I am convinced that you need no introduction for this interview. Everyone knows who Mike Dalton is and what he has accomplished with his super team, FTN. But for those of you who are new to the game or living under a rock, let me lay it out for you—Mike is one of two players to make back-to-back PC Top 8s and is the only player to Top 8 at three PCs. He finished second at Amsterdam, third at Indy, and fifth at So Cal. He also has two Top 4 appearances at $10K events—a second place finish at the Marvel-DC challenge and a third place finish at the NY Sealed Pack $10K. To say that he has had some success at this game is an understatement. Arguably the best player on the planet, Mike is also one of the nicest guys you’ll ever play with.

I joined Mike’s team after PC Indy. Mike and I began to chat about the game, our jobs, and random stuff in our lives almost daily after that. He soon became one of my favorite friends to chat with. Vs. System is a very social game; I think it would be hard to play continuously at a high level if one were to lose sight of that. Mike is someone who always reminds me of that fact. As happy as I am for Mike and all that he has accomplished playing the game, I am even happier about the fact that he has found someone to share his life with. Stefanie came into Mike’s life around PC Indy, and those who don’t understand how important she is to him need only to look at the changes in Mike’s attitude after losing in the Top 4 at Indy. You see, Mike is one of the most competitive players on the planet, and his loss in the finals at Amsterdam made him very unhappy—it took a fun night out in downtown Amsterdam to get him out of his funk. But both of his losses at Indy and So Cal had very little effect on Mike. Maybe it’s a maturity he has found in knowing that if he keeps making Top 8s, he’ll eventually win one, but I like to think that it’s more that he is simply happy in knowing that he gets to go home to Stefanie. It’s so important to have someone in your life who supports your gaming habit. I am sure that 2006 will bring even more success for Mike with Stefanie at his side.

Tell us a little about you personally. What is life like outside of playing TCGs professionally? 
 
I was born and raised in New Jersey, where I’ve lived all thirty long years of my life. Aside from gaming, I’m a huge sports fan. The Yankees, NY Giants, and Duke Blue Devils are my teams of choice; I do my best to catch every game I can. I work a regular nine to five job as a computer programmer—not exactly the most thrilling work, but it affords me time to surf the ’net and keep up with the goings-on in the Vs. online community. I like bowling, tossing a Frisbee, and going to the movies. I have the three most adorable nieces in the entire world. By the time anyone actually reads this, my lovely girlfriend will have moved in with me (let’s hope I don’t scare her away). Growing up, I was always into math, puzzles (math or word), and games, and that really hasn’t changed much to this day. I’m a very competitive person and I really don’t like to lose, but I try my best to take it as well as I can. I’m also the worst Apples to Apples player ever.

So, how’d you start playing Vs. System?
 
In early 2004, I was still playing the Lords of the Rings TCG, but the game was slowly dying. They’d cut back on cash prizes for tournaments (which already weren’t all that great), and there was some buzz in the online community that Upper Deck was coming out with a new game with a huge Pro Circuit. I always wondered what it would be like to play a game with serious Organized Play support and big payouts, but by the time I had really started gaming seriously, I figured I was too far behind to start playing one. Vs. System seemed like a great new beginning. A bunch of the people that I played LotR with were also jumping ship to Vs. (like future teammates Alex Tennet and Kim Caton), so I jumped along with them. I played some local tournaments and headed to some PCQs. I really enjoyed the game and the competitive environment, so I was pretty much hooked.

You’ve had a lot of success in other card games. What sets the Vs. System game apart from other games you’ve played? 
 
The only other games I’ve played competitively are Star Wars and LotR, and there was basically no Sealed Pack play for either of those games. There was the occasional Sealed Deck event, but never anything competitive. Going into Vs. System, I had never drafted in my life, so that’s been the biggest difference for me. It’s been my favorite aspect of the game; I love the strategy involved in building a new deck every time out . . . finding combos on the fly and figuring out what works and what doesn’t. Aside from that, the games are pretty different. That being said, there are some themes that are common to most games, like having a focused strategy, planning turns in advance, and always being aware of the larger picture.
 
How important is it to know the metagame when choosing a deck? Is it better just to play a deck that you’re familiar with?
 
I think that to succeed at the highest level, you really have to metagame well. You can’t continually put yourself in bad matchups and expect to play your way out of it with any sort of regularity. I’d much rather be the guy who metagames really well and knows his deck pretty good than the guy who metagames pretty good and knows his deck really well. To that end, I try to get experience playing a lot of different decks so that I’m prepared for metagame shifts. I think that the more experience you get with a wide variety of decks, the more you can shorten the time between “just picking up a deck” and “knowing a deck well enough to play it.” That being said, you shouldn’t play a deck like Fantastic Fun or Evil Medical School just because it seems like a good metagame call. You have to know your limits as a player and play something that’s within your abilities.
 
You have won close to $55,000 playing Vs. System. What kind of impact does that make on your life?
 
I wish I could say I did something profound or noble with all that money, but really, I haven’t. It has made my life a lot more comfortable, though. I’m the type of person who doesn’t like to worry much about finances, and I get by because I know how to live within my means. That money has let me splurge a bit here and there and still be able to not worry too much about paying the bills. Every time I win a good deal of money, I try to buy myself something nice as a reward; it’s been a good year for that.

I imagine that you have many people gunning for you at the PC. Made any archrivals yet? 
 
