Out of the Shadows…Parasite: Human Atomic Furnace

Out of the Shadows…is a series of articles highlighting fun, helpful cards that aren’t getting a lot of attention.  They may or may not be meta-worthy, but are definitely worth looking at for casual play.

Parasite: Human Atomic Furnace

Parasite: Human Atomic Furnace is a character from the JUSTICE (JUS) campaign box. There are three versions of this bolt character in the box, and this version costs three energy to purchase. 

Parasite: Human Atomic Furnace has a when fielded ability: When fielded, Parasite gains target character die’s ability text (ignoring Global Abilities) until end of turn. That copy of that die loses its abilities until end of turn. When you target a die with Parasite, it replaces all previous choices.

IT COPIES. ANY. ACTIVE. CHARACTER DIE. AND SHUTS. THE ORIGINAL CHARACTER DIE DOWN (for the current turn).

Let’s just let that sink in for a moment, shall we? I’ll wait…

Okay, are you all ready?

When I read this card, I did a double-take, and then called a friend to make sure it I did what I thought it did…because most of the time, when I read a card that no one is really talking about, and I think it’s awesome, it’s usually because I missed something while reading, and the card isn’t nearly as awesome as I first thought it was.

Turns out, this time, I didn’t miss anything. This card is COOL.

It can do lots of neat stuff for one turn – the turn it’s fielded.

ccm00007 thinks our Parasite’s a cool card too. Check out his recent article about using this Parasite in his weekly team build.

Why is this special?

What I think makes this card super-special is that it copies another active character die’s ability (like, say, your opponent’s win condition, or your opponent’s control piece) and you, as Parasite’s controller, get to use that ability for the turn, while your opponent does not. 

ALSO (and this is important) the die you target with Parasite loses its abilities until end of turn. So even if your Parasite is KO’d or becomes inactive before the end of turn, your opponent still doesn’t get to use the ability on their own copy of that die.

The biggest drawback to this card is you need a way to get rid of the die at the end of the turn, so it can be re-fielded. So Parasite needs a buddy. Makes sense, right? Parasites need something to attach themselves to…like a host. And then the host kills it, because, after all, it’s a Parasite. Seems poetic.

The first thing that came to my mind is a card I don’t yet own (but it is in the mail!) – Malekith: 13th Son of a 13th Son. The Global Ability on this card would be very useful to support Parasite. Pay a bolt, and you can KO Parasite, ready to be rolled (and, hopefully, fielded) on your next turn.

There are a lot of ways you can KO your own stuff in this game, if you just start poking around at abilities. I have five more ways in Modern, just off the top of my head:

• Magic Missile BAC (TOA) – if you roll the action, you can just throw it at him!
• Magic Missile Global Ability – will take 2-4 bolts, but it’s doable
• Danger Room: Flame-Throwers and Rotating Knives (XFC) Global Ability – just like Magic Missile, but Villain-specific (fortunately Parasite is a Villain)
• Fabricate him as part of your cost to purchase another die
• Huntress: No Rest for the Wicked (BAT) – when fielded, deal damage equal to Huntress’s A to target character die.

What else can he do?

Ok, we’ve established that our Parasite is awesome. We’ve come up with a way to get rid of him so we can re-field as needed. Now what? What’s the best way to use him?

Here are some of my thoughts.

You could use The Collector: Taneleer Tivan (GTG), to bring our Parasite in on each turn for 1 bolt energy. When he’s fielded with The Collector, he can use his ability, and at the end of the turn, he goes back to his card. Since you can use The Collector’s ability once per turn, you can use him on your opponent’s turn, as well.

I think if you were playing a Collector vs. Collector match up, it could be really fun to field Parasite with your own Collector, naming your opponent’s Collector. That gives you a Parasite Collector to bring something else in, and your opponent is Collector-less for the turn.

Does your opponent have a pesky Shriek: Sonic Beam in play? Field our Parasite, naming Shriek. Suddenly, your opponent’s Shriek has lost his abilities for the turn. Then do whatever you need to, since your character is miraculously un-blanked!

If you’re playing some of the recent meta teams, you can use him as a The Atom: Professor (JUS) with your opponent’s Energy Field Global Ability, to spin him up to deal your opponent damage (check out this article to learn more about how this ability works), or an Iceman: Right on Schedule (JUS), and use your opponent’s damage strategy (often Magic Missile or Unstable Canister) to damage Iceman in the attack step to deal your opponent damage. If your opponent has an Ant-Man: Petty Theft, as one of my recent opponents did, I copied that die, used her Global Ability to spin up my Parasite Ant-Man, making him unblockable for 5 points of damage…because when you a copy a die, you also copy said die’s stats! EDIT: Parasite does not copy the die, only the die’s ability, so in this game I should only have hit my opponent for 3 damage when I spun Parasite up. Thanks to rules guru pk2317 for pointing this out. It’s an important distinction.

Ultimately, our Parasite is the ultimate chameleon. He becomes whatever you covet on your opponent’s field.

What do you think about our Parasite: Human Atomic Furnace?  Have you ever used him on a team? Will you consider him now? Show us your Parasite team builds in the comments below.

Do you have a card that you think should be pulled Out of the Shadows?  Let us know in the comments below!  We’d love to hear from you.

Until next time…

-jbouwme