Hey guys,
Well, I must say it’s been a while… But unforunately it was necessary with revision and exams eating a large portion of the last few months of my life. But for now, they’re finished (at least, until summertime comes again, but let’s not spoil the moment thinking about that 
).
Quite a bit has happened in the world of VS since I’ve been gone, and this Blog hasn’t really been moving anywhere, so I’ve decided to kickstart it and see if there’s any life left in her. Whether I’ll manage to keep it up this time is another matter, but as long as I don’t run out of interesting things to talk about that shouldn’t be a problem
I see Stu’s blog over at fullbodytransplant.wordpress.com is still rolling along nicely, so if you haven’t had chance to check it out yet please go and do so, there’s some interesting stuff on there… and some weird stuff as well, but its all good Speaking of Stu, I recently won the Sea Creatures deckbuilding mini-contested he hosted on his blog, and he was kind enough to fill in some of my DCR wants list, which I’m very grateful for as it contained the fourth Removed from Continuity I needed for a playset (I had ordered a fourth several months previous on eBay, but it never arrived) so mad props for Stu, although it’s not like everything he does warrants mad props or anything
I also made the top 4 cut on Stu’s latest Barn Door Challenge on vssystem.com with my Crisis army deck. This time the task was to build a deck to abuse 8-drop Destroyer, Herald from MCG. My entry consisted of a deck filled with Army characters that teamed-up using Crisis on Infinite Earths, although taking a step back it just ended up looking like Crisis Doom without the good bits as another poster on Realms stated…. although to be fair, abusing an 8-drop that relies on you having a mitt full of army characters is no mean feat.
Looking at the competition, (you can find the article at http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/vs/en/news/article.aspx?aid=3724) I don’t see the point of the Manhunter/Underworld deck… It looks like fun to play with, and could be quite efficient at stalling, but milling the opponents deck on 8 shouldn’t do anything without Emperor Joker……. or The Fall of Oa… HOLY SHIT! I’ve just thought of the most awesome entry ever, but right now, writing this blog, a few months later
Hmm…. When I’ve finished talking about the other entries I’m so totally drafting up a list, and you can watch/read with me 
Anyways, the Sentinel deck looks quite good on paper, but I’m not too sure about the Search and Destroy (Disclaimer now I’m halfway through: I know my entry was just as bad, and it could’ve been loads better, I’m just picking them apart partly for fun, and partly because I’m just jealous because one of them is going to win and I’m not, lol) as more often than not it will be a Mark V you’re stunning to take out a 3-drop or lower… Surely not a great plan? Also a single copy of Baxter Building might have been able to work in tandem with the playset of Ego Gem…. which seem to be anti-synergetic with the Sentinel Mark Vs that need to remain ready? Although there is Speed Queen, wouldn’t having a Darkseid’s Elite character in a deck that’s attempting to stall be screaming for breakthrough? Otherwise, my final criticism is that with no way of finding Destroyer, it may be difficult to hit him.
The Rock deck is actually quite cool, although it shares the common problem with all four decks in that they need to reach turn 8 as part of the competition’s criteria (to recruit Destroyer) making it exceedingly difficult to be left with the clutch full of army characters that you end up requiring, but otherwise the stall element is pretty solid, however after eight turns of stalling is Destroyer and few Annihilation Protocols a more efficient win condition than Mary Marvel / Captain Marvel?
And finally that fourth deck, built by Oliver Frith (with him being me) what a complete goon! Although the deck’s curve looks to be quite consistent with eight cards, there’s not too much synergy going on outside of the fact that all of the characters have the version Army. Sure, it had some Golden Age tech, but to be fair it’s superfluous in a field that can just run Turbo Thing, Rigged Elections or any number of other decks far superior to anything this contest has produced. In all honesty, I had great fun trying to make a deck to fit the criteria, and my attempt was the best I could do at the time… and I think that’s what Stu wanted. He didn’t want to break a format (it just would’ve helped if you could), he just wanted to see what the collective minds of the community could do with a card that interested him, and I salute him for it. Give us more Barn Door Challenges
I’ll close this section with a good luck to all the competitors, and a pre-emptive congratulations to the winner
Anyways, now onto business… Destroyer + Manhunters + The Fall of Oa looks like mad fun… Let’s build this
1x Destroyer, Herald
1x Solomon Grundy, Buried on a Sunday
3x Manhunter Conqueror, Grandmaster
6x Manhunter Giant, Army
10x Manhunter Sniper, Army
4x Manhunter Clone, Clone of Paul Dirk
4x The Riddler, Riddle Me This
4x James Jesse <> Trickster, Giovanni Guiseppe
4x Funky’s Big Rat Code, Team-Up
4x Sorcerer’s Treasure
4x Attend or Die!
4x The Fall of Oa
4x Straight to the Grave
3x Orinda
4x Plans Within Plans
Well, that’s the list so far… The aim should be quite obvious, mill your opponent for 60 then Fall of Oa to get your deck into your hand to provide plenty of fuel for Destroyer, and to make Solomon Grundy solid… I don’t think it’ll be anywhere near consistent… Any suggestions for ways to mill would be much appreciated Anyways, I think I ought to wrap up for now, just noticed I’m over 1000 words which was the mini-target I set for myself, but before I got I’ll just let you know about my new schedule for articles/rantings/other things on Vicarious Living:
Monday: 1000 words on some VS related topic
Tuesday: My week in VS (from tuesday to tuesday) just a little talk about any stuff that I’ve got going on / have done
Wednesday: Everyone else’s week in VS – talking about any new announcements / any news of consequence and my opinion on it etc.
Thursday: 1000 more words on another VS related topic
Friday: I’m at work, so I’ll have today off
Saturday: 1000 more words make up the week’s third article
Sunday: A day for homework, and reflection methinks… Maybe a small post just to let you know I’m alive
Anyways, if you’re reading this, thanks for reading,
Stay safe,
~ TXC08
