The only one I truly despise is the inclusion of chases.

Hate chase figures. Always have, always will.

Used to be I could just buy a case/brick, pull what I pulled, and maybe trade for what I didn't. If I couldn't trade, I'd maybe buy another booster or two and get lucky.

Nowadays, I have to worry about what the chases in a set will be and, should they make one that I'd really like to play (not own, not place upon my shelf like a badge of honor, not mark up and dump on eBay - PLAY), offset that against what I'd normally buy.

IMO, chases (along with the change in rarity - though generics are helping that) have severely devalued the trade values of certain pieces, and made collecting by the case a dubious prospect at best.

Back in the day, if I wanted an Ultimate Thor, I could offer one high-end U or several mid-grade Us. I could get what I wanted, someone else could get what they wanted, everyone was happy.

Nowadays, people with chases will only part with them in exchange for money or other chases.

I hate me some chases. This is inarguable.

Also, I could care less about what someone else has as opposed to what I have, as such a philosophy is utterly stupid, IMO. I bought my CoG Galactus for around $200, right around the end of CoG.

Others were able to get it for much cheaper, sometimes as low as $55.

That other people got theirs cheaper in no way (and, logically, cannot) diminishes the happiness I have from owning mine.

Also, I own a Warbound. Got it for fellowship. I own it, I will play it, and I don't care if someone else plays it by printing it off of a screen.

What you are saying here is that anyone who plays Warbound or Starro, by extention, is going to win. That is completely untrue. When I was still a new-er player at my first convention tourney, I played a Warbound team. Johnny Sorrow, Icicle, Structural Integrity Field x2, and some other random stuff. Now as you can see my opponent was cheating by using TWO SIF's not only that but we played on the Bank map and he placed on of them in the corner of the map again cheating by placing a special object to close to the starting area. Now the only reason he got away with it is I did not catch it. It came down to a roll off because he was scared of my team, (Starro GL & GA, along with Blue Beetle (CR), and (OR) Booster Gold) He would not come out to attack me at all, even when I gave him bait. He did win the roll off unfortunately, but it had nothing to do with the fact he had Warbound. It was the fact he was cheating.

Also since then I have played against Warbound teams 5 or 6 times, only losing ONCE because of a tactical mistake I made, not because my opponent was packing Warbound. Now maybe I am lucky but I highly doubt that since I have lost my fare share of games. I have lost more because of Fortitude than I have against Warbound.

Correction, PaxZRake gave me the Warbound feat, as he sympathized with my pathetic need to have all things Hulk.

Now that I remember it, I got LE Incredible Hulk for fellowship, on a different day.

Thanks, Pax!

I'm saying it improves your chances to win. Now, I can anecdotally cite all I like, but the top-tier teams really speak for themselves. Warbound makes an appearance. There's a reason for that.

And it still remains: Screw limited availability in the face. If you want a trophy? You still have one. You can point to your honest-to-goodness Warbound and say "There! I won that!" The person who comes in with a print out can't do that.

Your victory is in no way denigrated. Meanwhile, the ability to print out Warbound and Protected does a lot to level the playing field. Victory should be based on who can make the better team and who plays the best, not about who has the bigger collection or who can spend more money on the game.

A level playing field is a good thing.

Cue the "OMG t3h h3r0clix is coll3ctabl3 lololol" in 3...2...1...