Basics, Part 2: Off Curve Decks
Basics, Part 3: Playing the Game
Welcome to another chapter in this little miniseries I like to call Basics. The idea behind this compilation of articles is to help those players who are just starting to learn the game.
I ended last week’s article with the old adage: “The key to success lies in wisdom, not knowledge.” This means that just reading the latest Pro Circuit tournament report will not give you the tools you need to become a successful player on the tournament scene. Any Tom, Dick, or Harry can copy down the Top 8 decklists, pick one, and then pop off to his or her local event. If you want to try to improve as a player, you need to be able to stand alone and make your own decisions. Another analogy would be to consider what’s best for people who are starving: Do you send them food parcels, or help them build a farm? For those of us who have been around since day zero, this is not so much of an issue. Watching how the game has developed and evolved gives you a deeper understanding of the fundamentals required to become a successful Vs. System player. When you enter a game a couple of years into its lifespan, things become a little harder. So today, I am going to take your on a trip through time and look back at how the game has developed over the last couple of years.
Origins
$10K Origins 2004 was one of the first big money events in Vs. System, and considering that Marvel Origins was the only legal set, the decks were quite diverse. The main contenders were:
Common Enemy
Dr. Doom is the original control freak. He liked the feeling of being a marquee character in the game’s first control deck so much that he’s been in and around the top of competitive Vs. System since day one. This deck combined his controlling abilities with the brute force of the Fantastic Four.
Anthony Justice, Top 8: $10K Origins 2004
Characters
4 Boris, Personal Servant of Dr. Doom
4 She-Thing, Sharon Ventura
3 Darkoth, Major Desmund Pitt
4 She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters
1 Wolverine, New Fantastic Four
4 Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius
1 Robot Destroyer, Army
3 Thing, Heavy Hitter
1 Hulk, New Fantastic Four
1 Dr. Doom, Victor Von Doom
1 Thing, The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing
1 Sub-Mariner, Ally of Doom
1 Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria
Plot Twists
3 Savage Beatdown
4 It’s Clobberin’ Time!
4 Common Enemy
4 Signal Flare
1 Faces of Doom
3 Mystical Paralysis
3 Overload
4 Acrobatic Dodge
1 Flame Trap
Locations
4 Doomstadt
Basically, the deck revolved around Dr. Doom on turn 4. If you could get him, you would be okay. Being able to lock your opponent’s characters down with Mystical Paralysis off initiative was one of the best actions of the deck. “Hey, that’s just plain cheating!” was a phrase often heard in response to the exhaustion trick. In an environment that was all about combat, cards like Mystical Paralysis and Reign of Terror (which is suprisingly absent from this list) were able to totally wreck the opposition’s plans.
Wild Vomit
Wild Vomit was the name given to a particularly consistent Sentinels swarm deck. It was named after its ability to vomit forth ridiculous numbers of characters on any given turn. Normally, recruiting multiple characters per turn would leave you with a crippling shortage of cards in hand, but thanks to Longshot, Rebel Freedom Fighter, this was not an issue.
Gabe Walls, Top 8: $10K Origins 2004
Characters
4 Longshot, Rebel Freedom Fighter
14 Sentinel Mark IV
26 Wild Sentinel
Plot Twists
4 Cover Fire
4 Reconstruction Program
4 Combat Protocols
Locations
4 Underground Sentinel Base
The idea was simple. With so many copies of the two Sentinel characters in the deck, it was not unreasonable to expect to gain an additional four cards per turn through Longshot activations. Sentinel Mark IV may have remarkably poor stats for a 4-drop these days, but with the back-up of a swarm of Wild Sentinels, he would become quite the monster. With all the characters sporting range, Cover Fire was a nigh-on impenetrable defensive wall.
Big Brotherhood
The Brotherhood was considered by many to be the main “bad guy” team in the set. Personally, I love this deck. After all, what do bad guys do best? Smash face. Hard.
Bill Hodack, Winner: $10K Origins 2004
Characters
4 Toad, Mortimer Toynbee
4 Quicksilver, Pietro Maximoff
4 Quicksilver, Speed Demon
4 Mystique, Raven Darkholme
4 Mystique, Shape-Changing Assassin
4 Sabretooth, Feral Rage
2 Sabretooth, Victor Creed
4 Blob, Fred Dukes
4 Magneto, Eric Lehnsherr
4 Magneto, Master of Magnetism
Plot Twists
4 Acrobatic Dodge
4 Overload
4 Relocation
2 Burn Rubber
Locations
4 Lost City
4 Avalon Space Station
Running multiple versions of characters gives the Big Brotherhood player a very good chance of powering-up. This was the original “ally” deck. Lost City replaces the normal power-up with a curve-jumping +3 ATK / +3 DEF boost, often meaning that you could you attack up the curve very easily. Avalon Space Station helped to replenish your hand and could quite easily let you power-up a character two or three times per turn. The deck was, and still is, a very powerful combat deck.
