Vs. System has a Wikipedia entry that documents the collective history, happenings, and workings of our favorite card game. You can check out articles on various websites dedicated to the struggles of our cardboard super heroes and super villains. Metagame.com offers in-depth analysis and coverage of every Vs. System Championship and noteworthy tournament to grace the face of this Earth. We have databases with collections of decklists and online, simulated play. There are pictures of events and digital photos of cards selling on eBay. Maybe one day you will flip through one of your 500 channels on satellite television and tune in to the match highlights of a Pro Circuit Championship on ESPN X. Until then, I look to offer you one of the most fun and enjoyable media presentations of this great game: This Year in Vs. System 2006!

The Kingpin has brought you lessons with crack theories, migraine-inspiring statistics, and dry wit. Thus, my readership certainly deserves a little holiday treat. Rather than struggle through a series of formulas and mathematic notations, I thought you might like one professional player’s take on the categorical standouts of 2006. The following article contains my lighthearted attempt at a virtual awards ceremony. While there may be no actual benefit to making such a list, it will certainly provide you with a chance to remember some of the year’s highlights and recap some of the game’s greatest moments.

In December 2005, we saw the release of Justice League of America. DJL deserves to fall under the scope of 2006 judging because of the amount of tournament play it had over the course of last year. In contrast, it would be impossible and irresponsible to include Legion of Super Heroes. It won’t be tournament legal until December 29, and so will be dealt with next year. Over the course of this year, we also saw the release of X-Men, Infinite Crisis, and Heralds of Galactus. Each set brought a variety of new teams, card effects, and keywords to spice up the various Ages of competitive tournament play. We saw the advent of Mutants, backup powers, the return of cosmic, and cards that would seemingly forever shape the terrain of professional card flipping. There were new takes on recruit costs and dual affiliations. I had more fun with the aforementioned set than almost any other set ever made. It was great to draft, offered excellent additions to the Constructed environment, and lured deckbuilders into various types of builds.

Without further ado, here is the Kingpin’s take on the 2006 tournament season.

Best Common: There are several cards that deserve honorable mention for the best common of 2006. There are a myriad of characters from multiple affiliations, some solid plot twists, and cards from starter decks, but the standout common card is Slaughter Swamp. No card had the synergy and impact of Slaughter Swamp. The Swamp saw play in every Championship event in 2006 and made an appearance at a rate of nearly ten times more than the next closest common card.

Best Uncommon: There was a close race for the title of Best Uncommon over the course of the last four sets. The Phantom Stranger, Wandering Hero is gently changing the face of the game and will have an impact in future play. Ahmed Samsarra, White King is a personal favorite that shaped the Modern and Silver Age formats. Black Panther, King of Wakanda was used and abused. But the best uncommon card of 2006 is the staple of the Fate Artifact package Dr. Fate’s Tower. Some of the best decks in the Modern and Silver Age formats packed the equipment-searching Tower, inspiring tricks with Deadshot, Floyd Lawton; synergizing with Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose; and fueling the early game Fate-up. In terms of tournament impact, the Tower takes the prize.

Best Rare: Enemy of My Enemy rang in as the heavyweight champion of the world in 2006. It was played in every tournament format, found its way into all of the Championship decklists, and changed the way we played the game. There were notable runner-up cards like Professor X, Headmaster; Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose; and Deadshot, Floyd Lawton. A strong contender was also found in Straight to the Grave, but the outstanding attributes and utility of EoME brought top honors.

Best Deck: There were several decks that popped up as professional player favorites during the 2006 tournament season. Good Guys (JLI / JLA) found its way into most $10K events, featured in Top 8 play multiple times, and pumped its way into the money at multiple Pro Circuits. The TDC stall deck capitalized on some of the best Golden Age cards, while the X-Mental deck and Squadron no-hand decks wrecked opponents early in the year. There were creative and subsequently banned decks that are now disqualified from contention. There was one deck type that brought multiple Top 8 berths and our first undefeated $10K Champion. Variants of the Checkmate / Villains United deck carried many players to very high finishes. In a very close race, the nod goes to the location-toting king of 2006.

Best Tricks: There was some pretty great synergy between various cards played at the professional level this year. We saw some infinite loops, some subsequent bannings, the discard deck, and a plethora of great cards that facilitated great combos and stylish tricks. I think that any time you use Professor X to abuse Puppet Master, you are on your way to great play. We found a White King searching for Fate’s Tower while Jester was stealing equipment cards, the Black Panther was trying to burn us out, and people found some reasonable uses for free characters. But the best trick of 2006 would seem to be the effective use of Dr. Light, Master of Holograms; Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose; and Deadshot, Floyd Lawton. This package allowed players to eliminate some of the most outstanding 3-drop characters when 3-drop characters were very important in the metagame. You can find this package in multiple Top 8 decklists across several Pro Tour events. These three characters in concert earn the Trick of the Year title for ’06.

Best Affiliation: Although I had not known them before playing the game, the Secret Society offered players a new style of deck, great cards in Sealed and Constructed play, and game-breaking effects. Cards like Straight to the Grave; Gorilla Grodd; Lex Luthor, Criminal Genius; Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster; Slaughter Swamp; and other related cards made this faction a fan favorite. The Society played a role in every PC and offered players multiple ways to find tournament success. They get my vote for the best single team of 2006.

