Continuing the What-If Series, a thought I’d take a step away from completing previous Affiliations and just make my own this time…
I know Wizkids gives us new characters with each set, however I wish they could make a custom team pack for us in the North about an All Canadian Team of Superheroes.
I recently have been playing Heroclix with a couple friends, and I love bringing my Clix from Alpha Flight. They are so much fun to play, and I wished they made some Dice for them.
So, I have played with the Custom Card builder before and thought to give it another try with making cards that I think best would represent a 24-card pack dedicated to the Alpha Flight!
For my custom Team pack, I included 24 cards, 10 Characters and 2 Basic Action cards, and even created a new Keyword: Healer
So who did you bring to the Team?
I know Wolverine, and Deadpool have been referenced to Alpha Flight, but because they have many cards in Dice Masters, I excluded them from this pack.
Other characters currently in Dice Master that have appeared in Comics for Alpha Flight are Beta Ray Bill, Sunfire, U.S. Agent, and even The Collector.
So, I wanted to bring what I believe are the top 10 characters from Alpha Flight that belong. I used previous dice for these cards, so if you have a colour printer, you can print and play as the Alpha Flight now! I would like to think the team has decent synergy, and in a couple test matches it was fun to play them!
If you never have even heard about the Alpha Flight team, they were a standard comic book purchase for me when I was much younger. Here is a brief storyline for the Alpha Flight, as well a short note for the characters I created a card for.
Alpha Flight is a team of Canadian superheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer and artist John Byrne, the characters premiered in The Uncanny X-Men #120.
Most Alpha Flight team members have distinctly Canadian attributes. Throughout most of its history, the team has worked for Department H, a fictional branch of Canada’s Department of National Defence that deals with super-powered villains.
The team was originally merely a part of the backstory of the X-Men’s Wolverine but, in 1983, Marvel launched a series featuring the group, which continued until 1994, lasting 130 issues as well as annuals and miniseries.
GUARDIAN
Guardian (James Hudson), was designed to be the Canadian equivalent of Captain America, hence his costume markings are modeled after the Canadian flag. He is the leader of Alpha Flight. I made three cards for Guardian and the card abilities shows that he is the Leader of the team as they add benefits for the other dice on the team in three different ways.
Dice Proxy from – (UXM) FALCON
Card Ability Inspired By – Falcon and Batman
SASQUATCH
Sasquatch (Dr. Walter Langkowski) was a former football player for the Green Bay Packers. He possesses the ability to transform into a super-strong, orange-haired beast resembling the legendary Sasquatch. In his transformed state, Langkowski has increased strength, stamina, and resistance to injury. I made 3 cards for Sasquatch and they show his strength and presence felt in the abilities.
Dice Proxy from – (XFC) Sasquatch
Card Ability Inspired By – Sasquatch, and She-Hulk
AURORA
Aurora (Jeanne-Marie Beaubier) is the twin sister of Northstar and the former lover of Sasquatch. She was briefly a member of the X-Men.
Aurora has the powers of flight, superhuman speed and reflexes. I made 2 cards for Aurora, and the two cards show her speed characteristic using Fast and preventing opposing sidekicks to block.
Dice Proxy from – (GAAF) Doctor Light
Card Ability Inspired By – Doctor Light
NORTHSTAR
Northstar (Jean-Paul Beaubier) possesses the ability to travel at superhuman speeds, fly, and project photonic energy blasts. His twin sister, Aurora, possesses similar abilities. Northstar has appeared regularly as a member of the X-Men.
Of note to the community. Northstar’s character is one of the first openly gay superheroes, and the first openly gay character to come out in a book published by Marvel Comics. He married his husband, Kyle Jinadu, in Astonishing X-Men #51 (June 2012)
I made 2 cards for Northstar, and one version shows the Fast keyword, and the other with a unique if blocked, can transfer the damage to another character dice in the field zone.
Dice Proxy from – (WF) Nightwing
Card Ability Inspired By – Hit-Monkey
SHAMAN – (Michael Twoyoungmen)
During his initial training with the spirit of his grandfather, Shaman underwent intensive physical and mental training and discipline. He gained the understanding of the Sacree medicine men was able to concentrate to the point of not just thinking of objects but feeling or knowing them in order to draw them out of his medicine pouch. He was also able to run at full speed through the forest without disturbing the wildlife that lived there.
Shaman, as a fully trained doctor, and also is a magic-wielder who carries a medicine bag which contains a pocket dimension known as the Void. He can summon all manner of physical and mystical objects and potions from the bag.
