A REVOLUTIONARY RETURN
by Roger "The Raj" DeVore

Almost 7 years...
That's 30% of my life!

Sometimes I loved her.
Other times it was bitter hate.
But I've always respected what she's done for my life.

How I've evolved...
How I've changed...
How I'm a better person because of her.

I've traveled thousands of miles.
Battled countless thugs.
And spent every dime I had to be with her.

In my eyes she's always been the one.
A best friend among best friends.

Sure there were others in my past.
During our spats I even drifted away.
Yet she'd always be waiting for my return with open arms.

Doesn't this sound like the perfect woman?
A girl you'd bring home to mom?

We'll 'she' isn't a woman at all; she's a card game.

Do you read the above and feel what I feel? Do you look towards the past and see great memories with the cardboard companion? Through the good, the bad, and the ugly I've always confided my greatest moments to Raw Deal. Maybe I haven't been the greatest person in the world, or even the brightest, but I'm not blind to what Raw Deal has done for my life.

So what is this all about? Why should you care about my relationship with Raw Deal? In these times many of us are coming and going, but Raw Deal is standing here and doing what it does best. And I know many of you have memories that make you smile, moments that defined you, instances that shocked you... and I want everyone to remember those occasions. I want you, the Raw Deal Community, to reflect on your own past... and the best way I can do that is to reflect on mine.

Yet who am I to be an 'expert' at such a subject? Who am I indeed. Oldskool players will smile when they see the mention of my name, while some rookies may not have had the privilege to meet me let alone know how I've contributed to the game they play. Yet after 7 years I can successfully say that every penny I every put into Raw Deal I got back, ten fold.

Thank you WWE Raw Deal.

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I've been with WWE Raw Deal for almost 7 years. In that time I have done more then I ever thought, more then I could ever even imagine! Raw Deal has done more for me then I could have asked; and I thank Comic Images and those associated with the product everyday of me life. I'm not exaggerating when I say that Raw Deal changed my life.

My start with Raw Deal began at Origins 2000. I was a snot-nosed senior in high school, but more importantly I was sick of Magic: the Gathering. Magic had invaded our school a few years prior, and everyone was playing the game. You'd walk into the lunch room and see at least a dozen games going on BEFORE school even started. Yet the rule changes, banned cards, and new traits didn't sit well with many of us. I wanted something new, something that was fun and easy to play.

I demoed both WWE Raw Deal and WCW Nitro at Origins 2000 (my first Origins). I knew that it would be one of these games that I wanted to attach myself too. I've always loved wrestling and these games would allow me to not only play a card game but it would incorporate my wrestling fandom. In the end I shied away from Raw Deal and sided with Nitro. That's right... I went away from Raw Deal for Nitro! Raw Deal was the superior game, it had better mechanics, and was easy to play... yet it had a drastic fallback: it wasn't for sale! Origins 2000 was just a DEMO for Raw Deal, the product wouldn't be released ‘til GenCon 2000 (an event I wasn't attending). This stunk, and I was hurt by this game-tease! So myself and some of my friends picked up Nitro, and tried to make the best of the situation. We grabbed our starter decks and booster packs, leaving Origins with gleaming stars in our eyes.

During the next few months we played Nitro maybe a handful of times. It was cool in the beginning, but the similarities to Magic were there and that made it feel like a M:tG ripoff. Raw Deal was original, not the "same old same old". Yet Raw Deal wasn't around... so with little alternative my play area reverted back to our Magic roots.

Months went by and Nitro and Raw Deal became nothing more then historical footnotes in our memories. Heck, at some point I actually forgot that WWE Raw Deal even existed. My senior year had begun and I was heavily involved in work and school. Yet Raw Deal wouldn't be left as just a memory... it had other plans.

My good ol’ buddy Brad Temple had gone with me to Origins and demoed Raw Deal. Though he wasn't a wrestling fan he was (and still is) a card game fan. He also knew how much I loved wrestling. On a random trip to a near-bye town, Bradley saw something that caught his eye. At the counter of a game store sat a box of Raw Deal starters... and there were three left! Brad purchased those three decks and brought them home, calling myself and AJ Manns over for a 'surprise'. And boy was I surprised as I was handed my very first Raw Deal started: Stone Cold Steve Austin (Brad had The Rock and AJ got HHH).

