Alright guys, I know a month is a long time to wait between updates, but we haven’t really figured out a way to make it go faster yet (any ideas would be appreciated).  Here’s part 2 of DC Round 2.  A couple of shockers in this article.  I think there might be an upset or two on the leaderboard!  Also, I’m sorry to post this so quickly after a Council Update.  I personally don’t like to slide new content down so quickly, but I feel like the wait for this thing has been long enough.  So, without further ado…

Phantom Phone Booth [Vs.] All Hail Darkseid!

Dave (Davidus) and I (Scottkthompson)  did this one.  Phantom Phone Booth was the first deck I ever built, so that’s the one I went with! 

Game 1

Dave takes odds.

Turn 1 (50-50)

After a mulligan full of seven drops I end up with an Impervious, Man of Tomorrow, Linda Danvers, and Super Speed; followed by Men of Steel and Cir-El.
Dave draws Mad Harriet – Female Fury, Ego Gem, Mad Harriet – Female Fury, and Dr. Bedlam – Psionic Being followed by Ancient Throne and Speed Queen – Female Fury.

Dave recruits Mad Harriet.  I row Man of Tomorrow.

Turn 2 (49-50)

I draw Superman, Red and Superman, Kal-El; Dave draws Ego Gem and Have a Blast.  I row Impervious and miss.  Dave has Speed Queen with an Ego Gem.  He uses her twice to draw Darkseid – 8th Century and Darkseid – 8th Century.  Mad Harriet swings to the dome.

Turn 3 (48-50)

I draw Superman, False Son and Phantom Zone; Dave draws Dark Firestorm – Mockery and Created From Hate.  Dave recruits Dr. Bedlam.  I row Phantom Zone and throw out Linda (ditching Red) to absorb some damage.

Dave draws Kanto – Darkseid’s Assassin and Servants of Darkness with Speed Queen.  Then Dr. Bedlam goes into Linda.  I flip Phantom Zone to reduce his attack by 1 and stop the breakthrough.  I then take one more from Mad Harriet.

Turn 4 (44-47)

I draw Cadmus Labs and Kelex (waaaay too late little buddy); Dave draws Servants of Darkness and Knockout – Female Fury.  I row the Labs and flip Man of Tomorrow, ditching Kelex, to get Clark Kent.  Kent is recruited.  Dave also searches for his four drop, using Created from Hate to get the Apokoliptian Opressor himself, Darkseid.  I turn down my searcher with Created From Hate’s text.  Seeing all but one of my cards face down, Dave flips Servants of Darkness.  In response I flip Cadmus Labs, knowing it will be more costly to flip later when Darkseid, Ancient Thrones, and Servants of Darkness all make me pay dearly for it!

Clark Kent runs into Speed Queen.  Dave draws Dark Superboy – Mockery and Darkseid – Apokolips Now with her before she goes down.  Dave reinforces with the Darkseid behind Speed Queen, assuming Linda will take him down anyway.  I play Super Speed on Clark and send both Clark and Linda into Darkseid.  Not ideal.  I was hoping to have a pump for Linda to take down Darkseid all by herself so that Clark could take out another low drop.  Linda and Darkseid both go down.

Dave loses Speed Queen in the recovery (yes!  She only netted him 6 freaking cards!), but not before using Have a Blast on my Cadmus Labs.  I replace into another Phantom Zone.

Turn 5 (41-41)

I draw Superman, Man of Steel and Kara Zor-El; Dave draws Dark Matter Drain and Dr. Bedlam – Psionic Being.  Dave recruits Darkseid, 8th Century after flipping up an Ancient Throne to make all his Darkseids non-unique.  He also throws an Ego Gem on Mad Harriet (this is getting ridiculous!).  I row Men of Steel, but debate the merits of putting characters in my row instead.  Tough choice really.  I recruit Cir-El with everyone in the back row to take advantage of Men of Steel.

Mad Harriet taps to draw a card.  8th Century runs into Cir-El with a power-up.  I play Men of Steel from the row to bring Cir-El up to 11 DEF to his 10 ATK.  This burns me for 2 (Servants of Darkness), allows Dave to draw a card (his 4 drop), and allows him to turn his Have a Blast Down (Ancient Throne).  But he can’t get enough to climb her DEF and he goes down.  Darkseid (4) and Bedlam team into Cir-El.  She takes down Darkseid with her.  I finish the attacks off with a Kent into his Harriet (the safe attack).

Dave keeps 8th Century.

Turn 6 (34-26)

I draw Soaring to New Heights and Superman, Red; Dave draws Ancient Evils and Darkseid – Apokoliptian Oppressor.  I row Soaring to New Heights and recruit Kara in front of Cir-El, and move Linda in front of Kent.  Dave drops down Kanto.

I run Linda and Kent into Kanto.  Kent and Kanto bite the dust.  Kara runs into 8th Century for a one-sided stun.  Then Cir-El runs into Bedlam for another one-sided stun.  That turn went well for me.

Dave loses everyone except Kanto.

Turn 7 (30-5)

I draw Superman, Blue and Eradicator; Dave draws Darkseid – Nemesis and Apokolips.  Dave slaps down Darkseid, Apokalips Now.  I row Superman, Red and play ERADICATOR!  One of my favorite arts of the game.

Kanto pays 3 to target Cir-El.  I flip Man of Tomorrow, taking 2 END loss and pitching a Blue to get a Clark Kent.  Dave uses Ancient Throne to turn down Men of Steel.  I replace one of my Phantom Zones into a Man of Tomorrow.  I flip my other Phantom Zone and play Man of Tomorrow from my row (burning for 4) ditching Kent to find… nothing!  Have a Blast then targets my Phantom Zone, replacing it into another Men of Steel.  I now have 2x Men of Steel, a Red, Soaring to New Heights, and Impervious in my row.  None of which I can flip outside of combat.  Cir-El KO’s.  The final result?  I lose 6 endurance, a 5 drop, and the invulnerability on my Eradicator that was in front of her!  Good job Kanto!

Darkseid runs into my front row Eradicator, flipping up and activating Apokalips (which targets me) and adding 2 power-ups.  I play Impervious to lower Apokalips’ attack boost and add to my own defense.  Servants of Darkness gets me for 2 though.  I take 9 total.

With the totals 13 to 2 in my favor, Dave realized he had nothing left, so ran Kanto into Kara to put himself into the negatives.  He admitted a big play mistake on his part though.  Since he had not played Vs. in so long, he had forgotten that Ongoings could be played in multiples from the row, unlike locations.  He said that he could have had 2 Servants of Darkness up by turn 4 if he had remembered that, and this game could have gone VERY differently.

Final Score: 12 to -2

Game 2

Dave takes odds again just to keep it from me!

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw Kelex, 2x Soaring to New Heights, and Cadmus Labs; followed by Eradicator and Men of Steel.
Dave draws Speed Queen, Dr. Bedlam, Kockout, and Darkseid – Apokolips Now; followed by Ego Gem and Ancient Throne.

I row Cadmus Labs.

Turn 2 (50-50)

I draw Kara Zor-El and Impervious; Dave draws Servants of Darkness and Dark Firestorm.  I row Impervious and play Kelex, but don’t use him ’cause I don’t want to pitch Kara or Eradicator (in case my Cadmus gets replaced like last game).  Dave drops Speed Queen and Ego Gem (dang!).

I run Kelex into Queen.  She double draws Servants of Darkness and Speed Queen.  She adds a power-up to her side of the battle, and it ends up being a brickwall.

Turn 3 (48-50)

I draw Superman, Red and Superman, Kal-El; Dave draws Darkseid – 8th Century and Mad Harriet.  Dave once again plays Bedlam, but this time I have Superman, Red.  My resource was a Men of Steel.  Dave flips Servants of Darkness and I respond by flipping up my Cadmus Labs, then he responds by flipping another Servants of Darkness, so I still end up taking 2 END.  He proclaims that he will not make the same mistake as last game!  I hide my Superman behind Kelex on the hopes he’ll survive the turn.

Dave draws Ego Gem and Ancient Evils with Speed Queen.  Bedlam runs into Kelex and I reinforce to take 2.

Turn 4 (44-50)

I draw Phantom Zone and Cir-El; Dave draws Have a Blast and Mad Harriet.  I completely miss.  No four drop, no search, no Linda… ouch!  Dave has Knockout.

Red goes into Knockout with 8 ATK on her 7 DEF.  He takes 5 to my 3.  Kelex can now swing at the Speed Queen that Knockout was protecting.  Speed Queen draws Darkseid – 8th Century and Darkseid – Nemesis.  Both 2 drops go dirtside and are lost in the recovery phase.

