The Monthly Venture Issue 2

OverPower's Newsest Expansion Set, Mission Control, Unleashes Event Cards!
So... you thought you knew OverPower, eh? Well, you did until you tore through your box of Mission Control and found 50 of the most devastating cards to hit OverPower since the Web-Headed Wizard! (And unlike WHW, you can play up to five Event Cards in your deck!)

Once placed into a deck of OverPower, Event Cards can shake your game of OverPower up and into a whole new realm.

Conceived and created by Ron Perazza and Steve Domzalski, Event Cards were designed to make more effective use of your Mission Cards than simple using them to Venture. "Mission Cards were purely editorial in nature," says Ron. "With the introduction of Event Cards, we were able to successfully tie-in the editorial of the Mission Cards to have a real game effect beyond just wagering. For instance, in the 'Infinity Gauntlet,' Thanos resurrects Nebula from the dead. If you play the 'Mad God Resurrects Dead' Event Card, you can resurrect a KO'd hero."

Playing Event Cards
The most important rule about playing Event Cards is not noted on the white card that comes in every pack of Mission Control. That is, when you play your Event Card, the Event Card affects both players. Also, if both players draw an Even Card in the same battle, resolve the first Event and then resolve the second, even if it's the identical Event. Regardless, if by playing both Events they negate one another, the cards should both be played.

Additionally, after the Event is completed, the used Event card should be placed in your Defeated Heroes Pile (see Monthly Venture, March). There are two reasons for this:
 * 1) No additional piles need to be created for used Event Cards, and
 * 2) Event Cards, like KO'd Heroes, cannot be retrieved with such cards as The Web-Headed Wizard or Scarlet Spider's Arachnid Gizmos.

All Event cards are considered "one per deck". Keep in mind, too, that Event Cards must be played with their corresponding Mission. For example, you must play "The Crossing" Event Cards with "The Crossing" Mission Cards.

Tournament Tip

 * 1) When playing with Event Cards, minimum deck size is 56 cards (including Events) plus 4 Heroes and one 7-card Mission.
 * 2) Event Cards are considered part of your deck. When you come to the playing table, you must have a built deck ready to play. You cannot swap out Event Cards no more than you could weap out Heroes based on the kind of deck your opponent shows up with.

Meet The OverPower Team
You're in a heated game of OverPower. Both you and your opponent only have one Hero left. You have ventured your last two Missions to win the game. And then -- "We're going to be off schedule if I don't get the proofs back for Mission Control today!"

Yup. That's Terri Calpino. Mom, we like to call her. She's the one who makes sure that deadlines are met so that your OverPower product will ship on time. And she's the one who's broken up many heated games of OverPower in the office to do it. But there's more to project management than making deadlines.

"As Project Manager, I coordinate all the packaging, interface with our designers, create schedules, and help determine when products will be released. And yes, I have to remind the guy that while playing OverPower in the office is beneficial to testing new strategies and rules, we also have to make more product in order for other people to play."

Don't get us wrong, though. When Terri sits in on games in the office, she's quick to bring out her "You Go, Girl!" deck. "Since I am the only woman on the team, I thought it might be nice to create an all-girl deck so I could trounce all over  the guy's decks." And, does it ever! Terri's front line Heroes are Domino, Silver Sable, and Black Widow, with Elektra in reserve. All of Terri's front line Heroes are amply equipped with Avoid 1 attack Specials and Elektra has her BP Special that allows her to attack from Reserve slot. "Right now, I'm playing with 'Dark Phoenix Saga' Missions so I can use the Event Cards 'New Lease on Life,' and 'Phoenix Rises from Ashes!' ".

And how do the girls fare against the boys? "What do you think? They make quick work of them so we can all get back to work!"

The OverPower Alternaverse: Your Chance to Build Your Dream Team
An alternate reality. One extraordinarily similar to ours. In many ways, a mirror image of our world, yet the reflection is somehow... different. The best of friends might be bitter enemies. Long-time allies could be fierce adversaries. And the strangest of missions are undertakaen by the strangest of teams.
 * Is Iron Man behind the reassembly of the Infinity Gauntlet?
 * Are Mr. Fantastic and Mr. Sinister secretly working together?
 * Have the Black Cat and Elektra joined the Avengers?

Write and tell us the story of your OverPower Alternaverse. The Legion Member with the best tournament legal team (no more than 56 points on their combined Power Grids) will get to see his/her story in print, along with a rendering of the winning team by one of OverPower's hottest artists! If that's not enough to make you break out your pen or fire up your PC, how about this: The winner will receive the framed, original artwork of their OverPower Alternaverse Team! Please indicate who is on your team, how they got together and why. Don't forget to indicate who's in Reserve and what Mission they're going for. All entries must be 100 words or less and must be postmarked no later than June 15, 1996. Send your entry, along with your name and Legion ID # to: Address removed

All entries become the property of Fleer/SkyBox and cannot be returned.

Be creative! What happens in the OverPower Alternaverse is up to you!

