Welcome back, Vs. players! Last week, we began the quest to review every single card from the relatively new DC Legends set, and we started with the first twelve cards in the set, belonging to the Justice League of America. Today, we march up to #25 in an effort to answer that burning question: is this set truly… truly… legendary? Co-founder of Team Suck and avid Vs. player Dave Krivit joins me to find out.

Before we get started, Dave and I would like to thank everyone for all the kind words and praises we’re getting both here and on Vsrealms, especially Rian Fike (stubarnes) for starting an actual thread about us (we’re blushing over here!) and Steve Garrett (the-kamiza himself) for letting us take up precious space on his site. It’s really great to know that, with all the time and effort we’re going to be putting in, these articles are being enjoyed, and we hope you’ll stick with us through the weeks to come.

Sadly, a tight schedule means Dave can’t join me on the intro this week, but just so you’ll recognize him, his text will be italicized and mine will not be. You’ll figure it out, I’m sure; you were always so good in school. Onto what the numbers mean and why: READ MORE »

Welcome back, fellow Vs. players. Today, we begin the long, arduous trek through the set that is DC Legends. The question has been asked: is the set truly, truly legendary? Let’s find out as we review team by team, card by card, power by power.

Joining me for these reviews is fellow Team Suck co-founder, avid Vs. player and all-around nice guy Dave Krivit. Dave, care to introduce yourself?

Hello! Because of the recent writer’s strike the game of Vs. has employed a few lousy scab writers to promote the new set. Luckily for them Team Suck has a few lousy writers as well as players. What we lack in ability we more than make up for in love for Vs. so we hope you enjoy!

As you can see, Dave’s text will be italicized while mine will be standard, so you can always tell who’s talkin’ about what. Before we start reviewing, I’d like to chart out what the ratings mean so we’re all on the same page.

5: A lynchpin card of the deck that must be used and possibly built around at all costs.
4: An above average card that should definitely get consideration for your deck.
3: A decent enough card that will do the job but isn’t likely to impress.
2: A below average card that you should pass on if you have better options.
1: They wasted trees for this?

We will provide two ratings, one for limited, the other for constructed. One man’s treasure is another man’s garbage and all that…

TEAM REVIEW: JLA

This is the second set the premier DC team has headlined, and they’ve not only retained their power-up theme, but added two new ones. The first new theme is the “Founding Member” versions littered over the major characters, focusing on a number of character-based effects that add different aspects to the team. The other new theme is powered by having fewer characters than your opponent, fueled by early drops that return to your hand. It remains to be seen how effective these new themes are, but I think the diverse number of goals will make this a hard team to figure out.

We have more fuel for the Good Guys fodder! Excellent! We were also given some on-curve love; how viable this is remains to be seen. And as Mike mentioned there is the Founding Member idea which surely has tons of cool support… (triple dots for me either indicates brazen indifference or sarcasm; you decide!) Jokes aside, the iconic nature of most members of the JLA makes them want to be playable, but are they?

DCL-001 Aquaman, Founding Member
4-cost, JLA
7/7
Free – Return target character card from your KO’d pile to your hand if it shares a name with a character you control. Use only once per turn.

Aquaman gets no love from the Vs. community by and large, but he performs a good job maintaining your hand in a power-up deck while being part of the Founding Member team. If your deck is built around using character cards to power-up your team, then Aquaman should help you replenish your hand each turn. The infamous “Good Guys” build, however, relied less on character card power-ups than plot twist trickery and Nth Metals to beef up characters. In a deck that relies on beating down your opponent to win, Aquaman just isn’t aggressive enough, and he’ll rarely help you in limited. Still, not bad.
Mike’s Constructed Rating: 3 of 5
Mike’s Limited Rating: 2 of 5

Something I’ve been considering more and more is the overall effect a card can have throughout the game if it lives up to its near optimal potential. Arthur, through his effect, can grant a +2/+2 his first turn out, and a subsequent +1/+1 for the next 2, possibly 3 turns. That’s a decent pump. However Good Guys plays fast and as Mike aptly diagnosed Good Guys doesn’t need character power-ups so much, and certainly not as late as 4. In limited I think I see a little bit more of potential though because you can splash him with the JLA and Secret Society, which is rife with characters (if played well.)
Dave’s Constructed Rating: 2 of 5
Dave’s Limited Rating: 3 of 5

DCL-002 Aquaman, Lord of Atlantis
6-cost, JLA
13/12
When Aquaman enters play, return a character card and a non-character card from your KO’d pile to your hand.

