The X-Men Sneak Preview tournament in South Florida on February 11 was almost too good for me to take. When I finally got to rip open the first pack of our new mutant playthings, I thought I was in heaven. I will try to describe my paradise now. Excuse me if I get a little over-excited.

The night before the debut of a fresh set of Vs. System toys is always difficult. Time is a funny thing. Minutes crawl when we are waiting and wanting. I tried to distract myself with the Winter Olympics, but I could not keep my mind off the Morlocks. Ice skaters and ski jumpers reminded me of sideways character cards. I played a few games of Avengers Reservist against Anti-Green Lantern with Nina, but that just made the 1-cost Army itch even more intense. Eventually, I gave up and went to the pool. I swam a couple miles to exhaust myself. It worked, and I slept like the night before Christmas.

The dawn broke on a new generation of Vs. System goodness. I was rested and ready. My dreams had been chock full of past cardboard mutant masterpieces, and I was stoked. For well over a decade, I have been a rabid collector of X-Men trading cards. In fact, the combination of comic myth and magnificent artistry is a tradition that began in my life back in 1966 with the first Batman cards. It has been a source of great joy ever since. Knowing that I would soon be playing in a sanctioned TCG tournament for some of the coolest prizes in history had me bolting through my morning meal without tasting it. The time had come.

Old friends and fresh recruits converged on Nova Southeastern University for the party. It was a new venue for us, and it was spectacular. There was a large conference of nursing students next door as we gathered together to count our cardboard blessings. We milled around the large lunch area and made a few trades in preparation for the upcoming Marvel Modern Age, and all the while, my knees wouldn’t stop shaking in anticipation.

The seating list went up and we all sat down. Five packs were placed in front of me and the jitters disappeared. My grin hit both ears as I held my first Storm-wrapped shiny little treasure chest with both hands. It is, by far, my favorite wrapper yet. The youthful weather witch looks a great deal like one of our best young South Florida Vs. System players, Melissa “FDSwordfish” Hebra. Melissa recently won the Orlando Scholarship Circuit tournament, and she was brightening the room as usual, especially since her likeness was featured on half of our booster packs!

We were seated alphabetically to register our cards, so I sat across from the best player in Florida. Milton Figueroa was sporting the usual Superman hat and the constant coolness that he is known for. It was no surprise when he finished the day in first place, and it is always a good day when I get to share a laugh with such a high-quality competitor.

But enough about the humans; let’s break open those packs and get to our newest cardboard companions!

Yes, we have a new version of our beloved Mulletman. The composition of the artwork on Longshot, Hero of Mojoworld portrays his superpower more successfully than Longshot, Rebel Freedom Fighter, although his new ability is not quite as crazy. Longshot, Hero of Mojoworld allows a player to “stack the deck” legally, and he may prove to be a great way to ensure that all pieces of a combo can be put together. He only gets to use this new form of luck manipulation during the recovery phase, so only time will tell if he’ll become a crucial part of a viable deck archetype.

As I slid the third card in my first pack aside, my skull was knocked backward by the terrible glory of the Craig Hamilton painting on Mutant Massacre. It took me three whole minutes to catch my breath. As an artist, I strive to create work that perfectly balances both the abstract and the intensely real aspects of life. This painting raises the bar quite significantly for me. I am inspired, and I can’t wait to get a paintbrush in my hand to attempt to surpass the exquisitely symmetrical agony of this beauty.

Mutant Massacre also ups the ante in the Vs. System metagame with its effect. Finishing Move has always been one of the most powerful cards in the game, but KO’d pile recursion tricks often neutralize its strength. Dr. Light, Master of Holograms is going to get the wind knocked out of him like I did when he sees Mutant Massacre. Removing stunned characters from the game will safely put them beyond his reach.

I vowed to use Mutant Massacre in my Sealed Pack deck for the tournament, and I desperately wanted to win a Phoenix Rising playmat. Thanks to a strong selection of reservist characters and enough Brotherhood cards to make a cohesive 30-card deck, I accomplished both goals.

X-Men Sneak Preview Deck

Rian Fike

Characters

Destiny, Freedom Force

Crimson Commando

Friedrich Von Roehm

Senyaka

Silver Sable

Joanna Cargill

Black Panther, King of Wakanda

Storm, Leader of the Morlocks

Empath

Spoor

Roberto Da Costa

Wolverine, The Best at What He Does

Sub-Mariner, Namor

Stonewall

Shinobi Shaw

2 James Proudstar ◊ Thunderbird

Genis-Vell ◊ Photon

Emma Frost, White Queen

Exodus

Equipment

Mindtap Mechanism

Plot Twists

2 Planet X

2 Alter Density

Psychic Armor

Super Hero Showdown

Kill the Flatscans

Hellhound

Mutant Massacre

This deck has plenty of reservists for Alter Density, mucho Mutants for , and enough Team-Up potential for Super Hero Showdown. Its best trick, however, is the combination of Black Panther, King of Wakanda fetching and then equipping himself with a free Mindtap Mechanism and then using Psychic Armor to survive a stun. That won me the playmat.

