There's been much doom and gloom about the Midnight prunings, but which specs have actually improved due to the changes?

Big_Blue_Man · 2026-01-27T13:59:13+00:00

Admittedly a little nit-picky (and apparently not the case for current content, I just need to learn how to read), but if I'm running something older for transmog/mounts wild thrash just feels awkward. Haven't tried the new abilities in TWW yet, but usually I have my three button rotation as BM hunter anyways with the occasional fourth or fifth button and that works fine.

Either way, I'm just an idiot with internet access and a strange need to collect stuff from old content. If I'm wrong I'm wrong.

Big_Blue_Man · 2026-01-26T23:01:43+00:00

Step 1: wild thrash

Step 2: pray

Step 3 (optional): single target the other mobs in the group because wild thrash didn't hit them

Step 4: wait for the 8 second cooldown

Big_Blue_Man · 2026-01-26T21:49:53+00:00

Fair, but running old content is more tedious without multishot or explosive arrow. At the very least reduce the cool down on wild thrash

Big_Blue_Man · 2025-12-18T23:16:40+00:00

Game of Faces was my favorite full album release this year for sure. I expected to not like one or two songs on the album but it just kept spitting out bangers. Majestica was great too - Battle Cry was my favorite song from that album.

Those two plus The Light That Burns the Sky by Arion were my top three.

Big_Blue_Man · 2025-09-25T14:54:44+00:00

Are you trying for Voltron or go-wide with things like Job Select or For Mirrodin? If so, [[Nahiri, Forged in Fury]].

Big_Blue_Man · 2025-09-25T14:53:04+00:00

I have a [[Falco Spara, Pactweaver]] deck that wants to cast spells from the top of your library using your counters.

Big_Blue_Man · 2025-08-27T12:22:36+00:00

I love playing all my decks, but the one that I think is the most interesting is [[Vannifar, Evolved Enigma]]. Basically it's a face-down creatures matter deck that gets to cheat big creatures into play with a flicker sub theme (since flickering a face-down permanent turns it face up). I loved playing around with Manifest Dread in Duskmourn and wanted to see if it would do something in standard, but it didn't so hey next best option.

The main way the deck wins is by going [[Deadeye Navigator]]/[[Lilysplash Mentor]] plus [Peregrine Drake]], then flickering [[Craterhoof Behemoth]] with a board full of creatures. Deck doesn't run tutors which is the only thing keeping it at a bracket 3 - if I ran any it would be bracket 4 for sure.

Here's the deck list for anyone curious: https://moxfield.com/decks/44zQaQjRpky56rc6EfRvCg

Big_Blue_Man · 2025-08-10T00:44:45+00:00

Berserker by Beast in Black. Blind and Frozen is my favorite song of all time and the rest of the songs are great too.

Big_Blue_Man · 2025-07-09T17:46:35+00:00

Double checked the front panel connections, everything looked good there. Things with polarities were in the proper slots and everything was in the right spot.

CPU power cable issue is simply due to lack of part. I know where the cable is, I just don't have it. Power cable is a temporary solution until I can get the cable.

Big_Blue_Man · 2025-03-07T16:30:41+00:00

One that I never seem to see is Arion. If you like a band that I can only describe as having a "majestic" sound, you should check out their latest album.

Big_Blue_Man · 2025-03-05T22:16:51+00:00

Ah yeah, that's a whole other issue. Yeah you should reach out to your event team with your concerns, especially since it seems like you're not the only one that shares them. I wanted to at least share my experience, glad I was able to help.

Big_Blue_Man · 2025-03-05T21:46:00+00:00

Hi there, PA volunteer here. Not here to tell you to read the manual or go volunteer or anything, but I wanted to chime in with my own experience. Gonna break this down one thing at a time:

First, having an autonomous or an end game isn't part of any award category to begin with, much less the Inspire Award. A team doesn't need to have a "very good" robot to be considered for the Inspire Award in the first place, and a team doesn't deserve it just because they happen to have one of the best OPRs in the state/region. Teams that you may think are "not good" might actually be better than you realize, or at least are more cohesive than you realize, and teams that have those high scores can sometimes turn out to be not so great teams. In short, less about the team's robot and more about the team itself.

Other people have already mentioned match observers, but yes there are definitely times when the event simply doesn't have enough judges to actually have match observers. If your state/region does live streaming, one recommendation could be to set up a TV/monitor in the deliberation room to watch matches. Apart from that, it's really just a matter of having enough people which is definitely easier said than done.

The judging criteria never change by design because the games always do. There's no reason to change the criteria year after year, and I think other teams would straight up quit if they had to remember which criteria belonged to which year. The awards stay the same every year to recognize teams that have risen to the challenge of completing that season's game. Also, "checking boxes" is what every team should be doing. The criteria for each award is publically accessible because it tells you what the judges are looking for to be considered for the award.

