So the other day.. my friend who is really into Heroclix somehow convinces me to buy a Vs. Starter deck. Usually I stay away from CCg type games - but for some reason I found myself shelling out the dough for it.

It was the new Batman starter deck... and I found myself flipping through the cards... incredibly happy at what I was looking down at.

So basically... now I'm actually thinking about joining the crowd and playing this game (I have not actually played it yet). But before I start pumping bucks into it... I just had a couple questions:

1) I know the answer probably is biased from y'all.. but could I have an honest answer as to if this game is fun or not? Like the gameplay mechanics... aside from the fact that it features kickass characters.

2) How much $$ would one have to pump into the game to build up a decent deck? In terms of boosters/starters if possible as well as $$$.

3) Is it too late to get in on the Marvel Origins set? I see that box/booster prices are sky-normous.


Thanks,

Savage

1. Yes, the game is very well designed and plays very well. I've played many of games and have basically left all games (including Zeroclix) except for VS and yugioh (yes you jealous fools, I still play, get over it!)
2. How you got?
3. With Avengers and JLA just released, and having some really good cards, you may not want to get into Marvel Origins; however Origins does have the # 1 card and for the moment, the # 1 deck as well.

the games all good, but MOR does not have the best deck out, CS is good, but avengers have won the last 2 10k's and will be a dominant force at PCLA.

that is correct, but until PCLA declares another "winner" CS is still considered the top deck to play. However, I agree that Avengers will probably dethrone the CS deck.

The Vs system is without a doubt, the best designed game system I've ever played. If I didn't have 10+ years of Magic under my belt (and out of my bank account) it would be the only game I play.

I agree with the previous posters, don't bother buying anything prior to Avengers or JLA. UDE continues to improve on the card quality and consistency in each expansion, and while Curve Sentinels and Savage Beatdown are the deck/cards to get, you don't need to buy whole boxes of MOR to play. Buy a bunch of Avengers now, buy a TON of JLA when it comes out, and then, if you've got the cash, shell out the $75-$100 for 4 Savage Beatdowns and just focus on beating Sentinels.

Long Live VS!

No this game is not very fun, save your money.

haha, and yet you still troll on this site?

look, the best way for you to decide if you like this game, before spending alot of money, is to play some games with your friends decks, let them teach you the basics, play some on-line games- they are free!- and then make your own decisions.

As much as I love this game for its deep flavor and creative potential, it is HARD to play. Many people enjoy that, and Heroclix is even harder (to me), so it comes down to your own "fun threshold".

As a comparison, we picked up the Epic Battles game and found a game that is fairly flavorful (we adore Capcom)... but not very satisfying in the long run. It is easy, it rewards random luck, it has a mechanic like dominoes. We won't play it very often, we already turned to Micro Machines on the playstation instead.

We still play Uno at least once a month, we tried to invent a classic system like that when we created Hattch.

So, again, I think it comes down to your personal play style and your definition of "fun". Remember to take into account the type of people that you are getting feedback from, then make your move.

1) While I wouldn't put this game as #1 of the list for being "fun", it is definitely towards the top. I play because it is the more fun that any other popular game in my area. Stu is right though, while this is an easy game to learn, it is difficult to play at the top level. The strategies & math can get pretty complex.

2) It depends on the deck you want to play. If you want access to every card out there, you're talking several thousand dollars. But if you just want one deck that you can play comptetively, there are decks out there you can get for very cheap (less than $40 I'm guessing) assuming you just buy singles of the cards you need.

3) I agree with everyone else. Forget MOR and go with JLA and MAV.

I am fairly new to the game...so I hope my opinion can count

1) the game is a blast...I love comics...so playing it out is a lot of fun for me and my pals...Decks done right seem to hold up well...but can be tech'd against and beaten...their is no "perfect" build

2) This one depends on a few things...Do you want to play with your pals, or on a bigger scale? (I played with my pals for probably 6 months...in my basement...with the jankiest decks...costing me very little) Playing in hobby league and trying to win, will cost a bit more....and obviously playing professionally costs a lot more...so do you play for fun or for money/prizes?

3) some of this will go with #2...depends on what you want to play...it isnt manditory to buy orgins...If you buy enough new stuff, you will have plenty to trade for old stuff...(new = hot)..I started late...spent a little money and made good trades

I am having the time of my life with VS

Game play - game play is solid and supports a variety of experience levels. The game can be hard to master to compete in the upper echeleons, but the gam eplays well so long as the play group has relatively equal experience and mastery over teh game. You can sit down and enjoy a game without getting into the complicated interactions of stacking card effects.

