Ghost-Spider is not a character who I am overly familiar with, having lost touch with much of the Spider-Verse in recent years – when I was young it was all about the Clone Saga, however that might make you feel. But I am eager to learn, so let’s dive in and see what Gwen Stacy brings to the table.
STAMINA – Like Miles, Gwen’s stamina is a cool 5, a little on the lower side.
MOVEMENT – A long move puts her in the same camp as the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker himself. No bad thing.
SIZE – I think most, if not all, of us would have been surprised if her size was found to be anything other than 2.
THREAT – 3, making for some interesting list building options.
DEFENCES – Just like Miles, Gwen is 3’s right across the board. As average as it gets.
ATTACKS – Gwen has got a wall of text spread across 3 attacks, so prepare yourself. Her first attack is physical and is called Spider Technique. This attack has a range of 2, strength of 4 and power cost of 0. As is usual, after this attack is resolved Gwen gains power equal to the damage dealt. Additionally, if Gwen has already attacked the target character during its activation this turn you may add 3 dice to the attack roll. AND if Gwen has advanced or been placed during her activation this turn, after the attack resolves she may advance long. Now that’s a lot to take in, but perhaps just think of this as a standard Strike attack that doubles down on what you have already done. If you’ve already attacked, add more dice, if you’ve already moved, move again. A 7 dice attack for 0 power is very nice indeed, but would mean that Gwen is left in range 2 of an enemy character who may now be powered up to retaliate later on. I like the long move to get you out of danger though; a move in, an attack and then a free move out is very nice indeed. One thing to keep in mind with this attack is the wording “during its activation this turn.” Abilities like Red Skull’s Master of the Cube would not count as that would have been used during Red Skull’s turn, not Gwen’s. Still, there will be some fun team tactics card interactions with this attack, but more on that later.
Gwen’s second attack is another physical one and is called Impact Webbing. This attack has a range of 4, strength of 4 and power cost of 0. After this attack resolves Gwen gets to gain 1 power, and roll a wild and you will be able to push the target character away short if it is size 2 or less. This is a nice little attack with a decent push at a longer range. Enough said.
Gwen’s third and final attack is, you guessed it, physical, and is called Freestyle Beatdown. This attack has a range of 2, strength of 6 and power cost of 3. If this attack deals damage and the target character is size 3 or less, after the attack is resolved the target may be thrown away short. This is another fun attack, and it is always nice to see “may throw” rather than “is thrown”, as it gives you a little more flexibility of choice. We have had some beefy characters added to the game lately, but most characters are still size 3 or less, making this throw triggerable enough in most circumstances.
SUPERPOWERS – Gwen’s first superpower is active and is called Web Line. This superpower has a cost of 2 and states that Gwen may push an enemy character within range 4 and line of sight towards Gwen short. This is exactly the same as Peter Parker’s superpower of the same name, albeit Peter’s does not require LOS, and is really good for controlling objectives. The fact that we now have this superpower available to us in stereo in the Web Warriors affiliation is going to make for some really fun (for you) and really frustrating (for your opponent) plays. A character can only be affected by this superpower once per turn, but there is nothing to stop you firing this off as many times as you can pay for it, as long as you target a different character each time.
Next is a reactive superpower called Life Saver, which has a power cost of 2. Brace yourself, because this superpower contains all the text. When an enemy character targets another allied character with an attack within Gwen’s line of sight and range 4, Gwen can push the target allied character towards herself short. Then, if at the end of the push the target character is outside of the attacks range or line of sight, the attack ends. If it is the attacker’s activation and the attack did not target multiple characters they may make another action. Which is basically a long-winded (but necessary) way of saying that when an allied character is targeted by an enemy attack, you get to yank them out of the way. This will be great for dodging incoming attacks, but especially ones occurring out of activation, such as those granted to Wakandan characters by Wakanda Forever. If you refer back to the superpower rules it states that the attacker may make another action if it is their activation and their attack did not target multiple characters. When using Wakanda Forever attacks, only 1 of the 4 Wakandan characters is activating, and so you can use this superpower to basically cancel a Wakandan attack (as long as the attacking character is not the character whose activation it is). That’s pretty mega!
And last of all we have the innate superpower Wall Crawler which should come as no surprise to anyone what with Gwen being a spider character.
INJURED SIDE – No change, she just looks pretty battered on her card art.
SUMMARY – Gwen looks to be a very interesting character indeed and a good addition to the character pool. I really like the flexibility of Spider Technique, and Gwen is kitted out with lots of ways to move enemy characters, which will make for some really dynamic games.
AFFILIATIONS – It makes sense for us to start with discussing Gwen in a Web Warriors affiliation. The defence die reroll will really help in counteracting Gwen’s 3 base defence dice and 5 stamina, and being able to reroll critical failures will never be a bad thing.
