Palatinus' OverPower Forum

Most of my gaming time these days revolves around board games. The fact that everything is self contained and nobody needs to bring anything to play is the most appealing aspect. Even if everyone had a deck made for a CCG, it can be stale playing the same matchup over and over again (especially if it's a non-interactive deck vs. a more straightforward deck, or a deck with a very strong advantage against whatever your friend happens to have). It seems to me that building and perfecting a single pet CCG deck is much more fun to use against a varied field in a "tournament environment" rather than just playing your buddy over and over again.

The first time I noticed that the board game kit mentality could be applied to a CCG was through the concept of a Magic Cube. In MTG, drafting is considered the most skill based format. Rather than constructing a deck with certain strengths and weaknesses, you have to do the best you can with what you're able to come up with on the fly. The only downside compared to constructed is that the power level is much lower. The best card in a given draft deck might not even worth playing at all in a constructed deck. Also, there's the same annoyance of "people need to bring stuff to play" since you need booster packs. A Cube gives you the best of both worlds: high powered, iconic cards that are fun to play, combined with the skill based elements of drafting - all in one convenient, infinitely replayable kit.

I tried to think of the best way to apply this to Overpower. Drafting in Overpower would be horrendous. Sealed deck tournaments were actually insanely fun, but I don't think the Cube setup would work with that either. So, the next best thing would be pre-constructed decks. The problem with this is that you don't really have a "complete" kit if you don't have enough decks to represent the entirety of the format - you'd just be a dude with a few decks for your friends to borrow. The current X-Men (or Marvels) format of OP is pretty wide open, even if you tried to streamline down to the very best of the best decks you are looking at 7 or 8 teams that need to be represented. That's too many, not to mention you'd need a lot of Beyonders, A-Next, 5 multi, etc for that "authentic" feel.

As far each era goes, you can break them down something like:
Original/Powersurge/Mission Control - strength was dominant but there are some really interesting decisions to make, this was the environment for the first ever Nationals (making multiple decks of this environment would be easy, and 3 or 4 decks would definitively cover all the top teams)
IQ/JLA era - this is probably the best format ever, but it is even more wide open than the X-Men era (though making multiples of each deck would be easy so it might not be out of the question to throw together 12-15 IQ/JLA era decks)
Monumental - while Marauders mirror matches can be extremely interesting/techy, I don't think anyone would choose this
Image/X-Men/Post April 1st errata - the current environment (as mentioned before, prohibitively expensive to make multiple decks and it would be difficult to capture the entire environment without making an obscene amount of decks)

So the two main candidates seem to be Mission Control format (the first nationals) and the IQ/JLA format (the 1998 regionals season). The only issue I have with choosing the IQ/JLA format is that there would be a lot of overlapping. Some may consider this a good thing (less variance in deck composition makes for more skill based play, ala poker). I really truly enjoyed some of the subtle tech decisions made in decks during this era...you may have had only one character different from your opponent, or used a different mission set, but these had huge implications on how matches played out. Furthermore, while multiple decks were viable at this time, it was obviously skewed more towards Intellect and Energy. The Mission Control era might do a better job of showcasing diversity between each different stat.

So taking that into account, I think I'm going to make a Mission Control era boardgame kit. It should be dirt cheap to put together, and if it proves to be a fun endeavor then it may be worth more fully exploring the idea of a 10-12 deck kit for the IQ/JLA era.

Anyway, for the Mission Control decks...I'm thinking 4 should do the trick. The super efficient Strength deck, the techy Fighting deck, a hard hitting Energy deck, and then a Wildcard deck. For the wildcard deck, I'd like it to feel very "modern." Playing more than 3 specials per character, criss crossing grids for powerful teamworks, maybe dabbling with Negates/EEs more...etc. For the older decks, I will resist the temptation to use modernized theories (like using multiple teammate avoid characters together) and try to capture what it felt like to be playing in 1996. ***Holy shit the first Nationals tournament was 15 years ago***

The level 8 stat characters:
Professor X, Magneto, Dr. Strange
Wolverine, Sabretooth, Domino
Hulk, Thing, Namor

Since characters die very quickly without Battlesites/defensive specials, powercards are infinitely more valuable than specials. Due to this, every 8 stat character is immensely playable, though some are obviously more powerful than others.

