Abomination

Abomination is ready to contend with the Hulk and prove that he is the strongest one there is!

Emil Blonsky was a spy at the U.S. Air Force Base where Dr. Bruce Banner was conducting his experiments with gamma radiation when he was accidently bombarded with that radiation, turning him into Abomination. Unlike Hulk, Abomination can’t just shift between his human and superhuman forms. Without that capability, Abomination’s terrifying strength and appearance are always on display, and he is treated like a dangerous monster. That difference with Hulk, more than anything, drives Abomination’s hate towards him. While Emil still possesses his mind as Abomination, his lack of scruples and options push him to act like a monster as well.

As one of the few individuals capable of counterbalancing the strength of the Hulk, any mastermind would do well to recruit Abomination. Abomination leaps for the opportunity to prove his strength against any challenger—especially if that challenger is Hulk, so he’s ended up working as muscle for many other villains. Abomination doesn’t have to rely on his strength and endurance alone to win a fight, though. He can also emit incredibly toxic gamma radiation to disable and destroy his enemies.

Abomination’s Threat Value of 5 shows he’s not supposed to be the equal of the Hulk, but his durability and strength get close. His 7-die Strike with a size-unrestricted Push is exceptional among 5-threat characters. With solid defensive stats, 7 stamina on healthy and injured sides of his card, and damage reduction of 1 from Gamma Mutated Hide, he’s also got exceptional durability among 5 threats. If he can get into position to use it, he can trade blows with any character in the game.

Where Abomination struggles a little is needing to spend actions to move around if he doesn’t have the power to use Gamma Bomb, and it’s hard for him to proactively generate enough power to do everything he wants with his Strike only generating 1 power per attack. Luckily, he can use his medium move and 65mm base to quickly move to where enemy characters want to be so that he doesn’t have a lack of targets for his massive attacks. He also generates extra power when he is damaged due to Gamma Mutated Hide. If he can force the enemy to engage with him by pushing in aggressively enough, he won’t have a power problem. If he’s just 1 power away from using Gamma Bomb at an enemy at Range 3, he can use Hurl Debris to get it. When it does come time to Gamma Bomb, the 8-die attack and wild Throw trigger hit very hard.

With his power, Abomination can use I’m the Strongest There Is! to threaten enemy characters with almost every terrain feature on most tables. Radiation Zone is an ability that can be absolutely wild. With the Abomination’s 65mm base and Range 2, the area of effect is quite large. The first application of Poison with it is impressive, with the reduction of 1 power in addition to the condition. The second application, on another turn, is lethal. Two damage that isn’t reduced by defenses must be respected, or the opponent’s squad could all end up Dazed and KO’d.

Gamma Burst represents Abomination’s radiation at its most extreme. In combination with Radiation Zone to get Poison onto enemy characters, Abomination can reliably clear off an objective. More than that, a medium Push is quite a lot of movement, and Gamma Burst could put multiple enemy characters in much worse positions. A well-timed Gamma Burst has the potential to put a player playing Abomination in a very advantaged position.

Abomination often serves as the brawn to pair with the brains of another villain, and there’s no larger brain than M.O.D.O.K.’s! You Will Do As I Say, Monster literally throws the enormous Abomination at any problem that needs to be handled. Abomination suffering 1 damage from the collision is a small price to pay to get to grips with his enemies. Abomination and M.O.D.O.K. Scientist Supreme (ATOCP145EN) share the Criminal Syndicate and Hydra Affiliations, giving those affiliations a potent combination to base a squad around.

The Wrecking Crew

There’s a storm on the way! Dirk Garthwaite and his boys, Dr. Eliot Franklin, Henry Camp, and Brian Calusky, have escaped from Ryker’s Island and recovered the enchanted crowbar that contains the trapped power of Wrecker, a power that Dirk previously held. All four men hold fast to the crowbar and raise it into the sky! Lightning strikes! The mystic crowbar, Enchanted by Karnilla, Queen of Norns, disperses its power into the four men holding it, transforming them into the Wrecking Crew!

Every member of the Wrecking Crew has been enhanced with superhuman strength and durability. Their powers give them the capability to demolish anything in their way, and they enjoy doing just that. As career criminals, the Wrecking Crew have no qualms selling their services to the highest bidder, and there is no shortage of customers willing to pay top dollar to get access to super-powered muscle. Because of this, the Wrecking Crew end up doing odd jobs that other super-powered individuals might consider beneath them, but the Wrecking Crew doesn’t let that stop them from cashing in on their unique talents. The Wrecking Crew won’t let the law or Loki, who wants to reclaim the Asgardian power in their crowbar, stop them from getting what they want.

