Thanks to your guide flame, I've been getting more confident playing AZ and making him work. But I got to say, Glacial Structure is a godsend early game if you don't have any moduels in your starting hand. Yes it just slows AZ down for another turn, but GS=4 more chances to draw your moduels in one turn compared to playing things you don't want/can't use yet for four turns, or doing absolutely nothing for two. True, EW-AZ doesn't feel as 'naked' starting out, but who can really argue with more cards in hand and more options to play with?
It's important to note that it isn't ANY target - it is specifically NON-HERO targets, which means he cannot target himself with it. This significantly reduces the options Elemental Wrath AZ has for healing.
Yeah, I posted that soon after they announced the change. I think the change is good, though, as if it was any target, that would be too powerful
I just want to say, thanks to your guide, I am no longer afraid to play Absolute Zero. In fact I've been playing him more and more recently, and I've pulled off some nice damage and tanking. Using EWAZ the first time after reading this was an awesome tip, though I only really used it once before I had the basic idea and feel for the deck.
Anyway, thanks for making a previously un-fun hero into a blast for me. 
Now I just need to work on my skills with Argent Adept…
Zero's actually my favourite hero to play. It took a long time to figure him out, but his somewhat unusual playstyle suits me well. I also have a lot of fun telling Ra players to shoot me every so often :D
I stormed away from my first game as Absolute Zero jokingly Naming him, "Absolute Trash" LOL.
Now Grasping how he flows and functions and becoming enlightened to the potential damage that COULD be his... he lingers as something I HuNgeR to witness WoRk.
Thanks for the write up, definitely dumps a waterfall of much needed light on this guy.
Try running AZ in a scenario with a long-playing villain (I like Akash-Bhuta, from Infernal Relics) in a relatively harmless environment (Megalopolis works well). It'll give you the time to get out a lot of AZ's cards with minimal equipment and ongoing destruction, as well as the time to start winding up some of his combos.
=p.... Yeah... That's generally what Zero needs in order to be effective. Grand Warlord Voss is also a Zero-Friendly villian if you only have the base game.
I love playing him as well, but he does tend to require a lot of work.
Needs setup
Really wants damage boosting
Has a lot to keep track of
Excluding equipment destruction, Games where he doesn't take off for me are usually when AZ is hit hard early on, and then AZ has to heal over doing damage. Usually when that happens, the entire team is in big trouble regardless though. I've rarely had truly terrible starts with him card-wise.
Also when FT49 says Visionary lets AZ rule the board it's true.
Get his cards out of his deck faster, TtE is insane on Zero or on the villain when they hit him and his really good ongoing cards can be brought back with Mental Divergence, which is big since Zero can save his own equips.
I'm curious, the folks that say AZ has a really long setup time, are you trying to get both modules out? Or refering to the massive damage/healing that he can perform mid to late game?
His setup isn't just the modules. Getting the modules means AZ can do heal or do damage, but do neither one very well. AZ really needs Thermal Shockwave to have big turns. I'm greedy and would say without damage boosting (either by himself, allies, or environment), his turns with Thermal Shockwave aren't game breaking. With a perfect setup (both modules, Thermal Shockwave, and damage boosts), AZ completely dominates the board and trivializes villians. It can be really hard to get to that level, but it's amazing to watch when it happens.
To get AZ up and running at a good and efficient rate, both modules and Thermal Shockwave are musts. Without any of them, AZ breaks down or is just nigh useless.
Which is why I was asking other peoples thoughts on it. I wanted to know if people thought getting both modules were part of long setup or if it was his entire chain. Your answers tells me that you feel AZ needs both modules out to get his chain going. Something I have always disagreed with.
I'm curious, how many people use AZ with just one module in play? Another one, how long in a game has someone played AZ without any module?
If anyone is interested, I typically play AZ with Isothermic being the only Modular in play. I like to pair it with Thermal Shockwave and Cold Snap/Impale. This is pretty much my main setup, of course I enjoy a good Focused Apertures in there, but it isn't my main goal unless DR is on the field. I don't worry about Null-Point unless I am below 10 HP.
In a recent PBF game at BoardGameGeek, AZ did masses of damage while hardly using either module:
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1022827/sentinels-pbf-11-vs-the-advanced-ennead-completed/page/1
Cold Snap + Focused Apertures + Coolant Blast + env fire damage + Legacy boosts = win.
(Playing the Ennead in the Tomb of Anubis, so multi-target damage was really useful.)
I normally find Thermal Shockwave difficult to use without both modules. Without Isothermic Transducer it's simply a waste of time, but without Null Point Calibration Unit, you're killing yourself awfully quickly. And it has powerful anti-synergy with Cold Snap, if there are a lot of Targets on the table. It is very strong when it gets going, though.
I usedn't to rate Coolant Blast at all, but I've come to appreciate it more as time goes by.
I normally end up with both, simply because you get them in your hand so much, usually at some point I don't have anything better.
They are great for eating equipment destruction simply because they are so easy to replace. 4 of each, with 4 cards that pull them from the deck and 4 that can pull them from the trash (with some damage to boot).
Several of his one shots are really weakened by not having both on the field.
I would definitely avoid delaying better damage options to get both on the field, but there likely will come a time when it is the best play you have.
There are also the games where AZ ends up the best tank vs. a heavy highest hp hitter, in which case your build might end up being prioritized to healing and one module isn't going to cut it. It isn't ideal, but AZ can do it.
I certainly put Isothermic into play first so I can start doing damage. But I find AZ without both modules and Thermal Shockwave very weak. Either my team is overrun because we can't deal with threats, or I can't get AZ going in an efficient matter.
I'll pay attention to my draws and matches better in the future, because it seems like when I play AZ without the the full combo, he's terrible. 1 damage to me to deal 1 damage to a villain target is just not good.
I will play with just one if that's all I get, or even none. Though his base power revolves around the modules, it's not impossible to play entirely without them, and I find the versatility one of his stronger points.
I tend to see people get frustrated with him when they had a plan from the beginning of how they were to play, but I find he shines when you adapt quickly to whatever the cards give you.
First, I have to thank you for the write-up, since I had totally misread "Isothermic Transducer," thinking it could only target non-heroes. He was my favorite character from the beginning, but I thought he just depleted his HP quickly, and wrote it off as a "depleted power core" type deal a la Iron Man (the harder he pushes himself, the quicker he depletes his power). So that changes things.
Next, I have now played 2 games as Freedom Six Absolute Zero and I have to say that I do not think I will be going back to the original any time soon. My philosophy is usually "the best defense is a good offense" or in other words, "kill it before it kills you." 2 times in the first game and 3 times in the second, either the villain or the environment laid waste to all the equipment cards on the field. I have to say, it was really nice to be able to take my turn to play NPCU or IT (which, by themselves, do not contribute much to the defeat of enemies) and also lay down some damage to the enemy without having to hurt myself in the process.
That said, I actually like the original AZ better because he is so unique (dealing himself damage for beneficial purposes). However, I think his deck could have used a card that allows you to play 2 modules in one turn, at the cost of something else (skipping the rest of your turn, etc.). Maybe that is just me.
In the end, I'm enjoying my favorite Sentinel even more now, and looking forward to further playtesting.
Hmm. You're essentially having to wait til next turn to take advantage of your two new modules that way, at the cost of one power and one card draw but gaining a "spare" card play on the second turn. You could get two modules out in two turns anyway, so I'm not sure you're any better off.
Play 2 modules, skip rest of turn (in 2 turns):
- Play 3 (2 of which are modules)
- Use 1 power
- Draw 1
- Play 2
- Use 2 powers (one of which will be with only one module in play)
- Draw 2