Clan Biographies

Hi everyone, I'd like everyone to post clan bios here. I'll post the ones I found in earlier emails first.

MTGO ID: Nik83


MAGIC BIO: I collected Magic as a kid from Revised to Homelands, but rarely played (had no concept of a mana curve, and few opponents). I came back to it about 4 years ago online - and for the first 2 years was a faithfully budget player ($10-15 a month maximum). It was the first couple of years as a budget player that I think really honed my deckbuilding abilities and led me to look for creative and inexpensive card interactions. And now if someone says their budget is $30 for a deck, and they can't build anything "good" (i.e. netdeck-y) with it, they get a lecture. I've always been interested in Magic decks for the cool and weird interactions, not for the win - that's why I recruited a lot of you guys for your creativity and openness to moderate-power, heavily-synergistic decks.

MTGO ID: Mykalson

REAL NAME: I'll answer to Will or Mike, so let's stick with Will to avoid confusion ^-^

PLACE OF RESIDENCE: Norton, KS, about 30 minutes s of the Nebraska border and an hour's drive from the nearest Wal-Mart or department store (!).

FAMILY STATUS: Married 8 years (Laura), my baby girl (Kahlan) is 11 months in March.

EDUCATION: about 2 years towards a computer engineering degree

EMPLOYMENT: as of March 1st, network administrator and operations manager for a local bank

OTHER INTERESTS: music (particularly foreign), martial arts, philosophy, science fiction & fantasy movies/literature, playing and collecting board & parlor games, home theatre/electronic entertainment & gadgetry.
*SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT* I'm currently pretty active in Star Trek Online. If you play, look me up, handle: mykalson . Fleet: Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra *end plug*

MAGIC BIO: I began playing and collecting in Junior High, buying starters and boosters with lawnmower money. I started about the time revised came out. I played fairly regularly through Ice Age, then sold most of my good cards when they started getting 'too expensive' (read: $500 for P9 - HA! I could shoot myself). I kept a lot of the cheaper ones, and dove back in around '99 in college. I left college in late 2000 and lost my playgroup, so pretty much stopped playing or collecting until I got back into MTGO this year when I dug out my old cards and discovered I owned 10 'Edgar/summer magic' commons. I sold these to create some play money for MTGO . I'm now learning the game all over again, and am starting to play Friday Night Magic at a local card store every now and then.

LIFE BIO: I was born in Wichita, KS, but grew up mostly in Austin & Arlington, TX. We then moved to NE Wisconsin near Green Bay in '97, where I graduated from HS. I attended Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, IN from 1999-2000, where I ran out of money. I had to quit school, so I moved back to KS near my grandparents, married my schooldays sweetheart, got a very boring IT job, worked my way up, then stupidly left my halfway decent job to move out into the middle of nowhere in 2007 to 'further my career'. This turned out to be another very boring IT job. Fortunately, a local bank (the most fun and interesting part of my very boring IT job) decided to make an awesome, totally NOT-boring position for me! I start March 1, and my hours should go from about 80+/week to 35-50/week. Much more time for MTG!

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MTGO ID: Tyroine

REAL NAME: Mike

EMAIL: coach_jacobs@yahoo.com

PLACE OF RESIDENCE: Canton, GA (USA) – 30 Miles north of Atlanta

FAMILY STATUS: Married 5 years. One 2-year old son, and second son due July this year

EDUCATION: BS Management

EMPLOYMENT: Contracts Specialist for Department of Defense

OTHER INTERESTS: Sports (primarily recreational team sports - Football, Baseball, Basketball, Racquetball), Movies/TV (Dexter, The Office, Hell’s Kitchen/Kitchen Nightmares), grilling/barbecuing

MAGIC BIO: I’ve had an awareness of MTG since my sophomore year of high school (1998), but I never touched a card until college. Let me explain. In high school, I would often pass tables of other kids playing magic during lunch. I never once stopped and asked what they were doing because I had other objectives. I was friends with some of the guys, but I just figured they were wasting their time. After all, why sit around and play a silly card game when you could be flirting with girls or catching up on homework you were too tired to do the night before after a long football practice? I didn’t get it.