7-stat characters with good specials
Banshee, Iceman, Cyclops, Silver Surfer, Human Torch
Black Cat, Nightcrawler
Juggernaut, Blob

Some other characters of interest
Scarlet Witch, Ghost Rider, Daredevil, Psylocke, Rogue, War Machine, Morbius, Colossus, Scarlet Spider, Beast, Bishop, Cable, Sentinels

The alternate 7 strength characters all provide something interesting over Juggernaut, even if he is better on paper. Rogue's 9 is worlds harder to defend than Juggernaut's 8, and her 6 is comparable to Juggernaut's 7. Colossus and Morbius have personal avoids (so you may decide to slide Namor to Reserve and move up Thing with his avoid to reinforce the theme). Little changes like this make a big difference in the feel of your deck, at least in my opinion.

Specialists
Venom, Dr. Doom, Spider-Man, Iron Man

One of these will most likely be the glue of the wildcard deck....

So, just as a preliminary list, here is my current starting point for the four different decks:

Strength: Hulk, Namor, Juggernaut, Thing (R) - no events
Running this deck at 51 cards with Atlantis Attacks, Land Sea Air, Imperious Rex, Power Leap, Enraged, Battering Ram, Headbutt, Raze, and It's Clobbering Time as the only special cards is probably the best iteration of it. No basic universe cards, 5 less cards than the version that decides to run Infinity Gauntlet events...it is a brutally efficient Venture monster. There are still lots of tweaks that can be made though. A basic universe would let you defend 9 or higher attacks, giving you less venture but more defense. The 7 strength character slot is a matter of debate. You could run a second Battering Ram instead of Raze. You could drop Namor altogether. You could get new-school and try running Beast or Sentinel, and so on and so forth. This is still a good base for the marquee deck of the format though.

Atlantis Attacks, Land Sea Air, Imperious Rex, Power Leap, Enraged, Battering Ram, Headbutt, Raze, It's Clobbering Time, Death From Above, Guardian Angel, Gamma Terror, Webheaded Wizard, Confusion, 6s TWx2, 7s TWx2, 8s TWx2, E: 1112, F: 444, S: 555566667777788888, M: 22333

Fighting: Black Cat, Sabretooth, Nightcrawler, Domino - Age of Apocalypse
There are some tweaks that can be made to this too. You could run Wolverine frontline instead of Sabretooth, or Wolverine in reserve over Domino. You also have to decide if you want to be a "mini strength" deck - aka, efficiently running very few specials and trying to keep a maximum amount of Venture per hand. Alternatively, you could be more fancy and run multiple copies of useful specials, like Trick Transport (pre-errata). If you are trying to differentiate from just being a "slightly less average points to venture per turn than strength" and decide to run some less efficient but more defensive cards, Wolvie with his avoid should be the frontline character. Here's a preliminary build:

Kiss of Death, Bad Luck, Femme Fatale, Wildcat Attack x2, Vicious Teleport, Trick Transport, BAMF!, Tripwire, Guardian Angel, Gamma Terror, Webheaded Wizard, Confusion, Martyr for the Cause, Mutant Rebels Held Captive, 6f TW x2, 7f TW x2, 8f TW x2, Machine Gun, E: 22211, F: 888887777766665555, S: 3333, M: 4444211

Energy: Iceman, Silver Surfer, Banshee, Human Torch

There are a lot of ways to go with this. If you didn't want to dick around with deciding what breakdown of pure avoids and teammate avoids to play, you could drop Surfer for Cyke and run a special breakdown of: Shatter Shriek, Super Scream, Interpol Training, Ground Blast, Remove Visor, Wide Beam, Blood Chill, Sub Zero, Nova Burst.