Turn 5 (39-43)

 I draw Kelex and Superman, Orange Soda Man (False Son); Dave draws Dr. Bedlam and Darkseid – Apokoliptian Opressor.  He recruits 8th Century and flips Ancient Throne.  I row Kelex and play Cir-El, who is a rockin’ 9/9.  Ugh.

Dave runs Darkseid and Bedlam into Cir-El (not wanting a repeat of last game’s brickwall!.)  Cir-El and Darkseid both go down.  I lose an extra 4 to Darkseid’s text.  Knockout uses her text to return Bedlam to hand, putting Cir-El in the resource row where my Cadmus used to be .  Knockout then runs into Superman for 10 damage.

Turn 6 (20-38)

I draw Superman, Blue and Superman, Red; Dave draws Ancient Throne and Dark Firestorm.  I recruit Kara in front of Red after rowing another copy of Red.  Dave misses and drops Dark Firestorm who draws him Created From Hate (of course!) along with Dr. Bedlam.

I run Kara into 8th Century; Dave takes 8.  I then run Red into Knockout with a power-up and a Soaring to New Heights (from hand).  Both go down.  Not wanting to lose another character, Dave passes his attacks.

Turn 7 (17-26)

I draw Super Speed and Cir-El; Dave draws Kanto and Dark Matter Drain.  Dave drops Apokolips Now.  I have Eradicator (after rowing Super Speed).

Dave sends 8th Century, Dark Firestorm, and Bedlam into Eradicator.  I lose 7 to 8th Centurie’s text and 8th Century is removed from the game thanks to Eradicator’s text.  Darkseid (7) smashes Kara, but Superman reinforces her.

I lose Kara.

Turn 8 (4-21)

I draw Man of Tomorrow and Cadmus Labs; Dave draws Apokolips and Dark Superboy.  I pay 1 with Red to make Superman non-unique.  Then I play Man of Tomorrow, ditching Cir-El to get the Man of Steel himself!  But Dave has Darkseid, Nemesis to ruin my fun.

Dave stuns his 7 drop to Remove-from-game my 8 drop.  Not fair!  I team my 3 and 7 drops into his 8, removeing HIS 8 drop from the game.  It’s only fair right?  Unfortunately, I was in the negatives already, so that was game.

Final score: -4 to 6

Two close games!  Let’s see how both decks do down the home stretch!

Game 3

I take odds for the first time, just to see what happens!

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw Kelex, Impervious, Supes (3), and Man of Tomorrow; followed by Clark Kent and Soaring to New Heights.
Dave draws (after a mulligan) Created From Hate, Created From Hate, Apokolips, and Dark Firestorm; followed by Have a Blast and Kanto – Darkseids Assassin.

I row Man of Tomorrow and neither of us have a 1 drop.

Turn 2 (50-50)

I draw Linda and Soaring to New Heights; Dave draws Darkseid – Nemesis and Ancient Evils.  I row Soaring to New Heights and drop Kelex after Dave drops nothing (ouch!).  Kelex gets me my Labs, ditching Linda.

Kelex swings for 3!

Turn 3 (50-47)

I draw Cadmus Labs and Cir-El; Dave draws Ancient Throne and Servants of Darkness.  I row Cadmus Labs and recruit Red.  Dave has Dark Firestorm who nabs him a Darkseid – Apokoliptian Oppressor.  Luckily, since Firestorm is hidden, I can swing for 11 unfettered.  Dave flips Servants of Darkness, so I respond with a Cadmus Labs.  I don’t mind exposing it, since I can put another one in the row next turn.  Dave ends the attack step by sending Firestorm into Red, and taking away his counter.

Turn 4 (45-33)

I draw Superman, Orange Soda Man and Super Speed; Dave draws Darkseid – 8th Century and Dr. Bedlam – Psionic Being.  Dave recruits Darkseid.  I row my other Lab and recruit Clark Kent, but not before activating my face-up Lab.  I put Kelex in front of Kent, and Red in the back next to Kent.  Dave Have a Blasts my Labs before combat, so I can’t get its secondary ability.

Dave runs Darkseid into Red.  I tap Kent to pull the attack to him.  Neither stun.  Firestorm runs into Red.  Both stun.  I then play Super Speed to ready Clark Kent and send him and Kelex into Darkseid.  Kelex and Darkseid go down.

Turn 5 (37-26)

I draw Clark Kent and Alpha Centurioun; Dave draws Speed Queen and Dark Superboy.  I flip Man of Tomorrow from my row (Dave nets a Darkseid-Apokoliptian Opressor from Darkseid’s ability and I lose 2 to Servants of Darkness).  I ditch Alpha Centurion to get Blue.  I then row Impervious and recruit Blue (after paying 1 with Red’s ability).  Dave has Dark Superboy, who he recruits visible in the back row, next to Darkseid.

I run Red into Superboy.  Dave responds by flipping Ancient Thrones.  I flip a Soaring to New Heights from my row (again, I lose 2 and Dave gets a card; this time a Darkseid-Apokolips Now).  Dave uses Ancient Thrones to turn down my Man of Tomorrow.  I flip Impervious from my row (This time Dave nets an Ancient Throne) so that Superboy can’t stun Kent for free.  I then play Soaring to New Heights from my hand, going for the one-sided stun.  I’m now a 10/12 and there’s nothing Dave can do, so Superboy goes down.  I then send Blue into Darkseid for another one-sided stun (after we both power-up), and Kent smacks direct for 7.

Turn 6 (30-10)

I draw Super Speed and Kara; Dave draws Speed Queen and Ego Gem.  Dave drops Kanto next to Superboy.  I row Super Speed and recruit a boosted Cir-El (who is a 12/9 after giving everyone their counters back),

Dave targets Red with Kanto’s power.  I flip Man of Tomorrow, ditching Kara to get Man of Steel.  I also flip Cadmus Labs.  I lost 4 endurance thanks to Servants of Darkness, but I didn’t lose Red, so I considered it a good trade-off.  Superboy then runs into Kent, and I power-up with my newly searched Man of Steel.  After both go down, Kanto goes into Blue with a newly flipped up Apokolips.  I power-up with the False Son in my hand, and replace Cadmus to bring my attack up to 11.  Kanto goes down with Blue, and Dave drops into the negatives.  Cir-El and Red rub salt in the wounds.

Final Score: 13 to -18

Thoughts:  While Darkseid probably had the better clone deck, whenever it misses Speed Queen/Ego Gem, it falls apart.  It needs that element to set up quickly.  It needs Ancient Throne/Darkseid (4)/2x Servants of Darkness up and running ASAP to really hurt opponents.  Though it might help to pack some pumps in the deck.  Defensive or offensive.  Dave found himself frustrated that power-ups were his only answer in combat.

Anti-Green Lanters [Vs.] Emerald Enemies

My furry friend Paul and I duked this one out.  He grabbed one of his favorite decks (AGL), and I took up one of my favorite dark horses, Emerald Enemies.  Here’s how it went down.

Game 1

I take odds.

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw Empire of Tears, The Shark, Sonar, and Prison Planet; f0llowed by Goldface and Femme Fatality.
Paul draws 3x AGL and a Willworld; followed by a Blinding Rage and a Trial By Fire.

I row Prison Planet and play The Shark.  Paul has an AGL.  I flip the Planet and swing for 3.  He swings back for 4.

The AGL KO’s itself.

Turn 2 (46-47)

I draw Empire of Tears and Trial By Fire; Paul has Mega-Blast and Fiero.  Paul drops 2 AGL’s!  I row Empire of Tears and recuit no one.  I figure I’d just lose my Sonar if I put him down anyway.

I take 8.  Paul flips and uses Willworld to net one AGL.  He pitches Fiero, then loses both AGL’s.

Turn 3 (38-47)

I draw Major Force and Fatality; Paul draws 2x AGL.  Paul uses Willworld to net… nothing!  I row Trial by Fire and recruit Sonar and Fatality.  Paul recruits 2 AGL’s.

I use Sonar to tap an AGL, knowing it will KO and not get to attack back.  I then send Fatality and The Shark in directly with a Trial By Fire flipped and added to The Shark.  Paul takes 13 and sends his lone AGL back at Fatality.  Unfortunately, she stuns him back, and Paul’s allowed to keep a character for the first time this game.

Turn 4 (34-33)

I draw Obsidian and Dr. Light; Paul draws Willworld and an AGL.  Paul recruits one measley AGL.  I row Femme Fatality and play Goldface, ditching Dr. Light and Obsidian.

