“Define yourself or be defined.”

     –Antero Alli

 

Identity is a very slippery thing. We form an image of “self” at an early age, but are we ever really sure who we are? Often, our objective quest for coherent classification and clarity of character creates a crazy crisis of consciousness. Sometimes it goes infinite.

 

 

 

Power Girl is one of the central figures in the confusing circumstances that created an Infinite Crisis in the DC comic myths. Her history shifts and shakes from story to story. She was created at the beginning of 1976 to be the lone female superhero in the Justice Society of America. She was given her own unique costume and personality, but her origin story was a parallel mirror of Supergirl from Earth 1. She was said to be Superman’s secret cousin from Earth 2, and she had all the strength to prove it.

 

 

Power Girl’s presence grew bigger and bigger as she used her sizable talents to assist the JSA and the Super Squad in their super-struggles. She was as strong as Superman when the chips were down. Her powers were so large that she became a full-fledged member when her Big Blue cousin needed to take some time off.

 

 

In 1984, Power Girl was in for the fight of her life. DC Comics had introduced a storyline called “Infinity, Inc.” and many powerful heroes, including Superman, had been drowned in the Stream of Ruthlessness by Ultra-Humanite. This made the good guys go bad. Power Girl was part of the younger generation that was called in to save the day. In the pages of “Infinity, Inc. #7,” Power Girl was forced to battle her own cousin. She actually held her own, matching Superman blow for blow until it was obvious that there would be no clear winner. Since he was going to destroy Metropolis in a tyrannical attempt to re-create the lost planet of Krypton, Power Girl was forced to play dirty. She defeated Superman with the help of a little Kryptonite.

 

Known as Kara Zor-L after her birth on Krypton, Power Girl was jettisoned away from the impending destruction of her planet, just like her cousin was. Her personal symbioship was launched when she was still a baby. She arrived on Earth 2 as a young woman. During the two decades of space travel, Power Girl was raised by a virtual reality simulation. Her childhood, her identity, and her self-image were actually false memories.

 

Power Girl doesn’t know who she really is, and neither do we. For a time, she was known to have been raised in Atlantis and her powers were thought to be magic-based instead of innate. Psycho Pirate deliberately twisted her mind into knots by restoring her original false memories. When it comes to the truth about her past, Power Girl doesn’t have a clue. It has even been said that the open window in the front of her costume is actually a symbol of her lack of true identity.

 

 

This confusion, however, has never diminished Power Girl’s abilities. When the Crisis on Infinite Earths shattered the cosmos of DC Comics forever, she was one of the lucky survivors. She continued to power her way through the late twentieth century myths and into the present moment. Now, Power Girl has found herself in the center spotlight of Infinite Crisis, both in the comic books and in Vs. System.

 

Power Girl is represented in our game by a character card that grows to insane proportions when she engages in combat with an opposing character that has a greater cost. She is also prominently featured on A Moment of Crisis and Heroic Rescue. It is very fitting that Power Girl is the artistic representative of the new potential to abuse identity in Vs. System.

 

The JSA team affiliation benefits most from the new ability to change a character’s identity during the game. Double Play gives them a focused version of the Tim Drake / Teen Titans Go! combo, and Heroic Rescue gives them a team-stamped Catcher’s Mitt. I am personally more intrigued by the possibilities that become available when A Moment of Crisis allows any character ever printed to become an OMAC Robot.

 

OMAC Robots are really good at the best abilities in the game. They can recover, they can search and alternately recruit, they can gain an extra resource point, they can add +1 ATK / +1 DEF counters, and they can KO opposing stunned characters. They have a character at each drop from 2 through 5 and they hold quite a few boost abilities that can help fill the curve. Although they do not have a 1-drop in their arsenal of Army toys, A Moment of Crisis could always transform a Wild Sentinel or two if necessary. Since their powerful effects key on the identity “OMAC Robot,” they love to convert characters of any affiliation to their particular protocol. These benefits are a boon to many.

 

Retrieval Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot is the smallest of the bunch, but it might be the best. Global pumps are hard to beat when combined with a sizable swarm. Faces of Evil decks of all flavors and fancies are proving it throughout the metagame as we speak. The New Brotherhood is the original multiple ATK increaser, and there is a reason it helped to form the first-ever tier 1 deck in the game. Thanks to the 2-drop OMAC Robot and the assumed-identity ability of A Moment of Crisis, all kinds of different weenies can get dressed up in OMAC body armor.