Otherwise, you have to make some weird choices. Do you play a pure avoid and one teammate avoid for Surfer and Iceman? In that scenario you have two guaranteed dead cards for venture in the early game. Do you run more than one of Surfers teammate avoid figuring that Iceman is the bigger target? Do you run Banshee's avoid at all since he will be protected by two teammate avoids? Since this is a boxed set and your opponent will most likely know the contents of the deck (since he will have used it himself at some point!), taking a gamble on which sets of avoids to play seems bad. I love Cyclops in this environment, but for right now I'm looking at something like:

Shatter Shriek, Super Scream, Sonic Glide, Interpol Training, Blood Chill, Ice Armor, Sub Zero, Hailstorm, Power Cosmic, Force Shield, Double Power Blast, Energy Protection, Nova Burst.

I'd like to run this with Martyr for the Cause, so if you know a certain avoid or teammate avoid is coming up you can redirect their attacks to take advantage of it. Also that way you have Shatter Shriek vs. Fighting and Mutant Rebels Held Captive vs. Strength. Tough call overall though, having Cyke over Surfer and not running any avoids makes you a little more potent in terms of a fast 2 hit KO.

The Wildcard Deck

I am having the most fun thinking about this one. Just trying to go purely new school and seeing how it works under old sets, how about a frontline of Hulk, Beast, and Sentinels? With Analyze x3 and x3 Mastermold it could be interesting. Or maybe something using Nightcrawler with Trick Transport x3 and multiple Bamfs. Or, a very high to venture deck with Magneto, Wolverine, Hulk, and Iron Man. Speaking of Iron Man, I once saw a Venom deck win a 20 person tournament. The only way to overcome multiple single stat level 8 characters is to run a dual skill deck and hope that you can overrun them with different colored teamworks to win venture. The downside is, you have to do this quickly because as soon as someone dies you most likely won't have stat backups, so your unusuable discards start piling up. Maybe a dual skill deck based around Sentinel for more defense then? Or a dual skill deck with the aforementioned Nightcrawler setup. Trying to criss cross teammate avoids with an 8 stat character also seems worth trying, maybe something like Cable, Scarlet Spider, Magneto or Dr. Strange, and Prof X. in reserve. Pointwise, I'd have to think about what works with Galactus...but his teamworks could be overwhelming when paired with some new-school x3 defensive specials.

So, as you can see...a lot of variation and thought can go into this little box set with only 4 decks comprised of 15 or so usable character cards. At first thought, it might seem like "oh Mission Control era, slap together the strength deck and you're done." But really, there is a lot of room for creativity and some downright fun decks here, which hopefully will lead to a fun little mini-metagame and overall cool little project.

Please chime in with any commentary on my deck ideas, proposals of your own favorite/notable decks from this era, or any thoughts on the idea of Overpower as a board game overall!

This is an interesting idea.  I was thinking the same thing actually (Overpower being like a board game now).

The Magic Cube is genious if you can make enough decks to hold a 20 person tournament.  I was just thinking the other day about how fun the brief IQ-JLA era was, and how I'd like to play a tournament with only cards from JLA and previous sets.  Though, there is something to be said about gunslinging your way through the rounds of a 100+ person tournament with your own constructed deck.

I can just imagine how fun it would be to "lotto" off the decks at the start of the tournament, kinda like the thrill of opening packs (you never know what you're going to get).  I can say that some of the most fun I've ever had playing cards was in booster drafts, and sealed decks.  The DC decks were so awful it was hilarious to play with them.

You have my vote for a JLA format cube!

Quote from: HotRod on January 26, 2011, 03:22:55 PM
I can just imagine how fun it would be to "lotto" off the decks at the start of the tournament

Or, consider how much fun this would be...