Paul runs an AGL into my Fatality.  I take 4 to his 1.  He then runs his other AGL into Goldface, adding a Mega-Blast and a Trial By Fire to make him a 12/4.  I take 7 to his 1.  My last 2 characters swing to the face for 7.

Turn 5 (23-24)

I draw Sinestro and another Major Force; Paul draws The Ring Has Chosen and Cosmic Conflict.  I row Empire of Tears and play Major Force.  Paul Willworld’s into 2 Xallaraps, but still has not seen Felix Faust, one of his deck’s key characters.  He drops Tatooed Man.

I run Goldface into the Tatted Man, and he responds by popping one of Tat Man’s counters to get an AGL from his deck (he didn’t have 2 in his deck to use both counters).  Paul takes 11.  I then activate Sonar to tap one of his hidden AGL’s.  I flip one Empire of Tears, KOing Goldface and Sonar to its cost.  The Shark swings with a tap of Empire of Tears to become a 7/1.  I then flip the other Empire of Tears, KOing the original Empire of Tears and Trial by Fire.  Major Force swings as a 17/15 after I power him up.  Paul runs back with his last AGL and 3 attack pumps into my Shark.  I take 16, he takes 1.

Final Score: 7 to -12

Game 2

Paul takes evens.

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw (after a mulligan of 4 and 5 drops) Prison Planet, Dr. Light, Emerald Dawn and Golden Death; followed by Obsidian and Trial by Fire.
Paul draws (after a mulligan to try and find a Chomin) AGL, Willworld, Blinding Rage and Cosmic Conflict; followed by an AGL and Shadow-Thief.

I row Prison Planet and have no one drop.  Paul has an AGL and sends 4 to my face.  His Willworld net him an AGL, ditching a Blinding Rage.

AGL KO’s.

Turn 2 (46-50)

I draw Empire of Tears and Trial By Fire; Paul draws AGL and Mega-Blast.  He drops 2 AGL’s to my nothing, and smacks me for 8.  He Willworld’s into nothing (sending a Chomin to the bottom of his deck).

Turn 3 (38-50)

I draw Dr. Polaris and Golden Death; Paul draws Cosmic Conflict and Felix Faust.  I row Trial by Fire and play Dr. Polaris.  Paul Willworld’s into Xallarap.

I attack with Polaris, flipping Prison Planet to make him a 7/3.  Xallarap exhausts and then KO’s.  Poor Xallarap!

Turn 4 (38-43)

I draw Sinestro and The Shark; Paul has Blinding Rage and Xallarap.  Paul drops Faust and I row Emerald Dawn and play Obsidian.

Faust goes into Obsidian with a Mega-Blast.  I take 10.  Faust KO’s and brings in 3x AGL’s.  Uh-oh!  An AGL takes out Polaris, and the other 2 attack directly.  Since I’m losing him anyway, I play Emerald Dawn, KOing Polaris to get Major Force.

Turn 5 (16-38)

I draw another Major Force and Goldface; Paul gets Banished to the Anti-Matter Universe and Tattooed Man.  I row a Golden Death and play Major Force.  Paul drops Tattooed Man.

I run Major Force into Tat Man and play both Golden Deaths (one from row, one from hand).  I then pop a Golden death with Obsidian’s ability and flip Trial By Fire.  I also Power up to make Major Force a 27.  Obsidian then runs into Paul’s face with a Trial By Fire from hand.  I also flip up Empire of Tears, KOing both plot twists in my row to add 2 attack.  Obsidian is a 16/6, and Paul drops to -3.  Paul uses Banished to the Anti-Matter Universe to send Obsidian hidden.  Uh-oh!  Two AGL’s team attack into Major Force with a Cosmic Conflict and a Blinding Rage.  I take 5 to Paul’s 1.  His last AGL runs straight in with a power-up, but it’s not enough.

Final Score: 6 to -3

Thoughts: That’s right, AGL LOST!  Missing Chomin is brutal, but the fact that Sonar and Dr. Polaris could tap down hidden attackers was HUGE in this matchup.  I’m personally glad that this underdog deck has made it so far in the tournament.  And if you read the matchups (this round and the last) you’ll see that Dr. Light was never a factor.  In fact, if I recreated this deck, I’d probably drop him entirely.

 Teen Titans [Vs.] Arkham Exhaust

Continuing the trend of playing a different friend for each matchup, this time I hooked up with Rob.  Rob grabbed Titans because it’s always been a favorite of his.  I grabbed Arkham, because I like to lose

Game 1

Rob wins the die roll and picks odds.

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw 2x Charaxes (3), KGBeast, and Fear and Confusion; followed by Bat’s Belfry and Hush, Silent and Deadly.
After a mulligan of USS Argus, Roy Harper-Arsenal, Garth and Vic Stone, Rob drew 2x Terra, Optitron, and Press the Attack; followed by Connor and Red Star.

Rob plays, flips, and uses Optitron, ditching Terra to get Hank Hall.  I row Bat’s Belfry and we both pass.

Turn 2 (50-50)

I draw Calendar Man and Smiles Everyone; Rob has Garth and Tamaran.  I row Smiles Everyone and play KGBeast.  Hopefully, if Rob has a 2, I can Smiles Everyone it right away.  But Rob has other plans and uses Optitron again, ditching Conner Kent to get Tim Drake.  He has no recruit, so KGBeast swings for 4.

Turn 3 (50-46)

I draw Smiles Everyone and Hush, Mystery Man; Rob draws Optitron and Ray Palmer.  Rob boosts Hank to get Dawn in play.  I row Fear and Confusion and play Charaxes, Drury Walker.  Unfortunately, he can stun my whole board with this play.  At least he’s losing board as well though!

His 4/4 Hank goes into my front row Charaxes.  I reinforce.  Dawn then runs into KGB for the double stun again.  I lose KGBeast, but he loses Dawn, making Hank a measley 2/2 again.

Turn 4 (45-43)

I draw Two-Face and Fearmonger; Rob draws Garth and Blinding Rage.  I row Smiles Everyone and play Hush, Silent and Deadly.  Rob drops down Terra (Noooo!).

I flip Bat’s Belfry ditching Two-Face and Calendar Man.  I then run Charaxes into Hank Hall and let Terra pop him (replacing Optitron into a Roy Harper-Speedy).  I then run Hush into Hank (I really wish I had flight!).  Hank exhausts to Bat’s Belfry, and Rob takes some breakthrough in addition to losing Hank to Hush’s effect.

Turn 5 (42-36)

I draw Crushing Blow and Fear and Confusion; Rob draws Removed from Continuity and Press the Attack.  Rob drops down Garth, and I recruit Scarecrow after I row a Crushing Blow.

Terra attacks Charaxes and I reinforce with Hush in the back row.  Garth then runs into Scarecrow with a Tamaran activation to see what he can get in his trash, turns out it’s just a Vic Stone.  He then Powers up the old fashioned way for the one-sided stun.  Garth then pays 3 to return the Garth from his trash to his hand.

Turn 6 (32-33)

I draw Hush, Mystery Man and Bane; Rob gets Teen Titans Go and Argus.  I row Fear and Confusion and play Bane, moving everyone to the front row in case Starfire hits the table.  Rob flips and uses Optitron to ditch Garth, getting Roy Harper.  Roy and Tim then hit the table.  Tim and Terra in front of Garth and Roy respectively.

I use Bat’s Belfry, removing the same 2 cards as before.  I run Hush into Terra.  Terra, Garth, Roy, and Tim all tap to Roy’s effect, making him a 12 attack.  Rob then plays Press the Attack to ready Roy.  Roy taps to stun Hush, KOing Press the Attack in the process.  Fearmonger then attacks Terra.  Garth pays 3, to get back and play the same Press the Attack.  Roy taps, KOing a Roy 1 drop in the row to stun Fearmonger.  Finally I run Bane into Terra, flipping a Smiles Everyone.  He has a 3rd Press the Attack to ready Terra so that Smiles Everyone does nothing.  Still, he takes some damage.

I lose Hush.  This game has turned quickly against me!

Turn 7 (23-21)

I draw Anarky and The Penquin; Rob draws Heroic Sacrifice and Roy Harper-Arsenal.  Rob recruits Red Star and uses one of his resource point to burn me for 5.  I row Fear and Confusion and think about who to recruit.  If I drop Two-Face, I’ll have 18 stun damage on board to match my 18 endurance.  Considering Roy can do that himself, I have to underdrop.  But after considering my options, I realize I’ve lost anyway and recruit Two-Face for the “Bad-Ass” factor.

