Beyond Dominia's Staff

Beyond Dominia Staff Bios

Here all are the people responsible for bringing out Beyond Dominia... (Ok, that's kinda a bad intro... I'll put up a better one later...)

Editors

Innate Mak (Editor in Chief)
Pittsburgh, PA or Cleveland, OH. Take your pick: E-Mail: i***i@o***w.edu or o***o@b***i.com; Homepage: Whenever I get time for it... :); Playing Magic since early 1994, Innate has since participated in many aspects of the game, from running the Case Western Reserve University Magic Club, to creating the Magic Joke Collection, and co-founding the e-zine Beyond Dominia. Besides Magic, he is a huge fan of Anime and computer games.; A senior majoring in Computer Science, he can't wait to get out into the "real world".; Favorite Colors : Any color except for green.

Kris Kurrus (Senior Editor)
Moscow, Idaho: E-Mail: o***e@a***o.com; Kris began collecting, playing and becoming addicted to the game of Magic at the time of the Beta release. Much to his family’s financial dismay, Kris’ addiction has worsened over the years and many who know him often whisper "Magic Anonymous" in hushed tones as he walks by.; Prior to working with Beyond Dominia, Kris has worked with several literary journals under the guises of editor, writer, and chief paper shuffler. He is currently working on an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Idaho and actually hopes to make a living publishing fiction, poetry and essays (the disillusioned fool). His favorite deck is one that leaves opponents in a smoldering heap, or frozen in darkness.; Favorite Colors : Black and Red (often, with a little Blue)

Kevin McLaughlin (Senior Editor)
Northfield, Vermont: E-Mail: v***m@m***h.com or e***c@a***b.com; Kevin's been playing Magic since the release of Arabian Knights. His credentials include running a Magic game night for over two years (which has since turned into a weekly sanctioned event), competing in the 1995 Nationals and 1996 NE Regionals, and a brief stay at #39 on the DCI type 2 list. A heavy tournament player, he keeps his eye on the up-and-coming strategies of the Magic world. He majored in English and Business Admin. in college, and teaches Tae Kwon Do full-time at his own studio, Central Vermont Blue Wave Tae Kwon Do.; Favorite Colors : Varies wildly with my mood!

Jonathan Evans (Editor)
New Jersey: E-Mail: z***u@m***i.com; Urza, otherwise known as Jonathan Evans on the plane of Earth, is a regular editor and contributer to Beyond Dominia. He's been playing Magic since Revised, and considers himself to be a very excellent player.; Favorite Colors : Black and Gold

Mary Van Tyne (Editor)
Golden, Colorado - Beer Town: E-Mail: Li***y@n***i.com; Mary started playing Magic around the time that Alliances came out, and despite starting so late, she's still bothered for rules questions and the functions of cards. She hasen't been to a sanctioned tournament in quite a while, but she's always ready for a duel and carries her favorite deck with her everywhere in a modified plastic lunchbox known simply as "The Box." Mary would love to say that she plays with more enthusiasm than skill, but then she would be lying. She plays this game for the sheer thrill of having her opponent's jaw drop when (and if) she finally beat them.; Favorite Colors : Red, with smatterings of green and black.

Staff Behind the Scenes

Bill Lovelett (Occasional Editor)
Pittsburgh, PA: E-Mail: none; Bill believes all e-mail is evil; The other co-founder of Beyond Dominia, Bill has since sought help and successfully defeated his Magic addict, and replaced it with a new found addiction to Anime. Hopelessly glued to old Ranma and Tenchi Muyo episodes, he occasionally finds time to help out with the editing of contributions. Bill played Magic from September, 1993, till October, 1996.; Favorite Colors : Pink, no, purple!!!

