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Revision as of 19:01, 12 January 2011
VS System card back | |
Designers | Matt Hyra, Mike Hummel, Edward Fear, and Danny Mandel |
---|---|
Publishers | Upper Deck Entertainment |
Players | 21 |
Setup time | < 5 minutes |
Playing time | < 30 minutes |
Chance | Some |
Age range | 10+ |
Skills | Card playing Simple math Deck optimization Planning Deception |
1 Some casual rules allow more players. |
VS System (pronounced "Versus System") is a set of rules designed by Upper Deck Entertainment (UDE) for collectible card games (CCGs). In the system, players build and play a deck of VS System cards in an attempt to win a game against their opponent. It was first published in 2004 and is used for superhero games. The game was discontinued by Upper Deck Entertainment in January 2009.[1]
In casual speaking, the term VS System or simply VS can also refer to any of the games that are playable using the VS System set of rules.
Awards
In 2004 VS System won the Gamers’ Choice Award and was also nominated for Best Collectible Card Game or Expansion both from Origins Awards. In 2005 it received the Game of the Year award from InQuest Gamer.[citation needed]
System features
Card art, characters, and game play concepts are inspired by their comic book appearances with the designers using what they describe as "Top Down" design, meaning they make every attempt to develop a character card mechanic in keeping with how the character is represented in comic books.[2] Well known artists that have contributed card art include Alex Ross, John Van Fleet, Alex Garner, Jim Lee, Rachael Dodson, and Bill Sienkiewicz.
Games using the VS System
The CCG system is based mainly on Marvel and DC Comics, with a smaller set called Essential Collections based on Hellboy released March 2007. For the most part expansion sets alternated release between Marvel based sets and DC Comics based sets with new sets every three to six months. All sets are interchangeable and compatible with each other and share the same card back. This allows players to mix characters fighting against or with each other.
Game play
The VS System attempts to emulate epic Super Hero battles. Each player starts the game with 50 "endurance points". If a player has zero or negative endurance at the start of the Recovery Phase, he or she is knocked out of the game. The VS System Comprehensive rules has an in depth explanation of every aspect of the game and is official canon for use in Organized Play judging.
Types of cards
There are four types of cards in the VS System, Character (red border, black for "Hidden" characters), Equipment (grey), Location (green), and Plot Twist (blue). All four types of cards share common elements of card makeup.
Phases of gameplay
- Draw Phase: Each player simultaneously draws two cards from their deck.
- Build Phase: Starting with the player holding initiative, and going clockwise, each player goes through the following steps.
- Resource Step: You may place one card face down into the resource row.
- Recruit Step: Spend resource points to recruit characters and/or equipment. Resource points are determined at the beginning of the Recruit step by how many cards a player has in his or her resource row.
- Formation Step: Rearrange your characters between your front and support rows.
- After the player with initiative completes the Build Phase, his or her opponent(s) complete theirs in turn. Once each player finishes, the Combat Phase begins.
- Combat Phase: Starting with the player holding initiative, each player begins declaring attacks on their opponent's characters, or directly at each other if possible. The player with initiative attacks with all legal attackers, or until they wish to pass. Repeat this attack step for each player, going clockwise, from the player with initiative.
- Recovery Phase: At the start of the recovery phase, each player compares endurance totals, and determines whether or not the game is over. Then recover one stunned character, KO all remaining stunned characters, ready all unstunned characters (and locations), and pass initiative to the player on your left. All players perform these actions at the same time during the Recovery Phase. Once the Recovery Phase is complete, the next turn commences with the Draw Phase.
Variant rules
- Grand Melee: A regular game of VS System for any number of players. Last man standing wins.
- Team Alliance: A 2-on-2 game of VS System. Teammates sit across from each other. Plays just like grand melee, but teammates share an endurance total of 100 and cannot attack each other. Play until only one team is left.
