Who's Who in the V:TES Community

Vital Statistics:

Name:
Year of Birth:
Occupation:
Other Games Played:
Number of Cards owned:
Number of Decks ready to play:
Play in:

Derek Ray
1971
SQL weenie
Pool, backgammon
15,000+
6
Atlanta, Georgia USA

Q1: How (and when) did you begin your career as a VTES-player? Who introduced you to the game? Where did you play originally?
I started playing a couple months prior to the infamous 7/7/1998 rulings... which means I was, of course, right in the middle of learning the game when all the card texts changed. Patrick O'Shea (Pat Ricochet... sound it out) introduced me to the game originally, so you can blame me on him. I have always played in Atlanta, Georgia.

Q2: Which of the Sets and Expansions to VTES is your favorite, and why is it your top choice?
Bloodlines, easily. In one expansion, I got eleven clans and eight disciplines' worth of brand new toys, most of which are STILL not-fully-explored by the V:TES community.

Q3: What is your favorite deck to play, and why?
My Tremere intercept-and-burn. It was the first clan I started trying to do things with when I started playing, and it's still one of my favourite clans to mess around with. I enjoy it because it gives me a great deal of control over what is happening near me and good pool gain, as well as (until the recent CE) being a generally-unexpected style. A close second would have to be whatever the latest version is of Hoo Flung Junk, which is a pot/CEL bleed-and-pitch deck I created some time ago; I haven't updated it in a year or so, so it's overdue for some vampire replacements and new card insertion. Its appeal is obvious and can be stated in one word: Car.
Neither of these are currently available online, although if you do a Google search, you can probably find Hoo Flung Junk somewhere in a 'crawler archive.

Q4: If you could add something to the game, what would it be?
More ways to oust people. Right now, even though there is tons of variety and flavour in the game, every deck has to answer the "how do i win?" question in one of three ways: (a) I bleed people, (b) I vote people, (c) Environmental damage drains their pool.
Enticement was a great start. More stuff like it would be even better.

Q5: What do you do to help promote the game / why are you in this list of people?
Heh. I am a frequent, regular poster to rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad, the primary online discussion forum for the V:TES community. Over the years, I have contributed a great deal of strategy theory, analysis, and deckbuilding advice, often in a singularly caustic and sardonic manner. I, along with several others, was one of the primary proponents of the "no card is worthless" theory, often taking my latest deck idea from what someone had said sucked the week before on the newsgroup. Sometimes I argue because I feel strongly about a point; other times I will play devil's advocate, or simply debate because a point needs debating. My primary focus has always been trying to establish a more "universally good" style of strategy, something that a brand-new player could take, learn from, and use in his group without having to worry if he's in a combat-heavy metagame, or if everyone plays weenies, etc.
I have also consumed a not-insignificant quantity of beer at conventions with other luminaries. =)

Q6: What is your favorite deck style for casual play / tournament play?
For casual play, I favor experimental strategies; anything that someone hasn't seen before, anything that is currently being called useless, anything which is unexpected. Lots of combat, too. I like beating things up.
For tournament play, I typically narrow down my selection to those experimental strategies which did not suck when tested locally. For a long time I played nothing but intercept in tournaments, because people hadn't figured out how to win with it yet. I still lean towards the unexpected, though; I feel the element of surprise in one's deck can be worth almost everything. I also look for any "angle" running counter to the expected metagame, and I generally make a point of picking a deck which will force someone to play my style of game, as opposed to letting them play theirs.

Q7: Is there a difference between your casual play and tournament play?
In casual play, I consistently take more risks; I don't bother breaking deals, I rarely attempt to "manage the table", and I generally play quickly, without thinking for -too- long.
In tournament play, I rely on three things: Misdirection, Unpredictability, and Lies. Information is everything in this game; so I attempt to flood the table with far too much information to make a reasonable choice from. I take far fewer risks (although i will take HUGE ones near the start of a game), and constantly try to mislead my opponents as to my deck's capabilities, often by passing up strong plays now so they can be game-breakers later. I frequently make threats my deck could never carry out. I play more slowly and try to "look ahead" a turn or two if possible.
I have a simple theory; if everyone makes all correct decisions during a game, I have roughly a 20% chance to win. With that in mind, I try to force my opponents to make as many decisions as possible during the course of the game. The more decisions you have to make, the more chances you have to get something wrong. The more things you get wrong, the better my own chances of winning. To this extent, I will represent my deck as anything it isn't; and sometimes I will represent it as exactly what it is, if I think you're not likely to believe me.

