The VS System Collective presents: The Summer of Love 2

It's about damn time.

There comes a time each year, a special time, after the rebirth of spring, with its bouncing baby bunnies and fragrant blossoms, but before the cool touch of autumn, with its kaleidoscope of leafy color and the gentle promise of snuggling by a warm, cozy fire. Yes, I’m talking about the heady, lazy, crazy days of summer. When a boy’s head turns to thoughts of baseball in vacant lots, swimming holes, and thick slices of watermelon, while young girls slip on their poodle skirts and skip down to the malt shoppe to listen to the juke box... Or so Chris Miller once said.

Regardless, let's get to it!

The Summer Of Love!

The concept: 32 decks, each a randomly assigned team-up that is automatically crossed over, battling their way through a double-elimination bracket to determine Vs. System’s happiest couple.

We randomly paired up 64 teams, rolling the dice to see what sort of wild and wacky team combinations we’d end up with. Clearly, we could have just slapped together the decks… but what if it wasn’t us doing most of the deck building? What if it was celebrated deck builders and community luminaries? Well, what if it was just the first pile of people to respond to a facebook post?

The invitations went out, the community responded, and the shenanigans are ready to commence!

Behold! A veritable who’s who of dudes who were suckered into making decks for us!

The Talent:

Aaron Mead
WEE (Wildpack + Emerald enemies)
Sub-Mariner, Shield of Atlantis (S.H.I.E.L.D. + Atlantis)

Seb De L'Aigle
Unjust Fear (Fearsome Five + Injustice Gang)
The Cliffs of INSANITY! (Arkham Inmates + Inhumans)

Charlie Bell
Defenders, Attack! (Future Foes + Marvel Defenders)

Lee Dunn
Kill You To Death! (Green Lantern + Crisis)

Steph Mead
Mind Games (X-Men + Doom Patrol)

Darius Thatcher
Skrullf*cked (Skrull + JLA)
Foul-Mouthed Dark God (Darkseid's Elite + Nextwave)

Victor Black
Dark Magic (Shadowpact + Thule Society)

Mark Smith
IMMORTALS (Secret Society + Horsemen of Apocalypse)
Outsider Protocol (Checkmate + Outsiders)

Josh MacDonald
Rita Repulsa (Thunderbolts + Revenge Squad)

Wesley Nichols
Secretly Wolverine (Crime Lords + Infinity Watch)

Justin McGee
Devourer of SPEED (Heralds of Galactus + Speed Force)
Demons United (League of Assassins + Villians United)

Proposition Joe
The Swingers' Club (Spider-Friends + Hellfire Club)

Walter Alvarado
Tam'Ar Empire (Shi'Ar + Teen Titans)

Eric Isabedra
Intergalactic Carpool (Fantastic Four + Kree)

Scott Hamilton
Crapple Jacks (Sinister Syndicate + Negative Zone)

Carl Perlas
BKKO (Birds of Prey + Marvel Knights)

Jonathan Brami
BroStat-X (Brotherhood + X-Statix)

Nick Fletcher
Dead Guys (JLI + Underworld)

Charles Burke
Evil Secrets (Masters of Evil + Secret Six)

Adam Miller
Gods Matter (Anti-Matter + New Gods)

Robert Snyder
HellKnights (BPRD + Gotham Knights)

John Gallegos
Super Legionnaires (Team Superman + Legionnaires)

Haam Iam
Exhaust Squad (JSA + Squadron Supreme)

Daniel Lanier
Gamma Robuts (Doom + Sentinels)

Glen D Preston
The MorMans are Coming! (Morlocks + Manhunter)

Chris Smith
Hulk Smash You YESTERDAY (Warbound + Kang Council)

Boris Karetny
Young Avengers Flight (Alpha Flight + Avengers)

Unlike the Springtime Smackdowns we've done in the past, the PREFERENCE is that each Deckbuilder play their lists, that said, Not many were willing to commit (oh and it IS a commitment) to the extended duration this event promises. because of this, once again, we will be using our local roster to play any matches that the OP builders cannot accommodate via OCTGN.

