Just an observation

I’ve been playing on Magic Workstation for quite some time now. One thing I’ve had to deal with lately since the main Vs. server is down is WoW and Magic players on the public servers. I don’t mind this at all but I found something curious about it.

You see, with MWS you can title your games so you can say “Vs. System SA” or “WoW or Magic, No Vs.” or whatever. One thing I’ve noticed a whole bunch of in the public “Whatever games you want” servers are non-Vs. players who’s game titles are things like “Serious players only” or “No quitting” or “Good players only”. I’ve never seen a Vs. System game with a title along those lines.

Why is this? Why are WoW/Magic players online wanting only “serious, skilled players”? Are players of other games constantly quitting midmatch for some reason? Is there some sort of prevalence of players just leaving games when they’re about to lose to the point where players have to ask for non-quitters?

Now, I haven’t dug deep into this. I haven’t played MWS WoW or MWS Magic so I don’t KNOW if quitting is in prevalence but if it is, that’s incredibly silly since these online games don’t mean anything so why just quit if you’re losing? It’s silly. I also find it amusing that players are searching for “serious opponents” in an online program designed solely for fun. MWS allows players to play more along the lines of a friendly game around the kitchen table than a serious game at a money-prize championship. Since this is the case, why are players of other TCGs looking only for “good players”? Is there something wrong with logging onto a casual program and playing a casual game with a casual deck? Am I missing something here?

Maybe Vs. System is just that cool that it only attracts players who aren’t so “serious” that they can’t use a “for fun” program for, you know fun. Maybe there’s something wrong with the other MWS TCGers’ mindsets or maybe I’m misinterpreting things. All I know is that I’m glad that there aren’t MWS Vs. players that want “Serious playing only”. I like building a crappy Legionnaires Curve deck and trying to make it run. I like announcing gleefully that Wonder Woman can steal an opponent’s Dr. Sivana card draw only to have that player then chain the effect to her coming into play. I enjoy goofing off with the players that are online, poking fun at bad draws and revealing my hand on the second turn since I had just drawn a complete curve of Batman from 3-5 with Batcomputer and At Your Service in backup, despite the fact that it broadcasts my deck to my opponent.

Playing MWS for me is all about that feeling you get of camaraderie when its just you and a friend and a pair of decks you built just because you could. MWS is perhaps my favorite computer program of all time and I am glad that all the other Vs. System users on there are like me, casual and happy to play as unseriously as humanly possible.

The Great Vs. Resolution: Teen Titans

Yes, yes, I know. I promised a deck based on an affiliation that had a mega-broken, banned card in it and I promised it would be an article that went “back in time” and stuff but the hand of fate has forced a change of plans. I’ve been able to play that deck once and don’t feel I have enough of a grasp for the deck to write a decent article about it. So, in lieu of that, I’ll be writing about another fun Modern Age team known as the Teen Titans.

Remember the Titans? (movie pun intended). Back in the old days of Vs. System, the Titans ran rampant across the countrysides of this fair game. Alongside the Curve Sentinels, few could stop these two menaces from steamrolling the competition. Abusing such cards as Roy Harper, Terra, and the infamous Teen Titans Go!, the Titans swept their pay to multiple major tournament victories. Then, they went Golden Age and the days of Titans glory fell back into the pages of history.

The Teen Titans were then refeatured in the Legion of Super Heroes with a distinctly different flavor. These titans were all about using Cosmic and Substitute in combination. These Titans made next to no impact on the metagame, coming from a deck largely considered a failure and just overall not playing particularly well.

And then, DC Legends hit. With DC Legends came another chance for the Teen Titans. This time around the Titans returned to their roots. With one single card, the Titans are back.

When I saw that the old Titans were back, I sorta ignored them. I wasn’t around during the glory days of their youth, I’m not normally interested in weenie or team attack decks. I prefer strong curve decks. However, even I was called by that evil, evil card that is shown above. It was either that card and its deck or my “bland to play but original” Reservist themed Titans deck that I would use for this article. Evil won.