Matt Sokol/Interviews

This is a sub-page of Matt Sokol.

This page lists interviews with Matt Sokol, the 2000 SWCCG World Champion.

List

Date	Outlet / host	Format	Title
7 October 2000	Decipher, at DecipherCon 2000 (posted by brandon baity, NanashiStudios)	Video, with Yannick Lapointe	DecipherCon 2000 Championship Match Interview
25 October 2000	Trandosite (Rod Latham)	Written Q&A	Matt Sokol interview
29 November 2020	KendallCast (Kendall Halman)	Podcast (39 min), World Championship Interview Series	The Matt Sokol Interview
6 May 2025	BillBisco2 (YouTube)	Video	SWCCG PDS2: Matt Sokol, Worlds 2000 Champion Interview, HB X-wing Numbers, ISB Sandwhirl

PDS2 (6 May 2025)

The interview covers Sokol's 2000 Worlds lists and his 1998 Decipher World Championship trip. He won the Coruscant New York qualifier, met Hayes Hunter on a connecting flight, and played Hunt Down and Hidden Base against Operatives.

DecipherCon post-match interview (7 October 2000)

After the 2000 Decipher World Championship Final Confrontation, Sokol and Yannick Lapointe sat for a post-match video. Derek Brooks provided the footage; brandon baity (NanashiStudios) posted it on 21 August 2018.

Trandosite (25 October 2000)

Rod Latham interviewed Sokol for Trandosite. The full text follows.

Site player profile:

Matt Sokol is one of Coruscant's top-rated players. He has been playing since the game was released and has been to worlds twice, once in 1998 (when he won the Coruscant regional) and again in 2000 as player number 36 in Day 1. In 1999 he just missed out on competing in the World Finals, placing 3rd in the Wildcard when only the top 2 went through. In 2000 he won the Philadelphia and Boston Grand Slams before blazing through Days 2 and 3 of the World Finals to face Yannick Lapointe in the final duel. He subsequently lost the first game and won the second by one more, winning the duel overall and becoming the first World Champion of the new millenium.

1. How did you get involved in SWCCG, and what attracted you to the game?

My best freind Mike d'Aboise got some packs one day, and we pulled a leia in our first pack. From that day on we just kept going back for more, and the rest is history.

2. If you could change one thing in SWCCG, what would it be?

How fast the game is nowadays...I mean you can now start with up to ten cards on the table. I am more of an old school player, I mean do you remember when you only started with one card on the table?

3. What were your expectations going into DecipherCon 2000, and how did you manage to keep up the momentum playing through three grueling days of SWCCG?

I thought I was going to at least get into day 2...maybe get into day 3. I wasn't thinking about winning or even placing top 5. What kept me going was all my friends on team albany. They were there for me every minute on the weekend. I love those guys, they did so much for me.

4. Can you explain the "Abyssin Ornamen Incident"? You have stated that "Yannick did have a chance to draw up, but if he did I would have won the game...I had an Ornament" - yet your opponent in that game recently claimed, "All of you who said [Sokol] could have played a used interrupt are morons."

Hmmm I can't really comment on what Yannick said, but here is what happened: I had 3 or 4 ORS on the table and an ornament in my hand. If he was about to draw his last card I would have played my ornament on my ORS and it would have come down to a destiny draw. Would I have been able to draw under 4? I don't know, but looking at the destinies in the deck, I think I could have.

5. What were your initial reactions following the final confrontation with Yannick Lapointe? How would you have felt if you had not have won?

I was so happy. To hear all my friends screaming....it was the greatest feeling in the world. If I hadn't won I don't think I would have been too upset...I mean going into the final without a luke....I really didn't think I had a shot at the tittle.

6. Aside from winning the SWCCG World Finals, what were the other highlights of DecipherCon 2000 for you?

Winning the Team Tourney....team albany has been trying to do something like that for a while....and to win as a team felt great.

7. What is your opinion of the latest SWCCG products - the Jabba's Palace Sealed Deck (JPSD) and Death Star II?

Death Star 2 changed the game so much. You can get so much force fast now...it is insane. I really can't comment on JPOSTD, I haven't had a change to see its full impact on the game. So far it looks like alot of fun can come out of it.

8. What do you enjoy doing outside of SWCCG?

Playing all types of sports. Going to the movies with Team Albany. Taking road trips with the team. Watching anime. Going out in college.

9. If you could play any player in the world, who would you most want to play and why?

Gary Carman. He was the coolest world champ, and I've never had a chance to play against him.

10. What is the greatest misconception in SWCCG?

That people need to spend alot of money on cards to win. I mean look at the light side decks that have won worlds the last two years. You don't need 3 obi's in your deck to win. Just play good solid star wars and you can win.

Many thanks!

KendallCast (29 November 2020)

Part of Kendall Halman's World Championship Interview Series, which preceded his podcast Corran on the Horn, of past world champions, released for the 25th World Championship. The Players Committee Hall of Fame entry for Sokol links the episode.

PDS2 video (6 May 2025)

Sokol looks back at the 2000 Decipher World Championship and his Hidden Base X-wing Numbers and ISB Sandwhirl lists.

See also

• Matt Sokol
• Trandosite
• DecipherCon 2000