Who Is Angel?
Warren Worthington III, better known as Angel, first appeared in X-Men #1 in 1963, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. Born into a wealthy family, Warren discovered his feathered wings when he was a teenager, leading him to become one of the original members of the X-Men. Angel fought with a number of teams over the years not only for the forces of good with the X-Men, X-Factor and Avengers but also against them during his time as a servant of Apocalypse.
Character Card
For base stats, Angel has 3 defence in all areas which is fairly common for a 3 threat character however only 5 health on both his healthy and injured side makes him a little fragile. A medium base with a medium move and flight gives him good mobility which he may need to rely on to keep himself alive.
Flyby is Angel’s first attack a 4 dice beam that gains him one power after each attack. Additionally he has to place within range one of the last character attacked. A beam that gains power is often going to be useful to generate power. The low damage output will matter less than the power that you can guarantee by placing the beam on as many enemies as possible. You’ll need to think carefully when using this attack as the place at the end is not optional. If you need to stay where you are, it might not be worth using this attack. There is some limited control you will have over this as you can choose the order in which you target the opponent to ensure you are placed optimally.
Avenging Angel is Angel’s spender, a range 3, 7 dice physical attack for 3 power. After the attack it can throw a size 3 or less target short, and if a wild was rolled can give the target stun. There is a theme in the X-Men 3 threats of 3 cost, 7 dice spenders with varying effects. Unfortunately a stun and a size 3 throw after the fact may not be what Angel is looking for most of the time.
Airlift is Angel’s first superpower allowing him to spend 2 power when he moves to place a friendly character within range 2 of its current position. This is a superpower shared with Captain America (Sam) and is one that is very often useful. You can use it to reposition allies back onto secures, out of range of enemies or in range to attack later in the turn.
Hostile Takeover is Angel’s second superpower which acts much like Airlift but against enemies. For 2 power he can choose an enemy within range 2 when he begins a move action, and push them short toward him at the end of that move. There is no size limit to this push which means that even giants like the Hulk can be hoisted into the air and taken over. As a push rather than a place it does restrict him slightly as it won’t work on characters who are immune to being pushed such as Ultron, Metal Tyrant.
For passive abilities Angel has healing factor and flight.
Verdict
Angel is an almost pure support character. He shines at repositioning both allies and enemies during the course of the battle. His kit will fit right in with a Storm-led X-Men team for those extra defensive re-rolls and mobility or with Professor X to boost his teammates power generation via reactive superpowers. To make up for his fragile defenses, he’ll want to rely on his mobility and use the X-Men’s defensive cards like Xavier’s Dream to stay alive. Due to this fragility it will take practice to make the most of his kit and he won’t be an every game piece, but a 3 threat who can reposition as much as he can will have a welcome home in multiple affiliations. B+
Who Is Archangel?
After being abducted by the mutant Apocalypse, Warren Worthington III was subjected to a horrific process that replaced his feathered wings with metallic, razor-sharp, poisonous ones. This transformation not only enhanced his abilities, granting him increased strength, but also altered his personality, as Apocalypse manipulated him into becoming one of his Horsemen, known as Death.
As Archangel, Warren struggled with his dual identity, battling the remnants of his former self while grappling with the violent tendencies instilled by Apocalypse. His journey led him to seek redemption, eventually rejoining the X-Men, where he worked to regain control over his life and powers. Archangel’s complex relationships with fellow mutants, particularly with Psylocke, further added depth to his character as they navigated love and loyalty amidst the chaos of their lives.
Character Card
Stat wise Archangel is similar to his feathered counterpart with marginally better physical and mystic defence and one additional health on his injured side for an additional cost in threat. He has the same speed with a medium move, medium base and flight but has lost healing factor.
Razor Wing Strike is his first attack, a range 3, 5 dice physical builder. For each wild he can give the target bleed or poison and on a critical he places himself within range 1 of the target. There are a couple of nuances to this attack. Firstly as the attack deals conditions for each wild he can give out multiple conditions with one attack. This is particularly useful under Apocalypse as with his You Will Be Remade Through Me superpower if you give an opponent a condition they already have Apocalypse can turn it into a different condition. The Overwing stipulation means that even if he does not want to place within 1 of the target he has to, similar to Ambush on Beast‘s attack.