The Coming of Galactus!
You've waited and waited -- and now, we proudly present: The Galactus Hero Card! Penciled by legendary comic artist Joe Kubert, create of Tor and the founder of the Kubert School of Art, this card is exclusive to members of the OverPower Legion. It's our way of thanking you for joining.

About Galactus
Galen, alias Galactus, is the sole survivor of the universe that existed prior to the create of the current universe. Once, Galactus was mortal. But, his humanity had been lost in the swirling mists of time. Galactus requires mysterious energies for his survival, energies he can only obtain by destroying, then feeding off, planets. Driven by his insatiable hunger, his arrival in a star system signals the end of life for all who dwell within it.

About playing the Galactus Card
The debate is still hot around the Fleer/Skybox offices as to how to best utilize the Galactus Hero Card in your deck. Since Galactus has a Power Grid of 8/8/8, and doesn't have any Specials (yet), he can make a greaet Reserve Hero, even at the hefty price of 24 points. The hottest debate, though, seems to be: What kind of team can Galactus work best with? Should you go with a hard-hitting, single-focus deck? Or, do you use a finesse deck with Teammate Avoids and creative combos? Let's hear your suggestions! Write to us and tell us about your Galactus team. We'll build your deck, play it, and talk about it right here!

Commander's Corner
This month: The Teamwork debate The excessive use of Teamwork Cards in OverPower decks remains a hotly debated topic. For instance, you've taken your time and built a killer deck around Special cards and Power Cards. The next thing you know, some guy sidles up across from you with a deck loaded with Teamwork cards and makes the quickest KO of your Heroes you've seen since you dropped your deck all over the floor.

Fair? Well, in theory, yes it is. Teamwork cards were meant to be powerful units of attack. But somewhere in the translation, the Teamwork concept was lost. The intent of the Teamwork card was to have been the whole team working together to defeat the other guy's Hero(s). However, it seems a lot of people are abusing Teamwork cards simply as extra level 6 attacks, and not utilizing the additional attacks.

Here's the deal. We've come up with two different solutions for an official ruling on the use of Teamwork cards in tournaments. Play a few games using these rules and write and tell us if it makes a difference:
 * 1) The "to use" on the card must match exactly to the Hero's Power Grid. Example: Since Hulk has a level 8 strength, he could only use a Teamwork card if it stated "8 strength to use." This means that Hulk could no longer use the "6 strength to use" or "7 strength to use" as he once could have. This rule will help limit Teamwork usage and force players to seriously consider Teamworks a Special Universe for a Hero.
 * 2) In order to use a Teamwork Attack, you must make at least one additional attack with the same card. This means that when you are down to one Hero, Teamwork cards become "unusable" and must be discarded. Hopefully these rulings will help make these formerly abused Universe cards the true Teamwork Cards they were meant to be. After all, you can't have a "team" with only one person. Let's hear your thoughts. If it seems to work, we will announce it as an official rule next month.

Until then, venture well!

The Rating Game
Who's Rating You and How Every time you play in a sanctioned tournament, your play gets rated and tracked by Fleer. To dispel any rumors about some guy sitting in the corner of our office with a solar calculator adding up points and scores while inflating those of his friends and family, we'd like to tell you just how we're doing it.

First, we hired Savanti, Inc. as an outside resource to do the day-to-day tracking of sanctioned tournament playing. Mike Sutton of Savanti takes it from here.

"Players are rated using the ELO System." (Editor's note: ELO, in this context has nothing to do with the 70's synth-band 'Electric Light Orchestra.') "Developed by Dr. Arpad Elo for the United States Chess Federation, [ELO] is now used world-wide in Chess, seeding Tennis players and ranking Golfers. Even [Dr. Elo] admits it's not perfect (humans aren't machines), but by far it's the fairest system for rating game players."

"ELO is based on all players fitting on a rating score bell-curve. The distance apart on the curve gives us the odds the highest-rated player will win, as well as the 'point swing.' The bigger the gap, the smaller the swing if the higher-rated player wins, and the greater the swing if the lower-rated player wins."

"ELO gives the best feel for a player's real strength. New players quickly advance to their peak level of play --- you aren't taking years to accumulate enough points to move up a single level. Top players can battle all the top lpayers. Lower-rated players can either play other lower-rated players for an enjoyable time, or take on the 'bug guys' to move up fast!

Little talk about encouraging people to play in tournaments. There are still a lot of people who are members but who still just have their original starting score. We encourage everyone --- and you have Galactus now, there's no excuse --- to get out and start playing in tournaments. If you can't find one -- bug your retailer to hold one. Tell him to call us for an information kit.

Tournament News...
Time to see your name in lights... (well, at least in ink)

OverPower's Top Ten Players!

a.k.a. the inner circle


 * 1) Keith Bursak
 * 2) Richard Findley
 * 3) Shawn Gorzkowsk
 * 4) Mike Combs
 * 5) Ron Milts
 * 6) Stacy Stoeckel
 * 7) Tim Gustafson
 * 8) Frank Yue
 * 9) Courney Monson
 * 10) Chuck Freeze