I made two very unique cards for Shaman and created a HEALER keyword that I think would be fun the try.
Dice Proxy from – (BFF) Elf Wizard
Card Ability Inspired By – Shriek and Negative Man
BOX (Roger Bochs)
Box is a robot which was controlled by a human wearing a special neural interface helmet. The upgraded version of Box is a unique construct: it can’t operate on its own and its controller doesn’t wear a helmet. It must phase into Box and merge with it. The controller feels a psychic bond with Box and can feel the damage done to Box as pain. If a person remains merged with Box for too long, he could become bonded to the armor permanently. Box has superhuman strength (which was increased with every improvement Roger Bochs made on the armor) and durability. This was my favorite of all the Alpha Flight characters. 2 Cards were designed for Box, and I thought of the abilities from the JUS Gorillia Grodd, and the JLL Atlas cards.
Dice Proxy from – (WF) Ultraman
Card Ability Inspired By – Gorilla Grodd and Atlas
SNOWBIRD
Snowbird possesses a number of powers as a member of the race of superhumans known as the gods of the Native Americans of Arctic Canada. Snowbird is a metamorph who can change into a pale white version of any creature native to the Canadian Arctic. She can also transform into a female human being; her true face is not human. In this form, she has blonde hair and blue eyes, but they are usually depicted as being solid black with white pupils. When she transforms, she gains all the strength and special abilities of what she transforms into. For example, if she becomes an owl, she would be able to fly.
In her base form, Snowbird has superhuman strength, stamina, durability, agility, and reflexes. When she transforms into an animal, she takes the strength and abilities of whatever she transforms into.
For Snowbird, I added probability control characteristics in her card abilities, while making a twist on the Crystal card from Thor.
Dice Proxy from – Killer Frost
Card Ability Inspired By – Crystal
PUCK
Puck (Eugene Judd) spent years traveling the world as a soldier of fortune, working as an intelligence agent and bouncer, before becoming a professional adventurer and joining Alpha Flight.
Originally, a dwarf, Puck had no superhuman powers, relying on his exceptional training. He was a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, capable of a mixture of various martial arts, street-fighting techniques, acrobatics and gymnastics. After a run-in with The Master of the World his body was subject to genetic manipulation of his cellular structure. His body tissues were condensed at a molecular level, causing his body to become akin to compressed rubber. His trademark attack is a cartwheeling motion. Spinning on his hands and feet at great speeds, he is able to slam into and knock down human-sized enemies with ease.
I made two cards for Puck and used the abilities from Rocket Raccoon, as well as an interesting combo that can be used on the second card with Overcrush.
Dice Proxy from – (THOR) Chipmunk Hunk
Card Ability Inspired By – Rocket Raccoon
DIAMOND LIL (Lillian Crawley-Jeffries)
Lillian Crawley is a mutant whose powers grant her a homeostatic bio-aura, which continually perpetuates an impenetrable field around all parts of her body rendering them impervious to all forms of physical and energy attacks; An example of the extent of her powers is that a strand of her hair alone is tensile enough to be used to choke someone. Although she does not have super-strength, none of the impact energy of her punches or kicks is absorbed into her body; instead it is all directed into her target, effectively doubling the force of her blows. She also is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, using street-fighting techniques.
I made 2 versions of this character and took the prep abilities from the Jade cards.
Dice Proxy from – (WOL) Jade
Card Ability Inspired By – Jade
MARRINA (Marrina Smallwood) is a member of Alpha Flight and an honorary member of the Avengers.
Marrina is a member of the alien species the Plodex, which sends its eggs to various planets. When the eggs hatch, young Plodex take the forms of the native species they encounter. As an egg, Marrina landed in the Atlantic Ocean about 40,000 years ago. The egg was opened prematurely by a fishing family, causing Marrina to imprint a humanoid female form.
Thanks to her genetic structure that is a hybrid combination of Plodex and Earth DNA, Marrina’s body is totally amphibious, and she has pale yellow skin, large fish-like eyes, and webbed hands/feet. Possessing both lungs and gills, she can breathe and exist indefinitely on land or under the sea. She can withstand freezing temperatures and underwater pressures without harm.
I always liked the Namorita abilities so I brought her back in two versions for her in creating the Marrina cards.
Dice Proxy from – Namorita
Card Ability Inspired By – Namorita
Four Basic Actions:
Superhero Registration Act – A Favorite Basic Action Card comes back. Ramp and removal all in one Action Die.
