Amsterdam is so close that I can feel it breathing down my neck, and while I’m unfortunately unable to witness it firsthand, I’m going to live through it vicariously by looking at who will be there, who should be there, and who to look out for at the first PC of 2005. It’s Marvel Age Madness at Metagame.com!

I’m not going to look at every major player in the world, but this is a brief peek at those who are likely to make an impact at the PC if they attend.


MIDDLEPAIR NO STICK

1) Gabe Walls
-12th in Constructed, 13th in Sealed Pack
-Winner, $10K Columbus

2) Nick Little
-74th in Constructed, 42nd in Sealed Pack

Middlepair No Stick—that’s the name that Gabe Walls instructed me to refer to his team as. When I spoke to him, he was knee-deep in decks, testing for Amsterdam with fellow team members Nick Little and Neil Reeves. Yes indeed, the trio best known for their accomplishments in that other, other TCG are back in the thick of it, unable to stay away from Vs. or the Circuit. Without Brian Kibler, who switched teams and now bats for the dark side (that would be the Upper Deck Entertainment development team), they lack the inaugural PC champion, but something tells me that they don’t need him to excel. And what tells me that is the record of these individuals, each of whom have made Top 8 in a PC and/or $10K, including Gabe Walls’s win at $10K Columbus in February.

With a few weeks of solid testing under their belt, they will be formidable opponents in a format that Neil Reeves calls “fresh and exciting.” It wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see all three in contention, and I’m pretty sure we’ll see at least one of them make the Top 10.


TEAM REALMWORX

Team Realmworx won’t have a huge showing at Amsterdam, as many of its strong tournament players (such as Patrick Yapjoco and Billy Zonos, not to mention fan favorite Rian Fike) are staying home.

When Realmworx shows up, however, it doesn’t matter how many of them show—they are always a force to be reckoned with. Here are the four players you’re most likely to see at Amsterdam.

1) Rob Leander
-1st in Constructed, 30th in Sealed Pack
-Winner, $10K Wizard World Texas
-Winner, $10K New Jersey
-Top 8, $10K Columbus

Rob is a wildcard because it’s not assured that he’ll be at this PC, and he’s been incognito since he placed in the Top 20 at the Orlando $10K. However, I have a hard time believing that he’d miss the PC, especially seeing as it’s in Amsterdam. Who’d be crazy enough to miss out on the ’dam?

Rob has the skills to be a strong performer at the PC level. He proved that with a Top 15 showing at the last PC and a Top 25 finish at Indy. He’s also the first player to win two $10K tournaments and is currently number one in the world in Constructed, with the fourth-best overall rating (15.5) behind Ryan Jones (2.5), John Rich (12), and Gabe Walls (12.5).

Rob once told me that this would be his year and that he’d almost assuredly take at least on PC. He said he’d be disappointed if he didn’t Top 8 the next PC he played in. He can also take just about any deck and win with it, so a wide open format is a good bet for Rob to step in and sweep.

2) Ryan Jones
-4th in Constructed, 1st in Sealed Pack
-Winner, PC So Cal
-Top 8, $10K Los Angeles

If anyone has zero to prove, it’s Ryan Jones. He has the best overall rating in the game and he’s the reigning PC champion. He’s certainly a good bet to Top 8, as his draft skills are unparalleled, and Day 2 is the great equalizer for many of the top Constructed players.

Will he make the Top 8? I honestly can’t say, but I’d be shocked to see him out of the money and quite surprised if he doesn’t make at least the Top 15. After all, nobody’s even close to him in terms of overall rankings.

3) Dave Spears
-6th in Constructed
-2nd, $10K WWT
-Top 4, $10K Chicago

Dave is due. After a tragic final match at Wizard World Texas against fellow Realmworx master Rob Leander, he had a close PC but couldn’t pull it out. We hadn’t heard from him in a while, but then he came roaring back with a Top 4 in Chicago last weekend.