- Two-Headed Mutant: A 2-on-2 game of VS System. Teammates sit next to each other across from their opponents. Each team begins the game with 100 endurance. This game variant can be played with any number of people on either team, as long as the teams are even numbered. 50 endurance is added onto the total endurance score for each person on a team. Therefore, a Three-Headed Mutant would see a game with 150 endurance.
Card sets
VS System cards were released in expansion sets. The game was also periodically enhanced by the release of starter deck sets. In tournament play, Modern Age format draws a card pool from only the last two released sets of a particular brand (e.g. only the last two Marvel sets or only the last two DC Comics sets). Silver Age format draws a card pool from only the last eight released sets from both brands (e.g. the last four released sets from Marvel Comics and the last four released sets from DC Comics). Golden Age format draws from a card pool of all legally playable cards.
Expansion sets
Set Number | Set Name | Date | Featured Teams | Teams Introduced | New Mechanics & Notable Features |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Marvel Origins | April 2004 | X-Men Brotherhood Doom Fantastic Four Sentinels |
X-Men Brotherhood Doom Fantastic Four Sentinels Skrull Negative Zone |
|
2 | DC Origins | July 2004 | Gotham Knights Arkham Inmates League of Assassins Teen Titans |
Gotham Knights Arkham Inmates League of Assassins Teen Titans Fearsome Five Deathstroke |
Boost Loyalty Transferable |
3 | Web of Spider-Man | September 2004 | Spider-Friends Sinister Syndicate |
Spider-Friends Sinister Syndicate |
Evasion |
4 | Superman, Man of Steel | November 2004 | Team Superman New Gods Revenge Squad Darkseid's Elite |
Team Superman New Gods Revenge Squad Darkseid's Elite |
Cosmic Invulnerability |
5 | Marvel Knights | February 2005 | Marvel Knights Crime Lords Underworld X-Statix |
Marvel Knights Crime Lords Underworld X-Statix |
Concealed Double-Loyalty hidden area First Reprint: Marvel Team-Up |
6 | Green Lantern Corps | May 2005 | Green Lantern Emerald Enemies Anti-Matter Manhunters |
Green Lantern Emerald Enemies Anti-Matter Manhunters |
Concealed-Optional Willpower non-character cards ("Construct") |
7 | The Avengers | August 2005 | Avengers Masters of Evil Kang Council Thunderbolts Squadron Supreme |
Avengers Masters of Evil Kang Council Thunderbolts Squadron Supreme |
Leader Reservist non-character cards ("Team-Up") |
8 | Justice League of America | November 2005 | Justice League of America Justice League International Injustice Gang Secret Society |
Justice League of America Justice League International Injustice Gang Secret Society |
Ally dual team affiliations[3] |
9 | X-Men | February 2006 | X-Men Brotherhood Morlocks Hellfire Club |
Morlocks Hellfire Club |
Mutant Traits (Physical, Mental, and Energy) |
10 | Infinite Crisis | April 2006 | JSA Shadowpact Villains United Checkmate |
JSA Shadowpact Villains United Checkmate Secret Six Crisis |
Vengeance Backup Loyalty-Reveal Identity concept expanded non-character cards ("Magic") "Champion" characters |
11 | Heralds of Galactus | September 2006 | Heralds of Galactus Inhumans Kree Doom Skrull |
Heralds of Galactus Inhumans Kree Infinity Watch |
Press Terraform Cosmic-Surge |
12 | Legion of Super-Heroes | December 2006 | Legionnaires Future Foes Teen Titans Darkseid's Elite |
Legionnaires Future Foes |
Substitute alternate use of Cosmic |
13 | Marvel Team Up | February 2007 | Spider-Friends Sinister Syndicate Underworld Marvel Defenders Wild Pack |
Marvel Defenders Wildpack |
Dual Loyalty alternate use of Boost paying attack or defense |
14 | World's Finest | July 2007 | Team Superman Gotham Knights Revenge Squad Arkham Inmates Outsiders Birds of Prey |
Outsiders Birds of Prey |
Insanity |
15 | Marvel Legends | August 2007 | X-Men Brotherhood Marvel Knights Fantastic Four Doom Shi'Ar. |
Shi'Ar | New Card Design Concealed and Concealed-Optional changed from keywords to symbols Team symbols added 'Legendary Character' concept Minor rule changes and clarifications Vast number of game mechanics temporarily abandoned to make the game easier for newer players |