Rod Mak (Tech and Creativity Support)
Pittsburgh, PA: E-Mail: 8***s@t***t.edu; Innate's younger brother, Rod was dragged into the Beyond Dominia staff by his ears. He currently helps out occasionally by fixing broken PERL scripts, and helping out with new creative ideas for additonal pages in Beyond Dominia. Playing Magic since sometime in 1995, he still occasionally plays when Innate drags him into another game...; Favorite Colors : Red

Staff Not-So-Behind-the-Scenes

Alex Graham (QotM Maintainer)
Truckee, California: E-Mail: a***d@o***i.com; Homepage: Xyla's Homepage; Alex is a junior at Truckee, High School. He often is found in Beyond Dominia between 3-10 PST. If you ever go into the War Mill or Chat room he'll be under the handle Darkmage. His intrests include Drama (doing musicals and serious drama for over 5 years), Volleyball (Assistant Captian), and Acedemic Team (Captain). Alex started playing Magic about a month after Ice Age was released, and enjoys T1 play mostly cause it invovles strategy not one or two "key" cards. If you ever want to talk with him ICQ him his # is 8705499.; Favorite Colors : Blue, Black, and Red

Senior Contributors

Chris Askwith (Deckbuilding and Fan Fiction)
Ottawa, Canada: E-Mail: g***e@b***d.com; Chris Askwith began playing D&D in the late eighties. He began playing AD&D, Shadowrun and Star Wars. When his cousins introduced him to Magic, he was a skeptic. He was given his first starter deck for his birthday and has, over the past two years, obtained somewhere over six hundred cards. He often sits down with a new magazine and thinks up zany combos and decks in his head, but promptly forgets them when he decides to put them on paper.; Favorite Colors : (in this order) Black, Red, Blue, Green, White.

Aaron Benanav (Deckbuilding)
Some where in the vicinity of New York: E-Mail: s***a@m***a.com; Homepage: I had one but I never put it back up... Maybe later.; Aaron started playing magic at the end of Ice Age. After moving to a new town he had felt lonely and sad so when he found a local comic shop he rushed inside. After buying a few cards through being convinced by the store owner, he sat down and made a deck. It was awful. After long hours of playing and testing Aaron has become respected my many players. He has never entered a sanctioned tournament because he can never get a ride to one but he hopes to do so one day. If there was one thing he could say to all new players it would be, "When you first get into competitive playing, it is good to copy other people's tourney decks. This gives you a feel for all the thought that goes into making a winning deck. One day when you are ready, spread all your cards out in front of you and make something new and original. It feels great when you finally see the day where you win with something you came up with on your own. His quote is, "A brilliant light can either illuminate or blind. How will you know which until you open your eyes?" - Asmira, Holy Avenger; Favorite Colors : The color that no one else is playing, but usually blue and/or white.

Androo Brokos (Fan Fiction, Strategy)
Baltimore, MD: E-Mail: a***r@d***a.com; Androo has been playing Magic for over 3 years now, but has only recently become a "better-than-average" magic player. He tells himself this is because he doesn't have time to attend PTQ's, etc. Control freak that he is, Androo enjoys prison-esque decks, although recently he has been taken with multi-color weenie decks. So far, he has submitted only fiction because this is the only site he can find that allows him to put those Creative Writing classes to good use. He promises there's some real good strategy stuff on the way, though.; Favorite Colors : I guess Blue, but I try not to play favorites.

James Greenwell (Deckbuilding)
Louisville, Kentucky: E-Mail: n***g@b***n.com; Having been addicted during the revised three print run, I have participated in the development of the addictions of many louisville residents. I am currently a senior Industrial engineering student at the University of Louisville, and working hard to stay that way. Scheduled to be graduated and married by the end of the year, I hope to land a job which will both support my wife and my magic.; Favorite Colors : Green and Red, but who doesn't play them all?

