Who Is Emma Frost?
In the weird, wild annals of the Marvel Universe, there are few characters who have had as dramatic and varied a history as Emma Frost. Starting off as an extremely dangerous and manipulative villain, she morphed over the course of her career into an untrustworthy rival, uncomfortable ally, and eventually legitimate member of the X-Men. In all her incarnations, however, Emma has been first and foremost a teacher, first at the Massachusetts Academy and later at Xavier’s School.
Emma Frost in Marvel Crisis Protocol
Emma Frost is a really interesting character on the table in MCP. A solid mystic turret in her own right, she also brings to the table an entire alternate character card she can access through the transform mechanic. Let’s take a look:
Emma’s stat spread is interesting- 2 Physical, 3 Energy, and 5 Mystic defense, with 6 health on each side of the card. She clocks in at size 2 and 4 threat, with a 35mm base and a medium move. This means she’s a fairly standard 4 threat character in most respects, outside of a lower than average Physical defense (the most common attack type in the game and the stat used for dodging, unfortunately), a slightly underwhelming Energy defense, and an above-average Mystic defense. Fortunately, she has a few tricks to help her survive out there in the big bad world of MCP.
Emma only has two attacks, but they are- I believe the term the kids use is “absolute bangers.”
Psychic Spike is a range 4, 5 dice Mystic builder (gain power equal to damage dealt) with an amazing trigger that requires both a Hit and a Wild called “Bend Will,” allowing Emma to advance the target Short. Keep an eye out for models with immunity to these kinds of attacks, as they are out there, but an effect like this on a long-range builder, even with a somewhat challenging trigger (40.4% odds to hit it), is excellent.
Hands Off is Emma’s spender and has, in this author’s humble opinion, the best trigger name in the game in Defenestrate. It’s a range 3, 8 dice Mystic attack that costs 4 power, and on a wild triggers the aforementioned Defenestrate, which Throws Size 4 or less characters away Short. Models with buyable Size 4 character throws are sometimes included in rosters just for that ability, so the chance to semi-reliably (70.25%) do so on what is also a big attack pool is outstanding. With a little luck, your hapless big guy target is taking an 8 dice attack and an automatic damage, followed by a 5 damage collision to their best buddy. Hands off indeed!
Fortunately for us as players, Atomic Mass Games seems like they were determined to fill up all that empty space on Emma’s card, so we’ve got a bevy of superpowers to talk about.
Diamond Form is how Emma accesses her alternate self- when targeted by an attack, she can pay 1 power to transform into Emma Frost (Diamond). More on Diamond Emma in a moment, but I want to get this out of the way right away- it is the considered opinion of a lot of MCP players that Diamond Form is mostly a trap. Once transformed, Emma’s defenses go up, but not by as much as you might think for the “invulnerability mode” state (especially given that it does not come with any kind of damage reduction or defensive tech besides more dice and some status immunities). She also cannot play Team Tactics Cards in Diamond Form. That means no Xavier’s Dream (in X-Men), Brace for Impact, Fall Back, Sacrifice, nothing. Furthermore, as we’ll see, Emma only has one way to willingly transform back during her activation- a 6 cost spender that, as an attack, consumes an action. As such, you really need to think long and hard before transforming- is it actually going to make Emma more durable/likely to survive to transform, given your circumstances? Are you prepared to be ‘trapped’ in Diamond Form next activation, potentially after dazing anyway and waking back up with a bunch of power you’d really rather spend on Hands Off or protecting your team with Shield Mind? There are circumstances where it might make sense to shift to Diamond Form, but be sure you know what you’re doing and what the consequences of that choice will be. Shifting to diamond when Bullseye throws a 4-dice gainer at you that can automatically do 1 damage even if you block everything is probably not what you want to be doing.
Shield Mind, on the other hand, is an amazing superpower. For 2 power, Emma can prevent herself or any allied character within Range 4 being Advanced, Placed, or Pushed by an enemy Mystic attack or superpower. Assuming you have the power to use it, this power completely shuts down certain avenues of play- Thanos trying to kidnap your teammates with Cosmic Portal and the Mind Gem comes to mind, as do Web Warrior web-line shenanigans.
Telekinetic Deflection is an odd choice, as I’m not familiar with Emma really demonstrating high-level telekinesis in the comics, but with only 2 Physical defense, we’re glad it’s here. For 2 power, Emma can simply choose not to suffer damage from any collision. This goes a long way to mitigating her biggest defensive drawback.
