Thursday 13 #14: The Light Fantastic

You know, I was sitting here earlier this week pondering what I’d ramble on about, and Thursdays often present a little bit of a challenge there, since I can’t just ruminate on a single card or team or theme, and rather need to present a list of 13 thingumies to entertain the masses and confuse the non-VS-playing Thirteeners.

Well, this week’s preview update on VSSystem.com solved all my problem. Aside from getting me all giddy and excited about the Illuminati as a pseudo team in the upcoming Marvel Universe expansion… aside from giving us more Namor’s… aside from making a Dr Strange Legend deck viable… aside from feeding my secret hunger for something cool to do with Black Bolt…

… the new versions of Mr Fantastic bring the total count up to thirteen versions of Reed Richards in the game! Providence, I tells ya, Providence!

Without further ado, thirteen versions of Mr Fantastic! In order, nonetheless!

	MOR-055 Reed Richards. The first 2-drop Reed was critical to many of my early Fantastic Four equipment decks, and of course, along with the original Baxter Building, was key to filling my hand with grey goodness in the Pier Pressure deck. I just wish I could say I liked the art. Just not my cup of tea.
	MOR-056 Stretch. Now, here we have a card I love. Not only does he share equipment all over your board, but the fact that he makes all those 1-cost equipment cards free to recruit? Dear God, it makes me all gooey inside just thinking about it. No wonder they haven’t duplicated the effect. The closest we have is HERBIE: Robot Nanny.
	MOR-057 Scientific Genius. I just… never played him. Thing was always the 7-drop of choice in my Fantastic Four decks. Yes, equipment search is nice, and reducing the cost by 2 is that much better than the 5-drops, but that late in the game? Chances are Stretch was still on the board, and Thing’s just that much beefier.
	MFF-172 Leader. Nice art, extended and foily, this one came in the Fan4 starter deck. Unfortunately, he’s just that much less useful than his MOR 7-drop counterpart. Recruit Scientific Genius, get a Fantasticar, and lo and behold you have a character with the same stats, giving the same global +1/+1 to your board, while also giving Flight and making any other equipment cost one less.
	MHG-108 Illuminati. How can I argue against Jonboy Meyers art? Simple, I can’t. One of the first hints of the Illuminati stuff that’s only really coming into its full power in MUN, this version also set the groundwork for my current favourite version of Reed from MVL.
	MHG-147 Doom’s Adversary. I never did figure out how he made the armour all stretchy… I read the comic where they kinda sorta explained that he’d just upgraded the armour, but still… as the only version of Reed not wearing the Fan4’s signature blue spandex, this one’s not too bad. Free army characters is always a good thing.
	MVL-170 Stringbean. Versatility makes sense for a guy who can stretch himself all over the place. Need a little extra oomph? Here’s a 2-drop with 4 ATK for your rush game. Trying to hold out til later? Here’s a 2-drop with 4 DEF. Not Earth-shattering, but it’ll provide that little edge you need to get your ball rolling.
	MVL171 Critical Thinker. Ah, my current favourite Reed. A DEF that means you’ll most likely need a 5-drop to stun him makes him such a nice little wall. His card filtering fits right in with his mind sifting through the options, and dammit, he’s just good looking. No wonder Jessica Alba digs him.
	MVL-172 Dimensional Explorer. Combining the equipment and card draw themes, I think this Reed is pretty much spot on. Hard to biff and packing a modicum of resourcefulness (if you happen to be playing with his toys), it pretty much captures Reed nicely.
	MEX-007 Flexible Thinker. This one had a few heads scratching. If he’s fighting someone of a lower cost, he’s a nigh-impenetrable 8 DEF - but he can’t stun anyone. If he’s working up the curve, he’s a health 8 ATK - but is guaranteed to stunback, or otherwise take a hefty amount of breakthrough. He fits in with an early stall deck, but from turn 4 onwards you do NOT want him defending… Of note, this is the only version of Reed that does not have him visibly stretching. Hmmmmm.
	MUN-232 Protector of the Power Gem. More speculation. Since we haven’t seen the card yet, I just put up a hunky pic of Reed giving Annihilus a dirty glance over his shoulder. Holding the Power Gem, as given to him by She-Hulk after she got it from Titania who got it from Champion, one of the Elders of the Universe, this could in theory be the first truly aggressive Reed in the game… but we’ll have to wait and see.
	MUN-102 Haunted Genius. Ah, sweet MUN speculation. I’m just happy to have more Reeds to play with. Haunted Genius? Makes me wonder exactly what’s haunting him… maybe our elastic hero has some skeletons in the clost that UDE’s just waiting to spring on us. Of note, Haunted Genius is MUN102, compared to his Illuminati brother at MUN232 - This version will likely belong to another team, but which? He’s been an Avenger, but MUN102’s a long way away from MUN029, where Vision: Young Avenger hangs out.
	MUL-??? Ultimates. And yes, we’ll be seeing one more Reed card in the coming months, as a prize card that does… um… who the smeg knows! But you can bet your proverbial bippy that I’ll be hunting down a playset