Mariano J. Benito (Deckbuilding)
Valladolid, Spain: E-Mail: p***s@m***i.com; Homepage: Well, one of these days I'll have my own. But how can I miss a duel for such a nonsense?; One morning, in June 1995, one insiduous devil ( a friend of mine at that time) encouraged me to play with some of those things messing around his room. I've hated him since. :); Now, I'm about 24, and can't find time to finish my Computer Science degree and sleep as much as I can. From 3 to 7 usually works fine. The rest of the time, i play, play, play, test, purchase, sell those little things that mess around MY OWN ROOM now.; I'm probablely the worst Magic player of the world. I've never played a sanctioned tournament, I've never got one of the "Power Nine", and I had a huge smile for a week when I saw a Mox my first and only time. However, nobody enjoys the game for fun as much as I do. I win sometimes in a duel ( i can't help it, sorry), but i'm still looking for a non-possible funny combo that actually doesn't get in my hand and completely surprises my opponent :-).; Favorite Colors : Green, White and Blue. Some Lightings and Fireballs are reported in my decks now and then.

Jaybie Cantey (Strategy, Deckbuilding, and Fiction)
Camden, South Carolina: E-Mail: t***n@o***n.com or [email protected]; Jaybie became addicted to Magic at the same time that Fallen Empires descended. As a direct result, he has created several small models, including a 1:3 scale model of the Queen Mary, completely out of thallids. He is a student at Thomas Sumter Academy in South Carolina, with designs on the University of Virginia next fall. He contributes to various Magic strategy forums and goes on and on about card erratta whenever anyone will listen (or even if they won't!); Favorite Colors : Red

David Gleicher (Deckbuilding)
The infinite void known as the midwest: E-Mail: y***n@l***l.com; Homepage : Grantfly's Home Page; Played unintelligently since Revised. Intelligently since Mirage. Although still learning the rules of magic he loves to see new and original deck types. He also enjoys putting an h on the ends of wordsh that end with esh, and splatting pedestrians in carmageddon.; He currently has the misfortune of inhabiting a tournamentless area but you can be assured he will get to one when he can...; Favorite Colors : At first he was enchanted with the American flag colors, but now, if all the colors live together in strife and anger... he sees their potential evilness, bwa-ha-ha!

Michael Harney (Da Sarge) (Commentaries)
Location unknown: E-Mail: n***s@r***p.com; I've been playing Magic for around three years, getting hooked on the game by accident. I was in a night class and it was boring. My friend was playing this card game called Magic; I asked if he would teach me, and I've been at it ever since. I've been in the military (Army) for 17 years. My rank is E-7 (Sergeant First Class), and I fly unmanned aerial vehicles. These are planes that fly by remote control from the ground and do recon of areas. The wingspan of the UAV is around 29 feet. I'm married with four children. I love sports and have an even deeper love for the martial arts.; Favorite Colors : a toss-up between black and blue.

Brett Martin (Fan Fiction)
Dunedin, New Zealand: E-Mail: s***s@i***b.com; Brett began playing Magic in 1995 during frozen nights of much snow and beer consumption. Faced by many opponents who insisted on playing black & who called Green a "wimp's colour," he felt an urge to defend the honour of the forests. He also likes blasting his enemies apart with fireballs or nonchalantly counterspelling their Lord of the Pits. Outside Magic duels, he often resides at the University of Otago and likes loud guitar music.; Favorite Colors : Red, Green and/or Blue.

Sean McKeown (Deckbuilding and Fan Fiction)
Manhasset, New York: E-Mail: Ga***d@o***d.com; Sean is a freshman Engineering student at New York University, majoring in Chemistry/Chemical Engineering. Having spent many a late night with friends and brothers playing no-format newbie decks, fun decks, and recently doing Tempest-only Rochester Draft, Sean's ready to play in the gigantic New York City tourney environment. "I used to be a big fish in a small pond, now I'm a big fish in shark-infested waters. But I'm growing some teeth..."; Sean's main hobbies are reading fantasy/sci-fi (Read Terry Goodkind's books!); rollerblading the hectic NYC streets; listening to all sorts of music, from Smashing Pumpkins to Oasis to Sarah McLachlan; and of course finding time to play this addictive little game we all call M:tG without spending a lot of cash. And, ocassionally, trying to have a life, which works with sporadic results. "If you ever scream out 'Gandalf!' in a tournament, I WILL kill you, about three seconds before I die of embarassment."; Favorite Colors : White and Black. Go figure.; Favorite band : Smashing Pumpkins, esp. Galapagos. Go figure.