Back to the index of Who's Who in V:TES.

Q1: How (and when) did you begin your career as a VTES-player? Who introduced you to the game? Where did you play originally? I started playing a couple months prior to the infamous 7/7/1998 rulings... which means I was, of course, right in the middle of learning the game when all the card texts changed. Patrick O'Shea (Pat Ricochet... sound it out) introduced me to the game originally, so you can blame me on him. I have always played in Atlanta, Georgia.	Q2: Which of the Sets and Expansions to VTES is your favorite, and why is it your top choice? Bloodlines, easily. In one expansion, I got eleven clans and eight disciplines' worth of brand new toys, most of which are STILL not-fully-explored by the V:TES community.
Q3: What is your favorite deck to play, and why? My Tremere intercept-and-burn. It was the first clan I started trying to do things with when I started playing, and it's still one of my favourite clans to mess around with. I enjoy it because it gives me a great deal of control over what is happening near me and good pool gain, as well as (until the recent CE) being a generally-unexpected style. A close second would have to be whatever the latest version is of Hoo Flung Junk, which is a pot/CEL bleed-and-pitch deck I created some time ago; I haven't updated it in a year or so, so it's overdue for some vampire replacements and new card insertion. Its appeal is obvious and can be stated in one word: Car. Neither of these are currently available online, although if you do a Google search, you can probably find Hoo Flung Junk somewhere in a 'crawler archive.	Q4: If you could add something to the game, what would it be? More ways to oust people. Right now, even though there is tons of variety and flavour in the game, every deck has to answer the "how do i win?" question in one of three ways: (a) I bleed people, (b) I vote people, (c) Environmental damage drains their pool. Enticement was a great start. More stuff like it would be even better.
Q5: What do you do to help promote the game / why are you in this list of people? Heh. I am a frequent, regular poster to rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad, the primary online discussion forum for the V:TES community. Over the years, I have contributed a great deal of strategy theory, analysis, and deckbuilding advice, often in a singularly caustic and sardonic manner. I, along with several others, was one of the primary proponents of the "no card is worthless" theory, often taking my latest deck idea from what someone had said sucked the week before on the newsgroup. Sometimes I argue because I feel strongly about a point; other times I will play devil's advocate, or simply debate because a point needs debating. My primary focus has always been trying to establish a more "universally good" style of strategy, something that a brand-new player could take, learn from, and use in his group without having to worry if he's in a combat-heavy metagame, or if everyone plays weenies, etc. I have also consumed a not-insignificant quantity of beer at conventions with other luminaries. =)	Q6: What is your favorite deck style for casual play / tournament play? For casual play, I favor experimental strategies; anything that someone hasn't seen before, anything that is currently being called useless, anything which is unexpected. Lots of combat, too. I like beating things up. For tournament play, I typically narrow down my selection to those experimental strategies which did not suck when tested locally. For a long time I played nothing but intercept in tournaments, because people hadn't figured out how to win with it yet. I still lean towards the unexpected, though; I feel the element of surprise in one's deck can be worth almost everything. I also look for any "angle" running counter to the expected metagame, and I generally make a point of picking a deck which will force someone to play my style of game, as opposed to letting them play theirs.
Q7: Is there a difference between your casual play and tournament play? In casual play, I consistently take more risks; I don't bother breaking deals, I rarely attempt to "manage the table", and I generally play quickly, without thinking for -too- long. In tournament play, I rely on three things: Misdirection, Unpredictability, and Lies. Information is everything in this game; so I attempt to flood the table with far too much information to make a reasonable choice from. I take far fewer risks (although i will take HUGE ones near the start of a game), and constantly try to mislead my opponents as to my deck's capabilities, often by passing up strong plays now so they can be game-breakers later. I frequently make threats my deck could never carry out. I play more slowly and try to "look ahead" a turn or two if possible. I have a simple theory; if everyone makes all correct decisions during a game, I have roughly a 20% chance to win. With that in mind, I try to force my opponents to make as many decisions as possible during the course of the game. The more decisions you have to make, the more chances you have to get something wrong. The more things you get wrong, the better my own chances of winning. To this extent, I will represent my deck as anything it isn't; and sometimes I will represent it as exactly what it is, if I think you're not likely to believe me.