DSM-2 Preview - Amazing Grace and Anti-Life Equation
Posted 10-13-2009 at 11:24 PM by Shadowtrooper
It’s preview time once again, and this time it’s something new and exiting. How so? Well DSM-2 is the first project of its kind in that we are using UDE created cards with fan made content attached to them. Unlike your average fan set this time you will have a physical representation of actual UDE created cards, without having to go to your local Kinko's.
Since I was one of the developers for this set I would like to give a brief explanation of how this Darkseid’s Elite team came to be. First of all I decided to look at previous cards and themes in the team for inspiration, but focused on cards outside of the original DSM more than anything. There were 3 main themes in the team: burn, control, and KO effects. Die for Darkseid! managed to have all 3 themes which is nothing short of amazing. From the KO side of things the team counts with: Endgame, Omega Effect (not an actual KO effect but close enough) Desaad - Dark Side Therapy, and Kanto - Darkseid's Assassin among others. Burn has been seen in quite a few cards and most of them are associated with resource replacement or similar, but it is not the only way as double endurance loss as a consequence of stuns with cards like Beta Club and Darkseid - Destroyer of Life is in my opinion humble opinion just a variation of burn. Control is a theme that has been often seen in the resource department though cards like Glorious Godfrey represent another side of control that has been less present in the team, but present non the less.
With an understanding of the teams main themes I decided to do reinvent them a little, and bring forth different aspects of it. For example burn could be represented in opponents paying endurance rather than losing it. This gave me the idea to create effects that could be limited or negated if an opponent chosed to pay a certain amount of endurance. While these are not actual burn cards they do in fact accomplish the same goal which is to lower the endurance that the opponnets have. The next step into reinventing the team was making control step forward and make an appearance in the characters departments and combining it a little with the burn. The goal was to create effects that would gain board control but limit those by the option of your opponents to burn. The resource control aspect of the team would be present but in a secondary market of importance, and that left KO effects to be a nice backup for the control yet tying to burn quite nicely. The other DSM-2 developers were aware of the path I was taking and they kept me in check. I can’t stress enough how important working as a team was during this whole process. Trust me ridiculous card ideas were thrown out there by me and them and if it wasn’t for team work this set would have never been done.
Anyway, enough of the chit-chat; I know what you guys want to see so here it is:
First thing people don't see about Grace is the new team symbol created for the Darkseid's Elite affiliation. It is basically the Omega symbol and it was used because, you guessed it, The Omega Effect. Amazing Grace was a very important character for me to get right because she holds a spot on the fourth turn, and that’s a spot that to me represents the power and the theme of a curve deck unlike any other spot. As you can see she has the same basic ability as Terra from DOR and Merlyn from DCL but not without a twist. Her control comes from taking a character out of the equation via a stun, and her burn comes from not taking the character out of the equation but demanding double burn. Simply put this is a win win situation no matter what type of strategy you want to develop. But lets say that you do in fact want to get the stun rather than the burn. How do you make an opponent not pay the endurance to avoid the stun? Well perhaps this card will help.
One of the things you will see is that this card reinforces the burn theme of the team, but while this happens Grace will no longer be able to cause “burn”. It is a rather nice payoff but depending on the scenario used it might end up being better if you simply play it from hand. It is important to note that this card will not prevent things like Wild Ride from being played by your opponents as it only restricts the possibility of the opponents paying endurance for your effects. If you recall the early preview I did on Monday Granny Goodness also has an effect that can be prevented by opponents paying endurance, and trust me she and Grace are not the only characters or cards that have benefits to be gained from preventing opponents to pay endurance. These cards will not be hindered by the lack of Ant-Life Equation, they will simply work on another level.
Well this is the last preview I will be doing for DSM-2 and I do hope that you stick around the week for the other previews, whether you read them or not, and let us know what you think, but more importantly enjoy them.
Since I was one of the developers for this set I would like to give a brief explanation of how this Darkseid’s Elite team came to be. First of all I decided to look at previous cards and themes in the team for inspiration, but focused on cards outside of the original DSM more than anything. There were 3 main themes in the team: burn, control, and KO effects. Die for Darkseid! managed to have all 3 themes which is nothing short of amazing. From the KO side of things the team counts with: Endgame, Omega Effect (not an actual KO effect but close enough) Desaad - Dark Side Therapy, and Kanto - Darkseid's Assassin among others. Burn has been seen in quite a few cards and most of them are associated with resource replacement or similar, but it is not the only way as double endurance loss as a consequence of stuns with cards like Beta Club and Darkseid - Destroyer of Life is in my opinion humble opinion just a variation of burn. Control is a theme that has been often seen in the resource department though cards like Glorious Godfrey represent another side of control that has been less present in the team, but present non the less.
With an understanding of the teams main themes I decided to do reinvent them a little, and bring forth different aspects of it. For example burn could be represented in opponents paying endurance rather than losing it. This gave me the idea to create effects that could be limited or negated if an opponent chosed to pay a certain amount of endurance. While these are not actual burn cards they do in fact accomplish the same goal which is to lower the endurance that the opponnets have. The next step into reinventing the team was making control step forward and make an appearance in the characters departments and combining it a little with the burn. The goal was to create effects that would gain board control but limit those by the option of your opponents to burn. The resource control aspect of the team would be present but in a secondary market of importance, and that left KO effects to be a nice backup for the control yet tying to burn quite nicely. The other DSM-2 developers were aware of the path I was taking and they kept me in check. I can’t stress enough how important working as a team was during this whole process. Trust me ridiculous card ideas were thrown out there by me and them and if it wasn’t for team work this set would have never been done.
Anyway, enough of the chit-chat; I know what you guys want to see so here it is:
First thing people don't see about Grace is the new team symbol created for the Darkseid's Elite affiliation. It is basically the Omega symbol and it was used because, you guessed it, The Omega Effect. Amazing Grace was a very important character for me to get right because she holds a spot on the fourth turn, and that’s a spot that to me represents the power and the theme of a curve deck unlike any other spot. As you can see she has the same basic ability as Terra from DOR and Merlyn from DCL but not without a twist. Her control comes from taking a character out of the equation via a stun, and her burn comes from not taking the character out of the equation but demanding double burn. Simply put this is a win win situation no matter what type of strategy you want to develop. But lets say that you do in fact want to get the stun rather than the burn. How do you make an opponent not pay the endurance to avoid the stun? Well perhaps this card will help.
One of the things you will see is that this card reinforces the burn theme of the team, but while this happens Grace will no longer be able to cause “burn”. It is a rather nice payoff but depending on the scenario used it might end up being better if you simply play it from hand. It is important to note that this card will not prevent things like Wild Ride from being played by your opponents as it only restricts the possibility of the opponents paying endurance for your effects. If you recall the early preview I did on Monday Granny Goodness also has an effect that can be prevented by opponents paying endurance, and trust me she and Grace are not the only characters or cards that have benefits to be gained from preventing opponents to pay endurance. These cards will not be hindered by the lack of Ant-Life Equation, they will simply work on another level.
Well this is the last preview I will be doing for DSM-2 and I do hope that you stick around the week for the other previews, whether you read them or not, and let us know what you think, but more importantly enjoy them.
Total Comments 2
Comments
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This is a new and different outlook on fantasy card creation, and one that has introduced a little more life into this game. I am looking forward to it when it's all said and done. I really like Anti-Life Equation.Posted 10-15-2009 at 10:03 PM by Q_of_Borg 
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Thank you for your comments. If you would like to see more of the cards visit VsSystem.org were almost everyone is posting their previews.
Posted 10-15-2009 at 10:13 PM by Shadowtrooper 
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