16 | DC Comics Legends | December 2007 | JLA Teen Titans Injustice Gang Secret Society League of Assassins Doom Patrol |
Doom Patrol | Return of Reservist Return of Concealed-Optional Characters Return of Dual-Affiliations Secret Society and Villains United teams combined into one team |
17 | Marvel Universe | June 2008 | Avengers Thunderbolts SHIELD Crime lords Warbound Negative Zone Alpha Flight Infinity Watch |
SHIELD Warbound Alpha Flight Asgardians Atlantis Invaders Nextwave Phalanx United Front Nova Corps Weapon X |
Return of Boost (including Boost on non-character cards) Return of Leader Return of Terraform Return of Substitute Return of Evasion Return of Cosmic Return of Invulnerability Rally 'keyverb' introduced |
18 | Marvel Evolution | November 2008 | X-Factor Exiles X-Force Marauders Weapon X |
X-Factor Exiles X-Force Marauders Starjammers Runaways Purifiers |
Shift Energize Hunter |
Starter deck sets
Starter Decks for VS. contain two playable 40 card mini-decks. They pit two teams against each other, typically a "Hero" team versus a "Villain" team.
- Marvel X-Men vs. Brotherhood Starter Set TCG (April 2004) The first starter drew cards from the Marvel Origins expansion set. It included the teams X-Men and Brotherhood.
- Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock Starter Set TCG (June 2004) Drew cards from the Web of Spider-Man set and was released several months prior. Teams for this set were Spider Friends and Sinister Syndicate. This starter set was released to coincide with the release of the 2004 film Spider-Man 2.
- Batman vs. Joker TCG (July 2004) Drew cards from the DC Origins set. Teams included were Gotham Knights and Arkham Inmates.
- DC Comics- Batman Starter Deck TCG (June 2005) Teams for this set were Gotham Knights and League of Assassins and was released to coincide with the 2005 Batman film. This starter set has had the greatest effect on the tournament scene due to generic plot twist Trial by Sword included in it.
- Marvel Fantastic Four Starter Deck TCG (June 2005) Teams for this set were Fantastic Four and Doom and was released to precede the release of the 2005 Fantastic Four film.
- Marvel X-Men Starter Set TCG (February 2006) Teams for this set were the X-Men and the Brotherhood, similar to the first starter set. The release of this set coincided with the release of the new X-Men set.
The last three sets included cards not previously released in an expansion set (with a few exceptions). The sets also included a quick-start insert explaining the rules in comic book format. The game mechanics on the cards from these sets were much simplified from what was seen on a typical expansion set card. While the rules are the same, these sets made it easier to introduce new players to the game.
In addition, UDE had originally planned to release a new Superman starter set to coincide with the new movie, but has since stated that it would not be released.[citation needed]
Essential Collection sets
Essential Collections are special sets containing two pre-constructed 60 card decks, a comprehensive rule book, and a number of other extras. These sets are geared towards introducing characters from non-Marvel and DC universes and titles(such as the first release, Mike Mignola's Hellboy), as well as Marvel and DC material from outside their normal superhero universes, into the game. Like the starter decks, the Essential Collections are tournament-legal.[4]
Only one such set was ever released, namely Hellboy (February 2007) Features the heroic B.P.R.D. and the villainous Thule Society.
Organized play
Upper Deck Entertainment planned the year-round professional $1 million organized play circuit prior to the release of the game.
Notable players in UDE Organized play
Several notable players have already emerged. The following is a listing of players who have won more than one 10K event or have won a Pro Circuit event.[5]
- William Hodack, 2004 Origins $10K Champion, June 26, 2004
- Brian Kibler First-ever Pro Circuit Champion, Gen Con Indy, August 22, 2004
- Robert Leander, $10K Wizard World Texas Champion, November 6, 2004, $10K New Jersey Champion, January 15, 2005. First Vs. System player to win multiple $10K events.
