Q1: How (and when) did you begin your career as a VTES-player? Who introduced you to the game? Where did you play originally? A friend and I pre-ordered a box of Jyhad when it was first released. We sorted out the cards and split the cards 50/50 not knowing anything about how the game played. These cards were put in my closet for a year as nobody wanted to sit down and try it. This was back when Magic was still at the peak of it's popularity, before the dreaded DCI. A friend of mine (Jason Winkler) from college joined the gaming group and was a big fan of VTES. He walked us through the basics and I've been playing ever since. We had a regular Friday night game at a local coffee house that ran for just over a year before people started drifting off into "real life".	Q2: Which of the Sets and Expansions to VTES is your favorite, and why is it your top choice? My favorite set (coincidentally also qualifies as my least favorite set) is Bloodlines. There were many new features added in to expand the gameplay beyond Rush, Bleed, and Vote. It's also agonizing that the Bloodlines cards were not intended to operate on their own. If you're not going to make a set that's fully functional, than why release it?
Q3: What is your favorite deck to play, and why? This changes from time to time depending on my mood. Currently I'm trying out some different strategies to see if some of the downtrodden Bloodlines clans are viable for tourney play. I play a different deck almost every event (casual & tourney), the selection of which being which one is most likely to provide the most fun on a given day. There are a number of advantages to this (IMO); 1. Opponents are never able to lock onto my playstyle (ie; He always plays "x" deck/clan) 2. Keeps the game fresh for me and my group 3. As long as I'm having fun, the results are mostly irrelevent - Note: Playing to have fun does not mean that you cannot also play competetively. For example, at a recent tournament I took 2nd place with the Salubri AntiTribue! How cool is that!! At the NJL website, I attempt to maintain fairly current lists of my decks (both good and bad). Unlike others, I have no problem sharing deck ideas or lists. Reason being is that each person has a given playstyle which is entirely independent of deck ability. A good player can take a marginal deck and often do pretty well. So if someone wants to copy my decks, I highly recommend that they alter them to match their style of play and make it their own. I'd received numerous Kudos for Pale Moon Rising (PMR), which if you look at it resembles more of a Magic:TG "ultra-speed clock-your-neighbor deck" than a "thinking person's" VTES deck. Occasionally I dust off PMR to test against a new deck to see how it (the new deck) can handle a speed onslaught. (http://bernietime.mega.net.kg/vampire/Decks/deck03.html)	Q4: If you could add something to the game, what would it be? Boy is that a loaded question :-) For game longevity, it would have to be a Rarity indicator. While hotly debated on the newsgroup, the bottom line is that retailers will not sell individual cards if they cannot determine an approximate value at a glance. Without the retailers support, the game's playerbase isn't likely to expand.
Q5: What do you do to help promote the game / why are you in this list of people? I'm one of the founding members of the National Jyhad League, which came into being a few years back due to some fundamental differences of opinion on where the game was going. That's old news nowadays. Currently, I update the NJL website and calendar of events (as time permits) http://njl.vekn.org Write the occasional VEKN newsletter "The Picayune" which details strategy and decks for people that like to build Caitiff & Pander decks. While not my favorite style of play, nobody else was really giving these clans/decks a real shot. Jeff "The Lasombra" has all my articles archived on his website; http://www.thelasombra.com/ClanPages/caitiff_pander/ My other function is as the Prince of Lansing, Michigan. As my location is at the center of the state, most of the "major" State events are held at my location.	Q6: What is your favorite deck style for casual play / tournament play? Casual Play: This is where I take decks back to basics and explore new ideas. To flesh out the mechanics of a specific discipline and incorporate the results to my tournament decks. The power of mono-discipline decks can be truly scary in the wrong hands. Tournament Play: Like many others, it's great to bring something just a little bit different to a tourney. As long as the reasoning is sound, it's a real blast to win with these types of decks. Sometimes though, it just doesn't pan out.
Q7: Is there a difference between your casual play and tournament play? Not really. Even during casual play I cover all the steps of play so as not to get sloppy for tournaments. Also seems to help newer players get into the flow of what's going on. The real difference is that I will take a deck developed in casual play, then tweak the power level as determined from testing and add a sprinkle of cards to deal with the perceived metagame.

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