Interviews Are The Best Revenge: Words With The Reverend Toby Wachter

By Wayne Alward
06/19/2002

I was fortunate enough recently to spend some time with The Reverend Toby Wachter in IRC. Turning the tables on the well-known interviewer; I had the chance to interview him. Some of you may remember that that Toby and I have a bit of history; I lambasted him for one of his articles that I disagreed with... And he responded with an article that ripped on me (as well as others). So it may surprise some people that I would want to interview Toby or that he would accept an interview invitation from me. However, things are not always as they may seem. After all, what was the worst that could happen? It's not like he would hit me with a chair or anything; all he could do was slap me around with a trout.

So without further ado, I give you a peek into the life of Toby Wachter.

Wayne Alward (WA): Let's start with the basics; how long have you been playing Magic, and how were you introduced to it?

Toby Wachter (TW): I started playing in March of '95. Back then, half the kids in my middle school were playing it. At lunch or between classes you'd probably see someone, somewhere, playing Magic in a hallway or on a table. At first I dismissed it as another fad I wouldn't spend money on, and then about six months later I caved in and bought a starter - and actually, that starter was probably the best starter I ever opened. It was Revised, so it obviously had a higher power level but it had Mahamoti, Sengir Vampire, Juggernaut, Mind Twist, Savannah Lions - all those rares got traded away for garbage within the first month, except for the Mahamoti. I knew that was too good to trade. The day after I bought my starter, I went down to the card store and decided I didn't want to spend too much money on the game, so I would just pick up some good commons and be done. Blue seemed to have the coolest creatures like Air Elemental, Water Elemental, and the Mahamoti I already had, so I got four Power Sinks and four Spell Blasts; I actually didn't see"Counterspell" for a really long time, and didn't even know it existed. Black had Terror, which to me was the coolest card ever because it could blow up any guy.

WA: Was it an instant liking of the game?

TW: Oh, absolutely; I was hooked right from the start- everyone in my neighborhood was at the time. Every day after school groups would get together and play at someone's house or at school. We'd have a big melee game or whatever. It was definitely much different back then because it was the way Magic was envisioned, where the collectibility aspect was really important, and you were limited in your deckbuilding by what you owned.

WA: Did you screw up any major rules in the beginning or was there an experienced player around to help you learn?

TW: Well unlike a lot of other people, I wasn't really taught how to play. I bought a Revised starter and read through the rulebook twice to make sure I understood everything.

I went to school the next day and jumped right in with the sharks - the guys who had been playing for a year or so. They straightened me out with the rules stuff pretty quickly; although I understood most of it from the rulebook.

WA: What is your biggest accomplishment as a Magic Player (Not writer or deck designer, but player)?

TW: The thing is, I only really played seriously on the PT/PTQ circuit for about a year, maybe a year and a half. As far as money goes, I'd have to go back to the JSS - I won $3,570 and got my Mom a free vacation to Orlando, which was really nice. I've been to three Pro Tours, and had two Grand Prix finishes just out of the money. I think I may put winning a Grudge Match qualifier with Battle of Wits right up there in the accomplishment category, too; that was really cool and it felt good.

WA: Tell me a bit about yourself particularly how you became known as"The Reverend."

TW: Well here we go, shattering the mystique of the nickname.

WA: Well, your secret won't be totally blown; my articles aren't exactly the most read on the net.

TW: Hah, well - it's on StarCity, so you'd be surprised.

WA: Tru dat. (Shamelessly stealing a line from The Ferrett) (Who shamelessly stole it from Rizzo - The Ferrett)

TW: Basically, I'm not a religious guy by any means; I'm a pretty hardcore agnostic, and I was a lot more vocal about it when I was younger. I found out about this group called the Universal Life Church, and that they would make anyone a Reverend and it's 100% legal, you become an interfaith minister and can perform baptisms or weddings or whatever. I saw it and was like "Wow, how ironic would it be if I became a Reverend?" So I did it and I had this Reverend title, but I couldn't really use it anywhere. I wasn't going to use it in school or on legal documents, and I wasn't going to walk around telling people to call me Reverend from now on. Then I realized"Hey, I can sign my name as 'Reverend Toby Wachter' in my articles - that would be pretty cool." I started doing that, and it stuck, I guess. It's also funny because people don't really understand, and it's amusing to not let them in on the joke. For example, I'd be at a tournament wearing a Bad Religion shirt and someone would walk up to me and say hi, and tell me they like my articles and then ask,"Are you really a Reverend?" And I would respond"Yes. Yes I am." and they'd just look really confused. Although it's at the point now where a lot of people call me Reverend or "Rev," and it's a fun nickname to have.

