For the last three Wednesdays before Pro Circuit Indianapolis, we are having a Draft Party in Miami. Doctor Psycho is one of our honored guests. Vs. System has given him his cardboard shoes, and he can dance sideways with the best.

Doctor Psycho started his boogie through the human consciousness in 1943. When DC Comics released their fifth issue of Wonder Woman, she had to tangle with a madman. In the “Battle for Womanhood,” the Duke of Deception convinced Dr. Psycho to twist the minds of all the male citizens. He filled them with an uncontrollable fear of females. Although some men still harbor this illusion, Wonder Woman defeated it soundly over sixty years ago.

In recent myths, Doctor Psycho has been involved closely with Kate Spencer ◊ Manhunter. Kate is a lawyer by day, and she has been the ongoing star of DC’s Manhunter series throughout the first half of 2006. She has struggled with a disgusting responsibility: she was assigned to the defense of Dr. Psycho in court. Kate’s job requires her to argue for his release, even though she knows the evil of which he is capable.

The court system developed a way to dampen Dr. Psycho’s mental slavery tricks until he got angry. One night in jail, the little loony got a telepathic visit from Talia, Beloved Betrayer. She told him that he was going to be the fall guy in the latest Secret Society plan. They wanted him to allow himself to be convicted and remain in jail so that all the super heroes could be lulled into a sense of security. Dr. Psycho did not approve.

The insane anger that exploded through his skull got the power flowing. Dr. Psycho went mad again, and he could impose his hallucinations with precision. He sent Kate Spencer a beautiful imaginary bouquet of flowers. She opened the card to see who they were from and was instantly swept into an elaborate fantasy, fully real. She was Wonder Woman. She was a complete slave at the whim of an emperor, in public. She was at the center of a giant arena. Dr. Psycho was deciding her fate.

Kate Spencer shook off the fantasy and the trial continued. In the climactic conclusion, Dr. Psycho took control of all the minds in the courtroom. It seemed he even had his mental grips on Kate herself. He made her change into her Manhunter outfit and he tried on her mask for a laugh. Then he made her give him a passionate kiss. She proceeded to rip his tongue out of his mouth with her teeth. It was a harsh way to find out that the Manhunter had retained her free will. Kate Spencer proceeded to give Dr. Psycho an on-the-spot lobotomy to disarm his powers.

He was still pretty strong in the first draft pod at our party. Our Miami madness includes three former $10K Top 8 finalists, and two of them have been there more than once. We have well over $30,000 in Vs. System prize money in our past, but this Draft Party was formed for the future. Infinite Crisis is the set we will be using in three weeks at Pro Circuit Indianapolis, and it is mad fun to test.

I won the first pod with Villains United, although Doctor Psycho was not the key. The Calculator, Crime Broker added Return Fire! and allowed me to burn for 20 endurance on turn 7 in the first match. I never looked back. I had been able to snag two copies of Systematic Torture, which allowed me to convert my early drops into an unbeatable board advantage later in the game. The KO effect seals the deal against a character full of Fate Artifacts, and the direct endurance loss fuels the fire. This was my hot deck:

Characters

2 Count Vertigo

1 Dr. Psycho, Mental Giant

1 Ishmael Gregor ◊ Sabbac

1 Talia, Beloved Betrayer

1 Dr. Light, Furious Flashpoint

1 Huntress, Earth 2

1 The Calculator, Evil Oracle

1 Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee

1 Alexander Luthor, Insidious Impostor

1 Bizarro, Me Am Bizarro #1

1 Sinestro, Villain Reborn

1 Cheshire, Jade

2 Wonder Woman, Earth 2

1 Dr. Fate, Hector Hall

1 Dr. Psycho, Twisted Telepath

1 Alexander Luthor, Diabolical Double

2 The Calculator, Crime Broker

Plot Twists

2 Systematic Torture

2 Thanagarian Invasion

1 Deflection

1 Grand Gesture

1 Relentless Pursuit

1 Return Fire!

1 Watch the Birdie!

Locations

1 Rann

The Calculator, Evil Oracle proved to be amazing. He kept my hand full of characters so that his later version could fry each opponent to a crisp. I celebrated each time I traded a small character for a stonewalled attack. Especially on Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1 in combination with Watch the Birdie!—bouncing on big Biz breaks backs.

Dorian Cuellar had drafted his pet Power Girl / Alan Scott ◊ Sentinel trick, but it didn’t hit the table. Dave Bauer went risky in the first pod with a Secret Six / Checkmate deck. Milton Figueroa got a full set of Fate Artifacts with two copies of Jaime Reyes for fetching. The toys came at the cost of an awkward late curve, but the deck was still tight work. It looked like this:

Characters

1 Atom Smasher

2 Aspiring Pawn

2 Jaime Reyes ◊ Blue Beetle

1 Sasha Bordeaux, Knight

2 Black Thorn

1 Ted Grant ◊ Wildcat

2 Ahmed Samsarra

1 Amanda Waller

1 Animal Man

1 Richard Tyler ◊ Hourman

1 Hourman III ◊ Hourman

1 Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, Knight

2 Scandal

1 Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype

Equipment

1 Amulet of Nabu

1 Cloak of Nabu

1 Helm of Nabu

Locations

1 Dr. Fate’s Tower

1 Checkmate Armory

2 Checkmate Safe House

2 Brother I Satellite

Plot Twists

1 Knightmare Scenario

This is a fascinating Draft deck. It can get big during the mid-game and finish massively with Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype. It searches and cycles almost as well as a Constructed deck. It brings big beats, even though it only has one plot twist. Infinite Crisis characters have such strong abilities that they are often much more powerful than the blue cards. Especially The Calculator.

