It’s very refreshing to see female gamers sitting across from me at tournaments. While the game is predominately played by teenage boys, more and more women are starting to become competitive. Whitney Sitzler is no exception. Armed with a poise and confidence that is amazing for an eighteen-year-old girl who plays what generally is considered a guy’s game, Whitney has done what many players out there still can’t claim—she has qualified for the Pro Circuit. Not stopping there, she recently became the first person to win a cool $1,000 scholarship from UDE with TNB at Indy this summer. I caught up with her online as she was just getting in from class. She’s a freshman at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, I am sure that you will see her in many more Scholarship tournaments in the future. And why not? It’s a wonderful way to put yourself through school!

So, how’d you start playing Vs. System?

Adam was telling me about a card game he was playing one day, and I told him that I wanted to learn how to play. So, he put up with me asking questions and forgetting the process again and again until I finally got the hang of it. It turned out that I actually enjoyed playing the game.

What cards would you like to see made? Characters?

Me! I want to be an awesome card with a great ability and valued at the price of a Savage Beatdown. I’m not kidding!

Honestly, I have no clue. I don’t really know about the comics other than what I have learned from the cards. I’d like to see more kick-butt girls, though. Cards like Captain Marvel for the Avengers or Scarlet Witch for the Brotherhood. I’m very anxious to see if Wonder Woman is good in the JLA set.

What is your favorite team?

Brotherhood, mostly because I love The New Brotherhood. The Brotherhood team is good because you can really build three different decks with it. BBH, Medium Brotherhood, and of course, TNB.

What is your favorite deck to play and why?

The New Brotherhood! I absolutely hate playing Sentinels. They seem very boring to me. I have played them several times and it always bores me to tears. I like how powerful The New Brotherhood is. I know the deck is hit or miss sometimes, but with TNB, you get that most wonderful ongoing plot twist in multiples! Staying under four resources is pretty easy, and if you mulligan for them and drop one or two early, you’ll PWN your opponent fairly easily. Plus, unlike Sentinels, if you miss a drop (which actually seems hard to do unless you are drawing all Magnetos), you can easily make up for it by throwing out some little guys. But nobody wants to miss out on a 4-drop Sabretooth. He is the awesomeness!

What’s your favorite part of playing Vs. System?

Honestly, being one of the few girls who actually play the game. I love all of the attention I get—it’s so cool. And some of the cards just look really cool. Oh, and Sneak Preview tournaments are fun! New cards, new strategies . . . I love playing in Sneak Previews.

Do you have any interesting Vs. stories?

Hmm . . . I don’t think so. Sorry, the only stories I have are about things I can’t even believe I let happen—they were such dumb mistakes! I had a blast at Pro Circuit New York. It was very sweet, all the boys that kept trying to come talk to me. I’d always point to Adam and tell them he was my boyfriend so they didn’t try to hit on me much. After I won the Scholarship tournament, some guy tried to buy all of my Savage Beatdown deck tins for $20 for all of them. He thought I didn’t know how much they were worth.

Any advice for aspiring PCQ players?

Don’t be like I sometimes am and get mad because you lost a game or because you were so close to making Top 10 but then made a really dumb mistake. And for the girls, PWN THOSE BOYS! Sorry, guys.

Tell us a little about you personally. What is life like outside of playing TCGs?

Well, I go to school full time at UAH (the University of Alabama in Huntsville). I plan to major in Computer Engineering. While I’m not at school, I usually waste my time sitting at a horrible desk job, sometimes doing my homework and most of the time doing absolutely nothing. I’m sure you’re thinking, “That must be great to get paid to sit and do nothing.” But trust me, it isn’t! Then, if I’m not hanging out with Adam, I am wasting my brain cells, time, and money playing World of Warcraft. Yes, that’s what I said! I have a level 60 character on a server with Adam.



Where are you from? Got a local game shop where you play?

Alabama. I don’t really play at a local game shop. When I do, it is usually at Mindgames. I go for Sneak Preview tournaments and PCQs, but it’s an hour or so from where I live. Most of the time when we play, I’m over at Adam’s house.

I see that you’re using the scholarship money for school. Are you planning to continue to pay for college like that?

Well, I will only be eighteen for so long, so I will not be able to play in that event much longer. But at whatever PCs I go to between now and my birthday, I will most likely be playing in the Scholarship Series.

How are the guys on the circuit treating you?

They’re nice to me. Sometimes they try to take advantage of me because they think I don’t know how to play. Most of the time after I beat them, I hear them say things to their friends like, “Dude, I just got beat by a girl.” That makes me laugh.
 
I noticed that you get a lot of attention at local tournaments and at the PC. How do you handle all of that?

How am I supposed to handle it? If someone talks to me, I will talk to them as long as they don’t act creepy or something. Most people I meet are very nice. And since I am very nice, we all get along.

How often do you play the game?

I don’t really keep up. Probably a few times a week. I have been playing a lot of WoW lately and school just started, so I haven’t really played that much Vs. recently. But I will be playing soon. We are all heading over to Mindgames for the JLA Sneak Preview. I hope we have a cool Halloween theme or something. Last year we had a Halloween party!

If you could change one thing about the game, what would it be?

Teen Titans! Yes, they are good, but I don’t like them—they are too good. Everybody plays Teen Titans and it gets kind of boring playing the same team in five out of eight matches. It seems that I am either playing against Titans or Curve Sentinels. But I saw the coverage from the Orlando $10K this weekend, and there were seven different decks in the Top 8. That’s got to be good, right? Now if we can just make an all-girl deck . . . that would be cool.

Do you like the dual-format system used at PCQs?

Yup, it works. I love playing Constructed and Adam likes playing Sealed, so it works out for the best. I think that all the pros play Sealed for practice, unless they have some really cool deck they want to try. So, Constructed is mostly for newer players who are trying to qualify. Seems like that works out for everybody.

Whitney is certainly a fun player to watch. She enjoys the game as much as anyone I have seen. She mentioned Adam a few times in the interview; in case you are unfamiliar with him, Adam is none other than Adam Fears, who finished ninth at PC New York. So, next time you sit down across from Whitney at the PC or a local PCQ, don’t think you’re getting a bye. She beats Adam on a regular basis and will probably do the same to you. Just ask all of those Scholarship players from Indy!