HeroClix Fans!

Meet the 2016 HeroClix Team World Champions: Critical Misters. Following the World Championships at Origins Game Fair, we took the time to talk to the team about the game, the event, and their experiences. See what they had to say here!

Name: Kyle Robinson

WIN ID: OmegaEleven

Location: Cadillac, Michigan

Favorite Local Venue: The Hall of Heroes

Name: Jordan Bean

WIN ID: N/A

Location: Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Favorite Local Venue: The Hall of Heroes

Name: John Knoph

WIN ID: MrKnoph

Location: Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Favorite Local Venue: The Frozen Orc

2016-HCTeam

Q. How Does it feel to have won the HeroClix Team World Championship?

It is one of our proudest accomplishments in gaming. It feels fantastic and surreal. We are still having a hard time wrapping our heads around it.  Being a part of a winning team for a game that we love is something truly special.

Q. How long have you been playing HeroClix?

Jordan – Since Infinity Challenge.

Kyle – Since sometime around Critical Mass.

John – Since the beginning. A friend and I played a demo at Motor City Comicon. We bought some Infinity Challenge and were instantly hooked.

Q. How did you all meet and come up with your team name? 

Kyle and Jordan are cousins and we’ve known John from playing at our local venue for years. It turned out that we shared similar interests and became good friends.

We came together for Team Worlds this year thinking that if we joined forces, and if luck was on our way, we might have a chance.

For the team name, Jordan came up with “Team Critical Miss” and John, being clever, said let’s play on the word “mister”. “Team Critical Misters,” how can you not get behind that?

Q. Do you play together often?

Not often, we occasionally run into each other at different venues.

Q. How did you guys work out your winning builds?

There’s some strategy involved here, before the event we discussed that no matter what was pulled, we needed to ensure that two of our teams were constructed as solidly as possible. Both days we pulled average figures which we already had experience using. We passed pieces around a bit to the player who was more familiar with using those figures. The trick is setting up your teammates since everyone has their own unique builds and playstyles. It really comes down to assisting your teammates.

 Q. What did you like about your builds?

Jordan – I kept telling myself when I looked at my 6 x 50 point characters that, “It could be worse”. Then, in one of my games, my first roll was snake eyes.

Kyle – I had used Quicksilver to qualify for the solo World Championship on Friday so I was very familiar with his strengths and weaknesses. It is always nice when you have access to Pulse Wave from Riptide, Magneto, and Storm, even if it is partway down the dial for the latter two.

John – I pulled Beast in Qualifier and in the Championship. He was my top pick and I knew he could do a lot of work on my team. After the qualifier, I was 100% confident that I knew how to use him effectively.

Q. What would you have changed? 

Jordan – Thursday, when Kyle saw my final build, it was hands to the face, “No… don’t play that please”. John actually said it had potential. We qualified Thursday, my team was Cameron Hodge and X-23. Saturday, when Kyle and John saw my team, they both said, “No please”. We won team worlds, my team was 3 x 50 point Harpoons, 1 x 50 point Wolverine, 1 x 50 point Nightcrawler and 1 x 50 point Magneto. I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

John – I would have not razzed Jordan over his 3 Harpoon build while we were building for the Championship rounds. Those pieces are ridiculous for their points, they don’t fit my play style, but he was able to make me a believer.

Kyle – Considering the result, not a single thing.

Q. What were the keys to success/ what was your main strategy? 

Assisting teammates was the team build strategy. We listened to each other’s opinions and compromised on picks for the benefit of each other’s teams. Not getting blown out was the main strategy. It didn’t always work and those games were just as fun.

Q. Did you enjoy the competition? 

Of course, it is always a blast to get to compete against the best in the world. Some of my favorite games were the ones I lost. So many people that I remembered from last year or years past were there. It was great playing and meeting a lot of amazing HeroClix players.

Q. What were your fellow competitors like? 

Great players that were awesome to play against. It’s always a blast getting to compete against the best in the world. They were tough and gracious. Though that’s to be expected, but every single person we played against brought the pain. It’s astonishing how awesome people can be despite the intense nature of being involved in a competition at this level.

Q. How much did you prepare for the event? 

We researched the set ahead of time and played a few battle royales and mock drafts. We also went to a few of the Marvel HeroClix: Uncanny X-Men Pre-Release Events. Kyle even bought a case of Uncanny X-Men and recorded the pulls in each booster to simulate booster pulls and team building.

Q. How confident did you guys feel coming in? 

We all felt pretty good and fairly confident in our abilities, but in HeroClix (particularly sealed events) anything can happen with dice rolls, pulls, and match ups.

Q. How do you feel about the current metagame?

We prefer sealed events as they become less about figures, relics, and resources and more about being able to build a team and think on your feet. Players can choose to get a World Championship level experience if they want to play against the best of the best in sealed!

Q. Can you give any insights for new players on how to become better players? 

Read the rulebook and don’t be afraid to ask questions. A lot of basic and intermediate strategy can be learned just by having a good understanding of the rules and how different game mechanics interact. Ask your judges, no one will hold it against you and it may save you from costly mistakes.

Try to find a group of very competitive players and run 300-modern tournaments every week. If you want to practice for team worlds, run sealed games. Practice makes perfect.

Q. Any shoutouts or is there anything else you would like to add? 

Kyle – My brother, Josh, cousin, Presley, and all of the guys at The Hall of Heroes in Mount Pleasant, Michigan! I would also like to express my thanks to the WizKids Staff and all of the judges for working hard to get the entire convention experience to run as smoothly as possible.

John – I’d just like to say thank you to the WizKids Staff and all their volunteers/judges for everything you put into making Origins/Worlds happen.

Jordan – Lots of people including the team from Mexico and the team from Canada, the player from New York, the player who worked in Japan, and the player who used Omega Red to destroy me, along with many others. Thanks for the games and the lols.