyguard, which let’s Cap jump in the way of attacks that target his allies. For two power, when an ally within two of Cap is targeted by an attack, he can use this power to take the hit for them – Regardless of range and line of sight. This is a really solid superpower, and it’s what makes characters like Okoye so good. Having it strapped to a tankier model like Cap means you’ll be able to use him to protect some of your weaker characters, and having Cap take a hit that could of Dazed one of his allies can be really, really useful – And frustrating for your opponent.

Caps second Superpower is Vibranium Shield. When defending against a Physical or Energy attack, Cap can use this Superpower to add two dice to his defence rolls. Cap can use this with Bodyguard, so suddenly that four dice attack that might of Dazed Black Widow bounces harmlessly off of Caps Shield. This really helps to cement Cap as a tank, although you’ll still need to watch out for Mystic attacks. 

As I said earlier, we haven’t actually seen the official updated version of Caps injured side. For now we’re just going to have assume that it gains the same buffs as it did before. One of these buffs is an extra point of stamina, and the second is the Superpower I Can Do This All Day. This power is phenomenal, as it gives Cap the bonus that when defending against attacks, he adds blanks to his total number of successes – Including against Mystic attacks. Once Cap has this superpower up, he becomes one of the best Bodyguards in the game, as six dice Physical or Energy defence counting blanks is no joke. Hopefully we will still see this carried over onto his new card, as it’s a great and thematic rule that really gives Cap some stopping power. 

Overall with Caps new changes, he feels much more at home in the current meta. Being able to push and throw some of the bigger models really adds some use to Caps attacks, and means he can do more to disrupt the enemy team than just Bodyguarding his allies. The fact that Shield Throw now gains you guaranteed power means your going to have much better control of Caps power gain, and you should always have the power you need for his Superpowers. I’m not sure if this means Cap will start to see more play outside of his affiliation, but we definitely might see more people returning to use the original Captain America in Avengers.

Sam Spam is still dominating tournaments at the moment, but there might be some hidden gems that emerge once people start playing the old Cap with the new characters. I think a list with both Caps using Steve’s leadership is definitely viable, as Sam loves being able to Charge and Air Lift at a reduced cost. Please let me know in the comments below your thoughts on the updated Captain, and where you might be planning to try him out!

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