Not too long ago, my friend Jason Thurston died. In this week's Across the Table, he's here to talk about mental illness, suicide, brain surgery, and, of course, death. 

Send any short-form feedback you might have to me on Twitter @mattmendoza. Send any long-form feedback to 5colormedia@gmail.com. Be sure to follow 5 Color Media on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr @5colormedia or on Facebook. Catch our live shows every week on Twitch.tv/5colormedia or YouTube.com/5colormedia. And please leave the show a good review on iTunes.

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Robert Vroman’s been out of the game for a while, but his Vintage innovation carved out a place for him in Magic’s history. Inventor of the Uba-Stax deck, he crushed tournaments around the midwest, all the while using Magic as a tool for education. Now, he’s onto bigger things, unleashinghis MtG skills on the real estate market and turning to political action after a particularly horrifying experience. We met in his hometown of St. Louis to talk about all this and more.  

The missing decklist is:3 Cryptic Command 4 Snapcaster Mage 1 Vendilion Clique 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Mana Leak 2 Remand 3 Lightning Helix 4 Path to Exile 1 Spell Snare 2 Ajani Vengant (promo) 2 Sphinx’s Revelation 1 Anger of the Gods (donated by Elliott Risch, thank you!) 4 Celestial Colonnade 3 Arid Mesa 4 Scalding Tarn 2 Hallowed Fountain 3 Steam Vents 1 Sacred Foundry (donated by Ryan Hopkins, thank you!) 1 Plains 3 Island Sideboard: 2 Porphury Nodes 1 Anger of the Gods (donated by Elliott Risch, thank you!) 1 Celestial Purge 1 Crucible of Worlds 1 Threads of Disloyalty 2 Relic of Progenitus 1 Rule of Law  

Thank you for your help!

As always, you can find the cast on Twitter @acrossthecast or on Facebook. You can find and follow me @mattmendoza Please send any feedback to acrossthetablepod@gmail.com or leave me a comment on ManaDeprived or a review on iTunes.

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Jason Alt has gone and done it. After his job relocated without him, he looked to make money from the one thing he knows best, Magic. Jason is now a pillar of the financial community whose articles are almost (literally) everywhere and you can hear him banter weekly with his co-conspirators on his own podcast, Brainstorm Brewery. In this week's episode, we talked over Skype about swimming, spread, sausages, and much more (okay, we didn't talk about sausages).

As always, you can find the cast on Twitter @acrossthecast or on Facebook. You can find and follow me @mattmendoza Please send any feedback to acrossthetablepod@gmail.com or leave me a comment on ManaDeprived or a review on iTunes. I need them to live.

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Usman Jamil's about as St. Louis as it gets, with his part Pakistani, part Indian, part nerd upbringing and all. In this week's episode, my roommate John joins us after a late night of 20 Questions, Cubing, Pauper EDH, and drinking. We chat about growing up nerdy, efficiency, cultural rebellion, metal and more. Check out all Usman's articles every other Tuesday on StarCityGames.com. Also, in a new check-in segment, I see how previous guest writer Titus Chalk is doing following the release of his e-book, "So Do You Wear a Cape?" now available on Amazon.

Be sure to follow the cast on Twitter @acrossthecast or on Facebook for news and updates. Send any feedback to me, or follow me, @mattmendoza. You can always reach the cast via email at acrossthetablepod@gmail.com. As well, don't forget to leave me a comment on ManaDeprived.com or a review on iTunes!

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Erin Campbell is a self-described handful. Before she was hosting her Magic interview podcast, The Deck Tease on GatheringMagic.com, she was tearing up World of Warcraft and blogging all about it. Oh, and she’s a trangendered woman to boot. Not afraid to talk about it, gaming that is, we had a great conversation about growing up, porn stores, elitism, being mean, and much more.

Here are the relevant links:

Erin’s coming out blog: http://thestoriesofo.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/out/ 

Nina’s coming out blog: http://manadeprived.com/just-a-girl/

And the response on Hipsters of the Coast: http://www.hipstersofthecoast.com/2012/12/hope-eternal-trans-not-special/

As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablepod@gmail.com. Also, please leave the podcast a review on iTunes, it helps get it out there. Follow the cast on Twitter @acrossthecast or on Facebook for updates and new episodes.

And don’t forget to leave me a comment on ManaDeprived.com!

Thanks for listening!

Before he was a world-traveling, freelance-filmmaking co-creator of Walking the Planes, Nathan Holt was a giant, basketball-playing theatre geek who worked odd jobs between roles. Inspired by his web series, executively produced by WotC, I decided to drag him on his show to, of course, ask him about his breakfast. Afterward, we took a turn into some common territory and talked about David Lynch, theatre with an R-E, basketball teams, and much more.

As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablepod@gmail.com. Also, please leave the podcast a review on iTunes, it helps get it out there. Follow the cast on Twitter @acrossthecast or on Facebook for updates and new episodes.

And don’t forget to leave me a comment on ManaDeprived.com or KCCompetition.com.

Thanks for listening!

When it comes to fun, Good Times Games' Rob Gruber is your guy. While he's not exactly a Magic guy (I met him shooting Kaijudo in Dallas), he's definitely a boon for the gaming community in general. When we talked in Texas, I couldn't help but be inspired by his life philosophies and how they helped him create an amazing community in his small town of 10,000. I'd like to share him with you now. From all the way in Prince Rupert, BC, Canada, we talked about gaming, generational Dungeons and Dragons, both kinds of exercise, and much more.

As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablecast@gmail.com. Also, please leave the podcast a review on iTunes, it helps get it out there. Follow the cast @acrossthecast for updates and new episodes.

And don’t forget to leave me a comment on ManaDeprived.com or KCCompetition.com.

