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 moved from my home town of Port Macquarie to Newcastle at the start of '97. Here I met a couple of other hometown lads that introduced me to M:tG (my first ever taste of a CCG). I eventually ended up sharing a house with one of the guys and his girlfriend (we moved in together during Christmas of ' 97). In the following year, I was introduced to Jyhad, and occasionally, we we would sit down and have two/three (mostly two) player games of Jyhad, which is how I was taught the rudiments of the game. Thanks to Roger Atkins, currently world #1 for constructed V:tES, for teaching me how to play :) After a while I started joining in larger games, and eventually games became a regular thing at our house. This started a ball rolling. From regular games, to discovering the WW website, and the "rulings, clarifications and errata" page (didn't that solve some disputes!), to deciding to run some tournaments to see what they were about, all over the period of about a year and a half. Our game gradually gradually evolved. As such, my career as a player is not something that just "happened", it (as with most people, I am sure) has developed overtime and is difficult to put an exact date on the moment when it became certain that I would be involved with V:tES into the foreseeable future. However, if I was asked (and I have been), the moment I really became serious, I would say, was the day that I bought my first cards...two plastic bags full of commons and uncommons for AU$50, around August of 1999.	Q2: Which of the Sets and Expansions to VTES is your favorite, and why is it your top choice? Sabbat War, for what it did to the game in Newcastle. This set was a catalyst for local games, and really helped to kicked off the scene again. As far as content is concerned, well I would have to go with Sabbat War again. The availability of cards that I thought would forever be beyond my reach was a very pleasant thing to experience. Final Nights was also right up there. I think it was the inclusion of preconstructed starter decks in both sets, that really sold me.
Q3: What is your favorite deck to play, and why? Well, I periodically pull all my decks apart and start from scratch with new decks. This makes it dificult to pick a particular favourite deck, but there are a few things that I like: Combat decks Theme decks (like Setite corrupt) Trick decks, or decks that break the norm. (Synesios and obfscate weenines that hunt lots springs to mind. So does ser/obf and tha weenies - temptation/cryptic) Basically anything that isn't stealth bleed (we see a lot of that here). Actually, come to think of it, I *really* like decks that have an ability to interact outside of the predator prey relationship. I think that being able to go cross table and make deals, or just genrally shift the balance of the game, is a great strength that a lot of players seem to overlook.	Q4: If you could add something to the game, what would it be? Well, that's a hard one to answer Lasombra. I am not sure that I have any suggestions of much worth. Basically, I am a firm believer that changes to the structure of the game itself should only be made when _absolutely neccesary_. Every change alienates another person, and has the potential to turn each game into a chore more than anyhting else.However... The tournament ratings system seems to leave a _lot_ to be desired imho. Perhaps I am not grasping the complexity of the math involved, however, it seems to me, that in roughly a year (maybe two) the rankings wil be meaningless and there will be no point looking at them. What happnes when a new player who plays in tournnments has their arse handed to them time and time again? Their rating is up the shit. After a year or two, the same player develops their play to the point that they are winning a good number of tournaments. What happns to their rating? Well, even though they may now be quite capable at beating many of the best rated players, their rating seems like it will never get any better than "not too shabby", all due to those early losses. Under the current way of calculating the rankings it seems that a more fair description of standings could be obtained if ranks were reset every year/year and a half. A record of the top could be kept for posterity (and more meaningful comparisons over time), and new players would now have a chance of climbing the ladder. Other things I would change....printers. The quality of the cut on the Camarila cards that I have seen has been appalling. Many of the cards could be considered marked, fresh out of the booster, especially the crypt cards. Mechanics-wise, I like the game as it is. Our local playgroup consists of a lot of stealth bleed atm, which somewhat stifles creativity, but it can be dealt with (and discouraged) with existing strategies. So, I guess if I could add something to the game it would be an improved ratings system. Not exciting I know, but there you have it.
Q5: What do you do to help promote the game / why are you in this list of people? What do I do? As Prince of Newcastle? Not enough to get new players I think, but it _is_ difficult. There is no longer a card shop in Newcastle to play at, so games are hosted in my __large__ back shed. With nowhere to really purchase cards, demos are a challenge(and I don't really bother with them anymore). It comes down to meeting new people and getting them involved. The various other hobbies I have managed to meet, get interested, and potentialy convert four people this year. I run VEKN tournaments when I can, and give away a lot of prizes. 18 players might see 50-60 boosters, a shirt or two, some promor cards and a poster (at $5-$10 entry, add an extra couple of bucks and a free lunch could be involved). I host games at my home, every week. Tournaments are also held at my home. I sell cans of drink and put _all_ the profits back into the local scene by using them to subsidise tournaments. I buy boosters out of my own pocket for tournaments and sell them to players at cost (I am only a student remember, who rock climbs, plays cards, has a relationship, two pets, maintains a house, mountain bikes....likes to build decks more than twice a year... :). I am trying to find time to finish a website for the Newcastle and Australian scene. I would like to see some articles written by Australian players, some competitons for the odd booster here and there, and generally, more communication between those involved in the Australian scene.	Q6: What is your favorite deck style for casual play / tournament play? Casual...combat (in various forms). Yet, while it is my favourite, I don't play it all the time, variety is the spice of life (and helps stop that metagamer:) Tournaments...usually discipline (out of clan stuff) based. The norm for me is to build a completely new deck, at most a week before a tournament, change it that morning, and see how I go. I like to try and pull something out that will be unexpected. Not so much out for the win, as I am into seeing whether or not I decks that differ from the standard archetypes can do well at tournaments...it isn't always easy.
Q7: Is there a difference between your casual play and tournament play? To an extent. Rules enforcement is somewhat more lax in casual play, in a tournment I am not so inclined to let someone get a pool for the edge in their minion phase :). Certainly I will metagame for tournament play, whereas sociallly, I will just build decks that I think will be fun to play (like the slaughterhouse/feline sabateur/clan impersonate/!Nos?? four discipline deck) and not neccessarily win, although I do have somewhat of a competitve streak.

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