Clix Beat: CA COBRA

Welcome back to Clix Beat, a strategy guide for golden age characters. Today we're taking a good look at COBRA from the Captain America set.

At 69 points, he's a decent close combat attacker and excellent tie-up piece. His first click of Leap/Climb lets him get up close to your opponents quickly, with just one click of Leadership (but you won't be able to use it for long). Don't be afraid to push Cobra to get into position, because his second click is probably the best one to have. By the second click, Cobra has a better [3] damage while keeping that [10] attack value, good enough to deal damage through Invulnerability. But what's really nice is the 4 clicks of Poison and Shape Change.

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Oh, and don't forget that he gets Plasticity as a trait. Again, this just solidifies his status as an excellent tie-up piece.

DEFENSE
By this point, that [17] defense with Toughness should be enough to keep him alive, and that Shape Change is just icing on the cake. If he takes a damage or two, he goes into Combat Reflexes, which is fine since he should be up close to his opponents anyway. If you're adjacent to an opposing tentpole, then even better -- there's nothing like forcing and opposing 180 point character waste an attack against a 69 point tie-up piece.

OFFENSE
But what's really nice about this tie-up piece is those 4 clicks Poison. Sure there's alot of damage reduction out there, but in Golden Age you have access to feats, and a 10 point Armor Piercing is going to make Cobra dangerous against any tentpole.

TEAMMATES
Cobra just has one keyword: Serpent Society. The obvious choice for a teammate would be Mister Hyde from the same set, to take advantage of that trait, but I would advise against it. Mister Hyde, ironically, doesn't have the same keyword as Cobra and is far too expensive (81) points for such mediocre stats (he's actually kind of terrible).

A much better option would be VIPER from the same set. For 91 points she also has some starting poison (which makes her a good candidate for Armor Piercing). If Viper can get in close with Cobra, they can both do some serious damage, especially if you can get her into those Blades/Claws/Fangs clicks. By that point she also gets some Perplex and Outwit, able to do some serious damage. This could make her a good candidate for Brilliant Tactician too, if you can get her into that second click of life. Oh, she also has the ability.

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The much better Viper figure... (continued below)



EEL (also from the same set) is also a nice option for just 64 points, and comes with the ability. Eel is actually a better tie-up piece than Cobra due to the lower cost and first click Poison, and would also benefit from Armor Piercing. Together, Cobra and Eel can deal  1 damage all over the place... "death by a thousand cuts" as they say.

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CONCLUSION
Cobra is an excellent tie-up for Golden Age, and with Armor Piercing he's very dangerous. Coupled with Viper and/or Eel (with Armor Piercing), they can whittle away any 200 point tentpole while your other characters get into range and finish them off. In Modern age these figures may be tough to use, but in Golden age they can be very potent as long as you're sporting Armor Piercing. And we didn't even mention Cobra's ability to tie-up Hypersonic Speed characters!

Edit: In the comments below, Kuribo mentions that Cobra and the others are eligible for the Serpest Society ATA. That would be a good way to get your figures into position quickly. Since Cobra, Eel, and Viper are relatively cheap figures, this isn't a bad option at all. If you play all three you're looking at 224 ponts; with the ATA you're still looking at just 224 points! This gives you plenty of room for more in a 300 point game (and much more in 400+ point games). If it's free, use it!

Good call, Kuribo!