Interview: Ragost Already Sick of “Shrimp-Fried Rice” Jokes from MTG Community
SOTHERA, The Edge – Though his name is infamous throughout the system thanks to tales (either real or fake) of his exploits, interplanetary chef Ragost has been living with a new level of fame, gained from being featured on a Magic: The Gathering card.
Ragost became immortalized on the card Ragost, Deft Gastronaut from the recent Edge of Eternities set, and instantly became a fan favorite in Magic‘s Commander format due to his unusual look and abilities. The newly-popular “gastronaut” sat down with us at his current job, a Cheesecake Factory on Evendo, to talk about how he got on the card, and the highs and lows of his newfound fame.
[This interview has been edited for space and clarity]
Commander’s Herald: How did you get in contact with Wizards to appear in their new card set?
Ragost: Eh, I’d heard around the system that some game wanted to make cards about the ships and people of Sothera, and I knew I had to get my name in there. I mean, come on, I’m Ragost! I’m not just a random citizen, I’m one of the best chefs in the Edge! Why not put my beautiful face on a playing card?
So I made some moves, greased the right mandibles, and now yours truly is featured on a bonafide playing card! Sure I only made a few thousand credits for my photograph, but I know that Chef Grobtrallok from Adagia can’t say they’ve got a card!
CH: Have you gotten any new attention from Magic fans?
R: Oh boy, you don’t know the half of it! Apparently the card they made of me is pretty good, which I’m not surprised about, but that means I got a bunch of new fans. There are some great people out there, sending me their own recipes and stuff, and I adore them.
But of course, there’s some jealous jerks who are out to annoy me with their petty attempts at jokes. Yeah, I’ve made lobster mac and cheese and shrimp-fried rice before, what’s it to you? It’s not funny to point it out to me, and it’s definitely isn’t funny the thirtieth time someone does it. Almost daily I get one of these goons thinking they’ve made the joke for the first time, or they pull some random Zoidberg qoute out of their ass to yell at me, it’s exhausting. This is why I stay off Reddit.
CH: What are your prospects now that you’ve had your life changed by being on a Magic card?
R: Honestly, I could ride the wave of this new popularity into any number of things: a cooking show, a cookbook, maybe a sauce team-up with Rocco or Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar, I’m a big fan of theirs, I don’t know.
Look, as of right now not much has changed. Sure I’ve gotta beat MTG fanboys back with a stick, but other than that I’ve just been doing what I love: turning things that shouldn’t be edible into gourmet cooking, getting into intergalactic food fights, and being the best damn chef in the system!