New Brotherhood
The Big Brotherhood’s smaller sibling could pack a punch just as powerful.
Carl Perlas, Top 8: $10K Origins 2004
Characters
2 Blob, Fred Dukes
3 Quicksilver, Speed Demon
3 Quicksilver, Pietro Maximoff
4 Pyro, St. John Allerdyce
4 Sabretooth, Feral Rage
3 Toad, Mortimer Toynbee
4 Mystique, Raven Darkholme
2 Mystique, Shape-Changing Assassin
4 Magneto, Eric Lehnsherr
Plot Twists
3 The New Brotherhood
4 Savage Beatdown
3 Not So Fast
3 Flying Kick
3 Ka-boom!
3 Acrobatic Dodge
Where the Big Brotherhood deck looked to beat the living tar out of the opposition steadily until turn 6 or 7, the New Brotherhood deck aimed to get things done far sooner. The deck was fast and very aggressive, and when it clicked, you didn’t want to be sitting on the opposite side of the table.
These four decks set the standard for what was to follow. They would prove to be the dominant decks for some time. In fact, Common Enemy and Big Brotherhood are still widely played in tournaments today (with one or two evolutionary tweaks).
Those were not the only decks in the tournament, though. Out of the rest, I think honorable mentions should go to:
Mutant Nation: Also known as “The Force.” This deck was a favorite of Michael Jacob, a hugely successful pro player. It was a team-up deck between the X-Men and the Brotherhood that followed the Lost City power-up strategy. Longshot was used to ensure that you had sufficient characters to fuel the Brotherhood’s location. Using Longshot was a far more complicated process than in the Wild Vomit deck. With multiple characters, you had to be aware of the percentages and have a deep understanding of the deck.
F4 Toys: Mr. Fantastic loves his toys, and this was the name given to the Fantastic Four equipment deck. Multiple copies of Fantasticar boosted the strength of the team, and strong defensive equipment like Personal Forcefield and Unstable Molecules meant that any attacker would have to work hard to breach the stiff defensive game of Richards and the gang.
After the dust had settled and the metagame began to develop, one deck from this group managed to dominate tournament play for some time to come, including winning the inaugural Pro Circuit event at Gen Con Indy 2004. That deck was the Doom-led Common Enemy.
Brian Kibler, winner: PC: Indy 2004
Characters
4 Boris, Personal Servant of Dr. Doom
4 She-Thing, Sharon Ventura
4 She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters
2 Darkoth, Major Desmund Pitt
4 Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius
1 Invisible Woman, Sue Storm
1Robot Destroyer, Army
1 Thing, Heavy Hitter
1 Ghost Rider, New Fantastic Four
1 Hulk, New Fantastic Four
1 Dr. Doom, Victor Von Doom
1 Sub-Mariner, Ally of Doom
1 Thing, The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing
1 Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria
3 Apocalypse, En Sabah Nur
Plot Twists
3 Acrobatic Dodge
4 Common Enemy
1 Faces of Doom
1 Flame Trap
3 Have a Blast!
4 It’s Clobberin’ Time!
3 Mystical Paralysis
3 Reign of Terror
4 Signal Flare
Locations
4 Doomstadt
The other decks still won events and placed well, but Common Enemy became the deck you just had to beat. The reasons were simple—the deck is consistent and it “cheats.” By cheat, I don’t mean that it runs eight copies of Diabolical Genius. I mean that it’s strong on and off initiative. The vast majority of decks in Vs. System were all about combat. Basically, you had your attacks on your initiative, and then next turn, your opponent had attacks on his or her initiative. But Doom, as always, had something to say about this. Through Reign of Terror and Mystical Paralysis, old iron face could more or less cause your opponent to skip his or her turn 4 plays.
The other string to the bow of Common Enemy was its consistency. Between Signal Flare and Faces of Doom, you had to be unlucky to miss your drops. Boris, being the pleasant old man he is, would fetch and carry all manner of plot twists. To top it off, the Common Enemy gave you additional card draw (using the Diabolical Genius to draw twice off of the one card was just another example of the deck cheating its way to victory).