Say you have a list of 20 decks or so. Decks are nominated one at a time, with bids like "opponent starts with one completed mission and six reserve missions" or "I start with two defeated missions" and so on. You could even make the bidding more intricate, like "opponent may keep duplicate specials for X turns" or "my teamworks receive no bonuses for the entire game." 

So, when the killer decks are up for auction, you'll really have to decide how much you're willing to give up in order to get it. In the JLA environment, I'm already imagining how much I would bid in order to get my hands on the mirror match breaking Batman Detective deck...

This system would also let some lesser powered decks with cool characters be used too. You might not want to run Captain America, Nightcrawler, Invisible Woman, and Sabretooth against some of the powerhouse JLA era lineups like Fantastic/Sinister/Dark Beast/Red Skull or Prof X/Scarlet Witch/White Queen/Magneto...but what if you started with an extra card in your hand the first two turns? Or what if you began with a mission in your completed pile and a defeated mission for you opponent? Now it becomes more interesting...

I really like that bid idea, it reminds me of Axis&Allies tournament play.

Would the bid be every game though?  Like, each match you get to select a new deck?  Or would you get locked in for the tournament based on the deck ranking?  Lets say the top tier intellect deck starts with a mission in the defeated pile at the start of every game?

For A&A the bid is to see who plays what, so you can offer an extra 5 IPC or whatever to the other team to let you select your preference for that game.

You would stick with the deck/handicap you bid for the entire tournament, so it would work best with a larger amount of people. I guess if you wanted to only play with a few people you could predetermine what the bonuses/drawbacks to each team would be in advance. The easiest way to do this would be to weight average venture per turn and have the stronger decks start with some missions in defeated based on that. Anyway once you had the predetermined drawbacks, you could switch up decks frequently after each game if you were just playing against one or two people.

I took a stab at making a character ranking list for the JLA people, and boy is there a lot of wiggle room there. Once you get past the obvious top tier, there are like 30 characters I'd consider worth using.

Still though, I know some of you played during the 3-stat days and have some cool decks from that era to tell me about!

I like where you're going with the idea... but rather than make decks that are effective 'OverPower' teams, why not assemble teams of heroes based on comic book alliances? Characters who would logically work together. Since the idea is that teams are pre-packaged, you can create a nice variety and even mix up the grids a little bit (so long as all the different teams are balanced overall, screwy grids could be a fun wildcard.)  Since you are spending the time to decide on the decks, you can give every team it's own advantages and disadvantages.

I'm not keen on the idea of 'bidding' but being assigned a random pre-built team would be a fun idea for sure. As you say, like sealed deck tournaments. I'd feel more comfortable as a player if I knew all the decks were carefully constructed for equality and balance. Perhaps if every team was designed to have one 8 Stat Character, two 7 stats and one 6 stat character, as well as following a theme of some kind so there's logic to the team itself context wise.

Context is especially important when luring in new players who don't care about mechanics, and are only interested in the Characters.


@ HotRod - I was thinking if our Toronto meetups gather momentum and warrant regular tournaments, then we'd do an ALL DC/JLA day. Possibly even an ALL pre-IQ Marvel day. Stuff like that to shake things up.

First tournament would obviously be anything goes, but it might be fun to do theme days.

-BBH

@ onslaught - this idea seems pretty cool. after you assemble all of the decks and get everything ironed out would you mind sending me an email detailing what you did? I know that's asking a lot from you, but I can't feasibly travel to Toronto (not anytime soon, anyway), but there are enough players in our circuit, as well as more than enough necessary cards, to make it happen, and I would love to try it out with our group.

Also, I never played OP back in the day, but my brother ncannelora did. But when we first started playing again in '07/'08 we only had my brother's cards and insight to go from, so we played 3stat only, and most of that from OOP/PS. As a matter of fact, it was about four months or so before we even go into MC, and another few months after that before we even really got into IQ and everything after that.

