I’ve decided to hijack Scott’s weekly update for some long overdue self-aggrandizement and to let you know what’s going down next week for the R&D City Champions event. I’ll give you back to Scott next week—after he’s done my homework and baked a few trays of cookies for Vs. R&D.
The Vs. System R&D team has chosen the weapons they will wield in the inaugural R&D City Championships Royal Rumble (you can see that my formative years were affected by professional wrestling). We had a terrific variety of decks to choose from, and we’d like to congratulate all the winners—no, all the players—who made the first wave of City Championships such a success. But only eight decks could be chosen. So without further ado, here are the finalists:
Travis Frazier
“Apokolips Now”
Game Empire, Pasadena, CA
(To be played by “The” Ben Seck)
Characters
3 Malice Vundabar, Female Fury
4 Dark Lantern, Mockery
2 Lashina, Female Fury
4 Dark Firestorm
1 Stompa, Female Fury
4 Darkseid, Apokoliptian Oppressor
2 Dark Superboy, Mockery
2 Darkseid, 8th Century
2 Darkseid, Evil Reborn
1 Dark Kryptonian ◊ Dark Superboy, Mockery
1 Darkseid, Apokolips Now
1 Darkseid, Nemesis
Plot Twists
4 Created from Hate
4 Against All Odds
3 War of Attrition
3 Level 12 Intelligence
3 No Match for Darkseid
3 Flying Kick
2 Big Leagues
2 Mobilize
Locations
3 Planet Weapon
3 Ancient Throne
3 Dark Matter Drain
Darkseid’s Elite resource control was the most successful deck of these City Championships, and as the lead designer of Legion of Super Heroes, I couldn’t help but choose to champion it. It combines some of my favorite aspects of the team with my love for a deck that gains its advantage incrementally. The inclusion of Planet Weapon and War of Attrition was a smart move, especially in the face of the powerful Checkmate-based location decks. Darkseid’s Elite has a terrific game against control decks, and with only one true beatdown deck (Patrick Sullivan’s) in the final eight decks, this deck has a terrific chance of taking the whole thing down. Most control decks take advantage of powerful locations, and Darkseid munches down on the green cards like a vegetarian takes to tofu and lima beans. With this deck and my sterling (and yet somehow tragically flawed) play, look for me at the Top 4 tables of this tournament.
Robert Gallagher
“Mental Hell”
The Gaming Experience, Bakersfield, CA
(To be played by Mike Hummel)
Characters
4 Courtney Ross, Once and Future Queen
1 Hellfire Club Initiate 4 Sage, Tessa 4 Mastermind, Dark Dreamer 1 Hellcat, Patsy Walker 3 Madelyne Pryor, Black Rook 1 Blackheart, Black King 1 Hellboy, Anung un Rama 4 Shinobi Shaw, White King 1 Magneto, Black Lord 1 Donald Pierce, White Bishop 1 Mr. Sinister, Supreme Geneticist 1 Emma Frost, White Queen 1 Sebastian Shaw, Black King
Plot Twists 4 Join the Club! 4 Power and Wealth 4 Army of One 3 Deadly Game 3 Absolute Power 1 War of Attrition 1 A Proud Zinco Product 1 System Failure
Locations
1 Ego the Living Planet
2 Inner Circle 3 Shaw Industries 2 The Hellfire Club 1 Kang Kross-roads 1 Sewer System
1 Slaughter Swamp 1 Soul World
The “Godfather” of Vs. System couldn’t help but smile at the chance to play a deck that combines some of his favorite game aspects from his last lead design, The X-Men. Combining the “one visible character” theme of the Hellfire Club with the card-drawing power of the Mental Mutant trait, City Championship winner Robert Gallagher added two spicy meatballs to the mix—Hellcat and Hellboy, Anung un Rama—to raise even more Hell than your average demon.
Even though Mike Hummel is now the head of the R&D department and in charge of all of R&D’s projects, he still has time to be a terrific Vs. System player and will almost certainly win the whole thing—while at the same time leveling his WoW MMO character and drinking three cups of espresso simultaneously.
Or that’s what he told me to say.
