Vs. System Sneak Preview tournaments are like nothing else. New cards and characters are unveiled to reveal a fresh perspective on the mechanical masterpiece that is our game. Future strategies are born and historical myths are revived. The latest alternate foil cards are exposed in public for the first time. Legion of Super Heroes took the experience to the next level.
Since the entire library of Legion myths is based on the twists and turns of time, it is only fitting that I present a truly bizarre blast from the past in an announcement of the characters chosen to receive the first-ever triple-stacker alternate foil treatment in trading card game history. Inserted randomly in Legion of Super Heroes packs everywhere, you can now find a modern update of this eternal classic.
The three matching, alternate foil Vs. System cards that collectors are currently chasing just happen to be the three original Legionnaires seated in the judges’ chairs for Superboy’s rejection scene from 1958. Although I did not pull any of the three teens with the alternate template in my five Sealed packs, I did see what happens when you make the Little Blue Boy Scout angry. When I first set eyes on the Dark Superboy card, I was slightly frightened by its extreme beauty. Then I read the card text and knew I had to include it in my deck.
“Good Times with Bad Guys”
Characters
Ra’s Al Ghul ◊ Leland McCauley
2 Emerald Empress
Mia Dearden ◊ Speedy
Bette Kane ◊ Batwoman
Jason Todd ◊ Red Hood
Dominators
Beast Boy, Party Animal
Bumblebee, Titans Tomorrow East
2 Cassie Sandsmark ◊ Wonder Girl
Glorith
Knockout
Computo, Rogue Program
Validus
Ra’s Al Ghul, Engine of Change
Dark Superboy
Mordru, The Merciless
Freddy Freeman ◊ Captain Marvel
Cassie Sandsmark ◊ Wonder Woman
Koriand’r ◊ Starfire, Tamaranian Princess
Plot Twists
Chain Lightning
For Khundia!
Furious Assault
High Society
Legion of the Damned
Mutual Enemies
Order and Chaos
Tempus Fugit
Locations
31st Century Metropolis
United Planets HQ
Equipment
Titans Communicator
That deck had some very bad guys who were very good to me. I finished 4-0 and reeled in the rewards. Believe it or not, the colors on the new play mat match our couch exactly and it is sitting proudly on our coffee table as we speak. Living room enhancements can be found in the strangest places.
There are thirty-two cards in that mixture of strange characters and effects. The two green Team-Ups were too good to cut, the equipment enlarged the DEF of any character I wished, and the basic beatdown abilities of the plot twists forced me to play with more than the minimum thirty cards. It worked like a charm. The timelessly evil love story of Glorith and Mordru, The Merciless came together once again, this time in the tournament hall.
Some have said that the entire mythos of the Legion of Super Heroes is a battle between Mordru and the Time Trapper for the domination of history. If this is true, then Glorith gets elevated to one of the main characters of that mythos; she has done more damage to the Legion timeframe than any female ever written. Glorith was Mordru’s first wife. Nearly forty years ago, she was hourglassed out of existence rather unceremoniously by the Time Trapper. When her continuity was rebooted in the early nineties, she came back kicking and screaming.
Glorith’s true love is power. She had the sorcery skills to bust some serious spells and gain control of time on a level that no one could match. She twisted timelines until the Time Trapper himself disappeared. She became one of the most powerful gods ever known, but Glorith was still not satisfied. She toyed with the Legion and their time travels until she couldn’t keep track of her enemies anymore, and her meddling magic eventually proved to be her downfall. It’s too bad she didn’t have a Titans Communicator and a 6-drop Mordru, The Merciless to help her gain control of her obsessive impulses. That worked for me.
The other successful strategy that led to my undefeated record was Jason Todd ◊ Red Hood running loose in the 31st Century Metropolis. Not only does the Red Hood have one of the most fascinating paintings ever seen on cardstock, but it is also actually possible to team attack and reinforce with this unaffiliated monster in Sealed Pack play. That is truly a beautiful thing. I actually got it to work in the very first round.
I sat down to start the tournament and found a fresh face. Cameron Matis was born in Philadelphia, lives in Fort Lauderdale, and showed up for the Legion of Super Heroes preview just in time to take home a shirt. He missed his first two drops of the match, and he under-dropped on turns 4 and 5. I won the die roll and picked odds, but after Jason Todd took care of the free recoveries that Emerald Empress left behind, Validus came in with boost for the win on turn 6. Cameron lives in Broward County, but my next three opponents represented the 305. It was time for some Miami madness as I moved on to square off against Dorian Cuellar.