- Ryan Jones, Pro Circuit Los Angeles Champion, December 3, 2004
- Dean Sohlne, $10K London Champion, March 21, 2005, $10K Amsterdam Champion, April 9, 2005.
- Michael Jacob, $10K Chicago Champion, April 2, 2005, $10K Toronto Champion, August 27, 2005, $10K Orlando Champion, October 15, 2005
- Ian Vincent, Pro Circuit San Francisco Champion
- Anthony Calabrese, Pro Circuit Indianapolis 2006 Champion
- Adam Horvath, Pro Circuit Amsterdam Champion, April 7, 2005
- Adam Bernstein, Pro Circuit New York Champion, May 26, 2005
- Adam Prosak, $10K San Diego Champion, July 15, 2005, $10K Atlanta Champion, September 4, 2005 Pro Circuit Los Angeles November 17, 2006
- Kakarot Turker, $10K Sydney Champion, December 1, 2006, #1 in Oceania (constructed), 6 consecutive 10k top 8's
- Darryn Ying, $10K Melbourne Champion, October 20, 2006,
- Vidianto Wijaya, Pro Circuit Atlanta Champion, March 24, 2006. As of August 13, 2006, has a record five Pro Circuit top eight finishes, has won over $100,000.
- Kyle Dembinski , Pro Circuit Sydney 2007 winner, noted in news article for playing trading card game(s).
- Brian Eugenio , 1st VS. Worlds Champion 2008
- Robert Rietze , Gencon 2008 1st Place
- Alexander Antonias Brisbane, Adelaide 10k champion.
Banned list
As with most TCGs, the ever increasing card pool leads to more and more combinations and possibilities. While this is generally considered to be a good thing, sometimes these combinations bring a degeneracy that is unhealthy for tournament play and the long term health of the game. When this occurs, organized play intervenes and the offending cards are usually banned.
The following is a list of cards currently banned.
- "Overload" was banned because of its synergy with various ATK pumps. Used in tandem, players were able to stun their opponent's board at minimal cost. UDE later released a fixed—playable but unremarkable—version of the card called System Failure, released in MAV.[6]
- "Justice League of Arkham" was banned following Pro Circuit: San Francisco. By using various ways to search out the card and recursion mechanism, a player could routinely make their opponent discard their entire hand before they even engaged in their fourth turn.[7]
- "Antarctic Research Base" is the first card that was pre-emptively banned. This is due to its incidental synergy with the Fate Artifacts. The synergy between the artifacts the Antarctic Research Base allowed a player to draw his or her entire deck as early as the fourth turn and kill the opponent. UDE later released a fixed card called New Baxter Building, which was released in MTU.[7]
- "Gone But Not Forgotten" when used in tandem with various payment powers that required life payments as opposed to discards or resource points, allowed one to engineer a variety of infinite or near-infinite combos wherein a player could create any number of arbitrarily large characters, or gain large quantities of life. An example of this would be 2 Moloids, Decoy Program, Devil's Due, and Mr. Fantastic~stretch.
- "Valeria Von Doom, Heir to Latveria" (Effective November 16, 2006)[citation needed] when used in tandem with A Day Unlike Any Other, Valeria von Doom allowed a given player to cycle through huge amounts of their deck while filling up their KO'd pile. The offending deck in this situation Cycled cards until it had everything it needed to win using Rigged Elections, usually as early as turn 3.
- "Talia, LexCorp CEO" (Effective November 16, 2006)[citation needed] was used in ways similar to Valeria von Doom. In tandem with Punisher's Armory, Talia would allow a player to cycle through huge amounts of their deck. While slightly weaker than Valeria von Doom, if left unchecked Talia would have a detrimental effect on game play and was thus banned.