Jason Hager
“D.I. Gauntlet”
Danzig Corridor, Ashland, KY
(To be played by Andrew Yip)
Characters
4 Jaime Reyes ◊ Blue Beetle, High-Tech Hero
3 Jacob Lee, Knight
1 Harvey Bullock, Bishop
1 Retrieval Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, Army
2 Black Thorn, Elizabeth Thorne
1 Sarge Steel, Knight
1 Christopher Smith ◊ Peacemaker, Obsessed Outlaw
4 Ahmed Samsarra, White King
2 Alan Scott, White King
1 Amanda Waller, Queen
1 Maxwell Lord, Black King
1 Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, Army
1 Huntress, Reluctant Queen
Plot Twists
2 Cannibal Tech
3 Mobilize
1 Fate Has Spoken, Magic
Locations
2 Dr. Fate’s Tower
4 Brother I Satellite
1 Checkmate Safe House, Team-Up
3 Checkmate Armory
1 Soul World
2 Brother Eye
1 New Baxter Building
1 Leslie Thompkins’s Clinic
Equipment
1 Time Gem, Infinity Gem
1 Cloak of Nabu, Fate Artifact
1 Amulet of Nabu, Fate Artifact
1 Soul Gem, Infinity Gem
1 Mind Gem, Infinity Gem
1 Helm of Nabu, Fate Artifact
1 Power Gem, Infinity Gem
1 Reality Gem, Infinity Gem
1 Space Gem, Infinity Gem
1 Catcher’s Mitt, Construct
1 Chopping Block, Construct
1 The Infinity Gauntlet
3 Laser Watch
1 Ego Gem
When we heard that The Infinity Gauntlet had won a CC, Heralds of Galactus lead designer Andrew Yip was so pleased that he ran screaming around the office for exactly one minute. After that vulgar display, he couldn’t help but choose to play Jason Hager’s Checkmate-based equipment contraption. Andrew was originally displeased to have this deck diluted by the Fate Artifacts, but since he has found that the deck is extremely difficult to play, he’s decided to go aggressive and Fate up the first King he can lay his hands on. If you happen to notice in the coverage that he never goes for the Gauntlet, please be sure to mock him openly on the forums.
Scott Hamilton
“Albatross”
Your Move Games, Somerville, MA
(To be played by Antonino DeRosa)
Characters
1 Infernal Minions
3 Beetle ◊ Mach I, Reluctant Hero
4 Captain Boomerang, George Harkness
1 Owen Mercer ◊ Captain Boomerang, Digger’s Son
1 IQ, Ira Quimby
1 Melissa Gold ◊ Songbird, Sonic Carapace
4 Lex Luthor, Nefarious Philanthropist
1 David Clinton ◊ Chronos, The Time Thief
1 Speed Demon, Second Chance Speedster
4 Dallas Riordan ◊ Vantage, Ionic Inheritor
2 The Joker, Headline Stealer
4 Scarecrow, Psycho Psychologist
2 Hawkeye, Leader by Example
1 Paul Ebersol ◊ Techno, Man of Metal
1 The Joker, Permanent Vacation
Plot Twists
4 Win-Lose Deal
4 Secret Files
4 Gang-Up
4 All Too Easy
4 Enemy of My Enemy
4 Justice is Served!
4 A Proud Zinco Product
Locations
2 Injustice Gang Satellite
Antonino has long been a fan of finding two teams with similar themes and slamming them together, so Scott Hamilton’s deck was right up his alley. Now, while Injustice Gang hand flood hasn’t set the Vs. Pro Circuit on fire, it has enough potential to entice the former Top 8 competitor to give it a whirl. Unfortunately for Antonino, the deck has been heavily metagamed against the QuickFate menace—it packs four copies of Justice is Served! and four copies of A Proud Zinco Product—a deck that will certainly not be appearing in the tournament. To make matters worse, the aforementioned lack of female characters with “good stats” in this deck could lead to Ant’s concentration wandering during a crucial point in the match, making it hard for the grizzled pro to take this event down.
Micah Robertson
“Spider-Void Zone <The Galactus Factor>”
Bizarro World, Woodland, CA
(To be played by John Fiorillo)
Characters
4 Aunt May, Golden Oldie
2 Galan, Famished
4 Blade, Nightstalker
1 Morg, Slayer
4 Air-Walker, Gabriel Lan
4 Spider-Man, The Sensational Spider-Man
1 Spider-Man, Parasitic Host
1 Richard Rider ◊ Nova, Xandarian Nova Corps
4 Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Harbinger of Death
2 The Fallen One, The Forgotten
1 Spider-Man, Stark’s Protg
1 The Void, Robert Reynolds
2 Galactus, Devourer of Worlds
Plot Twists
2 Kindred Spirits
3 Level 12 Intelligence
3 The Herald Ordeal
4 Enemy of My Enemy
3 Creation of a Herald
3 Gift Wrapped
3 Drink This!
Locations
2 Empire State University
2 Slaughter Swamp
1 Soul World
1 Stark Tower, Team-Up
1 Negative Zone, Shadow Dimension
1 Elemental Converters
Equipment
1 Reality Gem
John Fiorillo grabbed all the City Championship decklists and divided them into two piles. One pile contained decks with Galactus, Devourer of Worlds and the other contained “the rest”. He then set “the rest” aside and divided the remaining pile into another two piles—those decks with a single Galactus and those that had more than one. After this exhaustive process he had his deck choice: Micah Robertson’s Spider-Friends/Heralds of Galactus stall deck. The chance to grind out his opponent through a series of defensive and exhaustion effects was too enticing to John. Most of us in Vs. System central can appreciate the use of Enemy of My Enemy in this deck, and we can almost forgive the inclusion of The Void in the mix. One particularly clever use of cards is the combination of Drink This! and Galactus, Devourer of Worlds to gain 9 endurance in a pinch. The pinnacle, however, is the combination of Negative Zone, Shadow Dimension and The Void to finish off an unsuspecting opponent. I really hope this doesn’t happen, because I couldn’t stand the sight of John high-fiving everyone at UDE.