Nobody works harder than Dave does, and out of every Realmworx player (and just about everyone else), there is nobody hungrier. Dave is due, and if he can pull out a strong draft on Day 2, he’ll be a virtually guaranteed Top 8.

4) Carl Perlas
-148th in Constructed

The Realmworx wildcard in this tourney, Carl is definitely one of the best players in this game . . . when he puts in the effort. He has admitted to me several times over the past few months that he simply hadn’t been prepared as much as he would have liked for the various tournaments he’d played in.

But Amsterdam is a different story, and Carl is ready for a major comeback. “I’ve been playtesting some time now, and it’s an open field. Even initiative is big, rather than odd like in Golden . . . ” And Carl is ready to take the initiative and do some serious damage in Amsterdam. Don’t count him out.


PERLAS’S PICKS

I asked Carl Perlas to tell me whom he feels we should look out for in Amsterdam, and this is what he said:

“Jonsey (Ryan Jones) will be a force—that’s a given. I think some Europeans will surprise everyone. Jason Green (26th in the world in Constructed); he hasn’t really done anything in a while but is a solid player and may Top 20. My dark horse candidate is VsUniverse.com stalwart Chris Price, and you can quote me on that one.”


THOSE PESKY EUROS

While many of those who frequent the message boards seem down on the Europeans, I don’t think that they truly see the strength that the Europeans have in this game. It’s a very, very arrogant sentiment to assume that North Americans will dominate the European scene or to think that European players are second-class in comparison. There are a few European players who have shown themselves to be a dominant force, modifying classic decks with an odd twist or bringing forth creative new decks that tear the metagame apart.

I think that most of the strong North American contingent sees the strength of the European arm of the Pro Circuit and will be cautious when playing against them. These players are the reason why:

1) Hans Joachim Höh
-2nd in Constructed
-Winner, $10K Hannover
-Winner, $10K Bologna
-Top 4, $10K London

It was February 5 at the Hannover convention center when Hans Joachim Höh established himself as the guy to beat in the European field, plowing through player after player with his Magneto-fueled Curve Sentinels build. It was exactly fifteen days later in Bologna that he took a slightly modified version of that same deck and proved himself a major threat. He’s the only person aside from Rob Leander to have won two $10K events.

With a follow-up Top 4 at $10K London, Hans has now finished in the Top 4 in three straight $10K events, a feat that only Rich Edbury and Josh Wiitanen have also managed. Now we’ll see what Hans can do against a worldwide field in 2005. He finished in 54th place at PC So Cal, namely due to an average Day 2 performance. I have a feeling, however—assuming his Sealed Pack skills are up to par—that we’ll see him leading the charge on Day 3.

2) Richard Edbury
-9th in Constructed
-Winner, $10K Minehead, Gen Con UK
-3rd, $10K Wein
-Top 4, $10K Austria
-2nd, $10K London

As the man who beat Hans Höh in $10K London and spoiled his streak, Rich Edbury is a perennial force in Vs. System. His four straight Top 4 $10K performances are unmatched—only Höh’s three in a row come close.

Edbury wasn’t at PC So Cal, so we haven’t seen him at a PC since Indianapolis. His sheer talent and ability to play any deck and perform well with it makes Edbury a favorite. Like Höh, there’s no question of his making Day 2—it all comes down to his drafting skills. If he pulls off a solid draft, he’ll power his way into the Top 8 and will be a top seed for the finals.

3) Jose Maria Aramburu
-Winner, $10K Madrid

Aramburu shocked the field at $10K Madrid with a Marvel Knights/Underworld/Brotherhood deck, and that deck showed what the combination of unique design and deckbuilding skills could do when paired with the surprise of a deck that nobody had seen before. It also showed that the Marvel Knights set could produce decks that can compete on a Golden Age scale. Now comes the Modern Age, and I expect Aramburu to pull out a deck that surprises as much as his Madrid deck did.