Rob teams everyone but Roy into Bane.  Tamaran powers up Red Star and puts a Teen Titans Go in his KO’d pile.  Bane stuns, but Tim redirects my stunback to his unstunnable Red Star.  Teen Titan’s Go readies his board and he sends them all (except Roy again) into Two-Face.  Again, Red Star makes the stun one-sided.  Garth replays Teen Titans Go! from the KO’ed pile.  Terra and Red Star then go into Fearmonger for another one-sided stun.  Tim and Garth tap for Roy’s ability to make him an 8 attack.  Roy attacks to my face with a power-up.

Final Score: -9 to 18

Game 2

I take odds this time to see what happens.

Turn 1 (50-50)

After a mulligan I draw 2x Anarky, Charaxes, and Hush followed by The Penguin and Crushing Blow.
After a mulligan Rob draws Optitron, Press the Attack, Ray Palmer, and Teen Titans Go; followed by Press the Attack and Blinding Rage.

I row Crushing Blow and recruit Anarky.  Rob has an Optitron, ditching Ray Palmer to get Hank Hall.  Rob takes 2 to the face.

Turn 2 (50-48)

I draw Glass Jaw and Calendar Man; Rob draws Removed from continuity and Roy Harper.  Rob has no play so I row Glass Jaw and draw a Two-Face with Calendar Man.  Also, Anarky smashes face again.

Turn 3 (46-50)

I draw Smiles Everyone and Arkham Asylum; Rob draws Terra and Tim Drake.  I row Smiles Everyone and play Penguin over Charaxes, ditching an Asylum to get a KGBeast.  Rob draws Roy Harper (1) off of Penquin and ditches Roy (1) and Press the Attack.  I form in a checkerboard so that Calendar Man can draw.  Rob drops Hank with a boost to get Dove.

Calendar Man draws No Man’s Land.  Anarky runs into Dove.  We both take 1.  Penguin then goes after Hank Hall.  This one’s one-sided.

Turn 4 (49-42)

I draw another KGBeast and Sucker Punch; Rob draws Titan’s Tower and Blinding Rage.  Rob drops Terra.  I row No Man’s Land and play Hush, Silent and Deadly.

Hank attacks Hush with 2x Blinding Rage.  Hush poops his pants and goes down like Igby.  Ouch.  I take 7 to his 2, but Hank is KO’d.  Terra then makes sure that Hush is “Removed from continuity”.  Anarky teams with Penguin into Terra to make sure she stays tapped into next turn.  Calendar Man draws me a Scarecrow, Fearmonger.

Turn 5 (39-36)

I draw Fear and Confusion and Hush, Mystery Man; Rob draws Garth and Argus.  I row Sucker Punch and recruit my Fearmonger, though in retrospect I should maybe have dropped Charaxes (3) and KGBeast.  Rob has Garth of course.

I send Penguin and Anarky into Terra again  with a Sucker Punch.  I then flip No Man’s Land, discarding Charaxes (3) to tap Garth.  Calendar Man taps to draw me a Charaxes (3).  Fearmonger runs into Garth with Smiles Everyone, and gains a counter in the process.

Turn 6 (39-26)

I draw Smiles Everyone and Matt Hagen; Rob draws Red Star, Koriandir.  Rob drops Starfire.  I row Smiles Everyone and play just Hush, Mystery Man in my hidden area, choosing not to use my last 2 resources on KGBeast, since his 1 DEF is a huge liabiliy off-initiative.  I move everyone to my front row.

Starfire goes into Calendar Man to do some beats.  He draws me a Fear and Confusion.  I take 11.  Hush goes into Terra, paying 1 endurance to keep her tapped into the next turn.  I also add a couple Fear and Confusions to make my four remaining characters +2 each.  My 11/10 Fearmonger goes into Starfire with a Smiles Everyone, a Glass Jaw, and a Crushing Blow to keep things one-sided, but Rob flips Titans Tower, ditching Red Star, to stun Fearmonger back anyway.  The Penguin and Anarky swing direct for 11 (12 after I power-up my Anarky), and the game is mine!

Final Score: 19 to -6

This is getting tense!!

Game 3

Rob takes odds.  Since odds has won each of us a game, this does not look good for the home team.

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw Clayface, Charaxes, Smiles Everyone, and Anarky; followed by Glass Jaw and Hush-Silent and Deadly.
Rob draws Garth, Roy Harper-Arsenal, and 2x Teen Titan’s Go, but he mulligans for Blinding Rage, Tim Drake, Argus, and Removed From Continuity; followed by Optitron and Connor.

Rob flips Optitron, pays a resource and ditches Conner Kent to get Dawn.  I row Smiles and play Anarky.  Rob starts down 2 endurance.

Turn 2 (50-48)

I draw Charaxes and Fear and Confusion; Rob draws Tim Drake and Roy Harper.  I row Fear and Confusion, but have no drop.  Rob has Tim Drake.  I Glass Jaw Tim Drake and attack with Anarky.  I flip Smiles Everyone to KO him.

Turn 3 (49-44)

I draw Two-Face and Sucker Punch; Rob draws Teen Titans Go and Titans Tower.  He boosts Dawn, getting Hank.  I row Sucker Punch and play Charaxes.

Dawn runs into Charaxes with a Blinding Rage.  I can do nothing about it.  He passes his attacks and so do I.  He then plays Removed from Continuity, tapping Hank to KO Charaxes.  At least now I don’t have to replace with the 6 drop in my hand!

Turn 4 (43-43)

I draw Charaxes (3) and No Man’s Land; Rob draws 2x Terra.  I row No Man’s Land and play Hush-Silent and Deadly.  Rob throws out his usual Terra.  Rob uses Argus to get Garth.

I run Hush into Hank Hall, flipping Fear and Confusion to tap Hank.  Rob flips Titan’s Tower, ditching Terra to add four to his attack.  Hoping to preserve my board a little, I flip Sucker Punch, stopping the stunback.  Rob takes 6.  I flip No Man’s Land, ditching Charaxes and targeting Terra with it.  Rob responds by replacing his Argus (into a Blinding Rage) with Terra to stun Anarky.

Turn 5 (42-37)

I draw Amadeus and Bane; Rob draws Red Star and Press the Attack.  Rob windmills down his Garth and I play Matt Hagen after rowing Amadeus.  I formed Clayface behind Hush to either force Dawn into Clayface first, or force Rob to make more than one attack to get to Clayface, which would make him bigger.

Unfortunately, he’s able to attack Dawn into Clayface with a Blinding Rage and a Titans Tower, ditching Red Star.  She’s a 9/1 into my 7/7.  Garth then ravages my Hush for 6.  Rob had then planned to remove one of my characters from continuity, but he forgot about Anarky’s attack back, which would lock down either his four or five drop for next turn.  So he’s forced to blow up Anarky with Terra’s text, replacing Optitron (into a Starfire).  Garth then retrieves Argus instead.  I lose Matt Hagen because Rob WILL have Roy Harper next turn (otherwise he would have gotten back Optitron instead of Argus to guarantee that Roy).

Turn 6 (28-34)

I draw Bat’s Belfry and KGBeast; Rob draws Optitron and Ray Palmer.  I row the Belfry and play Charaxes (6).  Rob drops Tim Drake, Roy Harper, and The Atom.  He then flips Argus netting an Argus.  Rob informs me I will not be attacking this turn.  Good.

Everyone taps to Roy’s ability, making him a 14 ATK.  Roy then activates, KOing Argus to stun Charaxes.  Press the Attack readies Roy, who then pops a Starfire from the row to stun Hush.  This is all still the build phase by the way.  Sad face.  Rob passes.  So do I.  Still sad face.  Garth pulls back Red Star before the end of the turn.  I keep Charaxes.

Turn 7 (18-31)

I draw Fear and Confusion and Glass Jaw; Rob draws Tamaran and Roy Harper-Speedy.  Rob recruits Red Star, burning me for 5 in the process.  A new Arguss flips up and nets Rob a Teen Titan’s Go.  I debate between Two-Face and Bane.  If I put down Two-Face, Rob can just Roy Harper both Two-Face and Bane for the 13 damage he needs to bring me to 0.  Since he can KO the Press the Attack in his row with Roy’s ability, and bring it back with Garth, I decide to boost Bane instead.

Everyone but Roy teams into Charaxes.  Teen Titans Go readies them all.  They all tap to Roy’s ability and make him a 16/3.  Roy taps, KOing his Press the Attack in the row, targeting Charaxes.  Charaxes stuns.  They all (excpet Roy) team into Bane.  Teen Titan’s Go then readies them all again and they all tap for Roy again.  He’s now a 28/3.  Garth returns Press the Attack.  Press the Attack readies Roy.  The attack resolves and Bane stuns back Garth, but Tim redirects to Dawn.  Roy then smacks me direct with a power-up for 29 endurance.  Ouch!

