The Venture Volume Two Issue 1

Marvel vs. Wildstorm
The One Place To Find Awesome All Chromium OverPower Cards

The Venture
Starring
 * Ron Perazza as The Skipper
 * Ed Wuillermin as Gilligan
 * Steve Domzalski as Mr. Howell
 * Kathy Probe as The Movie Star
 * Special Guest Star Keith Bursack as Mrs. Howell

Boy Did We Hear From You!
Our mail room guy used to be a happy, peppy sorta dude... that is, until Issue #6 of the Venture hit the street. Then, when he had to start sorting all the tons of mail every day with member's articles and responses to the caption contest, well, he kinda went a little ballistic.

Anywhoooo...

This is your Venture, writte by members of the Legion (and possible you)! Enjoy it and let us know what you think! If you are an author of an article, or artist who contributed artwork, you will receive your promo cards in the mail shortly. Also, some work has been edited or slightly revised for content.

How to get the most out of battlesites
by Jeff Briel

I'm sure that by now you have all heard the ruling about Location Cards and Any Heroes/Characters (in fact it's most likely printed in this issue of the Venture somewhere!). Now, I'm already aware of the displeasure this has caused a great many players, but fear not! Battlesites can be fearsome in their own respect, and this article will example the best possible ways to prepare your Battlesite and prepare against your opponent's Battlesite.

Firstly, lets examine why Battlesites are preferable (some might say superior) to Any Heroes.

Since cards placed under the Battlesite are not character specific, they are just as effective as Any Heroes, in that you do not need to worry about Sentinels getting KO'd before you can play their good Specials. (I know what you're thinking "Battlesites can be destroyed!" Well just hold on and we'll discuss that point leter.) Using Sentinels from the previous example, assume you have both Sentinels "Master Mold," and "Robot Mentality" placed underneath your Battlesite. Now, when you draw a Sentinels Activator card into your hand, you have options... Do you need offense or defense this battle??? Never again will you say, "Stupid Gamma Terror! I wish you were a Guardian Angel!!!" Now you can chose which will enhance your hand more.

Now that we've evaluated the worth of the Battlesite, let's examine how best to enhance your deck. While it may be tempting to include a multitude of Specials under the Battlesite, remember that each Special needs a corresponding activator which will take up a place in your deck. With Negate Specials running rampant these days, you don't want to overdo the amount of Specials in your deck. The best thing to do is to examine what weaknesses your deck has and attempt to make up for said weaknesses with your Battlesites. Below I have outlined three potential Battlesite choices and what enhancements they can bring to your deck.

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'''Battlesites can basically be broken down into three categories: Defensive, Offensive, and Somewhere-in-Between. Here are my top choices for each category'''

Mojoworld definitely takes the prize for the best defensive (Even without having TWO of the characters released!!!)
 * Four Avoid 1 Attacks (Longshot, Mojo, Psylocke, and X-Babies)
 * Three Negates (Longshot, Mojo, X-Babies)
 * Both Mojo and the X-Babies have the KO special (acts as a level 6 attack, if successful, opponent is -4 to venture)

Outerspace works great as an offensive Battlesite. (and it even has plenty of defense from the Silver Surfer)
 * Brood has a level 6 Energy attack. ('Overwhelm')
 * Silver Surfer has an AE special ('Double Power Blast')
 * Super Skrull has the 8 Any-Power attack ('Fantastic Enemy')
 * Adam Warlock has a 7 Energy Attack ('Energy Barrage'), and the 'Cosmic Alliance' which allows everyone to make an additional attack.
 * With two AE specials, one o te Starjammer's specials will probably fit into your deck.
 * As far as One-Per-Decks go, you have a choice between Silver Surfer's 'Power Cosmic' or for maximum offensive potential, Starjammer's 'Binary'

Onslaught's Citadel is a sort of jack-of-all-trades. It covers its bases well, both offensively and defensively.
 * Two level 7 attacks (Fighting and Intellect) come from Onslaught and the Sentinels, respectively
 * Sentinel's 'Mastermold' is an excellent special for defense
 * Holocaust contributes his Avoid 1 attack to the mix.
 * Both Holocaust and Dark Beast offer Negate specials.
 * And speaking of Dark Beast, his 'Biochemist' can remove a hit from any teammate.
 * Post has the always fun 'Lethal Tester' which allows you to attack yourself with one of their Placed cards, letting you choose when and where to defend.