That being said, one of my favorite decks from our own early days was an X-Men team featuring Cyclops, Wolverine, Beast, and Bishop (R). Now, I played this team for any number of reasons, but most of it came down to A) they are some of my favorites, B) there was a period where my brother was sharing his cards with me, and C) the extra power cards he had largely dictated what possible combination of teams I could make. This team I remember being pretty good, what with Cyke's AR and Ground Blast (the original super special!), Wolverine's 8stat and Wounded Animal, Bishop's ridiculous offense, and Beast's Biochemist. That's right, in the early days we valued a heal special over a negate! Or at least I did.

Gradually this team shifted as I began my own collection and started buying PS and MC cards. I think one of my most consistent teams pre-IQ was something like Cyclops, Iceman, Banshee, and Jean Grey (R). It offers excellent offense from all four, and featured some good defense as well, both from everyone's personal avoid as well as Iceman's Hail Storm. As a matter of fact, this team had a ridiculous win/loss record in our group because it was one of the first teams any of us constructed that was suited and to great effect. Before that we would assemble teams according to various logic, but we never really had a focus on one power type over another. And if I remember correctly, my brother Josh followed suit and constructed his own suited team, it was strength I believe, that obliterated mine, and this started a chain of focused team-building.

Anyway, just thought I'd share some of insight from our own "early days of OP".

That energy lineup you posted is pretty killer and was one of the cooler niche decks back in the day, so kudos for coming up with it on your own in a vacuum. I really go back and forth on which old school energy deck I like better, the Cyke version or the Surfer version. The whole point of the energy deck is to try to get some boom boom dead hits off before you get overwhelmed by your lack of an 8 stat. Cyclops with remove visor gives you three frontline cards that can do a two hit KO, while the combination of Surfer and Iceman gives you a little more defense. Surfer also has the 4e combine to make an 11, but you'd need another one of your OPDs to get a "two turn KO" (vs. Remove Visor which can be followed up with 7s any hero, Cyke 7f, or a 7e powercard for KO). Tough call!

Another deck I've been looking at recently:
Punisher, Deadpool, Daredevil, Carnage

Now back in the day I would have dismissed this as a crappy deck with no purpose. Specials wise, this is true - it uses things that are strictly worse versions of other existing characters. However, if you actually go back and look at the old grids, it's actually pretty hard to get your non-primary stats to align nicely. If you want to use non-multipower level 4 powercards, you'd have to run a lineup like this. It's also easy to forget just how hard blocking a 6 is. These grids allow you to consistently make off-color sixes for teamwork followups, which makes spectrum KO much more viable. Even though these characters were chosen for their grids, the specials also compliment each other nicely as a sort of "mini energy deck." Fighting decks were normally based around venture efficiency (sorta like a "mini strength deck" but with more tricks), so it's cool to see one that has big hitting specials and a grid oriented to spectrum KO. Punisher and Deadpool can both make 11 E/F attacks, while Daredevil's 9 can finish them off.

The theme of this deck isn't bad either, they're all pretty gritty characters.

The bidding could be changed to a handicap/penalty type thing with a list of the decks and thier corresponding preamble.

@ BBH - Hell, I'd be happy with a JLA and earlier sets event (just so I can play Superman again).   

What about a frontline of cable, iceman, and surfer giving everyone a teammate avoid. I know this is more of a modern style deck, which would be used in a older format. But i would be real interested to see how modern stategies would work in older formats.

That's an interesting frontline, and it makes me wonder even more how some of the more modern deckbuilding ideas would have worked back in the day. I guess we'll find out when this little project gets into the testing phase! I really think Nightcrawler with 3 Bamf 3 Trick Transport in unison with Sentinel and an 8 stat char will cause huge problems, we'll see though.