Arthur’s second version has a decent sized attack and can bring a character back from the KO pile. But let’s cut through the package and get to the prize, grabbing that plot twist. I’m assuming in a constructed game that would be the aim, to reuse a powerful PT to end the game. Another fun little play would be to get equipment from the graveyard and equip Arthur to make him a beast or to equip a buddy of his. At first I wasn’t blown away by his effect but considering most games end on 6, Arthur could be the Nail (dorky comic reference). As far as limited, how could this possibly not help? Pumps are crucial in sealed and draft and to get that pump could make the difference.
Dave’s Constructed Rating: 3 of 5
Dave’s Limited Rating: 4 of 5

Aquaman’s got great limited synergy with both his own team’s power-up theme and the Secret Society’s strategy of filling their KO pile. Bringing back a non-character card can be a very potent effect, even if it’s a one-time deal. Past his usage cracking packs though, I don’t see much of a future for him in constructed; generally, characters that have a one-time power tend to get tossed away into the “useless” pile. Unless you’re stalling, your turn 6 guy should be looking for the kill, and Aquaman doesn’t do that.
Mike’s Constructed Rating: 2 of 5
Mike’s Limited Rating: 4 of 5

DCL-003 Aztek, Champion of Quetzalcoatl
1-cost, JLA
1/2, Flight/Range
Return Aztek to his owner’s hand – Target [JLA Icon] character gets +3 DEF this turn. Use only during the combat phase.

My general rule on 1-drops is that they have to do something incredibly effective for me to make room for them in my deck. Unless they can be discarded from the hand, they’re bound to take up space for something better unless you draw them in your first six cards (ten if you mulligan.) The exception, of course, is the rush deck, but those tend to be aggressive, whereas Aztek is not. Still, I can’t help but admire the little guy’s efficiency: a 1-drop with flight and range who goes back to your hand after he’s served his purpose and gives the all-too-rare +3 DEF boost? That’s a lot of very good things, and they fit very well with the control/stall tactic that seems to infuse a lot of the newer JLA cards. I think Aztek is worth a shot in the right deck, but I doubt he’ll be worth the space in one of mine.
Mike’s Constructed Rating: 2 of 5
Mike’s Limited Rating: 2 of 5

My thoughts run concurrent with Mike on this one. 1-drops are a slippery slope, and have to either help in a swarm strategy or have a later game effect, rather than be a target for some beat. I guess this card contributes to that weird on-curve strategy, which I love the idea of, but you can never assume what an opponent is playing. Although the defensive pump is nice, I like the more aggro pumps provided by the Society’s Cheetah. I don’t know if I’d want to pack a 1-drop to save my 2 or 3-drop.
Dave’s Constructed Rating: 2 of 5
Dave’s Limited Rating: 2 of 5

DCL-004 Barry Allen – The Flash, Crimson Tornado
4-cost, JLA/Speed Force
8/5
[Activate Symbol], Move Barry Allen to your support row – Barry Allen can’t stun attackers or be stunned by attackers this attack.

I think with the powerful effects that go with the identity “the Flash” in this set, it’s the name that is more attractive than the actual card. I do like Barry’s power and how it definitely lends itself to an on-curve stall, which JLA likes. If you can stall to late game their late drops are excellent. It’s always useful to have a character stick around, especially if they’re not a liability, which Barry isn’t due to his power. In the limited game, which is all about pumps and character advantage, I’m not sure why you’d pass him up.
Dave’s Constructed Rating: 3 of 5
Dave’s Limited Rating: 4 of 5

As Dave said, the identity is what draws me to this card, but otherwise I’m unimpressed. That low, low defense means that the average 3-drop should be able to stun him, meaning his power will come into play more to avoid saving you frustration than giving you an advantage. I’d probably pack one or two in constructed to fuel various Flash effects. Given that he doesn’t really give you any character advantage in limited per se, I’m not sure I’d grab him as quick as my co-reviewer.
Mike’s Constructed Rating: 2 of 5
Mike’s Limited Rating: 3 of 5

DCL-005 Barry Allen – The Flash, Founding Member
6-cost, JLA/Speed Force
12/12
Discard a character card with identity The Flash – Ready Barry Allen. Use only once per turn.