These two facets proved to be key to many decks’ success over the years. Teen Titans did the same sort of thing. When Tim Willoughby won $10K Indy, it was with the help of one of the most cheatingest combos to date. Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal and Teen Titans Go! still dominate tournaments today.
If not blessed with both attributes, then a deck that is either incredibly consistent or able to play off initiative will always do well. Curve Sentinels dominated the game for a long, long time. It was (and still is) ridiculously consistent, and Nimrod just flat-out refusing to stun is kind of irritating on your initiative.
Fast forward to today, and the likes of Good Guys, High Voltage, and Deep Green are all successful because they are remarkably consistent. If you are looking to start down the path of competitive Vs. System, then by all means copy a Top 8 decklist for your use, but also try to develop an understanding of the why the deck works, not just how. If you are going to be entering Pro Circuit LA, a Golden Age event, simply looking up the last Golden Age Top 8 will not prepare you. While many players will use this process, you can bet that the pro teams out there are scouring the card lists for new interactions and combinations. If you want to out-perform the netdeckers, then you need to look for two things: consistency and off-initiative effectiveness.
Deckbuilder Challenge Cup # 5
Batman’s Pants
Thank you for all the entries submitted for this challenge. I know we’re a couple of weeks late with this one, so without further ado, I present the top five:
George Shafer: Shadowpants
Characters
1 Madame Xanadu, Cartomancer
1 Nightmaster, Jim Rook
1 Blackbriar Thorn, Druid of Cymru
1 Manitou Dawn, Spirit Shaman
1 Blue Devil, Dan Cassidy
1 The Creeper, Jack Ryder
1 Zatanna, Magical Manipulator
1 Rose Psychic, Ghost Detective
1 Ibis, Prince Amentep
1 Witchfire, Rebecca Carstairs
1 Nightshade, Shadow Siren
1 June Moon ◊ Enchantress, Good Witch
1 Dr. Occult, Richard Occult
1 Ragman, Redeemer of Souls
1 Black Alice, Lori Zechlin
1 Blue Devil, Big Blue
1 Martian Manhunter, J’onn J’onzz
1 June Moon ◊ Enchantress, Bad Witch
1 Zatanna, Showstopper
1 Dr. Fate, Hector Hall
1 Shazam, The Sorcerer
1 The Phantom Stranger, Fallen Angel
Plot Twists
1 The Conclave
1 Stepping Between Worlds
1 Mystical Binding
1 Magical Conduit
1 Divination
1 Collecting Souls
1 Abjuration
1 Thanagarian Invasion
1 UN Recognition
1 Justice League Task Force
1 Forbidden Loyalties
Locations
1 Rann
1 Thanagar
1 The Oblivion Bar
George’s description:
How much magic can you fit into a pair of Batman’s tights? Quite a bit, as it turns out. Twenty Shadowpact characters, a Gotham Knight who automatically teams-up, and a visitor from outer space who provides reinforcement while single-handedly accomplishing half of the Shadowpact endurance manipulation strategy. With those few substitutions, pretty much the entire Shadowpact affiliation fits into a pair of Batman’s pants, but they are certainly not thin on power. A lucky seven magic plot twists and the Oblivion Bar stuff the pockets with all the tricks this deck needs to win. Various Team-Ups and some needed flight round it out to thirty-six cards. Batman himself couldn’t fit into this one of his 2.76078179 × 1057 potential pairs of pants (yes, I’m a big enough geek to figure out how many qualifying decks could be made for this challenge), but, being magical, they stand up pretty well all on their own.