Fast forward a bit…. I met my wife (girlfriend at that time) at a Groundhog’s Day party I threw for my fraternity in college. A year or so after we had been dating, her father (now father-in-law) and I decided to play a game of Lord of the Rings Stratego. I had never played before, but really enjoyed it immediately. After 6 or 7 games in a row of beating him (he has short term memory issues, I think), he got frustrated and challenged me to “a real game.” That’s when it all started. He and my brother-in-law had played MTG when Zac was younger, so he dug out some of their old cards and taught me how to play. It didn’t take long until I got sucked in. I enjoyed the strategy the most. It reminded me of putting together a football game plan. The creatures were my linemen, I was the QB, and the spells and such were my playbook. And, did I mention I love competition of all sorts???

Anyhow, after talking with a fellow fraternity brother about playing MTG, he told me he had a ton of old cards he no longer used and sold them to me for $100. There must have been close to $2,500 worth of really good cards in there all the way back to beta/unlimited and up through Onslaught/Legions/Scourge. The collection had a ton of great cards from Tempest block Urza's block, and more....

When I first started collecting it was around the Mirrodin block era. I went from nothing to a significant collection in a matter of weeks. Over time, I used craigslist and eBay to buy other collections until I finally got tired of fooling with paper cards and sold them all at once for a hefty profit. In the meantime, I started playing online just around 8th edition, and have been around ever since. That’s the long and the short of it. I enjoy all formats, and get nearly as much fun playing the “MTG stock market” (buying and selling cards) as I do playing actual games. Happy to have you all as buds.

Take it easy,

Mike

screennames: justcanceled and raawwwritsamoose

Real name: J.C.

Age: 23

Location: little rock, Arkansas USA (for my Canadian friends)

Education: BS in Math, stat minor

I just graduated this fall and am currently taking a semester off b4 I begin my attempt to obtain a phd in biostatistics in the fall. if u c me on a lot its bc I just work part time (trying to enjoy myself b4 I'm stuck in school again)

Hobbies: women(I do have a gf unfortunately), drinking with women(bfs are girls), jogging, playin the piano/drums, mtgo, doing frat stuff, and going out to eat!(I do have a normal bmi),

MTG History: I began playing mtg at some time in elementary school. homelands I believe. Learned from a friend and his dad who had started from the beginning of the game. However I hardly played and didn't have a good grasp until playing on mtgo. Online my first purchase was an elf deck from legions. I couldn't really afford to feed my habit till college. Also none of my friends play nor do any of them know i play... let alone have heard of the game so strictly mtgo for me.

I consider myself to be a seasoned player but I realize one can always improve. I enjoy the strategy of the game along with card synergy. I can generally figure out what your playing in the first couple turns. I too get off to silly card interactions. My first cogent deck consisted of putting "final fortune" on a stick with "platinum angel" in play (or stifle on another stick). I enjoy weaving tokens into virulent sliver. Leveling my deck with "research" in hand(old rules). Winning a game by casting "odds" on a lightning helix. Using "rings of brighthearth" on fetch lands. tacking off your last three life by casting "punish ignorance". I own 30 immortal coils. I'm just another Johnny.

I also enjoy trading to make a profit. my collection isn't huge but it does the trick. If I trust u ill loan u pretty much anything.

About me: Even though mtgo players can vex me a bit, I'm generally a pretty even headed guy in real life. I like having fun and hanging out. I'm pretty easy to talk to online or in person. Favorite subject is girls but I am pretty worldly. I've lived in AR the past decade or so. Not sure where ill be in the fall since I'm currently in transition. Never really loved school as some of you know. Um that's about all I can think of for now and I tired o typin. If u care to know more just ask.