Along the right side of this blog you'll see all 32 deck lists with a brief breakdown on what they do, Use this information well! as once again, there will be a betting pool! Everyone may select 1 team they think will go all the way. the longer your horse stays in the race, the more points you score!

The deck you pick is just stage 1: The real challenge is the weekly pick-ems. For week 1 it will be a simple task of trying to pick the winners. However, for week 2 onwards it will be picks against the spread. For now:|

YOU WILL WANT TO CHECK THE LINKED POST BELOW ON THE VSSYSTEM COLLECTIVE FACEBOOK GROUP TO REPORT YOUR PICKS FOR WEEK 1 AND THE DECK YOU PICK TO GO ALL THE WAY!

The VS COLLECTIVE Facebook Group Pinned Betting Post!

Here, you can scope out the possible paths for your selected deck options before you finalize your pick! So take a peek at the pending matchups!

VIEW THE SUMMER OF LOVE 2 BRACKET

At this point i am sure they are growing tired of my compulsion to put them to work every 2 to 3 years, but once again, lets hear it for...

The Pilots:

-Aaron-
Very good at what he does. But nobody really seems to know what that is. Most likely to say he's "probably not going to win" right before winning HARD, entirely by accident.

-Strengths:     Using game-state triggers. Chain Resolution. Denial Gameplay.
-Weakness:     Known to misplay on purpose to "keep things balanced".
-Deck pref:     YES

-JS-
A worlds veteran turned medical heart specialist with no life. He plays insanity because after going to Med-school and concurrent additional training for 16 years, it is entirely possible he actually IS insane. He likes anyone that calls him "Mr. J". And literally does Quantum Physics for fun... In between Spartan races. Most Likely to fall asleep during a game.

-Strengths:     Baiting mistakes. Dank Memes. Quantum physics.
-Weakness:     Occasionally gets lost in "the tank". Takes long turns.
-Deck Pref:     Insanity - Combo - Anti-Meta

-Mark-
A casual player turned Vet. Don't get between him and his Superman-Batman robots. Loves to make everyone hate him in multiplayer. Most likely to say "worth".

-Strengths:     Combo play. Shit-throws like it's his JOB..
-Weakness:     Often overthinks a situation.
-Deck Pref:     Out of combat tricks - Undercurve - all teen titans and team supes

-Lee-
A competent player in all respects on the outside. The living embodiment of SPITE on the inside. Most likely to tell someone he wishes them to perish in some extravagant method.

-Strengths:     Tenacious play, always seems to have that one last pump
-Weakness:    Sometimes ignores things like "sound logic" and "win conditions" to enact his revenge.
-Deck Pref:    Curve - Kree - Stall - Rush

-Josh-
A strictly casual player that manages to find ways to win with off-beat and seldom-played cards. Most likely to crack a sexual comment that nobody can mentally unsee, then use it to his advantage and drop a sick combo while the entire playgroup is still stunned from his commentary.

-Strengths:     Undercurve play and swarms
-Weakness:     Will make strange plays purely because "it's funny".
-Deck Pref:    Swarm - Undercurve - Stall

-Steph-
A veteran Worlds player with solid skill, and a strange penchant for all things Jean Grey. She once again finds herself conscripted into duty by her husband, who may have too much time on his hands during Covid-19 lockdown. Most likely to get the most loot in our group at a convention by pure chance.

-Strengths:     Foresight for executing favorable trades
-Weakness:     Resolving complex chains
-Deck Pref:     Power curve - Rush - ALL the Jean Greys - Underworld

But that's not all!

The top Gambler/Deckbuilder will be awarded a complete play set of Super Skrull, World Champion Border breaker art including The image conversion it was always supposed to have. (Shout out to AMP studios for help with the face edit!) Other notable top finishers will receive a copy as well!

What's more, Towards the end of this event, CATEGORY ONE GAMES has agreed to distribute one of these limited print proxies with every order containing a VS System card! (Only while supplies last, and only 1 per order.)