The White Book Podcast was founded in 2010, originally under the name 2 Champs and a Chump. The original hosts at the time consisted of Greg Atkinson, Brett Zeiler, and Will Lentz.
Where does the name 2 Champs and a Chump come from? Well, Greg Atkinson has won two A Game of Thrones card game World Championships, once in 2004 and again in 2009. Brett Zeiler won the Melee Championship in 2010 and the Joust Championship in 2011 (the first player in the history of the game to win both titles in his career). And Will Lentz (sometimes known as a Championship Level Player) got stuck with all of the hard work. Darryl Lloyd, of course, joined us as a regular host shortly after and threw the entire naming system out of whack.
With the relaunch of the game with a second edition, current host, editor, and producer, Will, decided that it was time for a bit of a rebranding for the show as well. And thus debuted our new name and site- The White Book. We’re planning on keeping the same level of fun and insight, but also tighten up the act a bit. Join current hosts Will, Kyle, Aaron, and Tommy mostly weekly!
We’re a fan podcast for the A Game of Thrones LCG by Fantasy Flight games as well as various other works connected to George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels. Of course, that doesn’t mean that we rule out talking about a wide variety of other geek and gamer related culture.
Also, props to Darksbane at CardgameDB.com for the chance to get us started with hosting and such way back when.
Now, We’ve expanded the focus of the site into more of an AGOT magazine feel with a variety of articles, podcasts, and videos brought to you every weekday by our awesome staff of contributors.
Contributors
Aaron: Coming soon.
Alex:Â Alex Kern has been playing Thrones since the summer of 2012. He is fortunate enough to live in the Tulsa area and plays locally at The Covenant Store. He currently writes two columns for The White Book: Two Guys, One Deck and The Deck Doctor. Both are centered around his favorite aspect of the game: deck building. If you ever want to talk shop about deck building, you can usually find him hanging out on the Discord server.
Andreas:Â aka Buzz is a silvertongued Swede from Stockholm. Most known for his placings in Melee and community building in Sweden.
When not playing thrones he runs a live streaming cooperative with some friends and consumes ridiculous amounts of tv-series and movies. The rest of his time is divided between travel, sports, the gym, board games and nurturing his long love of DotA.
Yes, Buzz is actually (distantly) related to his name-sake Buzz Aldrin.
Greg: There once was a Dobbler named Greg
Who scorned all drink from a keg
While others got drunk
He behaved like a punk
And Cobra Kai’d all their legs
Kyle:Â There once was a player named kyle
Who hasn’t been on in awhile
He travels a lot
He’s down for a shot
Booze seems to help his playstyle
Lauren: Lauren Fitch, aka Dr. Fitch, aka The Fitch That Wins, resides in Boston, Massachusetts. She’s been playing AGOT competitively for 3 years; prior to that she was a competitive Scrabble player. Lauren is an infectious disease researcher at a medical school in Boston and she loves to listen to Thrones podcasts while she’s working in the lab. She also writes The White Harbor Times, a biweekly column focusing on deckbuilding, tactics, and strategy in A Game of Thrones. Lauren has been referred to as the “beauty, brains, and brawn of the Boston meta”—she organizes tournaments there as well as online via the OCTGN platform.
There once was a doctor named Fitch
From Bara she never would switch
Her rivals were beat
And they knelt at the feet
Of Lauren and Mel, the Red Wit
Luke: Luke hails from the Bluegrass-covered hills of Kentucky horse country, says yall a lot, and can whip up a fried chicken that’ll make a tomcat smack a bulldog. Luke came from a healthcare family in rural Kentucky and originally wanted to be av radiologist…until he had a few concussions and forgot calculus for a few months. In response, he started playing with words. He holds a B.A. in Spanish and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing. He teaches at an inner-city high school in Indianapolis and plays Thrones around the Midwest.
Nathan: Coming Soon
Patrick: Patrick Haynes has been playing competitive thrones for two years and played terribly with his friends for a year before that. He lives in Madison, WI, where he organizes tournaments and helps run a Thrones league. He is currently studying History at the University of Madison and works as a tutor at Madison College. His favorite aspects of Thrones are: Deckbuilding, playing Jaimes style decks, and getting beaten by Sam Braatz. He writes the column “Taking the White” for the White Book Podcast which focuses on strategy and deck building.
Roy:Â Roy Rogers is the best worst player in the New York City meta. He has been playing since the tail end of first edition and frequently travels to tournaments in northeastern North America. Beyond being a Thrones player, Roy is a historian, teacher, and cat person. For the White Book he writes a column on meta building and tournament organizing, lives-streams for Beyond the White Book, and sometimes appears on the podcast. Roy is not named after the cowboy or the restaurant.
Will: Will is a longtime fan of sci-fi and fantasy who first discovered the AGOT CCG in the fall of 2002, shortly after reading the first three novels that summer. He was instantly hooked and playing the game has been his competitive outlet every since. He cofounded 2 Champs and a Chump (now The White Book) in 2010 and since took over the show completely. His favorite faction is House Lannister and he’s a Shagga player at heart.