Final Score: -28 to 27

Thoughts: While I never really doubted that Titans would walk away from this one, they did not do it unscathed.  When Arkham curves out from turn 1-on and has odds, it seemed to do pretty well.  But unlike Arkham, Titans can recover from a bad draw.  And unlike Brave and the Bold, whom Arkham slaughtered, the pure Titans build prevailed.  Though that’s what you get when you pair a Tier 1 team against a Tier 7-ish.  The exhaust/KO theme isn’t terrible, but it’s only really effective against a curve deck that tries to match it drop-for-drop.  I found myself wondering if Amadeus Arkham shouldn’t be dropped so that we can simply up the number of locations in the deck.  He’s good, but situational, and if we hit Calendar Man we’d hit every location we’d need anyway.  Oh well, let’s see how the ‘other’ Arkham deck does…

Arkham Insanity [Vs.] Total Recall

The Ring Has Chosen crew was gracious enough to do this matchup for us.  Thanks guys!

http://vssystem.org/2010/01/15/the-ring-has-chosen-dc-100-ideas-round-2-special/

Last week we mentioned briefly the project going on over ‘Vs. Corps’.  This week we’d like to touch on that a little more.  The idea is to make Vs. Corps an archive for all things Vs.  At least all things pre-vssystem.org.  Near the end of UDE’s production of our beloved game.  There was a revolution of sorts.  Blogs popped up all over the place, offering more Vs. content in one week than any one of us could ever hope to read.  But then, that fateful announcement came, and content dropped off the map.  Everyone hovered around the forums for a while to see if this game would have an afterlife.  Luckily, we’ve survived a year now, and we’re doing pretty well.  Tournaments are still being hosted, decks are still being constructed, friendships have been forged, new formats invented, and much more.

But what about all that old content that flooded our RSS feeds and filled our ‘favorites’ side-bars?  Each month it gets harder and harder to find that content as search engines like Google and Bing put it lower on their ‘relevance’ lists.  Much of that content would be invaluable to new players trying to get a handle on the game.  For the rest of us, there’s the nostalgic factor.  No one will ever get sick of going back and reading ‘Breaking Ground’ or ‘Deck Clinic’ articles; and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

So an archive became necessary.  Currently, we’ve been putting up all available Metagame.com articles.  The site no longer exists, but some of the articles can still be found on web.archive.org.  Here’s a link to the last remaining Metagame material: http://web.archive.org/web/20070622040514rn_1/metagame.com/vs.aspx?tabid=67

Notice that when follow that link, many of the articles cannot be found.  For that reason, we’re making a call out to the community.  If you have access to any of the missing content please let us know!  I know a lot of Metagame authors still visit these forums; perhaps they still have the original articles on their hard drives.

Also, if you ran a blog when everyone was jumping on the blog-wagon.  We’d love to archive your material too.  Obviously blogs like The Lost Hemisphere, The Hero Blog, and Full Body Transplant have evolved and will continue to be around.  But many of our blogs (including, at one point, Vs. Corps) became stagnant and died.  Every blog that is transfered over will still retain its individuality, and authors will still get their due credit.  In fact, we’re willing to give anyone access to the site who wants to help with this effort.  This truly should be a community project, since this is our community’s history.

Vs. Corps has also received a facelift for this endeavor.  There’s a new ‘Category’ bar on the left that will allow you to pick an author or website that’s in the archive.  If you go there now you’ll find that there are over 20 authors and/or sites that you can click on.  Many more will be added over the next couple months, so check back often.  You’ll also notice that you can click on specific months/years on the left side.  This allows you to relive Vs. System’s history in the exact order that it all happened.

So, a quick recap.  We need three things from the community:

1. Access to any content that may still be available from Metagame.com
2. A list of people who want their ‘dead’ blogs transferred to the archive
3. A list of people who’d like to help with this process

Thanks in advance, and enjoy!

Cliff and Squire conquer this weeks hot topics, and about 90 minutes get into more of the MFA review. Beware the rise of the Cliff-Bots!.
theringhaschosen@gmail.com

Ahh the weekend.  Every time my work week ends, I know two things are coming.  First, the forums die.  That’s right, when I’m finally free to talk, everyone leaves and has fun elsewhere!  Second, we have a Council Update for you.  Those of you with eyes may have noticed some changes popping up on the frontpage.  There have been quite a few lately.

1)  The ‘Rules’ and ‘Downloads’ tabs have been combined so that all rules documents can be found in one spot now.

2)  We’ve made a new tab called ‘Formats’ that contains all currently recognized tournament formats.  Notice that this tab has been updated with the Council’s decision to move Marvel Evolutions to Golden Age, and all Council suggested bans and erratas.

3)  The ‘About This Site’ tab has been modified to include a directory of all Administrators, Moderators, and Council Members.  Because some of these are not permanent positions, we figured it would be nice to have an updated listing on the frontpage.

4)  We’ve added Vssystemonline.org to the ‘Site Links’ in the right column near the Forum link.  We need to make sure that all new players can find this site as quickly as possible.

5)  Finally (the thing we’re most excited about), we’ve added a ‘Player Locator’ tab to the frontpage.  PLEASE head there now and add your information.  This tab will help players find other players and hobby leagues near them.  If you play Vs. at a store, please include the store’s information as well.  This tab was just added, so there aren’t many people “located” yet.  Help us fill the map with pins!

I (scottkthompson) will also use this opportunity to plug the archiving project going on over at Vscorps.wordpress.com.  I’ve been going through old Metagame.com articles and copy-and-pasting them over to Vs. Corps.  Many of the articles appear to be lost for good, but some of them can be salvaged.  If anyone has access to more content that should be saved (including the missing Metagame articles), let me know.  Also, if your blog has been left unattended for some time and you want the content added to the archive, I can make that happen.  It would be nice to collect all old Vs. content in one location BEFORE Google looses all traces of it.  And don’t worry about the terrible paint-created banner at Vs. Corps.  Once this project really gets off the ground, we’ll have someone with Photoshop skills create a banner more befitting our archive (KardKrazy, I’m looking your way!).

Let us know what other changes you guys would like to see on this site.  As always, our PM boxes are open!

The episode numeric are address, the rants are lengthy, and the audio gremlins get the best of Cliff. All this and more for Episode 87.
theringhaschosen@gmail.com

Its Cliff vs Squire in an Equipment Legend battle.

This week’s topic of discussion comes from Kardkrazy.  He’s been hard at work on DWF Alter Ego cards.  Players have been toying around with these DWF Alter Ego cards since HeroComplex posted unofficial versions last year, but up until now, they’ve just been titillating us.  Well we’re making them official.  As official as the MTU Alter Ego cards are.

But Kardkrazy is doing more than just releasing this cardboard gold to us.  He’s also organizing an event to actually get some use out of these cards.  Check out his announcement:

The DWF Alter Ego Online Tournament is here! Starting Febuary 1st VsSystemOnline.Org in conjuction with VsSystem.Org will be holding a Constructed tournament that uses these DWF Alter Ego cards in which only the World’s Finest set is legal. The length and number of rounds of the Tournament will be decided upon by the number of players that sign up to play. Players may choose any one of the eight different Alter Egos to bring to the tournament. Each Alter Ego has a “personality”—its individual starting endurance and a power that bends the rules of the game—that affects the game from the outset. Figure out which Alter Ego card best complements your favorite deck, or better yet, design a deck to take advantage of your favorite Alter Ego! Included in this annoucement is the DAE.mwSet file that has the DWF Alter Ego cards.

To play an Alter Ego Tournament via Magic Workstation you will need to download the DAE.mwSet file that is included in this annoucement and include a single copy of your Alter Ego in your deck. Once you enter a game with an opponent simply search through your deck and put the Alter Ego into play, yet out of the way of your normal playing board, and just leave the Ego at that position. This is so your opponent can visibly see which Ego you have chosen during the game. Also make sure to change your endurance total accordingly with your chosen Ego.  Here are your Egos – DCA.mwSet (DC Alter Ego)

KardKrazy

Happy hunting everyone!  You have 2 weeks to design the ULTIMATE DWF Alter Ego deck.  Good luck!

HeroComplex’s FAQ:

Bizarro

If both players choose the Bizarro Alter Ego, all characters’ will have their normal ATK and DEf values.

ATK and DEF modifiers are normally applied in the order they were created. Because Bizarro’s is created at the start of the game, he will switch a character’s ATK and DEF before you apply any ATK and DEF modifiers from normal cards.