MTGO ID: Andex

REAL NAME: Karl

PLACE OF RESIDENCE: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada(for my American friends especially canceled!)
Yes this is the Great White North

FAMILY STATUS: Married for 7 years(for the 2nd time - maybe Magic has something to do with that?) - Let's put it this way I have some kids in university atm, one of whom is graduating this year Hon Anthropology

EDUCATION: BSc Hon Chemistry Minor Mathematics, CSC, CFP

EMPLOYMENT: Financial Advisor, Manulife Securities(Manulife owns John Hancock in the US)

OTHER INTERESTS: Karate(Nidan), Have coached NS Karate team, last tournament coached in '06 Bermuda International Martial Arts, Movies & TV(Sci-Fi & Fantasy - no surprise there)

MAGIC BIO: Well I remember when Mirror Universe was a guaranteed win and channel/fireball was the only one turn kill deck. I cried when the big rules change occured in 6th(life 0 = instant loss). I had a close group of friends who used to play all kinds of wargames, in cardboard, for many years. However one died, two moved away and family commitments took my life in other directions.

Then one fine day I was online and I saw MAGIC!!!!!!!! Even though it has been a real cash/time drain it brings back some of the feel of the old days. I really enjoy the group and I am having a really great time.

See you all online soon.

Karl

MTGO ID: ROFLOrnithopter (thanks to all who get the joke)

REAL NAME: Dave

AGE: 20

PLACE OF RESIDENCE: During the school year, New Haven, CT. During the summer, Naperville, IL (chicago area)

FAMILY STATUS: Folks haven't kicked me out of the house yet, so that's good. Girlfriend that goes to UMich, older brother goes to Eastern Illinois

EDUCATION: Working on a BS in chemistry at Yale University, (hopefully) going to medical school

EMPLOYMENT: This summer I'll be working a few different hospitals, as well as taking an EMT course through a local college. I'll also be helping my trainer train a few local high school football teams (I play football here at Yale).

OTHER INTERESTS: love videogames, boardgames, sci-fi/fantasy (pretty much anything geeky). im also a HUGE UFC and NFL fan, anyone wants to talk about fighters or footballers, hit me up

MAGIC BIO: I must've started collecting Magic cards back in 1998 or so. at that time it was just me and a couple friends, and we mostly bought them for the artwork. we learned how to play, but we were never really serious players. after about 2 years we just kind of stopped collecting cards, and forgot about it. high school came and went. i went off to college, came back one summer to find that a few more of my friends had started collecting again and wondered if i wanted to as well. i looked under my bed for the huge box of old cards i had (i had some sweet ones too, like a few avatars of woe and a krosan cloudscraper), but found out that my mother had donated them ALL to charity without asking. i still dont understand what charity would take magic cards as a donation... Anyway, i REstarted my collection right after the last set of the alara block was released. right around when zendikar came out, i started playing online, and since zendikar, i havent actually bought a single paper card. online is just so much easier and quicker.

I really like goofy, cheap decks that showcase a good eye for synergy. i'll be honest that i do have a competitive jund deck, but i rarely use it and its more just to keep my tickets up so i can make fun, goofy decks (you guys should play against a deck i made with a lot of nik's help, utilizing probably my favorite card ever printed: worldslayer)

LIFE BIO: i was born in delaware in 1990, then immediately moved to South Africa when i was 11 days old (parents wanted to make sure i was a citizen before we moved). we moved around southern africa for a while (zimbabwe, mozambique, botswana, kenya, tanzania, etc) then moved to atlanta, GA. after living there for 4 years, we moved to Dubai (yes, the Dubai in the news with the big hotels and fake islands), except we lived in the REAL Dubai (a giant ghetto away from the coast), not the travel-agent-pamphlet Dubai. in 1998 we moved to naperville, a suburb of chicago, because my parents wanted my brother and I to go through middle school and high school without moving again.

in 2nd grade my dad suggested i play football ( i was real big for my age). since living on other continents for most of my life, at 8 years old i didnt even know what football was. i started playing, and liked it. i continued through middle school, and high school, and i ended up going to Yale to play football. which is where i am now.

