Coming from Oceania is perhaps one of the furthest distances one will travel to get to the United States. Some people come to sightsee, some people come for work, but Shaun Hayward came all the way from Auckland, New Zealand to play Vs. System. He’s probably best known as the creator of High Voltage, a deck that dominated Golden Age for months. Australia and New Zealand probably have the strongest Vs. System community outside of the U.S., and they host a large number of $10K tournaments every year.

I decided to check out what kind of strategy Shaun would follow in the final draft of the tournament, as different regions usually produce different theories about how the format works. Would the man with a reputation for Constructed be able to make his mark on today’s draft? As the packs were cracked, I was there to find out!

Note: I have listed the notable picks for each pack. Shaun’s choices are listed in bold.

Pack 1

Commander Dylon Cir, Dr. Minerva, Dewoz

Dr. Doom, Richards’s Rival; Soul World

Shatterax, Universal Weapon

Jolen, Clumsy Foulup, Pip the Troll, Act of Defiance 

Alien Insurrection, Pip the Troll, Jolen

Worldship; The Herald Ordeal; Luna Maximoff; Destroyer, Soulless Juggernaut

Morg, Slayer

Morg, Slayer; Valeria Von Doom, Heir to Latveria

Exploiting the Flaw, Luna Maximoff

Alpha Primitives

Stardust

Maximus the Mad

Arsenal of Doom

Worldship

Pack 2

Battleworld; Dr. Minerva; Paibok; Black Bolt, King of the Inhumans

Black Bolt, Illuminati; Commander Dylon Cir

Lieutenant Kona Lor; Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Harbinger of Death; Interstellar Offensive

Admiral Galen Kor, Captain Att-Lass

Lieutenant Kona Lor, Korath the Pursuer

Dewoz, Ruul Warrior

Clumsy Foulup; Morg, Corrupt Destroyer; Moloids

Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Optimistic Youth

Mephisto, Lord of Hell

Moondragon

The Fallen One

Kree Soldiers

Katrina Luisa Van Horne ◊ Amazon

Nega-Bomb

Pack 3

Franklin Richards, Creator of Counter-Earth; Barbaric Brawl; Karnak

Warskrull; Firelord, Pyreus Kril

Quicksilver, Inhuman by Marriage; The Punishers

Sentry #459

Talla Ron, Act of Defiance, Plasma

Hala

Pip the Troll, Luna Maximoff, Supremor

Lieutenant Kona Lor, Alien Insurrection

Super Genius, Moloids

Mephisto, Lord of Hell

Titannus

Dewoz

Maximus the Mad

Invisible Woman, Flame On!

Shaun said, “I think Inhumans is a great deck and it can support more than one drafter at any given table. Their cards are very synergistic, but they weren’t there for me.”

He also said that the main strategy he was hoping to accomplish with this variety of teams was to put a lot of characters on the board early and try to lock the game away as fast as possible. The larger characters he’s playing are concealed, guaranteeing him an attack with his larger characters when it’s his opponent’s initiative. He regretted not picking up Warskrull when he had the chance because he was left with two copies of Act of Defiance and no way to team-up with Skrulls (outside of Titannus, which wouldn’t hit the board until turn 7) unless his opponent played one.

Shaun spent a long time trying to decide which of the higher drops he would be including in his deck. He elaborated that he only wanted to play a larger character if it was going to dominate the board in some way. He eventually opted to have Shatterax accompany his two copies of Mephisto.

Shaun seemed pretty underwhelmed by his deck overall. He really wanted to see a deck with The Substructure and lots of cards with terraform. He said that his default strategy is to include those cards; some Inhumans; Nenora; and Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Optimistic Youth, and try to draw most of his deck by around turn 6. But as he said earlier, the cards just weren’t there for him.

As he got up from the table, he added that there were definitely Kree drafters, and if there were just one or two of them, he didn’t want to face either of them. Even though he said he would need a little luck, he thought he would be able to get a few wins. But he doesn’t see himself winning the whole thing.

Shaun Hayward
Top 8 Draft
$10K LA 2006

Characters
1 Moloids
1 Destroyer, Soulless Juggernaut
1 Firelord, Pyreus Kril
2 Morg, Slayer
1 Stardust
1 The Punishers
1 Pip the Troll
1 Alpha Primitives
1 Dewoz
2 Luna Maximoff
2 Maximus the Mad
1 Admiral Galen Kor
1 Commander Dylon Cir
1 Dr. Minerva
1 Ruul Warrior
1 Shatterax
1 Titannus
2 Mephisto, Lord of Hell

Plot Twists
2 Act of Defiance
1 Alien Insurrection
1 Barbaric Brawl
1 Interstellar Offensive

Locations
1 Battleworld
1 Hala
1 Soul World

Unused Cards

Characters
1 Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Optimistic Youth
1 The Fallen One
1 Moondragon
1 Invisible Woman, Baroness Von Doom
1 Korath the Pursuer
1 Sentry #459
1 Kree Soldiers
1 Katrina Luisa Van Horne ◊ Amazon

Plot Twists
1 Nega-Bomb
1 Super Genius

Locations
1 Worldship
1 Arsenal of Doom