There's few different "classes" of steals:
1. Superpower Stealers (characters that have an active superpower to let an opponent drop an extract and/or place it directly onto them):
Enchantress
Being within 1 of an enemy and spending an action for the steal is usually not your primary game plan for Amora. It does happen automatically sometimes though and can be game winning then. It's great when you can combine it with Siren's Call to first take their Extract, advance them away and then advance away yourself to relative safety. Importantly the objective is never dropped so you don't need to roll for effects that trigger of picking it back up like Skrulls or Terrigen Canisters.
Black Cat
Much of the same applies to Black Cat. Her ideal situation would be to first steal, then spender for the Stagger and hope for the wild elusive trigger and then place in 2.
Doctor Voodoo
Voodoo probably remains the best Steal character in the game. He has by far the longest reach and can be expected to do it at least twice a game. With him it's not always about getting the Extract for yourself but sometimes just to deny your opponents points which can break parity and secure you the win in the end.
the Original Human Torch
Jim Hammond definitely sits at the low end of 3 threats but having an actionless Steal (assets only) is not nothing. His problem is that he often will not really survive being so close to an enemy character.
2. Spender Stealers (characters who have a Spender that lets the target drop all of their objective tokens):
Spider-Man (Miles Morales)
Miles is one of the games strongest 3 threats and his Spender forcing the target character to drop all objective tokens is a big part of that. It's often what Miles is splashed into a team for.
Spider-Woman
Jessica Drew is in many ways a 4 threat version of Miles. Which makes sense seeing as their comic abilities are also very similar. Her spender also drops all objective tokens and she's fast and pretty survivable up close.
Namor, the Sub-Mariner
Aside from being probably the fastest character in the game and a natural safe grab Namor also has the ability to let the target character of his spender drop all Assets it is holding. It is only one of three possible triggers here so you really have to think hard if you're expecting to daze/ KO the target with the attack anyway to determine wether or not it is useful to use it.
3. Team Tactics Card (TTC) Stealers (characters that have a personal TTC to steal or force a drop of an objective)
Rhino - This is a Robbery
Probably the best Steal card as it includes a throw of the target character. It had to be nerfed to now cost 4 power which makes it worse but still great.
Pyro - Pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics is another very strong card. It requires the targets to be Incinerated but is by far the cheapest card to affect multiple enemy extract carriers.
Quicksilver - can I borrow that
Being locked behind Quicksilver doing damage with an attack and being limited to Assets only means Can I borrow that doesn't play in the same league as This is a Robbery but you'll still absolutely take it if you have Quicksilver on the board and the extract is an Asset.
Shadowcat - Hold Still
A card that would be stapled to Shadowcats face if the objective drop didn't require a wild trigger. On its own it only has a 60% chance of landing you the necessary wild and even with three rerolls for example from Professor X it only increases to 71%. Sure it will work the majority of times but betting a TTC on it and putting Kitty in danger isn't worth the gamble in a competitive setting. Go nuts with this in casual games though as when it works and you have enough power it is by far the best Steal in the game in terms of distance: you teleport from range 3 into range 1 of the enemy character. That can be on the other side of it. And since the attack on the card doesn't cost you an action you could still double move Long and place within 2 of yourself basically being safe from everything. Update: of course it takes an action it is Active: Action. Sorry about that.
But it will absolutely break your heart when you don't get the trigger.
Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff - Professionals
An expensive card that is pretty much killed by its timing. You have to invest 4 power in a gamble that Clinton will do damage this round and Natasha is still alive to take the objective at that point. It would see a lot more play if it was triggered after you've done damage with Clint like Quicksilver. Might become more interesting when Ronin drops depending on how reliable he is at dealing damage.
Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus - Well Laid Plans
6 power on two power hungry characters is a lot and no objective drop is guaranteed here. It's a big old lottery that can win or lose you the game.
Supergiant and Ebony Maw - Psychic Shockwave
It's an exact copy of WLP but this time for Ebony Maw and Supergiant. Which to be honest makes the card close to impossible to actually ever use. Even if for a second we ignore that I think Supergiant is the single character in this game that isn't just under the curve and could need a little push but outright doesn't work mechanically, it's almost impossible to even have the duo on the table together. Depending on Gems it's between 8 and 10 threat to have both. You're not likely to find room in your Black Order squad for them under neither Thanos (usually 8 threat) or Corvus (4-5 threat) as neither of them is super great at the primary type 4 full on attrition game plan. And sure it is unaffiliated (as all steal cards are) but you're going to be hard pressed to have the couple in your squad as splashes. I think Convocation and Guardians of the Galaxy which both can run super cheap affiliated cores (Wong, Magik and Clea/Mordo for Convocation - 8 threat; Star-Lord, Rocket, Nebula for Guardians - 7 threat) are the places I'd consider it possible. That is a lot of investment for what on the end is an expensive lottery card.
Update:
4. Leadership Steal
Thanks to Bertboxer I remembered Sins leadership:
It's not super reliable but there's a 50% chance enemy characters will drop their extracts when in 2 of one of your characters during the clean up phase. It has a bit of anti synergy with the first point of the leadership where you might be forced to push the enemy model out of range to trigger it.
I think it we ever get an updated version of Sin (she's not currently on the re release schedule) changing the leadership to able to chose the order or at least chose either of the effects would go a long way already. Aside from obviously giving her health on the healthy side (maybe just 5/5 to keep her at 10 total) and a much better spender. Possibly also make Partners in Crime Brock Rumlow Instead of Crossbones.
That's it for today. Tell me if I missed a steal in the comments!
Cheers from Germany 🍻
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