I’m a big fan of “legend” cards. They represent an important tool to the Vs. System from a designer’s standpoint, because they:
- allow us to create a distinct tier of popular characters over normal characters. It is important that Wolverine is inherently “cooler” than a second-rate character.
- enable a greater power level than is normally allowed. As a game designer, I appreciate how difficult it is to design and develop a game where several key card types basically do not have a resource cost, but merely an opportunity cost.
- encourage players to fill their decks with the legend characters. While the entirety of comic lore may be interesting to fanboys, most players would rather see the popular characters duking it out than Ahmed Samsarra fetching yet another location.
- allow us to represent a character’s power set more accurately. Each card is able to represent an actual power or signature move of the hero (or villain) and ultimately gives more flavor to each legend character.
Compared to team-stamped cards, legend cards give us a lot more action. But when I was faced with the Illuminati, a “team” of legends, how would I be able to represent this while being cooler than merely team-stamped or just “legend-stamped”?
Here is a version of Tony Stark you won’t see in the movies. (By the way, Iron Man was the best super hero movie in a loooooong time. If you haven’t gone to go see it, you are missing out.) Everything looks normal until—hey, wait, what’s it mean to be a “member of the Illuminati”? Let’s have a quick look at the text that will be on the Points card in Marvel Universe!
MEMBERS OF THE ILLUMINATI:
The six members of the Illuminati are: Black Bolt, Dr. Strange, Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, Professor X, and Sub-Mariner, regardless of their versions. To be "different" members of the Illuminati, characters must have different names.
Traditionally, we have grouped characters by team affiliation, but thematically, the Illuminati is a team that has been around for a long time, so why don’t we have a way to have this team already exist? When I first pitched this idea, I wanted to “stealth” in the Illuminati team, because in the comics this was a team that no one (outside of its membership and Black Panther) really knew existed. This implementation would allow deckbuilders to have the entire history of Vs. available to them to build the deck, something that would be much harder to do if we just created the Illuminati affiliation. Also, in Heralds of Galactus and Marvel Team-Up, we hinted at the existence of the Illuminati in the versions of the characters, so it would be clunky and undesirable to have these characters not be able to be put into an Illuminati deck. Finally, it meant that we could make these cards more powerful—there is no team-up to “cheat” having a name (other than characters like Mystique and Basil Karlo ◊ Clayface . . . and a plot twist in Marvel Universe!).
For the sake of being comprehensive, here is a current list of characters who are members of the Illuminati (not counting characters such as Mystique) in the Golden Age format:
Name Version Cost Card #
|
Black Bolt™ |
Illuminati |
2 |
MHG-092 |
|
Black Bolt™ |
King of the Inhumans |
5 |
MHG-093 |
|
Black Bolt™ |
Devastating Decree |
8 |
MHG-094 |
|
Black Bolt™ |
Enemy Within |
1 |
MUN-254 |
|
Black Bolt™ |
Protector of the Space Gem |
3 |
MUN-229 |
|
Black Bolt™ |
Ultimates |
7 |
MUL-??? |
|
Dr. Strange™ |
Stephen Strange |
7 |
MMK-009 |
|
Dr. Strange™ |
Ally of The Four |
6 |
MVL-153 |
|
Dr. Strange™ |
Founding Father |
5 |
MTU-048 |
|
Dr. Strange™ |
Sorcerer Supreme |
8 |
MTU-049 |
|
Dr. Strange™ |
Illuminati |
6 |
MHG-213 |
|
Dr. Strange™ |
Master of the Mystic Arts |
7 |
MVL-111 |
|
Dr. Strange™ |
Protector of the Soul Gem |
4 |
MUN-230 |
|
Dr. Strange™ |
Secret Avenger |
2 |
MUN-010 |
|
Iron Man™ |
Tony Stark |
4 |
MAV-016 |
|
Iron Man™ |
Invincible |
6 |
MAV-015 |
|
Iron Man ◊ Cobalt Man™ |
Avenger in Disguise |
4 |
MAV-097 |
|
Iron Man™ |
Illuminati |
3 |
MHG-138 |
|
Iron Man™ |
Protector of the Reality Gem |
5 |
MUN-231 |
|
Iron Man™ |
Mighty Avenger |
4 |
MUN-095 |