Tactic Cards Are Our Friends
(Or, "How I learned to stop complaining about Tactic Cards when I figured out just what to do with them.")

from "Ranger" Rick Doute

Planning
What are your main power types?

Dual powered characters are best suited for the Tactic Card.

Who can throw the card and who is needed to contribute to it?

Look for the cards that can be used by the majority of your team. Try not to depend on 1 character. Offensive is the Tactic Card's strength. Try to pick the cards that will give you a 2-color hit. Also try to get the best hit that you can. If the second color can be a 4, you will have a dual 8 attack. However a dual 5, 6, or 7 will be an unwelcome sight by your opponent as well.

Do you have the right Power cards?

This is the most important part of the planning. If all of your 4's are multi's then you can never get an 8 attack.

Playing
With Tactic Cards you almost have to Place the Power Card so you will have it when you need it.

Attacking is the most fun part of using Tactic cards. An Attack that uses and remains two colors is a very potent threat so these attacks will almost certainly become "must blocks" for your opponent. Use the Tactic Card attack at the end of the Battle when all of the big power and defensive cards have been used. Or make an 8 double Power attack on a level 6 or 7 character and get you're two-thirds of the way to a Spectrum KO.

The Official OverPower Purity Quiz
submitted for your amusement by Clone Lester and Doc Leonard Samson


 * When entering an elevator with three other people, do you find yourself calculating a sum deck total?
 * Have your tried to get your parents to buy a Chevy Venture -- for all the wrong reasons?
 * Have you bought a Ford Probe -- for all the wrong reasons?
 * Did you think for too long that your hamster was just "KO'D?"
 * When IQ came out, did you have to "update" your family members?
 * Do you use "Ode To Joy" as a "soundtrack" when videotaping yourself opening a box of boosters?
 * Do you play audio tapes of booster box openings on your car stereo?
 * Have you solicited Webster's Dictionary to accept "Doctor", "Manhattan", "Imitation", and "Aroura" as valid spellings?
 * Do you refuse to purchase a loaf of bread unless then 14th slice is clearly turned?
 * Were you surprised when "Power Leech" was not accepted as a missing homework excuse?
 * Have you called the Lucky Charms 800# to suggest "Icon" marshmallows?
 * Have you revised your understanding of astronomy and the Gregorian Calendar in order to make the Monthly Venture appear?

Fleer Interjection: If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, help is on the way. Classic OverPower will be released in September so, get in your Chevy Venture and get to your nearest retailer!

The "Make Walt Whitman Spin In His Grave" Poetry Award goes to Kyle Nakano for his heart wrenching tribute to

Thing
His name is Thing,

He can make a ding,

He thinks he's king

But when I hit him with

my golf clubs, Called, "Ping,"

It will make a ding,

In that Thing,

And soon I will be King.

Member Artwork
Believe it or not, as we were going through the mail, we came across Robert Chang's Hero Card for "Happy Dude," and wondered with all those low stats what he had to be "happy" about and put it aside...

Then... hundreds of letters, we found the one reason why "Happy Dude" was so happy...

it's "Mrs. Smiley," submitted by Tim Batow.

Can North America Handle Two Captains?
if Larry Rowan from Winnipeg had his way, sure! Check out his homemade "CAptain Canuck" hero card.

''what? No Intellect? Was that on purpose Larry? Hmmm..''

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Check This Out!

Part 1
"Presidential OverPower!" Thomas Chau submitted the President Clinton Hero card. Which of course proves our own theory that Galactus is actually smarter than the President of the United States. Maybe it is smarter to eat planets than it is to rule one!

Part 2
Oh Yeah, Michael Meyers isn't really dead...

