I love HeroClix Giants. I always have. One of the proudest things in my collection is the DC GIANTS set on my shelf, still new and unopened. The problem is that I don't actually play with Giants in HeroClix. As a matter of fact I rarely see anyone play with Giants, except for Trigon once in a blue moon. Don't get me wrong, Giants aren't broken... they're simply very underwhelming.

First lets identify what the GIANT ability currently gives you, and our conclusions. Note that these are the rules found in the new DC Blackest Night rulebook (they didn't help much).

GIANT STRIDE This character ignores the effects of hindering, elevated, and outdoor blocking terrain on movement and may move through squares adjacent to or occupied by opposing figures. This character adds 1 to its d6 roll when breaking away. When this character is given a move action, if it has zero action tokens, it can use the Carry ability.

Conclusion: Average (5/10). It's great to be able to move through stuff, especially outdoor blocking terrain. However, the +1 breakaway is awful. You're telling me that Giant Man still has a 33% chance to fail a breakaway against an opposing Wasp? And a Giant can only carry if you have 0 action tokens? Lame. I can just see it now... "Sorry Antman, I'm too tired to carry you. Bye!"

And what happened with the rule allowing Giants to destroy objects as he/she walks on them?

GIANT SIZE (NON-OPTIONAL) This character can’t be knocked back, and ignores Plasticity. When this character is given an action that includes a close combat attack, it treats other characters up to two squares away as if they were adjacent unless blocking terrain, elevated terrain or a wall would otherwise block the line of fire. This character can make close combat attacks against elevated characters, even when this character is grounded. Characters with the (boot) symbol do not block line of fire to or from this character. This character and a character on elevated terrain draw line of fire and make ranged combat attacks against each other as if they were both elevated, but terrain effects still apply normally. This ability can’t be countered.

Wow! Thats a mouthful. Let's break it down into several parts to better analyze these abilities.

...This character can’t be knocked back, and ignores Plasticity.

Conclusion: Terrible (1/10). immunity to knockback is only useful in specific sitatuations, and ignoring Plasticity just means (a) opposing characters can still breakaway on a 4-6, and (b) a Giant still has a 33% chance of failing his breakaway roll. That's lousy.

...When this character is given an action that includes a close combat attack, it treats other characters up to two squares away as if they were adjacent unless blocking terrain, elevated terrain or a wall would otherwise block the line of fire. This character can make close combat attacks against elevated characters, even when this character is grounded.

Conclusion: Excellent (10/10). I envision a Giant using his huge thumb to squish an opponent two squares away. The Blackest Night rulebook made a significant change here, defining those opponents as "adjacent". Why is this important? Because Giants can now attack characters 2 squares away with Close combat Expert, Blades/Claws/Fangs, Flurry, and anything else that specifies the opponent be "adjacent." (The Fantastic Four rulebook didn't specify this). Regardless, this makes Giants very useful in close combat situations.

... Characters with the (boot) symbol do not block line of fire to or from this character. This character and a character on elevated terrain draw line of fire and make ranged combat attacks against each other as if they were both elevated, but terrain effects still apply normally. This ability can’t be countered.

Conclusion: Terrible (1/10).This is simply a curse for Giants, especially since they tend to have a very poor range. They're more likely to get picked away before getting close enough to deal any damage. Is this realistic? Yes. In a game of only close combat, Giants would be very powerful, but since HeroClix puts so much emphasis on ranged attacks... well, Giants are just sitting ducks with this ability, making them extremely susceptible to gunfire. Even with Charge (common on Giants), they're traditionally given mediocre Speed values (which is cut in half when they try to use Charge). Translation? Giants are great when close, but won't survive long enough to get close.

As you can see, Giants have a smattering of abilities that are mostly mediocre or flat out terrible. With the exception of close combat attacks 2 squares away, the other abilities simply don't make Giants very useful on your team... and even hurts the Giants.