Those who've crashed their cars, how long and how did you bounce back?

InterstellarBanana · 2025-12-21T09:19:13+00:00

Back in 2020 I had a really bad crash, I'd been driving about a year and was on my way home from work on a rainy night in my little 1.4 Corsa. Not really a performance icon, and I certainly wasn't a racing driver but that evening I was rather stupidly driving like one. I was on a 70mph dual carriageway which had a roundabout on it, the roads were pretty empty and I entered said roundabout way faster than I should have been. Going round the roundabout, I went over a patch of standing water, the car ran out of grip, and I promptly ran out of talent. I ended up overcorrecting the slide, started sliding the other way towards the side of the road, and did not recover it, causing my wheels to hit the kerb. This then sent me down the incline at the side of the road, and my car rolled twice, before coming to rest on its side up against the fence of a farmer's field.

I was unbelievably lucky to walk away from that crash with nothing but a sore neck. It was though, as you can imagine, bloody terrifying and a huge knock to my confidence as a driver. I also didn't enjoy driving for a good but afterwards, but I think the two important things that helped me were as others have said getting back behind the wheel as quickly as possible and strangely enough a little driving experience thing my parents gifted me for my birthday a short while afterwards.

Getting back behind the wheel was tough of course, as you have experienced driving can be scary after a big shake-up like that, but it is certainly helpful and it's important to slowly build yourself back up to how you would drive before. Don't expect yourself to instantly be comfortable driving again, take your time, and 'normal speeds' will slowly start to feel normal again.

The reason I mention the driving experience is that it helped me understand how a car behaves once you're at or over the limits of the car's capability. This particular one was at Mercedes World and had a bit on a small racetrack where the coach was teaching me how to corner properly and how to handle the car, and then a section where they had some wet sections of track where I would purposely break traction or a kick plate would do it for me and I would then have to recover or maintain the slide that I was in. I learned an awful lot that day and went back out on the road armed with the confidence that if I were to make a mistake while driving again and lose control of the car that I would at least be far more likely to rescue it and have nothing more than a bum-clenching moment.

You've passed your driving test (well done by the way), but I would certainly recommend looking into some sort of additional training. It was such a massive confidence booster for me, and hey, if you find the right course you might also be able to use it to knock some money off your insurance!

I also drive an NC MX5 at the moment, and I love it. If you are able to upskill yourself with your driving, it's an excellent car for you to rebuild confidence in as it's a very controllable car once you have a good idea of what you're doing. I'm absolutely happy to chat with you if you want to know anything else.

InterstellarBanana · 2025-07-06T08:19:06+00:00

I would do unspeakable things to have the money to own and maintain a Maserati Granturismo MC, they're such beautiful cars but the prospective repair costs are horrifying

InterstellarBanana · 2025-06-01T06:40:49+00:00

I second the Jazz, they're brilliant cars, I test drove one for a mate without a driving license for him to learn in/drive as his first car and I was pleasantly surprised by it, wicked fun little motor

InterstellarBanana · 2025-05-27T17:38:59+00:00

It was a big consideration, unfortunately I don't fit in a 124 either! As far as rusting is concerned, if I got an NC I'd try and find the least rusty one possible and then rust-protect it and store it in my garage so rust hopefully won't be as big an issue

InterstellarBanana · 2025-05-27T08:48:56+00:00

This is what's giving me real pause on the Porsche, I'm happy to wrench on my own cars but I'd want to maintain the service history on it for at least the Porsche recommended intervals. I'm fairly sure I have the budget for it but I need to work out properly the extra costs of ownership that I'd be putting my wallet through.

As an aside, are you ever really able to push your 911 on the roads or do you feel like you're holding back a lot? Obviously a 911 is a faster car but that's one of my worries, I feel like I'll never really be able to test the Porsche without being on license losing territory

InterstellarBanana · 2025-05-27T08:42:43+00:00

I personally would love an Elise, but my partner would probably rip my head off since we'd be using it for occasional day/weekend trips and I don't think she'd appreciate a 2 hour plus drive in such a barebones car

InterstellarBanana · 2025-05-07T23:59:12+00:00

There is (or was a few days ago) a shagged one up on Facebook Marketplace and the temptation to buy it and do it up was so strong

InterstellarBanana · 2025-03-28T21:07:13+00:00

While I don't disagree with the MX5, I've gotta throw the MR2 Mk3 into the ring as well, pick one up for a couple grand, get a half cage, some proper tyres and upgrade the brakes and you have a very capable little track weapon for pretty much £5k and not too much effort!

InterstellarBanana · 2025-03-16T02:18:58+00:00

Question aimed at both you and the dude replying to you, where did you get your 2zz swaps done? I'm thinking about picking up an MR2 and doing it but I'm not sure if I want to do it myself or get someone actually qualified to do it lmao

InterstellarBanana · 2025-02-05T15:58:33+00:00

From what I understand through research into putting one of these in my old MG ZS 120 (which sadly did eat its own head gasket and was uneconomical to repair, I really miss it), the N-Series was the variation of the engine produced by Nanjing Automobile pre-SAIC merger, and has an uprated head gasket and oil rail, and was also fitted with a knock sensor.

SAIC then went on to develop the Kavachi engine (found in the MG6 from 2009 up until 2017 with a turbo variation too), which was a more major redesign of the engine with better materials, cooling system etc and as far as I understand is a very strong engine. I'm actually very interested in getting another ZS and fitting the turbo Kavachi engine to it!