Last but definitely not least, Emma has Power Inhibition, an effect (though not name) she shares with Mystique- during Emma’s turn, enemy characters cannot use reactive superpowers or Team Tactics Cards. There are a lot of interesting options and interactions here, just like with Mystique- enemy models can’t use “buyable” damage reduction (such as that on Beta Ray Bill or Kingpin), they can’t Brace for Impact when Emma Defenestrates somebody, and they can’t Bodyguard or Taunt attacks off their allies. There are also some wild out-of-activation plays you can make with this ability, too- for example, if Juggernaut is in a position to use Do You Know Who I Am? and does so during Emma’s turn, opponents can’t Brace or Indomitable the effect.
Nothing changes on Emma’s card on the injured side, so let’s talk about Emma Frost (Diamond).
As she says, “not my best look.” That said, there’s some decent stuff here for those times you have no choice but to transform or need the placement from doing so.
Emma’s stats on this side are now 4 defense across this board. This is a big increase, especially doubling up her Physical defense, but I want to remind everybody that MCP dice are fickle and defense dice doubly so. Emma’s 2-dice Physical defense on her standard card has an average of .8 successes. Her 4-dice defense in this form roughly doubles that, but it still only averages 1.69 successes. It is better- more than twice as good, actually- but be realistic about expectations; the difference between 2 and 4 dice is not likely to save you from Corvus Glaive with the Reality Gem, for example. She is still 6 health on each side of the card, size 2, and a Medium move on a 35mm base.
Emma’s attacks are now Physical. Diamond Strike is a range 2, 5 dice builder with a Wild Stun trigger and a Critical Pierce trigger. This is a very “whelming” attack- neither strong nor weak, it just is.
Emma’s spender in Diamond Form is Shatter. It is an area 2, 7 dice spender that costs 6 power. Like Diamond Strike, it has a Critical Pierce trigger. When all attacks have been resolved, Emma may turn back into her Normal form. It is important to note this is may, not must, but this is the only way to voluntarily change back to Normal during her activation.
Emma has one active superpower in Diamond Form- Sometimes One Must Get Their Hands Dirty. This is a solid if unremarkable terrain throw- Size 3 or less within range 2, thrown Medium, for 3 power. The fact that it isn’t a character/terrain throw is unfortunate, but hey, damage is damage. Do think about your power budget before using this, though- you’re going to be turning back to normal Emma at the end of your activation. Do you need that power to use Shield Mind or Telekinetic Deflection more than you need that terrain throw?
Emma has four innate superpowers in Diamond Form (unfortunately, none of them are damage reduction). Diamond Mind is a straight-up negative: Emma cannot play Team Tactics Cards in this form. I am sure there is some wildly overpowered combo I’m not thinking of here, or perhaps one coming down the line, but this is rough. TTC are one of the best things you have going for you in MCP; good TTC can carry a faction to victory. Given that Emma has multiple TTC available to her personally (to say nothing of those in her affiliations), this is unfortunate.
Far From My Best Look returns Emma to Normal form automatically at the end of her activation if she began her activation in Diamond form.
Psychic Immunity prevents Emma from being Pushed or Advanced by enemy Mystic attacks or superpowers (note that unlike with Shield Mind, she can be placed). She also counts Blanks as successes in her 4 dice Mystic defense rolls, which actually adds about .7 successes as compared to her 5 dice Mystic defense in Normal form (which doesn’t count Blanks). This is a good superpower and somewhat makes up for the loss of Shield Mind.
Finally, in Diamond Form Emma is Immune to Bleed, Incinerate, Poison, and Stun. This also means that if she has any of those conditions when she transforms, she immediately clears them. This is a great superpower. None of those conditions are fun, and Incinerate and Stun are particularly debilitating on a character with Emma’s defenses and this many cool things on which to spend power.
Like her normal form, nothing changes on Diamond Emma’s card when she flips to her injured side.
Emma’s Team Tactics Cards
My Hellfire Club is the Hellfire Club leadership card, and worthy of at least one article of its own. It allows you to play Hellfire Club regardless of your characters’ affiliations with Emma as the leader, and grants a once per turn ability that lets every friendly character holding an Extract or sitting on a Secure gain 1 Power and remove 1 Damage, while those not holding an Extract or on a Secure lose 1 Power and take 1 Damage. Emma then gains 1 Power for each Power lost this way and removes 1 Damage for each Damage suffered this way. This obviously dramatically affects power economy and survivability and is the lynchpin Hellfire Club rosters are built around.