Mike Mullins: Iconic Identities
Characters
1 Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster
1 Terry Sloane ◊ Mr. Terrific, Golden Age Gold Medalist
1 Gypsy, Cynthia Reynolds
1 Connor Hawke ◊ Green Arrow, Son of the Archer
1 Kate Spencer ◊ Manhunter, Fearless Renegade
1 Wesley Dodds ◊ The Sandman, Golden Age Gunman
1 Kendra Saunders ◊ Hawkgirl, Eternal Heroine
1 Michael Holt ◊ Mr. Terrific, Renaissance Man
1 Rex Tyler ◊ Hourman, Inventor of Miraclo
1 Shayera Thal ◊ Hawkwoman, Thanagarian Enforcer
1 Batman, Earth 2
1 Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman, Thanagarian Enforcer
1 Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman, Eternal Hero
1 Richard Tyler ◊ Hourman, Man of the Hour
1 Carter Hall ◊ Hawkman, Eternal Champion
1 Oliver Queen ◊ Green Arrow, Hard-Traveling Hero
1 Hourman III ◊ Hourman, Time Machine
1 Batman, Avatar of Justice
1 The Phantom Stranger, Wandering Hero
Plot Twists
1 Hero’s Welcome
1 Living Legacy
1 Magnificent Seven
1 Reform the League
1 Roll Call!
1 Allied Against the Dark
1 Justice United, Team-Up
1 Forbidden Loyalties, Team-Up
Locations
1 JSA Headquarters
1 The Watchtower
Equipment
1 Nth Metal
1 T-Spheres
Mike’s description:
One of the goals in building a deck is to have that deck perform in the same manner game after game. This consistency is achieved through the use of multiple copies of the same cards and inclusion of search effects to ensure that the proper cards make it to your hand in time to be effective. In a singleton format, consistency must be achieved through the use of cards with similar effects rather than repetition of the desired cards. The synergy and repetition of similar effects among the JSA and JLA characters, plot twists, and locations can provide the consistency needed in a successful deck.
The first priority for consistency in a deck is hitting your drops. To achieve this, the JSA provides a search plot twist in the form of Living Legacy that works with its own characters (such as Hourman and Mr. Terrific), characters that exist on both teams (such as Hawkman and Batman), and characters that exist in the JLA (Green Arrow). JLA adds a search card that allows a player to get two characters to hit two drops (Batman) or to power-up (Katar Hol), and both teams have a location that provides a reusable search capability. Both teams also feature ally effects and the means to power-up beyond characters with the same name (Katar Hol, The Magnificent Seven, Gypsy, and Reform the League). The search and card draw effects provide consistent game play, while the ally theme provides the muscle to make the deck effective.
Alapai Michels: Vngnc (Vengeance without the Filler)
Characters
1 Alexander Luthor, Duplicitous Doppelganger
1 Cheetah, Feral Feline
1 Weather Wizard, Mark Mardon
1 Ishmael Gregor ◊ Sabbac, Malevolent Marvel
1 The Calculator, Evil Oracle
1 Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive
1 Lex Luthor, Champion of the Common Man
1 Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1
1 Deathstroke the Terminator, Lethal Weapon
1 Fatality, Flawless Victory
1 Sinestro, Villain Reborn
1 Black Adam, Teth-Adam
1 Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard
1 Ragman, Redeemer of Souls
1 Alexander Luthor, Diabolical Double
1 Hunter Zolomon ◊ Professor Zoom, Sinister Speedster
1 Deathstroke the Terminator, Ultimate Assassin
1 The Calculator, Crime Broker
Plot Twists
1 Baddest of the Bad
1 Grand Gesture
1 Join Us or Die
1 No Hope
1 No Mercy
1 Return Fire!
1 Systematic Torture
1 Blinding Rage
1 Epic Battle
1 Relentless Pursuit
1 Watch the Birdie!
Locations
1 The Science Spire
Alapai’s description:
This is a simple deck designed to use the simple aspects of the Villains United team. There are two non–Villains United characters that are only there because they are better than the Villains alternatives. The deck would like the odd initiatives but should work fine on the evens. All it does is use vengeance and abilities that capitalize on vengeance (like the Science Spire or other KO/return effects) in order to eliminate the opponent’s board. Once you’ve done that, you can just wipe your opponent out with your swarm or by discarding from the hand using Crime Broker. All of the cards have vengeance, work with vengeance, or are there so that your other cards can get vengeance (mainly Lex and the 6-drop Alexander). Plot twists that give ATK boosts are good. Epic Battle is only used on your initiative so that you can easily smack your opponent’s face in and make sure that your guys get to stun. A few of the plot twists are there merely to attack up the curve so that you can stun your opponent’s bigger guy and get your vengeance ability. It isn’t that complicated, but rather simple and to the point.
