Hello HeroClix Masterminds!

We've got a variety of news dropping today: 

  • General Tournament Changes 
  • Errata/Watch List Updates 
  • Origins Information and Clarifications 

General Tournament Changes 

We're making changes to tournaments, and we wanted to share those changes before they go into effect so our most invested fans can know what to expect, as well as understand our thought process. If you're interested in what we're doing, but not why, you can skip to the end. 

The first change to tournaments is the one that we think will impact the greatest number of players. HeroClix is moving away from victory points as a tiebreaker in favor of utilizing strength of schedule. 

When players have a similar win/loss record, it helps to find a way to rank those players. This allows tournament organizers or software to create pairings for single elimination rounds or determine prizing at the end of Swiss rounds. 

HeroClix chose Victory Points as a tiebreaker method to reward players for winning big. Sometimes that meant by scoring a ton of points, other times it meant by denying their opponents the ability to score Victory Points, ensuring those players wouldn't surpass them as easily in tiebreakers later. Some players like this method because they feel in control – if you score a lot of points because of great gameplay or because of excellent team construction, your advantage within the tournament can be increased! 

The philosophy was that the players winning big were the best players, most deserving of advancing to single elimination rounds or accessing the best prizes.

Victory points often measure skill gap more than achievement. If two players of average skill face off in the first round, their score might be moderate (~100 to ~80 for sake of argument). However, a similar result might be true for two players of incredibly high skill level, or two players at a beginner level. Despite the fact that each winner did something of a very different difficulty level, their result was similar. As players ourselves, this isn't great. 

At different points in time, certain strategies can dramatically impact a player's ability to score Victory Points. Designing the game around these strategies constrains the options of designers and can serve to make HeroClix feel overly same-y year over year, instead of fresh and different as new metagames emerge. 

Unfortunately, it is also possible for players to potentially play games in ways that are legal but manipulate the tournament outcomes by increasing the Victory Points that they or their opponent's score. One of the solutions for this is to penalize players that are damaging event integrity by manipulating points. In practice, this can be very hard, potentially causing bad feelings toward players or tournament staff. Especially at the local level, where community building is critical.

Strength of schedule is a tiebreaker method that analyzes how difficult a player's opponents are throughout an entire tournament.  

Strength of schedule does a good job of evaluating which players have had the most challenging path within a tournament, and which ones might have had an easier path. 

Players can have some control over their strength of schedule in Swiss-style tournaments by winning games early in the tournament, ensuring they are paired against opponents in later rounds that have already accumulated wins. 

Strength of schedule is also relatively challenging to manipulate, since many individual games might be contributing to the tiebreakers of competing players all at the same time. 

The next change to tournaments is one that may impact some players and judges. At official WizKids events, such as US National Championships and World Championships, players should expect an increased level of rules enforcement. 

WizKids has received feedback from fans that while participating in major championship events, a higher level of strictness would be preferred, compared to the casual level of rules enforcement that might be appropriate for a low-stakes local event meant to be beginner-friendly. 

One of the primary expectations set forth in the HeroClix tournament rules is, "Players are responsible for being aware of any clarifications for any of their game elements." At a local or casual level, a player not being aware of a clarification might be easily fixed with a warning from a judge, especially if no advantage was gained. At an event like World Championships, the likelihood of it being a genuine mistake might be considered less, and the opportunity to get an unfair advantage would have a particularly high reward. In such a case, tournament staff would usually treat this as cheating. 

In particular, the feedback that we have received indicates that cheating and tournament integrity are areas where fans would like to see greater enforcement, and the consideration of stricter penalties. 

The final change to tournaments within this batch is the return of the Map Menu.

The Map Menu lets players know which Maps will be legal for premiere events. 

When every map is allowed, there is the possibility that preparing for events becomes unduly difficult. Players might need to collect every map for the sake of practice, then play a great many games to understand them better. In part, this takes the focus away from the characters and teams, which are often the most fun part of HeroClix. 

Furthermore, when every map is allowed, the metagame revolves around a small number of maps anyway. This is known to seasoned HeroClix players, but generally not known to players who are earlier in their journey to Clix mastery. 

