From the Vault: Sam conducts an interview via crystal ball with Underdark Nightmares coach Arcon.

TNT: You won the third Swift Applicants qualifier. How swiftly did you apply?

Arcon: Word of the qualifiers reached us by former player and now assistant coach Allordia. I think we applied only a few hours after the Swift Applicants qualifier was opened.

TNT: And what was the qualifier like? Are swifter teams better?

A: The first 2 games of the qualifier were not too difficult. The last game, though, was against Tough Enough and Rough Enough, the Orc team coached by Csonti. We were very motivated to enter the Cup by beating such a renowned coach and I must say the team was brilliant. The 2-0 victory was highly deserved.

TNT: You made it all the way to the semi-finals. How difficult was the competition?

A: In the Cup you face only teams and coaches that qualified and thus know their job. All games were very interesting. In the first, we defeated an Undead team, we dominated most of the game, were lucky in the last seconds that the ghoul failed to pick up the ball to bring it into overtime. Against Axiom, another Dark Elf team, [inflicting] early casualties helped a lot and we could control the game. The most brutal game was against Tricktickler's Chaos Dwarf team Mandinka Tribe which did cause a total of 7 casualties. In the second half we had only few players left to defend our lead. I'd say this was most nerve-racking.

TNT: You lost to the Nandorins 4-3. Can you tell us about the match? How hard was it to take that loss?

A: The Nandorins were the team to bet your money on. We had suffered many casualties in the quarter-finals vs Mandinka Tribe and were only able to field 11 players with hiring 2 freebooters. The Nandorins had all their players to rely on and we all know that some world-class players are in that team. Surprisingly, the game was very close, mainly due to the several casualties we were able to inflict on them. Apart from the bashing which the Nightmares did to even the odds it was an elf-bowl game. We could not find a way to stop the Nandorins from scoring. With less than 11 players to field most of the game we could not [help that] several receivers... ran deep into our side. And their superb thrower... made sure the ball always reached its target. On the other side, lacking a real thrower... scoring TDs was not so easy for us. Especially the 3rd was most difficult, and although we tried to stall to not give them the time for scoring their 4th TD, it was not possible and the Nandorins forced us to score quickly.

TNT: The Blood Falcons lost by a larger margin than you did. Do you feel you earned a spot in the finals more than they?

A: The Blood Falcons are a Great team. And of course I had liked to face them in the finals. I didn't watch the game, sadly, so I can't tell anything about why they lost by a larger margin. I can only say that we were the underdogs in the game vs the Nandorins and we did perform much better than everyone expected. I believe if we had beaten the Nandorins we also [would have] won the trophy!

TNT: How has the team been doing since? Do they plan to win it all this year?

A: The team is in a bad shape right now. We had some of our best players age and [get injured]. It is difficult to find games for the team right now, especially since a mysterious virus is in the air and takes out 1/3 of my team from time to time. The Nightmares entered the XFL recently, but were defeated in their first match. The team is on the long long road of recovery and right now I can see no end of this. Hopefully they will find their old strength again and then, of course, I will send them to the next major, preferably the Fumbbl Cup.

TNT: Any parting wisdom, death threats?

A: Not much to say. Watch out for the next Fumbbl Cup!

TNT: Thanks for your time.

(editor's note: this interview was conducted some weeks ago. The Nightmares are currently on a 5-game winning streak, and have a roster of 13 players. Though several sport injuries, a run at the Cup this year is not out of the question).

Sam's interviews have appeared in Spike! Magazine and Cross-Sword Puzzle Digest .