Rugby League is a big game over here in Australia, predominately in Sydney and Brisbane. This has led to a rivalry between the two cities, and a yearly best of three competition. The competition isn’t between the cities themselves, though. Rather, it’s between the two states that those 2 cities are a part of—New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland (QLD). When it comes to Rugby League, there is nothing bigger. There have been players who have stated that they would give up playing for their country because they wanted to be selected for State of Origin.

What has this got to do with Vs.? Well, just like Rugby League, there was a State of Origin: Team Sealed event. Each team had to consist of three players, all whom had to be currently living in the state they were playing for. Each team received sixteen boosters of Avengers from which to build three decks. The Swiss rounds of the team event happened on Friday at the very popular Card Heaven. The finals will be played on Sunday. Contrary to the real State of Origin, there were more than two teams playing. Teams came from Brisbane (QLD), Sydney (NSW), and Melbourne (VIC) to represent their state. They were there for pride, for glory, for fame . . . but most of all, for bragging rights!

The Swiss rounds were played one Friday, with eighteen teams contending to take home the glory. Five rounds were played, and the atmosphere was very exciting and very casual. People were just having fun, and didn’t care if they lost.

After the five rounds, there were two teams at the top of the standings, and they were:

One, Two, Three, Four (NSW): Minga Wong, Scott Hunstad and Paul Van der Werk.
Bonus Round (VIC): Michael Bonus, Anthony Macali and Anthony Murrey.
These two teams will meet on Sunday and show their team draft skills.

Credit has to go out to Chris Zantides, who made this event possible. The feedback from the tournament indicated that it was a lot of fun, and the players would dearly love to see it become a regular event. The only thing they would like to see changed is the use of less packs; ideally, twelve packs is enough to make three competitive decks.