Welcome back to the Marvel Universe Team Previews here on VsSystem.com. As you may already know, it’s Alpha Flight week! Join me as I take a look at the team that was a solid four years in the making.
Jeff Donais Gets Happy: “O, Canada!”
Jeff: ALPHA FLIGHT!
Billy: Does he know it’s only Omega Flight?
Ben: Shhh, you wanna get fired?
Alpha Flight Reborn and Much, Much More!
TBS ended the Memorial Day weekend with a bang this past Monday. He confirmed the existence of the Alpha Flight team in Marvel Universe, and he gave up two brand-spankin’-new previews—Weapon Omega and Essence of Zom! Essence of Zom isn’t the first Dr. Strange legend card, but it may be the best one. Plot twist search is an extremely rare treat, and with such a small cost, expect to see the Strange One making a splash all over Vs. Worlds. Weapon Omega seems interesting enough in a vacuum, and it could possibly act as a “rare bomb,” but Micheal Pointer truly shines in decks that uses his horse-faced pal Beta Ray Bill.
The Lost Hemisphere’s G’day Bloke and Captain Spud gave not one, but two, juicy articles on the subject, so make sure you check it out.
Carlos the Dwarf continued the Alpha Flight love on his Vs. Blog on Wednesday with the plot twist Alpha Flight: Reborn. You may remember that Mr. Dwarf first spoiled the existence of this card way back during Mega Weekend LA. His source? Yours truly, of course!
On Thursday, Darkseid’s Revenge had the privilege of previewing the very first character to hold the Asgardian affiliation, none other than Thor, Donald Blake. How’s that for a real Thor? If you’re really patient, you may find a way to make this Thor work with such cards as Asgard and The Reckoning.
Finally, over at VsRealms, Quicksilver, House of M made an appearance—an entire turn ahead of schedule! Play him on turn 2 and pay for him on 3, or play him on your win turn and pay nothing. It’s up to you, but tread lightly, although not as fragile as the “King’s” of DC Infinite Crisis, this guy still has the potential to lose a ton of games for his controller.
Ben: I like how it was all my idea to put Alpha Flight in the set. I am a genius!
G’day Bloke: . . . mmm, Beta Ray Bill . . .
Captain Spud: Not what I’d have done, but good enough . . .
The Dwarf: YES! THE DAY IS MINE!
Vengeful Darkseid: Well, if we get to turn 8, Thor will wreck your face off.
VsRealms: Yay! More cards like Quicksilver! We love you, TBS!
Billy: The people have spoken.
Ben: I mean . . .
Alphas and Omegas
Alpha Flight? Omega Flight? Beta Flight? Alpha-Beta? See, I’m just as confused as you are! Let’s head over to Marvel.com for the full story:
“Alpha Flight is a team of superhuman Canadian operatives that originated in the private sector with an engineer named James MacDonald Hudson who had developed an exoskeleton to assist in geological exploration. When Hudson learned that the U.S. military had appropriated his invention, he destroyed the plans and made off with the helmet necessary to control the apparatus. Heather McNeil, then executive secretary to Hudson's immediate superior Jerome Jaxon, was shocked by the sudden turn of events and arranged a meeting between Hudson and the Canadian government. Hudson was able to plead his case and the government stepped in to resolve the situation. The Canadian prime minister subsequently invited Hudson to participate in the creation of Department H, a top-secret research and development agency within the country's Ministry of Defense. Hudson married Heather soon after.
Inspired by the debut of the superhuman adventurers the Fantastic Four, Hudson’s first recruit for the team’s first incarnation, code-named the Flight, was the feral mutant, Wolverine who had joined Department H some years earlier as an espionage agent. Wolverine participated in the initial phases of the team’s creation, and after an initial mission against the forces of the criminal mastermind Egghead, it was decided that Wolverine would lead the team. However, for his own reasons, Wolverine left Department H and joined the X-Men, the mutant team formed by Professor Charles Xavier.”
. . . and the team quickly fell into obscurity until one day . . .