- "Go Down Fighting" (Effective November 16, 2006)[citation needed] when used with Tommy - a Morlocks character that could stun herself and was free if you had another stunned character - and a method to grant characters in your resources row the reservist ability, it was possible to recruit Tommy an infinite number of times, which was lethal when combined with cards like Surrounded or Rigged Elections.
- "Fiddler, Isaac Bowin" (Effective November 16, 2006) when used in tandem with another copy of himself, allowed you to continually re-recruit each other a high number of times per turn. Previously, this interaction was abused with Gone But Not Forgotten, and later with cards including Nega Bomb, Surrounded, and Rigged Elections.
- "Detective Chimp, Bobo T. Chimpanzee" (Effective November 16, 2006) is an incredible cog in any multi-team deck. He was most commonly used in combination decks in order to abuse global team-stamped effects - most notably Attend or Die! or Rigged Elections.
- "Dr. Light, Master of Holograms" (Effective January 19, 2007) allowed a player to recur a character with cost two or less from the KO pile. In tandem with increasingly more powerful low drops - such as Poison Ivy and Frankie Raye, Dr. Light was able to do too much for a relatively small investment.
- "Frankie Raye <> Nova, Optimistic Youth" (Effective February 9, 2007) allowed players to draw an unfair amount of cards by playing her multiple times. Particularly deadly when used with a character like Admiral Galen-Kor.
- "Nenora, Skrull Usurper" (Effective February 9, 2007) allowed a player to gain the Kree affiliation with little cost to them. This card caused some of the same problems as Detective Chimp.
Unlike most CCGs which have banned lists unique to various formats, UDE has chosen to have one universal all-encompassing banned list.
VS System Council
After UDE canceled VS System, an elected Council of veteran players was elected to continue support for the game. The Vs System Council runs out of VS System.Org. Along with this support comes the responsibility of keeping the game from being degenerative through problematic cards that arise or where simply never taken care of before UDE canceled the game. The following list are Council Suggested Bans/Errata:
Council Suggested Bans -
Blink, Earth-295 * Clarice Ferguson (MEV-134C)
Character, 3, Exiles/X-Men, 5/4, Range
Shift
When Blink enters play, put a shift counter on each shifted card you own.
Reason - Blink had a degenerate interaction with the Shift keyword, allowing remarkable amounts of shift counters to be accrued and enabling cards like Mariko <> Sunfire to do far more damage than many feel was intended. As a result of this, the elected Council of VS System players chose to advise a banning for Council endorsed events in the future.
Council Suggested Errata -
1.) Armed Escort (MMK-119C)
Equipment, 1
Armed Escort costs 1 less to recruit while you control a Crime Lords character.
Equipped character has "Activate >>> If you control a defender, remove all defenders from this attack, and equipped character becomes a defender. Use only once per turn."
Reason - Triggered an infinite loop used in conjunction with Red Skull, Aleksander Lukin * Raid by equipping Armed Escort to a character with the keyword Energize and forming that character adjacent to Red Skull. Once Red Skull became a defender a player could create an infinite loop removing and redirecting the attack for infinite amounts of endurance loss for the opponent while giving infinite endurance gain to Red Skull's controller as early as turn 3. As a result of this, the elected Council of VS System players chose to advise an errata, limiting Armed Escort to the "once per turn" clause.
2.) Nick Fury, Col. Nicholas Fury (MVL-123R)
Character, 1, Marvel Knights, 1/1, Range
Loyalty
Exhaust X equipped [Marvel Knights] characters you control >>> Stun target opposing character with cost less than X.