Jacob Montanez (Fan Fiction)
Location Unknown: E-Mail: p***p@i***b.com; Homepage : http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/2553; Jacob Montanez started playing games a long time ago. Okay, only a few years ago. His first experience with Magic the Gathering was at a friend's birthday in 1994. It was memorable, since the biggest play was forking a fireball back and winning the day!!!! Jake has won a few tournaments, and has acquired a set of each expansion since the Dark except for Ice age and Visions, and is close to finishing a set of Mirage.; Favorite Colors : Red, Green. Mmmm....cheese!

Brad Smits (Deckbuilding and Art)
Louisville, Kentucky: E-Mail: d***r@n***m.com; Beginning at the tail end of Legends in mid '94, Brad fondly remembers the days when Moxes were only $20. He has participated in several tournaments, helped start a Magic club going at his school and is currently a member in several leagues, including the online Planes Walkers League. Always looking for a challenge, he is often found in the #mtgleauge channel on EFNet, with the handle Doomsday.; He is entering college this year, and is planning on majoring in Computer Art or Animation.; Favorite Colors : In order of preference) Black, White, Blue, Green, Red

David S. Wilson (Feature Columns)
Rochester, New York: E-Mail: d***o@k***k.com; Started role playing in 1975 when a game called D & D was first born. Kept role playing almost every Saturday night until late in 1994 when a new CCG game called Magic was brought to the groups attention. Since then the group alternates Saturday nights between roleplaying and CCG games. David has had 1 experience with tournament play but considers it lacking the element he calls fun and will probably continue to avoid it in the future. David's favorite color combo is Black/Green. David likes to call himself David ever since he saw Bob Dole's campaign style. David works at Kodak.; Favorite Colors : Black/Green

Our Wonderful Contributors

Erin SF Carroll
Vallejo, CA: E-Mail: i***a@v***l.net; Erin started playing Magic back when Legends was hitting the streets. He is a mercenary computer system administrator currently working in league with the Evil Empire (aka Microsoft) and this is probably his punishement for building one of the first hand-destruction decks seen in Hawaii and unleashing it unfairly upon an unsuspecting tournament. Having been out of the Magic realm since around Homelands, he's been lured back into things with the discovery of the computerized version of Magic.; Oh, and my deck can beat up your deck.; Favorite Colors : Black

Erin Feeney
Madison, Wisconsin: E-Mail: u***d@i***i.com; Erin Feeney is 14 years old, and plays Magic whenever he can get out of doing any work. He once got 24 Demonic Tutors for $5, and he's been collecting them ever since. The current count is around 75. Erin started playing magic when Arabian Nights came out, and was just naive enough to trade away an old man of the sea for a force of nature. He hasn't stopped crying since.; Favorite Colors : No response

Justin Gary
Miami, Florida: E-Mail: [email protected] or Ba***e@i***n.com; Justin has been playing since the dark and has been hooked ever since. He has recently entered the Pro Tour Circuit and hopes to win back some of the thousands he has put into Magic. He spends his time studying, listening to music, going out with friends, but mostly just playing Magic. He is currently studying computer programming at Florida International University and is looking for new Magic challengers in the Miami area.; Favorite Colors : Blue. Something about being able to say "NO!" to almost anything your opponent can do is very appealing.

