Tobias Rausmann, Germany

This Interview with garetjax was hold by openCards user Jaglom Shrek.

Today you get to know more about Germany’s new player on the top, Tobias Rausmann. He already won two TOCs this season and was best and most active German player in the year 2006 - not to forget that in 2005 he beat Christian Pulsfort’s Grand Prix winning deck with a Borg Assimilator …

• Name: Tobias Rausmann
• Known on the dboards as: garetjax
• Age: 28
• Regular player group: NRW, Bremen, Hannover
• Current/highest Decipher rating: 1819/~1850
• STCCG 2E accomplishments: winner of the Grand Prix 2006, winner of 4 TOCs, 2nd at the Essen PSE 2005, 2nd in the Nationals 2004, Player of the Year 2006

1). How did you start playing Star Trek CCG?

On a trip to England with my school class in 1995 I have bought my first starter and started to play with some schoolmates. But they lost interest in the game after a few months, so I just collected the cards until the Voyager expansion. Then in 2001 I saw the announcement of a Warp Speed tournament in Münster and started to play in tournaments.

2). Do you play any other TCGs beside Star Trek?

In the beginning I have played a bit of SWCCG with friends, but I have never bought more than a handful of boosters and a starter.

3). Can you remember your first Star Trek 2E tournament? How did you do?

The first tournament that I have played was a Voyager Warp Speed tournament in Münster. There were actually two tournaments. The first tournament was a sealed followed by a constructed tournament. In the Sealed tournament I managed to win 1 of the 4 rounds and the constructed was 2-2.

4). Some of the players travelling to Berlin will have never played in such a large event. What advice can you give to these players who want to build the best possible deck for the event?

I think the best way is to play with a deck of your favourite affiliation. There is currently no affiliation that is not competitive. If you then play with an affiliation that you know well, you will have better chances to win..

5). Since Worlds 2006, we have seen Starfleet, Voyager and The Original Series enter the game. Do you think these 3 affiliations will make an impact at the European Championships?

Until now I have not seen a good pure TOS or Starfleet deck, but several very good Voyager decks. I think we will see several Voyager decks in the Top 16. But there are also some good decks that use only one or two tricks from TOS or Starfleet. So it could be possible to have dual HQ decks with TOS or Starfleet in the Top 16.

6). What was the first major 2E event you attended outside of your own country or outside your regular playing area? Do you feel that your game improved after playing?

My first major event was the Nationals in 2004 and it was really great to play in such a big tournament. I don’t know if it improved my playing, but it gave me many new ideas for deck building.

7). Have you attended a Continental Championship before? What did you like/didn’t like about it?

I have attended the 2004 and 2005 EC in Utrecht and the 2006 EC in Gent. The EC’s in Utrecht were great experiences with interesting games and many new faces. The EC in Gent was a real disappointment. No promotion or prize support and a location not within easy reach of the train station. Because of this only few players were there and it did not have the feeling of a major tournament.

8). The German Star Trek scene has always been the home of some top players. How do you think players from outside of Germany will fare at the event?

I hope we will have many players from outside of Germany at the EC this year. And with players like Vladimir or James there will be a great chance that we will have a non-German winner this year.

9). If you had to place a 10 euro bet to name 3 players to reach the final 16 on day 2, which 3 players would you choose?

Vladimir Vrbata, Johannes Klarhauser, Thorsten Wanek

10). What are your personal goals that you hope to achieve at EC2007. How far do you think you will go?

I think I can make it into the Top 16, but after that it just depends on the match-ups.

11). What 3 cards released from There are the Voyages do you expect to see a lot of at the European Championships?

Psychokinetic Control - it makes cheater cards useless Distress Call - stops space attempt by itself Gal Gath´thong - if the deck around it is as good as it seems and if it is then not errated

12). If you could change one rule, or one game mechanic, of 2E, what would you do?

If I could change something of 2E, I would increase the integrity requirements of missions to the same level as the cunning or strength requirements. Since the beginning of 2E I have the feeling that integrity missions are tot easy to solve.

13). When not playing Star Trek, what else do you enjoy doing?

Besides Star Trek I like to play “Siedler von Catan” (Catan’s Settlers), Computer-RPG’s and Munchkin. Other hobbies are the reading of Science-Fiction and Fantasy novels and going to the cinema.

14). Are you already planning your European Championships deck, or will you wait until you see all the cards that will be legal?

I am currently not sure what i will play at the EC, but I have 2 or 3 decks that could be used. If the next expansion comes out before the EC I will try to integrate the new cards.

15.) Which affiliation do you think will dominate the European Continental Championships, if any? Will there be a certain strategy your are going to prepare against?

I will not prepare against a certain strategy, because it seems that there is currently no deck type which dominates the scene. I think we will see a good mix of affiliations at the EC without a dominating affiliation.

16). Name your favourite ever card? Why?

Jake Sisko. He is the only TN Fed personnel and is the only reason why one of my favorite deck types exist (Discarding Dissidents).

17). Have you ever built a deck that looked great on paper, but did terrible in a tournament.

My first try with a dissident discard deck was such a case. I had combined Terok Nor with Cardassia to play Jake Sisko and Dissidents. The idea was to discard the opponent’s deck and - after that was done - to solve my missions. In the tournament I have lost all games were I played the deck like this. The only game I won was when I just tried to solve the missions as fast as possible.

18). Can you tell us the most memorable game of Star Trek 2E you have ever played? Why does this game in particular stick out in your mind?

I think this is a game from the Grand Prix 2005, where I won against Christian Pulsfort. He was playing his Baraka/Dominion Deck and I have played a Borg Assimilator. Christian had set up all the stuff he needed to solve all missions in one turn and had drawn empty his deck . He solved his 3 space missions in one turn and had 2 teams for his planet misson. With luck I was able to stop both teams. On the next turn I flew to his misson and assimilated his last person with telepathy, so he was locked out. I was then able to solve a space and a planet mission for the win. This was my first victory against Christian and it got me a display of Reflections 2.0 as a bounty.

19). Create a 2E dream card of yourself!

(2) •Tobias Rausmann, Follower of Murphy’s Law

non-aligned (staffing icon)(past icon) Human

•Engineer •Navigation •Physics •Science

When this personnel is facing a dilemma that requires Navigation or Physics, he is Cunning +2 and gains Navigation and Physics.

Integrity 6, Cunning 6, Strength 5

Lore: “Never provoke Murphy.”

Engineer, Physics and Science are coming from the work on my doctor thesis in Physics. The Navigation skill is from the holiday trips when I was a child. I was always chosen to read the maps and play the navigator on our car trips.