MTGO ID: vnnymack

REAL NAME: Vinh

AGE: 28

PLACE OF RESIDENCE: San Jose, CA ~ 50 miles south of San Fransico

EMPLOYMENT: Friend Finder Networks (FFN), some may know it as AdultFriendFinder.com or even Penthouse Magazine Publisher

EDUCATION: BA Chemistry w/ Minor in Philosophy (Share a lot in common with many of the clan members)
* Seems like many of us have a chem degree

OTHER INTERESTS: Besides playing MTGO, I also play paper Magic. Cars and motorcycles. I use to street race back in 1998-2002 before Fast and Furious came out. It became so main stream, that I stopped. (Plus being pulled over for a fixed up ride isn't as enjoyable now with a wife and kid.) Physical challenges are also enjoyable (rock climbing (in and outdoor), mountain biking, road biking, running, snowboarding ..etc .... call me an adrenaline junkie. =)

MTG / MTGO HISTORY: I started back during revised up until Iceage. Used my paper route money to buy packs and singles. Played in a few local hobby shop tournies and took 1st a few times. (It was probably all luck or cause i had not clue about building a deck except for the following rules:
1. Having 1 land for every 2 cards
2. Average casting cost should be below 4
3. Creatures that fly were BUENO!!!! (Rocks, dragon whelps, granite gargoyles, phantom mosters)

OOOOO how things have changed now. I started up again during Morning Tide where I bought my first Fat Pack at Target and got drawn back into it again. Now that money is less of an issue, I've been spending a fare amount of money on paper MTG cards. Collecting play sets now and singles I believe will be worth it one day. (Blightning was a score... 5 cents a single, bought 100 at a local card shop during the release of Shares... it now has a store credit of 50 cents...)

I have recently reduced weekly spending on paper Magic now since I got into MTGO. It 100x easier and cheaper. Don't have to buy sleeves for the cards, only need one play set for X^y amount of decks, minimal amount of time sorting and ordering card, and most importantly, my 7 month will not be able to mess the collection up. Except if she spill her milk on the laptop.

MTGO does have one draw back which is real people interaction. Haven't had a Sunday Magic Night since I started MTGO... Maybe soon though, RoE is out... we will probably draft it..

LIFE BIO: Life... its so unexpected and rarely goes as planned. Planning on switching career paths. The technology field in the Silicon Valley has its Ups and Down. With my need for adrenaline, sitting behind a computer everyday is a bore; therefore, I will be attempting to join the Fire Department for San Jose or Santa Clara County. Wish me luck.

Send me a message online and let's play some Casual games.

MTGO ID: Sneakysmith123

REAL NAME: Charles

AGE: 19

PLACE OF RESIDENCE: Wichita, KS (Moving to Lawrence in August.)

FAMILY STATUS: Engaged

EDUCATION: Working towards a B.S. in Physics and a B.S. in Math. (Honestly, haven't done a credit toward my major... could graduate with a B.A. in MIS in a year...)

EMPLOYMENT: Kansas Air National Guard (Communications -- Computer Systems Operator... or civilian terms Network Admin), Lights To Go

OTHER INTERESTS: Cars, Computers, World Affairs, Science (reverse order)

MAGIC BIO:
Started playing paper magic towards the release of Legions (maybe right before). I got the Eight edition starter pack which came with the online thing for free. Of course I installed it, lied about my age, and began playing it online as well in paper. Granted I had no job so limited funds. I was fortunate to where someone gave me a Serra Avatar for nothing just to get me started. From there, at the time, I got about 40 tickets (I know... right?). That caused me to get enough cards for about six different combo decks, mostly fueled by elf mana. This lead to my inherent ability for combo decks. About six months later my computer died, so I stopped playing magic online. About a year later my brother moved so I stopped playing paper magic. About a year and a half ago I started playing online. Maybe a few dollars here and there. I've spent probably a modest 100 dollars, and have swindled (not stole, but moderately weighted trades) my fair share of cards.

LIFE BIO:
Born in Idaho, have lived in Idaho, North Carolina, California, and Kansas. I've moved about 18 times (of which 15 were within Kansas). On May 3rd, 1999 a tornado hit my house on my birthday... and that about explains my luck in a nutshell.

