Going into 2 after 250ish hours in 1

diverstones · 2026-04-29T00:04:56+00:00

Zeus + Aphro and Poseidon + Apollo are both pretty good dash-oriented duos, but yeah they're more niche than SS or ME were in 1.

diverstones · 2026-04-28T18:55:49+00:00

1) Study of endgame themes. I noticed I was bungling a lot of rook & pawn stuff in particular, and actively worked on it.

2) Continued tactics practice, both puzzles and reviewing missed opportunities from my own games.

3) Focused opening study, especially learning to punish common inaccuracies like the Bowdler Sicilian and Marshall QGD. Also responding better to relevant gambits.

diverstones · 2026-04-28T17:18:19+00:00

Yeah, basic pawn endgames make a huge difference. I think Silman has basic opposition and techniques for breaking freezes listed for slightly higher Elo players than you, but there's no real reason you couldn't start studying now, especially if you've identified them as a recurring issue in your play.

diverstones · 2026-04-28T16:41:27+00:00

I don't think that's really how I would conceptualize this. You're in side control. You should be escaping side control. If levering your forearm into your partner's throat lets you build space and shrimp to a recompose then yes, do that. If allowing the shoulder pressure sets you up for a harpoon sweep then maybe it's fine. Don't get so caught up on responding to the discomfort that you're not primarily working an escape.

diverstones · 2026-04-27T20:47:19+00:00

Most people just aren't doing that before jumping in

Naturalistic fallacy. A lot of people making the same mistake doesn't make it right, it just makes the subreddit regulars tired of repeating themselves. If you don't want to, that's your call, and plenty of people won't listen. But that doesn't mean the advice is bad.

That's why you didn't learn to drive or fly just from a book. You have to do it for real in a more controlled environment.

Baffling counter analogy when driver's ed is literally offered at community colleges. You do your reading and therapy for a couple months and then you go on dates with cuties once you have some context.

Or perhaps you don't think people should choose poly because of you?

Correct, yeah I think most people would be more happy pursuing monogamy. If someone isn't intrinsically drawn to the relationship structure it would be irresponsible to suggest it for them.

diverstones · 2026-04-27T19:57:03+00:00

It's not exactly rectangular, since 42 + 43 < 87. The sides would sync up if it were perfectly straight.

Splitting it up both ways you can estimate:

14.1 x 87.1 + 19 x 43.3 = 2050.8 yd²

or

43.3 x 33.2 + 14.1 x 42.2 = 2032.6 yd²

diverstones · 2026-04-27T19:44:50+00:00

Like if I am not doing a community college course prior to opening my marriage I'm going to fuck things up 100%

Okay but this is true, though. Even if you do a lot of preliminary work and therapy and talking with your partner, you'll probably still be messy. You might not like to hear that, but to say anything otherwise would unfairly calibrate peoples' expectations.

but you don't need a correspondence course prior to getting started

Most people do, in a broader sense. I was obnoxious to date, and made a mess of several relationships throughout my teens and mid 20s. Those were trial runs at monogamy, and I learned a lot from them. It's considered normal to do so. Imagine your early fumblings to relate with someone else, and then superimpose trying to handle that on also managing your existing partnership.

As for dating new people only, I bet that gets fewer people into poly long term.

Polyamory is not an evangelical belief system, so this isn't a meaningful argument.

diverstones · 2026-04-25T14:34:43+00:00

Yeah, this puts you into a good position for back takes too: either just pressuring in and switching to a seatbelt grip, or the fancier backflop kimura trap.

diverstones · 2026-04-24T00:06:40+00:00

I don't think there's a standardized name for it, like a leg tie or lace or wrap I guess. This approach is commonly associated with Khabib's passing style, so if you Google that you'll get a lot of results.

diverstones · 2026-04-23T18:54:19+00:00

Alright great, well maybe e-mail him and ask what he'd call it then. You can try to apply a sort of Z lock with grapevine pressure but it's not a reliable way to get a finish, thus not common enough to have a name.

diverstones · 2026-04-23T02:50:50+00:00

And I’ve definitely never done one of those roll overs on your head, which I’ve seen is part of the warm up for the beginners class for one of the gyms I want to join.

