The Things We Leave Behind

In the move to Standard, it’s worth looking at what exactly we’re leaving behind. The following is a list of the biggest losses for crews in Standard.

BatB

• Black Canary: Fast, cheap, acrobat. Can turn on the Bat signal turn 1 and Canary Cry your opponent’s the rest of the game.
• Original TV Arrow: Slightly better than resin TV arrow, between the Flash arrow and Multifire.
• Animated Series Arrow: All the traits that are necessary for an Arrow to be good, in a 77 rep package.
• Comics Arrow: Great model, Adaptable and Technique are wonderful side bonuses for an Arrow.
• QRT 1: The bigger loss here is that he combined with Arkham Guard 3 to provide a lot of ranged support for only $200.
• QRT 3: 4 good rounds of fire for $400? Rest in piece QRT. Tracking was handy as well.
• Stripper Cop: pound for pound one of the most efficient models in the game, Stripper Cop just got so much objective work done, while also providing broad support with Arrest and (often) a Whistle.

Bane

• Dark Knight Rises Bane: One of the bigger Leader-rank losses in the move to Standard, DKR Bane provided his crew the option to move across the board in a murder bubble, and was also 2-3 henchmen worth of rep cheaper than Rebirth Bane.
• Venom Soldier: While it hasn’t seen as much play in second edition, having a high endurance bodyguard with a pair of titan doses was often something Bane enjoyed (especially DKR Bane)
• Smash & Mohawk: Broadly comparable in application, these models served as incredibly reliable close combat models. While Kabuto and Dreadnought do serve similar purposes, these two did it cheaper.

Court

Standard Proof!

CCV

Standard Proof!

GCS

• Borj: If you had told me 6 months ago that I’d be fine with Ivy losing Borj, I’d have laughed at you. While the loss of the double mind control plant (and all its ensuing shenanigans) does force Ivy’s crew to rethink their game plan, the access to Possessed models and 6 new plants has dampened the blow.
• Original Ivy: Primarily a loss due to her 83 rep cost.

Joker

• Ledger Joker: One of the top-tier leaders of 1st edition, losing this Joker is primarily losing Henchmen Bomb. Whether or not dismissing Henchman Bomb from the game is a good thing largely depends on how long it’s been since you last got bombed.
• Master of Ceremonies: Oof, this one hurts. The new Borgon fills a similar gap in a Standard Joker crew, it sucks to have to say goodbye to one of the most consistent melee monsters of 1st edition.
• The Eyeball Man: A carbine with +1 to hit at half-range on a 27 rep body, plus a wonderfully silly model.
• August & Lumberjack: Axes were the definitive build for Joker in 1e, so losing 3 overall really hurts.
• Shield Clown: A cheap source of distract and an extra ping for several models.

League

• Agent 1: great defensive tricks and stats for such a cheap model, she was broadly comparable to stripper cop.
• Agent 3: Fast and a Katana on a cheap body.

Militia

Everything!

Organized Crime

• Mad Hatter: Due to his low rep cost, excellent abilities, and equipment list, Hatter has always been one of the stronger leaders in OC. With the release of Hatter in resin, this loss is perhaps dampened a bit.
• Boris: hands down my favorite model in the game. For 33 rep and $200 funding, Boris did a little bit of everything and most of it pretty well.
• Mottom: great stat line, the best regular melee weapon in the game and fast for 27 rep. No matter what your OC list was, it was usually wise to include Bottom in your plans.
• Rottor: Primarily taken for the decent stat line and Follow Me!, Rottor wasn’t strictly essential but helped to speed up what is typically one of the slower crews.
• Mule Goon: Tons of Endurance, Brutal, Sturdy, and a decent strength value, Mule paired up well with Boris for a combined 14 endurance at ~60 rep.
• Ded: We always mourn the loss of a Carbine.

Penguin

• Penguin Emperor: Losing Follow Me! and a Nightwing Baton is surprisingly tough for even the new Penguin crew to deal with.
• Savage Penguin: exceptional firearm, still able to defend himself in close combat.
• Street Demonz 3: Incredibly cheap for the weapon he wields.
• Shield Penguin: Pings from shields are always great in a Penguin crew, what with Penguin himself getting a better Ping due to small.

Riddler

• The Bots!: Yup, all the bots are gone. While this certainly puts a damper on the previous way Riddler crews played, this is one I’m actually happy is gone, as I found the mono-build with bots not particularly interesting to play for or against.

Unknown Affiliation

• Large Croc: While resin croc has impressive stats, I usually found that the large-based original got a similar amount of work done at a much cheaper buy-in.
• Comics Captain Boomerang: 5 ammo and a great set of traits.
• AO Deadshot: one of my favorite 1e Free Agents, Deadshot had already largely been replaced in the meta before the introduction of Standard. Still, he provided 4 rounds of very strong shooting, and I’d love to see a new mid range gunner free agent soon.
• Zsasz: Fast and unpredictable on a murder machine. One of the models I’m most excited to see if/when he goes resin.
• FA Riddler: Confusion and Disarray combine to shut off 2 important models a turn.
• AC Scarecrow: Paralysis on a <60 rep free agent with Undercover. The new resin Scarecrow is prettier, but this guy got so much work done.
• Pavilion A: 10 rep for unpredictable, Pavilion A scored oodles of objective points.
• Tube Prisoner 01: 10 rep model. I don’t know what else you want?
• Bodyguard Prisoner 04: By far the biggest Unknown Affiliation loss, Bodyguard Prisoner 04 kept all of the non-combat Leaders safe into turns 3+. Of all the models in this list, he needs replacement most desperately.