I joined the Air National Guard, because in Kansas they pay 100% tuition and fees for school, and give an additional $683/mo for going to school. Basically, I work part-time and am incurring no debt from school. Granted I was unfortunate enough (just kidding!) to ask Kearsten to marry me, so that whole debt thing was thrown out the window (Not yet luckily...). I mentioned above that I'm only about a year away from graduating school; however, I have a different major. This has nothing to do with my being super smart and being able to graduate school two or more years early. I went to tech school for the Air Force last year and my school was worth an associates degree (actually a few more credits than that), and I already had some credits, and took 18 this semester....

The only problem is I don't enjoy MIS (Management in Information Systems) at all... just a skill, and so I do it for the military... one weekend a month. I think any more than that I might take some Cat5 cable and hang myself with it (bad joke I know). So, please, don't ask me for some computer advice... I might not know the answer, but more importantly I don't want to answer it (unless you're going to pay me about 1,200 bucks a day... yeah the government is awesome).

On the other hand I enjoy math, and physics a great deal. My current aspirations are to go for a PhD in Physics; however, I've got a long road ahead of me. The school I'm at right now, Wichita State University, literally yesterday announced that they are cutting the B.S. in Physics, and not going to grandfather current students, so I'm transferring up to the University of Kansas (not that I'm complaining). Just about three years of school left as I've yet to start any classes for my major. Not even Calc 1.

Looks like Nik already reposted my bio, so I'll just say hello again. My new job & baby girl keep me pretty busy but I'm hoping to plug back in eventually.

MTGO ID: LordRavenShadowRage

REAL NAME: ryan

AGE: 33

PLACE OF RESIDENCE: Chico, CA

FAMILY STATUS: studio apartment

EDUCATION: computer science/ physics major

EMPLOYMENT:self employed computer programmer

OTHER INTERESTS: lady's, X-box 360 (handle: ravenshadow); geeking

MAGIC BIO: I collected Magic from Alpha on up ,

LIFE BIO:once a marine , always a marine enough said.

MTGO ID: VicVega

REAL NAME: John

AGE: 42 (suck it, young ‘uns!)

PLACE OF RESIDENCE: Tustin Ranch, CA

FAMILY STATUS: Dirty Bachelor

EDUCATION: Finance/Television, Radio Film Management – Syracuse University

EMPLOYMENT: Formerly retired, recently started on as General Manager of Sales for a consulting company

OTHER INTERESTS: triathlon, golf, knocking the bottom out of random hos

MAGIC BIO: Started with Mercadian Masques, never a hard core tourney player

LIFE BIO:
Born in Chicago
Raised in the city streets
My momma gave me the basic facts of life

Get in the car boy
Put your seat belt on
I never ride with anyone unless they ride with their seatbelt
That’s one of my rules

You look like you’ve been in a few scrapes
I mean you’re skinny and weak lookin’
But you’re kinda wiry too
I bet you can handle yourself alright if you have to
Knowwhatimean?

If I get into fightin’ man, I’m serious
Someone crosses me
Straight off I’ll nut ‘em in the face
Bring my heel down on that foot
And break the bone

I’m a fighta and a winnah
I’m a bad man
You know everyone can tell how I am
I walk into a bar or someone’s place of work
They’re shit-scared
They no I aint no cop
They think I’ve come to kill ‘em
And I would
I’ll kill anyone that crosses me
I’ll put ‘em in a hospital
I don’t mess around
Knowwhatimean?
I’m a bad man

Like music?
Listen to this…
I was into these dudes before anybody
Asked me to be their manager
Called bullshit on that
Managing a pop group’s no job for man

Hey…guess how many suits I got
Guess how many pair o shoes
Guess how many ties
Shit I dunno
Must be 25 at least
And you better believe they’re all silk
Everyone of em

Think your girlfriend loves you?
Guess again
One way to tell if a woman really loves you
If she’ll have yo dog!

I’m a bad man