Putting Gwen into an Avengers tam would make her superpowers shockingly cheap. 1 power to push an enemy character off an objective, or push an ally out of harm’s way? Yes please! But the Avngers roster is already pushed for space, with so many great allied characters all jostling for position.
Cabal could be interesting if you are after a bit more control with the potential to do some damage. One of M.O.D.O.K’s team tactics cards grants additional movement, which would combo nicely with Spider Technique (more on that later). Plus, Gwen has plenty of attacks to choose from to meet varying circumstances, however 2 of her attacks only have a base strength of 4, so how often you would get power back from doing damage I am not too sure. Still, worth a try.
A Wakandan/Guardians of the Galaxy team would double down on the rerolls and improve consistency with defence and attack rolls, especially her Spider Technique attack at 7 strength which would be nice and consistent.
I quite like Gwen in an Asgard team. She can use her Life Saver to protect lower stamina/defence characters like Valkyrie who like to be up close when it comes to combat, she has some control in the form of multiple pushes which nicely compliments Thor’s throws, she is a long mover which Asgard is sadly lacking; and she would benefit from some longevity due to the Asgard leadership ability.
Black Order could be good but I think I would need to try Gwen out before committing to this fully. Her attacks are good, but I am not sure if they are K.O. good. Still, she could be used to good effect to push enemy characers into the path of her allies which could play nicely into allied characters being able to double attack in their turns. And she could compensate a little for the Black Order’s weakness at being able to spread out across the board. Hmm, maybe I just convinced myself…
TEAM TACTICS CARDS – A Web Warriors-specific card has been spoiled by AMG, and it is fittingly called… wait for it… Web Warriors. This card states that a Web Warrios character may spend 3 power to play it. Each enemy character within range 3 suffers the slow special condition When an allied Web Warrior character is attacking a character suffering the slow special condition this round, add 2 dice to the attack roll. This is pretty mega. Slow is a nasty special condition to be lumbered with. Getting to slow multiple characters and gain 2 additional dice for the cost of 3 power is extremely cheap. Plus, this attack has the potential to last throughout the round, as any Web Warrior attacking an enemy character with the slow condition this round gets the bonus dice. Amazing. Played at the right time and in the right circumstances would mean that Gwen’s 0 power cost Spider Technique attack could reach the dizzying heights of 9 dice!
Also included in the Miles/Gwen pack Web Barrier which is a second Web Warriors affiliated card which can be triggered by 2 Web Warriors characters who must both pay 1 power each. If they do so then whilst they are within range 3 of each other this round they cannot be pushed, thrown or placed by enemy effects, and while advancing enemy characters cannot place a movement tool that would overap either allied character, or a straight line drawn between these characters unless they are climbing. Characters cannot draw line of sight through these characters or a straight line drawn between them this round. Well, that’s wordy, but essentially you draw a stright line between the 2 characters involved and enemies can’t target or move through that line (unless climbing), and your Web Warriors cannnot be pushed, thrown or placed by enemies. This seems to me to be a pretty amazing card, and is our first instance of having a way of straight up blocking enemy movement and LOS without moving behind some terrain. This could be a critical play at a pivotal moment, providing some protection from being targeted by attacks for a few allies for a round, or just stopping an enemy character from being able to get to an obective without taking the long way round. I am really looking forward to trying this out in some games.
As for other team tactics cards a few come to mind. If you run Gwen with an allied M.O.D.O.K then A.I.M Lackeys is a card to seriously consider. This would grant Gwen an additional move action during her activation, meaning that she could move, fire off any attack, then do Spider Technique which would gain the benefit of the additional dice as well as the long move after the attack resolves. 2 long moves and 2 attacks in a single activation is insane and I can’t wait to try it. If you’re not running M.O.D.O.K in your game then Tactical Analysis does a very similar thing. But if you’re not running M.O.D.O.K then your sanity may be in question…
Like Miles, Gwen is a bit lower on her stamina and attack values, so a card like Disarm could be good. Working with her team mates, she could pay her half of the 2 power required to trigger the card to cause an enemy character to roll 2 fewer dice on all attacks for the round. A nice bit of protection.
All of Gwen’s attacks are physical and she is really mobile, so Doomed Prophecy might be a fun choice if you are wanting to use her to dole out some serious attacks for a round. Get her in, drop the hammer, and then pull her out.
Lastly, Miles can make enemy characters drop objectives, and Gwen seems like she would be a good candidate for picking them up, so running Mission Objective so that she can pass an objective onto a tankier character like Venom coudl be a good option too.
So what do you make of Ghost-Spider? Will she make your roster? Comment below!