Favorite variant base powers

So there's been a lot of discussion on these boards about "fixing" certain characters (for better or for worse) and many examples of alternate base powers that people use to make the game more enjoyable for themselves. But all those posts are scattered far and wide and many of the most interesting variants aren't fixes so much as thematic changes, anyway.

I therefore propose we make a collection: which fixes, nerfs, or goofball variants of base powers do you enjoy the most, and why? I realize it is literally impossible to keep any serious discussion in this place confined to a single topic, but it’d be nice if the entries thmselves were limited to alternate base powers, since they are so much simpler and more easily implemented than changes to actual card text (and are also much less likely to digress or send the discussion off into the stratosphere).

Character: Expatriette
New base power:  Repatriation – Destroy 1 of your cards. If you do, draw 3 cards.
Summary of effect: Gives Expatriette some consistency and lets her use some of the dead cards in her hand.
What makes it good: Caught in a running fight and with her options narrowing, Expatriette throws her SMG to the ground to access the ammo in her poorly-organized backpack more quickly. She has a spare hanging in her holster anyway, so why not?
Two of the big complaints about Expatriette are that she 1)can’t reliably find the cards she wants, and 2)frequently gets stuck holding useless copies of the same limited card (that she may not have needed in the first place). With this adjustment she can put those dead cards to good use by searching for something more helpful. It essentially amounts to “Skip your play and power phases and discard a card to draw four cards,” which may not seem that good when compared to Recompile or Trust Fund, but in the context the rest of her deck it fills in a critical gap. It does slow down her gameplay somewhat, but makes her much more reliable in the long run. And in conjunction with a well-timed Unload it can become an absolute juggernaut. [Yes, this was indeed stolen straight-up from Freedom Tempest (hence the name 8)). Tempest doesn’t find much use for it apart from La Capitán, however, and such a cool power needs a better home than some pseudo-lightning-arm that nobody seems to care about anyway. So in this universe F6 Tempest has Sacrificed himself entirely and his power found a new home (if you will) with our little purple-haired friend instead.

Two of the variants that we play most often are actually nerfs rather than boosts:

Character: Team Leader Tachyon
New base power: Teamwork - Up to two heroes may draw 1 card now.
Summary of effect: Makes TLT less of a game-changer and gives her player more choice regarding power usage.
What makes it good: TLT as-written has been banned from our table, period. She's usually referred to as "Cheat Mode Tachyon" or as "Tacky-on" if in writing. Having her Leading the Team alters nearly every aspect of the game, usually not for the better, IMO. She makes it easier to win, true, but she generally makes those wins less enjoyable (at least for me). One of my favorite aspects of Sentinels is the limited choice offered by your hand each round; if you know you’ll be drawing most of your deck regardless, the optimal cardplay can quickly become somewhat trivial instead. In addition to the huge card advantage, Tachyon herself winds up with little choice on what power to use since it’s usually a no-brainer to activate Team Leader each and every turn. Limiting her base power to two heroes gives her back that choice and prevents the strategy for the rest of the table from being dictated by the excessive card-draw she otherwise gives.

Character: America’s Finest Legacy
New base power:  Galvanic Coating – Choose a hero target. Until the start of your next turn, increase damage dealt by that target by 1.
Summary of effect: See TLT, above.
What makes it good: Pretty much the same argument as TLT. Galvanize is usually overwhelmingly powerful while still being boring as hell to play. It can easily change what would otherwise be a challenging game into a cakewalk. This fix lends some viability to  Legacy’s other options, since he can do something other than just tank up and Galvanize without appearing selfish to the rest of the table.

[I realize that given the advanced audience some of my explanations may be a bit excessive, but I wanted them there as examples for the more subtle changes whose effects may not be immediately obvious to all readers.]

I completely agree with your statements about TLT and Legacy.  They are banned in our group as well.

These two I love, and don't think I'll ever play the base power again, though maybe the DW ones.

Character: Expatriette
New base power:  Signature – Search your deck or trash for Pride or Prejudice and put it into play. If you searched your deck suffle it.
Summary of effect: Guarantees she will always have a gun and puts more emphasis on P&P.
What makes it good: It completely eliminates the problem of reliability in getting guns.  It also gives her a fast recovery from equipment destruction and a higher use of signature cards.

Character: Mr. Fixer
New base power:  Sensei Strike – Mr. Fixer deals 1 target 0 melee damage. You may draw a card or discard a card, if you discarded another player may draw a card.
Summary of effect: Extra draw from him self, or discard to support others
What makes it good: I like the idea of Fixer using his wisdom to support others. It helps you to get the equipment and styles you want more consistently and gives you a good use for extra cards in your hand.  Overall it gives him better support (also gets grease gun and salvage yard more consistently) and seems to lower his damage output only minimally.  Has nice interaction with tool box and overdrive.

