I want to confess that I finally got around to reading the complete run of Ultimate Fantastic Four. It kept me company on my flight back from $10K Charlotte this weekend, and the series really is as fabulous as it’s talked up to be. If you haven’t read it yet, I completely endorse it. It does a great job of capturing the spirit of the team, and as a result, I’m in a very F4-centric mood at the moment.

That works perfectly, because it’s Fantastic Four Week here at Metagame.com. So, I’ve decided to look at my five favorite character cards from the new Fantastic Four starter set. While the set is a great way to get your friends into the game, there are also some play-worthy cards contained within its alluring cardboard hide—some not as obvious as others. If you’re a serious player who hasn’t picked it up yet or a new player wondering if you should just skip straight to buying boosters, hopefully I can present some points that will show you how worthwhile the starter is.

With that said, I can no longer resist diving into the delicious single card goodness. Let’s start by looking at everyone’s favorite robot . . .

H.E.R.B.I.E., Humanoid Experimental Robot B-Type Integrated Electronics

H.E.R.B.I.E. is not just armed with a useful effect; he also packs the longest version name Vs. has ever seen and has a huge fan following. I’ll admit that until I saw this card, I barely even remembered what he was. I actually called my mother, who happens to be my resident old school F4 expert, to discuss the little robot. I didn’t understand just how precious H.E.R.B.I.E. was in the hearts of hardcore fans, so it went something like this:

Me: “They’ve got new starters. One of them’s for the F4.”

My Mother: “Oh awesome! Anything cool in them?” (Seriously, my 54-year-old mother both a) cares about TCGs and b) talks that way.)

Me: “Yeah, there are some powerful cards—a new version of Sub-Mariner, this little robot dude . . . ”

My Mother: “Oh, H.E.R.B.I.E.!?”

Me: “Bingo, that’s the one! The dumb looking robot with the name that deteriorates into gibberish halfway through. It’s funny . . . they even put the whole name on his vers—”

My Mother: “What the hell did you just say?”

Me: “What . . . ? That he was funny looking, or that he has a stup—”

My Mother: “You’re disowned. Don’t ever come home. H.E.R.B.I.E. is like a son to me.”

Me: “But . . . But I am your son!”

I’m not sure if she heard me; she hung up pretty fast. We haven’t talked since. That’s the kind of fan base H.E.R.B.I.E. has—the kind so passionate that it tears apart families.

So, fans of the little home-wrecker take note, as this is the first printing of a H.E.R.B.I.E. card to hit the Vs. system! Beyond that, he’s also quite playable in a variety of F4 decks, especially simple F4 Beatdown. He lets you hit your curve earlier without the use of Signal Flare (which is always incredibly hard to justify on turn 3), gives you more fodder with which to pay for the Flare itself, and is armed with range like some of his contemporaries on the team.

He’s not amazing, but he’s definitely worthy of play, and H.E.R.B.I.E.-philes around the world can rejoice at the chance to finally be able to use him. He’s not as optimal for combat as She-Thing or Luke Cage, Hero for Hire, but he does precisely what anyone would expect of him—he supports the team and makes sure things run as they should.

Medusa, Medusaleth Amaquelin

Medusa might not have the same horrifying level of nostalgia backing her, but she makes up for it by being supremely useful. Her DEF is below the curve, but her ability to stop off-curve decks in their tracks can be supremely valuable. She’s a great down-the-curve attacker on turn 4 if the opponent leaves a low-drop unprotected, and as a defensive drop, she’s more offense oriented than Invisible Woman, Sue Storm.

Though Sue has the talent of avoiding stuns, she doesn’t really offer much for most turn 5s. On the other hand, this version of Medusa can leave an opponent in a difficult situation when she’s on defense the prior turn; unless the opponent has some serious attack pumps with which to send a low-drop into her, he or she will either need to team attack with the 2- and 3-drop to take her down, or attack with his or her 4-drop. The latter leaves the opponent with a useless 4-drop on turn 5 that inhibits defense or cuts short offensive aspirations, and the former can hurt even more. Most decks will really feel that loss, especially ones that look to win in the mid-game, like Teen Titans.