In the first round against Eric Wasterman, I found out how fast the X-Men set can be. He missed a drop, and my curve had me sitting pretty with a board of Black Panther, Storm, Stonewall, and James Proudstar. Storm, Leader of the Morlocks had allowed me to use Super Hero Showdown to avoid an earlier stun, and I was set for big beats. Thanks to Stonewall and a hidden Mindtap Mechanism, I got to swing with a total of 50 ATK on turn 6.

John Hout was my next opponent, and a similar smashing occurred. He had banked on effects that keyed off of Energy cards, and they did not show up in time to avoid the turn 6 aggression. I decided not to use any of the Mutant trait–based tricks in my deck since my generic plot twists meshed well with the reservist theme of my characters. Once again, Stonewall came crashing down to end the game before turn 7. With Psychic Armor and Hellhound, that rocky beatstick can be murder on an unsuspecting protected 4-drop.

The third round was a nail-biter. A win would give me a clear path to the playmat, so I was focused. Valdo Vega had a nasty little trick standing in my way. He recruited Witch Woman on turn 4 and released an evil laugh. She may be gorgeous on the card, but her ability threatened to play ugly with my strategy. On my initiatives on both turn 4 and turn 6, I was limited to one plot twist during the combat phase. It made for some fascinating mental exercise. Fortunately, I was able to Alter Density on my James Proudstar ◊ Thunderbird while attacking his James Proudstar ◊ Thunderbird. He had no response, and my Thunderbird bounced his Thunderbird. I won by a slim margin and moved into the last round undefeated.

Already assured of a Top 8 finish and the quenching of my playmat desires, I was paired against Luke “BeastBoy123” Evich for my final match. Luke is the most improved player in South Florida, as well as the biggest Bulk Lao fan in the world. After he gushed a bit about the wonders of Bulk, we began our game. For the first time, I lost the initiative and was forced to play odds. It would prove to be my undoing. Rogue, Anna Marie actually became Immovable when Luke flipped Brave New World and pitched a handful of Physical cards to thwart my attack. She also helped him erase a 20 endurance point deficit. Rogue has always been my favorite comic book character, so it didn’t hurt too badly when she swung back with her latest grin for the win.

My three victories rewarded me with fifth place, a handful of new packs, and the most beautiful playmat in the known universe. Multiple Man ◊ Jamie Madrox won my heart. I pulled a foil copy of the sick little maniac, and the world will never be the same. Although he did not fit into my Sealed Pack deck, he filled a hole in my soul. Not only does he hold the perfect artwork for his personality, but he also allows our game to fly freely into new expansive spaces with his two abilities. The future of Vs. System looks insanely bright thanks to a single 1-cost Army character. What could be better?

I couldn’t sleep that night. I had visions of Multiple Man dancing in my head. Luckily, there are quite a few birds of my feather in the Vs. System community, and we flocked together on the message boards in the wee hours of the morning.

Bryan “Mach5” McNabb from Salt Lake City had the idea that caused most of my insomnia, and he put it like this:

“Oddly enough, running a deck of nothing but Multiple Men would require only one resource. The rest come out naturally.”

It’s true. One resource pays for the first copy of Multiple Man ◊ Jamie Madrox. Then when that copy becomes stunned, two more can be played from hand. Then the next turn, one more copy can be recruited with the single resource. Stun, alternately recruit more from hand, and repeat. Sure, you will run out of cards very fast, but the possibilities are thrilling nonetheless. If you build up normal resources instead and then Flame Trap yourself with a sizable Multiple Man swarm and two fists full of Madrox, turn 4 will become a completely different experience.

In case you feel the urge to get freaky with Multiple Man ◊ Jamie Madrox alongside us in the coming months, I will leave you with two initial deck concepts to try. Flood those tables, and I’ll see you next week.

Unaffiliated Sickness

Curtis “tchalla” Brown

Characters

3 Flame Trap

4 Press the Attack
4 Blind Sided
3 Thinking Outside the Box

Locations

3 Cerebro

3 Mojoverse

4 Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters

This deck seeks at last to fulfill the untapped potential of Mojo. Cerebro helps you get closer to Longshot, Rebel Freedom Fighter, and both cards make keen use of Thinking Outside the Box. Remember to use Mojoverse to remove the X-Men affiliation from Longshot before you swing for the kill.

Spilling in the Science Lab

Matt “Skinless” Rhoden

Characters

4 Longshot, Rebel Freedom Fighter

4 Press the Attack

Locations

4 Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters
4 Birthing Chamber
4 ESU Science Lab

Equipment

4 Smoke Screen

This Spider-Friends sparkler has amazing card drawing potential, especially if you add Mary Jane Watson. ESU Science Lab can prevent enough breakthrough to survive long enough for a massive direct team attack thanks to Cyclops, Slim. With a Smoke Screen protecting him and a Press the Attack to give him a second crack at the opponent, the original one-eyed mutant can do some eye-bugging damage when combined with a mass of Multiple Man madness.

Rian Fike is also known as stubarnes, and he hopes you had as much fun as he did at the X-Men Sneak Preview. Send any and all pleasurable reactions to rianfike@hattch.com.