“When the Superhuman Registration Act became law, various villains and unregistered heroes began to cross into the Canada to escape the SRA. This caused a problem for the Canadian government due to Alpha Flight demise. Iron Man agreed to help the Canadian government by sending a group of registered heroes to Canada. Sasquatch and Talisman teamed up with Arachne, Guardian (Michael Pointer), and U.S.Agent to form the new Omega Flight in order to fight a horde of demons, a Tanaraq possessed Sasquatch, and the Wrecking Crew. They also got assistance from extraterrestrial known as Beta Ray Bill who had taken on the task of guarding those demons whom the Wrecking Crew freed. During the battle that followed, Beta Ray Bill tricked the demon hordes to follow him into a dimensional portal. Once inside the portal Guardian destroyed it, trapping Beta Ray Bill and the demons in another dimension. For this act of bravery Beta Ray Bill was granted honorary membership on the team. Despite Bill sacrificing himself, Omega Flight still remains together.”
I guess it was a happy ending? Anyway, since we’re running short on space, I’ll just cut to the bread and butter of it. There are six characters in Marvel Universe with the printed Alpha Flight affiliation. Judging by the two characters we’ve previewed and the nature of this Civil War–inspired set, I’d think it very obvious just who the other four characters are. But, if you need another hint, scroll down and take a gander at this week’s art preview.
As for unaffiliated and legacy content, I promise a more in-depth review next week (I have to save something for the final preview week blowout).
Don’t Call Him Wendigo
A staple common in Draft and Alpha Flight Constructed, that’s what he is:
“Sasquatch, Walter Langkowski, Omega Flight”
Billy: Man, this has been quite the exhausting preview season, yeah?
Ben: Word . . . And it ain’t over yet!
Billy: Darn right. How about some Q&A?
Ben: I though you’d never ask, my friend.
Billy: . . . Don’t say, “my friend.” Makes you sound smarmy.
Ben: What, my friend?
Marvel Universe Q&A
Hey, guys! Last week, I started a couple of threads over on VsRealms and TCGplayer.com asking you, the players and fans, to post your questions and comments regarding Marvel Universe and the future of Vs. in general. Joining me today to help answer some of your questions, is the one guy in R&D who has been here since the beginning. Of course I’m talking about my best pal, Dave “The Hump” Humpherys.
Hump: Um, thanks for having me, TBZ.*
Billy: You ready for the first question?
Hump: Um . . .
ADAMLEE asks: Is there any chance of reprints? Just wondering if there might be rumors or is it locked down to NO REPRINTS? Thanks for any info you can give.
Hump: Well, um . . .
Billy: What Hump means to say is that there are no reprints in Marvel Universe. MU is 100 percent new content!
CosmicDoom asks: Is the Cosmic Cube for the Red Skull only? Is it pwnsome?
Billy: A legend card for Red Skull? That would make the most sense. As for being pwnsome, you'll just have to wait and see.
Hump: “pwnsome”?
dj_midsouth asks: In the next set, will you do more with Secret Invasion? Does it have to wait a little longer to be featured?
Billy: There won't be content pertaining to Secret Invasion in Marvel Evolution. Unfortunately, the event had yet to ship by the time we were more than halfway through development on ME. Also, SI isn't exactly the right fit for a mutant set, is it? Will you see more SI content in the future? If I have anything to say about it, yes. For now, there are two or three SI-related cards in Marvel Universe that should hold you over until then.
Icymatt asks: Has anyone considered using older comic art on the cards (like, ’60s–’80s art), or do you consider it too incongruous with the art that’s been used before? Why aren’t there any Dr. Stranges dual-affiliated with the Defenders? Is Fin Fang Foom unaffiliated? If so, are there more unaffiliated characters in MUN? Are there any more teams like the Invaders in the set?
Hump: Um, that’s not one question . . .
Billy: Shh . . . So many interesting questions! Yes, we have discussed using art from the ’60s, but as of yet, we’ve not found a way to include it in a modern set that makes sense. We’ve been focusing on modern (the comics, not the format) teams lately and the Defenders are currently defunct, even with the Joe Casey mini series. Regarding Fin Fang Foom? Wait and see. Yes, there are tons of unaffiliated characters in Universe, more so than in any Vs. set to date. And finally, yes, there are more mini-mini teams like Invaders in Universe. Teams like Phalanx, Atlantis, Asgardians, Nova Corps, and the supersecret Marvel Evolution preview team . . . Oops, almost spoiled the surprise!
im_all_noobish asks: Can you give any information on the new Spider-Man?
Hump: Um, he will see play.
Billy: Tons.