 

Within the Infinite Crisis set, global pumps are not restricted to just that 2-cost mechanical machine. There are twenty different ways to increase the size of multiple characters on your side of the board. Since I always choose my favorites according to the artwork, I’d like to re-focus our risky radar onto the Vs. System incarnation of Weather Wizard.

 

 

When Weather Wizard becomes stunned, his vengeance ability gives everyone else on his side of the table a big lift. Like the Retrieval Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, his side’s swarms seem seriously swollen. If you can somehow figure out a way to get both of them pumping in unison, perhaps in the middle of an Aerial Assault while screaming Charge!, you will serve up a beating-by-weenie like nothing Vs. System has ever seen.

 

Mark Mardon has been involved in a number of illustrious adventures as a member of Flash’s Rogue’s Gallery of Villains. One of the most entertaining of these involves another case of mistaken identity.

 

Flash had been dating a police officer named Julie Jackham. Although he was faster than anyone in the world on foot, he turned out to be rather slow in the relationship department. Julie was dumped, heartbroken, and alone. She was drowning her sorrows at a local bar when she met Mark Mardon. He was kind and comforting, and she had no idea that he was the villainous Weather Wizard. They spent one night together. A few issues later, Julie had a son named Josh Jackham.

 

Tragically, Josh soon became an orphan when the Cicada Cult began killing random people that Flash had saved. Julie Jackham was one of their first victims. After her death, young Josh began displaying strange glowing bursts around his eyes and everyone assumed that he was Flash’s son. The truth that Mark Mardon was the father had supposedly gone to the grave with his mother. But someone knew the truth, and eventually Weather Wizard discovered the fact that Josh Jackham was his progeny. He also found out that the child had weather manipulation powers.

 

Here is the trippy part: Mark Mardon’s meteorological mastery is purely scientific. He killed his own brother to steal the technology for it. He built his powerful weather wand from the dead brother’s notebooks. But his son had somehow been born as a mutant with weather powers in the blood. As impressive as that is, the villainous desire of Weather Wizard surpasses it by far. Mark Mardon actually wanted to dissect his own flesh and blood to discover the secret. I guess even Josh’s identity as his son could not stop Mardon’s drive to dominate the world.

 

That particular myth, as unsettling as it is, has me wondering. If Weather Wizard could transfer his scientific superpower through his DNA to his son, what other kinds of abilities will we see in the future? If A Moment of Crisis can give all of my cardboard characters a new custom identity of my choosing, will the next generation of gamers be able to change their complete personality at will? And, most importantly, has such speculation ever been this much fun?

 

The Infinite Crisis Sneak Preview tournament in South Florida was even more fun than ever. Ninety-six friends converged again at the college cafeteria to crack open our newest cardboard companions. My Sealed Pack deck held a solid smattering of Secret Six characters, including Lex Luthor ◊ Mockingbird. I had the recovery effects of both Ragdoll and Sand to help me get a board advantage that would make my Mockingbird sing, and I got it to work right off the bat.

 

In the first round against Tom Ievoli, I used Chimp Detective Agency on turn 3 and found Zatanna, Magical Manipulator. She used a Magical Conduit to do some serious damage while attacking up the curve and gave me an extra card with her ability. Sand recovered himself and I went on to win on turn 6 after Mockingbird provided a free Ragdoll to play with. In the second round against Vincent Gates, I explored the wonders of Sarge Steel and Sinestro, Villain Reborn on my way to a close victory with Power Girl, Earth 2 herself. Miguel Serrano was my third opponent and my only loss. It was a tight game that was decided on the sixth turn again, after I had reduced his endurance total to below 0 . . . only to watch him gain just enough for the victory. David Fedor was my final foe and the unfortunate victim of a completely whiffed turn 6 recruit step. My introduction to Infinite Crisis was completed with a front row of Ragdoll, Cheshire, and Scandal on my initiative. Secret Six swings for the win!

 

I finished in eleventh place and traded my deck box for a second Dr. Fate shirt. Now if I can only find the real Helm of Nabu, I can change my identity for good and become the Lord of Order. Wish me luck!

 

Rian Fike is also known as stubarnes and he thinks he knows himself fairly well. If you have any deep dark secrets about his past that would shatter his childhood identity, send them to rianfike@hattch.com.