James Hoskin, UK

This Interview with RedDwarf was hold by openCards user FutureGuy.

• Name: James Hoskin
• Known on the dboards as: Red_Dwarf
• Age: old
• Regular player group: London, UK
• Current/highest Decipher rating: 1873/over 1900
• STCCG 2E accomplishments: Won 4 TOC’s, 2 PSR’s, 1 SOC and 1 Maiden Voyage. Reached day 3 of worlds in 2004 and 2005. Generally perfomed very badly at the various European continental tournaments I’ve attended.

1 ). How did you start playing Star Trek CCG?

Back in 1995, my brother had a First Edition Black Border starter deck lying around. I picked it up and had a look through the cards. The images meant nothing to me as I didn’t watch the show (TNG at the time), but the game looked interesting. After a few games, I started getting interested in all things Trek. I would watch episodes of TNG to see if I could spot any card images - that sort of thing. I have collected all the cards since Black Border, but didn’t play in a First Edition tournament until GenCon UK in 2001. I remember losing my first ever competitive game to a Q-bypass deck that beat me on the first turn. That was fun.

2 ). Can you remember your first Star Trek 2E tournament? How did you do?

I had been playing online (with DigitalDeck’s software) since the online game had been launched. My first Second Edition tournament was probably the week after it launched online, in 2002. I have no idea how I performed. My first real Second Edition tournament wasn’t until early 2003. I had read a post on the Decipher message boards by Matthew Thomas, saying he was looking to organise a London tournament, so I contacted him and the rest is history. Once again, my memory fails me and I have no idea how I performed.

3 ). What personal goals do you have heading into EC2007?

I want to win. If I don’t, I absolutely have to make sure that I beat my brother

4 ). We have seen a lot of interesting decks win TOCs in the United States this year, not to mention Starfleet, Dominion Battle and TOS battle. Do you think European players will be as adventurous with their decks at EC2007?

I tend to think of European players as being more adventurous with their decks than Americans. We’ll have to wait and see what pops up in the forthcoming TOC’s to see whether I’m correct. Besides, with all of the 2007 TOC winning deck lists being posted, I expect we’ll see a few “borrowed” decks at the Europeans.

5 ). During your travels, you have faced some of the greatest players ever. Who has been your toughest opponent? Also, what player have you never faced that you would like to play?

I tend to remember the decks I’ve faced rather than who my opponent was. The toughest deck I’ve faced was at GenCon Indy 2005. Day 3 of worlds against Christian Pulsford’s At An Impasse lock-out deck. I played against the deck three times in a row and it was a big challenge to stay in the game. The first game was over fairly quickly, as I didn’t know what hit me. I won the second game as I managed to draw into all the cards I needed early on. I didn’t have a great draw in the third game, and spent much of it with only three personnel in play, so Christian won. As for who I’d like to play, I’ll go for any of the Australian players. Will and I are flying to Origins this year for the North American continentals, so that just leaves the Australian continentals as the last major tournament we haven’t visited. Roll on 2008.

6 ). Any interesting story from your travels that you would like to share with us?

All of my “good” stories end up in one of my tournament reports, so I’m sure people have read about them before. There is a small chance I’ll have some trouble entering the United States for Origins this year, so you can expect a story about that when I get back. And if not, then you can expect a story about how I won the North American continentals. Dreams are real too, you know?

7 ). If you had to place a 10 euro bet to name 3 players to reach the final 16 on day 2, which 3 players would you choose?

There will probably be quite a few Germans in the final 16, but I’m not that familiar with most of them, so I’ve made the safe bet and gone with three players who I have heard of. Vladimir Vrbata Johannes Klarhauser Nicholas Yankovec

8 ). What 3 cards released from There are the Voyages do you expect to see a lot of at the European Championships?

Assuming the Gal Gath’thong has been neutered by that point… Optimism, because it is so versatile. Assimilate Resistance, because it lets the Borg assimilate without having to add extra cards to their deck. Bashir Founder, because everyone will have a handful to trade.

9 ). From what we have already seen, In a Mirror Darkly has some very interesting cards. Leaving aside the fact that we have yet to see the expansion in its entirety, are there any cards in the set that you feel could have a great impact on deck selection at EC2007.

As part of my Decipher writing duties, I have access to all of the IaMD cards. Unfortunately, I can’t really discuss anything that has not yet been revealed. Having said that, I think Mirror Starfleet will be fairly strong, as will the Voyager Holograms. Brad has also hinted that Strange New Worlds will shake things up a bit, and I agree.

10). Name your favorite ever card? Why?

Credit - it lets you buy things like flights.

11). Have you ever built a deck that looked great on paper, but did terrible in a tournament.

I tend to build decks and have plenty of test draws before I take them to a tournament. By doing this, I’ll usually manage to iron out any major problems before it matters. Having said that, I played a Gal Gath’thong deck recently and in the first three rounds, I had one loss and two timed wins (one of which I only just won before time was called). My test draws had gone fine, I just hadn’t realised how hard I would find it to overcome dilemmas. I got to grips with the deck after that and won my remaining two games with plenty of time to spare.

12). Can you tell us the most memorable game of Star Trek 2E you have ever played? Why does this game in particular stick out in your mind?

See question 5 for the game in question. The third game sticks in my mind because I was one game away from reaching the semi-finals of the world championships. At the time, I was happy with my deck and felt that I could have progressed further - if I had come up against a “regular” deck.

13). Some of the players traveling to Berlin will have never played in such a large event. What advice can you give to these players who want to build the best possible deck for the event?

Practice, practice, practice. You’ll end up playing a lot of games over the two days, so you need to know your deck well and understand how it works. It’s no good drawing seven cards looking for an At What Cost? if you don’t have one in your deck! That may sound silly, but after a long day of playing Star Trek your brain may start to play tricks on you. Other than that, I’d suggest bringing food and drink to the tournament. You may not have much time between rounds to find food, and you will want to keep your mental strength up during the final few rounds.

14). Create a 2E dream card of yourself!

•James Hoskin, Never Gets Cold

Non-Aligned, cost 3

picture: me wearing a T-shirt

species: Human icons: Command

skills: Diplomacy, Engineer, Honor, Leadership, 2 Programming

ability: This personnel is attributes +2 between November and February (inclusive).

lore: “Cold? This isn’t cold.”

Integrity 6, Cunning 6, Strength 5

Being a touch overweight, I’m insulated against the cold weather, so I only need to wear a T-shirt during the winter months. I’m a Software Engineer by profession, so I gave myself Engineer and 2 Programming. The other skills and icon come into play from my TD’ing activities.