One thing I can't help but love about the Vs. community is how everyone has the game in common. Even a pudgy, balding, Canadian loudmouth **looks around for an example** can have an informative opinion if you give him a platform from which to debate.

 

It's the sharing of ideas that can allow one to transcend his or her limitations. Are you strong in Constructed but weak in Sealed Pack? No problem; get a teammate to explain what makes a Sealed card good. Finding your Fantastic Fun deck fatally fizzling when it fails to finish your foe? Fear not, your teammates can show you the flaw that leaves you floundering. We learn from one another, and through building that base of knowledge, we become better players. Rule #2:

No one can beat the system alone.

 

You can be possessed of Leander's talent, Jones's poise, Sohnle's deck knowledge, and the USA's understanding of draft in the 60s, but without a little help from your friends, you aren't going to accomplish squat in the big leagues. Michael Jordan needed someone to pass him the ball and Barry Bonds needed someone to drive in, and the bad news for you loners out there is that Vs. is no different.

 

Over on vsrealms.com, artsy, beatnik, hockey goon Rian Fike is directing traffic in a sometimes silly, entirely entertaining thread called “Team Stat Center” whose primary purpose is the glorification of Team Realmworx. While the system he employs to show their superiority is skewed in their favor, when one reads between the lines it's easy to see that this thread illustrates my above point: there's strength in numbers.

 

Looking at our just completed Top 4, we see that Adam Bernstein worked diligently with Gabe Walls, Nick Little, Neil Reeves, et al. Jason Hager has a strong core of playtest partners when they aren't harping on the message boards. Mike Barnes is tight with Shane Wiggins, Tim Batow, and the rest of the Oklahoma boys, and Antonino DeRosa is a member of TOGIT. They defeated Alex Shvartsman of team KGB, Ryan Jones and Vidi Wijaya of Realmworx, and Hans Höh, who works in unison with the rest of the German professionals. That's eight for eight in well established brain trust set-ups.

 

More proof?

 

 

Getting the idea?

 

We each bring to the table our own mindset based on the knowledge we've collected and the experience we've accumulated, but only by comparing notes with players of similar caliber can we expand ourselves beyond the limitations of individual thought. Whether you're misunderstanding the metagame, underestimating a card for Sealed play, or not fully appreciating a deck's nuances in a particular matchup, it's virtually impossible to escape one's own mindset. Without outside interference, we keep repeating our mistakes and not seeing them for what they are.

 

Fundamentally, the strength of teamwork comes from the ability to capitalize on individual strength. Player A can build decks with the best but isn't the strongest player, and player B isn't the creative deckbuilding type but can play the heck out of those Vs. cards. Separately, they're each going to be solid, but together they'll be a force. A shares the deck tech with B, B teaches A the matchup nuances, and both are better for the information exchange.

 

If the benefits stopped there, that would be reason enough for one to get organized, but they go beyond. There's something inspiring about having friends nearby watching out for you. Something uplifting in knowing that a teammate is going to be sad for you when you lose, empathic to your missing drops 3 through 5, and happy when you win. Those at the site will tell you that there was no louder cheer than the one heard when De Rosa was announced for the final spot in the Top 8. That kind of love has to be inspiring, and the relationship has to be reciprocated. Next time Antonino approaches a PC, he's going to remember, and as a result he'll work with the full knowledge that his efforts will pay off not only for him, but for his teammates as well.

 

That's what we call inspiration.

 

Without teammates, Antonino couldn't have developed his decklist. Without teammates, he wouldn't have gotten the practice he needed to thrive and survive. Without teammates, he'd have had no one to lift his spirits after a tough loss, no one to bounce deckbuilding ideas off of, and no one to celebrate with when it all paid off. Without teammates, Antonino would be nothing . . . at least from a gamer's point of view.

 

First and foremost, Vs. System as a game is strategic. We choose our cards, we play our cards, we use our cards to trump opposing cards. But with all that in mind, you can't underestimate the social nature of the game. You can't play by yourself—there's no game without an opponent and the truth is this: you'll have no game without someone to learn from.

 

How does this all relate to my New York performance? In a month, I went from hardly knowing what formation was to pulling off five wins in the Pro Circuit before being eliminated by my sixth loss. For a star of the game, this would be a disappointing experience, but for an observer of the game, it was a huge leap in the right direction. It not only signified my emergence as a player but as a writer, as the experience will undoubtedly allow me a better understanding of the Vs. player mentality.

 

Had I made Day 2, any success I'd have found there would undoubtedly have been a direct result of TOGIT teachings from the days leading up to the tournament. Cards that were suggested to me by Jason Grabher (but I hardly even know her!) Meyer led directly to wins that I might not have gotten without them, and the fun I had that pushed me to play that final match after being eliminated from the possibility of Day 2 undoubtedly would have been absent were there no one to high five and complain to when things inevitably went so askew. Colleagues make the experience, but more than that, they make the experience possible. You can't do it without them.