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Interviews
Community Spotlight
This Weeks Interview: Ben Shoemaker
2010 US National Champion
amaffei: Hello everyone. This is ATLDrew with the first issue Community Spotlight, a weekly series where we interview and delve into the mind of your fellow players. This week we have none other than 2010 US National Champion Ben "NFXON" Shoemaker with us. Say hello Ben.
Ben: Hello
amaffei: Alright Mr. Ben, first and most importantly... A/S/L.
Ben: lol Male, 29, ATL
amaffei: Atlanta. A very sexy town. Tell us a little about your playgroup.
amaffei: Competition, size, etc.
Ben: We have alot of good and innovative players
Ben: expanding out of core group of about 5-7 to in the teens people wise
Ben: Competition is always good and everyone likes to bring inventive ideas to our weeklys.
amaffei: What do you do for play testing? By that I mean how frequently do you test? What do you do to prepare for a tourney like US Nats?
amaffei: and my dyslexia is owning me apparently lol.
Ben: Play testing, I play! Try to put your best decks through the ringer against every top deck you can think of off the wall concepts on some popular decks. Preparation is all about practice. Knowing as much as you can about your deck inside and out and the meta if possible.
amaffei: Very cool. How much trigger time do you think you spent with that build of Zi Mei? And do you think specializing in one particular deck is better than playing every deck in the format to familiarize yourself with what’s out there?
Ben: Zi Mei I played since before the SAS last year, so around march. Specializing and generalizing both have their advantages. I think a combination of the two and finding balance is the best bet. Knowledge can be power.
amaffei: I agree with you 100% there. I know for a fact you jumped around to several different builds right up until the event including Good Amy. Why did you choose ZM over another character? Comfort?
Ben: I was the most comfortable with her. I knew the build inside and out. I felt she had at least a 50/50 matchup against any deck in the field merely on the back of how fast she can be.
amaffei: And that level of comfort certainly paid off for you.
Ben: Knowing exactly what attacks are left and foundations can provide you with a strong tactical advantage.
amaffei: Absolutely. And on the footage of the finals matchup, you can see Ben constantly counting discard piles, cards in deck, etc. to help minimize the risk of checking Dragon Lifters and to maximize his ability to draw threats.
amaffei: Very nice. Let's talk a little bit about the specifics of the deck
amaffei: Now I believe that Ben's list is posted on the Deck building forums at Jascogames.com so if you need a reference go check it out.
amaffei: But give us the rundown of the deck
amaffei: Why did you gravitate toward ZM initially? What does your deck do? What gives it the edge in such a fast meta?
Ben: Funny story. The year at worlds when they (Fantasy Flight Games) announced rotation I bought a starter Zi Mei and couple packs. All my packs had Zi Mei rares and ultra rares. So I felt it was destiny. The deck itself just goes fast and puts your opponent on a clock. Her biggest advantage aside from Fury of the Ancients is 7 hand size.
amaffei: That is crazy. So she was destined to bring you cardboard from the beginning! (Cardboard is slang for winning a card with your image on it)
amaffei: You mention 7 HS as the big selling point. So even with the 19 life, you felt the 7 cards was worth it in a field full of Mitsurugis’, Jin Kazamas’, and other mean, fast tank characters?
Ben: It’s almost a liability in the current format. The low vitality makes it extremely risky to play, but sometimes seeing that extra card makes it well worth it.
amaffei: Especially when the extra card is Fury of the Ancients, arguably the best attack in the format.
Ben: It’s only ridiculous in Zi Mei. Wheel kick and Dragon Lifter were easily the better attacks in my opinion.
amaffei: Your work horses of the tournament, huh. Fury is the nice "Hey I randomly win" option, but most of your damage came from Lifters and your utility attacks.
Ben: Lifter was definitely the work horse for me all tournament often doing more damage than Fury.
amaffei: Very nice. I love the deck and lord knows I have been wrecked by it more times than I care to count.
amaffei: So lets switch gears. What are you looking forward to most about the new meta game? What do you hope lies on the (Red) horizon for UFS?
amaffei: see what I did there?
Ben: Very clever. I like the switch of control to revolving around attacking. What I've seen of the new set is very good looking and a lot of fun.
amaffei: So you prefer bashing over the gray walls?
amaffei: Foundations are just there to make attacks more exciting?
Ben: Very much so. I think my favorite archetype is the hybrid control.
amaffei: Cool. I think a lot of people will agree with you there. Standard right now, while very healthy, lacks a real solid hard control deck outside of Good and Kisheri.
amaffei: A lot of racing, but not a lot of player interaction outside of blocking correctly.
Ben: Agreed. I don't think Good is actually control. It's merely damage reduction to an obscene level.
amaffei: You like your control to be more interactive like negation wars, fighting discard, etc?
Ben: Yes, just preventing lots of damage doesn't feel like control to me.
amaffei: I can get behind that.
amaffei: Alright personal stuff time.
amaffei: Well first, what is your favorite card in all of UFS? And while we're at it, what makes you play UFS?
amaffei: What is the biggest selling point of UFS versus every other card game?
Ben: I don't have a favorite card per se but Lifter is very high on the list.
Ben: The game itself is very interesting with unique mechanics and lots of great people.
Ben: Biggest selling point outside the properties is the community. You'll never find a better group of people to play with and against in a card game.
amaffei: Agreed 100%. This game has the absolute best people you will ever meet in a TCG.
amaffei: Which is perfect for my next question. What is your favorite UFS story?
Ben: God way too many to count and a lot of them wildly inappropriate!
amaffei: Maybe next time then.
amaffei: Okay let me clarify. How many involve Omar Chavez?
Ben: About a half dozen or so.
amaffei: Excellent.
amaffei: Alright final questions.
amaffei: And answer truthfully.
amaffei: What is your favorite drink?
amaffei: Be Specific
Ben: Guiness
amaffei: Fine choice.
amaffei: Next, what is on your Pandora station?
Ben: Lots of electronica. Anything ranging from dub step or drum and bass to deep house and trance.
amaffei: Sexcellent.
amaffei: Alright. I need you to answer this carefully
Ben: I'm scared.
amaffei: On a scale of 1 to Mike Lowe, how bad is Dave Wagoner at UFS?
Ben: He's obviously Paul Bittner transferred to another state. Couldn't be that hard to get contacts and dye your hair blonde.
amaffei: Bwahahahahahaha. Too good.
amaffei: Alright last question.
amaffei: Do you have any advice for new players wanting to get on cardboard?
Ben: Practice. Know what your deck can and can't do. Know it inside and out. Also travel get out of your locals often and see what other people are doing.
amaffei: Fantastic point. Traveling will really help you get the most out of your play testing.
amaffei: Fresh eyes see all kinds of interesting stuff.
amaffei: Well thank you very much Ben. Anything else you want to add?
Ben: Stay classy Atlanta!
amaffei: Love this man. This has been Community Spotlight with ATLDrew. Thanks for reading and we will see you next week!