Hearken back to Marvel Origins and the Fantastic Four equipment decks of old. Spurred by the equipment card manipulation skills of Mr. Fantastic (in each of his versions), the Fantastic Four team had many equipment-toting combinations. One of the most popular decks at the inaugural Pro Circuit was the Fantastic Four Eats deck that used Mr. Fantastic, Stretch to saturate the board with Fantasticars and give all of the player’s characters sizable stat boosts. Less prevalent, but no less effective, was the Fantastic Four Toys deck, which used many 0-cost equipment cards in unison with Antarctic Research Base to accelerate a player’s card drawing considerably. Of course, the most popular and successful of all of the Fantastic Four equipment-based decks was Dean Sohnle’s Fantastic Fun. This brilliant and complicated concoction also abused Antarctic Research Base to great effect, but instead of relying on a standard character curve, Fantastic Fun opted for off-curve tactics in order to abuse A Child Named Valeria and numerous 1-cost equipment cards. With a ton of burn effects and multiple copies of Cosmic Radiation, the Fantastic Fun deck could put opponents away before they ever got a chance to get moving.

Anyone who is familiar with Fantastic Fun knows well the interaction between the many, many equipment cards and Antarctic Research Base. There were a couple other locations that helped to comprise the powerful Fantastic Fun engine, too: Baxter Building and Pier 4. Baxter Building enabled a player to reveal cards from the top of his or her deck in search of precious equipment cards. When revealed, equipment cards would go to the player’s hand for free! Free cards are always good. Pier 4 also supplemented the equipment deck theme by allowing two equips per character. This allowed for a wide variety of possibilities, as the potential boosts available became considerable. The bottom line to all of this, though, was that both Baxter Building and Pier 4 provided benefits that no other cards in Vs. System could effectively emulate.

At least, this used to be the case. May I present Weapons Lab, one of the newest and brightest stars from the upcoming Hellboy Essential Collection.

Ain’t that something? The B.P.R.D. team has a card that rolls the effect of Baxter Building and Pier 4 into one! In fact, this may be a bit of an understatement, as Weapons Lab is potentially better than either of the Fantastic Four stalwarts. The activated effect is reminiscent of Baxter Building in its ability to cycle though cards for equipment. Baxter Building is initially limited to looking at one card. With a Fantastic Four character in play, Baxter Building allows a player to reveal two cards. Weapons Lab trumps this by enabling three cards to be revealed, making Weapons Lab much more likely to hit paydirt than Baxter Building. The continuous modifier of Weapons Lab resembles that of Pier 4, but where Pier 4 is restricted to Fantastic Four characters, Weapons Lab gives the dual-equipment wielding modifier to all of your characters regardless of their affiliation (or lack thereof). In both cases, Weapons Lab goes above and beyond its predecessors. All of that in one neat little package!

Of course, there is always a condition associated with any great deal. The cost associated with Weapons Lab is that you must discard a B.P.R.D. character card to flip the location. This does somewhat restrict the use of Weapons Lab, as it can’t become a Baxter Building / Pier 4 amalgamation that can be splashed in every equipment deck. Still, the power of Weapons Lab is so considerable that the associated discard is relatively minor in comparison. In essence, very few players will have a problem with playing the B.P.R.D. team when it means they’ll have a card like Weapons Lab at their disposal.

Now that you’ve seen what kind of equipment manipulation the B.P.R.D. has at its disposal, you might be interested in seeing what kind of equipment Hellboy’s team has in store. Well, get ready for another great card that will undoubtedly generate a lot of interest among equipment lovers out there. Check out B.P.R.D. Signal Device:

The similarity of B.P.R.D. Signal Device to one of the most powerful equipment cards in the game, Cloak of Nabu, is unmistakable. Both are 0-cost equipment cards, both have concealed—optional, both provide a +1 DEF bonus, and both prevent the equipped character from being targeted by effects.

Of course, there are a couple of very significant differences. First is the associated endurance payment of B.P.R.D. Signal Device. Where Cloak of Nabu provides a continuous “effect negation” modifier, the controller of B.P.R.D. Signal Device must pay 1 endurance for its effect each turn. While this payment is not overly burdensome, it could add up over time.

This may make you wonder why you would want to play B.P.R.D. Signal Device over Cloak of Nabu. The reason for this is the second difference. Once the effect of B.P.R.D. Signal Device resolves, it lasts for the duration of the turn regardless of what happens to the equipment card or the equipped character. Consider what happens if a character equipped with Cloak of Nabu becomes stunned or if the Cloak of Nabu is KO’d: the character is no longer immune to debilitating effects. Even the best laid plans can go awry if a critical character is taken out. But this is not the case with B.P.R.D. Signal Device. If B.P.R.D. Signal Device is KO’d or the equipped character becomes stunned after the effect resolves, the effect of B.P.R.D. Signal Device still lasts through the end of the turn. This can be especially helpful when trying to find a way to counter the nasty KO effects upon which the Thule Society thrives.

Finally, there is one more difference between Cloak of Nabu and B.P.R.D. Signal Device that is perhaps more important than all of the others: B.P.R.D. Signal Device is not unique! Where the Fate Artifact will only ever see one copy in play, we could feasibly have four copies of B.P.R.D. Signal Device in play at the same time. Just imagine having four characters in play, none of whom can be targeted by an opponent’s effects. It’s a possibility that boggles the mind!

Consider the potential of both of these cards in the B.P.R.D. theme. The team is reminiscent of X-Statix and the Hellfire Club because it focuses all of its energy into giving power to a single character. Whether this is a lone visible character or simply a single character in play, most of the offensive and defensive strategy hinges on the safety of a single character. With Weapons Lab, a player can find powerful equipment cards to supplement the strength of that lynchpin character. And with Weapons Lab allowing for two equipment cards on a single character, we can double the effectiveness of these equipment cards in supporting our solo act. B.P.R.D. Signal Device is sure to be a prime candidate for one of those equipment cards, since we want to do our best to ensure that Hellboy stays safe and secure. Getting +1 DEF and protection from targeted effects is a good way to start.

Beyond the scope of the Hellboy Essential Collection, there will be more than a few Vs. System players out there excited by the prospects of the equipment support provided by the B.P.R.D. With the confirmation of the “replacement” for Antarctic Research Base in the upcoming Marvel Team-Up set, there is sure to be a revival of equipment-focused decks. Of course, cards like Weapons Lab and B.P.R.D. Signal Device will no doubt lead to many players teaming up the Fantastic Four and B.P.R.D. to abuse the “new and improved” cards. It will undoubtedly be a combination that will revitalize fans’ interest in the Fantastic Four equipment decks of old.

Something is coming, folks. The Hellboy Essential Collection is sure to make a big splash in Vs. System. With amazing cards like Weapons Lab and B.P.R.D. Signal Device, equipment fans will have many new cards to use and abuse.