Allow me to take off my objective reviewer hat for a moment and fanboy out here. I need to get me about five of these ASAP. Forget the JLA, this guy will be the finisher for the Speed Force deck we all want! The Flash family got some really powerful effects in DC Legends, and the math becomes pretty clear when you take a few cards into account. Barry Allen + Terminal Velocity + lots of ATK pumps = win. In Limited, it’ll be hard to gather multiple Barrys since both of his versions are rare, but if you can stockpile some Wally Wests and Bart Allens, you’ve got a really great foundation.
Mike’s Constructed Rating: 5 of 5
Mike’s Limited Rating: 4 of 5

I’ll admit I’m crushing on anything that has the identity “the Flash”, considering the insane things you can do with them. There’s indeed no way your deck should go past six rounds with Barry as your finisher. I have made the mistake of building sealed/draft decks around getting a big effect off and failed miserably (see MTU dual loyalty characters), but if you can grab at least 2-3 other Flashes you’re in the fast lane for a big play (bad pun absolutely intended!)
Dave’s Constructed Rating: 4 of 5
Dave’s Limited Rating: 3 of 5

DCL-006 Batman, Founding Member
3-cost, JLA/Gotham Knights
5/5, Range
[Activate Symbol], Discard a [JLA Icon] or [Gotham Knights Icon] character card – Replace target face-up resource.

Before I get into all the good of this much sought after card, I forgot to comment on the idea of the “Founding Members”, because I was too busy genuflecting before the altar of Barry. Vs. could have really played up the curve aspect and given support to trying to create a team with the founding 7. Considering it’s not the easiest thing to do they could have even created a “Founding Member” tutor. Instead there are no effects that even mention the “Founding Members.” I’m sorry, but that friends, is the sound of a ball being dropped. Rant over.
On to Batman. Wow. Bruce is apparently talented enough to have a blast even though his want for fun has fizzled. This version of Batman can pretty much negate anything, at the cost of an activation. Although you’d be sacrificing a decent sized attack how good is a recurring negation effect? (Stop right there; that was meant to be hypothetical…) I love how you could play Bruce rightfully with either of his dual affiliations. Remember JLA does have a control element with Wonder Woman, and the original Elongated Man, the Atom, etc. In sealed I wouldn’t bank on this card being as effective but that brings us to his other two great qualities. He’s got a great body! (crickets) No really, a 5/5 with no loyalty requirement is huge. Also he’s a concealed character which means if you splash him randomly there’s little chance that some 7 drop is going to pick him off later in the game. Having a concealed character always makes me rest a little easier when I have to do some rounding off at drops.
Dave’s Constructed Rating: 5 of 5
Dave’s Limited Rating: 4 of 5

I think Dave summed up a lot of the strategy points here; the only thing I’d like to comment on is the ongoing debate of Hal Jordan vs. Batman for primary 3-drop. We’ll be covering Hal later in the article, but generally I think a card like this in constructed would be better suited to “back-up” 3-drop as his power won’t influence your every game. With that said, this is an astoundingly good control card, probably the best Batman ever made and an easy pick in Constructed and Limited.
Mike’s Constructed Rating: 4 of 5
Mike’s Limited Rating: 4 of 5

DCL-007 Batman, Justice’s Shadow
5-cost, JLA/Gotham Knights
9/8, Concealed, Range
Reservist. Whenever another character you control attacks, power-up that character.

Even though it’s got lots of the stuff I’ve always wanted Batman to have (range, concealed, reservist), this version is just… unexciting. He’ll give you exactly what he says he’ll give you and no more than that.
Mike’s Constructed Rating: 3 of 5
Mike’s Limited Rating: 3 of 5

Here’s another example of when I like to look at the cumulative pump a character or effect provides. Usually you will have 3 characters on the field, with Bats you’ll have two others. I like to think games end on 6, and in sealed/draft with this set I’ve seen them go to 7 semi-consistently. If you have odds initiative that’s a +4/+4 pump, which is pretty good in sealed. Obviously Batman helps the “Good Guy” theme, although I think there are better options at his drop. I think I’m spoiled on some of the other big bodies in this set so Batman’s undersized body is a little underwhelming.
Dave’s Constructed Rating: 3 of 5
Dave’s Limited Rating: 3 of 5

DCL-008 Big Barda, Furious Fatale
5-cost, JLA
11/9
Reservist (You may recruit this card from your resource row. If you do, you may put a card from your hand face down into your resource row.)

