Bill Hodack is the winner of the Origins 10K event with a spectacular, almost-foolproof build of Big Brotherhood. He braved a long day to emerge triumphant at the end of eleven rounds of competition, taking home top honors and a huge check.

Bill has played Magic: The Gathering for a long time, earning an invitation to the second Pro Tour ever, Pro Tour: L.A. in 1996.  After losing early in the tournament, Bill never qualified again. He kept playing Magic for fun, and found time for Vs. System after a move to Texas. The major aspect of the game that appealed to him in the beginning was its comic-book theme, but he’s more than satisfied with the solid gameplay. “I honestly like this game.  I’m not just playing it for the money,” Bill said. He has also worked alongside the Ascension Gaming Network's Ray Moore and Chedy Hampson.

The deck that Bill played yesterday was a version of Big Brotherhood. Bill originally wanted to play Wild Vomit, a Sentinel deck that he and credited creator Mike Thicke tested extensively.  But the deck just didn’t perform the way that he had hoped it would. “I had my heart set on that deck for two months straight,” Bill lamented. “But when I tested it against Big Brotherhood, the games it won, it won great; but over the course of the test games, Big Brotherhood would beat it consistently.” Bill felt that he had to go with the deck that would provide the best and most consistent results, and the gamble paid off for him. Bill’s goal at the tournament was to make the Top 10 so he could qualify for the Pro Circuit event at GenCon Indy, since many of his friends received invitations to the event already. 

He hasn’t had a chance to closely examine the DC set just yet, but Bill is quite excited about the cards he’s seen so far. He, like many other players, also had nothing but praise for the artwork on the new cards. “The art is very impressive. I really don’t care that much about the art on cards, but in this game it’s very cool,” Bill added. 

When Bill’s not winning Vs. System tournaments, he’s working as a software manager for a small start-up company that does telephony and online metrics. He is also getting married in November, and wanted to send a shout-out to his lovely fiancée Shindy. Best of luck to you in the future, Bill!