Marvel Universe Team Preview: Odds and Ends . . .
Welcome back to this, the final Marvel Universe Team Preview here on VsSystem.com. It’s been a long nine weeks, brother and sisters. Are you guys ready for some Marvel Universe next week? I know I am, but first, I’ve got a few things to say . . .
Almost There: Final Thoughts from the Creative Team
Ben: Wow, guys, this has been so much fun! Nine weeks of previews, fan votes . . . thanks for making me feel like I really belong, you know? Thanks for the memories!
Billy: This isn’t your farewell address, TBS.
Andrew: Hey, uh, does this mean I don’t have to be in another one of your dumb articles till Evolution?
Hump: Yeah, I’d like an answer to that question.
All Good Things . . . Must Continue!
TBS started the final week of previews with a pair of lovely 8-drops: one on the Vs. System Facebook page and the other over on VsSystem.com. Loki plays with the idea of randomness and acts as a natural foil to the previously spoiled Thor, Donald Blake. Fin Fang Foom, on the other hand, is a horse of a completely different color. This guy just screams, “TURN 4 KILL!” But obviously, it’s not as easy as all that. Losing all of your resources and characters means you must win on turn 4 (unless you can figure out a crafty way to push the game to turn 5 with your board still intact) or face the indignity of concession. Ouch.
Tcgplayer.com revealed the newest member of the RFG Club, Richard Rider, Nova Centurion, Keeper of the Worldmind. At first glance, you may want to team him up with Weapon Omega, but then, Michael Pointer already has a best pal in Beta Ray Bill. Hmm, what to do . . . Ah, maybe once the new Ultimates exclusives start rolling out, a brand new deck type may crop up that’ll just beg for this latest version of Richard Rider to top out their curve.
Next up, Vs. System Yahoo Group debuted Death, The Second Force of the Universe. Why is she the “Second Force”? Mayhap a little research is in order. Also, a little tease for the “cosmic” fans: Death KO’s a character, right? Well, we made another 10-drop with the complementary ability of recovering a character. Can you guess who that character is?
Later in the week, Vsskillze.com spoiled the ultimate legend enabler, a plot twist we like to call Carrying the Torch. I’m sure this one sent the Vs. Blogosphere into a tizzy. Sure, you have to play the legend in your deck to get the benefits of this card, but—wait, shouldn’t you always be playing the legend in your deck? Seems to me that Carrying the Torch cheats uniqueness, in a roundabout way.
Finally, Pojo previewed one of the final cards of the season with My Name Is Peter Parker . . . This card seems perfect for legend and combo decks that really need to keep that one key character around, turn after turn.
Ben: You guys think Foom will see play at Worlds?
TCGplayer: I’m pretty sure we’ve already figured out a half dozen broken combos with his name on them.
Kergy: Question? Will we ever see the “First Force of the Universe”?
Vs Skillze: So, is this there a Punisher with identity or version “Captain America,” or . . .
Pojo: Obviously, they saved the best for last, guys.
Billy: We sure did.
Ben: Hey, are you talking about that thing?
Billy: Shhh.
The Legacy of Legacy
As TBS hinted at in his article this week, Marvel Universe will see the return of legacy content. How much legacy content? Well, if we don’t count the Negative Zone and the Illuminati sections, then legacy and unaffiliated content runs from MUN-246 to MUN-292. I know you guys want a couple of final spoilers, but seriously, we’ve given away so much information over the last few weeks, I’m not sure what’s in or out of the bag at this point. The set releases next week, so I’m sure you can all sit tight and hold on till then. Moving on . . .
Running Away Is Serious Business
“He’s right behind me, isn’t he?”
Ben: Hey, did we put them in this set or the next?
Billy: I don’t know. Who are the Runaways again?
Ben: Ah, whatever. I’m sure we’ll get to them eventually . . .
Marvel Universe Q&A, Part 2
A few weeks ago, I started a couple of threads over on VsRealms and TCGplayer.com asking you, the players and fans, to post your questions and comments about Marvel Universe and the future of Vs. Hump and I didn’t get to all of your questions last week, so joining me this week to finish things off with a bang is the man, the myth, the legend in his own mind—“The” Ben Seck!
Ben: Hey, Billy-Boy, thanks for making room for me.
Billy: No problem. You ready to answer some hotly anticipated questions?
Ben: Sure. Where do we start?
Billy: Well, let’s start with my buddy Captain Spud from VsRealms.
Captainspud asks: Has the print run for Marvel Universe been increased to avoid the sell-out that happened with the last two sets, Marvel Legends and DC Legends? Also, did DCL have an alternate foil? Nobody’s found it yet after six months, which leads us to believe that either there isn’t one or it’s such a small change that it’s undetectable.