Aramburu is a wildcard in this tournament, as he’d only played in a handful of Vs. tournaments before taking Madrid by storm. But he’s proven that he has a solid knowledge of the metagame and the way this game works. If he can carry that into an unknown metagame and a new format, he could provide us with another shocker.

4) Kai Budde

This is the Magic player who has won more lifetime money than anybody else and whose name brings awe and fear to the faces of those who end up across the table from him. In Vs. System, however, he has never really made a mark, not focusing much energy or testing time on the game and generally just getting a decklist from Gabe Walls to play at the tournaments he enters.

But Kai has proven to the world on several occasions that he knows TCGs and how they work, so it would be foolish to count him out. While he’s only a long shot to finish in the money, I think he has the raw talent to surprise us all and the ability to become a threat at any table.

5) Tim Willoughby
-270th in Constructed
-Winner, $10K Indy

Tim’s held back a bit since he took the $10K at Gen Con Indy last summer. It’s only recently that he’s really started to get back into the swing of things, finishing in the money in a couple of recent $10K events.

He didn’t make the trip to So Cal, but he’s been testing fiercely with his fellow I Heart Britney teammates, including Rich Edbury, London $10K Top 8 finisher Simon O’Keeffe, and London winner, Dean Sohnle. As well, Tim tells me that “I’ve started the practice of doing ten push-ups between games of any game I play, or whenever I level up on Larn (best game ever), so hopefully by the end of the year I’ll be able to start arm-wrestling for initiative.” He told me he had done 150 pushups that day alone, so watch out, Amsterdam . . . Tim’s coming to town!


TIM’S TOP GUNS

When asked what we should look out for at Amsterdam, Tim Willoughby responded, “Latverian Embassy . . . stoners . . . strippers. Someone walking away with a big trophy.”

His picks for the contender’s circle, however, are “Richard Edbury, Stuart Wright (173rd in Constructed), Alex Tennet, Dean Sohnle, Gabe Walls, and someone or other from Realmworx probably, though I’m not sure who.”


SEALED FATES: AUSSIE POWER IS LIMITED!

Ryan Dare – 5th in Sealed Pack
Scott Smith – 263rd in Constructed , 7th in Seaped Pack
Scott Hunstad – 171st in Constructed, 18th in Sealed Pack

I have to admit that I know very little about the Australian game, so I’m not the best person to ask about them, but it’s clear to me that the Australians will likely be superstars if they make the trek to Amsterdam.

Ryan Dare, the top-level Star Wars TCG player who created the original Utility Belt deck that briefly took the metagame by storm, and the twin Scotts (both top members of the VsParadise team) are proof that Australians are amongst the top Sealed players in the world. Scott Smith used to be number one, and all three are currently in the Top 20. In fact, Scott Smith used his Sealed Pack skills to launch himself from 94th place at So Cal after Day 1 all the way to the Top 25.

Like the Europeans, the Aussies are often dismissed as second-team players. Also like the Europeans, they have a habit of using that arrogance to push themselves into contention. If these three show up, they’re all a lock for Day 2 and will likely finish in the money.


OH CANADA!

1) David Fielder
-130th in Constructed, 15th in Sealed Pack
-7th, PC LA

I told Metagame.com to watch out for Fielder and give him some featured matches at So Cal. I’m glad they listened to me, because he went on to Top 8.

Torontonian David Fielder is one of the best players in this game. Period. He is also a major underdog because he’s not in the line of sight of the Vs. world. You’d think that after some solid profiling and a Top 8 PC performance, he’d garner a little more respect. He doesn’t play in all of the $10Ks and he hasn’t built the Next Big Deck, but I have a strong feeling that his gaming sense and incredible drafting skills will careen him into the Top 8 again. Remember that one has to be a vicious player in both formats, and he’s one of the few who can claim that.

