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The new X-Men set will thrive and spread across our lives in many different places. It will influence the metagame flora that blooms at Pro Circuit Atlanta in a distinct way. Whether it chokes out some of the established favorites from the Avengers set or not, it will be planned for and speculated about in a commanding way for the next month. Marvel Modern Age will get the most sunshine.

X-Men will still provide new growth for older archetype family trees. There are some outrageously powerful new tricks that will shine new light on Golden and Silver Age classics.

The comic myths themselves also become rejuvenated in the springtime of each new Vs. System set. From obscure forgotten characters to ubiquitous fan favorites, our cards continue to force new attention and growth in some of the most entertaining stories of all time.

Although he will probably not be a major competitive factor in the upcoming Marvel Modern metagame, Changeling is one of our most intriguing new characters. His ability to put into play a copy of any 1-cost character doubles the power of some of my favorite cards. Circumventing the uniqueness rule with Changeling’s ability will allow twice the Longshotting, duo-burn from a team of Senator Kellys, and synchronized fetching from a pair of Alfred Pennyworths or Borises. Twin Joysticks could be huge.

Changeling has a fascinating history in the comic books. His name was originally developed in the folktales of archaic England. The original stories of changelings told of fairy children who were exchanged for humans. The communities that raised the fairies did not suspect their true identity because the changelings could shape-shift themselves into a perfect human disguise.

As a mutant with superpowers, Changeling could do the same thing. He was originally a pretty bad guy, but when he found out that his leader was actually an alien bent on destroying the world, Changeling had a change of heart. After protecting the future from his former master, he went to visit Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. Professor X gave the troubled young man some counseling, and then Changeling was asked to do a favor. The professor had caught a mental whiff of some other dangerous aliens headed toward Earth with destruction on their minds, and he needed to seal himself away from their psychic powers to defeat them. Changeling was asked to transform himself into an exact duplicate of Professor X and fill in as a substitute teacher. Since Changeling was painfully repentant for his past villainy, he gladly agreed so that he could absolve himself. He was a very successful decoy and helped a great deal with the triumph of good. Unfortunately, he was killed in the process. The X-Men buried Changeling while he was still impersonating Charles Xavier.

Then Changeling came back from the dead! In Sensational She-Hulk #34 and #35, our new 1-cost enabler actually got to be a part of one of the wackiest X-puns in comic myth history. Black Talon used his voodoo skills to resurrect Changeling as part of a four-person zombie team called “X-Humed.” Two of the other undead mutants on the team are also featured in our new Vs. System character cards—Scaleface and Harry Leland, Black Bishop.

In this psychotic lineup, Black Talon is in the back commanding X-Humed. From left to right, the zombies are Living Diamond, Changeling, Harry Leland, and Scaleface:

Changeling saved the day again in this story arc by impersonating Elvis Presley. But the mind-controlled mutant zombie team had some freakish fun fighting the big green beatstick called She-Hulk first.

Since She-Hulk, Gamma Bombshell is a staple card in the most consistent and proven deck for Marvel Modern Age, one of the fights in the artistry of these books may prove to be a glimpse into the future. She-Hulk had a fistfight with Scaleface:

In the story, Scaleface avoided the pain of defeat because her body had been raised from the grave. She turned into “dead dragon goop” as soon as She-Hulk smashed her. She-Hulk then became the ultimate rules lawyer and left the panels of her own comic book to enter a complaint against the Official Comics Code, claiming that dead dragon goop was illegal. It is bizarre, strange stuff that cannot be anticipated from page to page. The mutant zombies were finally all laid to rest by filling their mouths with salt and stitching them up according to voodoo tradition.

Changeling lives on! Since the salt thing pretty much kept him in the ground, his myth needed to morph into a new identity. That became his new name: Morph. He still had the hidden fairy-child shape-shifting powers, and he lives on to this day as one of the most popular modern X-Men. My favorite Changeling/Morph incarnation got to party through the Age of Apocalypse, and he was allowed have the time of his life by the writers. He was insanely humorous, even in the face of danger, and he could never keep from annoying his teammates. He was an extraordinary actor, as well as a highly trained and efficient organizer of subversive activities.