I love the reservist mechanic, because it means little to no dead cards in the row which could be a killer, especially in limited. Although Titans plays up this mechanic better than JLA, Barda is a strong choice in any limited deck. She has range and flight which makes her formation friendly and you can’t ignore that huge attack. In draft she’d be an early pick for me, and usually her lack of sexiness (powers) makes her available in the mid-draft. If I pick Red Star who is usually a top 3 pick for me, than I will surely pursue Barda. I have to admit in constructed I probably wouldn’t put her in a deck, even as a one of back up at 5.
Dave’s Constructed Rating: 2 of 5
Dave’s Limited Rating: 4 of 5

What, no New Gods dual affiliation? Guess that ship has sailed. Anyway, we’re gonna see a bunch of these guys for the JLA, and I like them a lot. Reservists, high attack values, no drawbacks – you really couldn’t ask for a better limited filler card. In constructed, well, there’s that JLA/Avengers reservist team-up you always wanted, or the new JLA/Titans reservist team-up.
Mike’s Constructed Rating: 2 of 5
Mike’s Limited Rating: 4 of 5

DCL-009 Black Lightning, Energetic Hero
2-cost, JLA
3/2, Range
Black Lightning gets +2/+2 while an opponent controls more characters than you.

What, no Outsiders dual affiliation? See, this is the problem with doing these dual affiliation characters: it should be all or none. What’s the point of only doing it for some characters, or only giving some teams symbols? If you’re going to do something, just do it, or at least tell us if you’re going to retire a team out of the blue, especially one that’s only a set old. Otherwise, it just comes across as lazy and disrespectful to players who could easily get support for their favorite teams with just a few more letters on the card.
Oh, the card? Well, it’s another one of those “you’ve got more guys than me” powers, which are difficult to predict. Personally, I don’t like cards that rely on your opponent’s choice of decks to use a power. With that said, Black Lightning’s pretty solid and works well with cards like Aztek and Dinah Lance, and having a 5/4 2-drop is nothing to sneeze at in the right deck. All in all, he’s probably the best-rounded JLA character at this drop.
Mike’s Constructed Rating: 3 of 5
Mike’s Limited Rating: 3 of 5

Characters like this use to make me all queasy in the knees but as mentioned you don’t even know if you’ll get his effect off and if you do will it compensate for being down a character? This really would have made sense with some dual affiliation, which is pretty disappointing. Maybe I’m not being fair to ol’ BL but I feel no need to further expound upon him.
Dave’s Constructed Rating: 2 of 5
Dave’s Limited Rating: 2 of 5

DCL-010 Dinah Laurel Lance – Black Canary, New Wings
1-cost, JLA
1/2, Range
Return Dinah Laurel Lance to her owner’s hand – Target attacker or defender can’t ready during the recovery phase this turn.

You won’t think much of her until you are looking your opponent in their eye thinking, “please don’t pull the trigger; please don’t neuter my 6 drop.” Dinah is the best case scenario for a 1 drop with a great late game effect. When used against me correctly I have had to sack my higher drop in recovery just so I can actually do something the next turn. The card’s effectiveness depends entirely on how smart the player utilizes it. One really nice thing about Dinah is she will never be a target in the late game because she can always return to the hand (even though the attacker would ready.) I do think her strength is in limited when your opponent won’t have anti-weenie tech or finish the game regardless of her effect. In limited your options are just that…limited. Dinah might be the straw that breaks your opponent’s back.
Dave’s Constructed Rating: 2 of 5
Dave’s Limited Rating: 4 or 5