If one player chooses Bizarro, and the other chooses Roy Harper—whichever player starts the game with initiative, that player’s Alter Ego modifier will apply first. If Roy Harper’s player starts the game with initiative, characters he controls will get +2 ATK while attacking characters with greater cost, and then you will switch ATK and DEF. If Bizarro’s player starts with initiative, Roy Harper’s +2 ATK will only apply after Bizarro’s switch.

Joker

Joker only cares about “playing” cards, which means recruiting a character, recruiting an equipment, or playing a plot twist. Using a card’s powers, including Shift or Substitute, is not playing that card. Playing a card from another zone, such as while using the Insanity text of Burn Baby Burn, does count for Joker.

If you have any other questions about the Egos, post them below.  We’ll add them to the FAQ.

Another update?! What can I say, we’re just on fire lately. Buckle up, it’s going to be an exciting ride!

Today’s update is all about the ‘Fantasy Set’ section of the Vssystem forums. It makes sence then that the following information comes from our Fantasty section moderator: Shadowtrooper. He announced a while back that he was working on an Official Fan Set Handbook. The very existence of this handbook was welcomed by many, but an affront to others who were worried it would stifle their creativity. I think the latter group will be very relieved to find that the Handbook does nothing of the sort. For the uninformed, the Handbook is simply a loose set of guidelines that need to be followed in order to have your Fantasty Set submitted for Council approval. A ‘Council Approved’ stamp simply means that your set is eligible for tournaments that use the community’s ranking system. We should clarify that you’re still welcome to create Fan Sets that do not conform to the Handbook guidelines, and you can still use them for online play. They will just not be eligible for the ‘Council Approved’ stamp, and therefore will not be eligible for our online ranking system.

Without further ado:

The Official Fan Set Handbook

Section 1 – The Beginning

Part 1 – Introduction: After its cancellation by Upper Deck Entertainment (UDE), the game of Vs. was left lacking new material that is/was considered official for online play as well as for live events. As such, The Council of Vs. System Players has decided to create a process, in which fan created content can be created, evaluated, and potentially endorsed not only by The Council itself, but also by the rest of the Vs. System Community. The use of these sets for online play as well as for actual events will not be mandatory in any way, and tournament organizers, though encouraged to use them, can feel free to run events without them.

The purpose of creating this Handbook is to detail a process that can be easily duplicated so that Vs. players can have an organized guideline with which to follow. This process will prevent, among many things: duplicate or overlapping efforts among fan set creators, set discontinuity, contradicting mechanics, and/or the possibility of rules being altered or broken with or without the knowledge of the set’s creators.

Additionally, it is the intent of this Handbook to include a process that not only develops new content for play, but also a process, which will hopefully allow the Vs. community to develop in many areas, such as: the growth of the community’s membership, cross-community relationships, new creative talent, awareness of Vs. System events, and the general promotion of the game.

Section 2 – Legal Ramifications

Part 1 – Disclaimer: The following process for creating and endorsing fan made content for play is in no way affiliated with: Upper Deck Entertainment, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, or any other registered content and/or material used by fan set designers. Additionally, the content will not be created with the intent of sale. The Vs. System Community and Vs. System Council of Players are not responsible for contradicting actions to this statement by any individual member or sub-group of their respective bodies. Those individuals or sub-groups that choose to act in a contradictory manner to the express written intent of this document will be doing so of their own accord and they alone should be held accountable for their actions.

Section 3 – Material Selection

Part 1 – Companies and Universes: Because it is the intent to instill a level of realism within fan sets, it is highly recommended that only Marvel Comics and DC Comics material is used for the development of sets with the intent to be considered for approval. Though there is an abundant amount of material available for the development of sets outside the realm of these two companies, The Council has determined this is the best course of action due to Marvel and DC being the primary source of material for Vs. System throughout its lifetime. We do not negate or discard the possibility that further down the road new formats can be developed that can potentially lead to the inclusion of material outside of Marvel and DC.

Part 2 – Non-Marvel and DC material: Though we wish to keep Marvel and DC as the sole material for new sets, in order to follow UDE’s established formats, it is wise to leave a window open for additional material to be included into future approved set rotation, much like UDE’s addition of the Hellboy Essential Collection. Depending on the community’s reception to material outside of Marvel and DC we will either:

a) Leave non-Marvel/DC content out of the endorsement arena.
b) Evaluate non-Marvel/DC fan content on an individual basis and decide whether or not to include them into rotation.
c) Create a new sub-format for fan sets that are non-Marvel/DC.

Part 3 – Set Rotations: Alternating between Marvel and DC sets has been the way that sets were introduced by UDE (up to the point of DC content being discontinued), and will continue to be the way that approved sets are introduced. This will give both DC and Marvel fans an equal amount of material.

Section 4 – Set Specifications and Inclusions

Part 1- Sets per Year: It is our belief that a schedule for Council Approved Sets is needed in order to create a continuous flow of sets that will work with the recommended set sizes to create a card pool of adequate size. At the moment, this is the schedule we believe to be the most appropriate for those goals:

a) Two (2) full-sized sets per Vs. year
b) Two (2) mini sets per Vs. year
c) One (1) starter set per Vs. year

Part 2 – Full Set Sizes: Although we do not want to limit creativity in any way, we recommend that creators work within the confines of the set sizes that have been previously established by UDE. Much like limiting content to Marvel and DC, this is another factor, which adds to the realism of fan sets while maintaining a well-balanced number of cards in the card pool. The following are the different set sizes used by UDE for full-sized sets:

a) 165
b) 220
c) 273
d) 275
e) 330

It is to note that of those set sizes, 275 cards is the most appropriate. A 275 card set size will provide an adequate number of cards per set and fits our set release schedule. Additionally, it was also the set size used by UDE when they were releasing two (2) sets per year. This in turn gives creators about seven (7) to eight (8) months for set development and release.

Part 3 – Mini-Sets and Starters: Just as with full-sized sets, UDE released mini-sets or “Collections” (an example of this was The Hellboy Essential Collection), as well as, starter decks periodically. These Collections and starters were a tool to use as a teaching mechanism and learning tool for new players. They combined easy to use effects and several of the basic mechanics available in Vs. System for an easy understanding of the basics of the game. For our intents and purposes these mini-sets will be used as:

a) A way to add a small amount of cards into the pool.
b) A tool to help teach new players how to play Vs. System.
c) A way to evaluate the skills and abilities a certain individual has in regards to designing cards.
d) A way to build experience for those who want to get their feet wet into card creating.

Just as it was the case with UDE’s Collections and starter sets, each Collection should have a fifty-five (55) card count, while starter decks should have a thirty-two (32) card count. They will be released in between full-sized set releases and should take between three (3) to four (4) months of development time.

Part 4 – Rarity Distribution: Each of the above mentioned set sizes has a predetermined number of cards per each rarity (rare, uncommon, and common). As with set sizes, following UDE’s established rarity distribution will give these sets a much more realistic feel to them. It should be noted that realism is one of the things we want to heavily promote via this Handbook so fan sets have an authentic feel for players. Aside from the basis of promoting a realistic feel, the numbers provided below are the factors that UDE chose to allow for proper booster drafting. While perhaps booster drafting won’t be the order of the day to most players out there, we will not close the door on those who do want to enjoy such a format.

Full-Sized Sets:
330 card set (MUN): 110 rares, 110 uncommons, 110 commons
275 card set (MVL, DCL, MEV): 110 rares, 55 uncommons, 110 commons
220 card set (MOR, MMK – DWF): 55 rares, 55 uncommons, 110 commons
165 card set (DOR – DSM): 55 rares, 55 uncommons, 55 commons

Collections/Mini-Sets:
55 card set (EHB): 6 rares, 16 uncommons, 33 commons

Starters:
32 card set (MFF): 2 rares, 10 uncommons, 20 commons

Part 5 – Card Reference Document (CRD): To have an easier access to card text and other relevant information, we recommend that a Card Reference Document be made available at the time of release for any fan set. Just as with many of the other aspects of a fan set, we encourage this document to be created to add to the realism of the set and the benefit of the players.

Part 6 – Frequently Asked Questions: Although not a requirement, we feel it would be wise that each set has a corresponding Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) document to discuss any text or interaction that might be new, confusing, or need additional clarification which wasn’t able to be put in a card’s game text. It is also the place where any new team icons should be introduced and explained, as well as, the definitions and examples of any new keywords that are developed for the set.

Section 5 – Research and Development Department (R&D)

Part 1 – Reason for an R&D Department: R&D Departments have been instrumental and a the foundation of the process of card designing not only in companies such as UDE, but also in non-official fan set content previously released by community members. As such, we will follow this structure in hopes of providing a solid basis with which to build our goals upon.