WA: Has anyone ever told you how frustrating it is to spell Wachter because it just looks wrong? (And my spell checker assures me that I actually mean Watcher.)

TW: Yeah, a few people. It kind of frustrates me that a lot of people don't spell my name right in an article. I can understand if you met me in passing... But my name is right there on the website! I mean I wrote the article, all you need to do is cut and paste! It could be worse, though; I could be a Mowshowitz or a Shvartsman.

WA: Agreed - my spell checker doesn't have a clue what to suggest for those.

TW: Actually, a funny side story about the spelling of my name; about a year ago someone sent me some threatening emails saying they were going to kick my ass and whatnot. Then they emailed someone else and threatened that person, signing it"From Toby Watcher." I was like"My email address has my last name in it! How hard is it to get this right?" Especially when your intent is to get someone else angry with me for threatening them.

WA: Well you got admit the kind of people who would do that aren't exactly at the high end of the intelligence scale.

TW: Yeah, agreed; this email showed that.

WA: What first got you started in Magic writing?

TW: Back when Alliances came out I was ready to quit. Our school went from half the kids playing to basically no one playing; I was one of very few left, everyone else gave up and was like"next fad please." I would only play once a month at New York Magic tournaments, and I was getting pretty bored with that. I picked up The Duelist and it had this big article on Internet Magic and through that I found Apprentice and a ton of great Magic sites that kept me interested in the game. Now I had this connection to a worldwide community, and I could discuss strategy or play games whenever I wanted.

At the time, Vault Magazine was the premiere website - to give you an idea of how old this website was, Alex Shvartsman wrote for them for free - so I was like,"Hey why don't I give this a shot and write an article on my deck?" I wrote an article on my Goblin deck, which had four Manabarbs and four Power Surge, Goblin Kings, Blood Lust, and all that stuff. The editor of the website liked it and put me on"staff" - and that was the start. At the time, it was great because the internet was sort of new and being a kid and having an article up there that anyone could read was amazing to me.

WA: How old were you at the time?

TW: Fourteen, I think - yeah, probably fourteen.

WA: What is your professional relationship with Wizards of the Coast? Are you an Employee a Freelance Writer or some hybrid of the two?

TW: Freelance Writer. I'm still in college, so full-time employment isn't really an option for me anywhere, at least for the next two years.

WA: I know you specialize in interviews and Match reports, do you ever get bored of doing match reports?

TW: The feature matches can be brutal, especially when it's un-timed and you have a slow player like Matt Rubin or Dave Humpherys. I basically insert those kinds of comments for my own amusement and to put a little bit of entertainment into the article. I know Randy Buehler's been stealing my"Somewhere in rural Iowa, paint is drying on a barn" line when he does commentary. However, for every one of those matches, there are countless interesting ones, like the one between Zev (Zev Gurwitz) and Mikey P (Mike Pustilnik) at Nationals or the JSS finals, which was really quick and action packed.

WA: My Penance. That article was, in my opinion, the best piece of parody ever written on any Magic site. Was it as fun to write as it was to read? How has the feedback for the article been? Mostly positive? Or did most people just not get it?

TW: Well first, thanks for the compliment; I am glad to see someone I ripped on appreciate it for what it was. Basically, I have a very creative mind with certain things, and one talent I have is the ability to transfer an idea from an abstract thought in my mind to something solid - like the videos I shoot for classes at school, and things like that. So I had this idea for My Penance, and I knew even when I had the thought in my mind that it would be great. I even emailed Ferrett and was like"I'm going to write one of the funniest Magic articles ever this weekend, and you're going to love it" - so yeah, it was a lot of fun to write.

Although let me tell you, it is really hard to get a good picture of a dog crapping! When I was taking the shot, I was holding two dogs and the newspapers and the bag. Gus starts doing his thing and I want to get a good shot, because the next chance I get will be in six hours, but I can't hold up the camera to see through the lens because my hands are tied up - so as he's going, I'm moving around with the camera and taking random shots and hoping one comes out okay. Then the Poopatog picture was really funny, because I was kneeling down setting up the shot, and being careful to not get anything on my hands, and cars were going by with people staring at me. I started taking the pictures, and I couldn't imagine what the people driving by were thinking. I was trying to go over in my head what I'd tell someone if they asked what I was doing.

"This is for a website."

"What kind of website?"

