Editor: Keh-Gan Hau. Sunday 25th July 2004.
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Editor: Keh-Gan Hau. Sunday 25th July 2004.
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 Why Vs.? Why not? may be a better question, but that's not really what I want to discuss in this article. What was it that first drew me to the wonderful world of the Upperdeck Vs. system? Well, truth be told it was to get the Yu-Gi-Oh! cards out of the house. You see I have an eight-year-old son. I play Magic so naturally he wants to play a CCG of some description. Yu-Gi-Oh! was the first game that we tried, however, I found it to be sub-par and didn't really want to play it. Since my boy isn't quiet old enough for Magic, the question was posed to me; how do I keep him interested in CCG's but also find a CCG that I will enjoy playing with him? Well the answer was handed to me while surfing the 'net late one night. I was looking at Magi-Nation and Pokemon CCG's when I saw an ad for Marvel Vs. Clicking on the link and having a look at the on-line demo, I saw that this was not only a game that involved one of my favourite past times (comics) but a game that had a great deal of potential. It seemed easy enough to grasp the basics and didn't have a lot of large words. This was more of a concern for teaching the first born than it was for me. I delved a little deeper and found that apart from being a well designed game the prizes for the various tournaments was astonishing. With $10,000 events being scheduled frequently, my interest was now at a peak. I went to my local card shop and asked if they had any. I got a blank look and asked the owner nicely if they could get some in. I then followed my nose to one of the other card stores in the city and picked one up. When I got home and opened the X-Men Vs. Brotherhood starter deck, I read the rules booklet that was supplied. Yes I am one of those people that read the manual before putting things together. I had my first game, and that was it for both my self and my son. As he put it, "Dad this is the best game that I have EVER played. It's way better than Yu-Gi-Oh!" Now I am not here to say that Vs. is better than Yu-Gi-Oh! but that was both of our opinions. The weeks progressed and we kept playing the starter decks. The first card store finally got some stock in and I went straight down there and grabbed a box. Opening boxes is one of my favourite things to do but with Marvel the experience was deliriously exquisite. In a box of 24 boosters I pulled 30 rares including 6 foil rares. Unfortunately Upperdeck have rectified this little indiscretion where all packs contain a foil and if that foil happens to be a foil rare, well happy days because you are getting the foil rare and a standard rare. Ok so that is the story of my new found cardboard-crack addiction, but why should you spend your hard earned dollars on this new game? Will it be around in a year? or even 10 years? What is the tournament scene like? We all know the reason that Magic is so successful is that it's game balance and brilliant design are second to none. Does Vs. have this same synergy? Yes, yes it does and to be honest it is the only thing that has torn me away from Magic in the last two years. The smoothness of the game and the structure are well defined and easy to understand. If you are a Magic player you are going to find the turn structure a little unusual. As for the longevity of the game, all you have to do is have a look at the various fan sites (including this one) and the fact that Upperdeck has announced that they have just completed the first 5 years worth of artwork and are nearly done with the card design. You can have a look at the amount of money that Upperdeck has put into the events. A $10K event in Australia every 6 months is not to bad at all and in comparison to other CCG's it is nothing less than spectacular. The one thing that I am yet to talk about with this is the fact that it is based on the most popular comics in the world. If you are a comic book collector and are sceptical about whether the designers have done justice to these characters, all I can say as a comic book collector of 15 years is yes, yes and oh my lord yes. The abilities are in line with the characters abilities in their respective books and with new expansions devoted to the likes of Spiderman, Justice League America, Batman, Avengers and Marvel Knights the future is bright for both the player and collector in all of us. All in all I love the game. It is well balanced, with a hint of brokenness thrown in for good measure but not excessively. The casual and tournament scene are flourishing. The longevity of the game seems to be assured. What it all comes down to is that it is great fun to play. Multi-player games take it to a whole new level. In fact a few of my friends will only play multi-player games. All I can suggest is that you pick up a starter pack or ask a player at your local store to show you how it all works and I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the game. Have fun and play nice :) By Matt Cline. |