I’m a little biased here because Dinah’s one of my absolute favorite characters and I’m a little peeved about her being relegated to 1-drop status. (Yet, I won’t cry about no BoP because this is obviously current Dinah post-Birds but saddled with Winick writing.) Anyway, out of all these “return” cards, I do like Dinah the best since she can lock down a character with little or no trouble. Unfortunately her power is relegated to during an attack, but she should still be able to clear herself off the board in a pinch. These little back-to-your-hand cards are so powerful for a stall deck you could make a case for starting your curve early; I’m already thinking about using 5-drop Talia to start flinging these guys out on the board for some nice stall goodness.
Mike’s Constructed Rating: 3 of 5
Mike’s Limited Rating: 3 of 5

DCL-011 Elongated Man, Stretchable Sleuth
1-cost, JLA
3/0, Range
[Activate Symbol] – Elongated Man gets -3/+3 this turn.

Elongated Man is pretty much the definition of “stun or be stunned.” In a swarm deck, this guy is pretty excellent with his huge ATK value and an ability to fend off other weenies. He can even run as a back-up 2-drop if you’re low in Limited.
Mike’s Constructed Rating: 2 of 5
Mike’s Limited Rating: 3 of 5

Elongated Man would definitely find his way into my limited deck. I love that he can be effective even into the 3^rd round, possibly 4^th. Agreed with Mike in that he’d be great in a rush deck. I’m a big fan of characters that can attack up the curve without benefit of a pump.
Dave’s Constructed Rating: 2 of 5
Dave’s Limited Rating: 3 of 5

DCL-012 Firehawk, Flaming Justice
3-cost, JLA
5/4, Flight/Range
[Activate Symbol] – Target player loses 1 endurance for each character he controls.

Firehawk would be a great card if you can guarantee that your opponent was running a rush deck. Since you can’t guarantee such a thing and since a successful rush deck could probably take a deck whose main weapon is Firehawk she makes for not such great shakes. She’s pretty terrible in limited, not even achieving the effect a Mark Moonrider could give you. If you’re lucky she’ll give you Pyro’s burn but in a 3 drop body.
Dave’s Constructed Rating: 2 of 5
Dave’s Limited Rating: 2 of 5

I know players that would have nothing to do with this card, but I’ve always liked cards like this, despite a power that’s dictated more by your opponent than you. Lots of characters do nothing for you on defense except get hit; Firehawk gives you a little burn while she’s getting punched. Sure, it may only be a burn for two or so, but what’s wrong with that? That’s two points closer to a win. How many games have you lost by two points?
Mike’s Constructed Rating: 2 of 5
Mike’s Limited Rating: 3 of 5

Well, that’s all for this time, but stop back in soon for more reviews from DC Legends!

Michael Reyes is an avid Vs. player and founding member of NY-based Team Suck. He can also be found on Vsrealms.com as “thefilth999.”

Dave Krivit is also an avid Vs. player and is also a founding member of NY-based Team Suck. He can also be found on Vsrealms.com, but his handle is “bamf66.”

Last week, the art of two-man drafting was revealed to you, as a sample draft between myself and fellow Team Suck member Chance was laid out card by card. At the end of the article, we had both compiled our 42 cards to choose from, and now we had only to play the game out for victory and the rights to pick our favorite rare first out of the six packs we cracked.

Your faithful narrator had decided to go with a primary mix of Titans, JLA and Doom Patrol cards. (Yes, Doom Patrol.) By the end of the draft, I had been feeling less than confident about my card choices, but went ahead and pulled together the following deck:

DCL-024 Plastic Man, Plastic Fantastic (2-drop)
DCL-158 The Calculator, Q.E.D. (2-drop)
DCL-034 Zatanna, Sucoh Sucop! x2 (2-drop)
DCL-063 Bart Allen Kid Flash, Generation Fourth x2 (3-drop)
DCL-018 Katar Hol Hawkman, Death From Above (3-drop)
DCL-230 Mento, Steve Dayton (3-drop)
DCL-090 Vic Stone Cyborg, Mechanized Mentor (3-drop)
DCL-118 Felix Faust, Soulless Mystic (4-drop)
DCL-013 Firestorm, Ronnie Raymond (4-drop)
DCL-175 Gorilla Grodd, Grodd Awful (4-drop)
DCL-017 John Stewart, The Master Builder (4-drop)
DCL-115 Circe, Evil Enchantress (5-drop)
DCL-082 Raven, Demon Spawn (5-drop)
DCL-232 Robotman, Cliff Steele (5-drop)
DCL-065 Beast Boy, Freak of Nature (6-drop)
DCL-016 John Henry Irons Steel, Working Man (6-drop)
DCL-179 Mark Desmond Blockbuster, Mindless Brute (7-drop)
DCL-248 A Better World, Team-Up
DCL-044 Battle Training
DCL-105 More Than Just Sidekicks
DCL-106 Prodigies
DCL-057 Reform the League
DCL-108 Teen Titans Go!
DCL-273 Total Recall, Team-Up
DCL-244 Nth Metal
DCL-246 Coast City
DCL-039 Hall of Justice
DCL-096 Optitron

