Gamora is a warrior – she is strong, agile, can heal and is a very fearsome fighter; indeed, she is sometimes referred to as “the deadliest woman in the galaxy.” Which galaxy? Who knows, whichever one she is in I guess.
So, how has Gamora been translated into the game? Let’s see!
STAMINA – At 5 stamina Gamora is a little lower in the health department than what one might expect for a 4 threat character (oops, spoilers), let’s hope she makes up for it in abilities…
MOVEMENT – Long! Oh how glorious! What a day of days it is when at last we get to add another long-mover to the character pool. This slots her right in with Black Panther, Black Widow and non-black Baron Zemo and Spider-Man, and means that Gamora is a viable option for an extraction objective runner.
SIZE – 2. Nothing strange here so let’s move on.
THREAT – 4 threat puts her in the category of those characters who we expect to be doing some pretty serious work on the battlefield, and makes her the highest threat Guardians of the Galaxy character spoiled to date.
DEFENCES – Average all the way with 3 dice rolled for each defence type. One would expect a 4 threat character to roll 4 dice for at least 1 of their defences, so Gamora is a bit of an abnormality in this regard. The only exception to this rule in the character pool so far is Spider-Man who also rolls 3, 3, 3 for his defences. Given this, we can reasonably expect Gamora to bring something decent to the table as compensation.
ATTACKS – The first of Gamora’s 2 attacks is a physical attack called God Slayer, which, with a name like that, better be pretty darn good. This attack has a range of 2, strength of 6 and power cost of 0. As usual, power equal to the damage dealt by this attack is gained, but as an added bonus if the attack deals damage then the target character gains the bleed special condition. An average strike-type attack such as this has a strength of 5, although some characters do have a strength 4 basic attack, so at 6 strength this attack is no slouch. Also, it is a nice perk that you do not need to roll a wild to make the target character bleed, meaning that Gamora works nicely with Hela who loves a bleeding character.
Gamora’s second attack is another physical one, this time called Cosmic Assassin, which is also a great name for a cocktail and a viable moniker for a particularly violent poo. This attack has a range of 3, strength of 6 and power cost of 4. Roll a wild and you get to trigger pierce which, as per previous instances of this ability in the game (Doc. Ock for example) allows Gamora to change one of the defenders critical, wild or block results to a blank. This attack also has an effect called Rapid Strike which states that after the attack is resolved Gamora may make an additional Cosmic Assassin attack without paying the power cost. This attack has to target another character within range 2 of the original target character, but may be any distance from Gamora. Upon an initial read 6 dice for a 4 power cost “big” attack may seem a little underwhelming, but that fact that each time you trigger this attack you then get to make another one for free against another target within range 2 of the original target, regardless of how far they are from Gamora is huge. This attack is reminiscent of M.O.D.O.K’s Doomsday Chair attack which is slightly cheaper and slightly stronger, but does have the restriction of having to remain within the appropraite range of M.O.D.O.K., unlike Gamora’s Cosmic Assassin. I like this attack, and it will make for interesting decision-making, both for the controlling player and the opposing player.
SUPERPOWERS – Gamora’s first superpower is reactive, has a power cost of 2 and is called Assassin Leap. This superpower is pretty much Black Panther’s Pounce – Gamora can throw herself short and does not take any collision damage from hitting any terrain or characters. We have had Black Panther for a while now and have been able to see how useful and versatile this superpower is, be it doing some extra damage to enemy characters, getting that little bit of extra movement (looking at you Wakandan herbs), or clearing the battlefield of terrain before it gets thrown at you. Having another long-moving character with this ability is going to make for some interesting decisions come roster-building time.
Superpower number 2 is called Martial Prowess, not to be mistaken for Marital Prowess which is what I would describe my husbanding style to be. This superpower states that it may be used when Gamora is targeted by an attack within range 2. If so Gamora may roll 5 defence dice instead of her usual 3. If she suffers no damage once the attack is resolved then the attacker suffers 2 damage. This is a really interesting superpower, and is a nice way of getting around Gamora’s restrictive 3 defence dice. Attacking Gamora within range 2 when she has power is going to be a no-no; breaking through 5 defence dice is no easy task, and you run the risk of your own character taking damage. Unless you can swing in with a huge attack of Hulkish proportions, steer clear! The thing I like the most about this superpower is that it is not limited to a single defence type. Any type of attack which gets thrown at Gamora she has the potential to dodge and deal damage back.
Last of all we have an innate ability called Deadliest Woman in the Galaxy. This attack states that when Gamora makes an attack she may change 1 die result to a hit for each wild in the attack roll. Good grief. As if Gamora wasn’t attacky enough, she now gets to change her useless dice in an attack to comething useful (except for critical failures of course). This makes all her attacks even better than they already are and it doesn’t cost you a thing. Seeing Gamora across from you on the battlefield is going to be scary!
INJURED SIDE – No change here.