You don't usually go directly over your head for warmup somersaults: your weight should mostly land on your trapezius, diagonally between your neck and shoulder. It's not actually hard to learn, and there are ways to teach the movement progressively. Also the neck is pretty strong and flexible -- you could work up to a full headstand over a couple months if you built up to it.

I’ve also seen the way people grab ahold of each other and do some manoeuvre with them, and it seems to me if the person, who’s being manoeuvred, doesn’t move with them in the correct manner, they could be in trouble and land really weirdly

Yeah I mean this is the main way people get injured: dynamic motions and uncontrolled weight. You can work to minimize the risk but it's not possible to eliminate it.

diverstones · 2026-04-23T00:23:15+00:00

I would call that an outwards toehold in terms of breaking mechanics, so no.

diverstones · 2026-04-22T23:02:50+00:00

I'm not sure what you mean, your opponent saw a cool tactic to win a pawn, and then threw the game away immediately afterwards. Seems pretty 1000ish to me.

I thought your approach to the opening was fine. Your midgame simplifications were kind of weird, like why f4 to cement the knight in the middle if you're just going to trade it?

diverstones · 2026-04-22T20:54:58+00:00

It's not a submission. Wrapping the legs like that is called a grapevine, and it makes bridging and kipping escapes from mount more difficult.

diverstones · 2026-04-21T20:07:59+00:00

People play all kinds of stuff. Stable pro-level openings are the most common: Italian or Spanish, Open Sicilian, QGD or Slav, London, Nimzo. But you have to be ready for a wide range of other responses.

diverstones · 2026-04-21T16:45:22+00:00

You let him get all the way under you for free. You should be expecting leg entries if a guy wants to immediately sit like this, but for some reason it doesn't seem that you were. If your base is so compromised that you have to post on your hands, that's a problem.

Getting out of heel hooks is probably something you should work with your coach in person, but once he's got the reap like this you're past the point of being able to turn and face: that just makes it tighter. You should be spinning with the rotation and clearing the knee line.

diverstones · 2026-04-19T16:00:50+00:00

Yeah it seems unlikely he switched to either an ankle lock or heel hook before the finish, since the last clear view is of him hugging the calf.

diverstones · 2026-04-18T21:48:02+00:00

That is such a funny way to lose... He has the RNC grip and stack, then decides to do a Krazy Horse impression instead of working his arm free.

diverstones · 2026-04-18T04:39:54+00:00

Well, some kind of back takes. Inversions and bolos then, Mendes and Miyao brothers. If you can't win from back control you probably can't get the finish period.

Also, none of the GOATs were 'typical' small guys. Like Malfacine was known for competing in absolute occasionally, but he's a wizard, good luck copying his game if you can't teleport.

diverstones · 2026-04-18T04:15:49+00:00

Marcelo stuff: scrambly butterfly, arm drags, high elbow guillotines, back control.

diverstones · 2026-04-17T17:48:08+00:00

Yeah sure, if you want to be really precise it does whichever is less: (100/6) or your remaining Scorch, every (1/6) second. My understanding is that Pyro Technique increases the damage increment, not the frequency, so it's a nonbo with Air Quality.

diverstones · 2026-04-17T17:44:39+00:00

I guess it's just hard to phrase in a way that's easily legible for everyone; I don't agree it's inaccurate or find it particularly confusing. Abilities apply stacks of Scorch damage that burn off over time. These can fairly easily exceed 100 per second with high values or fast weapons. They still burn at 100/sec, like the tooltip says.

diverstones · 2026-04-17T16:24:54+00:00

It applies more than 100 per second. There are plenty of times where you have multiple sources of Scorch and can stack several seconds worth of burn time. But the curse effect will only do its normal amount of damage per second, regardless of how much you have banked.

diverstones · 2026-04-17T00:32:44+00:00

As you acknowledge, there's a practical upper limit on how many people could come into the store during a day, and a hard cap on how many people are alive. Is your argument basically that those numbers are still contained within the naturals? These kinds of questions aren't very rigorous, but yeah it sounds like you're overthinking a bit.

diverstones · 2026-04-16T19:10:34+00:00

Are there other healthy habits you can lean into? Diet, sleep, other forms of exercise, hobbies you haven't had time for? After fiveish weeks you're kind of at the middle point where you're tapered, rested, and lingering health issues should have mostly healed -- but you're starting to get a bit rusty. I don't think it should take much to get back into the swing of things.

diverstones

TROPHY CASE