This one is less of a favorite, but we do use it now and then:

Character: Bunker
New base power:  Forgot what I called it – You may draw a card or play a card, even if a mode says you can not.
Summary of effect: This is purely for a stronger turret mode.
What makes it good: Unfortunately it makes upgrade mode useless, but it does make turret mode better, you can use one of your two powers to play a card, whether it be gas vents to do big damage or to continue the setup process while in turret mode (say you just drew armor from ammo drop, or even this power on the previous turn). It also lets you have a limited card draw to help fuel cards like gatling gun and energy canon.

I'm thinkng about trying this instead

Character: Bunker
New base power:  Transform – Search your deck or trash for a mode card and put it into play. If you searched your deck suffle it.
Summary of effect: Any mode you want any turn.
What makes it good: I've thought about it and fished it a couple times but haven't actually played it.  It seems very fun, Upgrade mode gets very limited use, but Recharge and Turret seem to both get frequent use.  This does make your deck SMALL as you have 9 copies of mode card total.

Legacy’s Galvanize is a double-edged sword, though. It doesn’t come up too often, but as of Shattered Dimensions I’ve come across several moments when party-wide damage increasers were a bad idea. For instance, when Miss Information is flipped and makes heroes damage themselves, that boost sucks; when Iron Legacy has a copy of Superhuman Redirection out, increased damage against him can suddenly be thrown back against the heroes; when fighting the Dreamer with Legacy and Unity in the party the other day, my bots had to target one another with their attacks and destroy one another because they’d have killed off the Dreamer otherwise. Galvanizing Setback and Nightmist will make their martyrdom strategies even more dangerous than usual, too. Even in the base set it will happen, though. If Absolute Zero gets out Thermal Shockwave before he gets out his Isothermic Transducer and Null-Point Calibration Suit, using the Shockwave will wipe him out quickly; same with playing Frost-Bound Drain, Hoarfire, or Modular Realignment; and a Galvanized Haka is inflicting more damage not just to himself but to the entire party with a Rampage.

I’m not arguing that Galvanize isn’t way more helpful than not. It clearly is. I’m just saying it can harm the party as well as help, and I can’t think of a single base power with as much potential to do so as Galvanize.

Oh, I agree completely. Nightmist absolutley hates that goodie-two-shoes Parsons and his nasty damage boosts. 

The times that Galvanize helps vastly outweigh the times it hurt, though. If Haka is Galvanized the whole game, how many instances of increased damage will he deal to the enemy when compared to the number of Ground Pounds he plays? With that one rare exception of a self-burning character with no damage mitigation in play, Legacy is usually everyone's best friend.

Do I have a different NightMist? Because my NightMist loves getting boosted damage!

Oh, but you're a specal one, Ronway. I am genuiney concerned that you'll be found in a closet some day with a belt around your neck and a crumpled Scarosant Martyr in your hand. 

Nah, Martyr is my favorite card, it's unfair how good it is, esp. with + damage.

Leadership powers are sick.  I think it is by design.  Legacy is a leadership character, both he and Pops have amazing base powers (Young Legacy less so, but stil better than everyone else)  TLT gives Tachyon that level of impact.  Because she's the team Leader.

We don't throw down leadership level powers unless we are facing a big challenge or on a revenge game, and then only 1 per game.  (there isn't enough room for 2 leaders)

My favorite alternate powers are:

AZ

Don't remember

Power:  You may play a card, deal yourself 1 fire and 1 cold damage.

Not mine, but it works really well, love what it does to AZ. (makes him faster and more resilient)

Commander Bunker

Cover Fire

Power:  Reduce damage dealt by villain targets by 1 until the start of your next turn.

It's a leadership caliber power.

Legacy

Freedom's Fight

Power:  Deal up to 2 targets 1 melee damage.

Gives Legacy a non-leadership power that works great with his boosts.

I like that AZ power a lot. If he's allowed to keep his stuff that could get obscene quite quickly.

It does speed up his build and recovery, but once you get set up Thermal is almost always much better.

I proposed this a while back and ended up making an alternate character card for it.

I've also included it in the randomizer, so we play with it every once in a while. As with all the alternate character cards, opinions differ as to whether it is better or worse than other versions. Regardless, it is neither overpowered not crippling. (For what it's worth, I prefer it to the original card and am indifferent between it and Darkwatch.)