Sooner or later you will want to start building decks
using characters other than your favorite comic book super heroes and villians.
This will be a natural step. Part of the fun that is playing OverPower
does come from a well constructed deck that performs well on a consistent
basis. But how do you know which characters to use then?
I like to think that currently there are four different
criteria that determine just how useful a character is or is not.
Presently, there are no factors other than these four that can be different
from any other character, except for being listed on a Location card.
I would say that these four are, in order of importance:
Parasite has a decent Power Grid, at E:
7, F: 2, S:
6, I: 2. He is a dual
skill character so you could build a team to play Strength teamworks for
high level Energy follow-ups or Energy teamworks for high level Strength
follow-ups. His two 2's are a drawback though, which might help make
a second follow-up either a very low attack or just a waste of a card.
His contribution to the deck sum is 17 points, which
is great when you want to use a 21 point character or a couple of 20 pointers.
His Specials are pure garbage though. This
usually makes or breaks a character. Which is often why some players
might make this the most important criteria. I make it third only
because if the stats do not match up with the other characters or if the
character is too expensive to put into a tournament deck, it does not matter
how great the Specials are. And if the Specials are that great, then
I would find a way to fit this character into my deck.
Parasite does not have an Inherent Ability, partially
because his Power Grid is a 7/6. The lack of an Inherent Ability
is not really a drawback, but in some cases it may feel like it.
Scarlet Witch has an OK Power Grid, at E:
7, F: 3, S:
2, I: 5. She is not
a dual skill character, which may only be a minor drawback.
Her contribution to the deck sum total is 17 points,
which is the same as Parasite. Again, this makes it easy to use a
21 point character or two 20 pointers.
Her Specials are some of the best you can find.
She has a negate [AO] which is perhaps one of the best Specials
there is. She has a discard one placed card [AI] which target's
the opponent and not a character, so it cannot be avoided. She also
has a multi 8 attack [AQ], but so do about 100 other characters.
If you are building a deck that is heavy in Specials, she has a 6 Strength
attack [AR], which is nice since it is off-skill. Her other
Specials are best left out of your deck. But as always, do not let
me tell you what to use or what not to use.
She has a very powerful Inherent Ability [Team is
+5 to Venture total when Scarlet Witch is KO'd]. This Inherent Ability
has sometimes led to a situation where the opponent could not win, or at
least would have to really think about which cards to play and when.
After looking at the four criteria for these two
characters, Scarlet Witch is clearly a much more powerful character to
use than Parasite. Her Specials easily make up for the fact that
she is only a single skill character and her Inherent Ability is not too
shabby.
Here is a simple description of things to look for and look out for:
Power Grid -
Simply put, it is very advantageous to have characters
with similar Power Grids. As you become more advanced, it may be
possible to build a deck with a wide range in Power Grids. But it
would probably be best to not try this until you really think you are ready.
Single skill characters typically do not see much
play, unless they bring something extra to the table. Unique and/or
powerful Specials or an 8 on the Power Grid are just a few examples of
that. Characters with a highest skill of a 6 [commonly refered to
as a max 6 character] also do not see much play, with a few exceptions.
Deck Sum total -
This part is only important if you are building
a deck based on tournament rules. The median value per character
is 19 points when using a 16 rank team. This means that if you want
to use a 23 point character then you will need to use one 15 point character
or two 17 point characters to make up the difference.
Specials -
Whether a Special is useful or not is really subjective.
If it works for you, then that's great. If a Character has a certain
Special or more that you want to use then do not let people tell you to
not use that Character. Usually a Character's Specials will make
or break that Character.
Inherent Ability -
The Inherent Ability is not that important of a
factor. There are some Characters that have great Inherent Abilities
- like Invisible Woman, Beyonder, and X-Babies - but most Characters only
have an Inherent Ability that allows them to play some Special from Reserve
or grant a bonus to a card that most likely you will not use.
If you take the time to look at these four criteria for various characters, you should see why some of them are very popular and why others rarely ever see any play. A Character that combines a poor Power Grid, with a high value to deck sum, poor to mediocre Specials, and a weak Inherent Ability will probably never see any time on the table.