By enforcing a Map Menu, it also allows tournament organizers to de-emphasize maps that might stifle team-building or have seen limited distribution in their region (ie – it would be an undue burden to players in Asia to allow a map that was only distributed in North America). 

A map menu also spares the most prepared players from feeling compelled to bring every map in a format 

Players will still be able to utilize their collection of maps when playing at local or casual events.

To summarize, these are the three changes: 

  1. Tiebreakers for HeroClix are moving away from Victory Points in favor of utilizing Strength of Schedule. This is intended to make events more fair and easier to host/report.
  2. Premiere events, such as National and World Championships, are going to have a stricter level of Rules Enforcement. This won’t change things for most players, but will sometimes mean strong penalties for situations that might involve cheating or damaging tournament integrity.
  3. Premiere events will return to using a Map Menu to describe a short list of maps that players can utilize.

Errata and Watchlist Updates

There is a lot of important information regarding self-damaging game pieces, things that were desirable as a swarm when unintended, and things that are unfun to play against. 

Please familiarize yourself with those changes in detail here. 

Origins Information and Clarifications

For general information about Origins events, please check the official Origins Games pages on the tabletop events site.  

Pulp at Origins 

There have been some questions about what Pulp events at Origins will look like. They'll be 300-points and Modern. 

Map Menu at Origins 

The Map Menu for Origins will include the following HeroClix maps:

  • Island Prison 
  • Klyntar 
  • Life Foundation Lab 
  • Lombard Street (Venomized) 

  • Asteroid X 
  • Basketball Court 
  • Motendo 
  • X Mansion 

  • Oa Plaza 
  • Okaara 
  • Ysmault 
  • Zamaron 

  • Mean Streets 
  • Subway 

  • Little Mogadishu 
  • Wakandan Battlefield 
  • Testing Grounds 
  • Vibranium Mines 

  • Big Belly Burger (DC 2026) 
  • X-Jet Hanger (Marvel 2026) 
  • Kord Industries Lot (DC 2025) 
  • The Annex (Marvel 2025) 

Prizing Information

WizKids reserves the right to adjust the tournament and prize structure without notice at our discretion. 

Prizes

  • Participation 
    • Marvel HeroClix Captain America's Shield 
  • Top 32 
    • DC HeroClix: Trophy Construct 
    • DC HeroClix: Green Lantern 
  • Top 16 
    • All Top 32 prizes 
    • Marvel HeroClix Atlantean Warrior 
    • DC HeroClix: Legion Flight Rings 
  • Top 8 
    • All Top 32 & Top 16 prizes 
    • DC HeroClix: Kinetic Hammer 
    • DC HeroClix: Steel 
    • DC HeroClix: Black Lantern Ring 
    • DC HeroClix: Space Suit Batman 
    • Marvel HeroClix: Superior Spider-Man 
    • Marvel HeroClix: Black Panther Retail Chase Booster 
    • Marvel HeroClix: Spider-Verse Retail Chase Booster 
    • Marvel HeroClix Venom Retail Chase Booster 
  • Top 4 
    • All Top 32, Top 16, & Top 8 prizes 
    • Marvel HeroClix: Infinaut 
    • Marvel HeroClix: Orka 
    • Marvel HeroClix: Collector's Trove Retail Chase Booster 
    • Marvel HeroClix: X-Men '97 Retail Chase Booster 
  • Top 2 
    • All Top 32, Top 16, Top 8, & Top 4 prizes 
    • One of each debuting for-sale HeroClix promo 
    • Marvel HeroClix: Strange Tales Factory Set 
  • Winner 
    • All other event prizing 
    • Marvel HeroClix: Venom Factory Set 

  • Participation 
    • DC HeroClix: Trophy Construct 
  • Top 16 
    • DC HeroClix: Green Lantern 
    • Marvel HeroClix Atlantean Warrior 
  • Top 8 
    • All Top 16 prizes 
    • Marvel HeroClix: Collector's Trove Retail Chase Booster 
    • DC HeroClix: Kinetic Hammer 
    • Marvel HeroClix: Deadpool at Home 
    • Marvel HeroClix: Superior Spider-Man 
  • Top 4 
    • All Top 16 & Top 8 prizes 
    • Marvel HeroClix: X-Men '97 Retail Chase Booster 
    • DC HeroClix: Steel 
    • DC HeroClix: Black Lantern Ring 
    • DC HeroClix: Space Suit Batman 
  • Top 2 
    • All Top 16, Top 8, & Top 4 prizes 
    • Marvel HeroClix: Venom Retail Chase Booster 
  • Winners/Finalists:  there are 3 factory sets for top prizing. The winning player will get first choice of the 3 options, second place player gets next choice, and the winning player will receive the remaining set. 
    • Marvel HeroClix: Marvel Studios Next Phase Factory Set 
    • Marvel HeroClix: Smash and Destroy Factory Set 
    • DC HeroClix: Lantern Legacy Factory Set 

Each team of 3 will receive one 12-count brick of Marvel HeroClix: Venom and a Retail Chase Booster (the set to be revealed on-site). 

Prizing for Team Sealed is the following. All prizes are awarded in triplicate, except for Factory Sets (one for each member of the team): 

  • Participation 
    • DC HeroClix: Legion Flight Rings 
  • Top 8 
    • DC HeroClix: Green Lantern 
    • DC HeroClix: Kinetic Hammer 
    • Marvel HeroClix Atlantean Warrior 
    • Marvel HeroClix: Orka 
    • Marvel HeroClix: Black Panther Retail Chase Booster 
  • Top 4 
    • All Top 8 Prizes 
    • DC HeroClix: Black Lantern Ring 
    • DC HeroClix: Steel 
    • DC HeroClix: Arctic Suit Batman 
    • Marvel HeroClix: Infinaut 
    • Marvel HeroClix: X-Men '97 Retail Chase Booster 
  • Top 2 
    • All Top 8 & Top 4 prizes 
    • Marvel HeroClix Venom Retail Chase Booster 
  • Winners/Finalists: there are 3 factory sets for top prizing. The winning team will get first choice of the 3 options, second place will get next choice, and the winning team will receive the remaining set. 
    • DC HeroClix: Lantern Legacy Factory Set 
    • Marvel HeroClix: X-Men '97 Factory Set 
    • Marvel HeroClix: Strange Tales Factory Set 

All Battle Royales use Marvel HeroClix: Venom Boosters. Each BR will receive 1 of the following promos per 4 players, determined:

  • Marvel HeroClix: Atlantean Warrior 
  • Marvel HeroClix: Captain America's Shield 
  • DC HeroClix: Steel 
  • DC HeroClix: Kinetic Hammer 
  • DC HeroClix: Black Lantern Ring 
  • DC HeroClix: Trophy Construct 
  • DC HeroClix: Legion Flight Rings 
  • DC HeroClix: Green Lantern 

Each BR will receive 3 additional promos per 4 players, determined randomly, from an assortment of 2024-2025 promos. 

Premium Battle Royales follow identical prize structure as standard BRs, but also include one of the following Retail Chase Boosters, determined at random. These will be opened at the table and individual components added to the prize-draft.  

  • Marvel HeroClix: Black Panther Retail Chase Booster 
  • Marvel HeroClix: Collector's Trove Retail Chase Booster 
  • Marvel HeroClix: X-Men '97 Retail Chase Booster 
  • Marvel HeroClix Venom Retail Chase Booster 

After the last BR on Saturday, final standings for the Battle Royale Championship will be set. On Sunday, the top 4 players will return for a final game. The winner of the final table will receive: 

  • Marvel HeroClix: X-Men '97 Factory Set 

The following items will be added to the Battle Royale Championship prize pool, to be drafted by the final 4 players. 

