No guest appearances today people. I apologize if yesterday?s look into some of the more delightful card art offended anyone. I should have known not to trust a vampire. If I allow someone like to write again, I?ll be sure to read over it first and edit it a bit. Let?s stick to a much safer topic today as we look at some of the better quotes from the new set. And since some of you guys were not able to attend the pre-releases this past weekend, I?ll include the full card along with some thoughts on the flavor text.
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Vermont Medical Marijuana

Bullseye

"Elektra. Karen. Daredevil."

Bullseye has the cool Ricochet-like text . Really catches the flavor of the character. For a four drop, he doesn't suck either. His discard drawback would be really cool with Path of Destruction. I was wondering around the tables watching games this weekend and some kid attacked Bullseye with his boosted 5 drop Elektra and was like, "Ha!! She rose from the grave and got her revenge you tooth pick flinging punk!!" Funny stuff.











Carbone?s Assassins

"To kill the punisher, you need a whole lot of backup."

I just love the Punisher. Sometimes the sheer number of bullets he dodges is a little bit ridiculous. I can think of only one other character in the make believe world that faces even more insurmountable odds and that is Drizzt Do'Urden. But the new series written by Garth Ennis is by far the best Punisher stories ever. And this card's flavor text best illustrates how bad ### the Punisher actually is.











X-Statix HQ

"Margaritas, massages, hot tubs--I don't think Professor X would approve of our Danger Rooms."

This is my kind of headquarters and the exact mentality the Team Realmworx team has when we goto events. Good fun, lots of alcohol, and maybe some winning ways. The X-Statix team is this generation's A-Team. Crazy times, probably a lot of illegal stuff, but always trying to do good in the end with the added bonus of getting paid one way or another.











Head Shot

"You'll never catch me, Daredev--OOF!"

The flavor text on this card makes me laugh every time I read it but only because it goes so well with the picture. Talk about someone who knows how to write some copy. This is the person I want writing flavor text full time. Simple. Direct. And perfect for the illustration. The card is pretty damn good too. Not over-the-top good like Savage Beatdown, but certainly a great pick in draft.











Go In Swinging

"Your action figure sales are stagnant, so we've developed a new sales paradigm. Next time you fight, could you be a little more proactive and dynamic?"

I picked this card not so much because it gells well with the art (even though it does) but more because it best illustrates the mentality that most people you meet have nowadays. What have you done for me lately? It's exactly how most people think. I am not sure I think anything is wrong with that...but I am not the best person to judge such a thing. But, you gotta keep giving if you want to stay in the limelight!!!







Luke Cage, Power Man

"You got a Galactus? Call the Avengers. But, if you need a street-smart brother with skin of steel, you know who to call."

A perfect candidate to illustrate what the set is all about. Guns, girls, and good old street fighting with some wackiness thrown in for fun. When you absolutely have to turn your guys sideways for some brawling, you can not do better than Mr. Cage. There is a reason that Cap picked him to join the New Avengers and his flavor text here captures what Luke is all about. That card is amazing and I am sure it will see play when Marvel Knights is legal for tournament play.







Crime and Punishment

"If the system worked, you wouldn't need me."

Yes, I love the Punisher. If there were some way to control his destruction of the criminal element in the world so that no innocent people would be wrongly terminated, then I'd be a strong supporter of his brand of justice in real life. Probably why I like the movie "Boondock Saints" so much. By the way, if this card were rare, it would be the new Savage Beatdown. It is that good.












Club Dead

"The sheep think they're wolves... but the wolves know better."

You know, we get all kinds of people playing all kinds of games in my store. And there are good players, bad players, casual players, and then that special player that thinks he's good, tells everyone how good he thinks he is, but in reality he is just that guy that keeps feeding your store credit prize. That is why I like this flavor text so much. A lot of people that show up for the high level events talk a good game but they will never see a top eight. Heh. We like those people.









U-Go-Girl

"Ready to port back to HQ? I need a stiff drink and a hot bath."

This is my kind of girl. Deacon talked about her a bit yesterday and I thought I'd give her our full attention today. The flavor text is perfect for her. If you have read the X-Statix comics, you'd really see how this captures U-Go-Girl. The card is pretty good too, considering the one-guy-in-play theme that the X-Statix team likes.













Tomorrow we will look at the Top Fives from the set. Worst and Best, we will comb through the cards and tell you what we think will be the defining and MIA cards of the set. See you then!

Here is the pre-release cards together in all of their glory!!! Super nice.


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Roor bong pictures

Dear En-Kur:

Please do this for every single set of VS ever to come out again. As someone unable to attend prereleases, this is the coolest thing ever. It's like preview, except I'm getting 5 at once and with my favorite parts highlighted (like flavor text and art).

Oh, and, I haven't done this in a while, so [random ego boost here].



profparm

will that new style of art just be for these cards or are the new style of extended arts going to be different for this set?

LOL, that Bullseye text is great.

And as for Punisher's methods, so what if one or two innocents die in the process? I for one would be quite happy to know that I died in the crossfire of an urban war that took out a dozen or so scumbags along with me. You can't just can't make an omelet without killing a few innocent people, and the same goes for keeping the world crime free.

[rant]
But killing innocent people is a crime too.

So it's impossible to kill innocent people to keep the world "crime free," because the action you're taking to eliminate crime is the very same action that you are trying to prevent.

It's a never ending cycle. See what I'm saying?

It was Abraham Lincoln that said we should respect even the most insignificant of all laws. I think he had good reason.
[/end rant]

GT <------- did the text for Head Shot & Bulls-Eye, weeps a tear of pride.

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GT

Biz...

I'm...I'm...speechless.

You have no idea how much it warms my heart to read this.

Thank you sir.

Thank you.

Can anyone explain the flavor of the Bullseye card? I thought he threw stuff, why is he just a beater? I expected an Arsenel-type effect that represented shooting, but he's just a big tough guy. Wussupwitdat?

Also, who's Karen?

"Karen" = Karen Paige, Matt Murdock's (aka Daredevil) girlfriend. Might as well have been his wife - if you know what I mean.

Bullseye has a way of forcing DD to choose a new girlfriend.

you mean Bullseye (4) isnt a top 5 card o_O?
or Luke cage?

crime and punishment by far is the greatest text

You are right Dave. The best Punisher series ever is the one running now. Let's hope enough copies are jumping off the shelves to see it last a few more years at least.

My other favorite Punisher story (apart from the early classics of the original mini-series, series, and War Journal) is the one-shot where it's the end of the world and he still kills everyone else alive because they weren't perfect enough morally for him. He was even sick with cancer or something, so he bascially wiped out the human race.

Dedication at it's finest =)

Just incase anyone is interested, I took some of the cards I got at the prerelease and scaned them, you can view them here

Wow, thanks. I had not seen Swan Dive yet! Why didn't Dave use that in the hottie article? What is it that DD is looking at? It's making him sweat, that's for sure. The face on Elektra in that card looks like the muppetface in The Grudge!