Ben: The print run for Marvel Universe is a bit bigger than it was for Marvel Legends and DC Legends. We printed a little more than projected distributor volumes, so there should be fewer problems than what we had with the Legends sets. Though I think once people get their hands on the hotness that is Marvel Universe, it might get scarce!
Billy: Yeah, the alternate foil was supposed to be the Multiverse, but it didn’t get foiled separately.
Chroniclebowski asks: Will we see any mutants in Marvel Universe, and will they have traits again? If not now, in Evolution?
Ben: Unfortunately, there are no more traits in the Vs. System world.
Billy: Sad face time.
Dragkonias asks: I know it was decided to make Captain America the "super legend” of the set. I was wondering if you guys had to overcome anything in going through with this. Like, were there concerns that he was too powerful or not powerful enough as far as the legends cards go? Also, if I might ask, did messing around with the super legend give you a better perspective of how it will work in the future?
Ben: Initially, I actually aimed a little too low with the power level of Captain America and his cards. It wasn’t until Yip redesigned him that Captain America reached the power level he is today.
Billy: Hooray! I mean . . . nice try, TBS.
gator7870 asks: The last couple of sets, and what we have seen from this one, look amazing. How much time did you guys spend playtesting Universe? And have you started playtesting for Evolution, or are you in the design stage for that?
Ben: We usually spend two to three months playtesting a set—with Universe being such a big set, it was even a little longer. We are deep into playtesting for Marvel Evolution, but there is still a lot of work to be done.
nekobat asks: Will we be seeing any legacy content for the Horsemen of Apocalypse affiliation in this set or the next?
Billy: Not in this set, maybe in Marvel Evolution.
Ben: Hey now, definitely in Marvel Evolution.
KaleeshWarrior asks: Out of all the cards in Marvel Universe, which do you feel most exemplifies the concept of "Rocks fall, everyone dies”?
Ben: I think the Infinity Gauntlet exemplifies this to a tea—it’s a card that, when you can pull it off, is a beating in most situations.
Billy: I think Fin Fang is the epitome of falling rocks—if he doesn’t blow up in your face.
CarlosTheDwarf asks: What was the hardest cut to make in this set? And can we expect more Alpha Flight in Marvel Evolution?
Billy: The hardest cut? The rest of Alpha Flight.
Ben: There will be one or two additions to the Alpha Flight roster come Marvel Evolution.
o3_looky asks: Were the Illuminati made to destroy a Warbound deck or does it just look that way?
Ben: There was a definite push to make sure the decks play against each other, so for every Warbound trick, there is an Illuminati answer and vice versa. And don’t think that there is only one way to play each deck!
Billy: Yeah, there’s only one way to win, but there are infinite ways to lose.
Orange_Soda_Man asks: Any chance there will be trophies at Worlds? Will we be able to exchange point cards and/or buy MAA cards at N.Y. or Worlds? Specifically, Infinites? Also, what was your favorite card to design in this set and why?
Ben: There will definitely be trophies at Vs. Worlds.
Billy: While there is will be no opportunity to exchange point cards at Mega Weekend New York or Vs. Worlds, there may be MEX/DCX/MAA/MUL promos at various events.
Ben: My favorite team design is the Illuminati, but if you are after an individual card, I think my favorite is Thing, Conscientious Objector. It’s not the most powerful card out there, but it’s cool and thematic. Another cool one is Blade, Independent Contractor—he can destroy vampires with his power!
Billy: I had the most fun figuring out how to structure the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. teams. As far as individual cards go, I really like how Ultron, Ultron Prime turned out. Oh, and the new Sentry. Heh.
t_man asks: Is Marvel Universe going to be a rare-heavy set for deckbuilding? Are the poor schmoes like me going to be able to put together a semi-consistent deck from just two or three boxes? Thanks!
Ben: There are good cards at all rarities. Generally we don’t try and put rarities according to power level, but often “constructed” outputs are rare, such as search and direct stun.
Billy: Just steal, er—trade for the cards you need with your friends.
tee7795 asks: Which team in Marvel Universe was the most difficult, from a design prospective, to create and to make playable? On the flip side, which was the easiest to create? How much did the extra time in development help with this set?
Ben: The most difficult to “re”-design was Crime Lords/Hydra. It was important to link them to the old team, yet it was also important to give them their own identity. The easiest to create was the Warbound team. We came up with the idea pretty early on, and the team kind of built itself. Warbound is definitely one of the coolest teams around. There needed to be extra time for the set for a couple of reasons. First, the set size. Second, we had to incorporate the fan feedback as we were testing. With a set this big, we needed the extra time as it was even more difficult to see the individual card interactions.
Billy: I thought Atlantis was the easiest team to design?
XQHInc asks: Is Black Panther finally at a higher recruit cost than 3? Will BP have some specific equipment? Last, but certainly not least, T’Challa deserves legendary status! Please, if you can, consider a BP Location, some plot twists and multiple equipments that can be equipped simultaneously!