  • Marvel HeroClix: Battle Royale Bystander Pack (x8) 
  • Marvel HeroClix Venom Retail Chase Booster (x4) 
  • Marvel HeroClix: Venom Booster (x8) 
  • DC HeroClix: Kinetic Hammer 
  • DC HeroClix: Steel 
  • DC HeroClix: Green Lantern 
  • DC HeroClix: Trophy Construct 
  • DC HeroClix: Legion Flight Rings 
  • DC HeroClix: Black Lantern Ring 
  • DC HeroClix: Arctic Suit Batman 
  • DC HeroClix: Space Suit Batman 
  • DC HeroClix: Abra Kadabra 
  • Marvel HeroClix Atlantean Warrior 
  • Marvel HeroClix Captain America's Shield 
  • Marvel HeroClix: Infinaut 
  • Marvel HeroClix: Orka 
  • Marvel HeroClix: BBQ Deadpool 
  • Marvel HeroClix: Superior Spider-Man 
  • Marvel HeroClix: Deadpool at Home 
  • 1 of each debuting for-sale HeroClix promo 

Pulp and Modern side events share identical prize models. For each player in the event, one of the following promos will be added to the prize pool, determined at random: 

  • Marvel HeroClix: Atlantean Warrior 
  • Marvel HeroClix: Captain America's Shield 
  • DC HeroClix: Steel 
  • DC HeroClix: Kinetic Hammer 
  • DC HeroClix: Black Lantern Ring 
  • DC HeroClix: Trophy Construct 
  • DC HeroClix: Legion Flight Rings 
  • DC HeroClix: Green Lantern 
  • Marvel HeroClix: BBQ Deadpool 
  • Marvel HeroClix: Superior Spider-Man 
  • Marvel HeroClix: Infinaut 
  • Marvel HeroClix: Orka 
  • Marvel HeroClix: Deadpool at Home 
  • DC HeroClix: Abra Kadabra 
  • DC HeroClix: Arctic Suit Batman 
  • DC HeroClix: Space Suit Batman 

For every 8 players in a Pulp/Modern side event (minimum 1, maximum 2), one of the following retail chase boosters will be added to the prize pool. These will be opened at the table and individual components drafted among the other prizes.  

  • Marvel HeroClix: Black Panther Retail Chase Booster 
  • Marvel HeroClix: Collector's Trove Retail Chase Booster 
  • Marvel HeroClix: Spider-Verse Retail Chase Booster 
  • Marvel HeroClix: X-Men '97 Retail Chase Booster 
  • Marvel HeroClix Venom Retail Chase Booster 

After the last Pulp side event on Saturday, final standings for the Pulp Championship will be set. On Sunday, the top 4 players will return for a final game. The winner of the final table will receive: 

  • Marvel HeroClix: Venom Factory Set 

The following items will be added to the Pulp Championship prize pool, to be drafted by the final 4 players. 

  • Marvel HeroClix: Battle Royale Bystander Pack (x8) 
  • Marvel HeroClix X-Men '97 Retail Chase Booster (x4) 
  • DC HeroClix: Kinetic Hammer 
  • DC HeroClix: Steel 
  • DC HeroClix: Green Lantern 
  • DC HeroClix: Trophy Construct 
  • DC HeroClix: Legion Flight Rings 
  • DC HeroClix: Black Lantern Ring 
  • DC HeroClix: Arctic Suit Batman 
  • DC HeroClix: Space Suit Batman 
  • DC HeroClix: Abra Kadabra 
  • Marvel HeroClix Atlantean Warrior 
  • Marvel HeroClix Captain America's Shield 
  • Marvel HeroClix: Infinaut 
  • Marvel HeroClix: Orka 
  • Marvel HeroClix: BBQ Deadpool 
  • Marvel HeroClix: Superior Spider-Man 
  • Marvel HeroClix: Deadpool at Home 
  • 1 of each debuting for-sale HeroClix promo 

WizKids reserves the right to adjust the tournament and prize structure without notice at our discretion. 

Thanks for reading!

We know many fans will have thoughts they'd like to share, or even questions – you can submit feedback via gamefeedback@wizkids.com. We look forward to seeing players at Origins Game Fair 2026, where they'll be able to access Attuma and Atlantean Warrior for the very first time. Check out these convention exclusives below!