SUMMARY – What Gamora lacks in stamina and defences she seems to make up for in abilities. Her standard attack is bigger than most and automatically throws out bleed, her big attack chains into a second attack and pierces defences, and her innate superpower lets her ensure that dice in her attack roll can be modified to ensure a better attack. She has additional out of action movement built in and a way to improve her defences and deal damage back to her attacker. She is definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with and I am greatly looking forward to fielding her in a squad.
That being said her stamina is somewhat low and her defences overall are quite weak, which is worrying. It will be interesting to see what role she fills in a Guardians affiliation. At the moment I see her as a character who runs around the board throwing out damage, rather than someone to camp on an objective, but I have been known to be wrong so don’t tale my word for it!
When it comes to affiliations she is a listed member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and having access to rerolls for attacks will help her to get as much damage out as she can, and being able to reroll her defence dice is going to work great alongside her Martial Prowess superpower to ensure that she takes no damage and throws out bonus hurt to the attacking character. And being able to reroll dodge dice is great too, as throwing things at Gamora and throwing Gamora will be effective ways of getting around her defensive superpower.
Gamora is also a really good Avenger, as both her power cost superpowers will now only cost 1 power to activate if used first in her turn. This means she can use Assassin Leap on her activation for bonus movement or collision damage, and then use Martial Prowess for 1 power on an opponents turn to try to get out of an attack. Wonderful.
As Gamora is so damage-focused she will also work well in a Cabal affiliation, especially when using her Cosmic Assassin attack as, if she manages to damage both targets, she will net 2 power which is what she needs to pay for her costed superpowers.
A Wakandan affiliation also works nicely as rerolls will help to smooth out her attack and defence rolls, and Asgard is always good for a spot of healing and condition removal. Stacking conditions onto Gamora, especially slow, shock and stun, is going to be a good way of reducing what she is able to accomplish on her activations, and therefore anything that lets her ditch a condition for free is going to be very helpful indeed.
As for team tactics cards she has one specific to her called Daughters of Thanos. This card works along with Nebula and states that when an allied Gamora or Nebula make an attack action, after the attack is resolved both characters may spend 2 power. If they do so then the character that did not make the initial attack may make an attack targeting the same character. This is an interesting way of getting an out of turn attack, but I guess the questio is is it worth 4 power to do so? It would depend on how much power Gamora/Nebula has, and what you are trying to do to the target character. If it is critical that you take them down then it may be worthwhile, but 4 power plus the cost of the attack is certainly giving me pause. This is one which I think I will have to see play before deciding whether it is for me or not.
As a GotG character Gamora would benefit from Crew of the Milano which is a Guardians-specific card that allows all Guardians characters to remove all special conditions from their character cards, and gives them immunity to special conditions for the rest of the round. As mentioned earlier, stacking conditions on Gamora is going to be a viable way of delaing with her, and playing this card is going to be a good way of negating these effects for a round.
Advanced R&D is a very nifty card indeed in that it can be used to ditch power from a character and get a power onto other characters. It has a variable cost and characters like Star-Lord who tend to have a little bank of power could use this card to get Gamora the power she needs to pay for her superpowers in a pinch. In the words of Gimli, “very handy in a tight spot.”
Battle Lust is a pretty glorious card with Gamora, but then again I am a pretty big fan of this card already. After Gamora makes a long move she can pay 2 power to add 2 dice to her next attack roll. If this attack deals damage then once the attack is resolved Gamora can push the target character away short. Just imagine the possibilities! You could activate Gamora late in the round, advance her up to the far gamma shelter, hit an enemy character with a big attack and, if they don’t go down, boot them off the objective and into the distant ether, thereby securing the objective and those precious victory points. Mmmmmm.
As mentioned earlier, throwing and being thrown is going to be a bit of an issue for Gamora, so the staple Brace for Impact is certainly worthy of consideration.
Doomed Prophecy is an interesting card on Gamora. True, other characters will get you 4 extra dice rather than 3, but Gamora’s basic attack will let you roll 9 dice for a 0 power cost, and her big attack will let you roll 9 dice on 2 separate characters which is no small thing.
Given that her basic attack is above average in terms of strength she could be a good condidate for Drop Off, as long as you are running a character with flight of course. This would get her a free basic attack and could get her into a good position for the next activation where she can hopefully chain a few big attacks together. In a similar vein, she could also be a good candidate for Gamma Launch if you are running an allied Hulk.
Inspiring Monologue (wahey!) could be good if you have a character with a bit of a bank of power (Star-Lord for example), as this would allow 3 power to be paid for rerolls of defence dice for the round, helping to get some consistency out of those average defences.
One-Two Punch is a nice way of boosting Gamora’s attack rolls and getting a bit of extra damage, and Recalibration Matrix is a good way of getting some rerolls if you are not running a Wakanda affiliation.
And last of all Seeing Red could also be a good option as it would allow Gamora an out of turn attack if an allied character within range 2 is dazed or K.O’d. If you can afford to trigger Cosmic Assassin then you are quids in because you will get to do 2 attacks for the price of 1.
So, what do you make of Gamora? Will she make your roster? Comment below!