Wolverine, probably one if not the most popular X-Men there is but does his Crisis Protocol incarnation live up to the character’s reputation? Let’s look into it!
Starting with a pretty impressive stat line of 7 health, 4 physical, 3 energy and 2 mystical, Wolverine seems like a pretty resilient character for a 4 threat. His size 2 (very often 3 but we’ll get back to that) and Medium movement on a 35mm base are about as average as they can get. His injured side makes his defensive stat line look a lot less impressive by losing a hefty 2 health.
Next we have his attack suite, starting with a 5 dice builder, range 2 that pierces and puts bleed on a wild. At face value, the builder looks solid, 5 dice are pretty standard but if you get the wild it improves the attack by a lot but if you don’t, it makes Wolverine a little sad.
Costing 3 power, Berserker Barrage is Wolverine’s spender, with 7 dice physical, it gives him some very welcome mobility by being range 3 and placing him within 1 of his target. If the attack deals damage, you even get a size 3 throw for good measure, which can put a lot of pressure on a secure.
At the cost of 3 power, Wolverine can move, then do a builder where he counts his wilds as two successes, putting an even bigger emphasis on his wilds.
Next, there’s the iconic Adamantium Skeleton, which counts Wolverine as a size 3 for the purpose of pushes and throws (which has the benefit of letting Sam Wilson Air Lift Wolverine) and is pretty good with the iconic move and tactic card; Fastball Special that throws Wolverine into someone.
Finally, on his healthy side, his Healing Factor, combined with his 7 health and 4/3/2 defenses makes Wolverine a surprisingly hard model to take down on the table. The immunity to stun, and the additional immunity to stagger on his injured side are welcome additions to his kit.
Last but not least, Wolverine also gains Wild Rage on his injured side, which gives him a lot more firepower if he’s taken damage at the cost of not being able to hold extracts and not interacting with pay to flips (he can still contest Secures normally)
As much as it pains me to say, Wolverine is probably my least favorite X-Men in Crisis Protocol. First is an issue he shares with most of the first wave of X-Men, his struggle to build power. Being so reliant on rolling a wild with no inherent dice fixing makes him subject to a lot of variance and since both his Spender and Charge are costed at 3, he will very often have a slow start. Having 5 health on his injured side, in addition to not being able to interact are huge downsides as he will be randomly taken out before he can activate a lot more often than on his healthy side. I will say this in his favor, he is a premium Cube holder. With priority, Wolverine can even grab two of them on turn 1 thanks to First Class, giving him the 3 power he needs, every turn, to have solid activations.
Thank you and feel free to leave a comment, good luck and don’t forget to have fun!
