There were no less than five different Faces decks in the Top 8 of $10K Columbus 2006. The archetype was well defined by the incomparable Alex Brown and his Australian mates last year when they perfected the strategy and brought it over to California for Pro Circuit Los Angeles 2005. It seems to shine quite nicely in Silver Age, as well.

The five players who made Day 2 in Columbus with Faces of Evil had each altered their Faces in rather unique ways. As Alex taught us in his Metagame.com articles describing the origins of the deck, “Faces has much more flexibility than other rush strategies, giving it more room to maneuver in unfamiliar scenarios.” We are now discovering that this adaptability allows for drastic swings in individual preference, as well. The variation in the Columbus Top 8 makes for a fascinating study in personal taste when it comes to Vs. System.

The only common choice among the five was the inclusion of four copies of Enemy of My Enemy and the namesake four Faces of Evil. After that, each deck diverged. Loren Nolen and Tillman Bragg employed the expertise of Archangel, Angel to convertX-Corp: Amsterdam into a flurry of Faces. This technique was perfected at Pro Circuit Atlanta, landing both Anand Khare and Brian Gates Day 3 appearances. For the Columbus contest, Loren also added four Flying Kicks and two speedsters for a double swing win condition, while Tillman threw in one Cheetah and a Cannonball for style. Vs. System allows outrageous potential for funky inclusions when it comes to abilities and characters from the comic myths. This tournament proved once and for all that competitive money-winning strategies are not immune to its vast variety.

 

The Kent Farm is a card that sings to many, but few have ever played it when the chips were down. The loveliest of locations will now stand forever in the happiness of a $10K Top 8, thanks to Detective Chimp, Bobo T. Chimpanzee. David Hosley joined Tillman by including The Kent Farm as an adornment to his “Chimp Faces,” and the Tar Heel from the No Quarter Given team actually played with Kandor as well. Team Superman fanatics worldwide have been applauding ever since.

 

David Hosley’s twisted Faces didn’t stop there. Unlike any of the other four decks, he included the wicked tricks of five fan favorites that have not been seen lately at this level of competition. He dusted off the Hounds of Ahab to clear some board space on the other side of the table. He went slumming in The Alley and dredged up Tar Baby and Postman for some murky Morlock action. David risked Major Disaster so he could mess with the opposing resource row, and he burned the competition to a crisp with one of the hottest females on cardboard, Scarlet Witch, Eldritch Enchantress.

Shawn Karnik was one of only two Faces players on Day 2 in Columbus who had four different maxed-out characters. He used the full complement of the traditional cornerstones of Beetle, Armorsmith and Yellowjacket, Rita Demara alongside four copies each of the pretty face of Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose and the masterful ability of Dr. Light, Master of Holograms. He also got unique by including a hot copy of Melter and a cool character named Blizzard, Donny Gill. The varied temperature of these five decks will shatter any sense of competitive normalcy in your area. Check them out for yourself in the coverage. Seeing is believing.

Okay, I saved the best for last. Remember when I said there was a flood of fabulous females flopping around the Top 8? Well, leave it to the acknowledged genius that is Jason Hager to lay it on thickest when it comes to Faces makeup. He played with the most female characters ever seen on Day 2, and he did it with Teamwork.

Jason Hager ­

“Beauty School Dropout”

Fourth place, $10K Columbus 2006

Characters

4 Vanessa Fisk, Mob Matron

4 Dallas Riordan, Mayoral Aide 

4 Yellowjacket, Rita Demara

2 Surveillance Pawn, Army

1 Mikado and Mosha

3 Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster

1 Terry Sloane ◊ Mr. Terrific, Golden Age Gold Medalist

1 Courtney Ross, Once and Future Queen

1 Lockjaw, Inhumans Best Friend

1 Nenora, Skrull Usurper

1 Beetle, Armorsmith

2 Anti-Green Lantern, Army

1 Wasp, Janet Van Dyne-Pym

1 San

4 Sage, Tessa

3 Shadow-Thief

1 Crystal, Elementelle

1 Madelyne Pryor, Black Rook

1 Kang, Kang Cobra

1 Melissa Gold ◊ Screaming Mimi, Mimi Schwartz

Plot Twists

4 Enemy of My Enemy

4 Faces of Evil

3 Teamwork

1 Act of Defiance

 
Locations

2 Slaughter Swamp

2 Soul World

3 The Hellfire Club

3 Birthing Chamber

Yes, you are reading that list correctly. Hager was hiding his Faces. Not only did he figure out a way to conceal all that power, but he also took it out to dinner at The Hellfire Club for finesse. The most distinguished Donkey Club deck designer played with no less than twenty-five female character cards, including some pretty sick comic book history along the way. Let me tell you the story of Courtney Ross.

