Mike: Please Refer to me as VenoM everyone else does and its kinda cool to have a nickname that isnt like `fatass` or `stinkyballs`

TCO: VenoM it is! Thanks for taking the time to sit down with us today, I really appriciate it. I know you`ve got a lot to say, so I don`t think we have to worry about you using the "next question" option. Tell us about you, tell us your story.

VenoM: Ok, this is gonna take a minute. I`m a gamer. I played Magic in Ice Age. I played Pokemon back in the day (Like you didn`t) I ran a D&D campaign with only a Sega Genesis Video game and the library`s copy of the Fiend Folio. So when I was at College on day, someone sold me a Dudley Boyz starter and Greetings From Dudleyville (Stacy was hot!) Then I stole 3 E&C starters and a half a box of boosters from a former employer (Through the metal detectors they had by hiding them in my socks). I have since started working for Millennium Games and Hobbies (Whom I don`t steal from, cause they are awesome) which in the past was one of the largest hotbeds for Raw Deal in the country, rivaled only by Neutral Ground and Dark Tower. I was an integral part in the creation of the best limited format Raw Deal ever had, made a couple of top X finishes in qualifiers (Gen-Con 04 Raw Draft and Canada 05 AA), and played some really bad decks until i tweaked them enough to win. During playtesting for Gen-Con, I saw someone playing an Over The Ropes Evolution deck, and since he wasn`t going, I told him I`d like to play that. After 16 hours of play and a couple of insults to Justin Cantor later (Seriously, I didn`t mean to be so rude, it was 3am) I was the Gen Con `06 Afterburn Champ.

TCO: For what it`s worth I never played Pokemon. While others were jumping on that Bandwagon I was playing the Highlander CCG. We are now just two weeks before the World Championships, do you know who you are going to use?

VenoM: I really don`t know, although I believe I`m playing something with either Sabu or Sandman in Revo. The thing is, I don`t build decks. My decks have really awesome combos that never work. I play the decks that we as a team build in Rochester. I could show up with anything from Home Team/Volley to Rock Stall to HoganTron and it won`t be like anything else in the world because of the people around here and how we work

TCO: What decks do you feel are your biggest threat?

VenoM: I`m playtesting specifically against Andre, Kennedy, and Heat Seakers in both formats, but as for threats someone will have to have a really creative deck to threaten me. Any deck I bring will crush the mainstream decks as long as I play them well. So I guess its a spicy deck with some unknown awesomeness that I fear the most. I just hope that`s my deck!


PSYCHO: Hey... can I have $5?

VenoM: No... I already gave the damn Loch Ness Monster Three-Fiddy, your out of luck

TCO: If you win the World Championship, you get to make your own card. Do you have plans already for what card you’re going to make? Are you willing to share it with us?

VenoM: The New VenoM-inon
Reversal:Special
Cannot be packed if you are packing cards with the Trait
Reverse any Non-Unique Manuever with the Logo and end your opponent`s turn. Discard 1 card
At the start of the game, when you reveal your Backstage Area, you may search your deck for 3 copies of this card, place them into your Backstage Area, and put 1 Non-Superstar Specific card from your opponent`s Arsenal or Backlash Deck into their Ringside Pile
(Not Unique, and preferably not Rare)
0F / 0D

TCO: Has the late announcement of the formats for the worlds impacted your preparation at all?

VenoM: Well, being as I am the one most responsible for changing the format, I was prepared. I expected the format to be AA/AB with Revo as the final table. Of course, that didn`t go as planed, and things were done about that. This isn`t the time or place for that since it is the first time in almost a year that Comic Images and the Hierarchy have listened intently to their fans and made decisions based on their feedback, so I want to just have a good time at `Mania and try to take home the bacon (Canadian please)

TCO: Having never been to the worlds before, what are you expecting?

VenoM: I have heard that it is very hectic and stressful, so I`m having my friends do things to distract me (Like Play Guitar Hero) while I play so I get used to the excitement again

TCO: Raw Deal seems to be becoming more political over the last year. Has this impacted you at all, do you see this impacting you at all?

VenoM: I stoped playing Raw Deal about 2 months after Gen-Con because of the politics that were being created by Revolution and all the negative press it was recieving. It made me stop playing all together.(Also some back story, My store`s owner and Barron used to be good friends, and the politics between them caused our store to lose favor with what we here in Rochester started calling the `BVT Hierarchy` and therefore be shunned and have the Raw Draft format be abandoned)

TCO: One last “hot button” question – what are your feelings on Revolution?

VenoM: I like Revolution. It is a great way to get players into the game and it feels more aggressive than normal Raw Deal. I don`t like that the aggression is forced through the `overturn 6` rule and that said rule makes actions almost impossible to play (Since every action reversal comes with +6D) I do however hope that the game does not abandon the old format. I would like to see the game rotate producing Revolution and Non-Revolution sets (Ie Revo, then 3 months later Non-Revo)

TCO: The Mark Laroche Xperience – a great party, or the greatest party?

VenoM: I damn well hope its the greatest party ever.

TCO: Besides yourself, is there someone that you’re cheering for this year at the World Championships?

VenoM: There`s this guy, I guess his name is Michael... Bowmen? I think I spelled that right.

TCO: Uh... that`s you...

VenoM: No seriously, If I don`t win then I hope that Dre can take it down. I want to see that title make its due stop in Upstate NY, and If its not me, then I hope its him

TCO: What are your plans for the future?

VenoM: Work at Millennium, play games, hope that Raw Deal becomes fun again, and some other stuff for some other companies.

TCO: Which is better, Cake or Pie?

VenoM: My Grandma`s Strawberry Cheesecake. No topping that!

TCO: Will the Saints make it to the Superbowl next year?

VenoM: Yaknow what, The Jets aren`t, and I hate the Bills, so why not!

TCO: I know you`ve got a lot to say, so what are you final comments?

VenoM:A-Comic Images, please stop posting these `Feel Good Stories` about Revolution. just because Bruce `My E-mail is B_S@UpBarronsAss.com` Stark likes Revolution, doesn`t mean I will.
2- Would someone realize that, as Wrestling fans, We are Smart Marks, and we mark for Raw Deal, so stop trying to fool around with our brains
Tres- Thanks Antigoth for keeping TCO the forum where people can still talk Raw Deal with open minds.
Huit- I Like Orange Soda!!
Hockey- G O S A B R E S !

TCO: Thank you for taking the time to chat with us today.