Human Torch, Hothead

Possibly my favorite card from the starter set, this version of Johnny adds to the F4’s repertoire of incredibly good options on turn 5. While Thing, Heavy Hitter is absolutely huge, and Mr. Fantastic, Stretch is higher in potential synergy, Hothead gives you an attacker with flight, range, and good stats.

While maneuverability and raw numbers are not missing from the F4’s curve at this drop, it’s Torch’s effect that makes him tempting. Sure, he might attack once, get stunned back, and be KO’d via an effect, netting you a paltry 2 endurance loss before burning himself out. But he can just keep on swinging and taking hits—8 or 10 endurance loss isn’t unthinkable, and that can easily mean the difference between victory and defeat. In addition, the effect itself can keep an opponent from attacking Human Torch, and if he survives until the late game, he can really become a problem.

His flight and range also make him the perfect target for Press the Attack, so he slips well into an F4/Titans blend focused on abusing Cosmic Radiation and Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal in conjunction with Press (which is a really entertaining deck if you haven’t tried it).

My favorite thing about this card? Unlike the new version of Thing available in the starter, Human Torch, Hothead isn’t really rivaled by any of his other versions. His 4-drop counterpart obviously sees play in Burn variants, but it’s a good bet that you won’t have to worry about KO’ing any of your characters through replacement if you decide to slip Hothead into one of your decks.

Titania, Big Bad Bully

On the Doom side of the starter, Titania is one of my favorite picks. She’s all about raw beatings, swinging from the front row on her own as a 5 ATK/4 DEF. If Boris and a 2-drop are both flanking her, she can easily bring down prime 3-drops like Wolverine, Logan and She-Hulk, Jennifer Waltes. On turn 4, she can stun up the curve without the assistance from plot twists or power-ups.

She happens to fall within a rather lackluster spot in Doom’s curve, too. Aside from Purple Man, she doesn’t have much competition from the team, and while Common Enemy is likely to stick with She-Hulk, any mono-Doom deck should consider running this version of Titania. Since most successful Doom-only strategies involve a lot of stall, she can often survive late into the game, and provided you play a character each turn, she’ll get stronger and stronger as time passes.

Titania is especially nice if you intend to exhaust your Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius to use Mystical Paralysis. She can kick out the same amount of damage Doom can without forcing you to use him for attacking, so you really get the best of both worlds—you can use Mystical Paralysis but still hammer home some endurance loss.

Sub-Mariner, Atlantean Monarch

Lastly, I’m a big fan of the new version of Sub-Mariner. While Robot Destroyer is a solid control card, and Dragon Man, Experimental Monster was very underrated when Marvel Origins was first released, I’ve never really liked Doom’s repertoire of 5-drop baddies. While Dragon Man was completely combat oriented, the Destroyer was just the opposite, and the two extremes really left me wanting a nice compromise.

Enter the Atlantean Monarch version of Sub-Mariner, a card that meshes perfectly with Doom control decks (with or without a focus on Gamma Bomb). His ability to exhaust an opponent’s 4-drop and then smack a back row character with his flight is a nice little trick that can take two of the opponent’s characters out of commission before Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius even lifts a finger.

Essentially any Doom build gets a burst of control on turn 4, when Reign of Terror can be used due to Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius’s recruitment—not just a burst of stall power, but full-on control over the game that can be used toward offensive ends. The reason I prefer this Sub-Mariner over Robot Destroyer is that while Destroyer is indeed a powerful control tool, he doesn’t really lock down the field in a proactive way. Mariner’s potential to take down a character via exhaustion and then tangle with a different one mano a mano presents a lot more options, provided you control the initiative for the turn.

The result is a change in tempo from what most would expect out of a Doom deck, and it’s a particularly unpleasant surprise to face. I think this card is definitely one to watch and will continue to have a place in Doom decks as time goes by.

So, there are my top five picks from the new starters. There are some other choice offerings in the set as well, and I really would recommend it as a strong addition to anyone’s collection. Between the upcoming movie, the success of Ultimate Fantastic Four, and these hot new cards, there’s really never been a better time to be an F4 fan!