Evan Grauer
Bigfork, MT: E-Mail: c***o@n***n.com; Homepage : http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Alley/2830; Evan is a relative newcomer to Magic, but he has already caught the fever. Though his parents desperatly try to cure him, they are unable to keep him from spending every cent he gets on furthering his own collection. Constantly gathering up OOPs, you will hopefully see this young man playing with the big boys in the next few years. Either that or he will sell everything he has and live on the streets to keep fueling his Magic addiction.; Favorite Colors : No such thing. Give me a deck and I'll play it.

Kevin Hess
Washington, USA: E-Mail: u***u@d***d.com; Playing Magic since early on in Revised(over two years!), Kevin fondly remembers being able to play with four Forks and four Balances. Many restrictions and bannings later, Kevin still plays the game, albiet with much more skill, inspiration, and resources than during the days of raw power - when Mind Twist was a black necessity, not a white elephant, and T2 meant Ball Lightnings _and_ Preachers. He currently enjoys the use of three different (though not mutually exclusive) decks - a T1/T1.5 monstrosity which will probably earn the nickname 'Northwestern Heating and Lighting', a T2 cheddar variant of the misnamed Sligh deck, and an evil T2 permission deck called 'The Downward Spiral' - Racks and Sceptres backed up by counter, control, and defense.; Kevin hates Nine Inch Nails, by the way.; Favorite Colors : Red and Blue. Who woulda guessed? :)

Reed W. Kindt
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada: E-Mail: i***d@a***d.com; Homepage: http://www.uleth.ca/~kindt (just samples of my artwork); Reed was coerced into playing Magic just as 4th ed. was released. He's now hopelessly addicted. Reed has risen to 'legendary' status in the local tournament scene (16 person tournaments!!! Woohoo!!!), and he recently accepted the role of MTPA Regional Representative for the Alberta region. Besides his addiction to playing Magic, Reed has started to contribute to the game in new areas, such as ARTWORK!!! He is hoping that maybe oneday, WotC will print some of his work. Well...we'll see.

S.M. Lease
Medford, MA (That's where I live. I consider nearby Arlington to be my home.): E-Mail: a***l@u***a.net; S.M. (actually Spencer) Lease started playing Magic around August 1997. However, his real passion is RPGs. (Why else would he clutter his schedule with roleplaying-related events?); Spencer was introduced to Role Playing Games at the age of 8 (by a friend who wouldn't let him see the rulebooks). That first game (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) is currently his favorite. (Though he admits that Shadowrun looks interesting, and Alternity and T&T are pretty cool.) His favorite campaign settings are Ravenloft and the Forgotten Realms.; Spencer's current projects include: maintaining his web site, The World of Talisman; writing columns for both Beyond Dominia and Dark Heart of the Wood; working frantically on his short story about virtual time travel (don't ask); and the continuing struggle with his own RPGs. (His reviewer's oath: I swear on the head of Dave Arneson that I will never, EVER review my own games. Unless I have nothing better to do that month.); Favorite Colors : Blue

Neal Loman
Baltimore, Maryland: E-Mail: r***m@m***o.com or l***t@i***m.com; Homepage : http://members.tripod.com/~Torlax; Neal began playing Magic around the release of Fallem Empires. For a while he resisted the addiction; he quit after Homelands, re-entered around Mirage, quit again after Visions, and re-entered again around Stronghold. He just couldn't stay away from it. He also enjoys Star Wars, though he has stopped playing the CCG. His other hobbies include roleplaying and cruising around on the internet. You can find him under Maraxus of Keld on most mills, and as Torlax on the RP Mill and in the chatroom. He hopes to continue contributing to Beyond Dominia until Magic dies, which may never happen. His favorite deck is the NecroDeck of Black Summer.; Favorite Colors : Black, though anything is good enough for me.