Not that I know of. If you’re reading this and think you might be my archrival, please let me know. I think I have a few friendly rivalries, but that’s about it. So far, I’ve been pretty lucky not to lose two major games to any one person; when that happens, maybe I’ll have an archrival. The person I’ve played the most often at PCs has been Kristian Kockott, actually. We played twice in Amsterdam (in the Draft and again in the Top 8), once at PC Indy 2 (I was his only Draft loss that day), and again at the second PC LA (in Constructed). He’s a really good player, but I’ve been lucky enough to come out on top in all of our games so far.
 
How do you prepare for high-level events? 
 
I’m really lucky to be a part of a great team in FTN. I think they’ve really been the difference between my first two PCs, where I struggled, and the last four, where I’ve had a lot of success. We draft online about once a week or so, and together we formulate a strong Draft strategy (or strategies) to take with us for Day 2. For the Constructed half, we work together as a team, each building different decks and tweaking each other’s decks until we come up with something we think will work. Then we test it against what we think will be the rest of the field and see if it will hold up. Generally, we try to get this work done at least a month before the PC so that we can all practice with the [chosen] deck leading up to the event, but it doesn’t always work out that way.

It seems like you approach the game with a very work-like mentality. Are there casual aspects of the game that you enjoy?

With the amount of money that you can win at this game, I think it would be a mistake not to take it seriously if you’re capable of winning a good chunk of it. That being said, if I didn’t enjoy the game, I wouldn’t be playing it. I do my best to make it out to Hobby League when I get the chance, and whenever I do, I try to play something I enjoy, something I haven’t had a lot of experience using. It usually leads to me losing, but I don’t really mind. The local players get a kick out of beating me or seeing me lose, since I’m supposed to be the professional and they are, for the most part, just local players. I also really enjoy playing Sealed Pack at PCQs. Most people find them too random, but I like the challenge of building a deck with just five packs of cards that may or may not be any good.
 
Do you have any advice for aspiring PCQ players?
 
First off, what are you waiting for? Get out there and play! PCQs are a great chance to test your skills against some better players. Really though, I think that PCQ players need to decide what they want out of the experience. If they just want to have fun, then by all means, they should play their favorite “pet deck” and do the best they can. But if their goal is to win, then they really need to step up and play something that will give them the best chance. So many people look down on netdeckers, but we all can’t be deckbuilding geniuses (I’m certainly not). If netdecking will give you the best chance to win, then by all means, go for it.

Because Vs. System has so much depth, some believe there are currently only a few Pro Circuit players with the skills to really set themselves apart from the rest. As one of those players, do you think there will ever be a time where you would consider quitting your job and playing full time?

I’m not sure exactly how much I believe that. I do think there’s a lot of room for improvement in the level of play we see at PCs. It seems like a few people don’t really prepare that much and still have a lot of success at the game. At the same time, I think it’s encouraging for the new player to know that he or she can combine some talent and hard work and become a moneymaking player. As for quitting my job and playing Vs. full time, I don’t see it happening anytime soon. I know that this last year I was very fortunate to win as much money as I did, and I’ll be lucky to win half as much next year. I like knowing that my bills are paid by my nine to five job—it takes the pressure off when I go to these events. Playing a game for a living would be great, though.

How do you handle the pressure of being one of the best players in the game? People always expect you to do well.
 
I don’t really see it as pressure. Since Vs. is an individual game, the only person who can really put pressure on you is yourself. Sure, I want to do well and represent my team (and myself) well, but if I don’t, it’s not the end of the world. I’m glad people have high expectations of me; it shows that I’ve put up a lot of good performances. I’ve already accomplished more than I thought I would while playing this game. Everything else is kind of gravy. (Though I would really like to win a PC.)

Yeah, I’ve picked you to win a time or two. Your Draft skills are amazing. Is that the most important aspect of doing well at the PC?

I think it’s the easiest way to separate yourself from the rest of the players. It seems like everyone who shows up to the PC has a pretty good idea of what’s going on in Constructed . . . at least good enough to win a few games given a good matchup. This isn’t really the case in Draft; a lot of people just don’t have much experience at it. These players are at a huge disadvantage on Day 2. It seems like at every PC, the same players end up rising toward the top pods, while a new group of people quickly drop from the top pods because they didn’t Draft enough in preparation for the PC.

Many people accuse you of being arrogant with your online persona. Is this just a bad rap, or do you feel you need to be a bit edgy to keep competitive?

It’s certainly not something I try to personify. I’ve always been very strong in my convictions, sure of my opinions, and not shy to disagree when I think something is wrong. I’m also willing to listen to other people’s viewpoints, which I think is a sign that I’m not arrogant (or at least not that arrogant). I like to get into discussions (some people might call them arguments), but I don’t really take any of it too seriously. Hopefully no one else does either—there are more important things to worry about.

What would you like to see in 2006? Changes from UDE? Goals for you personally?

As far as UDE goes, I’d love to see two things. First off, some sort of team tournament. Maybe a $10K event. I think we’re really missing out on something that could add a lot of excitement to the game. Second, I’d love to see some sort of a World Championships. Maybe an entirely different format from the PCs. Definitely more selective as far as who gets to play. There wouldn’t even need to be a huge cash prize, I don’t think; just make sure everyone can make it out there, and throw a little bonus to the top finishers. The title of World Champion should be enough of a draw.

I’ll be shocked if Mike doesn’t win a PC in 2006. He has a great mind for the game, a strong competitive drive, and a desire to prove himself. While 2005 was certainly an amazing year for Mike, he is not one to be content with that. As long as his team continues to come up with the right metagame choice for Day 1, you can assume that we’ll see Mike at the top Draft tables at every PC.