What to buy - there are two considerations here: (1) your favorite teams and (2) your desired play style. I highly encourage you to choose and play one of the comic book teams (or team-ups) you like most. There are decks that will be competetive enough for most teams. To really reap teh rewards of playing Vs., you will also want to balance your selection of teams against the playstyle you think you will most enjoy.

There are three basic play styles with multiple variations within each one....
(a) Swarm. This is the deck that plays a ton of smaller characters and rearely usees all of its resource points on a single character past turn 4 or 5. Green Lantern, Brotherhood, and JLI all fit here.
(b) Curve. This deck tries to play the biggest character it can each turn. That means only one character per turn, but that character is really good. Curve works best when you have access to plot twists that let you search for characters such as Gotham Knights and League of Assassins. Sentinels is another curve deck that is very good, but does so through means other than search cards.
(c) Alternate win. There are cards in the game that provide you with a means to win outside of the normal method of reducing your opponent's endurance to 0. The most common of these is an X-Men deck based on a card called Xavier's Dream. There is also a version of the Joker (arkham Inmates) that provides an alternate win condition.

Within these main types, there are subtypes such as blitz, combo, and control. Blitz decks through a lot of their resources at winning very quickly. Control decks try to enforce their time table of the game on the other player by reducing endurance loss, limiting characters, etc. with the goal of playing a game changing card at some point. Combo decks have a combination of cards that they wish to get in their hands and then use those cards to win in a single fell swoop - the Thunderbolts do this very nicely.

BTW, most teams have specific play styles within these themes that were designed by UDE to represent the feel of those teams. For the most part, UDE has done a very good job of matching mechanics to comic teams. Fantastic Four involves a ton of interactions between its four primary members will Teen Titans rewards teamwork of its characters.

Best wishes and good luck with the game.

-Mike

Thanks for responding everyone!

I've hit a kind of snag in finding people to play though. I asked around and none of my friends here want to play - one just wants to play miniature wargames - which is why he's willing to play Pirates but not willing to play VS.

The friend that convinced me to buy a starter deck was just visiting from the west coast...

I live in Virginia, and apparently none of the neighboring comic shops/stores have any VS tourneys and such going on. (I'd like to try playing for prizes since I've never done that with a CCG before - plus it adds a new level of competition).

I'm going to ask around some more.. and maybe there will be someone out there...playing VS....willing to take on a newbie

If I try playing online, is there a chat system to find games or do I have to arrange a predetermined time with somebody first?

Another question - for West Coasters (So. Cal to be precise). Do any of you all go to Frank and Sons to buy cards? And if so, how much are the boosters/starters there? I'm going to be visiting LA soon (during winter) and figured I'd check it out.

Man I really hope this doesn't turn out like Doomtown... where I bought a bunch of cards.. but it turned out nobody in my area played the game. *SIGH*

Haha sorry to pummel the forums with my newbie questions....

Savage

This game has been out for 2 years and see how many people in your area play it. zero. Save your money. Play the free online game if you want OCTGN, the download is on this site. Good luck.

As far as the difficulty, this game seems to fall into the minutes to learn, lifetime to master range.

I have taught my two gaming friends, my wife, and my 6,8,and 9 year olds to play. We all have a blast, and the kids can even win a couple with the right strategy and draws. Of course we only have 1 Savage Beatdown, and it is currently residing in my wife's Unaffiliated "Homeless" Deck.

When it comes to combat, once an attack is about to resolve, I, the scorekeeper, just announce what each participant will take, normally in a format like "6 for 2", so everybody knows what is happening, and the kids can read the cards, so that would be the biggest hurdle for them. (And the reason that my 3 year old isn't ready to play yet.)

I am a collector as well as a gamer, so it is more important for me to have 1 of every card, rather than 4 of a good one, and I play one deck for each team, with the 'leftovers' going to the Mrs. for her decks, with the kids mostly playing the ones I've made. We normally buy one booster box at the local comic shop, and then supplement that with some boosters every couple weeks or buying singles online.

If I hadn't started with Marvel Origins, I would definitely be getting into the Avengers and Justice League sets, as everybody else suggests.

On a side note, where in Virginia? We lived in Charlottesville for about a year and a half, and that was when Marvel Origins was released, and there was only three stores that sold Vs at the time. Now we are back home in Phoenix, AZ, so that's not a problem anymore.

Have you gone to ude.com and entered your zip code to see if any stores in your area have tournaments? You can also look at the recruitment section of the forum, lots of areas have threads there.