John MacMillan
Ontario, Canada: E-Mail: n***c@o***i.com; John has been playing Magic for about 2 years. While surviving the stereotypes of Canada's climate, (it's not really that cold y'know) He has toured the tournament scene with limited success. He's one of those players who play just for the fun,(not that He'd turn down a $100,000 pro tour prize). He is currnetly an arts student in north americas leading arts school, and enjoys graphic design, drawing, and basketball in his spare time. He's a proud Scottsman and a happy Irishman. (Yes he wears a kilt); Favorite Colors : Black, Green

Tim Reilly
Nashua, NH (named city of the year in Money magazine!): E-Mail: 3***g@n***b.com; Tim, the fuzzy Moogle, enjoys spending his time away from school playing hockey and game programming. He has tourney experience, and has been playing since the release of Limited. Tim also enjoys playing his beloved Playstation, especially Final Fantasy 7 (mostly 'cuz of the Moogles in the snowboarding game).; Favorite Colors : BLUE!

Eduardo Rocha
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: E-Mail: r***o@a***m.com; Eduardo started playing Magic two years ago after two friends of his started to bug him to play a game. After being a little tentative at first, he now spends a good deal of his time on this addictive discipline called Magic: The Gathering. He still doesn't know whether he should thank them or kill'em.; He is a 25 years old graphic designer, and is absolutely crazy about painting and drawing.; Favorite Colors : Black & White (for some contrast). But what he really really likes to do is to bury anything you manage to put into play, throw a pile of lands at his opponent and have a couple of his pet Gargoyles flying around!

Dustin Sklavos (Kage Arashi)
The River Styx (aka Antioch, CA): E-Mail: KageAi***r@a***o.com or Ke***g@o***d.com; Homepage : None at the moment; Has played Magic since four months before Revised went out of print. Considered semi-authority on the game in his area. Has the ability to name any card from a few subtle hints. 15-year-old Junior attending Deer Valley High School. Enjoys anime and thinks Metallica is God.; Favorite Colors : Black or Red

Joel R Steudler
Pittsburgh, PA: E-Mail: o***o@e***n.com; Homepage : http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/ookie; Joel is a comic book artist (self publisher of The Rabid Monkey) and fantasy artist as well as an avid Magic player. He's been dueling since just before Fallen Empires, and enjoys participating in the local Arena league whenever possible, usually ranking between 1680 and 1730. Even more fun than playing though is bringing the concepts behind the cards to life via his artwork. If only he could be doing that for WoTC... *sigh* For now though he is content to contribute to sources like Beyond Dominia and hope people order his art prints and comic (subtle plug!).; Favorite Colors : rainbow 5cg! No real preference other than that.

Andrew Walker

Edmonton Alberta Canada

E-Mail: e***d@c***c.ca

Playing Magic since The Dark expansion was out, Andrew has played the game with an ever-changing local group, and unfortunately, has yet to play in a sanctioned tournament (although he has consistently won or placed highly in several local tourneys). Andrew also often plays Magic over the internet (under the name of Job).

Andrew is a high-school student in his senior year.

He also dislikes WOTC trends in new cards released, and those white weenie decks.

Favorite Colors : Blue, Black, White

Alex Wilson
Nevada, IA: E-Mail: s***e@i***o.com; Alex started playing Magic when Unlimited was going out and when Dark was around. He played a little for the first few years, and is a part of the game more than ever now. He plays in all the tournaments he can and not only plays, but collects sets, too. His favorite card is Chaos Orb (fun!) and his favorite set is either Ice Age (likes the theme) or Antiquities (creative set). He likes having the most creative decks in town.

Alex goes to school at Nevada High School and loves sports. He plays basketball, football, track, soccer, golf, fishing, and lots of others. He plans on going to college at the University of Iowa.; Favorite Colors : All but white!

Bill R. Yu
Pittsburgh, PA: E-Mail: l***r@i***t.com; Bill has been playing Magic since Beta, and has been playing vigorously ever since. He still wishes for those simpler days where there weren't that many cards to remember and contend with.; Favorite Colors : Gold.

Other Contributors who haven't submitted their bios yet :Arial Elias-Bachrach, Brian Van Wyk, Zem, and Dawn Star