I am old enough to remember the introduction of the “personal calculator” into commercial culture in the early 1970s. It replaced the “adding machine,” and it was the size of a shoebox. It cost well over $200 for more than a year when it first hit the market. It also inspired DC Comics to create an intriguing ability for a new super villain. The Calculator was born.

Noah Kuttler began fighting super heroes in the seventies. He dressed like a calculator, and one of his buttons would always “turn defeat into victory” and save him at the last minute. He had the pleasure of battling a whole slew of DC Comics legends. He got to appear in many different titles, and he would always push his magic button at the end. Little did the heroes know, Noah Kuttler was recording all their moves as he fought. A hero he had previously analyzed could never defeat him. He collected so much information about each crime fighter that he knew them inside and out. Soon, he began selling their secrets to other villains. He became a crime broker.

When we sat down to draft our second pod, I decided to force Villains United again. I concentrated on The Calculator and my curve. I forgot to keep track of the blues. I ended up with only seven serviceable plot twists, and I scrubbed the pod pretty badly.

Dave Bauer, meanwhile, had put together a nasty off-curve JSA deck that actually included both Dr. Psycho and Kate Spencer. On turn 7 against Milton, his 4-drop Richard Tyler ◊ Hourman reached an insane 19 ATK and 19 DEF, and the party was on. This was Bauer’s build:

Characters

1 Atom Smasher

1 Cheetah

2 Terry Sloane ◊ Mr. Terrific

1 Dr. Psycho, Mental Giant

1 Kate Spencer ◊ Manhunter

2 Weather Wizard

1 Huntress

3 Michael Holt ◊ Mr. Terrific

1 Batman, Earth 2

1 Dr. Occult

1 Richard Tyler ◊ Hourman

1 Valentina Vostok ◊ Negative Woman

1 Carter Hall ◊ Hawkman

1 Superboy, Earth Prime

1 Superman, Earth 2

Equipment

2 Laser Watch

1 T-Spheres

Locations

1 JSA Headquarters

1 Thanagar

Plot Twists

2 Allied Against the Dark

1 Burning Gaze

1 Deflection

1 Defend Yourself!

1 Justice United

The finish was not exactly terrific for that deck, as Milton had pieced together a “We Three Kings” concoction that took the second pod. Double Maxwell Lord with Threat Neutralized to protect him? Yes, please. Here was our final winner for the first Miami Draft Party of the season:

Characters

2 Black Thorn

2 Sasha Bordeaux

1 Arthur Kendrick

1 Ahmed Samsarra

1 Kendra Saunders ◊ Hawkgirl

1 Michael Holt ◊ Mr. Terrific

1 Batman, Earth 2

1 Harry Stein

2 Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman, Eternal Hero

2 Maxwell Lord, Black King

1 Huntress, Reluctant Queen

1 Superman, Earth 2

1 Black Adam, Ruthless Hero

2 The Phantom Stranger, Wandering Hero

Equipment

1 Knight Armor

Locations

2 Brother Eye

1 Secret Checkmate HQ

1 Checkmate Armory

1 Leslie Thompkins’s Clinic

Plot Twists

1 Allied Against the Dark

1 Knightmare Scenario

1 Revitalize

1 Threat Neutralized

1 Traitor to the Cause

When the party was over, we tested a bit for the Constructed portion of Pro Circuit Indianapolis, but that needs to remain a secret for two more weeks. When I got back to my email box at three in the morning, I found a fabulously fun format to share with you. It came all the way from the other side of the Atlantic.

Ian Vincent may be the reigning Pro Circuit Champion, but he also knows how to party. He and fellow Brit Tim Willoughby have been amusing themselves since DC Origins with a “Two Pack Sealed” format. Here are the rules:

1. Each player’s deck consists of two sealed booster packs from a single expansion set.

2. Players shuffle their decks but may not look at their cards.

3. If a card would allow you to search your deck, do not search instead.

Ian explains further:

Planning ahead is a vital part of Vs. System, and in a familiar Constructed matchup, you have almost all the information you could want. In Two Pack Sealed, you might draw into any card in the set, and that makes it much more difficult. What’s remarkable is that after a few practice games, you'll soon find that you can plan surprisingly well. Loyalty requirements are far easier to satisfy then they first appear, and by keeping the correct characters in hand, you can cope with missing a drop by boosting someone up or playing multiple guys.

The format is a great way to learn how to cope with bad draws and teaches you a lot about Sealed Pack play. It’s also really random, and that makes it a lot of fun.

That’s it! Just grab two packs apiece and play cards. It sounds like good times to me; if we have time after this week’s Draft Party, we will give it a whirl. No, scratch that. Nina and I will try Two Pack Sealed as soon as I stop typing this. I’ll tell you what happens next week.

Rian Fike is also known as stubarnes, and they both love to party. If you have any calculated comments or suggestions, send them to rianfike@hattch.com.