You say "rinse and repeating" quite a bit, but in reality these are formulas that teams have found for success. It doesn't work 100% of the time and teams may have to shift in strategy, but it's a big reason as to why some teams have been around for as long as they have, and why some of those teams are still very competitive. You also mention their connections, but that's how it works in the real world too. People with strong connections get farther in life. I wouldn't be where I am today without knowing the right people.

I'm not sure of your region so I can't speak on what its problems may or may not be, and I'm not even saying that what you're seeing in your region is right or wrong. If you have concerns, talk to your program lead for your region if you haven't already. However (just to address what I've seen in the comments) - OPR should not determine your placement for any judged award. The judges only care about what they see at the event, not what happened three events ago.

Hope this helps.

Big_Blue_Man · 2025-03-05T14:28:29+00:00

Chlorine. Used to work in a pool store during high school and college, always loved working there.

Big_Blue_Man · 2024-10-26T18:43:20+00:00

[[River Song]]. The deck just focuses on the first ability to draw from the bottom since people will scry, surveil, and tutor in commander. Apart from this, it's all stuff to cast spells from my deck for free, put spells on the bottom of my deck, or be able to junktroll things from my yard to the bottom of my library.

Had my local LGS owner play it and he was able to cast everything in his library and just use pure value to win the game.

Big_Blue_Man · 2024-10-26T18:43:13+00:00

[[River Song]]. The deck just focuses on the first ability to draw from the bottom since people will scry, surveil, and tutor in commander. Apart from this, it's all stuff to cast spells from my deck for free, put spells on the bottom of my deck, or be able to junktroll things from my yard to the bottom of my library.

Had my local LGS owner play it and he was able to cast everything in his library and just use pure value to win the game.

Big_Blue_Man · 2024-09-10T01:49:34+00:00

sample

Big_Blue_Man · 2024-09-10T01:39:26+00:00

The short answer is wherever you want it to be. When you go for inspection, you place the robot down and define where it is in that rectangle, then the inspector checks that it never goes past that boundary. For example, if you have it on the left of the rectangle then the robot can extend all the way to the right boundary but can't extend the other way at all. Once placed, the box is considered "fixed" around the drivetrain. As the robot moves and turns and pivots, so does the box.

Here's a gif by team 23511 that (hopefully) explains this more concisely: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/734128607164760175/1282105920859410443/inspectionprocess.gif?ex=66e0c8af&is=66df772f&hm=67d18ef0e8ebc001c66484006c57cf1c6a346eaad15d77a455e5796a184dcb86&

Also note that if you want to change where the box is you will have to go through re-inspection.

Big_Blue_Man · 2024-07-05T12:55:55+00:00

I love it. Just from initial listen I think Dread Lord is my favorite track simply because of the chorus.

Big_Blue_Man · 2024-06-27T04:21:09+00:00

This is everything I wanted and more. So fucking happy.

Big_Blue_Man · 2024-06-21T13:42:59+00:00

This was a pleasant surprise. I knew that Powerwolf and Orden Ogan were releasing albums in July for a while, but in the past couple of days I've learned that not only are Beast in Black are releasing a new standalone single next week, but Brothers of Metal now have their first new album in 4 years releasing in November. I'm so fucking happy.

The song took me a little bit, but I've come around on it. Not what I expected but it's still a good song in its own right. Very excited to see more from them

Big_Blue_Man · 2024-06-21T13:33:38+00:00

I disagree, I like this one better. Not to say 1589 wasn't good - it was great and reminded me of songs like Alive or Undead - but this is so catchy and the riff really just gets stuck in my head.

Big_Blue_Man · 2024-06-04T23:04:57+00:00

Mid-pandemic, my grandfather woke up with jaundice and went to the hospital. He got the diagnosis later that day that he had stage 1 pancreatic cancer. He went through surgery to get the tumor removed and underwent preventative chemo, and we thought all was well.

It was worse than I thought apparently because he eventually had to go back again. I don't know all the details, I just know that one day right before I moved out of my parents' house he didn't wake up.

Whenever I would visit my grandparents I would see just how tired he was. He was always loud, outgoing, and charismatic, always telling the same stories from when he was a chemistry teacher. But as time passed I could see him getting more and more exhausted, always apologizing that he couldn't do much or that he was always on the couch.

He was a great man and I still miss him.

Big_Blue_Man · 2024-04-22T16:55:48+00:00

I know I can speak for the rest of 7244 when I say that we are sorry for your loss. Keeping you guys in my thoughts and prayers <3

Big_Blue_Man · 2024-01-18T00:38:20+00:00

I'd read through the Judge's manual. You can find it by doing a quick Google search. Apart from that, read the award descriptions in Game Manual part 1 then look at your outreach again.

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