Also regarding the issue of "Cyke vs. Silver Surfer," I have a new compromise. Drop Human Torch, move Banshee to the reserve, and run a frontline of Cyke, Surfer, Iceman. You lose Banshee's discard all fighting icon, but it's the only way to run Cyke with the Surfer/Iceman "cover each others teammate avoid" tandem. Losing access to an 11 seems kind of crappy though...I guess it still comes down to Cyke/Banshee/Iceman (without teammate avoid)/Human Torch (R) vs. Banshee, Iceman (with teammate avoid), Surfer (with teammate avoid), Human Torch (R). I guess it can't hurt to test the build with Banshee in reserve though.
--------------------------------
Now for some miscellaneous lab work:

Comparison of the 19 pointers:



Specials to consider: Avoid, 4e AA, 8m, Draw 1 keep dupe, Discard 5



Specials to consider: 4e AA, Draw 1 keep dupe, -6 to venture



Specials to consider: 4f AA, 4f combine w/ strength, Avoid, Target Can't Attack, Taunt



Specials to consider: 4s AA, 4s combine w/ energy, Avoid, Discard placed universe, Target Can't Attack

So the first thing to notice is that they all have an AA in their biggest stat. The reason I mention that these might be worthwhile is that they will most likely be the glue to a deck of rainbow stats, so your power cards might be diverse enough that running a main stat AA might be OK. All of them except Doom have Avoids, but the more I think about it the more I envision these 19 point characters as coming up from the reserve. After all, their main strength lies in the grid, so you probably want them backing up teamworks instead of playing stuff frontline. As reservists, they all have an obvious OPD as their best card.

Venom and Spidey are worth considering frontline due to their AE specials. They are basically unblockable, but they would require being paired with energy characters (Venom) or strength characters (Spidey). I don't like running avoids in this format unless the entire frontline can do it, so Venom might actually be able to use his depending on which energy characters he is paired with. Spidey's Taunt seems legit, as sometimes I run Savage Land in these decks.

Spider-Man, Hulk, Cyclops, Black Widow (R) - Over the Edge, Taunt, Web, Enraged, Power Leap, Remove Visor, Wide Beam, Ground Blast, Defense Tactics, Avenging Agent

Venom, Prof X., Deadpool, Thing (R) - Rampage, Alien Symbiote, Creepy Crawler, Symbiotic Snare, Read Mind, Psionic Hold, Telepathic Coordination, Bushwack x2, Killing Machine, Assassin, It's Clobberin' Time

Nightcrawler, Magneto, Blob, Iron Man (R) - Vicious Teleport, Bamf!, Trick Transport, Power Flux, Paralyze Opponent, Blubber Block, Heavy Hitter, Sumo Slam, Heat Seeking Missile

Hrmph, there's a lot of room to play around here...I'm really liking this format. One thing that worried me a little when I started doing a few test hands against myself is that I might be too jaded as a more experienced player. That is to say, when I reminisce about this format, I always make sure to acknowledge the "wow, COOL!" factor of each skill type's unique abilities. Like, I remember at a tournament hearing someone say "the specials in this energy deck are just out of this world. 11, 10, 13....are you kidding me?!" or an Iron Man player telling his friend about his perfect turn of four teamworks. I think it would be easy to just take that kind of stuff for granted now, "ho hum I drew some big attacks, whatever" - but actually trying to play this era at a higher level has just given me more appreciation for how cool it was. So, I know one day I'll be looking back on this post to try to glean some info for this project: note to future self - don't take the differentiation of the decks for granted, and don't let repeated use of these old cards allow them to feel plain/normalized!

I think my list of noteworthy characters could even use some updating, I think Punisher and Deadpool are real candidates just because of their AEs. I think I've also underrated Colossus (his OPD makes something unblockable) and War Machine (only character in the game who can kill someone in one attack phase - AA into AE). Speaking of AE, anyone who can get one up to a 7 is worth considering. Maybe a team of all AEs that use the same kind of powercard to combine? Lots of ideas flowing!

On a side note, I really want the Hillshire Farms version of Spidey and Venom hero cards. Anyone wanna trade/sell? I actually have an entire trade list to make if anyone is interested.