Rally! – I put this Basic Action on this team pack as it allows you to get sidekicks into the field quicker and with a rush team it might be a must.
Heroic Defense – With smaller characters always attacking, Heroic Defence will give a buff and gain some life as well on a turn.
Confront the Mighty – A removal piece to get rid of a big threat.
Post-Mortem:
I am excited to have created a team with some Canadian roots. Hopefully There is positive feedback to this set, and I can make up some more of these type of articles with proxy cards for people to print and play.
Thanks for reading…
Reg
Not the direction I would have gone with some of them, but always love to see any kind of Alpha Flight content. As a fellow Canadian, these guys were my favourites from the moment I got Alpha Flight 26 and 27 (and then quickly 25 for the beginning of that story) when I started collecting comics. I was very happy to see Sasquatch in Uncanny X-Men, even if it was the exiles version. Definitely missing Vindicator, Madison Jeffries, and a collection of the best AF villains!
Bronn, Thanks for the comment. Obviously this is a build for the community… Vindicator was in the cards, but I went with Guardian as the leader.
If you want a couple Villians, Suggest which you like and I will be happy to add a couple to the team list…
Its fun to design cards. I’ll give it some thought and see what I can come up with. Thanks for the inspiration!
I don’t have the capabilities to make snazzy card pictures, but here’s some other ideas for six of the team to start with if you want to try something different. I made 3 cards each for Guardian, Vindicator, Puck, Sasquatch, Northstar and Aurora. I’ll consider some of the other members and rogues gallery tomorrow.
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Guardian (using the 3/3, 5/4, 5/5 Captain America dice from Avengers: Infinity):
((I went a very different direction than you did with Guardian. I feel like making him Falcon doesn’t fully do justice to his power level, so I went bigger with him.))
5 Cost – Canada’s Protector: While Guardian is active, your Sidekick and Alpha Flight dice get +1D
5 Cost –Display of Power: Intimidate – When an opponent’s character die gets removed from Intimidate, Guardian gets Overcrush until the end of the turn.
4 Cost – Saving Heather: When one of your Alpha Flight character dice would be KOed or Rerolled, KO Guardian – Prevent the KO or Reroll.
Vindicator: (using the 3/1, 3/3. 4/3 Rescue dice)
((Heather was always more aggressive as the leader than Mac was, so I went a more offensive route than I did with Guardian, even though her dice start out a little smaller.))
4 Cost –So Many Things To Vindicate: Strike – (If you field no other characters this turn, this character gets +2/+2 and Overcrush) Call Out – (When this character die attacks, target character die is the only character die that may block this character die)
3 Cost –Fully-Charged Suit: Energize – Deal 2 Damage to target character die.
Global – [Lightning Energy]: Target character die gets +1A.
4 Cost – Canada’s Defender: While Vindicator is active, your Alpha Flight dice get +1A.
Global – [Lightning Energy]: Target character die gets +1A.
Sasquatch: (using the Exiles Sasquatch dice)
((I wanted to do two things. Make him the house he is when in full beast mode and show how smart he is when he’s in control, unlike the Hulk usually.
I also tossed in a little homage to the Green Goliath Hulk with the last one.))
6 Cost – Rage of the Great Beasts: Overcrush – Sasquatch gets +1/+1 for each different active Alpha Flight character.
5 Cost –Smarter Than The Average Beast – While Sasquatch is attacking, after character dice are assigned to block, you may swap those blockers as desired before combat damage is dealt. (Attacking character die must have the same number of blockers after you swap.)
5 Cost – Banner’s College Roommate: Overcrush – When Sasquatch takes damage, spin him up 1 level and give him +1A until the end of the turn.
Puck: (Using Kitty Pryde’s 2/2, 3/2, 3/3 Uncanny X-Men Dice)
((The team needs a cheap body, and Puck makes perfect sense, while also being an aggro option.))
2 Cost – Eugene Judd – {Blank Text Box}
2 Cost – Bouncer – Puck must attack each turn if able. Puck gets +1A while attacking with another Alpha Flight die.
3 Cost –Cartwheel Attack –When Puck is blocked, reroll the blocking die or dice.
Northstar: (using Flash’s dice? Would rather he was lightning)
((Pretty straight forward here. First version is the loner we meet at the start of the series. Second is simply a rehash of a Flash ability. The third is an idea of tying the twins together with similar cards for each to represent their flashbulb effect when they touch hands, but with Northstar’s having an attack ability and Aurora’s having a defensive one.))
