10 Questions with JerryDamage: Darkseid

This week Jerry sits down with the captain of the Saronite Pain Gang, Darkseid!

Welcome to 10 Questions with Jerry Damage. This is a weekly player interview to get to know some of the players and personalities around the league better than just someone who’s name we’ve seen on the website. For this week’s interview, we sit down with THL veteran, Darkseid.

• Standard opening question: Where are you from originally? And where are you at now?
  
  

Darkseid: Born and raised in Buffalo, NY. I'm still here against my better judgement. GO BILLS!

• Other than Hearthstone, what do you usually do to have some fun or relax?
  
  

Darkseid: Man, I have way too many hobbies. I enjoy playing board games with the family, playing other games like World of Warcraft and HOTS. Truth be told THL is really one of the only times I actually play Hearthstone.

• What’s your history with CCGs? Is HS your first?
  
  

Darkseid: Brace yourselves reader, it's story time. I've been playing TCG's my entire life it feels like, and in early middle school I got into this game called Magic: The Gathering. It's a small unknown game but I liked it. I used to go to FNM every week at this place called Collector's Inn, and I used to whoop on all the grown men playing the game. This was back around 1998, there was no net-decking, and I discovered that Survival of the Fittest and Recurring Nightmare (google them) worked really well together to cheat out huge minions really fast. Adults didn't want to copy a deck a kid made so i just kept smoking them. I had a few invites to play in the bigger events but I couldn't afford the travel and missed out. My deck ended up winning worlds that year so I was on to something. After that I played TCGs casually with friends until one day my daughter asked to learn Pokemon, and like a recovering addict, I was hooked again. My daughter and I traveled to a ton of events we both have multiple top 4's to our name and just missed out on a worlds invite, mainly because we started the season late.

• How long have you been playing Hearthstone?
  
  

Darkseid: I got into Hearthstone right before Karazhan. The kids were growing out of Pokemon and I needed my fix of TCGs and Hearthstone really scratched that itch.

• You’ve been in the league since THL Season 5. What’s kept you in the league for so long?
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Darkseid: My competitive nature and striving to be the best. Also this community is awesome. I've made so many great friends with great players I respect.... and Donde. (Editor's note: --->)
Even if I ever stop loving Hearthstone I'll keep playing it just to hang with you guys.

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• You’ve ran the Darkstone tournaments during the off-season. How did you come up with the Darkstone tournaments and any hints at what the next one may be?
  
  

Darkseid: Darkstone for me is a way to keep myself and the community engaged during a time when nothing else is really happening. I'm thrilled that they have become a staple in this community, and you all can expect many more to come. As far as a hint goes, lets just say this next one will be for all the F2P players.

• You’ve played in Ragnaros, Sylvanas, and Mysterious Challenger. Which league would you say you prefer and why?
  
  

Darkseid: For me it's Ragnaros. I really enjoy the conquest format and team atmosphere. MCL is a close second because open decklists are amazing. Honestly, I hate LHS as a format, and if it was any other offer than Aeon 2.0 I would've turned it down, but those guys are my brothers so I had to do it.

• If you could take one card from Wild and put it back into Standard, what would you pick and why?
  
  

Darkseid: Finja, The Ninja. It's just the coolest card. It's a murloc ninja named Finja. 10/10

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• You’ve been on several different teams during your time in THL. As a veteran captain, what’s your ideal way to build a team?
  
  

Darkseid: I just wanna get people that all like to hang out with each other, team culture is super important. It’s not about getting good players, it’s about getting the right players.

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• If you could pick one card to represent you as a player, what would you pick and why?
  
  

Darkseid: Yogg-Saron, Hope's End. BOW DOWN BEFORE THE GOD OF DEATH AND SUBMIT TO DARKSEID

That’s it for this week. Thank you Darkseid for letting me interview and look forward to another player interview next week.