Part 2 – R&D Structure: The R&D Department’s basic structure consists of a group of designers and developers. The Council highly recommends this group to be from anywhere between five (5) to seven (7) members, of which one (1) will be the lead designer. An additional member that can potentially be added to this group (that does not count towards the groups total members) is encouraged to be added. See Part 7 of this Handbook for details regarding this additional member.

Part 3 – Lead Designer: The lead designer of a set should be able to provide credentials, such as: previous experience working with fan sets, an above average understanding of the rules of Vs., knowledge of characters and any storylines to be represented in the proposed set, the ability to work well and coordinate with others, patience, and most importantly, the time available to dedicate to such a project. A lead designer, while first among individual members of the R&D team, is not above the goals of the design team as a group and should always be respectful to the other members of the group. The lead designer will be responsible in keeping the rest of the team organized, focused, and united towards their goal. In addition to this, the lead designer will be responsible for the distribution of the workload to each member of the group, which includes, but is not limited in to: who will work on what team(s) featured in the set, searching for images, assigning card details (costs, versions, rarity distribution), card image creation, and other aspects associated with set creation. The lead designer can and should be responsible for some or part of any of these items. Additionally, setting-up dates to meet via chat, through an agreed upon method to discuss set development will be their responsibility. A very important aspect in a lead designer that The Council wishes to see incorporated will be mentorship. For more details on this subject please reference Part 7 of this Handbook. Last but not least, the lead designer will also be responsible for keeping The Council, and the community at large informed of the progress of the set. This means keeping an open dialog with a representative of The Council, as well as, releasing information through various channels to keep players excited and appraised of the upcoming set. This information is to be shared not only at VsSystem.org, but also at TCGPlayer.com, and any other website or forum they wish to do so. This part of the process will be done in the hopes of helping our community to grow, which is one of our primary goals as a community. Each lead designer has the freedom to work differently, but we recommend that the lead designer has the final say, within his design group, regarding the set in all aspects.

Part 4 – Design Team: The design team will be the remaining members of the R&D group for the development of a set. The Council suggests that a design team should not have less than five (5) members (including the lead designer), and while The Council recommends the design team doesn’t exceed seven (7) members (including the lead designer and excluding a possible additional member detailed in Part 7), the lead designer can choose to work with a larger group. Foremost, a member of the design team he must be able to follow direction well. Just like the lead designer, a member of the design team must have basic knowledge of the characters and storyline to be worked with, must work well with others, have some card designing experience (even if not extensive), and have the free time needed to work with the project. Any R&D members who do not following the instructions of the lead designer, do not participate as expected, or are otherwise determined to be a detriment to the team, can be removed from the team by majority decision only, and can be replaced if needed. This decision should never be left to the lead designer alone, but rather a vote. If an R&D team member is replaced, or simply removed from the project, The Council should be notified of which member it was and the reasons behind it. Depending on the reasons of the removal the member may confront difficulties in the future regarding approval as a lead designer or R&D member for another set.

Part 5 – General Aspects of R&D Department: The R&D Department is not, and will not be an unchanging group. Each set seeking approval for endorsement should have a different R&D Department that consists of at least a different lead designer. Though we encourage a new design team altogether, it is perfectly acceptable if a member of a current design team is considered for participation in the next R&D group. Depending on time constraints, and availability of potential designers, this can be ignored, but in general it should be adhered to.

Part 6 – Lead Designer Selection: Those interested in assuming the role of lead designer of a proposed set should contact The Council with a notice of their intentions after they have done prior research into ensuring enough material can be found to account for the needs of the set depending on the chosen set size. When contacting The Council, the following information must be included:

a) Potential members for their R&D team. (These members will be evaluated and may be rejected depending on any problems they may have had on a previous design team, etc. The potential lead designer must make sure that at least one member of his design team has access to photoshop.)
b) Affiliations, storyline, and mechanics to be used for the proposed set. (These can be slightly altered once the R&D Team is complete and the lead designer can discuss his initial ideas with the rest of his group.)
c) Legends to be represented in the set, if any. (A “Legend” is an iconic character that receives support cards based on their name.)
d) Chosen set size and expected time of completion.

In the event that three (3) or more community members want to serve as lead designer for the next scheduled set, The Council will evaluate all those interested and take into consideration the following criteria:

a) That the member is not an active member of The Council.
b) That the member is not the lead designer of the current full-sized set in development. (This can be overlooked if no other members are interested or able to be the lead designer of the next set based on the criteria detailed above in the first section of Part 6.)
c) The quality of the work they have done in the past. (Although each individual can see quality differently, a general consensus of the work among The Council and the community is what will factor in here.)
d) How well the member represents their proposed set and it satisfies the criteria described in Section 3 of this Handbook.

Once all these points have been taken into consideration, The Council will post and advertise a poll with the top three (3) candidates selected for lead designer and their proposals for fellow members of the community to vote on. If three (3) or less members contact The Council with the intention of being a lead designer for the next set, then the above mentioned steps will be skipped and The Council will proceed directly to the poll. Although it has frequently been mentioned that polls aren’t the best way to represent the wishes of the community, it is the best method we currently have available to reach a final consensus.

Part 7 – Training New Talent: Not all members of the community have the same skills and experience as others in regards to designing fan sets and the process in which they are created. With not only the intent of developing new talent, but to also further educate community designers that have some experience and who wish to learn more, it is recommended that each R&D team and lead designer select a designer to join their team and receive mentorship in card and set design from the lead designer. This member will be able to learn by being able to observe and have limited participation in the design of the set, so they can gain an understanding of the work required of and expected from an R&D team and lead designers. This process will be beneficial for adding to the credentials a member has for future inclusion on an R&D team. It is not required that a lead designer put the new talent to work on the current set design, but it will be beneficial for that member’s development if they are able to get hands-on experience.

Part 8 – Selecting New Talent to be Trained: It is not the place of The Council or of the lead designer to identify which members of the community are those who:

a) Need to polish their card creating abilities.
b) Are lacking in card creating abilities.
c) Should gain or deserve their first card creating experience.

To avoid the selection of a member that either: doesn’t want to be a part of this process, feels offended or ashamed of being selected, believes they don’t need any help as a designer, or has any other reason to decline the invitation, it is suggested that the lead designer creates a thread and that those interested in participating in the process submit their requests for the opportunity there. In the event that more than one person responds to this thread, then the lead designer will choose one among them. Any member of the community, including members of The Council, may participate in this process, since it isn’t mandatory for this member of the creative team to actually participate in the development of the set.

Part 9 –The Next Lead Designer: When the current set is about to be completed (about a month and a half before release), the process of choosing a new lead designer, and R&D team as explained above will begin anew. However, there will be a difference in that the next lead designer will be required to contact the current lead designer to get all relevant info about the current set. This is to be done so that the new lead designer can incorporate (should he wish to) any new mechanics or keywords that will be introduced once the set currently in development is released. This also gives the next lead designer useful information about what to be mindful of when designing cards that can reinforce or combat mechanics and themes in the previous set. As well as anticipate top strategies or decks in the current or upcoming format(s).

Section 6 – Official Sets, Legality and Community Ranking System

Part 1 – UDE: Any and all sets, Collections and/or starters that were developed by UDE are official. There are no exceptions to this whatsoever. House rules can remove a certain set from legality for an event, but it will not change the set’s status as an official UDE release.

Part 2 – Council Approved Sets: Each fan set that was created using the guidelines that this Handbook provides, but was created outside of the R&D aspect of this Handbook will be evaluated by The Council. If both the community and The Council approve the set, then that set will be worked into the upcoming set schedule receive the title of Council Approved Set after it goes through an additional pass through R&D lead designed by the set’s creator.

Part 3 – General Formats: There will be three (3) general formats which will serve as the base for Council Sanction Events. These general formats will have sub-formats, which will be based on pre-existing formats. The three (3) general formats will be:

a) UDE Format – This first general format will work in the same way things have always been since the introduction of Vs. Within this format you will find Modern Age, Silver Age, Golden Age, Clone Saga, Bring Your Own Team and other established variants.
b) Creator’s Format – This will be the first new general format to be incorporated into online play, as well as, for those who wish to print out the cards or text for them, for traditional play. In this format, only cards from Council Approved Sets will be allowed for play. As soon as enough sets are approved and released we there will be just as many sub-formats as the UDE Format has.
c) Amalgam Format – This is the second new general format to be incorporated into what we already posses. In this format cards from both the UDE and Creator’s Format will be allowed. Some sub-formats found here will incorporate the Creator’s Format sets into the already established UDE Format sub-formats like Modern Age and Silver Age. Other sub-formats will be created accordingly to based on the wishes of the community.