In the coming days we played and had fun, and others saw us playing and wanted to learn how. Eventually we were able to pick up boosters and other starters, allowing us to change the decks to our liking. Other friends started to get involved and they too were picking up decks. A phenomenon was born.

Raw Deal got CRAZY! I mean you couldn't go anywhere without seeing someone playing the game. You'd get to school a half-hour early to get in a few games (we had band practice first, so we'd turn the bass drums on their sides and use them as card tables), hit some more games during study hall and lunch, and even run to the local restaurants for some after-school Raw Dealing (at one point I had played at every restaurant in my home town)! We were even playing them DURING class! Friends were soon known not by their name, but by the deck they would play! Heck, as I was telling my roommate Dan about this article he said, "Do you remember the Undertaker deck I had?" (And I did!)

Around 2001 we caught word of some tournaments being held in Findley OH. Were we good enough to play strangers? What would the outcome be? Throwing caution to the wind, we embarked for our first official tournament. I played Mankind, and didn't make the cut... but I learned something important. People that play Raw Deal are friendly! This is shocking as many of the people I've met from other card games are heartless beings. Sure, I've met a few evils in Raw Deal; but everyone had a good side to them and if they didn't then they didn't last in the game too long. This exposure to the Raw Deal community convinced us to dive head deep, and we made trips weekly to play at the Findley Store (It became a second home for us. Heck, I remember one trip where we played hooky to go up and get boxes of Fully Loaded; the trip was remarkable because it was the first time I ever saw a 'god pack' opened). We then started to travel to Columbus, and anywhere we could, just for the sake of competition.

To me, this was my golden age of Raw Deal. Heck, I'd play anything, anywhere, at anytime!! The game was entertaining, everyone was having fun, and even if you lost you were still having a good time.

Where am I going with this? What is the point of this history lesson?

When I moved to Columbus in 2001 I met a man named Tom Teagardner (maybe you have heard of him, he is one of the hardest working people every to be associated with Raw Deal). Tom's a good guy and we became close friends. As time went on he was asked to host the Origins 2002 event (as he was the local Columbus manager), yet he needed another person to help him. I was that other person. I helped with that event and did such a great job that I was asked to return the following year (Origins 2003). And then I was asked to attend GenCon as part of the Raw Deal team. After Tom Teagardner received food poisoning at GenCon 2003 I stepped up to the plate, working almost 20 hours a day and receiving the title of "Raw Deal Superman" from Barron Vangor Toth.
From there I assisted with the Official Raw Deal Rankings (‘til my departure in 2005), returned to host Origins and GenCon 2004 & 2005 (becoming the first back-to-back GenCon Raw Deal Superman), and morphed from a player into playtester (seeing the product and having a direct change in it before release to the public. You know the Molly/Gail face card? I had a hand in that along with many others).

I've traveled to Massachusetts (OctoberQuest 2001; a 14 hour trip where I didn't sleep for two whole days), Milwaukee (GenCon 2002; slept in Teagardner's car for 4 days with my friend Lance Hardwik just so we didn't have to pay for a hotel room), Wisconsin (Worst in the Mid-West 2002; It was the worst), Indianapolis (GenCon 2003/2004/2005; Worked behind the counter as a Raw Deal lacky), Pittsburgh (BurghBash 2002; my most memorable Raw Deal moment), New York/New Jersey (Summer 2004; a week long vacation with the Dark Tower boyz), and a dozen other cities in the Ohio Valley area.

I've met a ton of people who have touched my life, became my friends, and are still some of the most important individuals that have ever graced my world (props to Team Curious George! Boz 4 Life! RESPECT THE MONKEY!!!).