InsanityFTW! asks: Are we going to see anymore Marvel Zombies? How about Deadpool’s cohorts? Are we going to see Bob, Agent of Hydra or Weasel? How many Punishers are in the set? Even though he got lots of love in Legends he still played an important role in Civil War. Is it too late for a fan recount? I’m still amazed at the amount of votes that Negative Zone received!
Hump: Um, like, again, more than one question here . . .
Billy: Ignore him, he’s the enemy of fun. Anyway, your answers: (1) no; (2) Bob, Agent of Hydra will not be appearing in Marvel Universe (there’s always legacy, right?); (3) you’ll find at least one; (4) you and me both, Insane One!
Omega Red asks: Is there an effort on the Marvel side of things to condense the number of team affiliations like we saw with DC (Villains United being phased out, etc.)? What you did with Crime Lords was the right move, but early information concerning Marvel Evolution seems to suggest you’re going the other route.
Billy: We've been condensing teams for the past few sets (MTU, DWF, MVL, DCL, MUN). In Marvel Evolution, you'll see that trend continue in the form of dual-affiliated X-Men and Brotherhood characters. For example, Cyclops is affiliated with X-Factor and X-Men. But, we’re also introducing five brand new X teams. After taking careful consideration of certain issues, such as X-Men fatigue and the usefulness of keeping all the mutants under one roof, we decided that for this particular set it would be advantageous to spread the X-Men out a little but still keep the number of playable teams in check through the use of dual affiliations and dual team-stamping plot twists. It’s a thin line, and we walk it to the best of our ability.
Orange_Soda_Man asks: Are there any old hobby-league-esque/fun-type themes that we can look forward to seeing more support for? Maybe another spider-clone trick?
Hump: Um, didn't we just print Clash of Worlds?
Billy: To answer your question more thoroughly, yes, there shall be plenty of fun. This, I command!
Punisher2099 asks: What made you decide to give the Mandarin the Crime Lords affiliation?
Billy: That was extremely last minute, as he was squatting over in the unaffiliated section of the file until one day, while reading the latest issue of Iron Man, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., a funny little question popped into my brain: "Hey, why isn't Mandarin on the Crime Lords team?" It was kind of like Doc Brown’s flux capacitor revelation.
Runaway asks: What are some of your favorite characters that didn’t make the final cut in MUN?
Hump: Hump.
Billy: D-Man. Look it up.
Speedy92286 asks: Marrow legends in the next set?
Billy: Mayhaps . .
Hump: . . . Who?
Techn0range asks: Was the Easter egg tradition continued, and if so, can you give any hints on which card it is?
Hump: Um, I think we already spoiled it?
Billy: The Jason Hager City Champs prize card is the alternate art card for the set. As far as the rest of the Easter eggs, here’s a hint: ’80s and ’90s action movies.
Vader asks: Since the Hellfire Club is leaving silver will we get a re-feature in Marvel Evolutions?
Billy: Unfortunately, the answer is no. Although they appeared to re-form in the mind of Emma Frost in the pages of Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men, they haven't actually done anything significant in the comics lately. Therefore, it'd be kind of hard to justify/find new content to base a re-feature on.
And finally, WalterKovacs asks: What is the lamest card that TBS tried to get into MUN, but you and Yip put a stop to?
Hump: Heh.
Billy: Matter-Eater Lad.
That’s it for this week’s Q&A. if you didn’t see your question up there, be sure to check back next week.
Only one week to go, folks! Join TBS this Monday for the final week of Marvel Universe Previews and the arrival of “He Whose Limbs Shatter Mountains and Whose Back Scrapes the Sun.” Then, come back, and check out the final installment of Team Preview where TBS and I will answer more questions and maybe give up a final spoiler or two—or three.
Recommended Reading:
1. Decimation: X-Men - Son of M TPB
2. House of M HC
3. Omega Flight: Alpha to Omega TPB
4. Silent War TPB
5. Thor, Vol. 1 HC
6. World War Hulk TPB
*Hump is actually the only one that calls me “TBZ” at the office. He especially likes to say “TBS” and “TBZ” in the same sentence. For example, “Hey TBS and TBZ, quit playing MUB and work on Vs.” or “TBZ, is TBS still in the bathroom?” or “I love you, TBZ.” Okay, that last one doesn’t actually count.