While the foundations of a heavy-hitting deck revolving around counters and power-ups were present, the lack of drops assisting these themes from turn 4 on was sure to weaken the consistency, and off-team characters without generic team-ups was worrisome. I could only hope that Chance had come up with something less powerful…

DCL-114 Catwoman, Cat o’ Nine Tails x2 (1-drop)
DCL-160 Cheetah, Barbara Minerva (1-drop)
DCL-159 Charaxes, Moth Monster (2-drop)
DCL-019 Kendra Saunders Hawkgirl, Thanagarian Heroine (2-drop)
DCL-084 Red Star, Russian Roulette (2-drop)
DCL-214 Shadow Assassin, Army (2-drop)
DCL-134 Superwoman, Earth 3 (2-drop)
DCL-112 Black Manta, Deepwater Denizen (3-drop)
DCL-173 Floronic Man, Jason Woodrue (3-drop)
DCL-127 Owlman, Earth 3 (3-drop)
DCL-068 Cassie Sandsmark Wonder Girl, Might of Atlas (4-drop)
DCL-121 The Joker, Headline Stealer (4-drop)
DCL-136 Ultraman, Earth 3 (4-drop)
DCL-204 Cassandra Cain, Daughter of Shiva (5-drop)
DCL-162 Darkseid, Destroyer of Life (5-drop)
DCL-138 White Martian, Earth 3 (5-drop)
DCL-070 Dick Grayson Nightwing, Going it Alone (6-drop)
DCL-215 Shrike, Boone (6-drop)
DCL-211 Nyssa Raatko, Maiden of Death (7-drop)
DCL-033 Wonder Woman, Founding Member (7-drop)
DCL-254 Combat Reflexes
DCL-144 Crime Syndicate of Amerika
DCL-258 From the Shadows
DCL-147 Gang-Up, Team-Up
DCL-198 Maleficent Meeting
DCL-266 The Multiverse, Team-Up
DCL-269 Path of Destruction x2
DCL-271 Tag Team
DCL-219 Flying Fortress

It’s interesting for me to look at Chance’s build, as he tends to structure his curve differently then myself. He played a heavy number of 1-drops and 7-drops, while going lower on drops 3 through 6 than I normally would. My opponent had built a far more aggressive deck than myself, with many non-stamped ATK pumps to use against me. Still, I have to ask: he didn’t use Endgame?! A 9-drop plot twist to use with his Darkseid? That spells game-winner to me.

Chance flipped the coin, and guessing right, I chose odds to take advantage of Mark Desmond’s potential brutality. My four cards came up:

DCL-034 Zatanna, Sucoh Sucop! (2-drop)
DCL-063 Bart Allen Kid Flash, Generation Fourth (3-drop)
DCL-179 Mark Desmond Blockbuster, Mindless Brute (7-drop)
DCL-044 Battle Training

With an early curve and my 7-drop in hand, I kept my hand and the match began.

ROUND 1

I drew my next two cards:

DCL-024 Plastic Man, Plastic Fantastic (2-drop)
DCL-115 Circe, Evil Enchantress (5-drop)

Laying Battle Training down as my first resource, I passed to Chance, who also had no 1-drops available.