Changeling should be able to have all those qualities as a Vs. System character card. Time will tell if his ability to double up with a key piece of a massive combination is strictly casual or not. Keep an eye on this guy in Hobby League—he can sprout some sick tricks.

The X-Men set has caused a massive new growth of interest in my local after-school environment. I have students who had not played Vs. System in six months because their pet X-Men decks had fallen behind the X Box 360 in importance. Now their television and video game heroes have fresh costumes and brand new cardboard representatives. Everyone’s favorite mutants are back on center stage in the school cafeteria.

These matches are as casual as can be. March 24, 2006 in Atlanta is going to be the polar opposite. Let’s finish our farming with a look at what crops will be fertilized by the X-Men set in time to try to harvest $40,000 as the new Pro Circuit Champion.

Earlier, we mentioned a Scaleface versus She-Hulk battle in the comic myths. Our upcoming Pro Circuit may see that matchup at quite a few tables. Morlocks are one of the few teams that provide enough pure aggression to beat Avengers reservist decks at their own game. With Scaleface following Sunder, Feral, Thornn, Lucia Callasantos, Plague, and Angel Dust, there is no bigger beatdown curve in the game. Since She-Hulk is pictured on Flying Kick in the Fantastic Four starter set (which is legal for Atlanta), there might even be a meeting of the minds between these two massively powerful females.

If She-Hulk, Gamma Bombshell is played extensively at the Pro Circuit, it might need to be as a back-up 5-drop. Sub-Mariner, Namor looks like it’ll take the number one spot in the Avengers reservist archetype for three reasons. Since he is a leader and a reservist, he gives much more value to Avengers Assemble! as a search card. His leader ability often allows the saving of a key plot twist for the kill turn because adjacent characters will now stun back more often without help. And his replacement ability may be his strongest feature, since these decks can utilize any card that hits the row.

Avengers have several key reservist cards—Black Panther, T’challa; Avengers Mansion; Wonder Man; Hercules; and Heroes in Reserve.

They all have a common unifying theme. They rely on having a “bank” of stored reservists to help fund their plot twists and characters. This means that they have to run an extraordinary number of characters (over 36) to fuel their draws. This also means that they have to run few plot twists, because if they replace a reservist, they need to hit a character most of the time. This works because all of their characters are above the curve across the board.

Brotherhood, meanwhile, has other key reservist cards—Ruins of Avalon; Spoor; Senyaka; Shake, Rattle, and Roll; Boot to the Head; Go Down Fighting/Amelia Voght; and Planet X (just for the pump/cycle).

These cards all have a theme of cycling away a character you no longer need or have multiples of for an effect. This does not rely on a “bank” concept, but rather an “all in” strategy. Brotherhood looks to expend all of its resources in one to two turns of attacking in the hope that the opponent will die from all the plot twists that have “draw a card” written on them. The Brotherhood reservist characters are actually average or below average all along the curve and have less important tricks to aid them. This means that all those cycling plot twists are usually less powerful than a normal Avengers curve, because they have to work harder to make up for the fact they aren’t naturally as strong.

Whether you are weighing the pros and cons of the two different reservist teams or looking for an antidote for both, the fertile soil of the Marvel Modern Age is about to explode with fledgling deck ideas and undiscovered combinations. All the forums are quickly becoming overgrown with new testing reports and burgeoning brainstorms. Stay tuned in the coming weeks as the community takes stock of new hybrids and strengthened classics. You never know what will pop up next.

I’ve come to the end of my column, and I still have one more beauty to share with you before I go. As I reported last week, the gorgeous glory of the Phoenix Rising playmat is now gracing our home. Take a peek at how good it looks in the dining room as a table runner with the evening sun pouring through the blinds:

I’ll see you next week with a new feature called “Multiple Man Monthly.” If you have any crazy tricks that you have taught your Multiple Man ◊ Jamie Madrox, please send them along so we can have a show and tell. Thanks.

Rian Fike is also known as stubarnes, and he sees great things sprouting out everywhere! Send your farm reports to rianfike@hattch.com