Overall, I was really happy with the feedback I got. It was funny; I think Ferrett put it up that morning and when I got up and checked my email before leaving for my class, I saw ten feedback emails. When I got back, I must have had fifty, and new ones were coming in every minute. As far as personal emails I got, each one was positive except one, and that one negative one I just laughed at. Some people have commented that it was "venomous" or "hate-filled" or whatever and I just don't get it. Well I do, I knew that some people would take it the wrong way. Look people, it's sarcasm. If that offends you, then you should probably look into a form of entertainment that's safer and at your comprehension level like Teletubbies.

WA: What did Zev think when you told him what you planned to do?

TW: Actually, I brought up the idea to Zev at school and told him what was going through my head, and he pitched in an idea or two - the arrogant pin idea was his, where I had my foot on his chest. Zev is the kind of guy who wouldn't ever mind doing something like that. Between taking shots, he kept asking me to hit him for real with the chair, for fun!

WA: Of course My Penance wasn't a typical Toby Wachter article. What would you tell people to read if they wanted to get a better picture of you as a writer?

TW: I wrote some articles for neutralground.net about a year ago, and I was really happy with them, but a lot of people didn't see them.

Other than that there are my artist interviews, which have been coming out real well. My player interviews, which will be an ongoing thing; and I'm proud of the strategy stuff I did years ago, too. Once I got to college, I started playing less and focused more on the writing aspect of the game, so straight-up strategy really isn't my thing anymore. Event coverage is also a big part of my Magic writing now, and I'm usually at most Pro Tours unless school interferes with it. Covering events is a lot of fun because I get to do all kinds of things, whether it's feature matches, or player profiles, or a metagame breakdown. Sometimes I'll even run with some random, interesting idea like the "What card would you like to see in Eighth Edition?" article or the Mike Flores Mad Libs Interview from Nationals last year.

WA: Have you done any Non-Magic related writing?

TW: Well I'm in the process of writing a book, but that's low priority, at least for now. I used to write for xwrestling.com, which was a really popular website when it was around. The thing holding me back is that I've worked for five years within this genre. I am at the point now that I've got my own little niche and I'm lucky enough to make money off my writing, so it's a bit hard to force myself to go into other areas - but lately, I've been doing just that, so we'll see how it works out.

WA: Whether you like it or not, one of the things you are known for is the Battle of Wits deck. When you first built the deck, did you seriously believe it had a chance or was it more of a deck that you thought would be funny and possibly humiliating if you actually beat someone?

TW: When I first built it, it was for fun. I liked the idea of playing this huge deck and getting really odd draws with cards you'd never see together in the same deck, much less the same hand. Then somehow, you'd have to finesse your way into making it work. It wasn't really about humiliating people, but I guess that's a funny little side effect and to be honest I think at this point it's not humiliating to lose to. Baby Huey (William Jensen) made top 8 with it at a Grand Prix, and obviously my tournament win with it made a few waves. So I don't think it's humiliating as much as it's irritating. You're not even "going off" or putting any effort into it. It's just "tap five mana, I win, sorry." At least if you played Academy or Bloom, your opponent saw you working for your win. On the other hand, you do work for your wins with the Battle deck; it's not that easy.

WA: Agreed, and it has become an accepted deck to the point where people are expecting and are prepared for it.

TW: Right; I don't think they're prepared for it to the extent that they're sideboarding specific cards. It can't really become a tier 1 deck because it's far too expensive to build a good version, but I think it'll be really good in the new extended, and I wrote an article about that for StarCity.

WA: What is your opinion of the Magic Online Game, all pricing issues aside?

TW: I think it's great - I mean, it's great in the sense that it's an awesome program, it's easy to work with, and I like the idea that I can draft at any hour I want. There are a few bad side effects, though; for one thing, I've been playing a lot less real Magic this year because of Magic Online and when I would make the trip out to Neutral Ground, I'd sometimes have trouble getting a draft together. Then I would be like,"Why am I here trying to get a draft together for an hour, when I can be at home drafting as much as I want?" Lately I definitely have the itch to play more, both in general and in real life, so I think that will change.

WA: Taking people from paper Magic was one of Wizards' fears, and it is there main justification behind the pricing structure. What do you think of the pricing structure?

TW: I think it's fine. If you kept it at anything below that, you'd have people like me not going to the local store to play as much. Besides, I think the main thing people keep forgetting here is that if you're good, you should break even. I mean I don't have any insider info on the situation, but if it costs three packs and two event tickets to draft, and the event tickets cost $1 each, and you win four packs for coming in second in a side draft and eight packs for coming in first, where's the problem? That means that if you come in second you break even and got the cards you drafted for free, and if you win you get double.

WA: Any worries about server integrity or stability?