SCORE: 50-50

ROUND 2

My second set of cards gave me:

DCL-017 John Stewart, The Master Builder (4-drop)
DCL-096 Optitron

Chance played his Superwoman, Earth 3 in the concealed and passed to my recruit step. I placed Optitron down as a resource and recruited Zatanna, Sucoh Sucop. Facing one opposing character, Zatanna whipped up a spell to draw me:

DCL-057 Reform the League

I discarded my extraneous 2-drop Plastic Man, Plastic Fantastic and passed to Chance. With no pumps available and Superwoman’s power inactive on his initiative, he could not hit the magician’s DEF value and passed. Zatanna hit him direct, giving me a small early lead.

SCORE: 50-48 (Mike)

ROUND 3

With the initiative back on my side, I picked up two more cards.

DCL-175 Gorilla Grodd, Grodd Awful (4-drop)
DCL-082 Raven, Demon Spawn (5-drop)

I eagerly put my Reform the League down as a resource and recruited Bart Allen Kid Flash, Generation Fourth in front of Zatanna. Chance responded by recruiting Black Manta, Denizen of the Deep in his hidden area next to Superwoman.

With nothing standing in their way, Bart Allen and Zatanna both swung into Chance’s endurance total.

SCORE: 50/40

Passing to my opponent, Chance took advantage of Superwoman’s now-hefty ATK value to strike at Bart Allen. With no modifiers on either side, they both stunned. Sadly, Black Manta could not boost his ATK value at me directly, forced to hit a braced Zatanna. Since a discard to Reform the League wouldn’t boost her ATK enough to hit him back, I saved the card in my hand and let the attack go through.

SCORE: 42/38

In the aftermath, Chance readied both of his hidden warriors while Zatanna hit the graveyard.

ROUND 4

Continuing his deck’s trend, Chance placed Ultraman, Earth 3 next to his two hidden Injustice Gang characters and set them up to pounce. Meanwhile, I had pulled from my deck:

DCL-018 Katar Hol Hawkman, Death From Above (3-drop)
DCL-013 Firestorm, Ronnie Raymond (4-drop)

Silently grumbling about my lack of non-character cards and initiative, I placed Gorilla Grodd face-down in my resource row and placed Firestorm behind Bart Allen. Chance mulled over his attack plan while I braced myself for a round that held no good options for me.

After his deliberation, Ultraman flew over to strike at Firestorm. Flipping Reform the League, I decided to spare myself a point of breakthrough by discarding John Stewart to power-up Ronnie Raymond. Both of the 4-drops stunned.

It seemed as if my opponent had no good options either. “Don’t want to do this…” he grumbled. “Oh, I can’t. That sucks.” Such is the way of familiarizing yourself with new sets.

Black Manta attacked Bart Allen, boosted by the huge Crime Syndicate of Amerika pump to push him over the possibility of a stun-back. With no effects from my side, Bart Allen stunned, allowing Superwoman to strike at the face.

SCORE: 29/34

As Bart Allen sped into the KO’ed pile, I saw Chance’s growing board advantage but prepared myself for the 5^th round.

ROUND 5

The next two cards brightened my spirits…

DCL-039 Hall of Justice
DCL-016 John Henry Irons Steel, Working Man (6-drop)

With my new location earning a spot as a resource, I played Raven in the visible area to take advantage of her high DEF value. Cassandra Cain came down on the opposing side, and I played my Battle Training on Firestorm while the build phase was still active. In response, Chance flipped Gang-Up to team his Injustice Gang characters with his newest League of Assassin leader. We both drew a card, which I thanked him for.

DCL-158 The Calculator, Q.E.D. (2-drop)

For my first attack step, I sent Firestorm into Cassandra Cain, discarding my new Calculator to Reform the League. With his power, Firestorm wouldn’t be stunned now, and Battle Training gave him a high ATK value for going up the curve. Since I didn’t have a team-up and we were approaching round 7 quickly, I flipped Hall of Justice and unhappily deposited Prodigies from the top of my deck into my KO’ed pile to stack the damage. Chance could only watch as I piled the power-ups without worry of stun.

Faced with a clear board, Raven fired directly at Chance, and the initiative was passed.

SCORE: 29/18

After a heavy beating, Chance verbalized his anger against his ineffective 3-drop. “I hate Black Manta… you can never get his power off!” He swung the Aquaman enemy and the initiative-empowered Superwoman into Raven, using Combat Reflexes on Manta to move him to the front and beat Raven’s DEF value. The dark Titan and Black Manta stunned, but Ultraman’s power kept Chance from losing endurance. Ultraman hit Firestorm for the second round in a row, but his text made the endurance totals drop on only one side.