My take on the Max-7E variant (i like the double power blast and remove visor attacks as alternates to torches 11)


BOARD GAME OVERPOWER: Iceman, Banshee, Silver Surfer, Cyclops®
BY TYPE:


Specials-20
Any-hero: Confusion, Death from Above , Gamma Terror, Guardian Angle
Iceman: Blood Chill, Hail Storm x2, Ice Armor, Sub-Zero
Banshee: Shatter Shriek, Sonic Glide, Super Scream, Vocal Hypnosis
Surfer: Double Power Blast, Energy Protection x2, Force Field, Power Cosmic
Cyclops: Remove Visor, Wide Beam

Power cards: 28
E-5555,6666,7777
F-11,22,33
S-11,22,33
MP-4444

Universe:7
Teamwork: 6Ex2, 7Ex2
Basic Universe: 6E+3, 7E+3
Training:<=5F/S+4

MISSION SET: AoA
Events: 2
Mutant Rebels Held Captive!, Rebel Forces Regroup

TOTAL: 57

Nice deck. I'm still grappling with the decision to play Banshee in reserve or to drop Human Torch.

Seeing your decklist with 4 multipower x4 reminds me of something. When I played some other CCGs around age 19 or 20, I had reached a point where card ownership was more of an annoyance instead of a hobby. I would often just borrow cards for whatever deck I was using at a tournament, or just buy them from a singles store online at the last minute after testing the deck online in Apprentice or whatever. There was no glory or fun to be had from acquiring cards and putting the deck together and such.

But when I see your list with four copies of a level 4 multipower, it reminds me how much different it was back then. I remember trading for the final (rare) four multipower card I needed to have enough to play as many as I wanted in any of my decks. The pride of ownership back then was a lot different from what players of modern CCGs might feel. Trading was probably much more fun back when it was ESSENTIAL to acquiring cards, as compared to today where there are probably very few trades. Also, we didn't have the option of just hopping online and paying a fairly market standardized price for singles. Instead of just making a few clicks and completing a deck, we really had to slave over it back in those days, so when YOUR deck was done it was just really satisfying to have it all compiled.

I dunno, just kind of a weird feeling to describe I guess. On a side note, I am also reminded of how much more fun it is to play in real life than it is to play online. As mentioned above, as I got older I would never attend weekly local tournaments. Online play was convenient for testing, but it isn't nearly as fun as face to face interaction. Most of all, I think the tactile pleasure of just shuffling some sleeved cards and snapping them down into play and stuff is really fun.

For Overpower, a game so steeped in bluffing and mind reading, playing face to face really can't be matched by anything else.

Quote from: Onslaught on January 30, 2011, 06:41:09 AM
I dunno, just kind of a weird feeling to describe I guess. On a side note, I am also reminded of how much more fun it is to play in real life than it is to play online. As mentioned above, as I got older I would never attend weekly local tournaments. Online play was convenient for testing, but it isn't nearly as fun as face to face interaction. Most of all, I think the tactile pleasure of just shuffling some sleeved cards and snapping them down into play and stuff is really fun.

For Overpower, a game so steeped in bluffing and mind reading, playing face to face really can't be matched by anything else.

Sing it sister!

I'm the same way with poker. I love to play poker, but I never play online. It's got to be in person, face to face, otherwise what's the point? But at least with poker I can find people almost any time I want.

OverPower not so much. Even if I find and teach new players, they are nowhere near my level. Finding experienced players who can give me a run for my money has been fun this past while. I have one regular playing partner and we strive to meet up once a month or so, but even that doesn't compare to an environment where you have a multitude of players with different playing styles.

Jack's online OP program should be awesome, though, at least for getting our East vs. West thing going. (Assuming we don't plan any trips). 

-BBH

perhaps the ability to face time via web cams during the game? I realize it can't compare to in game but even if you can see your opponents face it can make a difference in how you play your cards. Most laptop computers come with webcams built in...