Headmistress is an amazing Uncanny X-Men affiliated card that allows Emma to spend any amount of Power during her activation. For each Power she spends, an allied Uncanny X-Men character not holding an objective token may advance Medium. It says a lot about the overall quality of X-Men tactics cards and how often Emma is played in the affiliation that this card doesn’t get more discussion- were it unaffiliated or in many other teams, it would be a mainstay.
Finally, Mind Transfer allows Emma to pay 4 Power during her activation to choose an enemy character within Range 3 with an Activated token and move the token to an unactivated character within Range 2 of the chosen character. This is a extremely powerful but niche effect- if your opponent is baiting out activations with low-threat or low-impact characters to hold a powerful piece in reserve, and they end one of those activations near the power piece, Emma can swoop in and move their Activated token, messing up their plan- “Sorry Hulk, guess Bullseye gets to go twice this turn instead.” The card is very hard to set up (and probably should be, for such a powerful effect), but if you can pull it off, it can swing whole turns in your favor.
I should also point out that Iceman’s TTC Untapped Potential requires both Iceman and Emma Frost, but as it’s primarily an Iceman card and comes in his box, I’ll refer you to his box review for that one!
Where Does She Fit?
Emma Frost has four affiliations at time of writing: X-Men, Brotherhood of Mutants, New Mutants, and of course, Hellfire Club, of which she is the leader. Obviously, if you’re playing Hellfire Club, you are playing Emma, and that affiliation’s effectiveness is well-documented, even after its leadership card My Hellfire Club became restricted. In fact, it is the only affiliation in the game whose leadership consumes a restricted slot. That should tell you a lot about how powerful it is!
Beyond that, Emma is a role-player in New Mutants and sometimes played in Brotherhood, as she brings things to the table that those affiliations generally lack. Ironically, in X-Men, where she has an amazing team tactics card (Headmistress), she doesn’t tend to see a lot of play. This says less about Emma than about the competition for spots in X-Men rosters, especially when the affiliation has access to other excellent Mystic attackers in Jean Grey and Professor X. It is worth noting that in X-Men, Emma has the requisite 5 Mystic defense to play Cerebro instead of Jean or the Professor, which extends her attack range and power, boosts her Mystic defense, and allows her to ignore line of sight and Stealth with her Mystic attacks- a pretty solid upgrade! If she is to see play in X-Men, it’s probably under Professor X or Cyclops, both of whom can shunt her power to bring Shield Mind online during the first activation of the game if you can use a superpower or deal damage, respectively.
Overall, Emma is a great model- fun to play and good at what she does. Mitigate her weaknesses, play to her strengths, and she’ll feel like the White Queen she truly is.
Who Is Psylocke?
Disclaimer: There is a lot of Psylocke’s character history (including AMG’s decision to make this model Betsy Braddock rather than Kwannon, who has fortunately reclaimed her body and now uses the Psylocke alias) that is deeply problematic, appropriative, and fetishizing. This is a really important and in-depth conversation that is taken very seriously by the author, who also acknowledges that it would be impossible to do so effectively in the form of a miniatures gaming box review. For the purposes of this article, we’ll be focusing on just what Psylocke brings to the table in Marvel Crisis Protocol.
Betsy Braddock was originally created as a psychic/oracle ally for Brian Braddock in the Captain Britain Marvel UK series. Eventually, those characters got folded into the “mainstream” Marvel Universe, where she would join the X-Men and in an incredibly convoluted and sometimes self-contradictory story, Betsy’s mind (or body, I guess, depending on your perspective) would be swapped with that of Kwannon, a Japanese woman affiliated with the Hand. This would be the (frankly problematic) status quo for almost 30 years. Fortunately, in 2018, Betsy and Kwannon were returned to their original bodies, with Kwannon claiming the Psylocke moniker and Betsy becoming the new Captain Britain. The MCP version of Psylocke represents the period where Betsy Braddock was using the alias while in Kwannon’s body.
Psylocke in Marvel Crisis Protocol
Psylocke is a mobile, hard-hitting character who brings some neat tricks to the affiliations that can field her. Behold!