TW: Sure, but I'll take that as it comes. I'll definitely be using Magic Online when it goes live; in fact, I'm eager for it to happen. If there are problems with the server, then I'll just stop using it until those issues are addressed. The reason I'm eager for it to go live is that it's somewhat unfulfilling right now. If the virtual cards cost money and you win virtual cards by beating people, now there's some actual incentive.

WA: It was recently announced that this years invitational would be held in Cyberspace on MOL. In your opinion is that a good idea or a bad idea?

TW: I think it's an okay idea. It's a good way to promote Magic Online, and it will let people follow a high profile tournament live. So that should be interesting, and it makes it into a real"event." I like the idea of little Johnny in some small town being able to watch Kai Budde play live.

WA: What advice would you have for someone looking to be a prolific Magic writer?

TW: The best advice I can give is; do not try too hard to make yourself into a "name." When I was writing my weekly column for Neutral Ground on strategy, I wasn't thinking"Okay, I'm going to prove how great I am and talk about all these cool decks and innovations I came up with." I was thinking,"My job is to provide relevant information to the reader." And I think if you just have that attitude of"Let me just write about what's going on without blatantly putting myself over," people will appreciate it. Eventually, the respect will come for doing a good job, which is much better and genuine than getting respect because you demand it in your articles. (Tru dat - The Ferrett, who likes to think he got where he was because he knew multiplayer)

WA: Demanding respect basically negates it.

TW: Exactly, and I think some writers don't get that - and to be fair, it's really tempting within this subculture. It's really intriguing that you can be a writer and you can go to tournaments and people will know who you are. Like I said, if you're blatantly using your column as an avenue to become"famous," people will see through it and even if you are providing good information, but being arrogant about it, that will irritate people as well.

WA: Some rapid-fire questions: Deck designer or deck player?

TW: Probably more of a designer, but not so much anymore. About a year ago I stopped playing Constructed hardcore, but before then I think I usually built pretty good decks, or was good at tweaking them.

WA: Combo, Control or Beatdown?

TW: Control.

WA: Favorite Magic Card?

TW: Battle of Wits. It used to be Survival of the Fittest, which is definitely second.

WA: Favorite game besides Magic?

TW: I'm not really much of a"gamer." Either ultimate frisbee or ga-ga, which is this Israeli dodge ball type game I used to play at summer camp - or Monopoly. Heh.

WA: Favorite musical group?

TW: Bad Religion. I thought that one was fairly obvious?

WA: That and Battle of Wits, but I had to ask to maintain journalistic integrity.

TW: Right, right, understood.

WA: Coke or Pepsi?

TW: Coke.

WA: Net Deck or Rogue Deck?

TW: That's an iffy one. From my experience, the best deck to play is an established deck that you can tune to work better. Preferably, that deck comes from out of nowhere or people don't expect it as much. Like, for example, Turbohaups was by far the best deck for Regionals last year, and not many people tested it or considered it. I worked on the idea for a while, came up with what I felt was the optimal version, and handed it off to Zev the night before, and he made top 8. Which was funny because he didn't want to play, he was just going to draft and I was like"here's the deck list, shut up, you're playing this." It wasn't exactly rogue because people knew about it, but it was definitely out of the metagame's focus. Destructive Flow was a sideboard card that would be the game by itself, but hardly anyone bothered to run it.

Another example is The Great White Hope. That was an established deck that Don Lim made and it didn't work out, but Flores (Mike Flores) and I came back to it and tweaked it a little. It worked really well within the metagame, so I don't think it's as simple as"rogue" or"netdeck." I will say, though, that rogue shouldn't be for the sake of being cute or original, it should be for the sake of winning - people don't quite understand that.

WA: What would you like people in the Magic community to think of when they think of Toby Wachter?

TW: Wow that's a tough one. Idealistically, I'd like to sit back and let people think what they want to because that way, my work speaks for itself, and I can find out what people feel about what I do. I guess the bottom line is, I hope that when people seen an article written by me, they get excited and click on it and they know that it will be ten minutes of their life that wasn't wasted.

WA: Anything you would like to say to the Magic community that I haven't touched on?

TW: Magic has provided me with a lot of opportunities and allowed me to have a ton of great experiences and meet all kinds of smart, interesting people. I'm really happy something like this game has given me that, and I hope my work helps give something back to the community.

WA: Okay, Thanks for the time, it is much appreciated.

TW: Okay I better go walk the dogs...

WA: Hey! Wait a minute! Was that a parting shot?

There you have it - a not-quite-so-brief look into the life of the Reverend Toby Watcher.... Err, I mean Wachter.

Wayne Alward
AlwardWayne@NOSPAM.JohnDeere.com (remove NOSPAM. When sending)
Jagar on MOL