Now that VS is officially dead, I might as well focus my diminished TCG playing time to the 2nd best card game out there (in  XP, anyway)… Bleach! ^_^

Since I can’t write an original deck-building or meta analysis article these days, I will do the lazy TCG blogger’s way of filling the pages… card review!

And what better way to start this here than with the Infiltration preview cards. Yep, they have started trickling in, though I am too lazy yet again to look for them at the officialbleachtcg.com. Instead, I will let my eager comrades at pinoytcg.com/bleach do the hard work of posting the new cards there, and I will simply profit off their diligent labor, hehehe.

Here we go!

The crazy hot chick

Yoshi – Fully Geared

A solid card from the get go, even though we still have no idea what the Fan and Sword can do. Well, we know they have eyes and can speak, which really looks weird, but that’s the anime. Yoshi has good stats for her cost, and has the interesting trait combination of being Evil, a Female, and a Spirit. And of course, we should all know by now that free search of most anything equals good times.

Grade: B+ (may still improve depending on the Fan and the Sword)

The main hero

Ichigo – Determined

We are well aware that Ichigo appears in every set of Bleach TCG, and often times in multiple versions. This card is a solid start for our main protagonist this set. He provides good stats, and gives another turn 1 play for the Zangetsu Guardian. He’s even useful when leaving play.

Grade: B (really only useful for one Guardian, and just decent in others)

Ok, I’ll have to stop here, since I’m feeling sleepy already. We’ll come back for the next cards previewed, even though if you’re still reading this far, it’s a safe bet that you already know every new card so far. But I know you’re here to bask in the glorious presence of my not-so-humble opinions, so be sure to come back for more awesomeness. =P

Before we move on with new posts, let me salute the best TCG I’ve ever played… Thanks for the memories, VS!

It was fun while it lasted, hehehe. ^_^

Bleach Championships

It’s coming! ^_^

Still playing Bleach. Portal set coming in next month.

MUN set coming in this month, so I might get to play VS again…

Stay tuned! ^_^

Or not, hehehe.

… PC still dead… The Dark Knight was awesome… Heath Ledger is THE Joker… Bounts Previews getting better and better… MUN reprint!… if i get MUN stuff, then i guess i still haven’t quit on VS, hehehe… Squad 3 Regionals this Saturday… commons/uncommons format… still no deck for that… wallet gonna be in pain for the next few weeks… wallet already bleeding badly… curse hobbies for being so much fun, hehehe…

My PC died! And that is why I haven’t been updating this blog for quite a while now, hehehe. I haven’t found the time to look into what’s wrong with my PC, so it looks like I’m gonna rely on these rare moments when I can find time to surf on a non-working day…

Anyway, just quick updates on Bleach:

1. My Student deck has finally won an HL! ^_^

2. My Human deck didn’t work out as I expected, hehehe. It focuses too much on offensive tricks. I might as well wait for the Bounts set for more Human goodness.

3. Speaking of the Bounts, the previews have been more or less awesome so far. Some of the generic stuff posted so far scream ‘money card’ to me, and the uncommons and commons have been spectacular as well. It’s an exciting time to be a Bleach player, hehehe.

4. New stuff up at the Bleach Redemption Store! The big target prize is Thumbs Up, of course.

But the Soi Fon promo card looks soooooo good!!! I am so tempted to get a set… le sigh…

Soi Fon! Sting me to death with your love! hahaha =P

That’s all I can think of at the moment, hehehe. ^_^

It’s preview season! Again!

But before everyone gets confused as to why I’m doing previews right after the release of MUN, let me just clarify that the following cards are fan-made creations for use in MWS and OCTGN decks, as well as proxy cards should your playgroup allow them. Thanks to a few brave and brilliant souls over at VSRealms, the VS community will get the DC Universe fantasy expansion set! With negotiations between UDE and DC still ongoing, these Realmers have taken it upon themselves to build an entire new set for the fans by the fans.

I had no idea which teams were included in this fantasy DCU set, but I was not surprised that the Green Lanterns are being “re-featured” here. Fans of the Sinestro Corps War series have been clamoring for the return of the GLS and the willpower mechanic. If you’re one of them and you’re into fantasy VS cards, the wait is over:

Kyle Rayner, Honor Guard
3-cost Green Lantern/Challengers
4 ATK/5 DEF
Flight/Range
Willpower 2
[Activate]-> KO a resource you control. If you do, search your deck for a Team-Up card, reveal it, and put it face down into your resource row.
“Kyle’s never satisfied. He’s an artist.”
Common
DCU-20

I had to wiki for that Challengers part of his affiliation, but it’s just Kyle’s new Multiverse posse. The real deal is still his Green Lantern roots, as shown by his willpower of 2. His stats are a bit on the soft side if you consider the current standards of the game, but his ability suggests that he won’t be attacking much anyway.