Dorian was the first player ever seen playing Genosha and Magneto in Curve Sentinels. He has plenty of PC success, a $10K Top 8, and one of the best attitudes in all of Vs. System. I had seen him dispatch his first round opponent with Dark Champion, so I was planning to mulligan unless I saw For Khundia!—I got it.
The match was a fascinating funhouse that came down to the last precious points. We both went into the negatives before it was done. The tricky stuff started slowly, as Dorian recruited a lone R.J. Brande during the first three turns. I hiccupped into Ra’s Al Ghul ◊ Leland McCauley on turn 2, but dropped my Jason Todd bomb on 3 for some serious advantage. Knockout showed up on turn 4, and survived to smack Dorian’s Spark all the way into his resource row thanks to a bounce from my hidden Ra’s. Turn 6 included my first taste of the Vs. System substitute mechanic. I traded Knockout for Cassie Sandsmark ◊ Wonder Girl, and Dorian switched his Ra’s Al Ghul, Engine of Change into a Beast Boy ◊ Animal Man. The dreaded Dark Champion hit the board, and I countered with Mordru, The Merciless. Since his early misses had given me a sizable advantage in endurance, I decided to get risky with the magician’s ability; I paid 7 endurance to look at Dorian’s hand and remove his next turn recruit. Unfortunately, he had another copy already sitting pretty in his resource row.
We went to turn 7 neck-and-neck for the chance to remain undefeated. I stayed patient and held onto my first hand For Khundia! My board was brightened by Koriand’r ◊ Starfire, Tamaranian Princess alongside Mordru and Jason Todd. Dorian was sporting Colossal Boy ◊ Leviathan flanked by the 5-drop Beast Boy and a hidden Dark Champion. Knockout had replaced one Team-Up, and the second did not cover all three of the opposing characters. I decided to take the big risk with the Red Hood. I ran Jason Todd into Beast Boy with no hope of a stun from his ATK. That did it. Dorian’s 5-drop was stunned by my 3-drop’s faux Betrayal ability. I screamed, “For Khundia!” and took the Dark Champion down with Mordru. Starfire flew in for the fancy finish.
Leonel Perez was next. He has become one of the most consistent players in the city, and he hit every drop from 1 through 7. I recruited nothing at all until turn 3. The tide was turned back in my direction before the combat phase on turn 6 when I substituted Dark Superboy, followed by Cassie Sandsmark ◊ Wonder Woman with the added DEF of Titans Communicator. She created enough of a Wonder Woman wall to allow my triumph in the Tamaranian mirror match on turn 7. We both recruited Koriand’r, but it was my initiative and I had a handful of pumps. I climbed up to the final round with my undefeated record intact to face off against another hometown hero.
Javier Gonzalez is a Photoshop wizard, and he is getting good at this game. I started slow, and he had the Team-Ups to avoid my early Jason Todd tricks. On turn 4, I got rocked twice with XS to the face. The auto-recovery drawback of my Validus allowed Javier to enter turn 6 with a commanding lead in both endurance and board advantage. That’s when I turned my little Cassie into a party animal and started to celebrate our new keyword properly. It was a comeback for the ages.
My characters in play were Cassie Sandsmark ◊ Wonder Girl and Validus. I wanted to recruit Cassie Sandsmark ◊ Wonder Woman with her beloved Titans Communicator for the brickwall once again, but that would have KO’d my 4-drop due to uniqueness. Instead, I sang the praises of substitute. Wonder Girl was swapped for the beast that is a boy and the party was on. Beast Boy, Party Animal was swollen with six counters. The two fresh Titans on my side brought enough Order and Chaos to let my 3-drop defender stun Javier’s 5-drop attacker, and I survived to turn 7. With the playmat on the line and our identical unblemished records about to change, I recruited Koriand’r and crossed my fingers. She was met by Superboy, Yellow Sun Armor. My 7-drop Starfire shipped a substitute character and busted the opposing formation. Wonder Woman warded off another stunback with her heavy undercarriage. With only 3 endurance points separating our totals, it all came down to a swing and a prayer.
Javier played Awestruck in his attempt to make my attack miss, but I had the Furious Assault I needed in response and I claimed the prize. As soon as I got home, I started studying my prize packs in preparation for $10K Orlando on the following Saturday. There will be more good times with these bad guys in the near future. I can’t wait to fill you in with all the delicious details. Until then, you can substitute me out for one of our other illustrious writers—I’ll climb back out of the KO’d pile eventually.
Rian Fike is also known as stubarnes and good times are his life. If you had a blast with the bad guys at your Legion of Super Heroes Sneak Preview tournament, send your story to rianfike@hattch.com.