Some world-shattering events have occurred in the recent history of the Marvel Universe. Hulk is back in town—and this time he’s brought a team. The storyline of Planet Hulk and World War Hulk (which will be illuminated in Billy’s flavor article later this week) will give you a better idea of how this team and their plot twist fit into the overall structure of the universe. But I’m here to preview some cards, so let’s get started!
Something Borrowed, Something Green . . .
Hulk never really got his due in the Vs. System. There. I said it. Having appeared only a handful of times, he’s never really been the absolute headliner to any team (I don’t really count the Defenders, as they’re more Dr. Strange’s posse). This isn’t to say that Hulk hasn’t had his share of cards. He’s had a fair few:
But when he returns with Marvel Universe, he’ll almost double the amount of character cards that he can play. Why so many Hulks? Well, this time, he’s borrowing a theme that has been very popular for many years, but hasn’t really seen a lot of play lately—the Warbound. The Warbound will highlight a loner strategy, which as a mechanic, hasn’t been seen since the X-Statix from the Marvel Knights expansion. But this isn’t your father’s one-man gang.
Something Angry, Something MEAN!
This Hulk is going to smash puny humans (as well as robots, ninjas, pirates, and aliens). But as interesting and powerful as this Hulk is, the exciting part of the strategy is that you have the opportunity to drop a Hulk at every drop from turn 3 to turn 8—a perfect way to maintain a single character on your board. With a set of character-specific cards (i.e., Legend cards), as well as some nifty tricks from some of the other Hulks, you’ll find that this jolly green giant will be important enough to keep hanging around.
Wife Swap
What if you want more companions around than just Hulk? Doesn’t he need some friends? The whole Planet Hulk storyline involves Hulk earning the respect and trust of his Warbound buddies. One of the warriors that Hulk earned the respect of was Caiera, a lieutenant of the oppressive Red King. That respect soon turned to love (sounds like a movie of the week), and soon these comrades in arms were married. But let’s forget all that mushy stuff and get to the crux of this preview. Within the context of the team, the Warbound increase the power of Hulk. Each of them would die for their Green King, and in doing so they make the Green Goliath even stronger, until, eventually, he becomes the “strongest one there is”! More importantly, Caiera gives Hulk an important power in a loner deck, a Spin Doctoring–style ability to attack twice and ensure that the opponent’s side of the play area remains manageable.
It’s important that Caiera’s power (and all the other Warbound Hulk–bonded powers) last for the duration of the game. You can’t turn this power off, and crucially, they are present for any Hulk you might play later, even if you replace an earlier version of the Gamma Rager.
That’s it for me, but that won’t be all you see from the Green Machine this week:
- “The Ring Has Chosen” podcast (http://www.vsrealms.com) will highlight a Hulk-legend plot twist that will make Hulk angry—and you won’t like it when he gets angry!
- “Fizzle Me Sexy” (http://fizzlemesexy.wordpress.com/) shows the top end of the Hulk-as-a-loner strategy with a version of the Hulk that lives up to the name “Worldbreaker.”
- In “It’s a Vs. Life” (http://www.onyxweaponvs.blogspot.com/), Aaron Mead, a runner-up in the Hero of the Month contest, shows why Hulk really is the “strongest one there is.”
- And finally, Ben “Kergillian” Kalman’s Vs System Yahoo Group (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Marvel_DC_TCG/) will premier a Hulk-based location that allows you to mimic one of Dr. Doom’s premier plot twists—every turn!
That’s not all! I’ve created a Vs. System Facebook page to complement the Myspace page that we’ve launched. It will have important event information, as well as some cool tidbits and inside information. At the end of each preview week, I’ll post all the cards that have been previewed in the Photos section of that site. To make this page a little extra special, I’m going to put up a free Hulk preview. You can find the site here. Please add your Vs. friends (heck, invite your enemies too!).
Until next week, when a multimillionaire playboy takes over!
Good games,
TBS