Brian Foley: The International Checkmate Villains Injustice Society
Characters
1 Ted Kord ◊ Blue Beetle, Heir of the Scarab
1 Connie Webb, Knight
1 The Calculator, Noah Kuttler
1 Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster
1 Jaime Reyes ◊ Blue Beetle, High-Tech Hero
1 Booster Gold, Michael Jon Carter
1 Sarge Steel
1 Dr. Psycho, Mental Giant
1 Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose
1 Ahmed Samsarra
1 Christopher Smith ◊ Peacemaker
1 Dr. Polaris, Force of Nature
1 Captain Cold, Leonard Snart
1 Elimination Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot
1 Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1
1 Fatality, Flawless Victory
1 Poison Ivy, Kiss of Death
1 Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot
1 Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard
1 Floronic Man, Alien Hybrid
1 Huntress, Reluctant Queen
1 Gorilla Grodd
1 Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype
1 Psycho-Pirate
Plot Twists
1 Coercion
1 Forbidden Loyalties, Team-Up
1 Baddest of the Bad
1 Secret Origins
1 Secret Files
Locations
1 Checkmate Safe House
1 UN Building
1 Brother I Satellite
1 Slaughter Swamp
1 Dr. Fate’s Tower
1 Brother Eye
1 The Science Spire
Equipment
1 Helm of Nabu
1 Amulet of Nabu
1 Cloak of Nabu
1 Quadromobile
Brian’s description
This deck uses the best characters from Checkmate, Villains United, and Secret Society. It also splashes in a couple of characters each from JLI and Injustice Gang. It runs much like a DC Modern Age format Checkmate/Villains deck, but it can also use Poison Ivy on turn 2 to start assembling the location toolbox if it hit its 1-drop. If nothing else, she can go get Brother I Satellite so that you can search for Ahmed. Booster Gold looks a little lonely in this deck, but Ted Kord is handy for grabbing equipment, so I thought it made sense to include Booster (just in case you miss your 2-drop after hitting Ted on turn 1).
The early game with this deck is devoted to getting Ahmed and hopefully finding some equipment. In the middle game, the deck tries to establish some field advantage with its KO effects and gather the rest of the locations it needs for its toolbox. In the late game, it shifts gears and starts trying to steal opposing characters with Grodd and Psycho-Pirate, but it can also just smash face with an equpiment-laden monster and a Brother Eye pump.
“Onyxweapon”: ME AM FATE #1!
Characters
1 Ted Kord ◊ Blue Beetle
1 Connie Webb
1 Alexander Luthor
1 Jaime Reyes ◊ Blue Beetle
1 Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose
1 Dr. Psycho, Mental Giant
1 Sasha Bordeaux, Knight
1 Sarge Steel
1 Ahmed Samsarra
1 Christopher Smith ◊ Peacemaker
1 Dr. Light, Furious Flashpoint
1 Fatality, Flawless Victory
1 Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1
1 Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot
1 Cheshire
1 Dr. Psycho, Twisted Telepath
1 Huntress, Reluctant Queen
1 Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype
Plot Twists
1 Baddest of the Bad
1 Secret Origins
1 Traitor to the Cause
1 Fate Has Spoken
Locations
1 The Science Spire
1 Dr. Fate’s Tower
1 Checkmate Safe House
1 Brother Eye
1 Brother I Satellite
1 Satellite HQ
Equipment
1 Helm of Nabu
1 Amulet of Nabu
1 Cloak of Nabu
Onyxweapon’s description:
The basic premise of the deck is to get to your equipment as soon as possible while still maintaining a solid curve. Both versions of Blue Beetle help with this, as will “Ivying” or using Ahmed for Fate’s Tower. Then, simply put the equipment on Bizarro by turn 4 or 5 and watch the game leave your opponent’s grasp. This build likes to win on turn 6 with the even initiatives because you can often draw through the entire deck by then. The cloaked Bizarro is immune to Grodd’s effect and tends to swing twice at 15. Odds are even more fun if the game goes to turn 7 with everyone’s favorite Autonomous Prototype throwing down +2 ATK / +2 DEF across your board. A 17 ATK Bizarro? Yes please. I also left the potential for Fatality’s tricks (Satellite HQ/Peacemaker) for a potential quick finish against Ahmed (or at least to force a Science Spire consistently). Also, Cheshire is a must with her ability to survive most 5-drop swings and still stun back. The only odd splash is the Fate Has Spoken, since it shouldn’t be as consistent as it has been with me. But hey . . . Bizarro made me do it.
As always, you can vote on the poll on my website (www.the-kamiza.com) or by emailing me at kamiza989@gmail.com.
Cheers.
Steve.
Steve “Kamiza” Garrett is an ardent supporter of casual Vs. play and has been an active member of the vast Vs. System online community since day one. If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to email him at kamiza989@gmail.com.