|
Iron Man™ |
Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. |
7 |
MUN-096 |
|
Iron Man™ |
Ultimates |
5 |
MUL-??? |
|
Mr. Fantastic™ |
Reed Richards |
2 |
MOR-055 |
|
Mr. Fantastic™ |
Stretch |
5 |
MOR-056 |
|
Mr. Fantastic™ |
Scientific Genius |
7 |
MOR-057 |
|
Mr. Fantastic™ |
Doom’s Adversary |
4 |
MHG-147 |
|
Mr. Fantastic™ |
Stringbean |
2 |
MVL-170 |
|
Mr. Fantastic™ |
Flexible Thinker |
3 |
MEX-007 |
|
Mr. Fantastic™ |
Critical Thinker |
4 |
MVL-171 |
|
Mr. Fantastic™ |
Dimensional Explorer |
6 |
MVL-172 |
|
Mr. Fantastic™ |
Leader |
7 |
MFF-007 |
|
Mr. Fantastic™ |
Illuminati |
5 |
MHG-108 |
|
Mr. Fantastic™ |
Protector of the Power Gem |
2 |
MUN-232 |
|
Mr. Fantastic™ |
Haunted Genius |
4 |
MUN-102 |
|
Mr. Fantastic™ |
Ultimates |
3 |
MUL-??? |
|
Professor X™ |
Charles Xavier |
5 |
MOR-019 |
|
Professor X™ |
World's Most Powerful Telepath |
7 |
MOR-020 |
|
Professor X™ |
Mental Master |
8 |
MMK-191 |
|
Professor X™ |
Mutant Mentor |
1 |
MMK-181 |
|
Professor X™ |
Illuminati |
7 |
MTU-061 |
|
Professor X™ |
Idealistic Dreamer |
2 |
MVL-023 |
|
Professor X™ |
Headmaster |
4 |
MXM-019 |
|
Professor X™ |
Friend of Mutants |
7 |
MXS-007 |
|
Professor X™ |
Protector of the Mind Gem |
3 |
MUN-233 |
|
Professor X™ |
Mutant Benefactor |
1 |
MUN-276 |
|
Sub-Mariner™ |
Ally of Doom |
7 |
MOR-121 |
|
Sub-Mariner™ |
Namor |
5 |
MXM-213 |
|
Sub-Mariner™ |
Illuminati |
4 |
MHG-150 |
|
Sub-Mariner™ |
Atlantean Monarch |
5 |
MFF-019 |
|
Sub-Mariner™ |
Uncertain Ally |
5 |
MVL-178 |
|
Sub-Mariner™ |
King of Atlantis |
3 |
MTU-067 |
|
Sub-Mariner™ |
Neptune's Fist |
6 |
MTU-066 |
|
Sub-Mariner™ |
Protector of the Time Gem |
3 |
MUN-234 |
|
Sub-Mariner™ |
The Avenging Son |
5 |
MUN-247 |
|
Sub-Mariner™ |
Ultimates |
5 |
MUL-??? |
Back to Iron Man. This version of the multimillionaire shows off the fact that the Illuminati are now custodians of the Infinity Gauntlet, each with an Infinity Gem. The Illuminati will highlight a very heavy control strategy, working in the shadows, and they will show that you don’t always need force to win every fight.
But a team isn’t just made up of characters. We needed to have some cards that tied this group of legends together. How about making it easier to find them?
Utilizing the new plot twist boost keyword, this is six legend cards all in one. With the precedent from Heralds of Galactus and Marvel Team-Up, this card sets up the top of the deck with an Illuminati of your choice, but if you are playing the dedicated deck, you’ll get a Bat-Signal effect.
And finally, when you have a team of legends, it would be remiss not to have a legend-stamped plot twist or location for each of them! Each Illuminati legend has one name-stamped plot twist or location in Marvel Universe (Iron Man has a couple more because he is the designated legend on a highlighted team). Here’s Mr. Fantastic’s addition:
An effect reminiscent of Thinking Outside the Box from the wayback machine of Marvel Web of Spider-Man, this is a power that is very potent, especially if you have a character like Mr. Fantastic, Critical Thinker to ensure that you are definitely getting a card that you need. The 100 Ideas also serves as a way to recover a card that you may have mulliganed at first but you later need in a pinch!
Just to whet your appetite, here are the names of the other Illuminati legend-stamped cards:
Atlantis: Sub-Mariner Location
Essence of Zom: Dr. Strange Plot Twist
Silent War: Black Bolt Plot Twist
Realm of the Mind: Professor X Plot Twist
I’m done here for the week, but the Illuminati week is just getting started:
- The Ring Has Chosen podcast (www.vsrealms.com) premieres one of the most powerful plot twists ever—and it has the same name as an equipment card!
- Steve Garrett (www.the-kamiza.com) shows another powerful Illuminati plot twist that has the potential to shut down some of the most powerful characters.
- Alex Millard at Planet Kalee (http://casualvs.wordpress.com/) finishes this week off with one of the crowning pieces of the Illuminati control strategy.
See you next week, when we’ll delve into the seedy underbelly of secret organized crime.
Good games,
TBS