Dirk Garthwaite is the Wrecker. He leads the Wrecking Crew and wields the enchanted wrecking bar. Ulik taught him to throw his weapon so that it returns to him after smashing through its targets with mystically empowered strength. Dr. Eliot Franklin is Thunderball. He is a brilliant physicist with a deep understanding of gamma radiation and a chip on his shoulder that the Wrecker is the head of the Wrecking Crew. He wields a wrecking ball that can be empowered by the Wrecker’s crowbar to become almost indestructible, and he can use it to smash the ground and cause minor quakes that can knock enemies off their feet. Brian Calusky is Piledriver. His grip has been enhanced beyond even the other members of the Wrecking Crew, making him a ferocious grappler that can easily manhandle his opponents. Henry Camp is Bulldozer. He wears a special metal helmet that reinforces his upper body so that he can ram through any obstacles in his path. The Bulldoze superpower represents this capability as well as the exceptional demolition capabilities of the Wrecking Crew. Bulldoze can help line up a great Wrecking Bar Fling that catches multiple characters and interactive terrain pieces; creating a massive storm of shrapnel to overwhelm their opponents.

The Wrecking Crew are formidable alone, but a coordinated assault by all four can bring even the strongest foe down. Let’s Take ’em Down Boys! allows the Wrecking Crew to make 3 attack actions on their activation. They can Bulldoze into position, hit with Indestructi-ball to give their target Stun, follow up with Piledriver to give Stagger and Push the target Away, then throw their magic crowbar and Throw the target. Finally, they can play the Stronger Together Team Tactic Card to once again Throw the target long. That combination can move an enemy character far enough that they might not even get back with an entire activation of moving. That full string is very unlikely to happen with all the required triggers, but it’s truly spectacular when it does, and it brings a massive amount of excitement to their activation when they go for it.

Mystic Menace is a much less spectacular effect, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s not very effective. With Piledriver, the Wrecking Crew are quite good at moving enemy characters away from secures. If they do that on a round where Mystic Menace is up, they often leave enemy characters with the bad choice of staying away from that objective or gaining Hex and losing their extra dice from crits.

ATOCP162 contains both Abomination and the Wrecking Crew, and both characters are great options for adding muscle to the Criminal Syndicate Affiliation.

In Hydra, Abomination has a strong synergy with Baron Strucker (ATOCP76EN) and his leadership, Hydra High Council. Abomination healing when he causes an enemy character to gain Poison boosts up his survivability even more. Also, Baron Strucker can cause a cluster of enemy characters to gain Poison using his Deathsport Virus superpower without hurting Abomination due to his immunity. Then Abomination can follow up with Radiation Zone to damage all the enemy characters that gained Poison. Further, Abomination is a very durable character, and durable characters are affected more by special conditions since they stick around for longer before Dazing or KOing. Moving any special conditions Abomination gains to enemy characters using Hydra High Council then removes that vulnerability.

Abomination is a great addition to any squad that needs a durable character to reliably activate. With high defenses and Gamma Mutated Hide, Abomination isn’t usually an appealing target for an opponent to go after. That means he can often wait to activate since there isn’t much risk of him losing his activation during a round due to being Dazed or KO’d, freeing up other characters to activate first so that they don’t lose their activation that round. Having a stable character like Abomination means the whole team is more likely to take all their actions each round.

With their easy access to additional moves and attacks, the Wrecking Crew makes an excellent addition to a Criminal Syndicate squad led by Shadowland Daredevil (ATOCP79EN). Wrecking Bar Fling can be extremely powerful when it’s targeting multiple characters that qualify for the rerolls from the Shadow War leadership, and they are one of the few characters that can reliably get 5 or more rerolls from Shadow War on their turn.

The Wrecking Crew also joins the ranks of the Asgardian villains in the Cabal Affiliation, and they make a fantastic addition to a squad led by Malekith, the Accursed (ATOCP93). With Bulldoze and the additional move and power from Malekith’s leadership, The Dark Council, the Wrecking Crew have no problem getting across the table before attacking, which makes it more likely that they can Daze or KO their targets and trigger The Dark Council on their Turn.

More generally, any roster might want to include the Wrecking Crew to get access to their flexible attack suite. Indestructi-ball is one of the easiest ways to give out Stun, so it can be used to stifle any character that regularly tries to gain large chunks of power. Piledriver is a stupendously powerful attack for 0 power with 6 dice, Push on damage, and the possibility to Stagger if the target is stunned. Both effects of the attack give the Wrecking Crew great options to control enemy characters. Wrecking Bar Fling is insanely powerful when there are lots of Size 1 and 2 terrain features around the objectives, so having the Wrecking Crew in your roster for those situations can give you a situational massive advantage.

That’s all we have for today! Check back later for another From Panel to Play, the series where we give you your first look at how your favorite characters transition to the tabletop in Marvel: Crisis Protocol.

Until next time, Atomic Mass Games, signing off!