With the upcoming wide release of the Justice League of America set and the fast approach of Pro Circuit Los Angeles, we come to the end of the second year of the Vs. System. It’s been a wild ride this year, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. Here’s a short list of the people and events that helped to make this a year to remember.

• Pro Circuit winners Adam Horvath, Adam Bernstein, and David Leader. Will Pro Circuit 6 see our first repeat winner, or will another name be added to this list?

• The introduction of the Marvel and DC Modern Age tournament formats.

• Lead Game Designers Brian Hacker and David Smith, Danny Mandel, and Matt Hyra, who brought the game to a whole new level with the Marvel Knights, Green Lantern Corps, and Justice League of America sets.

• Concealed, willpower, Construct, leader, reservist, ally, and dual-affiliated characters forever changed the way the game is played.

• Industry legend Alex Ross contributed jaw-dropping original artwork for the Avengers and Justice League of America sets.

• First appearance of the stacker promo cards for Sneak Previews and other tournament events.

• UDE partnered with Marvel Entertainment and DC Comics to place promotional cards in comics, including key issues from the House of M and Infinite Crisis storylines.

• Starting with Green Lantern Corps, we began releasing colored T-shirts at the pre-release events. (OK, maybe this was only a big deal to me—I was getting tired of black T-shirts being the industry standard.)

And the list goes on, because 2005 was a great year—and next year will be even better. What does UDE have planned for next year? Let’s review some of the information we’ve already released, and maybe if you’re good, I’ll give you a hint of what’s to come.

• The first two releases for next year will be the X-Men and the Infinite Crisis expansions.

• The X-Men set will bring back the X-Men and Brotherhood teams and introduce the Morlocks and the Hellfire Club. The Infinite Crisis set will draw from characters, teams, and events from DC’s unfolding storyline, including the newly formed Shadowpact team of magic-wielding characters.

• The starter decks for next year will be X-Men and Superman, which are scheduled to coincide with the movie releases. They will follow the same format as this year’s Batman and Fantastic Four starters. The 2006 starters will feature all-new cards that are designed to introduce new players to the game.

What about the set after Infinite Crisis? Well, I guess you have been pretty good. OK, here you go.