The lifeblood of a fledgling TCG is the support it gets from its fans. Montreal’s Ben Kalman does his part by heading up the Vs. System’s most popular mailing list: Kergillian’s List.

A gamer from way back, Kalman cut his teeth on D&D before moving up to Magic: The Gathering around the end of Beta. When over $3000 worth of cards were stolen, he understandably took a hiatus from the game, during which time he sampled a ton of other TCGs. His passion, though, is comics, and after the success of HeroClix (a game he loves), he knew a good comic book TCG couldn’t be far behind.

Kalman first got wind of the Vs. System in January, well before it was published. The game had been shown off at Gen Con – San Diego, and Kalman was convinced that this was the game he had been waiting for. A veteran of several online TCG communities, Kalman set about trawling for any and all information he could get about the Vs. System. His efforts were rewarded, and soon he was one of the leading sources of information about the new game. It was then that he established the mailing list, to better distribute his discoveries. He encouraged strategic discussions, fostered the list with contests (the prizes of which came out of his own pocket), and generally made Kergillian’s List something people wanted to be a part of.

Since then, his readership has grown considerably. The biggest boon to his readership is the online presence of UDE’s own Danny Mandel, as well as Omeed Dariani and Jeff Donais, who regularly respond to questions and concerns. Currently, the list boasts 600 active members, and post traffic on a slow week regularly crests 100. With the release of the DC Origins spoiler this weekend, he’s expecting more than five times that number. The list now exists in a “competitive alliance” of sorts with Vsrealms.com, probably the biggest independent site. They share any news they come across, and Kalman even pens a weekly column called “Kergy’s Korner”.

Away from the game, Kalman is wrapping up his Masters degree in English, and has plans to teach at CEGEP, Quebec’s junior colleges. He has also established his own small press, called “Mercutio Press”, for the publishing of poetry and short fiction.