Part 4 – Community Ranking System (CRS):  This section is designed to explain in detail how your ranking will be entered and kept in the Community Ranking System. Rankings for real life tournaments will be kept separate from your ranking for online tournaments. The Community Ranking System – Real Life / CRS-RL and Community Ranking System – Online / CRS-O will be the place to check in on your ranking once you have played in one or more Council Sanctioned Events. In order for a tournament to be deemed a Council Sanctioned Event, it must abide by the following three rules:

1) In order for a TO’s tournament or event results to be incorporated into the Community Ranking System, they must abide by one of the three (3) general formats suggested and encouraged by The Council. These three formats are outlined in Section 6, Part 3 of the Handbook.

2) Said tournament/event will have to abide by the Council’s suggestions on bans and errata. Failure to do so will automatically make your tournament/event results ineligible for the Community Ranking System. For all info on The Council’s suggestions on bans and errata, see the Official Council Document on Bans and Errata.

3) The use of Mantis or any other random pairing system to do your pairings is a requirement. This will guarantee a smooth running event and will help eliminate foul play. While doing match-ups and keeping results for tournaments, please use handles/screen names from VsSystem.org to reference players. If you have a player who is not a member of VsSystem.org, his handle/screen name from any other Vs. related site, such as VsRealms or TCGPlayer can be used. If a player doesn’t have a handles/screen names from any site, use their first and last name when submitting the information.

It is asked that the T.O of the tournament keep up with wins and losses in Constructed events (Real Life or Online) and if you play Sealed/Draft, to keep up with the wins and loses separately. Once the tournament has finished it is asked that you submit the results to KardKrazy within 48 hours via PM on www.vssystemonline.org. KardKrazy will do the math and implement the results into the CRS-RL. KardKrazy will be the sole keeper of rankings so there is no confusion with multiple Council Members trying to upkeep the rankings resulting in corrupted rankings. KardKrazy will be using a formula called the Win-Lose Percentage Formula to keep up with the overall and swiss tournament rankings. Tournaments that are done in a single elimination style will not require the Win-Lose Percentage Formula as they are straight forward where a single loss equals no more matches for you in that particular tournament.

Part 5 – Legality of Council Approved Sets: Council Approved Sets can be used for any tournament/event. This includes Council Sanction Events and non-Council Sanction Events. It will be up to the tournament organizers’ discretion to include them or not. However as previously mentioned, non-Council Sanction Events will not count towards a player’s Community Ranking System total.

Section 7 – Templates

Part 1 – Official Council Approved Template: Of the reasons for this Handbook creating a high standard of quality was one of The Council’s goals as The Community of Players deserves the best we can provide for them in every single aspect. If we are to set a standard of quality it should be done in every single aspect, and since a card’s appearance is just as important as the card’s text, power, abilities and images The Council highly recommends that the Official Council Approved Template be used in the photoshop program. The Official Council Approved Template can be found for download HERE.

Section 8 – Obvious points that still need to be mentioned

Part 1 – Art: The Council understands that the availability of good quality art is somewhat limited and there must be a method for the use of artwork within Council approved sets. As such, once a set is Council approved, all other future sets that wish to be considered for approval, must refrain from using the same art used on a card in a UDE or Council approved set unless that card is a reprint. To avoid exhaustion of the art available, we highly recommend that UDE reprinted cards use the same art as their original versions, unless it is a card that will change “universes” (examples: Mobilize and Blind Sided).

As seen throughout this handbook quality is something we want to ensure, and again while knowing full well that in some cases art is limited we encourage you not to stretch art, or use low quality resolution pictures. Here are a few links of the most commonly used sites to gather images:

www.deviantart.com
www.comicvine.com
www.comic-covers.com
www.comic-images.com

Part 2 – Versions: As with art, once a set is approved as official, all other sets that wish to be considered for approval in the future, must refrain from using the same version as a character card in an official set unless that card is in fact a reprint. This does not limit a the design of a card of a character using a version that has been used on a character with a different name.

Part 3 – Reprints: As previously stated, reprints should use the same art as their original incarnations. In addition, they must also use the same name, identity, version, cost, ATK and DEF values, recruitment cost, affiliations, keywords, power and abilities, rarity, and art. Although UDE did reprint a card that added an extra affiliation, which the original version did not have (Captain Boomerang, George Harkness originally printed in DJL and received the addition of The Rogues affiliation in DCL), The Council requests that for future sets card designers refrain from doing this. The only changes acceptable on reprints are those that follow a change in wording based on updated card templating formats (Example: Bat-Signal, originally printed in DOR and reprinted with updated templating in DWF).

Part 4 – Keywords: New keywords are always a welcomed addition to new sets. They add another level of creativity, fun and mechanics into play thus keeping the game new, fresh and exiting. There are a few issues that The Council does wish to address regarding keywords. The following are guideline questions that will help any creators with any difficulties they encounter.

a) Is the new mechanic used enough in the set so that it needs to be converted into a keyword? Sometimes a specific mechanic in a set isn’t used heavily and therefore there is no need to create a keyword. Simplicity is key and adding unnecessary keywords to clutter up the players vocabulary isn’t very helpful.
b) Is the keyword too complex if reminder text is not available? An overly complicated keyword will often create confusion among and certain interactions and plays. Again simplicity is key here.
c) Are there other keywords that resemble or work pretty much in the same manner as yours? It is probably best to either avoid using a keyword if it’s in essence the same as an existing one. Do not try to justify a copy of a keyword because of things like flavor. For example, if your character isn’t a cosmic powered one and his powers on the card work just like they do with the Cosmic keyword it’s better if you just use Cosmic instead of creating another keyword that works identically to Cosmic. Remember simplicity is key and overcomplicating things or the keyword dictionary is not a good idea.
d) Does the keyword require too much bookkeeping? Staying with simplicity as a theme, you will want to avoid creating or using keywords that use too much bookkeeping. In this case bookkeeping refers to having to take extra steps to accommodate for a keyword like for example the addition or removal of various counters rather than of just one, entering and leaving play during the various game phases, and things of the sort.

Part 5 – Grammar: When we are talking about Vs. System grammar we are essentially speaking about two things. The first one is spelling. We all have to admit that from time to time we make mistakes in the way we spell certain words or sentences, but at the same time we have to admit that a set presented for Council approval will look sloppy and rushed if these mistakes are seen throughout the set. In short it will not speak highly of your set. A set will not be rejected because of grammar mistakes, however at the same time a set will not be approved if it contains grammar errors. The second thing we refer to in Vs when we talk about grammar is the proper wording of cards and the use of game terms. Many mistakes seen in a cards text come from the fact that many players enjoy a wide variety of card games and unintentionally use certain terms like graveyard when referring to the KO Pile. Other mistakes commonly seen are: not bolding keywords like leader or evasion, and even terms like ongoing. Among a few other mistakes that can be found are the use of payment power arrows in non-ongoing plot twists, or in a characters text when they are not needed. These things will only set the proposed set back and will not show commitment to quality.

Section 9 – Set’s Approval

Part 1 – Preliminary Evaluation: Once a set is complete and released to The Council for approval, the whole council will evaluate the set utilizing this handbook. After the initial or preliminary evaluation the council will provide a set’s lead designer with any and all suggestions about a set. This will include any fixes on possible mistakes of things that were overlooked when developing it. Possible mistakes will be: used art, versions, grammar mistakes, mechanic problems, loopholes, and so forth. After that evaluation is given the lead designer along with his design team will oversee any and all fixes and suggestions for change that came from The Council in a two week period, and present it back to The Council for Final Evaluation. Depending on the severity and amount of suggestions The Council makes this two week period may be prolonged.

Part 2 – Final Evaluation: Lead designers and design teams must be aware that just because a set follows as many as the council suggestions as possible stated in this handbook it does not guarantee that a set will be approved. An overpowered set, to weak of a set, too complicated of a mechanic or keyword and things of this manner will be some of the more critical aspects that The Council will use as a means to deny a set approval. Hopefully by this time all of the issues and comments made from The Council after the preliminary evaluation have been resolved and the set will receive approval.

Section 10 – Set’s Release

Part 1 – Community Release: A set can be released for the community regardless of receiving approval or not. This process will be left entirely up to the lead designer and design team, however we do encourage that the release of a set is announced on as many means as possible so that we get as many players as possible informed about it.

Its Arkham Insanity Vs. Total Recall.

Cliff & Squire discuss ratings, rantings, and Play Marvel. Part 1 of the MFA set review,and Battle of Wills Iron-Man vs. Captain America.