Thanks for listening!

Josh McClain has a case of the run-goods. Earning 2nd place finish after 2nd place finish, he finally cracked the ceiling after a short hiatus to snatch himself a spot on the tour, which he quickly lost. Emboldened by his first PT experience, he put his nose to the grindstone and began one of the biggest tears in recent history. In GP Miami, he lost the trophy to Reid Duke, but quickly avenged himself by beating Duke in the finals of GP Detroit. As if that wasn't impressive enough, two weeks ago, he cut down the net at the TCGPlayer.com Modern 50k. We met over Skype to talk about success, failure, parental disappointment, and school.

As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablecast@gmail.com. Also, please leave the podcast a review on iTunes, it helps get it out there. Follow the cast @acrossthecast for updates and new episodes.

And don’t forget to leave me a comment on ManaDeprived.com or KCCompetition.com.

Thanks for listening!

My first returning guest, John Penick, recently finished 2nd at Grand Prix Oklahoma City. What’s more amazing is the amount of Magic he didn’t play before. But did it change how much he played after? We spoke after his mind-frying GRE about that finish, its effects, depression, steak knives, and flourishing.

As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablecast@gmail.com. Also, please leave the podcast a review on iTunes, it helps get it out there. Follow the cast @acrossthecast for updates and new episodes. 

And don't forget to leave me a comment on ManaDeprived.com or KCCompetition.com.

Thanks for listening!

Adam Styborski works harder than you. Between his marketing gig at Geico, traveling to tournaments for Wizards, managing GatheringMagic.com, being a dad and a husband, and the laundry, he’s a busy guy. We meant to meet up to cast from DC, but I was thwarted by a faulty piece of equipment. Instead, we spoke over Skype about being an asshole, our “guys,” and what you actually do with a math degree.

As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablecast@gmail.com. Also, please leave the podcast a review on iTunes, it helps get it out there. Follow the cast @acrossthecast for updates and new episodes. 

And don't forget to leave me a comment on ManaDeprived.com!

Thanks for listening!

You've probably never heard of him, but writer Titus Chalk is about to publish one of the most important pieces of Magic writing in the history of the game. A journalist by trade, Titus's book, "So Do You Wear a Cape?" will chronicle twenty years of Magic history and culture from an accessible, anthropological, and often personal perspective. I discovered him and the project through a great feature piece he wrote that ties Magic's history with that of his own called "20 Years of Magic: the Gathering, a Game that Changed the World." In our interview, he talked about growing up the son of a well-known Games Workshop miniature-painter, moving to different continents, and how Magic helped him through some troubling times. Follow him on Twitter @tituschalk and keep up with his book, due out soon, on Facebook, "So Do You Wear a Cape?"

As always, you can find me on ManaDeprived.com, KCCompetition.com and iTunes. Send any feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email at acrossthetablepod@gmail.com. You can also follow the cast on Twitter @acrossthecast or on Facebook to keep up to date on the latest haps and episodes.

Thank you for listening!

Armed with a silky voice, sharp business sense, and rough past, Marcel White has made a name for himself in the community as a financial podcaster, above-average player, and media wiz. Marcel and company's podcast, Brainstorm Brewery, is frequently cited as the best in business for financial advice. Hailing from Oakland, California (by way of SanFran), we talked about growing up white, being a nerd, weed, and, because Marcel turned the tables, myself.

As always, you can find me on ManaDeprived.com, KCCompetition.com and iTunes. Send any feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email at acrossthetablepod@gmail.com. You can also follow the cast on Twitter @acrossthecast or on Facebook to keep up to date on the latest haps and episodes.

Thank you for listening!

For my 25th episode, I look back at some of my first ten, warts and all. In order of appearance: grinders Chi Hoi Yim, Gerald “Jim Bob” Sixkiller, John Penick, Cody Jennings, and Adam Boyd. 

As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablecast@gmail.com. Also, please leave the podcast a review on iTunes, it helps get it out there. Follow the cast @acrossthecast for updates and new episodes. 

And don't forget to leave me a comment on ManaDeprived.com!

Thanks for listening!

Matthew “Ogre” Stevens has made quite the reputation for himself buying, selling, and trading Magic cards in North America. After a wicked bender at GenCon which saw $80,000 in sales, we talked at the shop in which I now work, Ogre’s Games in St Louis. Bonus: his daughter Daisy accompanies us for the interview!

As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablecast@gmail.com. Also, please leave the podcast a review on iTunes, it helps get it out there. Follow the cast @acrossthecast for updates and new episodes. 

And don't forget to leave me a comment on ManaDeprived.com!

Thanks for listening!

Michael Arrowsmith was a bouncer, Naval officer, and semi-professional football player in a former life. Now, he’s one of, if not the only, Level 1 Judge making a living judging and traveling exclusively. I first knew him as the guy I never wanted to meet in a fight. So, I sat down with him at GenCon where we talked about intimidation, being a foodie, and growing out of a non-traditional childhood.

As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablecast@gmail.com. Also, please leave the podcast a review on iTunes, it helps get it out there. Follow the cast @acrossthecast for updates and new episodes. 

And don't forget to leave me a comment on ManaDeprived.com!

Thanks for listening!

On a shoestring budget and hard work, Legion Events, Supplies, and Games owner Steve Port started his empire. But he’s not only one of the nicest guys around, he’s one of the hardest working. Live from GenCon, we talked about failed marriages, community involvement, starting a new family twenty years later, and much more.

As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablecast@gmail.com. Also, please leave the podcast a review on iTunes, it helps get it out there. Follow the cast @acrossthecast for updates and new episodes. 

And don't forget to leave me a comment on ManaDeprived.com!

Thanks for listening!