Last Thursday, I wrote about Cyclops’s “Slim” version, who coordinates efficient and deadly team attacks for the X-Men. But we all know that Cyclops can punch holes into mountains and level the occasional building with his optic blasts, so what about that Cyclops?

Scott Summers to the rescue! Notice that text underneath the name Cyclops? That’s where each and every character in the game has his, her, or its version listed. A version is a way to tell characters apart who have the same name. Army cards are the only exception, but you’ll learn about those in a day or two.

So far, there are more than a dozen characters with multiple versions. As we release more sets in the future, some more characters will end up with different versions, highlighting a time in their history not covered by the current versions. So if you find that there is only one version of your favorite character in the game, keep your eyes open when future sets are released—especially if that character has appeared in the comics with the new release’s main characters.

Characters are unique. That means if you recruit a character while you already control a character with the same name, the character in play is immediately sent to your KO’d pile. The version of the character doesn’t matter for the purpose of uniqueness; only the character’s name counts. Same goes for power-ups—oh wait, that’s a future article.

Now let’s look at the Scott Summers version of Cyclops. This version really brings home the point that Cyke’s optic blasts are a kick in the teeth. His game text reflects his pinpoint control and ability to fire from long range, which translates into one of the game’s most tactically advantageous abilities.

“While attacking from the support row, Cyclops cannot be stunned.”

If you’re the sort of player who likes to manage risk over all other considerations, this is the character for you. It’s such a relief to be able to attack with Cyclops and know that he’s going to survive. No number of Nasty Surprises or other plot twist chicanery is going to result in his getting stunned. Once you send him on an attack, rest assured that he’s coming back home. He’s great against characters like Sabretooth’s Feral Rage version with his 11 ATK and 7 DEF. Even some 6-cost characters won’t come out of that attack without suffering a severe mauling, but Cyclops does just fine.

Cyclops also does well team attacking with certain other X-Men, continuing the theme from his “Slim” version. Normally when you make a team attack, your opponent will choose to counterattack your highest cost character. However, with Cyclops in the fray, your opponent will have to choose to counterattack the other team attacker, or he won’t be able to stun anyone. Also, Cyke and Nightcrawler’s Kurt Wagner version make for an absolutely devilish team attack combo. Check out that card when the Origins set releases and you’ll see why . . .

Tomorrow, discover how to give your characters that little bit of extra oomph . . .