Reason - The original wording allowed an interaction that allowed for consistent turn 3 wins (sometimes turn 2). The interaction used the following cards:
Nick Fury, Col. Nicholas Fury
Haywire, Suicidal Lover
Mind Gem, Unique * Infinity Gem
Soul Gem, Unique * Infinity Gem
Ratcatcher, Otis Flannegan or Apokoliptian Zealots, Army
Any team-up
The interaction is generated during your recruit step by putting Soul Gem on Nick Fury, Mind Gem on Haywire, and team up Marvel Knights and Squadron Supreme. Once this is done, have Haywire stun himself repeatedly via Nick Fury’s effect, and bounce Haywire to your hand repeatedly with Soul Gem’s effect. With Ratcatcher in play, he burns your opponent each time Haywire is stunned. You can also use Apokoliptian Zealots instead of Ratcatcher to gain an infinite ATK via Apokoliptian Zealots' effect. This version is equally unstoppable since you can include a single copy of Blind Sided in your deck as Mind Gem will cause you to eventually draw your entire deck (no matter which method you are choosing to use). As a result of this, the elected Council of VS System players chose to advise an errata of "opposing" added to Nick Fury.
Council Approved Sets -
As with any game, VS can only last but so long on what was given to the player base in the time that UDE published VS. So with the new VS System Council came Council Approved Sets. These sets are allowed in specific Council Sanctioned Events and in doing so also allows the player to be entered into the Community Ranking System which allows users/players to keep track of their Tournament records. The following list is a list of Council Approved Set(s):
Marvel Factions (MFA) - Council Approved on December 27th, 2009
DC Alter Ego (DAE) - Council Approved on January 24th, 2010
Marvel Warzone (MWZ) - Council Approved on July 13th, 2010
DC Lantern's Light (DLL) - Council Approved on January 1st 2011
Council Approved Ages -
On January 11th, 2010 the VS System Council decided to create a new Golden Age. This Golden Age included the moving of Marvel Evolutions (MEV) exclusively to Golden Age because of its sheer power and in doing so, attached the mini-set Marvel Equipment (MEQ) to Marvel Universe (MUN) so that it would remain in Silver and Modern.
The VS System Council has also set up a new age format in the form of Blocks. For more information on the Block Formats see the following link, VS System Formats.
Council Approved Bizarro World Text -
On June 14th, 2010 the Council of VS System players chose to provide a Bizarro World text list. This list of Bizarro Text is meant to coincide with certain formats. For more information you can see the announcement here, Bizarro World Announcement.
Video Game
A video game based on the VS System was released on February 27, 2007 for the PC, PSP and Nintendo DS. It was developed by Vicious Cycle Software and published by Konami. The game has been named as the Marvel Trading Card game and only includes cards from Marvel Origins and Marvel-based expansions up to the Avengers set.
Notes
- ^ http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/vs/en/news/article.aspx?aid=5166
- ^ Mandel, Danny (2004-05-07). "Design Vs. Development: Top-Down Design". Metagame.com. Retrieved 2006-08-22.
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- ^ Hyra, Matt (2005-10-13). "Justice League of America Preview: Superman, Avatar of Peace". Metagame.com. Retrieved 2006-08-22.
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- ^ "Hellboy Comes to Vs. System!". Metagame.com. 2006-05-09. Retrieved 2006-08-22.
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- ^ "Metagame.com Events List". Metagame.com. Retrieved 2006-08-22.
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- ^ Humpherys, Dave (2004-06-14). "Unexpected Developments: Time For a Change or Two". Metagame.com. Retrieved 2006-09-08.
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- ^ a b Humpherys, Dave (2006-06-12). "Unexpected Developments: The Second Round of Bannings". Metagame.com. Retrieved 2006-09-08.
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References
- Current Rulebook, released with the Hellboy box set.
- VS System Comprehensive rules
- VSSystem Update: Marvel Evolution Article
External links
- Upper Deck Entertainment VS System Marvel Site
- Upper Deck Entertainment VS System DC Site
- Official Marvel TCG Online Site
- VsSystem.org "The post-UDE (un)official Vs. System (fan)site"
- VS TCGplayer Magazine
- TCGWorkshop.com The #1 repository for TCG Legacy content
- VSParadise.com Australia and New Zealand VS Community Site
- Vs. System deck designs (Pojo.com)
- VS Skillze Asia's VS Community Site
- DocX's Search Engine A search engine for Vs cards.
- ccgdb.com card engine: vs system A search engine for Vs cards.
- VS-ESP Spanish unnofficial VS community.