4 Cost – Arrogant Speedster – While attacking alone, Northstar has Fast and gets +2A if he’s blocked.
4- Cost: Gone In The Blink Of An Eye – Northstar cannot be targeted by opposing Global Abilities and Action Dice.
5-Cost: Shining Siblings – Northstar has +1A/+1D while Aurora is active. When Northstar attacks, if Aurora is attacking with him, opposing dice blocking Northstar and Aurora are considered to have blank text (including Globals).
Aurora: (using Doctor Light’s dice)
((With Aurora, I wanted to bring out the healer side of her, but also wanted to experiment with a way to represent her split personality coming out at the wrong time. I think the 2-cost does a decent job of that.))
2-Cost: Sometimes Jeanne-Marie –When an Aurora die is declared as an attacker or blocker, reroll it. If you get a character face, return that die to its original level. If you get an energy face, return that die to your bag.
3-Cost: Ray of Light – While Aurora is active, opposing Sidekicks deal you no combat damage.
4-Cost: Shining Siblings– Aurora has +1A/+1D while Northstar is active. When Aurora blocks, if Northstar is blocking with her, opposing dice blocked by Aurora and Northstar are considered to have blank text (including Globals).
I’m having fun doing this. Here’s some more ideas:
Shaman: (Using Elf Druid Dice)
((For Shaman, Snowbird, and Talisman, I wanted an Action Die connection for the majority of their cards and to tie them together.))
3 Cost – Sarcee Medicine Man Training
Attune
When Shaman is fielded, reduce the cost of the next Action Die you purchase this turn by 1.
3 Cost – Conjuring A Storm
Attune
When Shaman is active, your opponents may not reroll Action Dice.
5 Cost – What Will The Bag Give Us This Time?
When Shaman attacks, roll a non-Sidekick die in your Used Pile. If it rolls an energy face, do 2 damage to an opposing character die. If it rolls a character face, put it into play attacking the opponent. At the end of the turn, put that die back onto its card (regardless of where it is).
Snowbird: (Using female Thor’s dice from Thor)
((With Snowbird, I wanted to balance the power she has with the connection to Shaman and his daughter. Immortal is an obvious direction, and then there’s the Action dice synergy, but I also wanted one beatstick version to show her power when she’s a bear or in Sasquatch form. I pushed that one, keeping it at 6 with the stat swap ability, but that’s what testing would be for.))
6 Cost – Demi-Goddess
Immortal (Except when purchased, when this die would go to the Used Pile, instead add it to your bag.)
Global: [Shield] The next Action Die you purchase this turn goes to the Prep Area instead of the Used Pile.
6 Cost –Anne MacKenzie – RCMP Officer
Snowbird may not be targeted by Action Dice or Global Abilities.
Global: [Shield] The next Action Die you purchase this turn goes to the Prep Area instead of to the Used Pile.
6 Cost –Aggressive Arctic Animal Forms
Immortal
Overcrush
When Snowbird attacks, swap her A and D until the end of the turn.
Talisman: (Using Clea’s dice from Dr. Strange Team Pack)
((Talisman is the more powerful of the two Twoyoungmen, so I went with her as a higher cost character. Kept the Attune mechanic going for two of the cards for synergy with her father, but I also went the opposite direction for a card that would be welcome in some previous metas and is the antithesis of her father’s cards.))
6 Cost – Coronet of Enchantment
Attune
While Talisman is active, when you target a character die with Attune damage, you do an additional point of damage.
6 Cost – Conduit for Mystical Forces
Attune
While Talisman is active, when you use an Action Die, your characters get +1A.
6 Cost – Resentful Daughter
Talisman can not gain Attune
While Talisman is active, the first time each turn a player uses Attune, it deals no damage.
Marrina: (Using Gnome Ranger Dice)
((For Marrina, I tried to cover the different eras of her comic life. The first is from the most recent limited series, second is her many transformations into a killing machine, and the last is an homage to the first issues of Alpha Flight.))
4 Cost – Alien Pride, Punk!
Call Out (When this character die attacks, target character die is the only character die that may block this character die)
Has +1A/+1D while blocked by a Villain die.
3 Cost – Plodex Physiology
Deadly
*Marrina has Fast.
4 Cost – Long Distance Water Funnel
Range 1
When an opposing die is KOed by Range, Prep a die from your bag.
*Marrina has Fast