Vs. System

The back of Vs. System cards

It's been a while since I've covered a collectible card game (if you don't know what that is, see my post here for an introduction).  Today's review is of Vs. System, a card game produced by Upper Deck from 2004-2008.

The Object
Each person starts with a deck of 60 cards and 50 endurance points.  The goal is to have higher endurance than your opponent(s) when one of you goes below zero.  And yes, if you're wondering, you can go below zero, and I've had a number of games where I've won (or lost) and both people have been in the negative numbers.

Building a Deck
Like all collectible card games, you have a deck.  You build this deck using a combination of the four main card types: character (red frame), equipment (gray), location (green), and plot twists (blue).  Examples are shown below.  Generally, you choose a team (like "X-men" or "Gotham Knights") and build a deck around that theme.

The Gameplay
As with many games in this genre, Vs. System follows a general model where you draw cards, play cards, and fight every round.  The game is played in rounds.  Each round, a new player gains the initiative.  Subsequent rounds alternate initiative, so (for example) a two-person game will have player A with the initiative for rounds 1,3,5, and 7, and player B for rounds 2,4,6, and 8 (continuing to oscillate if more rounds are necessary).

Each round consists of four phases: draw, build, combat, and recovery.  These are explained succinctly and well here, so I won't re-invent the wheel.  During the phases, the player with the initiative takes his/her actions first.  So, for example, if player A has the initiative, he/she draws first in the draw phase, and then player B.  Player A builds first in the build phase, and then player B, etc.  Having initiative is generally a big advantage, especially in the combat phase, as the player with it gets to attack first, so it is a key part of the game.  Sometimes, the player without initiative just has to survive (or minimize the damage) until he/she regains it in the next round.

In terms of board layout, Vs. System has three rows- two rows of characters, and a third row called the resource row.  Each round, you put another card (face-down, and generally a plot twist or location) in your resource row, and you receive as many resource points are there are cards in that row.   You spend those points to recruit characters and equipment, which you place in one of the first two rows.  Placement matters- characters in the front row can protect those in the back, and that impacts who can attack whom.  Again, I'll spare the details, but it is an important concept.  Cards in the resource row can be played by turning them right-side-up at appropriate times, and plot twists can also be played from your hand.

The Expansions
The two most famous comic companies, Marvel and DC, both allowed their properties to be used for this game.  But, due to (presumably) the licensing and such, each expansion was exclusive to one.  So, you'd have a Marvel expansion, followed by a DC expansion, and so on.  The expansions generally followed a theme- so after an introductory set for both, there were sets focusing on the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Justice League, etc.  In all, 18 expansions were produced; the list of them can be found here.

Thoughts on the Game
While it never enjoyed the success of Magic: The Gathering, I really liked Vs. System.  Not only was the superhero theme fun, and getting to combine Marvel and DC fantastic, but the game mechanics were pretty solid.  Vs. System solved the biggest Magic problem ("mana flood"/"mana screw") by keeping players' resources equal and incrementing them every turn.  Thus, by turn 7, you would be guaranteed to be able to play a hero that cost 7.  This incremental mechanic, combined with increases in character ability and strength/defense as cost increased, meant that games generally built up to a grand finale- as befitted the superhero theme.  I liked that instants were free (their 'cost' was only the minimum round they could be played), and so there could be engagements where one battle had a back-and-forth with multiple cards played, and you never knew if your opponent had one more thing up his/her sleeve.  The two-row setup was also good- you could orient your cards to maximum attack/defense.

Not everything was roses with Vs. System, though.  For one, the Upper Deck support was pitiful compared to MTG.  Articles, updates, and general notes were infrequent.  Additionally, the game didn't support 'swarm'-style decks well- decks that relied on a flood of cheap characters.  Because power increased with character cost, you'd almost always prefer one 6-cost character to three 2-cost ones, which limited deck variety.  Your chances to win could diminish quickly if you didn't play a maximum-cost character every round (if on round 6 you played a 4-cost character, for example, you were probably doomed). 

In the end, Vs. System has its place as one of my favorite CCGs.  I've played it and Magic more than any other, and the two games are good complements to each other in terms of mechanics and flow.  I was sad to see it go (I was an active player when they canceled the game).

UPDATE: as I was preparing this post, I found that just a few weeks ago Upper Deck announced that Vs. System was returning!  This time, it is to be in a Living Card Game format, where there are no blind buys.  I'm very interested to see where this goes . . .

Rating: A