I love a TCG that challenges me to decipher what to do with its cards. At a point in the industry where a lot of companies are spoon-feeding players deck ideas through incredibly obvious thematic and strategic structures, Vs. System continues to spin out cards that generate unpredictable interactions. Players keep coming up with new things to do with old cards, and that kind of creativity really entertains me.

That said, I love cards like Play Time. I like looking at a card and having basically no idea what I could do with it, even after considering it for a few seconds. Play Time makes you work to understand its full potential. Luckily, I’m here to do the work for you!

First, let’s look at exactly what Play Time can accomplish in definite terms. There are a few general rules that can save us some time, so let’s start by establishing those.

Play Time accomplishes absolutely nothing against a single character. Because your front and support rows are considered to each have an infinite number of slots, I can easily move my front row character to the slot next to it if you were to target it with Play Time. You’ll never be able to push a front row character without range into the back row, at least not unless we get a card that says, “Target opponent may only control as many columns as he or she controls pairs of characters.” So, it’s not exactly an early game card, nor a card that’s going to see a lot of play against X-Statix loner decks.

As long as an opponent has an equal number of characters in the front row as he or she does in the back, or fewer front row characters than back row ones, you can always pluck a back row character into the front or out to the side to expose it to attack. Within this context, Play Time essentially makes it impossible for an opponent to protect characters. This is especially useful against X-Stall or Cosmic Cops, allowing you to draw out integral characters like Puppet Master, Invisible Woman, and Mr. Fantastic.

With those two basic rules established, we should take a closer look at how Play Time interacts with groups of two to four characters, as these are the group sizes that you’re most likely to encounter. Each group also happens to react to Play Time very differently, so each is worth examining on its own.

Against a pair of two characters, Play Time can be at its best or at its worst. Similar to the situation when the target player controls only one character, Play Time is rather worthless if both of your opponent’s characters occupy a single row. The opponent can easily move the characters apart, or just place one on the opposite side of the other. However, if both characters are occupying a single column, then Play Time removes the support row character’s protection, leaving you free to smack it around. You can’t guarantee breakthrough, as an intelligent player will move the front row character into the support row to minimize the impact of your move, but if a player doesn’t see that possibility, then it leaves you clear to swing for the fences.

Things get more interesting when a third character is added to the mix, as there are two major formations that involve three participants—all three side-by-side and the L formation. If all three characters occupy the front row, then Play Time will do virtually nothing, but if they’re all in the support row, the center character can be targeted. If that happens, the targeted player must make a decision, as the only optimal move he or she has (moving the targeted character to protect or reinforce a character) only covers a single character. So, the player being Play Timed must decide which of his or her remaining two characters to leave vulnerable. That is never an easy choice.

When faced with an L formation, there are several interesting moves that can be executed. If you target the character in the front of the L (the one in the attack row), then you accomplish two things. First, you’ll hit the corner of the L, which is usually the weakest character. In addition, you’ll either force the opponent to move the targeted front row character over one slot and consider reinforcing with a character he or she didn’t intend to reinforce with, or force all three characters to the back row. While the latter does allow for reinforcement for all characters, it can prevent that front row character from attacking if it doesn’t have range. If it doesn’t, then it’s a no-brainer to attack the center character to isolate the third and then hopefully smack it for a good chunk of breakthrough—pretty brutal stuff.

Alternatively, you can select the corner of the L formation as the target of Play Time and force it out of hiding. If it goes to the front row or to the opposite side of the support row end of the L (on the opposite side of the character it was adjacent to), it can still be reinforced, but again, you’re forcing the opponent to either choose between not reinforcing, or reinforcing with the character that he or she did not intend to do so with. No other shift in position makes sense. Putting the character anywhere else in the front row cuts off reinforcement options without any reason to do so. So, by targeting the corner of the L, you can always be sure to expose it to attack, as well to as place the opponent in a situation where he or she must make a difficult decision.

When confronted with four characters, there are again two major formations you’ll likely see—the side-by-side and the two character by two character “box.” As always, if the side-by-side configuration is in the front row, Play Time will do nothing constructive. If it’s in the back row, you can manipulate which of the characters reinforce which by selecting one of the two center characters. Either the opponent can wilfully move that character to the opposite end of the formation and leave one character exposed without reinforcement (not bloody likely), or the opponent can shift the targeted character to the opposite side of the “outside” character it was adjacent to. It’s not a great move to make, but it does make the opponent’s formation a bit more approachable. Alternatively, one of the center characters could hit the front row, but the result is either an L formation with a single isolated support row character out to the side (again, very stupid), or another pair of two adjacent characters, this time with one in the front row (virtually no difference from keeping all four in the support row).

Against a box formation, things again get interesting. You can target a front row character to essentially make the opponent choose an awkward L formation with a single front row straggler, or force a front row character into the back row where it may not be able to attack. Either way, if you target a front row character, you’re exposing the character behind it to attack, and that’s often very useful. Alternatively, you can always target a back row character. Not only will this always result in that character being exposed to attack, but this can remove reinforcement from the character formerly protecting the targeted victim. That’s an excellent play if the opponent formed up with a weak character in front to act as a human shield for a big ranger in the back row.

Less common is the three by one formation (3x1), with three characters in the support row and one (usually the largest) in the front protecting the smallest of the other two. Play Time is nice against this formation, as well, as the protected character can be plucked from its hiding place. If that character goes to the side of either of the support row characters, it can be isolated by attacking the character adjacent to it first. Or, if it goes to the front row, then the character left unprotected is isolated from reinforcement. Play Time wreaks some pleasant havoc with this formation.

Beyond that, any larger formation tends to comply with the basic rule of “Play Time creates a hole in the opponent’s formation as long as he or she has equal or fewer front row characters than back row characters.” As long as the opponent doesn’t have another place to hide a back row character, you can expose weak links in the defensive chain and force the opponent onto the defensive. Play Time is really a potent card when it comes down to it, playing well against most common two-, three-, and four-character formations. With L formations and box formations so popular in both Teen Titans and Curve Sentinels, Play Time is highly underrated and can throw some tough decisions at decks that normally run in a very textbook fashion.

So, what can use it? Well, first up, expect it to be very good in DC Modern Age, where formations are not only important from an attack/defense perspective, but can actually manipulate a wide range of effects. Beyond that, a single copy can be good in anything running Alfred and Boris, while four can totally catch an opponent off guard in any deck. Though Blind Sided can do a better job of ensuring breakthrough damage, Play Time’s two primary functions are to do that and to expose weaker characters to attack. I personally consider it a more complicated card in the same vein, and I could see it in TNB Blitz or Curve Sentinels (where it can be brutal in combination with Total Anarchy). Watch for it to become a progressively popular card, especially when DC Modern Age rotates in.

-Jason Grabher-Meyer

Got a favorite piece of tech that doesn’t get the respect it deserves? Drop me an email at Jason@metagame.com and tell me all about it!