I Have No Weaknesses - GG Thanos

This next installment involves Chase Thanos from Galactic Guardians. It seems that someone complains about his abilities and brokenness every other day. But as with every figure, all we need to do is look at the figure and pretend it doesn't have any special power.

--For the points, he is pretty manageable. His stats are on par on both 350 and 300 point level dials compared with similar costing figures. He has the usual powers like Impervious and Power Cosmic. Honestly, any decent team can beat him at a 300 point level. 400 and higher you need a few more tricks up your sleeve. You will almost never see him played at 300 so you need to prepare for the 350 version.
--Effective Figures: anything with a decent attack and damage value (11 and 3 or 4 respectively) that can deal penetrating damage and the usual support like prob control and perplex.

Now we stop pretending and look at the special powers. Here is the dial for reference since there is a lot to discuss.

Let's deal with "Toy With You" first: basically it's a free action to switch the value of your speed with your attack.

--This sucks and is impossible to stop barring using GG Adam Warlock or SI Yellowjacket. If you want to attack Thanos, he will most likely be able to toy with you because of open lines of fire
--Effective Figures: listed above - outwit the TA then the power.

Next is "Teleport My Greatest Enemies": power action to grab the 2 highest point figures on your team no matter where they are and place them adjacent to him. This is an issue because it splits up your force and you can guarantee Thanos packed a bunch of buddies to dish out damage when you get there.

First thing to realize is this isn't on the first click at the 300 point level so you don't need to worry about it there. At 350, he has it on first click but you don't need to worry because in 400 points, a 50 point fig isn't going to destroy you. If you play golden age and he is teamed with SI Spiderman and the Shield Disruptor object, he can hurt you but that's if the attack succeeds. More commonly, you'll see him in 500 points or more so we will focus on that.

I'd venture to say the most common buddies that Thanos brings in 500 are 2 IH Wolverines at 70 points each. 12 attack with flurry or exploit weakness at 3 damage a piece. Thanos can use perplex on one of the damages as well. Again this won't destroy you but it will hurt a good amount and will hurt your ability to take on Thanos. You get to the higher point games, you will see more Wolverines or higher damage dealers and possibly even some Psychic Blast or Pulse Wave. There isn't much you can do to stop those pieces so let's stop Thanos.

--The first is with theme team. How? By getting the added bonus to your map roll and picking the Incredible Hulk Shadowlands map, you are able to limit Thanos' range on this power. As it stands, he can do it from anywhere on the map. With Shadowlands, it is now only 6 squares or closer that he can do this. If you are lucky, you don't have to run theme and will still win the roll. The downside to this map is you are hindered to 6 range as well but if you build your team well, you can overcome this. If you don't have access to this map, pick a map that allows you to be able to get on top of elevated and shoot down onto Thanos, preferably the Chaos War Fast Forces Castle map because both starting areas are on elevated but not the highest level or some other map with elevated on both sides.

--Next thing is power action stoppers. CW The Unspoken and GSX Leech come to mind. Leech is great because he can hide in hindering for stealth cover or behind a wall and as long as you are 6 squares from anyone, no power actions for them. If you can carry leech in or TK and carry, you will shut down many figures in the game.

--Again, outwit can work if you use Adam Warlock or Yellowjacket but you're dedicating a minimum of 100 points.

--My favorite tactic but most risky is the blitz! I have done it successfully by getting a TKer 8 squares away and then next turn TK IH SR Black Bolt next to the next TKer and they TK BB in range of Thanos for a Pulse Wave that dealt 4 to everything on Thanos' team. But there are better strategies. Getting a figure up in his face or shooting at him quickly is key and you need to have good stats to guarantee that you hit. IG Runner is a great piece to help out. Depending on how Thanos is set up, you should be able to get an attack in with Runner even though he is a double based figure. Attach the Space gem and he has 17 movement HSS and a Special Power that allows him to use Exploit Weakness during HSS (you normally can't do this). He will have a 12 attack and 3 damage which puts Thanos off the teleport power! Now, Runner isn't the only piece that'll work but it was a good example. When you blitz, make sure Thanos takes exactly this many clicks: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, or 11. If he clicks the dial that many times, he won't have the power so you are better off than you were.

--Another good thing to do is create a team that isn't dependent on your highest figures or in others words, a well rounded team. This limits the effectiveness of Thanos' ability. The only issue with this is if the opponent KOs both figs he teleport by his next turn. If that happens then he can teleport again! 

-- Punish figures for hitting or missing you. Mystics TA use will help a bunch. If the opponent is attacking Mystics, they will take damage as well and ultimately dish out less damage over time. Ant man and Wasp duo have a high defense, super senses, and will deal an unavoidable to any figure that misses an attack!

--If you perplex the defense of your high point figs before he teleports them, that could buy you another turn if his dice don't play nice. If your figure happens to have combat reflexes as well, that won't hurt you either if he plans on using Wolverines or other close combat attackers. Same works for energy shield deflection if against a ranged threat. You can't count on the build you are going against so just get used to perplexing instead.

--Lastly, don't do anything to both of your high point figs on the first turn if you go first. This negates first round immunity and Thanos can teleport you. You can to one or the other or neither but not both.

--Effective Figures: Shadowlands map, theme team, CW046 The Unspoken w/ taxi,  GSX026 Leech w/ taxi, GG032 Adam Warlock, SI006b Yellowjacket, IG005 Runner, mystics TA, CW053 Ant man and Wasp, perplex

The Stone Golem power is cool but it isn't game breaking. If you're really worried about it, keep tokens on Thanos with incapacitate. Otherwise, just ignore it. Chances are you'll hit him past it or if he is on the click, he would rather attack.

Drained the cube is a great power that can be annoying. It gives him Invulnerability and can only be attacked by an adjacent figure. Make sure you have some Charge or HSS ready if he winds up on these clicks.

So there we have it, Chase Thanos is all his glory. You can see now how he was able to lose in the comics can't you?! He is tough to beat for sure, don't get me wrong, but he is manageable if you play smart and don't stress. Keep calm and clix on!