2) Dean Sohnle
-Winner, $10K London

Like Jose Maria Aramburu, Dean Sohnle also took a $10K by storm, this time in London. He beat a field of players who were more established than Aramburu did, including a final match against British powerhouse Rich Edbury. Although he’s technically an English player by residence, I claim him as Canadian by birth. And he, like some of the others who have had strong recent performances, is a wildcard. However, between his newfound testing partners (Team I Heart Britney) and his obvious talent for mining gold out of discarded or forgotten cards (and building a deck that many of his fellow testers knew was a winner but felt they couldn’t master), he’s sure to bring some surprises to the table.

Like most of the other wildcards, Dean’s drafting skills will be put to the test, as he’s almost sure to make Day 2. The question is, can he pull off a surprise Day 2 and finish high enough to make Top 8?


BAM BAM’S BACK!

John Rich
-2nd in Constructed, 22nd in Sealed Pack
-Top 8, $10K New Jersey
-Top 8, $10K Columbus

Joseph Carey
-21st in Constructed
-6th, $10K WWT

John Rich is bringing Joey Carey and Donnie Noland to Amsterdam, and Team 3BG is looking for blood. As the second-best player in the world, John Rich is gunning for Rob Leander and that number one spot. He’s also looking for the Finals, which have so far eluded him. He’s come so close, but hasn’t quite made it to the top of the podium yet.

Carey will be right behind him. One of the best players in North America, he has quietly snuck up in the rankings without much fanfare, and he will be looking for a spot in the Amsterdam Top 8.

They, along with Noland, are all solid all-around players. Especially John, whose high Sealed Pack rating places him second (behind only Ryan Jones) in the overall rankings with a factored 12. John, who has fiercely been testing dozens of decks with Matt Meyer (who gives “thanks to my girl for all her support”), tells me that something, might surprise us at Amsterdam. This leads me to believe that he has a few tricks up his sleeve for the PC.

Look for all three of Bam Bam’s boys to make Day 2. John Rich is a good bet to make the Top 8.


BAM BAM’S PICKS!

I asked John Rich to name me the names of those he thinks are most likely to threaten the field and place at the top. His list:

“[Antonino] De Rosa. Milton Figueroa. Dave Spears and all of [Team] Realmworx. Gabe Walls and his gang. And 3BG, of course.”


THE WOMEN OF VS. SYSTEM

Theresa Van Gundy
-19th in Constructed

Meaghan Hoffman
-95th in Constructed, 218th in Sealed Pack

Two women are in the Top 100, and each of them is a threat to make the Top 8. Meaghan is an especially interesting case because her husband, Matt, is also in the Top 100 at 86th place—possibly the first husband and wife team to be such a viable threat in a TCG.

Meaghan and Matt played a vicious FF burn deck at $10K So Cal, a Team Tactics/Cosmic Radiation variant that could deal out hundreds upon hundreds of endurance in a single shot. It will be interesting to see what they come up with for Amsterdam.

As for Thresea, her ranking is no joke. She’s won 20 of her last 21 games in a streak that dates back to January. She was also the highest ranked woman at PC So Cal, coming back after losing her first two matches to finish 6-4 on Day 1, and it was only a bad Day 2 (1-7) that stopped her from a very high finish (she finished 101st). She doesn’t have the draft skills that Meaghan does, but she is certainly a threat to finish in the money.

And not to be forgotten is Kim Caton, whose 11th place finish at PC Indy was simply outstanding. She’s slipped in the rankings for the moment, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she takes it to Amsterdam and walks away with another Top 20 finish.


OTHERS TO LOOK OUT FOR

Here is a brief list of other people to look out for at PC Amsterdam. These are the players who are most likely to contend for the top prizes.

1) Alex Tennet
-10th in Constructed, 164th in Sealed Pack
-Winner, $10K So Cal
-Top 8, $10K Columbus

He took the Marvel vs. DC tournament at So Cal, and his ranking says it all. Most of the people I’ve been chatting with over the last couple of weeks have named Alex as a favorite, and with his skill, there is no doubt why.

2) Josh Wittanen
-22nd in Constructed, 63rd in Sealed Pack
- 4th, $10K WWT
- Top 4, $10K Vegas
- 2nd, $10K Los Angeles
- Top 8, $10K Chicago

On a scale with Richard Edbury and Hans Höh, Wiitanen is only the third player to place in the Top 4 of three straight $10K events, and he almost tied Edbury’s streak of four straight last weekend at Chicago.

Josh is a perennial favorite. He simply keeps winning and winning and winning, and the only players who seem to be able to beat him are at the absolute top of their games. I have no doubt that he will threaten the Top 8 in Amsterdam.

3) Tim Batow

-35th in Constructed, 13th in Sealed Pack
-Top 4, $10K So Cal
-Winner, $10K Vegas
-Top 8, $10K Chicago

Tim is a brilliant deckbuilder and a player who has really come on strong over the last couple of months. He could have placed first in the Marvel bracket of the $10K at So Cal if not for a plane reservation that he couldn’t miss. His Sealed Pack skills are tops, and he has the combined skills to wreck the field.

4) Antonino De Rosa
-278th in Constructed, 5th in Sealed Pack
-3rd, PC LA
-Top 8, $10K Orlando

De Rosa is a thinker, as I found out while covering his quarterfinal match against Paul Sottosanti at PC So Cal, the longest match in the history of this game. It’s easy to see why he’s been successful at Magic, and he’s used that skill and success to make him one of the top Vs. players in the world today. He, along with fellow TOGIT players, took the rogue X-Stall deck and placed three players in the Top 8 at PC So Cal, much to the amazement of the rest of the field. No other team has been able to match that kind of success at any level, and I fully expect De Rosa to lead the charge at Amsterdam, too.

5) Mark Slack
-15th in Constructed, 41st in Sealed Pack
-2nd, PC LA

Runner-up in an excruciatingly close mirror final at So Cal, Mark will surely pick up the slack (sorry . . . couldn’t resist!) and take it to the next level at Amsterdam. He has proven himself in both formats and has the skill to get himself back into the Top 8.

6) Mike Dalton
-17th in Constructed
-2nd, $10K So Cal

As the winner of the Marvel bracket at $10K So Cal, it took every ounce of Alex Tennet’s Brave and the Bold deck to take his Sentinels down. Mike is one of the wiser players on the circuit and is sure to make waves no matter what he is playing. Watch for him on the leader board.

7) Jason Hager
-33rd in Constructed, 224th in Sealed Pack
-2nd, $10K Columbus

His Evil Medical School deck deserves a mention, as it launched Hager into the spotlight. Solid deckbuilding skills and a fair ranking in Sealed Pack show that he has a decent shot at the top.

8) Michael Jacob
-47th in Constructed, 212th in Sealed Pack
-Winner, $10K Chicago

I couldn’t let his win at Chicago last weekend go by without a mention. Like Hager, he too has a solid ranking in both Constructed and Sealed Pack, and his Mutant Nation build at Chicago shows his ability to pilot underdog decks to the top of the pile. He’s an outside shot, but good for a strong showing.


FEARLESS PREDICTIONS!

My predictions for the Top 8, in alphabetical order:

Tim Batow, Mike Dalton, Antonino De Rosa, Rich Edbury, David Fielder, Hans Joachim Höh, Dave Spears, and Gabe Walls.

Darkhorse Picks: Neil Reeves, Dean Sohnle, Josh Wiitanen, and Tim Willoughby.

Finals: David Fielder vs. Dave Spears in an all-Dave thriller!


Also known by his screen name Kergillian, Ben Kalman has been involved in the Vs. community since day one. He started the first major player in the online community, the Vs. Listserv, through Yahoo! Groups, and it now boasts well over 1,300 members! For more on the Yahoo! group, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Marvel_DC_TCG.