Mavel Evolutions Preview: Iceman, Jack Frost

Welcome to VS Unleashed! I hope you're thoroughly enjoying X-Factor previews Week; Just incase you haven't seen all the previews thus far, check here.

Bobby Drake has had 6 versions until now; 4 of them involve keeping people down cold. You'll be happy to know that his flavorful theme continues:



Now, before I get into my impressions of the card, lets break him down:
* average 3-drop stats
* range
* fits the energize theme
* awesome picture
* his power:

Let's get into that. He basically can "lock down" two characters a turn. Starting turn 3. Um, wow! He is useful both on-init and off, since his power isn't phase-stamped or step-stamped. That said, his power is usually going to be optimized on your initiative, since lock down effects on-initiative are pretty much the same as off-initiative exhaustion effects (except better).

Now, this guy doesn't say remains exhausted this turn, but rather he remains exhausted. I don't think that's broken or anything, far from really. If you're facing off against quickfate, where characters can ready and attack again, this serves like a force field projection. That said, and what the biggest thing to overcome I think, is that he can only target exhausted characters.

That's fine and dandy for anyone who attacks, but here's something that might throw a wrench in your gameplan; his energize will trigger after the attacker has already exhausted. That means this guy has a huge target over his head. That said we've seen plenty of exhaustion effects in the form of Cyclops, Polaris and Concussive Force that should make this potential problem disappear.

Now, just based off of the previews we've seen so far, it seems X-Factor seems to be a bit of a stall team; I'm impressed. I'm impressed, and, I see potential. Possibilities. Who would you team this guy up with? #1 on my list is the Inhumans; waking the ancestors and consistancy and Attilan make for great stall tools. You'll be locking down so many characters, just imagine your opponent's frustration. Then there's the Spider-Friends; Gift wrapped, Sensational, and one of the game's strongest draw engines make for a good fit as well.

In Golden Age, this guy might be a tech pick against Rigged elections and is sure to see play in the GA X-Stall deck. Silver, as I mentioned the Inhumans and SF have synergy. Modern, well let's wait for the set to be released, but as of now, I think it won't have as strong of an effect; Hulk can go hulk 3 - brood - hulk 5 to straight-ko him, society can steal him, and Wolverine Direct Attack.dec can team into him first, then go to the dome. Then again, I think X-Factor definitely has/will have the tools to slow down that deck, and maybe that will be enough. For modern, again, it's too soon to tell.

If you have any combos, suggestions or would like to post your thoughts on Iceman, Jack Frost, feel free to post so and I encourage it. Check back tomorrow for more MEV Previews, and if you haven't already, check out VS-Blog.com for another preview!