Halloween is my favorite holiday. It always inspires me to take myself to a new level and create something outrageous and different that will make the party last a good long time. Halloween was actually the night that I decided to ask Nina to marry me. She said yes, even after I took off the mask.

This year, my Halloween creative project involves Vs. System. It’s a nice fit, since all of our cardboard friends are dressed in funny costumes already. Superheroes usually have alter egos, just like you see on my favorite holiday—Vs. System is the perfect Halloween Party format.

Halloween is the one night of the year when we actually have permission to be someone else. This “multiple identity” effect is represented in Vs. System by different versions of the same character. The rules for our new, unofficial, informal, strictly casual Halloween Party format are simple:

1.     All characters in your deck must have multiple versions.

Even if you wanted to invite Puppet Master to your Halloween Party deck, you couldn’t. Bastion would start feeding everyone by the end of the night, which might be interesting, but with only one version of Bastion in the game, he has no costume to change into. He is not playable in this format.

2.   You must use at least two different characters, and all characters in your deck must have an equal number of versions in print.

Kang has many different versions, but he cannot have a Halloween Party all by himself. Roy Harper can dance with Whisper A’Daire and Medusa, but not with Invisible Woman. The number of character versions changes slightly with each set, so make sure you put a creation date on your decklist to determine how many versions were in print at that time. This is an informal, casual format, so the rulings on such issues will be very flexible.

3.  You must use all versions of the characters you choose.

If Roy Harper does choose Whisper A’Daire as his companion for the Halloween Party, you must use both Roy Harper ◊ Speedy and Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal. You must also use both Whisper A’Daire, Serpent-Tongued Seductress and Whisper A’Daire, Cold-Blooded Manipulator. (She sounds like quite a party girl, doesn’t she?) Mr. Fantastic could bring Invisible Woman to the Halloween Party since they both have four versions. She could also show up with Wolverine. Either way, at least one copy of all versions of the characters you choose must be included in the deck.

4.  There must be an equal number of male and female characters in the deck.

This is a strictly casual format, so it needs to swing wildly. Since it’s not an all-out battle, it needs to be gender balanced so that every character can have a good time. Get creative and get busy.

As a treat to all my risky, jank-loving readers, I’m starting plans for an informal, casual, Halloween Party tournament in Miami for Halloween weekend 2006. Keep in touch, and I will keep you informed.

Here is my example of a Halloween Party deck:

“Death on Two Legs” (October 31, 2005)

Rian Fike

4 Dagger, Child of Light
2 Dagger, Tandy Bowen

2 Cloak, Child of Darkness

1 Cloak, Tyrone Johnson

2 Nightcrawler, Kurt Wagner
2 Nightcrawler, Fuzzy Elf

4 Black Cat, Master Thief
2 Black Cat, Felicia Hardy

4 Dr. Light, Master of Holograms
2 Dr. Light, Arthur Light

2 Venus Dee Milo, Telegenic Teleporter
1 Venus Dee Milo, Dee Milo

4 Dracula, Vlad Dracula
1 Dracula, Lord of the Damned

1 Catwoman, Selina Kyle

2 Catwoman, Cat Burglar

4 Midnight Sons

4 Wild Ride

2 Lost City

2 Clone Saga

4 Costume Change

4 Reconstruction Program

4 No Fear

This is obviously a non-competitive, strictly casual deck. I built it for aesthetic purposes only. It looks like the kind of crazy party that I always attend in real life on Halloween night, and it looks like a lot of fun to play.

Cloak and Dagger are my favorite real couple in the world of comic book myths, and they can do an amazing light show on the dance floor. Nightcrawler and Black Cat will show us some super-flexible moves that no one has ever seen; he could actually appear inside her fur. Dr. Light and Venus Dee Milo will bring a very important element to the party, since they’re both excellent examples of pure wackiness. They make one crazy couple, don’t they? Finally, the timeless tradition of the Halloween Party will be graced with the classical imagery of Dracula and Catwoman.

When I started dreaming about the Halloween Party format, I asked the VsRealms.com community to help me determine the best basic blueprint for a curve of characters. I got this outstanding response from Daniel “Haplo567” Hanson:

When using Curve Sentinels as your curve base, remember that Boliver Trask and Sentinel Mark V make things iffy. Boliver isn’t really a 1-drop; he is more of a restrictive tutor. The Mark V obviously spans the 4- and 5-drop slot.

You might consider looking at something like Fantastic Four Beats for a curve, but there you have Signal Flare.

Maybe you can look at an old Big Brotherhood list if you’re trying to find a curve without tutors. But even there, things are complicated by Lost City making use of redundant characters.

In the end, I think the problem is that no curve-based deck has done well without either a character tutor or Lost City. To support my claim, here is a history of successful curve decks that I remember, along with their “non-curve” cards:

Common Enemy – Signal Flare and Faces of Doom
F4 Beats – Signal Flare
Curve Sentinels – Boliver Trask
Titans (which is pushing it, but it’s sort of curve) – Optitron
Spider-Friends – Costume Change
Various MK-based decks – Wild Ride
League of Assassins – Mountain Stronghold
Avengers Reservists – Avengers Assemble!
Curve GLEE – The Ring Has Chosen
Mutant Nation – Lost City
Big Brotherhood – Lost City

So, if you’re looking for a basic blueprint for a curve deck, I think you’re going to have to include a character tutor as one of the cards.

“Death on Two Legs” actually got a good deal more competitive after Dan and I shared the idea over a few messages. Here is his advice, which helped me to finish the deck:

For this deck to be playable, I think you’re going to need more Marvel Knights characters. It’s too bad that you don’t like Blade; he seems like the perfect fit for getting more Marvel Knights.

You might consider adding Clone Saga over Mosaic World. Then you can get all of your guys teamed up to find with Wild Ride, and a second Midnight Sons will allow you to make your guys all Fearsome Five for Dr. Light, Arthur Light. Clone Saga also supports Halloween by representing the situation where people dress up as the same character.

I really like the Dagger, Child of Light / Dr. Light, Master of Holograms interaction. Discard for Midnight Sons and return to team up. Oh, and look . . . I can search for another Midnight Sons!

Cloak may be a good option for getting another Marvel Knights character, as he’s dark and mysterious. He also goes along with the Halloween theme by representing people who throw on a cape and say they’re dressed up.

If you go with Clone Saga, you must add Costume Change.

That's all I’ve got for now. Hope this helps.

Thanks, Dan! That helped so much that I think this deck might be able to win the Halloween Party format tournament next year. This is the first time I’ve ever attempted to create a casual format for Vs. System, and I’m following in the mighty footsteps of my mentor Ben Kalman ◊ Kergillian. It seems like a blast. I can’t wait to see what our risky readers come up with!

I’ll leave you now with a quick look into the future of this funky holiday format. Utilizing all the multiple-version characters in a Halloween Party deck, the new ally mechanic of Justice League of America will surely spike the punch with some brand new spices. Extra yummy power-ups will make our casual strategies zestier and tangier than ever before.Vs. System’s tricky treats have never tasted so good.

Happy Halloween everybody, and party on!

If you are interested in attending a Halloween Party casual tournament in Miami next year, or if you just want to submit a casual deck in the Halloween Party format, send absolutely anything at all to rianfike@hattch.com.