A reusable way to search for team-ups?! That’s ridiculous! It just requires an activation… no discard of any sort or any other drawback. That means that as long as Kyle is around, you can fix your row however you want it, while at the same time filling your KO’d pile with already used cards. This opens up the possibilities of having a monstrous multi-team combo deck, or even simply thinning your deck one team-up at a time.

So what Team-Ups are we going to search for to abuse this ability? We can simply list all of the existing team-up cards so far and pick as we please, but fortunately I have a bonus preview that is a pretty good answer to our dilemma:

The Spectrum, Team-Up
2-cost Plot Twist
To play, choose two or more affiliations among characters you control with willpower 1 or greater.
Draw a card.
Ongoing: Crossover those affiliations.
Common
DCU-325

Sound familiar? That’s because it is sort of a reprint, actually. Hard-Traveling Heroes does the same thing, but The Spectrum is worded under the new template for Crossovers. There’s not much to say about this card. If you need to crossover at least 2 affiliations in your deck that have willpower, you use this. Easy as pie.

That’s all the preview cards I got. Obviously they are not the bombs of the set, but these 2 cards are what I’d call the ‘bread and butter’ of the decks you’d expect to make from the DCU fantasy expansion. A solid team-up and a reusable way to get them is a good start to any list that involves the various Lanterns. Tune in to VSRealms for the rest of the previews! Props to Guglio and lebeau for including me in this fun activity.^_^

And no, I’m not talking about Manny Pacquiao, hehehe.

Congratulations to Brian Eugenio for being the 1st ever VS World Champion! ^_^

Check out the coverage here:

http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/vs/en/events/event.aspx?eid=32

Captain America was in the winning deck, so all is well for me, hehehe. ^_^

This post is all about VS! ^_^

The VS World Championship is finally taking place in the US, and day 2 has concluded yielding the top 8 decks that will be battling it out later/tomorrow for the glory of being the 1st ever VS World Champion. Here’s the breakdown:

Matthew Ross

Characters:
4 Dagger, Secret Avenger
4 Iron Fist, Secret Avenger
4 Captain America, The Patriot, Secret Avenger
3 Dr. Strange, Secret Avenger
3 Hawkeye, Ronin, Secret Avenger
3 Echo, Ronin, Secret Avenger
3 Punisher, Secret Avenger
4 Human Torch, Secret Avenger
2 Storm, Secret Avenger
2 Black Panther, Secret Avenger
2 Spider-Man, Secret Avenger
1 Wolverine, Secret Avenger
2 Luke Cage, Secret Avenger

Plot Twists:
3 Above the Law
3 Blinding Rage
4 Losing the Argument
4 Savage Beatdown
3 Skreeeeeee!
4 The Big Three
2 Avengers Reassembled

_
Comments: Secret Avengers! I love the fact that the Avengers are back, but what’s sweeter is that it’s the Secret Avengers kicking ass. Anti-Registration FTW! As for the deck strategy itself, I think it’s a simple beatdown deck with heavy rallying to keep the characters flowing. Above the Law and Losing the Argument really work well with each other. What I love about this list is that it doesn’t even pack Mobilize! And with just 2 Avengers Reassembled, it merely relies on card filtering/rallying for the consistency issues. I love this deck! ^_^

===

Todd Carlson

Characters:
4 Iron Fist, Secret Avenger
3 Dagger, Secret Avenger
4 Captain America, The Patriot, Secret Avenger
4 Hawkeye, Ronin, Secret Avenger
2 Echo, Ronin, Secret Avenger
4 Punisher, Secret Avenger
2 Jessica Drew, Spider-Woman, Secret Avenger
1 Cable, Secret Avenger
4 Human Torch, Secret Avenger
2 Storm, Secret Avenger
3 Spider-Man, Secret Avenger
2 Wolvering, Secret Avenger
3 Luke Cage, Secret Avenger
1 Hercules, Secret Avenger

Plot Twists:
4 Savage Beatdown
4 Skreeeeeee!
4 Avengers Reassembled
3 Above the Law
3 The Big Three
3 Finishing Move

_
Comments: Another Secret Avengers deck, hehehe. This is a bit different than the 1st one, as it packs Finishing Move for the board control option. A full set of Avengers Reassembled provides for a little more consistency in getting the drops that you want, and a full set of SKREEEEEE! for the Hidden IG and MKKO matchups. I like this deck, but I prefer the balls-to-the-walls approach of the 1st one, hehehe.