Psylocke has somewhat underwhelming defenses for a 4 threat character, but this is offset by her superpowers (as we’ll see)- 3 Physical, 3 Energy, and 4 Mystic defense and 6 Health on her healthy side. She is size 2 and a Medium mover on a 35mm base.
Psylocke’s attacks are versatile and excellent. Her builder, Telekinetic Katana is a Range 2, 5 Dice attack that she can choose to make Energy or Mystic. It has a Wild trigger for Neural Disruption, which causes her target to lose 1 power for each Wild in the attack roll. This is really solid, though note that unlike the similar Sap Power effect, Psylocke does not gain the power lost.
Psi-Bow, Psylocke’s gainer, is a solid Range 4, 4 dice Mystic attack with a Wild Pursuit trigger, which allows her to advance Short after the attack is resolved. Combined with her superpowers, this makes Psylocke a very slippery character indeed!
Psylocke’s only spender, Psionic Assault, is a pretty spicy one- a Range 3, 7 dice Mystic attack costing 3 power that automatically Stuns the target before damage is dealt. This is a great ability at this point in the timing sequence, as it limits your opponent’s clap-back from the attack.
Psylocke has four superpowers. Let’s get the easy ones out of the way first- she has both Martial Artist and Stealth, meaning that enemies must be within Range 3 to target her with attacks, and if they are within Range 2, she can count blanks as successes on Physical and Energy attacks. This is solid with her standard 3 dice and absolutely outstanding if she gets bonus dice- say from fellow X-Men Cable or Shadowcat. Enemies who want to attack Psylocke successfully will need to try to get in the “sweet spot” of “inside Range 3 but outside Range 2,” which limits their positioning options quite a bit.
For active/reactive superpowers, we first have Telekinetic Combat Enhancement. For 2 power, this gives Psylocke a Short Advance (not a Climb) and adds 2 dice to her next Telekinetic Katana attack this turn. Note that she doesn’t have to make the attack- you can use the superpower just to reposition her if you need to- but the effect ends at the end of her turn, so you can’t “bank” it for later. She may only use this power once per turn.
Finally, Psylocke has the Telepathic Precognition superpower, which allows her to spend any amount of power during the Modify Dice step of an attack or defense roll to reroll that many dice. This power can also only be used once per turn, so choose your moment carefully.
Psylocke’s only change on her injured side is that she goes down to 5 Health (from 6 on the Healthy side).
Psylocke’s Team Tactics Cards
Crimson Dawn is an unaffiliated reactive TTC that can be played by Psylocke when she flips to her injured side. It costs 3 power and gives her Healing Factor(1) and the ability to Place herself within Range 1 at the beginning of her Activation and after each of its Actions. This increases both her survivability and her overall slipperiness, though the opportunity cost is somewhat high, and in a post–XCeptional Healing world, Healing Factor with 5 health obviously isn’t what it used to be.
Psionic Constructs is an unaffiliated reactive TTC that Psylocke can play for 2 Power when an allied character within Range 3 targets an enemy character with an attack. The attack’s type becomes Mystic and they may reroll any number of dice during the attack. On the right attack, this is a hell of a haymaker, allowing you to target a bad defense, bypass many forms of defensive tech, and bringing a great deal of dice reliability.
Grievous Wounds is not a Psylocke card, but it does have her picture on it! This is an unaffiliated, reactive TTC that any character can play for 1 Power when targeting an enemy model with an attack. If the attack deals damage, the targeted character cannot have damage removed from it this Activation Phase. While potentially a very powerful effect, especially against models that rely on effects like the Immortal Hulk’s The Green Door or Healing Factor, the fact that you have to spend the power and play the card before you know if the attack will be successful does make it a bit of a gamble.
Where Does She Fit?
At the time of writing, Psylocke has three affiliations- X-Men, X-Force, and Servants of the Apocalypse (Death, Famine). Servants is too new (and too big a topic) to speak to with any authority here, but in both of her other affiliations, she is a highly mobile, hard to tackle skirmisher who can fill a variety of roles. She does have the same problem Emma does of having to compete with an arsenal of very good 4 threats on the various X-Teams (though there’s less competition there in X-Force than in X-Men), but is a solid role-player who rarely disappoints.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this is an excellent box, featuring two characters who are both very effective and very fun to play- well worth the pickup if they feature in any of your affiliations or you’re interested in joining the inner circle of the dastardly Hellfire Club!
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