Kevin Stipek
“Stunning Stipek Skrull”
Atlanta Comicbook Expo, Atlanta, GA
(To be played by Patrick Sullivan)
Characters
4 Lockjaw, Inhuman’s Best Friend
4 Franklin Richards, Creator of Counter-Earth
4 Warskrull, Skrull Infiltrator
3 Wolverine, Skrunucklehead
4 Captain America, Skrull Impostor
4 Ethan Edwards, Visitor from Another World
1 Spider-Man, Spider-Hulk
4 Paibok, The Power Skrull
3 Super Skrull, Kl’rt
Plot Twists
4 Interstellar Offensive
4 Call to Arms
3 Flying Kick
3 Act of Defiance, Team-Up
3 Extended Family, Team-Up
2 Mutopia, Team-Up
3 Lost in Translation
2 No Man Escapes the Manhunters
Locations
4 The Great Refuge
1 Stark Tower, Team-Up
Patrick was licking his lips at the chance to play a beatdown deck in this event—he knew that the one absolute truth in the universe was that only the attack step really counted in Vs. System. So he decided on Kevin Stipek’s Skrull deck, which had evolved with the inclusion of Marvel Team-Up by adding Super Skrull, Kl’rt and a lone Spider-Man, Spider-Hulk to the character roster. There can never be too many ATK pumps for Patrick, though, and he has internally petitioned to swap the Team-Ups and Lost in Translations for some mixture of Blinding Rage, Trial by Fire, Big Leagues, and Busted Knee. Heck, Patrick would even settle for four Alien Symbiotes and four copies of Kill or be Killed (to play on Wolverine). He’s just that crazy.
Paul Sung
Hellboy / Checkmate
Eudemonia, Berkeley, CA
(To be played by Matt Hyra)
Characters
1 Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster
4 Kate Corrigan, Folklore Consultant
2 Black Thorn, Elizabeth Thorne
4 Director Bones, D.E.O.
4 Ahmed Samsarra, White King
1 Professor Bruttenholm, Father
1 Christopher Smith ◊ Peacemaker
4 Hellboy, Anung un Rama
4 Abe Sapien, icthyo sapien
1 Johann Kraus, Free Spirit
1 Maximus the Mad, Mental Manipulator
1 Huntress, Reluctant Queen
1 Hellboy, The Right Hand of Doom
Plot Twists
4 Enemy of My Enemy
4 Pancakes!
4 Break Off the Horns
4 Knightmare Scenario
Equipment
2 Knight Armor
There was no doubt that Hellboy Essential Collection designer Matt Hyra was going to choose a B.P.R.D.-based deck—it was just a matter of which one. In a ruthless move, Matt chose the deck that paired his pet team with the most powerful team in modern times, Checkmate. I have yet to see the alpha gamer in Matt appear so obviously, so there might be a chance that Mr. Hyra is itching to get a little angry. And if what I’m led to believe is correct, you wouldn’t like Matt when he’s angry. (He gets very red in the face and eats all the donuts.)
Patrick Yapjoco
“Waffles!”
Comic Cult, Norwalk, CA
(To be played by Dave Humpherys)
Characters
10 Shadow Creatures
1 Qwardian Watchdog
4 Quagmire
4 Black Cat, Nine Lives
4 Punisher, Frank Castle
4 Kiman
2 Valentina Vostok ◊ Negative Woman, Bishop
1 Terrax, Harbinger of Ruin
1 Madelyn Pryor, Goblyn Queen
1 Aquaman, King of the Seven Seas
1 Dormammu
1 The Void, Robert Reynolds
Plot Twists
4 Enemy of My Enemy
4 What Are Friends For?
3 Level 12 Intelligence
Locations
4 Qward
4 Empire State University
3 Slaughter Swamp
2 Birthing Chamber
2 Negative Zone
Finally, we have Dave “The Hump / DaHump / Grumpherys / Danny Mandel’s BFF” Humpherys. After fruitlessly trying to find a viable X-Mental deck among the City Champions’ decklists, the team’s most “cerebral” player decided to go a little off the wall by choosing Patrick Yapjoco’s “Waffles,” a deck that takes advantage of almost every -DEF power in the entire format. The Vs. System lead developer and Bad Boy of Ten-Pin Bowling is one of the most technically proficient players in R&D, but it comes at the expense of speed—we expect the tournament to end about a week after it starts should he advance to the finals. He does have a Ph.D. in biology, though, which we all hope he uses to create a leaner, speedier, funnier clone of himself that appreciates better music.
So there it is. Next week, you’ll be returned to your regularly scheduled GaetaTV show, where the man himself might give you a little peek at a new way to play Vs. System at your local Hobby League!
Good gaming to all,
TBS |