SCORE: 19/18

Black Manta and Firestorm trudged off to the Vs. afterlife. With the scores so close and Chance’s initiative coming up, I had to wonder if Mark Desmond would even see play.

ROUND 6

“None of these cards help…” I mourned as I saw my next two cards.

DCL-034 Zatanna, Sucoh Sucop! (2-drop)
DCL-063 Bart Allen Kid Flash, Generation Fourth (3-drop)

Chance asked for a count on the six cards in my hand. His risky build of only two 6-drops hurt him as he was forced to lay down Catwoman, Owlman and Charaxes. He assembled his army’s formation as I confirmed that Chance only had three cards in his hand.

Still lacking any non-character cards, Circe was buried in my KO’ed pile and John Henry Irons was tasked with protecting Raven. “He ain’t great on defense… and you have a lot of guys,” I said as I looked over the six enemies facing them.

The Earth-3 World’s Finest team attacked Steel. With their ATK values equal to my DEF, I discarded Zatanna to Reform the League. In response, Chance made Ultraman cut a Path of Destruction into my board, toppling Steel. In the hopes of fueling Mark Desmond next turn, I used Hall of Justice to deposit Mento into my KO’ed pile. Ultraman stunned with Steel as Chance flipped The Multiverse to team his League of Assassins with the Secret Society.

The team-up allowed Cassandra Cain and Charaxes to attack Raven together. Raven’s power kicked in, moving Chance’s only two visible characters to his hidden area. Raven hit back Cassandra as I braced myself for the remaining onslaught.

Removing Black Manta from his KO’ed pile to fuel Maleficent Meeting, a boosted Superwoman swung direct, followed by Catwoman with a power-up. Was the game over?

SCORE: 1/14

“You can’t finish me?” I said in disbelief. Charaxes and Raven were KO’ed and I counted up the nine cards in my KO’ed pile. I looked at Mark Desmond in my hand and Chance’s open board, and a grin crept over my face.

ROUND 7

My likely last two cards held no meaning for me.

DCL-105 More Than Just Sidekicks
DCL-090 Vic Stone Cyborg, Mechanized Mentor (3-drop)

I placed down More Than Just Sidekicks as my seventh resource to bring out the beastly Mark Desmond. “He’s ready!”

Chance looked over my KO’ed pile. “Not yet.”

He reviewed his hand and the possibilities facing him, then brought in not a 7-drop, but The Joker and Floronic Man to protect him. I grimaced.

“Well, that screws me up. I wanted to hit you direct. Obviously.” “Obviously.”

My gut told me I wouldn’t be able to push through enough, but rather than do the math, we played it out. Steel hit at Joker, discarding Vic Stone to Reform the League. “That’s your ten,” Chance observed as he reinforced with Floronic Man. Blockbuster smiled as he charged into the remaining visible character.

SCORE: 1/-7

“Yeah, you got this,” I told him. Chance threw Cassandra Cain, Catwoman and Superwoman into Blockbuster, who hit back Cassandra in response, but did no damage due to Ultraman’s power. Ultraman and Owlman attacking Steel sealed the game.

SCORE: -12/-7

After the game, Chance revealed he had Wonder Woman ready all along, but chose to under-drop to brunt the attack from my 7-drop.

The next game was far less competitive on my behalf, with Chance easily taking 2 out of 2 and earning first pick rights on the rare cards and the foil Zatanna. He ended up taking Roy Harper Red Arrow, Charaxes and the 8-drop Ra’s al Ghul respectively, as well as the Zatanna as a bonus. I had to be happy with the Crime Syndicate of Amerika card, since I was also left with Optitron and the useless Endgame as we each picked our cards. Such is the cost of losing.

Starting next week (hopefully), I’ll be delving into the set reviews for DC Legends, along with a special guest reviewer helping me out. I hope this look inside our funny way of playing has inspired you to create your own rules and enjoy Vs., no matter where you are.

Michael Reyes is an avid Vs. player and founding member of NY-based Team Suck. He can also be found on Vsrealms.com as “thefilth999.”