The Courtney Ross that graces kitchen tables and Pro Circuit halls is an impostor. Before I explain, I will take her tale back to the beginning. Courtney Ross was created in 1976. She first appeared in “Captain Britain Weekly #3.” She was a wealthy college student when she began to date Brian Braddock, completely unaware of his secret super hero identity. The two had a hot and heavy relationship. Courtney dyed her hair brown and used heavy eye shadow for effect. They remained lovers even when she discovered his alter ego as Captain Britain. Unfortunately, like all super heroes do, Brian soon found himself in a world of trouble. He disappeared completely and left Courtney Ross alone and heartbroken.

Courtney assumed that her man had been killed, so she moved on. She let her natural blonde hair grow out and changed cosmetics. She became a ruthless and successful banker. Her colleagues called her “The Ice Queen.” While he was gallivanting elsewhere, Captain Britain had fallen in love with a young mutant named Meggan. Who wouldn’t? She was covered with soft protective fur and had a metamorph ability that made her body change into whatever was projected onto her by those who looked at her face.

Eventually, Brian Braddock and Courtney Ross bumped into each other again in the city. They were very mature about it, and the former lovers remained friends. Unfortunately for Courtney, it was a friendship that would spell her doom. Since she was once again a bargaining chip due to the continued affection of Captain Britain, Arcade enlisted the Crazy Gang to kidnap and torture Courtney mercilessly. Things got really sick.

In the pages of “Excalibur #4” back in 1989, the Crazy Gang burst into her office while she was remembering a sweet kiss from days gone by. Courtney Ross had no super powers, but she held her own against the Red Queen and her goons. She escaped the building for the safety of a patrol car on the street. It was a trap, and Arcade was waiting inside. He blasted Courtney with a stunning mist and whisked her off to Murderworld.

The first round of torture that Arcade inflicted on his beautiful blonde victim was truly insane. Courtney Ross woke up and realized that she had received a complete makeover. She was dressed in a bunny outfit and painted up properly. She was also tied to a chair. All around her were Murderworld television monitors, and she watched in horror as another unfortunate girl in the same costume and cosmetics was similarly restrained but seated in the middle of a stage in front of an angry audience. When the mob finally gave the “thumbs down,” the lovely lassie was squashed flat with a giant foot.

Courtney Ross was next. Arcade pushed her chair forward and a trap door fell open to plop our pretty heroine directly onto center stage. The crowd responded with a round of throwing knives aimed directly at her head. After dodging the projectiles, Courtney began telling jokes as if her life depended on it. She was really funny.

Winning the audience with her stand-up skills made Arcade angrier than ever. He pushed a button on his desk and Courtney dropped through a chute to yet another sadistic level of Murderworld. Robotic arms changed her into an Alice in Wonderland outfit on the way down. In the meantime, Arcade had captured the members of Excalibur and switched their bodies with those of the Crazy Gang. Poor Courtney suffered through one of the most psychotic Wonderland riffs in history and ended up strapped to a saw table. Nightcrawler had trapped her there, although it was actually Jester inhabiting his body. Courtney Ross slowly moved closer and closer to the giant spinning blade. Then, just in the nick of time, Shadowcat grabbed Arcade and teleported him into his own diabolical creation. Arcade was not satisfied with the idea of Courtney dying on the saw blade, so he set her free for more punishment. She punched him straight in the mouth, but also knocked over a bowl of marbles that made her fall heels over elbows into another trap door.

Splat, she landed in the middle of another stage. This theater was full of animated custard pies. Courtney Ross immediately began singing lead with a band called “Cat’s Laughing.” This was very entertaining for all involved, but there was a battle to be won. Shadowcat had reprogrammed the Murderworld computers, and both the heroes and villains fell into the audience and continued to fight. With the help of Courtney Ross, the body-switching device was used to return everyone to his or her proper spandex. Excalibur defeated the Crazy Gang once and for all, and they lived happily ever after . . . for a few years, at least.

Courtney Ross reappeared one more time in the myths, only to be killed immediately and replaced by a doppelganger. Sat-Yr-9, also known as Saturnyne, was an evil twin from an alternate universe. She coldly turned the real Courtney Ross into dead ashes with a click of the finger on her ray gun. Such is life in the mythos of comic books.

The fake Courtney Ross eventually landed squarely in the middle of Vs. System thanks to The X-Men set. Jason Hager employed the beautiful blonde to help avoid massive direct swings to the face. Since he was hiding most of his characters, he needed a bit of delicious distraction. Now that the cat is out of the bag and a competitive deck with twenty-five fancy females is public knowledge, Faces decks everywhere may need to change their colors in response.

Rian Fike is also known as stubarnes and he loves making funny faces in the mirror. If you have a personal build of Faces of Evil, or some sick makeup tips for Halloween, send them to rianfike@hattch.com.