Avatar of Death is Archangel’s spender. A range 3, 7 dice physical attack for 3 power. On a wild the target gains the stagger condition or, if they already have the bleed and poison conditions they get an activated token. As Razor wing strike has the potential to deal both of those conditions in one attack it’s possible in one activation for Archangel to give an enemy character the activated condition straight away. 7 dice for 3 power is average for a spender attack but the potential to stagger or activate an opponent is very strong. When looking at the other effects that give out an activated token, the requirement of bleed and poison is relatively easy to do and a wild on 7 dice is around 65% likely to happen.
Charge is Archangel’s first superpower. It allows him to make a move action followed by an attack action for the cost of 2 power. This is a superpower we have seen on several characters since the game’s release and is always useful for improving action economy. As long as Archangel has charge online he won’t need to waste one of his two actions a turn just on moving.
Wing Shield is Archangel’s second superpower. For the cost of 2 power he can add 2 dice to his energy defence, physical defence or dodge rolls. We have also seen this superpower on a few characters now though this one adds to dodges as well which they don’t all do. The added defence is welcome on a character that is relatively fragile otherwise. However there are stronger defensive superpowers in the game such as counting blanks or reducing damage.The issue you get with spending power on defence is that you are also foregoing the power you would get on any damage taken so you might prevent some damage but then find your next activation sub optimal as you don’t have the power to do what you want to do.
Chosen of Apocalypse is Archangel’s passive ability and helps to make him a strong damage dealer. Whenever he rolls attack dice he can change a dice to a hit for each wild rolled. As he has multiple effects that trigger on a wild he wants to be rolling wilds as often as possible.
Verdict
Archangel is something of a glass cannon. With a medium move, medium base, charge and fly he should be able to get where he needs to be but he is very reliant on wild rolls on his attack dice as they not only contribute to additional effects but also enable him to turn other dice into hits. Unlike Angel he has no displacement and is almost pure damage. It’s difficult not to compare his kit with Gamora who has the same passive and similar mobility but more damage overall between her pounce and 6 die builder and better defences. Overall he may see play in the factions he is affiliated with but unlikely to be splashed elsewhere. C+
Tactics Cards
Battle Bound lets Archangel pay 2 power when he starts a move action within range 3 of Psylocke. At the end of the move Psylocke is then placed within range 1 or Archangel and gets to make a free attack with a cost of 0. This card has a huge amount of flavor and you can imagine Archangel flying by, picking up Psylocke and throwing her directly into the enemy for a telekinetic katana slice. If you save it for when Archangel has enough power to also charge, you can potentially do 3 attacks into a single target. Besides the damage, movement and attacks outside of activation are both valuable to try to overwhelm and score a secure that your opponent had was controlling. A
Death From Above is another flavorful card showing how Archangel picks off enemies while lurking from the rooftops. Archangel has to start his activation overlapping a terrain feature and if he does, can spend 2 power to play this card. During the rest of the turn he adds 2 dice to his attack rolls as long as his target is on a terrain feature lower than he was when the card was played. On most characters 2 extra attack dice won’t be impactful however Archangel has his own dice fixing with his Chosen of Apocalypse passive turning any wilds into hits. If his builder is used during the activation then the card can pay for itself with the additional power generated. Although the effect is strong it might be difficult to justify a slot in most rosters. In addition as he has to play it at the start of his activation an opponent could just push Archangel off a terrain feature to stop him from playing this. B-
Fallen represents the time when Angel could still turn into his Archangel form and is played when Angel would flip to his injured side. Enemy characters within 2 of Angel are pushed away and given the bleed special condition and (an injured) Archangel replaces Angel in your squad. Angel and Archangel are useful for different reasons and whether or not you would want one over the other is likely to be something you would rather choose at the start of the game. C-
Ultimate Sacrifice allows Angel to sacrifice himself to save his friends. When an allied character within range 2 of Angel is targeted by an attack he can spend 2 power to make himself the target instead. Then, if he was dazed or KO’d the allied character removes up to 3 damage and all special conditions from itself. The ability to one time bodyguard for an ally is strong but the additional effects requiring Angel to be Dazed or KO’d makes this tough to justify. C
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