Magic Monday Bathroom Interviews - Jake Karpinski

This interview took place on Monday, February 10th 2003. No Magic players were harmed in the making of this interview.

- Adam Grayson 2003

Hello and welcome to your bathroom interview. This will be the first in a series of interviews spotlighting the players of Magic Monday. I'm glad you could be with me here tonight in the bathroom.

My pleasure

My very first question deals with your magic history. When do you first start playing magic the gathering?

I think the very first time I would have been a freshman in high school. A kid named Nick from up north taught me. I'm not even going to say his last name he was just evil. He was the kind of kid who swung cat around his head in pillowcases.

You don't mean Nich... My brother Nich?

No this was some other kid. He was just wrong.

Alright. Well you stopped playing magic there for a while. What was all that about?

Well I ditched my cards because I thought the game was evil... I also need to focus during that time.

But you picked it back up again...

I picked it back up at the release of Onslaught. Onslaught has that enduring quality, that synergy... (Magic) is back and better than ever.

*nods* Absolutely... Now I want you to think back... What was the first Magic deck you ever made?

It was probably made from a booster...

Ok, I mean think back as best you can to the first deck you ever made when you had the cards to make one.

It was probably a Red/White deck with Serra and Shivan. But back in those days Magic didn't really click with me. It just... I just didn't get it... but when it did click it clicked. For the first time I could see the beauty and versatility of cards like Dark Ritual. In those first games we really didn't know how to play. There was a game I played with Nich where a Giant Growth was left on a creature... I actually wound up killing him with it.

What is the current deck you are playing?

It's unfinished. It's a black deck. A discard/beat down deck... Hymns, Gargantuas... But as I said it's really not done. It's a work in progress. It's my baby.

Ok I am going to ask you a series of questions. Answer them as best you can. What is your favorite card?

*Audible sigh* I know there are cards that are better, but right now it's Aeolipile. From Fallen Empires. There's just nothing that card can't do.

...Color?

Black, though that could change.

...Combo?

Spirit Mirror/Standardize. It's creature kill...

...Artist?

Rebecca Guay, Quinton Hoover, Mark Tedin and Drew Tucker.

...Set?

I would love to say Fallen Empires but it really sucks so I'll say Tempest. I love it I love every bit of it. Right down to the Dark Rituals.

...Piece of Magic Art?

I'd regret answering this because I know there is a card out there that I am forgetting.

...Mechanic?

Provoke. It's been a long time coming. I just hate games where it's a creature stalemate.

Alright, lets go to the other side of the spectrum... What is your least favorite card?

Tremble from Odyssey *sigh* Tremble *shudder* That or like Snowfall. What the hell were they thinking when they made that one? I can tell you what other people are going to say is the worst card in the game. Head Games. Nobody likes that card. No one want me to go look through their library... *ugh*

...Least Favorite Color?

There are 3. White because it doesn't know what it wants to be yet. Blue because it's too much work. It's a color that needs to me "milked" in order for it to work. And Green sucks the most because it's just too overpowered now.

...Least Favorite Artist?

I'm not 100% sure on all this so here's an interm answer.. Harold McNeill. The man used monochrome black and white. Looking at it was like having a seizure, like blacking out...

...Least Favorite Mechanic.

Bands with other....

Right. Well I can understand all that. Alright well what would you say was your biggest Magic achievement?

Beating Wes' G/B deck.

*smiles* And what do you think about the way Magic is heading?

Onslaught was decent but Legions is sucking me hard. I think the game should be less creature based.

Hence the hatred of Legions...

Right. Make a non-burn, non-counter, non-creature based deck... I would like to see artifacts come back...

Well, do you have any final thoughts?

Casual constructed is the best way to play. Casual Constructed with as little thought on the game as possible. The most rewarding thing is losing and learning and having a good time.

Well Said.

- Adam Grayson 2.10.03