Some would say I have become a success. Raw Deal took a kid and gave him the opportunity to shine. Some would say I've had the greatest run in WWE Raw Deal history... I'm a true underdog story of a kid from nowhere who impressed the masses, and became highly respected by his peers. Heck, at points in time I would go to tournaments and have children request my autograph!!! And I did all this without winning a World Championship, I did all of this without 'winning' all of my games, without winning a qualifier, heck I don't think I've ever one a 'big money' tournament (best I've ever done was Top 8 at Origins 2002 w/ Chyna & Top 8, Wizard World Philly 2005 w/ 3 Minute Warning, Top 8 at Brawl in the Heart of it All 2005 w/ Tajiri, and 2nd Place at BurghBash 2002 w/ BA Billy Gunn).

I've had drinks with Raw Deal World Champion Bryan Witte in Philadelphia (we ordered shots by color with Dan Lopretto), I had Raw Deal World Champion Mike Canu sleep on my couch (he even brought along the now rules guru, Ian "World's Greatest Dad" Taylor, who passed out in my recliner), had 'Evil' Dave Fogle bring me more beer then I can recall (and he is always welcomed in my home forever), took a random week vacation to New Jersey with CraigBurg (stayed at THK's pad, what a guy!), and shared a hotel room with more Raw Deal icons then I can count!!!! Heck, I have stayed at Raw Dealers' homes who I've known only for a short amount of time... and they took me in like I was family!

But even after all the memories I have, all the stories I could share, I realized a long time ago that this is just a game... and that I enjoyed PLAYING the game over winning.

In 2006 I attended Origins... and for the first time ever I attended for reasons other then Raw Deal. I didn't even play Raw Deal. I walked away from the game... leaving it behind. Some would say I left because the game was falling apart. That isn't true. Raw Deal was succeeding very well at this point and Comic Images had to be happy with the results they were obtaining. Some have said that I had a falling out with Barron and company. This is also a lie. Heck, Barron even at one point asked if I'd return to Origins 2006 in refilling my tournament organizing role! And yet others say I left the game because I didn't like it anymore. And that is a truth, I wasn't having fun. Winning seemed more important to people then playing. I've enjoyed everyone who I met, and even at times when I didn't like 'playing' the game, I continued on because I wanted to see the people. Yet with the fall of my play area (we lost three stores in a span of six months) the players started to drift away. I think it was easy for me to blame Survivor Series 3... it was easy to blame Heat and other traits (though I will be the first to say I don't care for them)... but in the end I left because it was gone. The magic I once felt had departed.

Then I saw a revolution... a WWE Raw Deal Revolution.

I feel like I did in the beginning. It’s new, its easy to pick up, and its not complicated. I see players departing the Raw Deal scene because they hate Revolution; I just don't understand why. Many feel there older cards have lost value, while some think All Axxess has become too complicated. But no one is talking about the choices we now have. I don't like All Axxess (I might play a few games here or there, but it isn't my main format) but I LOVE Revolution. I have the choice, the ability to switch up and play different kinds of games.

So I had to make a decision... should I get back into Raw Deal. And that question was sealed as my area started holding Revolution tournaments. People that use to play are getting back into the game (Tom Teagardner, Jim Hoss, and others). And for the first time in over six-months I have participated in an official Raw Deal event (got second place, woot)!

This feels like the beginning all over again. This feels like the times I use to remember as the golden age. This is fun!

When I started Raw Deal I was young, impressionable. I didn't know where life would take me or who'd I meet along the way. Raw Deal has taken me all over the world, meeting people from all around the world, and learning valuable lessons along the way (like "You Can't Stop The Rogg"). When you see me at Origins or GenCon I'd be more then happy to share some of those stories... but I think I've shared what I wanted to in this article. And what is that? It doesn't matter if you’re an old player or a new player, a rookie or a pro, the point of this game is to have fun. If you take it too seriously you will lose in the log run. Have fun, play weird decks, share your ideas, help the younger players, and build your area. Revolution isn't the end of Raw Deal, it is actually only the beginning.

Roger "The Raj" DeVore
"Twice as Evil"
Revolution Player