So, AMG have just given us our first teaser for 2025 with the Panel to Play for Man Thing. In this article, I'm going to discuss my initial thoughts for the character and provide some insight into how we might play on the table!
My initial reaction is I'm a bit suprised that he's a 3 threat, when he first got teased I imagined him being a slightly higher threat level. With 3/3/4 defences, this is probably an average stat line for modern 3 threats that we've seen recently introduced into the game, however he is packing a 6/5 health statline which is slightly above average. He is a slow mover on a medium base, but his movement speed is deceptive which we'll cover a bit later in the article.
Man Thing packs a decent builder, with a 5 dice range 3 physical attack with a size 3 push on a hit and wild with the stipulation that it must be towards this character. The size 3 displacement is really nice, though the stipulation on the direction might be problematic in some situations.
His spender is also quite impressive, a 7 dice mystic attack for 3 power, which again is range 3 with an auto incinerate and poison. Pretty solid on a 3 threat character.
And now we get into the spicy stuff. His first superpower, Guardian of the Nexus of all Realities (bit of a mouthful), Man Thing can choose himself or another character within Range 3 of him and place the chosen character within 3 of it's current position. Note here, the stipulation is that a character can only be affected by this superpower once per turn, so he can place multiple characters as long as he has the power. It is a 3 power spend to use, so unless you have a way to generate power easily he probably isn't going to be doing this regularly, but as a Mags enjoyer this one gets me excited.
All Who Know Fear Burn At The Man Things Touch (they really went for it with the names for these superpowers) is his first innate superpower. After an attack by Man Thing is resolved or after an attack targeting Man Thing is resolved, if damage was dealt and the enemy character is within 2 of Man Thing, the enemy character gains incinerate. I really like this superpower, it really ties in to the pull effect on his builder, it's another good way of handing out incinerate and it really makes your opponent think about their positioning when attacking.
Moss and Mud and Swamp is his final superpower. When Man Thing is defending, enemy characters do not roll additional dice for crit results in their attack roll. This is excellent, and makes Man Thing deceptively tanky. With 6 health on his healthy side and your opponent not able to gain extra dice from crits and also add in to the fact he has Healing Factor 2, he's going to take a bit of effort from your opponent to chew through. The addition of being immune to Hex and Stun is also welcomed, he's maybe a contender for playing on Fisk?
Man Thing also comes with his own tactics card in Dimensional Quagmire. So this card is VERY wordy, but this is just AMG covering all bases with their wording, the effect of the card is actually quite simple. So, the card needs to be played in the Power Phase, and last for one round and the effect doesn't happen if Man Thing is dazed. Once per turn (so every time a character activates) and the first time an enemy character begins a movement action within 3 of Man Thing and ends the movement not with Range 3 of Man Thing, you roll a dice. If the result is a hit, crit or wild you can then place the character back within 3 of Man Thing.
So first of all, the displacement effect of this card is HUGE. Man Thing is on a medium base, if they end the movement outside of 3 of him, you can then place the character within 3 of him again, but this could be anywhere in a 360 degree radius around his base, that's a LONG way. The downside of this card, is that it's on a dice roll, so there's a chance the effect just might not happen. I really like the effect of this card, I think it's going to be better in some situations than it is in others, it's probably not that useful on E secures for example where characters are typically more clustered in the centre of the board, but it might be more useful on wider secures against scenario teams that want to run away with extracts. I think this is a card you probably take if your running Man Thing in your roster.
In summary then, I really like Man Thing. He's tough, he has some really useful superpowers that benefit the rest of his team, he has access to displacement (although it is limited) and brings with him a useful tactics card, all in all a really solid 3 threat. His affiliations have yet to be revealed but he'll almost certainly be in Midnight Sons as he comes in box with Elsa Bloodstone, but wherever else he ends up, he'll be a welcomed addition.
Thank you for reading the article, keep being Omega!
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