Billy: Yes, he is a 5-drop.
Ben: Does T’Challa really deserve legendary status?
Billy: If everyone were to get as excited about it as XQHInc, then sure!
Valde asks: How soon can we expect a spoiler after the release event? With the shortened time to test between the release and Worlds, the sooner the better. Thanks.
Ben: It depends how fast everyone opens their packs. We usually release a spoiler to certain sources about two to three days after release.
-TK- asks: Will Shi’ar be in Marvel Evolution? How many "legends” there will be in Marvel Universe?
Ben: There are eight legends in Marvel Evolution with two to three mini-legends popping up all over the file. As for the Shi’ar . . .
Billy: Um, wait and see?
Ben: (Whispers) Yes.
William writes: Hey, man, awesome job on making Vs. my favorite TCG of all time. Sometime between the release of Marvel Team-Up and now, my buddies, with whom I play Vs., and I have been stationed at different bases. I’ve gathered another crew that’s willing to get into the game, but the thing is Marvel Legends is nowhere to be found in our area. There was one shop that had a couple of cases, but we’ve already bought them out, and the store is telling us that their distributors no longer have them in stock. Any chance of MVL being reprinted? Even in a limited print? I’m also noticing some websites have sold out of their MUN presales! Is Vs. gaining a larger fanbase or are there other factors at hand?
Ben: There is always a chance at reprints, but to be honest, we are trying more to make sure the new sets are easier to get hold of. The biggest problem is that “starting the printers” is a huge set-up cost, and it’s hard to justify them at the current volumes that we produce Vs. As the Vs. fanbase grows, there might be an option to make the older sets available, either through a reprint, or maybe even some other sort of product.
LessThanCake asks: Any possibility of an X-Statix re-feature or possibly legacy content in the next "X” set? Thanks.
Ben: . . . man.
Billy: Yes, thank you, LessThanCake . . . I am a genius.
vs_savant2 asks: How much Hump could a Humpchuck Hump if a Humpchuck could Hump Chuck?
Ben: Two?
Billy: I would say it depends on how hungry he is. Did you see that pic of the Hump from last week? That was like his third burger of the night!
Well, that just about wraps up this season of previews. Marvel Universe ships next week, and your local gaming stores will be running Marvel Universe Release Celebrations starting the following weekend.
On behalf of the entire Vs. Development Team, I’d like to say thanks for joining us each and every week here at Vs.System.com. I’d also like to give a special thanks to all of our blogger friends out there in Vs. Land. You guys will never know just how much we appreciate you. Thank you. TBS and I will be at Vs. Worlds at the end of the month, and we look forward to seeing you all there. Make sure to come up and say hello since Ben tells me he’s got something special planned for the event. This has been Billy Zonos saying . . .
“Crack a pack!”
Comprehensive Recommended Reading:
- Annihilation Conquest: Book 1-3 HC
- Annihilation: Book 1-2 HC
- Avengers Disassembled: Captain America TPB
- Avengers: The Initiative Vol. 1-2
- Black Panther: Civil War TPB
- Captain America Omnibus Vol. 1 HC
- Civil War TPB
- Civil War: Amazing Spider-Man TPB
- Civil War: Captain America TPB
- Civil War: Fantastic Four TPB
- Civil War: The Road to Civil War TPB
- Civil War: Thunderbolts TPB
- Civil War: War Crimes TPB
- Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways TPB
- Decimation: X-Men - Son of M TPB
- House of M HC
- Hulk: WWH - Incredible Herc TPB
- Incredible Hulk: Planet Hulk TPB
- Incredible Hulk: Prelude to Planet Hulk TPB
- Iron Man Vol. 1-3
- Mighty Avengers Vol. 1: The Ultron Initiative HC
- New Avengers Vol. 1-7
- New Avengers: Illuminati TPB
- New Thunderbolts Vol. 1-3
- Omega Flight: Alpha to Omega TPB
- Secret Invasion
- Secret War TPB
- She-Hulk Vol. 5: Planet Without A Hulk TPB
- Silent War TPB
- Super-Villain Team-Up: Modok’s 11 TPB
- The Hood Volume 1: Blood From Stones TPB
- Thor, Vol. 1 HC
- Thunderbolts Presents: Zemo - Born Better TPB
- Thunderbolts Vol. 1-2
- Thunderbolts: Guardian Protocols TPB
- Wolverine: Enemy of the State Vol. 1-2
- World War Hulk TPB
- World War Hulk: Front Line TPB
- World War Hulk: Marvel Universe TPB
- Young Avengers Vol. 1-2
Oh, hey! I didn’t forget. Last week, I said I’d have two to three final previews for you, and being a man of my word, here they are:
