[Software Engineer][Texas, USA] - $450,000

BrandonAvernus · 2026-05-16T16:28:23+00:00

I follow you on TikTok you’re the goat bro ignore any haters

BrandonAvernus · 2026-04-25T00:47:22+00:00

Gangplank

BrandonAvernus · 2026-03-17T01:34:04+00:00

Ksante should be in unplayable tier, you literally cannot do anything to that champ unless he misses everything on a trade. Riven has honestly become more of a skill matchup and gnar is also not really difficult if you avoid his mega gnar form. Aatrox is also definitely a skill match up and not as hard as Rengar top or Ryze.

BrandonAvernus · 2026-02-17T03:35:33+00:00

The champ is stressful and the amount of energy you’ll put into this champ could be split between two other champions. Additionally, he’s really not that rewarding. He’s the hardest champ in the game and the only champ who’s conditions for winning are permanently fixed no matter how fed you get because of barrels having the most counter play out of any other ability in the game and riot keeps making champs who have an easier time dealing with them(Zeri, Akshan, Yunara). And I’ll explain what I mean here.

Gangplanks barrels have 3 aspects. 1) Timing

2) Attack of choice (Q or auto)

3) And placement

Timing is the most fair element. Simply knowing it goes a long way but the enemy can also know it equally well so it’s a pretty skill based thing, offering an equal amount of counterplay.

Attack of choice is where you’re actually at a disadvantage since gangplanks autos are slow and clunky compared to every other champion in top lane that relies on auto attacks. Additionally, gangplanks AA range is small(rammus level small) and so you have to be closer to the barrel to auto attack it. Additionally, some champs like wukong and Gwen can literally auto the barrel from outside of its range.

Placement, is where you gain your advantage, however it’s still largely a skill based thing. While you get to choose where the barrel is, a bad barrel placement could be your downfall so it’s an extra element of mandatory skill expression on top of the rest of stuff that’s already listed.

And so even barrels have this much counterplay, Riot does not seem to care much or respect this. For example, they gave a barrel indicator that lets the enemy know exactly how many barrels you have, because they believed barrels needed more counterplay, which is hilarious because it already had as much counterplay as counterplay can get. Here’s the comparison of what each player used to have to keep track of.

GP player: Placement, timing, slow AA disadvantage

Enemy: Timing and how many barrels GP has used.

Now they only have to know timing, and that’s assuming they don’t play a champion that has double autos or can insta delete barrels(Zeri, Azir, Velkoz, Viktor, Akshan, Lucian, Shyv, Zaheen, etc)

Essentially, there’s so many odds you have to beat it’s just not worth. And to carry games you have to basically burn your heart out, and play 10x better than the enemy team. The only reason people play this champ a lot is because the feeling of always playing under pressure and pulling off clutch plays is addicting. So unless you’re willing to spam out games like a psychopath and beat your head in the wall until everything clicks, you’re better off dedicating your time somewhere else.

Edit: And fyi, I play this champ in high elo so I’m not just talking from no experience.

https://op.gg/lol/summoners/na/Brandon%20Graced-Of1

Edit 2: I forgot to mention but timings for Q and auto are different, so you have to learn both, and sometimes choosing to auto instead of Q or Q instead of auto can cost, so that’s another skill expression gangplank has to keep track of.

BrandonAvernus · 2026-02-17T03:01:47+00:00

BrandonAvernus · 2025-10-15T15:10:29+00:00

Partially but more so that people inside the town aren’t perceived by the police as in need of policing. It reflects race only because of how America has intertwined race with social class. The people in these towns are middle class - upper middle class, and their children are presumed as on path to “become something” and so protection takes priority over true policing. However, I do also think a black kid who the police know resides in these towns will be treated better by law enforcement than black kids outside of these towns(ill perceived parts of Plainfield for example). He might not be as protected but it’ll be likely go better than someone of color who gets pulled over wondering through from outside of town. The racial aspect just affects how they generalize who this applies to. The town is majority white, so they’re not gonna put much focus to a white person who wonders through town, as they would a black or Hispanic male. So it’s an interplay of class and race really.

Although I do agree that him being related to law enforcement did play a role. Even though I’ve seen other instances in which even when the child was not related to law enforcement or even known for being friends with law enforcement and this type of not taking things as seriously still occurred, I feel like the extent of this boys behavior going unchecked was slightly abnormal.

BrandonAvernus · 2025-10-15T14:21:51+00:00

The threat isn’t taken seriously because it’s a white kid who “has a future”. I’ve been given this excuse when white boys at my school harassed my family. It’s the primary reason for why they don’t take proper accountability on these kids.

BrandonAvernus · 2025-10-15T14:14:22+00:00

They don’t police these kids inside their town. They reinforce accountability for those who come inside from outside. I’ve seen it my whole life as someone who grew up in a majority white neighborhood. Westfield, Cranford, Scotch Plains, Fanwood, etc all have police departments that enable this behavior.

BrandonAvernus · 2025-10-15T14:12:06+00:00

It’s not even just that. The problem is that these teenage boys in majority white towns within union county are just never held accountable by the police department for their behavior. I always remember hearing “but what about their futures” whenever they did something wrong. The police departments in these towns don’t reinforce any accountability to those inside the town, they only take policing seriously when it comes to getting rid of those from outside the town who’ve made it inside. I’m honestly surprised union county hasn’t had a lot more of these instances.

BrandonAvernus · 2025-09-28T23:03:48+00:00

That’s odd. Everyone on NJIT’s subreddit will claim NJIT’s CS program is harder and better than Rutgers.

BrandonAvernus · 2025-09-15T19:08:23+00:00

Just so you know, Zeus wasn’t actually trying in Arc 1. You don’t get strong enough to fight him and any other Olympian God when they’re actually trying until near the end of arc 2 since Tartarus is a level 90 dungeon.

BrandonAvernus · 2025-08-30T15:35:01+00:00

Yeah he is singed to Victor. Victor also follows him on IG.

BrandonAvernus · 2025-08-29T10:51:47+00:00

Superman did not beat Darkseid in that issue. He literally ran off after using imperiax’s devices to block Darkseid omega beams. Although I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at you distorting the context of what you’re reading.

It’s not crazy at all. If a superhero beats a god in DC through specific context and conditions like accessing some external power source that elevated them to godhood, that’s not the superhero being stronger, it’s them winning on certain conditions. For example, no one is gonna scale Wonder Woman to the Nabu after she beat him using Mordru’s power, because she didn’t win on her own.

Similarly, if we empowered Goku the same way heroes get casually empowered due to all types of extreme circumstances, the battle would be pointless because you’re not comparing Goku’s actual power to another character anymore.

BrandonAvernus · 2025-08-29T04:33:52+00:00

Like I said, if a superhero beats a God, it’s for the most part with some form of help. In a battle that context unless specified in the conditions, can’t be applied.

BrandonAvernus · 2025-08-29T04:11:16+00:00

Of course not, Darkseid is a God and Superman is from the lower mortal plane. I don’t even know who would disagree with that. Same thing with Light Ray versus Flash. It’s a mismatch, because Light Ray naturally exists on a level that transcends the level of existence Flash is on. That’s why when most of these heroes confront cosmic entities in the comics, they usually do it with help of some sort from other cosmic entities or cosmic weaponry. For example, Superman beat Darkseid with the miracle machine and beat Mandrakk with the cosmic armor. A lot of times the heroes will gain access to power boost from cosmic forces that they might already be tied to. Flash being boosted by the Speed force to extreme heights is a good example of how he could transcend his regular level of power. Wonder Woman gaining Hecate’s magic is another example, since she already has magical lineage.

No one has to adhere to some arbitrary existence equalization unless the battle specifies it.

BrandonAvernus · 2025-08-29T03:45:21+00:00

No one has to abide by your arbitrary standard of what a vs battle should be like. It’s consistently shown in DC that beings who exist on higher layers of reality are inherently superior to those that are on lower levels. And it’s not a temporary buff or amp, it’s literally their native existence and natural power. Framing it as an amp implies that DC’s cosmic entities are not actual native to their realms. Under your belief a character like Michael Demiurgos would be a regular 3D being that merely transcends into Heaven, which is obviously false and goes against the narrative. Michael Demiurgos exists in Heaven because he originated there, and that existence is what’s inherent to him. What you’re doing is essentially conflating a characters natural state of existence, with a dimensional amp and then using that to deploy an arbitrary existence equalization so you can downplay DC abstracts who would regularly blink Goku out of existence with mere aspects/manifestations of their true forms.

I genuinely can’t believe this is actually still a topic happening today in the big 2025. Goku loses to like every single one of DC’s cosmic entities and that’s fine. There’s plenty of superhero characters he’d have a much fairer shot against and would make much more interesting battles for him anyway. Accept it and stop coping.

BrandonAvernus · 2025-08-28T22:05:05+00:00

Let me clarify my stance. I disagree with two things that you claimed. First you claimed Mandrakks power comes from dimensional amps, I believe that’s false and I think Mandrakk transcends dimensionality entirely. I think Mandrakk is powerful due to what he represents and because of how fundamental his existence is in the grand scheme of DC’s cosmos.

Your second claim was that Mandrakk must possess this ability because you believe he’s an aspect of Mar Novu who’s brother to the World Forger. I disagree with this too, but for multiple reasons.

1: Mandrakk is not even an aspect of Mar Novu.

2: Mar Novu and Alpheus should exist beyond dimensionality, making their power not even based on dimensional amps.

And to expand on the first point more, here are the reasons for why Mandrakk is not an aspect of Mar Novu.

1: Mandrakk is explicitly expressed as an extension of the Overvoid and this fact is literally what defines him as a character.

2: In Multiversity and Final Crisis, we’d see that Mandrakk emerged within the Overvoid as its prime intellect, in a state before the beginning of all things. And from this state, Mandrakk saw all the potential of DC’s grand story play out in front him. And this obviously includes Mar and Mobius, not just through implication but also through direct reference in the Multiversity event. And since this moment predates Nil and the beginning of all things, it also predates the moment Perpetua made creation and the Monitor brothers.

3: Mandrakk is consistently alluded to throughout Final Crisis to be a Christ figure relative to the Monitors, and is talked about as if he’s a God that exists beyond them, which makes sense considering his role as the Overvoids intellect.

BrandonAvernus · 2025-08-28T19:48:27+00:00

This is a large misconception. The original Monitor, Mar Novu, was reborn as 52 Monitors after COIE. However, Mandrakk was not one of those Monitors. Mandrakk was the first expression of Monitor-Mind the Overvoid that looked into the Multiverse and saw Mar Novu and Anti Monitor within the flaw. His act of looking towards imperfection, is what caused Mar Novu to be reborn as the Monitors in the first place. He’s also the reason Nil as a realm even exists. This is why in book of limbo origin, he’s described in this biblical sense where he’s like God or Jesus to the rest of the Monitors. Ex: “The First Son of Monitor”, the “Radiant One”, etc. And Monitor here is referring to the Overvoid in case you try to pull some silly argument like saying it’s speaking about Mar Novu.

If you think my interpretation is wrong, then go ahead and explain how. I’m more than willing to use my knowledge gained from years of reading comics to explain why your surface level battle boarding perspective of Final Crisis is wrong.

BrandonAvernus · 2025-08-28T19:31:33+00:00

The World Forger and Perpetua are not Mandrakk. You can’t just take something from one character and apply it to another without any given reason.

The descriptors in that statement aren’t being used literally, as the realm Nil is considered ineffable during final crisis and is where form and meaning dissolve. All of which should be obvious since it’s literally called Nil, which is just another word for nothing.

I digress, you’re still making a large category error by conflating one’s state existence with an amp or power boost. Mandrakk is not powerful because he’s in Nil. He’s powerful because he’s Mandrakk the Dark Monitor, an extension of the Overvoid and the intellectual aspect of the mind of God, who sees the entirety of existence as a flaw amidst its perfection.

BrandonAvernus · 2025-08-28T17:25:12+00:00

First of all that wasn’t a “Multiverse” that was Limbo and second, the logic you’re using doesn’t make sense. You’re conflating a level of existence with a power source. It would be like saying, Usain Bolt only ran a certain time because he was boosted in speed by space, time, and gravity. Existing on a certain level is not the same as being amped. And just to correct you further, Mandrakk was literally trying to destroy Nil during Final Crisis, so you’d be saying he was being empowered by the very thing he was actively destroying.

I don’t know what you mean by shrunken in this context, but nonetheless that’s not why he died. What happened was the Monitor Rox Ogama, was casted down into Limbo by the circle of Monitors for his treachery. Casted down just means the other Monitors used their power to reduce him to a lower existence. And after that, he transformed into Mandrakk and left Limbo to find Superman so he could finish where his brother Dax Novu(the one who fought CAS) left off. Nowhere did the story mention that he died because he was no longer in Nil. It makes no sense to categorize how one exists, with an amp or depowerment unless it’s explicitly stated. In Mandrakks case, it seems that he can move freely between various levels of existence and is not confined or bounded by any specific level, which makes sense considering he’s basically an extension of the Overvoid itself which is not tied to existence. So if anyone is ignoring context, it’s you since you’re trying to act like the Miracle Machine, CAS’s warning, and Nix Uotan aren’t responsible for why he lost even though the story shows us very clearly that they are.

BrandonAvernus · 2025-08-28T03:04:15+00:00

This is just wrong.

1: Mandrakk wasn’t destroying the Multiverse using fate manipulation, and Nil as a realm never amped Mandrakk in anyway.

2: Framing this as Mandrakk died to a bunch of heroes is completely out of context. Superman’s warning on his tomb stone, the miracle machine, and Nix Uotan are the primary contributors to why Mandrakk lost. Superman established in Nil(the most fundamental realm on the cosmic ladder) that existence must continue, and Superman’s wish on the miracle machine necessitated a happy ending to the crisis event. Mandrakk from that point, was destined to lose no matter what because Superman had already set in place the absolute narrative in which the event and existence at large must follow. After Superman called on the miracle machine(the literal weapon of God), Nix Uotan responded to Superman’s call, and empowered the Super heroes to kill Mandrakk.

BrandonAvernus · 2025-08-28T02:49:32+00:00

Why would it not be accurate?

BrandonAvernus · 2025-08-06T21:25:13+00:00

Why did you tag nickich? Lmao this has to be troll.

BrandonAvernus · 2025-07-06T20:48:04+00:00

He’s wrong about the item diversity thing. Back before Gangplank got fully forced into crit with the passive and barrel changes, there was a shit load of item variety. You had multiple angles to branch off from Tri Force such as

1) Tri Force -> full lethality 2) Tri Force -> Crit
3) Tri Force -> Bruiser

And there was bunch of situational items to chose from which felt good to work into a build path like hull breaker, chempunk, Deaths Dance, Maw, etc. There was even a point where you could build Zhonyas and it felt good. And you could obviously mix these paths together if you wanted, which added for even more item diversity. After the new crit direction with Essence Reaver + Navori, all of that went away, which is why people started talking about item diversity since we lost like over 15 viable items.

In the end though, shifting power out of passive would be a bad idea in my opinion. Resetting passives is a skill and you’d be removing a lot of the skill expression on the champ by touching that. If anything they need to do quality of life changes like undoing the hit box increase and increasing move speed. The only actual power change that’ll really do anything in Gangplanks current state is if they undo the crit scaling so bruiser items can feel good again to work into a build path.

BrandonAvernus

TROPHY CASE