I am going to come right out and say FTN’s Vidi Wijaya is the best Vs. System player on the planet, and I think anyone would be hard-pressed to disagree with me. Vidi won Pro Circuit: Atlanta, one of his four Pro Circuit Top 8 appearances! There may be some competitors at this PC who will match Michael Dalton’s mark of three Top 8 appearances, but it would take another full Pro Circuit for anyone to possibly match the mark that Vidi set before he even walked into the Indianapolis Convention Center. The stone cold truth is that Vidi Wijaya is the standard for every competitive Vs. System player.

Given the level of skill and prowess that Vidi possesses (despite the fact that he kept telling me that he didn’t know what he was doing), I was really looking forward to watching Vidi in action!

Vidi’s picks are in italics with notable cards in the pack following.

Pack 1:

1) The Calculator, Evil Oracle; Terry Sloane ◊ Mr. Terrific; Checkmate Safe House

While Mr. Terrific and the Checkmate team-up are both great cards, there’s only one clear-cut first pick here. It’s good to be the king!

2) Black Adam, Teth-Adam

Once again, there was nothing in the pack to compete with this card, which could very well be a first pick also.

3) Kate Spencer ◊ Manhunter; Cheshire; Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, Knight; Adrian Chase ◊ Vigilante; Knightmare Scenario

4) Atom Smasher; Dr. Polaris, Force of Nature; Coercion; Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1

5) Jay Garrick ◊ The Flash; Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1; Thanagar; Target Acquired

With the insane amount of power Checkmate cards in his third pack (signaling that the two players to his right weren’t going into Checkmate), I half expected to see Vidi move into the team. However, he seemed more comfortable with JSA and Kate Spencer. This theme continued as he picked up two more quality JSA characters in Atom Smasher and Jay Garrick.

6) Mordru; Ishmael Gregor ◊ Sabbac; Return Fire

7) Laser Watch; Dr. Light, Furious Flashpoint; A Moment of Crisis

8) Epic Battle; Tricked-Out Sports Car; Death from Above

9) Taking Up the Mantle; Tricked-Out Sports Car; Fiddler

10) Chay-Ara ◊ Hawkgirl; Charles McNider ◊ Dr. Mid-Nite

11) Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive; Black Adam, Ruthless Hero

12) Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1; The Calculator, Noah Kuttler

Twelfth pick Bizarro?! Only Vidi Wijaya . . .

13) Magical Lobotomy

14) Arms Deal

Vidi largely eschewed drafting plot twists and equipment cards in favor of strong character cards to fill out his curve. This strategy seemed to be working well for him, as he had strong drops all along the curve. However, he also ended up passing a lot of strong Checkmate cards to the left. While this could bode well for his second pack picks (as the players to his right might forego JSA and Villains United for Checkmate cards), he might have missed a golden opportunity.

Pack 2:

1) Brainiac, Earth 2; Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard; Laser Watch; Deflection; Sarge Steel

I was very surprised by this pick, as Vidi cracked open one of the best 5-drops in Infinite Crisis draft, but he explained that he likes Brainiac because he doubles as a 3-drop and, if you have a team-up, is a mini-Bastion. Who am I to argue?

2) Wonder Woman, Earth 2; Dr. Occult; Dr. Polaris, Force of Nature; Hourman III ◊ Hourman; Thanagarian Invasion

3) Dr. Psycho, Mental Giant; Thanagarian Invasion; Grand Gesture; Justice United

4) Brothers in Arms; Baddest of the Bad; Coercion; Count Vertigo

Vidi’s second pack was shaping up to provide decent support for his outstanding first pack picks, but nothing sensational.

5) Batman, Earth 2; Abjuration; Return Fire

6) Superman, Earth 2; Epic Battle; Thanagarian Invasion

7) Defend Yourself; Deathstroke the Terminator, Lethal Weapon; Laser Watch

8) Allied Against the Dark; Charles McNider ◊ Dr. Mid-Nite

9) Deadshot, Dead Aim; Catman; Scandal

Secret Six, anyone?

10) Chay-Ara ◊ Hawkgirl; Tricked-Out Sports Car; Magical Lobotomy

11) Deflection; Grand Gesture; Justice United

12) Parademon

13) Kilowog, Drill Sergeant; Alexander Luthor, Duplicitous Doppelganger

14) Retrieval Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot

Vidi had a very interesting side theme in his deck going with the Earth 2 characters. Not only did this fuel Brainiac’s effect, but it also made for some interesting possibilities when he could boost out Superman to give several +2 ATK/+2 DEF counters. If he could get a copy of Huntress, Earth 2, he could really start to abuse these cards. Regardless, his curve looked amazing, with Vidi only needing a couple of 3- and 4-drops for it to be complete.

Pack 3:

1) Systematic Torture; Baddest of the Bad; Sinestro, Villain Reborn

Passing up a strong search card and a good on-team 4-drop had to be tough, but Vidi had to draft the KO card since he was already in Villains United. ’Nuff said!

2) Forbidden Loyalties; Ahmed Samsarra; Valentina Vostok ◊ Negative Woman; Huntress, Reluctant Queen; Atom Smasher; Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive

Wow! Look at those Checkmate cards! Sigh . . . what might have been . . .

3) Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive; Checkmate Safe House; Power Girl, Earth 2

4) Ted Grant ◊ Wildcat; Rex Tyler ◊ Hourman; Cheshire; Thanagarian Invasion; Grand Gesture

5) Forbidden Loyalties; Brainiac, Earth 2; Kendra Saunders ◊ Hawkgirl; Wesley Dodds ◊ The Sandman

Ouch . . . you know that both Brainac and Hawkgirl were tough to pass up. Still, Vidi got another copy of the amazing team-up and filled his 3-drop slot.

6) Black Adam, Teth-Adam; Amulet of Nabu

7) T-Spheres; Kendra Saunders ◊ Hawkgirl; Sand

Black Adam sixth and T-Spheres seventh?! Once again, only Vidi Wijaya . . .

8) Huntress, Earth 2; Grand Gesture; Allied Against the Dark; Count Vertigo

9) Dr. Psycho, Twisted Telepath; Taking Up the Mantle

10) Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster; Valentina Vostok ◊ Negative Woman; Dr. Polaris, Force of Nature

11) Ragdoll

12) Grand Gesture; Rex Tyler ◊ Hourman

13) Relentless Pursuit

14) Seiobo’s Garden

While Vidi complained that he really didn’t have the non-character support that he wanted, I thought his draft looked incredible. He had a solid curve with little need to splash drops outside of his two main teams. In addition, he had a couple of cards like T-Spheres and Systematic Torture at his disposal that would allow him to completely take control of a game.

1 Kilowog, Drill Sergeant

1 Ragdoll

2 Black Adam, Teth-Adam

1 Wonder Woman, Earth 2

1 Dr. Psycho, Twisted Telepath

1 Jay Garrick ◊ The Flash

1 Superman, Earth 2

1 T-Spheres

1 Allied Against the Dark

1 Brothers in Arms

1 Defend Yourself

1 Deflection

1 Epic Battle 

2 Forbidden Loyalties

1 Grand Gesture

1 Magical Lobotomy

1 Systematic Torture