Best Extended Art of 2006: There were several cards that revealed an extensive view of the card art over the last tournament season. The judging for best Extended Art was somewhat complicated by the release of the Gallery Packs and the impressive prizes handed out at the Sneak Preview tournaments. Some of our Origins favorites made their way to the Extended Art view, quality rares were further revealed, and collectable classics were super-sized. In the end, the nod goes to the Extended Art version of Straight to the Grave. The card is very rare, has outstanding art, and remains one of the most played cards in the game.

Best Professional Team 2006: This tournament year is known as the Year of the Pro Team on the Chinese calendar. Some of the classic pro teams continued to flourish (Your Move Games, FTN), while some new powers were born (The Donkey Club, Team Alternate Win Condition). The boys from Boston took the prize for $10K victories with the first ever Team $10K and an individual $10K. TAWC took a relatively small roster and earned two Top 8 spots in its first year. The Donkey Club fielded some of the most impressive decks and matched Top 8 domination with the best of teams. Based on the ratio of team membership and monetary outcomes, the Team of the Year for 2006 is FTN. They brought home a championship and continually landed players not only in the Top 8, but also in the Top 2.

The Best Vs. Writer / Media Personality of the Year: I am partial to the Vs. System media. I am a part of it and love writing articles. I also love reading great articles that improve my game and inform me about the world of Vs. System; I always like Adam Prosak’s take on the fundamentals of the game., and I appreciate the social adeptness of Shane Wiggins and the creativity of Mike Barnes. Those guys from the Fallout Shelter pair with DocX to bring us some well-streamed information, and Stu always works to entertain. Reading across multiple sites and articles, there was a standout writer in 2006 that brought us Draft bibles and set analyses beyond your average writer. Alex Brown is the most referenced and revered Vs. System writer and earned this year’s top honor. Honorable mentions go to the Kingpin and Tommy Ashton’s stylist.

The Kingpin’s Players of the Year: After working through a vast matrix of statistics, ratings, earnings, UDE rankings, and so forth, I have come to some conclusions. There were a ton of top-performing superstars making their mark on the Vs. System walk of fame. We saw Top 8 appearances by many of the game’s best and brightest. We followed fan favorites like Anthony Justice and Billy P. as they took down trophies. There were some shining rookie appearances by new faces, and returns by familiar faces that had been on hiatus. In the end, this was a year where two or three players performed better than any player in the history of the game. Matt Oldaker solidified his standing as a powerhouse with double Top 8 victories. Mike Jacob wrecked the Pro Circuit and $10K events alike with his consistent game play and sharp personality. Adam Prosak finalized his place in infamy by stocking a PC trophy among his multiple $10K trophies. Tim Batow was a consistent powerhouse. David Leader, Gabe Walls, and Ryan Jones all joined the ranks of dual Top 8 finishers. There are likely other champions and strong contenders that rose to the challenge over the 2006 tournament season, but no one stands out in my mind like Vidi Wijaya. Vidi scored back-to-back PC final appearances, brought home the trophy, and earned a money finish at each stop on the tour. Aside from his card-flipping prowess, Vidi tends to be a top-notch competitor with a friendly attitude and an enjoyable disposition. This was definitely his year.

Best Expansion 2006: Picking the best set was tricky. Some sets offered increased power levels. Some cards nearly broke the game, and certain team affiliations were cemented as tier 1 factions. As a player, I am a fan of cards that offer balanced power levels. I like sets that promote variety in the deck types spawned for tournament play. Some sets offered deckbuilders early game beatings, while others allowed the turns to wax into the later numbers. There were cards that fostered control and cards that allowed hyper-aggressive assaults. The fanboy in me likes great comic characters with outstanding effects, money rares, and teams with great tricks. I like synergy and subtlety. Most of all, I love sets that offer tons of playable options.

X-Men brought many players into the game. It was somewhat disappointing that the X-Men cards did not have dual affiliations, as the advent of multiple affiliations really enhanced deckbuilding in this game. Yet there has never been a set that captured the flavor of the comics like the X-Men cards did. Mutant abilities gave the set an added layer of complexity by allowing Sealed and Constructed builds based on team concepts as well as Mutant power groupings. From a fan perspective, it was great to see UDE increase the playability of one of the most popular groups of comic super heroes. Most players got into Vs. because they wanted to play with characters like Superman, Spiderman, Batman, and the X-Men. This set gave the fans a chance to generate all kinds of decks. We saw a range of decks from rush (expressed in the Faces of X build) to a much more controlling stall build in X-Mental. The Hellfire Club made a splash in the Top 8 and Enemy of My Enemy was the greatest thing since sliced bread. In the end, this set contributed to the game on multiple levels and really rose to the challenge of research and design necessary to keep this game at the top TCG tiers.

The Kingpin’s School of Hard Knocks is officially out for the holidays. Class dismissed.

Jeremy “Kingpin” Blair (7-drop, TAWC) is a card flipper and student of the game from the Southeastern part of the United States. He is likely housing Vs. System refugees who came to the Orlando $10K and were not allowed to return to their relatives’ homes. Happy Holidays. If you have constructive comments or questions, feel free to contact him at Tampakingpin@yahoo.com.