Exclusive Interview with the 2009 World of Warcraft World Champion William Postlethwait

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Game Academy: First off, congratulations on a truly amazing win! The battle through top 8 definitely wasn’t easy.

Billy P: Thank you, it certainly wasn’t. The competition was very good.

The Game Academy: So Billy, when did you realize you had superpowers?

Billy P: Hahaha…well that is certainly news to me. I didn’t know I had any superpowers.

The Game Academy: Hahaha, I know some people that think otherwise. But on a more serious note, the preparation involved with winning a world championship is not easy. How did you prepare for a tournament of this magnitude?

Billy P: A couple of months before, I spoke with a buddy of mine Jeremy Blair and we saw that the format was Block Constructed, a fresh new format and we decided to give it a go and start building a gauntlet of decks. I spent a weekend in Tampa testing with Jeremy, Kevin, and Chris, and they came over to Orlando for a weekend and tested. Jeremy and I talked a lot over the phone leading up to Worlds about deck/card ideas and came up with the list.

The Game Academy: With so many different decks to choose from, how did you and your teammates decide on the list you ended up playing?

Billy P: We found early on that Mage had the best and most powerful abilities in Block and worked on many versions of the deck; Control, Mid-Range, and aggressive and decided which advantages each one had against each other and the rest of the field.

The Game Academy: Your previous accomplishments in other CCG’s such as Magic: The Gathering and VS. are well known in the gaming community. After winning a world championship in WoW, do you find yourself wanting to get back into other competitive CCG’s such as Magic?

Billy P: I have never really left playing Magic, I’m just not able to play it as much as I used to because I work a full-time job and go to school.

The Game Academy: So, when you came from Krypton, did you already know how to play Magic?

Billy P: Magic is only Worldwide, not a Universal card game yet.

The Game Academy: Does it surprise you how well your deck played against the rest of the field?

Billy P: It doesn’t. We pretty much tested against any deck that I faced and knew what I had to do in those match-ups.

The Game Academy: Were there any last minute changes that you made before the tournament that made a significant difference in any of your matches?

Billy P: The only changes we made were in the side deck. We put in two Conjured Cinnamon Rolls against aggressive decks since we figured that drawing one would be sufficient and we could just mulligan for the card against other aggro mages and priests.

The Game Academy: Take me through your draft where you went 3-0. When I talked to you on the phone you said you had the “absolute worst deck” but it was still the best deck at the table. How did you manage to go undefeated?

Billy P: I am not sure it was the best deck at the table, but I did have 2 Engulfing Blaze and if an opponent does not know you have them, than they can seriously be in trouble. My quests count was low but so was everyone else’s at the table. I think that the packs were pretty bad at my draft table and everyone seemed to agree with that.

The Game Academy: In top 8 you got paired against someone who had previously beaten you in the swiss rounds. What sort of mindset were you in going into that match?

Billy P: In the match I lost in Day one, I mulliganed both games I lost and knew that the matchup was not that bad for me if I got a fast start. I played a couple of games the night before top 8 and came up with a side board plan after game one and knew that I had to put constant pressure on him to make him deal with my threats.

The Game Academy: Rumor has it that after you told ESPN you were too busy to shoot a commercial for them, they cast Albert Pujols instead to play the role as a machine. Is that true?

Billy P: Hahahaa…not exactly.

The Game Academy: Thanks for such a great interview and good luck at the Grand Prix next week in Tampa!

Billy P: Thanks a lot.