Poor Man’s Versus

I love the VS. System card game. Some of the aspects that make the game very appealing to me are it’s great mechanics and learning is very easy (and yet the game is VERY hard to master). My main reason for loving this game is probably because I was always have been a superhero and super villain fan.

I started playing the game when the card pool consisted of Marvel and DC Origins. My College’s Gaming Club introduced me to this game. Before I graduated, I had attended my school’s gaming group periodically and watched them play the VS marvel tcg. This wasn’t all they were playing as they were open to all types of games. Since we were all college students and card games tend to get expensive, they developed a system called the Poor Man Leagues (PML) so that everyone would be on a fair playing field.

A PML is very similar to a release celebration. You purchase 5 packs, open them and make thirty card decks with what you open. However unlike the Release celebration, it is not a one day event. You keep your pool of cards for two weeks so you get a feel of the synergy between the cards. You can change your deck however you want from your card pool until this two week ‘training’ period is over. Once it’s up, THE TRADING BEGINS!

Trading is a fun monster. No outside cards are allowed in the collective card pool. Rares can be worth just as much or even less than a common in this league. It’s sheer power.  Pacts before the trading begins are formed and broken, favoritism and secret deals occur left and right. It’s great for about a month, before all the resources are exhausted and most of the trading stopped. By that time, everyone knows each other’s deck. But during that period, it’s an unbelievable, enjoyable madness.

I still remember opening my first 5 packs of DC origins. I looked at my cards and had mostly League of Assassins. And then, my first VS deck was born. It’s how I learned and I know that not only is it a great way to teach people and get them to start playing, but it doesn’t prevent you from your regular decks. If you have a regular group of people who would join in on this fun, it doesn’t stop you from adding more packs into the pool from other expansions later. If you have a dedicated play group, 5 packs added in every month over the course of a year would be unbelievably fun and the trading starts 2 weeks later after each set of cards introduced. You could even make this golden… With such unpredictability as to what everyone will get in their packs, I’m sure there will be some really fun deck building ideas!

Good luck, have fun, and start playing!

Tags: PML, Poor Man's League, VS System