He's coming back for more. More Blood! More Mayhem! More OverPower! Check out this cool character card from our friend Greg Johnson from Muscle Shoals, Alabama

Best Theme Deck Name!
'''Legion Member Ingo Kaiser from Bavaria, Germany sent us his cool deck with great art to match. It's...

X-Men Rock the Oktoberfest!

Ingo says his deck of Beast, Iceman, Bishop and Cyclops in Reserve hasn't been beaten in the last 68 games in which he has played. (O.K., he's only played in Battles-only style, but we're still digging the name!) Thanks for the information and the art Ingo!

OverPower: The Usable Collection
An essay by Matt Cavanaugh

I guess I've been a collector for longer than I cam remember. As a boy growing up in the sixties, it was G.I. Joe and Hot Wheels. As the world expanded for me, both sports and non-sports cards became the thing. Trying to get a comic book into the house was a feat I never mastered, but they were allowed to find their way into an old shoebox that I hid for safe-keeping.

Until recently, card collecting meant buying, trading, reading, sorting, filing and occasionally, viewing. That all changed for me with the introduction of the collectible card game, and OverPower was the one for me. It offered great art, the thrill of the hunt and something entirely new - a game to play. Finally a usable collection.

In my early days of collecting OverPower, I felt a little alone. Few people I knew collected it and checklists were hard to come by. That has definitely changed. There is a Legion of fans out there -- collectors and gamers. A support network has sprung up, both corporate and grass roots. Bow I spent much time visiting OverPower websites as I do collecting cards. I've traded with fellow collectors from all over the world with the help of trading posts organized and maintained by other collectors and gamers.

All of this has spun off from an on-going card set. But, more importantly, a game that grows, fascinates, challenges and captures a lot of what those comic books I could never get into the house had going for them -- fun. So, use them collectors.

Use that usable collection!

Q & A
with those crazy OverPower upstarts; Kathy, Ron, Keith and Steve

What Duties Do Your Job Entail?
 * Ron; Pictures of scantily clad women (and some other stuff too).
 * Steve; Tournament programs, making stuff, sellin' stuff, marketing stuff.
 * Kathy; I answer emails, conduct online chats on AOL (Monday at 9:00) and try to make the world a better place for OverPower players.
 * Keith; Office today for Ron and Steve, Tournament sanctioning & prize support.

If You Had Your Own Character Card, What Would Be Your Stats?
 * Ron; 36-24-36
 * Steve; 1/1/1/1, but my specials would really ROCK
 * Kathy; 8/8/8/8, of course
 * Keith; 6/4/3/6, without a doubt.

As We Know, Games Like This One Continue To Grow, What Is The One Thing You'd Like To See Incorporated?


 * Ron; More freedom to show even scantilier clad women!!
 * Steve; Full body contact.
 * Kathy; Inherent abilities that I can actually read.
 * Keith; Multi-Player rules.

Pen Pals
Meet new friends in new, exciting places! Why not drop a line to these OverPower Pen Pals?? Why not become an OverPower Pen Pal?? Just drop us a line at the Venture, and we'll let everyone know where to write you!!!

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****Correction****

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Rainy Day Fun With OverPower Cards
Who says OverPower Cards aren't funny? Michael Schnell thinks they are... especially when you can make up your own titles for the art!

"The Planet will regret giving me that fifth burrito!"

"O.K. so I am stuck!"

"Must.... Reach... bathroom... on time"

Do you have any funny one-liners for us? Send 'em in! If we laugh, you get published.

The Inner Circle

 * 1) Cherie "Two Timin'" Briggs
 * 2) Aaron "Grandpappy" Schoenke
 * 3) Keith "I've bruised my" Bursack
 * 4) Gerard "Umm.. Nevermind" Dicks
 * 5) Brian "Boitano" Stange
 * 6) Michael "The Irishman" O'Connell
 * 7) Marcel "Duchamp" Lojet
 * 8) John "Slap Me Silly" Gobeil
 * 9) Jason "I've Got a Magic" Wan
 * 10) Joey "The Bass" Trautmann