===

Brian Eugenio

Characters:
4 Captain America, The Patriot, Secret Avenger
4 Punisher, Suicide Run
4 Professor Emil Hamilton, Ruin, Power Suit
4 The Captain, Can’t Remember His Real Name
1 Captain Atom, Quantum Energy
1 Scarecrow, Chirotophobic
1 Air-Walker, Herald
1 Black Manta, Underwater Marauder
1 Human Torch, Fiery Friend
1 Spider-Man, Outlaw
1 Punisher, Angel of Death
1 Ghost Rider, Danny Ketch

Plot Twists:
4 Carrying the Torch
4 Sniper Shot
3 Have A Blast!
4 Mobilize
4 Wild Ride
3 Pathetic Attempt
3 Superhuman Registration Act, Team-Up
3 Omnipotence
2 Neighborhood Watch, Team-Up
1 Stars and Stripes
1 My name is Peter Parker…

Equipment:
4 Captain America’s Shield

_
Comments: The 1st stall deck of the list! The major features are the 4 Sniper Shots and 4 Captain America’s Shield, with a full set of Carrying the Torch to ensure that anyone on the board can become Punisher and/or Cap. Ruin is there to fetch the on-goings, including the SRA team-up for a blanket Pro-Registration affiliation, and Neighborhood Watch for Marvel Knights membership. From there, you can Wild Ride and Mobilize for the 1-ofs in the later curve. It’s clear that the focal point is to keep exhausting guys and then KOing dudes via Sniping to reach the late turns, but I’m not sure how it would fare against a board-filling deck that swarms the field. I still love the deck because it features the legend of Captain America, but so far it’s the most expensive deck in the list. ^_^

===

Mike Jiles

Characters:
4 The Riddler, Riddle Me This
1 Chemo, Toxic Waste
1 Dr. Polaris, Polar Opposite
4 Dr. Sivana, Mad Scientist
2 charaxes, Moth Monster
4 Poison Ivy, Intoxication
1 Sinestro, Yellow Lantern
4 Gorilla Grodd, Grodd Awful
3 Black Manta, Underwater Marauder
2 Deathstroke, Killing Machine
1 Mr. Freeze, Cold Blooded
1 Doomsday, Engine of Destruction

Plot Twists:
3 Going Ape
2 Pathetic Attempt
3 Mobilize
4 Savage Beatdown
4 Straight to the Grave
4 Agility
3 Unnatural Selection
1 Master Plan

Locations:
2 Gorilla City
3 Birthing Chamber
3 Remote Facility

_
Comments: This is the new standard for a Secret Society list, a curve combat deck that relies on the KO’d pile to fuel its tricks. I like its defensive and board control features like Going Ape, Unnatural Selection, and the DCX-exclusive card Agility. Poison Ivy is the engine that makes it tick, since she helps flood the board with 1-drops to fuel Birthing Chamber and the tricks that KO’s characters for their costs. Gorills Grodd is the next important guy, and even has minor legend publicity here. At turn 5, Black Manta brings it all together, and I think its the turn where the deck reaches its crossroad in terms of controlling the tempo of the game. A solid deck overall.

===

William Baldwin

Characters:
4 Iron Fist, Secret Avenger
3 Dagger, Secret Avenger
4 Hawkeye, Secret Avenger
4 Captain America, The Patriot, Secret Avenger
2 Echo, Ronin, Secret Avenger
4 Punisher, Secret Avenger
2 Jessica Drew, Spider-Woman, Secret Avenger
1 Cable, Secret Avenger
4 Human Torch, Secret Avenger
2 Storm, Secret Avenger
3 Spider-Man, Secret Avenger
2 Wolverine, Secret Avenger
3 Luke Cage, Secret Avenger
1 Hercules, Secret Avenger

Plot Twists:
4 Savage Beatdown
4 Avengers Reassembled
4 Skreeeeeee!
3 Above the Law
3 Finishing Move
3 The Big Three

_
Comments: More Secret Avengers goodness! It’s an exact mirror of the 2nd deck listed above, so I’m guessing the pilots of these decks are teammates, hehehe.

===

Michael Robinson

Characters:
4 Green Goblin, Insanity Unleashed
1 Black Cat, Thrill Seeker
4 Bullseye, Lester
4 Radioactive Mand, Containment Suit
1 Sharon Carter, Agent 13, Agent of S.h.I.E.L.D.
4 The Captain, Can’t Remember his Real Name
4 Ultron, Ultron Prime
1 Holocaust, Nemesis
1 Martion Manhunter, Founding Member
1 Koriand’r, Starfire, X’Hal’s Fury
1 Darkseid, Dark God
1 The Beyonder, Inhuman
1 Death, The Second Force of the Universe

