A native of Tilburg, The Netherlands, Remie didn’t have to come far for this event. An experienced TCG professional, Remie has played quite a lot of Vs. System by a European standard, even attending the first PC, held in Indianapolis. He has a strong bias towards the Superman affiliation. As he puts it, “With all that team’s flight and range, it's hard to screw up formation.”
Pack 1 –
1. I Hate Magic!; Darkseid, Uxas; Gog; Back to Back; Stopped Cold
A nice simple first pick for Jeroen, nothing really came close to this pick.
2. Super Strength; Cadmus Labs; Eradicator, Soul of Krypton
One of the issues that becomes readily apparent when you draft Man of Steel is that there is a scarcity of good plot twists. So when you get a chance at one, you should take it!
3. Superman, Clark Kent; Cir-El ◊ Supergirl; Eradicator, Dr. David Connors; Forager
Remie was looking for a way into this affiliation, and this was a good choice. Clark Kent is amongst the best of the 4-drop characters, probably second only to Izaya ◊ Highfather.
4. Cir-El ◊ Supergirl; Eradicator, Dr. David Connors; Superman, Red; Play Time
This pick shows that Remie is an experienced Team Superman drafter. Cir-El is very important to the affiliation due to the fact that there are very few good 5-drops. The other option is Scorn, who suffers from that fact that there is an abundance of flight in the format.
5. John Henry Irons ◊ Steel, Mongul, Steppenwolf
Jeroen stuck to his guns with this pick.
6. Gog, Suicide Slums, Metallo
A peculiar pick, since the best Revenge Squad card available was the Slums. Remie was probably anticipating to avoid drafting late drops further into the draft.
7. Serifan, Fortress of Solitude, Play Time
Remie is still keeping his options open here, but I believe he missed the boat by not taking what is ultimately a decent location for his chosen affiliation.
8. Silver Banshee, Entropy Aegis Armor
Jeroen mentioned to me that he wasn’t very familiar with some of the rares in this draft, and I think it shows with this pick. With equipment generally shunned, this rare gray card allows a player that has missed his drops to catch up, and even sometimes benefit!
9.-14. Superman, Red; Cadmus Labs; Mercy; Detective Work; Massacre; Blockbuster.
A very solid set of wheel cards. It’s unusual to see a Blockbuster end up fourteenth pick, mainly due to that fact that it is a solid splash character.
Pack 2 –
1. Heat Vision, I Hate Magic!, John Henry Irons ◊ Steel
This is the eternal debate about Man of Steel plot twists. Heat Vision versus I Hate Magic has split professionals down the middle. Remie placed himself a firm fan of Heat Vison with this pick.
2. Eradicator, Soul of Krypton; Men of Steel; Back to Back
An average pack for the Dutchman.
3. Metropolis, New Genesis, Cir-El, Lightray, Metallo
This pack was filled with goods, but Remie could not have them all. The Metropolis gives a very strong synergy to the team, especially for team attacks.
4. Mongul; Eradicator, Soul of Krypton; Alpha Centurion; Orion
This is a very strange pick, with both Alpha Centurion and Eradicator means that he could stick closely to his affiliation.
5. Cir-El ◊ Supergirl, Back to Back, Superman Robots
Remie told me later that he has had some bad experiences with Back to Back, mostly involving Play Time, hence his relative disdain for that card.
6. Superman Robots, Lois Lane, Parasite
Superman Robots are very decent for their resource cost in Team Superman.
7. John Henry Irons ◊ Steel, Superman Robots, Female Furies
This was a very peculiar pick, as Female Furies is a very strong pick in some players draft lists.
8. Silver Banshee, Kara Zor-El ◊ Supergirl.
Jeroen seemed to have his fill of 6-drops, going with the powerful Revenge Squad 3-drop.
9.-14. John Henry Irons ◊ Steel, Play Time, Girl 13, Serifan, Silver Banshee, Shaligo
Nothing really special here, other than every card in this section is playable in its affiliation. This either indicates that the draft is strong, or that people have their pick orders mixed up.
Pack 3 –
1. Heat Vision, Metropolis, Devilance
The flexibility of Metropolis was good enough to make Remie pause for a split second. Then he took the best common plot twist in the set.
2. Super Strength, Kryptonite, Blood Feud, Stopped Cold
This really was a pack that was replete with good stuff, but nothing really could compare to Super Strength. Kryptonite is one of the best plot twists available, but with only a small number of characters in that team, the Dutchman decided against taking that risk.
3. Up, Up, and Away, Takion ◊ Highfather.
Up, Up, and Away is a solid if unexciting addition to Remie’s deck.
4. Men of Steel, Cadmus Labs, Omega Beams, Silver Banshee, Brainiac 2.5
Personal preference would have me take Cadmus Labs, but Men of Steel is about as situationally useful.
5. Metallo, Forager, Scorn, Perry White, Lana Lang
6. Superman, Clark Kent; Girl 13
7. Superman Robots, Metallo, Brimstone, Play Time
8. John Henry Irons ◊ Steel
Jeroen’s next four picks just ensured that his character base was stable, as his insane quality of plot twist was likely to take him over the line.
9.-14. Mongul, Cir-El ◊ Supergirl, Takion ◊ Highfather, Jaffar
Jeroen was very pleased with how his deck ended up, with a great curve and fantastic combat tricks. His only concern that he didn’t really have a great early game, as he only had two 2-drops, and a bunch of unaffiliated 3-drops. But if they didn’t swarm him, he felt that he was well set to take advantage of his position on the top table of the tournament.
Click here to see Jeroen's performance in his Round 16 Feature Match!