COACH'S CORNER: Giants - Part Two

Giants - Part Two

Synechdoche

First off, the model... meh.

If you know that you are up against a "turtling"-style team, like a Forge Father, Brokkr, or a non-Striker team - pretty much anyone who will have to retain the ball over time to control the pace of the game, the Synechdoche might be a pretty good choice you. Also good against Hobgoblins... just saying, taking control of a Hulk and Slamming the little guys on the Hobgoblin team is a sweet idea.

The Synechdoche's stat line is for crap, I mean awful, but that isn't why you are taking him. You take him for the ability Mind Control. With this ability you can take control of a player from the opposing team and basically have them hand over the ball, or set themselves up for a Slam, or move out of the way, whatever. Mind Control is a great ability, but a seasoned coach will pick up on the tactic pretty quickly. He won't be able to stop it, but he might be able to mitigate it some.

The question is, does this ability warrant only having 5 players on the Pitch and the expenditure of 15 MC. Cheap for a Giant, expensive for a regular MVP.

Grade: B

Brank ‘BOOM-FIST'

I am a sucker for this model. I love it.

Talk about making Big Mech completely redundant, wow. Brank has a 3+ Armor, due to being a Keeper, and Can't Feel A Thing. Taking him out is nigh impossible! And with his 3+ Strength, he is a force to be reckoned with on the Pitch.

He is slow... Forge Father slow, but for once, it doesn't really seem to matter. I mean, he even has a 4+ Speed-jealouos much Brokkrs? :-)

Oh yeah, and Skill matters some, he has a 4+ there too.

'Boom Fist' is not bad at all for an anchor piece on the Pitch. He is a big stompy thing that is almost unkillable. Plop him down in the 3 point Strike Zone and... nothing, just let him sit there, forever.

And he looks so cool!

Grade: A -

Skarathron

Model, ok I guess...

A fast, Threatening Jack with Stretch. I am not seeing the appeal. Really, just not. I would rather take Alpha Simian over this guy-though in all frankness, I am not sure I would ever take a Giant Jack.

For 20 MC, give me a Striker MVP and a Guard MVP, over Skarathron any day.

Am I missing something here?

Grade: C -

Karadon

Crazy shark guy. Not crazy about the mini, it's ok though.

A Threatening Keeper with a Strength 3+, not bad at all. This is the damage-dealing other side of the 'Boom-Fist' coin. He has a Move of 5, so average on that. Speed 4+, so average on that. Skill 5+, eh, not great for a Keeper. But of course, with the better Armor (seemed to be misprinted as 4+ in the book, it should be 3+), he is still a monster. Pun intended.

You could do worse than Karadon for 19 MC, I put him up there as one of the better Giants for sure.

Grade: B +

So that puts my tiers of Giant Assessment as the following:

Tier 1 (A range)
Nameless Spawn - The Irresistible Force
Brank 'BOOM-FIST' - The Immovable Object

Tier 2 (B range)
Dozer - Our Lady of Wrecking Face
Karadon - Giant Shark of Destruction
Synechdoche - Strange ... the... the.. Greatest Player of All-Time Ever... I must serve Synechdoche...

Tier 3 (C range)
Skarathron - Big 'ole Fast Spider-Thing
Alpha Simian - Dreadball's Monster Ape
Barricade - Rolling Wrecking Ball

Tier 4 (D range)
Big Mech - Big Disappointment