Q&A: 2016 NRG Championship Series Champion Ben Meine
Ben Meine may have been overlooked
heading into last year’s Nerd Rage Gaming Championship, but winning has a way of changing people’s perceptions.
As the final at-large qualifier, Ben was flying a little bit under the radar. He was regarded as a talented player, but so were the other 15 competitors. Then Ben proceeded to almost run the table, compiling a 7-2 (one of those losses was an intentional concession) record in the Swiss before capping off his run through the elimination rounds with a Modern victory over Noah Cohen in the finals. (You can read Ben’s article on the championship here.)
Thanks to an automatic qualification for the 2017 championship, Ben has been a fixture at this year’s CTs as a commentator. He took some time to answer questions about his championship win, his role as a commentator this year, and the Championship Series overall.
First, his winning decklists from December:
Standard: Naya Aetherworks, by Ben Meine
1st place — Nerd Rage Gaming Championship Series
Modern: Bant Eldrazi, by Ben Meine
1st Place — Nerd Rage Gaming Championship Series
Legacy: Miracles, by Ben Meine
1st Place — Nerd Rage Gaming Championship Series
Casey Laughman (CL): You won last year’s inaugural championship. What do you think that has meant for you as far as how other players perceive you and how you perceive yourself?
Ben Meine (BM): Obviously, winning is fantastic for my name recognition. That being said, it takes a lot more than one win to build a reputation. The series was in its infancy, which means that this year’s championship will be a much bigger game. I would hope I carry a presence with me when I play Magic, but I have no idea what people are thinking when I walk in a room!
CL: Because you’re automatically qualified for this year’s championship, you’ve been doing commentary on the CTs so far this year. Has that perspective benefited you as a player? If so, how?
BM: Yes and no. Because I’ve basically been in charge of directing the coverage as a whole, it’s a little harder to really capture every moment and maximize the experience as I would like to. With that said, I have gotten to watch some of the best Magicians in the area battle and I believe I have learned some great things nonetheless.
CL: How have you been getting your competitive fix without playing in the CTs?
BM: I haven’t. This is more a pain due to my regular work schedule as an AT&T Entertainment Consultant, but, when I do commentate a CT, I try to play at least one side game at the end of the night because I never get to play otherwise. I am hungry for a good game so I have to find a way to play more Magic. I am open to suggestions.
CL: How has last year’s experience in the championship changed your perception of the event and what you need to do to be successful in it?
BM: This may be an unpopular opinion. Obviously, everyone in the Championship is talented. With that comes a metagame. Beating the metagame, in my opinion, is much more important than necessarily playing the deck you have the most reps with.
I won last year by playing the most powerful Standard deck — Temur Aetherworks with Emrakul — the most well-positioned Modern deck in Bant Eldrazi, and the best deck in Legacy at the time (R.I.P) in Miracles, with a couple mainboard Blood Moons for the dual land metagame I knew would be there. I lost one match in eight rounds of Swiss that I played (as I scooped in Noah Cohen for round 9), on camera against Peter Tragos in an Aetherworks mirror. The long and short of it is that the decks I chose, I believe, led me to my success then and I will attempt to run it back.
CL: Two of the formats for the championship are non-rotating, which rewards familiarity with the formats and the decks you play in them. But Standard is in an almost constant state of flux; how do you ensure you’re spending enough time on Standard while also maintaining the needed familiarity with Modern and Legacy?
BM: Due to time constraints with work, I will be watching as much coverage of the format that I can. It’s just the most efficient way I can do it in my position. If I had infinite time, though, I would be testing twice or more a week and be playing in an event every weekend. As for the non-rotating formats, I always keep up with those through coverage and constant playing whenever I get free time.
Note: actively trying Scroll Rack in new Miracles.
CL: Do you feel you’ll have a target on you as the reigning champion? Does it add pressure to perform well in this year’s championship?
BM: Not at all do I think I have a target. Back-to-back anythings are rare to see. No one is going to put their money on me to win this one, too. Would you bet on a 40-to-one horse ever? That’s how I am going to win. Now, if I win a second time, I don’t think I would be able to walk around NRG without some arrow pointed my way.
CL: What are your views of the championship series overall? How have they changed as the series has evolved?
BM: As a man of business, this Championship Series is remarkable. Everybody, and I mean everybody wins. People love a leaderboard. People love high stakes. People love glory. The Championship series brings everything to the table and is growing more and more as the days go by. Look at the recent CTQs (Championship Trial Qualifiers) and tell me Nerd Rage Gaming isn’t putting up the numbers players want to see just as much as any store owner. I’m in love, and I can’t wait to continue to be a part of Nerd Rage’s growth in the new modern era of Magic.
Ben Meine is the 2016 Nerd Rage Gaming Championship Series Champion. Casey Laughman is editor of Nerd Rage Gaming. Email comments and questions to claughman@gmail.com.
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