With a brand new hockey season and a brand new set of Vs. System cards on the horizon, I can hardly contain myself. The anticipation is thrilling me. Although Stu Barnes will probably not appear in the upcoming Justice League of America expansion, the looming promise of a fresh bunch of preview articles for our newest cardboard friends has me even more excited than the return of the National Hockey League. In order to calm down, I’ll review some of the previews from past expansions and re-live the excitement of their first exposure to the community.
My favorite preview article of all time belongs to none other than Brian Hacker, who came out of retirement to unveil my top male comic myth of all time, Mysterio. I had been waiting feverishly to play with the fishbowled illusionist for nearly a year, and R&D did not disappoint me with his ability; alternate recruitment always gets my blood racing. When we add the fact that Hacker’s writing was as psychedelic as Mysterio himself, I doubt that any future preview article will ever top that one. Mysterio also turned out to be a tier 1 character in Vs. System’s first Marvel Modern Age metagame. Adam Horvath won $40,000 as the champion of Pro Circuit Amsterdam with four copies of the green and purple maniac.
The preview article that seemed to offer the most game-changing card turned out to be merely a tease, at least so far. When Matt Hyra showed us the first generic character tutor by exposing the community to Weapon of Choice, it seemed to be a very powerful plot twist. But the full potential of this card has still not been discovered. That’s one of the most pleasurable aspects of the Sneak Preview experience—guessing how good the card will be in the future. Weapon of Choice may form a strong strategy eventually, but for now, it remains a card that was hyped far beyond its currently realized power.
Staying with Hyra, his preview article of Armies of Qward made a big impression on me and my Wild Sentinels. This card will undoubtedly be used in swarm decks for all time. It is always a thrill to see a new card that hits you where you live, and Army strategy is my thing. Armies of Qward has already made a small splash in the DC Modern Age environment, and it carried me to a Top 8 finish in a Green Lantern Corps Sealed Pack tournament. I am still as excited about this card as I was the day I first saw it in the preview article.
When Marvel Knights was being previewed, there was a huge buzz on the message boards about the X-Statix team and their outrageously cool, green, size-changing, jelly-bean-looking, funky-named character. When Mike Flores pulled back the curtain on the team’s 8-drop, the community was simultaneously aghast and aglow. Doop, Ultimate Weapon has an ATK value big enough to snatch half a game away in one swing. Add the readying ability of some of the X-Statix tricks, and the strangest character in the game still has us scratching our collective heads in wonder.
Jason Grabher-Meyer was graced with an honor that will go down in the Vs. System history books. He previewed both versions of Roy Harper. I remember both of them so vividly that it seems like it was only yesterday. Seeing Roy Harper ◊ Speedy for the first time made me sick. I knew immediately how effective his ability would be at stopping my beloved swarm tactics. I couldn’t help but love the boxing glove on the end of his arrow, but I cursed him under my breath. When The Guy in the Coat previewed Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, however, all the stars aligned in my brain. I knew at once how sweet that stun ability would be. I had visions of Press the Attack dancing in my head. That was the only time a preview article made me stop everything else I was doing and pull out my cards to start testing. The article was thorough and thrilling, and the card is still pretty good.
In his Green Lantern Corps preview article, Justin Gary promised this: “Birthing Chamber is the best card drawing engine that this game has seen since Longshot.” While that may be a bit of an exaggeration, I still remember the warm glow I felt when I realized how much R&D was committed to allowing us to explore off-curve strategies. Birthing Chamber is one of those cards that isn’t flashy but will always be played.
The flashiest of preview article was, of course, Dr. Light, Master of Holograms. Ben Kalman wowed us by revealing one of the most exciting abilities in the game. He also wrote this: “These are comics! Real life doesn’t apply, and neither does death!” Living a life that is enhanced by a deep appreciation of comic book myths has never been better, and Vs. System Sneak Previews bring the most bang in the business.
I will step aside now and leave you to anticipate the upcoming preview article season with the words of Xan “xphoenix87” Innes. Until then, we will wait with baited breath for this peculiar preview pleasure:
I, for one, love the thrill that comes with each and every new expansion. I really enjoy hunting around the web sites to find previews and put together a cohesive picture of the new set.
It’s a crazy, exciting thing for me. Every card is a new potential combo engine, and every new team offers something new. I’ll never get enough of that.
It feels so good to fill up with that crazy excitement when you see a card for the first time and know fifteen combos for it off the top of your head. As a casual combo player, I’m not looking for stability or to playtest a deck 10,000 times to see if it can win fifty percent of the time versus CS or TT. I care about getting cards that allow me to make combos that no one else has seen. I care about seeing a card and being able to imagine and build an entire deck based on it.
One thing is true in almost every situation. People love new stuff. It’s new, it’s exciting, and it’s the best time of the year.
Risk versus Reward is looking for the best experiences that Vs. System has to offer. If you have a risky strategy or peculiar pleasure to report, please send it to rianfike@hattch.com.