Plot Twists:
3 Mystical Paralysis
4 Heroic Effect
4 Strategic Thinking
4 Mobilize
2 Call in a Favor
3 Pathetic Attempt
4 Underground Movement, Team-Up
3 Savage Beatdown
1 Superhuman Registration Act, Team-Up
1 Only Human

Locations:
4 Thunderbolts Mountain

_
Comments: Whoa! 2 10-drops in the list! Although they are technically Plot Twists, hehehe. Behold the Radioactive Man/Ultron Prime combo! Well, it’s not really a combo, but it’s all about the +1/+1 counters. Heroic Effort and the MEX-exclusive Strategic Thinking are there to provide the counters, which Radioactive Man eats up to control the opponent’s Plot Twist threshold, which kinda feels like Dr. Doom. And speaking of the good (or evil) doctor, we have Mystical Paralysis in the list without its master! The Captain takes care of this, thanks to his ability to gain names. Ultron Prime is the focal point of the combat strategy, and from there the deck hopes to stall to a Starfire or Darkseid victory. It’s a rather risky list, from what I can see, as it needs the blanket team-ups to gain access to Mobilize, but a set of Thunderbolts Mountain is there to help alleviate that concern. This is an ingenius deck, and could suprise some of the other decks here, if Radioactive Man stays on the board for long.

===

Dan Clark

4 Blizzard, Frosty Friend
3 Black Cat, Thrillseeker
1 Chemo, Toxic Waste
2 Dr. Polaris, Polar Opposite
2 Black Widow, Femme Fatale
2 Dr. Strange, Secret Avenger
1 Bullseye, Lester
3 Dr. Sivana, Mad Scientist
4 Poison Ivy, Intoxicating
2 Deadshot, Floyd Lawton
1 Jean Grey, Teen Telepath
1 Imperiex, The Beginning and the End
1 Jean Grey, Phoenix Force
1 Iron Man, Protector of the Reality Gem
1 Professor X, World’s Most Powerful Telepath
1 Rogue, Power Absorption

1 Thunderbolts Mountain
4 Birthing Chamber
1 Remote Facility

2 Straight to the Grave
2 Collect Them All!
4 The Wrong Stuff
4 Neighborhood Watch
2 Omnipotence
4 Forced Conscription
3 Wild Ride
1 Messiah Complex

1 Med Kit
1 Ultimate Nullifier

_
Comments: It looks like a random pile at first glance, but it’s a potent combination of Secret Society and Thunderbolts! It starts as an off-curve tactic, and the likely ideal situation is for Poison Ivy to bring out as many Blizzards into the field as possible (bypassing unique-ness) for the uber-exhaust technique. Deadshot is there, as per usual, to handle the annoying 3-drops or less. From there, it hopes to stall out the game for the big guns to come out, like Imperiex and the Phoenix Force. That’s a huge gap in terms of the turns it’d take to control the tempo of the game with weenies, but there are enough tricks in the list to do just that. This is a potent deck against curve strategies, but I’m not sure how it would fare against other swarm or off-curve tactics.

===

Kurt Hindman II

4 Black Widow, Femme Fatale
4 Black Panther, Silent Stalker
4 Punisher, Suicide Run
4 Daredevil, Fearless Survivor
4 Blade, Independent Contractor
2 Ghost Rider, The Devil’s Rider
4 Wolverine, Covert Predator
1 Captain America, Loyal Patriot
1 Punisher, Captain America
1 Ghost Rider, Spirit of Vengeance

3 Stryker’s Island

4 Quick Kill
4 Wild Ride
4 Finishing Move
4 Devastating Blow
4 Blinding Rage
4 Savage Beatdown
1 Trouble with Dinosaurs
4 Mobilize

_
Comments: Marvel Knights! It’s the last in the list but certainly not the least.  It screams speed, power, and board control, thanks to the combination of the hidden area and the full sets of Quick Kill and Finishing Move. There is nothing fancy about this deck, just the sheer brute force MK has been known for since its initial incarnation. You gotta love lists wherein you can easily classify its non-character tricks into 3 piles: search, pumps, and KO. I love this deck. ^_^
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My prediction as which deck will take it all? Secret Avengers! ^_^

I’m cheating a bit here, since there are 3 Secret Avengers in the list, hehehe. As long as Captain America is in the winning deck, I don’t really care which one grabs the ultimate prize. Here’s hoping to an exciting top 8 showdown! ^_^

The 2nd Regionals concluded with me ending up with a losing record, but it was still a fun event with every participant giving his best shot. Most of my losses were due to not having the initiative, but some were also due to bad matchups. In any case, congratulations are in order to cruboy for winning his 2nd straight Regionals! And congratulations also to Red Viper for snagging the Squad 2 Captain title, due to the rule that a previous Taicho can’t have another Taicho title during the year, hehehe. ^_^