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| The smile that won America. |
Ahh but reality had other plans, and some kid that scrounged 15 last-minute superman robots ended up winning the event while I lost to pretty much everything I faced, beating only another revenge squad build, and a poor guy essentially running 2 batman starters cobbled together for a GK deck.
At the end of the day I was 2 wins, and 4 losses. I later found that some players from the new-england area had been driving up to our events for their "free" PC points for their group. Strategically forfeiting to make sure the points went to the person that needed them the most. (at the time this was not considered collusion) As our group returned home, I decided I'd never let them get "free" points again. The theorycrafting began, and my homepage suddenly changed to VSrealms.
It was December when I managed to attend the next PCQ, The Avengers set was by-and-large, extremely well-recieved, and JLA had just been released. GLock, was rampant and I had been experimenting with the first iteration of both guns blazing. At the time the meta was rife with slow, stall-y combo builds, Avengers reservists and Squadron Supreme. Rama-tut wasn't errata'd yet, and a guy named Sam Roads changed my life.
See, Sam Roads created Both Guns Blazing. And had just top 8'd the 10k Gen Con UK 2005 a month earlier. Since he didn't actually WIN, the deck didn't get the hype other builds like Light Show created, so this crazy high skillcap build just sat around. I remember looking at it and... just not getting it. it was just about all i did for a month. I played Both guns. I agonized over card choices until i understood their signifigance. I lost, and lost and lost. I read match reps, and lost. and finally, one day, I believe it was HeroComplex, that posted some basic rules explanation on how the chain worked, and it all clicked. I won with it. And then again. After the DR. Light ban not much changed, and the deck still felt extremely strong, so I decided to see how far it could take me.
By the time the PCQ in december started, my own playgroup had been secretly building tech decks to beat both guns. They HATED it. oh man. With a fiery rage, they hated it. I played the event, and gradually amassed win after win over friend and foe alike, finally making it to the final. of course, our southern friends were back. and before the match began one of them pulled me aside out of sight of the event organizers and offered to pay me a few hundred bucks to forfeit. (Definately collusion now! But it happened ALL the time back then.) On top of that he'd give me all the prize support. Maybe on another day I might have taken the offer. But if I won I'd get a few hundred bucks and prizes anyway. So he doubled the offer.
That's when I realized I was going to win.
In true Canadian fashion I apologized profusely, and politely declined.
I savored every sigh he produced, as the lock took hold and the guns went blazing.
No free points this time.
Best $250 I ever earned.
I still have that first gift card I ever won to this day, as a reminder of humble beginnings.
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| Damn right I do. |
So why the random walk down memory lane?
Ignoring the present status of VS and any emotional sentiment our present state may leave us, the community as a large, still exists. And sometimes re-evaluating where we are going in life can be given perspective by remembering where we've been, bonds we've made, and friends we've lost.
That said, this will never feel like a dead card game to me. And I continue to be thankful for all of it.
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