captain interview series - bonemasher

Hello THL,

A couple of years back I started a series where I interviewed various captains. Well as the blog is making a comeback so is the interview series. Over the course of this blog series, I will be interviewing captains across all series. I have 8 captains that I will be interviewing over the course of this season. Once all the captain interviews have been completed, I will be interviewing a selection of players.

Today I have a very special guest for the interview series, the captain of APM, and the man behind the brand, Bonemasher. 

Diamond: What do you look for when constructing your rosters?
Bonemasher: The most important thing for me is communication. Having players that talk in the team server, even if it’s not about Hearthstone, makes for a good team environment. Also, if players are able to schedule, submit lineups and play their matches without any issues that makes my job much easier.  Then it’s attitude, having players that want to do well, want to learn and improve, want to enjoy their matches. Sometimes you find a group that just seems to gel together; those are the best teams, but it can be trial and error sometimes.

Diamond: How would you describe your captaining style?
Bonemasher: I’m probably more laid back now than I was initially. I make myself available if anyone wants to discuss ideas or test some decks, but I’ll back my players to bring the decks they are comfortable with and think will do well. For me, it’s working out what each of my players needs from me or the team and trying to provide the right environment for them.

Diamond: What do you think will be the first series you will win as a captain?
Bonemasher: I really don’t know to be honest. I feel like I’ve had a championship-calibre team at least once in each series, but in two years I’ve only made it to one final. Wild is the series I’ve been most consistent in making playoffs, but there are some really stacked teams in Wild as there are in Pro. So it will probably come in the Hero series.​

Diamond: What has been your favourite APM acronym so far?
Bonemasher: It has to be All Points Matter. It’s a good motto to go by in THL [given] the way the points system works. The name came about after my first legacy team lost to Geranium Battle’s team in the quarter-final, having won 3-2. Perchance Geranium did it again, this time for APM in a legacy final.

Diamond: What made you decide to captain every series in THL?
Bonemasher: Initially I was just going to captain a Wild team, Annoy-o Team were looking for a new captain with a couple of players finishing up. But then the Hero team I was playing for was disbanding, so I thought why not have a team in each series at least for a season and see how things go.

Diamond: What is it like running your own show and why should people be tuning into Side Bar?
Bonemasher: At the beginning of last season I wanted to do something content-wise. Hearthcenter was the only show remaining and struggling to cover all the series, wild essentially had no coverage. A show was not my initial plan but that’s where things led and it’s been a lot of fun! I’ve really enjoyed designing the screens and putting together the content. There is a little work that goes into it, particularly those game show weeks we did last season. Why should people be tuning into Side Bar? We have a lot of fun on the show. This season we’re covering wild and trios series in full, complementing the work Hearthcenter does with Hero/Legacy/Pro series, but this is only half the show. The other half will be fun segments to keep us and hopefully the viewers entertained.

Diamond: Who is your biggest competition in Legacy, Hero, Pro, and Wild respectively?
Bonemasher: Legacy seems a little weaker this season, a lot of teams well under the PR cap. The scariest looking team for me is AFG. When you can run a 550 PR player in the 2 and your 3-5 seeds still look strong, you know you have a good roster. Hero on the other hand is looking stacked again, there are a lot of good teams. DadLegend look really strong in the lower seeds, I see them pushing this season. In Pro we’re in pink conference so it has to be your team Diamond, Collegiate Player Retirement Home. In Wild, Sleepyhead Shakers are the team to beat.

Diamond: What would your advice for any rookie or newer captains in THL be?
Bonemasher: Make sure your players understand the rules and ban process if it’s Hero/Legacy. There is nothing worse than having your team eliminated because of a DQ, it’s happened twice to me now in a semi-final. Other than that, talk to your team, find out what they need, and have a little fun in your team server.

I want to thank Bonemasher for his time and for answering all of my questions. Thank you for reading the re-debut of the interview series and please DM any feedback to me on Discord (diamond22_). Next week, I will be interviewing a recent Hall of Famer.