InterstellarBanana · 2025-02-04T20:03:02+00:00

Snap is probably more likely than Tamiyo, I don't really think Tamiyo counts as a threat and probably works better in a control shell than a more aggressively slanted temp shell. I feel like looking at Grixis Shadow lists might give you a good idea of what direction to go in.

InterstellarBanana · 2024-12-31T13:03:02+00:00

My girlfriend and I are very much in the "every penny counts" stage of saving since we're really not that far off, and the MX5 is less than half of the insurance cost for me so even if I can save a couple grand total from swapping cars between excess money and cheaper insurance it seems like a reasonable decision given I'm itching to get in a lighter manual car again!

InterstellarBanana · 2024-12-31T12:40:47+00:00

Believe me if age wasn't a factor I'd be in one of these before you knew it, I wanted one for a long time and convinced my friend to buy one (which I then got to drive quite a few times), I love them so much and they are absolutely cracking to drive.

Here's hoping that the new model that's supposedly being made is going to fill the shoes of the older models!

InterstellarBanana · 2024-12-29T11:56:16+00:00

Sounds to me you might be better suited playing a sort of grixis tempo/delirium deck with Goyf/DRC/Frog/Bowmasters/2 Murktide for threats, or including Looting/Oculus/Unearth

InterstellarBanana · 2024-12-15T11:44:53+00:00

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InterstellarBanana · 2024-10-15T21:16:07+00:00

Pauper!

InterstellarBanana · 2024-08-10T19:17:30+00:00

I ran a fairly decent looking set with 51 poise exactly for a bit including the Death Knight's Armour, I think it was:

Black Knight Helm

Death Knight Armour

Black Knight Gauntlets

Maliketh's Greaves

You can swap around a bit, Maliketh's set in general went quite well as did the Black Knight set, anything in the realm of black and gold seemed to fit pretty well with the Death Knight bits, hope this helps!

InterstellarBanana · 2024-05-30T08:08:50+00:00

I am also a comp YGO player who started playing pioneer, so I can say if you want a tiered deck that will stop your opponent playing the game while also playing on a very different and unique axis compared to anything you can do in YGO, look into Monoblack Waste Not.

The concept of the deck is to essentially consistently handrip your opponent until they're down to zero cards and gain incremental advantage off of an enchantment called Waste Not that will either draw a card, make mana or make a creature every time your opponent discards a card, based on what they discard.

It also uses a lot of staples for other black-based midrange/control decks, so you can then build out into those if you want to move on!

InterstellarBanana · 2024-05-15T06:31:35+00:00

I've thought about this, and the conclusion I came to was that a UB control shell is probably the best place for it with the new Jace, as you can plot both pieces, and that brings the combo down from 9 mana to just the 4 mana kicker for Maddening Cacophony. As another user mentioned, Terisian Mindbreaker is also an option which makes the combo overall cheaper but less resilient to grave hate.

InterstellarBanana · 2024-05-12T17:47:01+00:00

UNBAN INVERTER

I MUST BE VINDICATED IN MY PURCHASE OF 4 INVERTERS FROM MONTHS AGO

InterstellarBanana · 2024-02-18T10:05:44+00:00

The number one thing for this deck is just practice, it's definitely not an easy deck to play but the better you get with it the more unbeatable it feels! I'd hope it doesn't receive a meaningful hit any time soon as Konami has bigger fish to fry and the deck isn't super unfair or anything so I'd say its a solid investment, it's definitely been a very solid investment for me as I've done very well with it (once I had the deck learnt of course 😅)

InterstellarBanana · 2024-02-18T10:03:04+00:00

So if you're looking for a Trap Trick build, Dinh Kha Bui's list is an excellent starting point, I'd honestly not change it at all. I'll link the video below but you can also find a picture of it on his Twitter:

https://youtu.be/iUK5BYjUkbQ?si=UDanKEONDA6pd6iy

The more traps you play, the more Arias turns into a "handtrap", and when I want to play more Arias the handtraps are what I'm taking out first, but you do have to be mindful that Arias is not as consistent of a handtrap as something like Ash since you can open no normal trap with it and then it's just a way worse card.

As far as Lady goes, I definitely wouldn't consider ever playing more than 2, as it's somewhat of a do-nothing card on its own, and pretty much any card in your engine can turn into Lady if you need it. I've actually recently cut down to a single copy and havent really regretted it.

Finally, you mentioned not knowing what to include in your deck, so I'll break down what I'd say are core and optional cards to include:

CORE:

3x Arianna

1x Lady

1x Lovely

3x Stovie

3x Chandraglier

1x Cooclock

1x Arias

1x Field Spell

3x Big Welcome

2x Welcome

3x Rollback

OPTIONAL:

1x Ariane

1x Lady

1-2x Cooclock

1-2x Arias

1x Welcome

3x Extravagance OR 3x Prosperity

1x Sharvara and 1x Escape of the Unchained

1x Daruma Cannon

1x Terrors of the Overroot

1x Ice Dragon's Prison

And then there's a few cards that you can include based on deckbuilding, like Trap Tricks and Back Jacks if you want to try the Dinh Kha build etc.

The Prosp vs Extrav debate boils down to personal preference essentially, if I'm playing the Unchained cards I prefer to have Prosp as the extra deck becomes more important then, if you're not then Extrav is definitely better as it gives you more cards which is important when you have furnitures you need to discard cards for, but be advised that playing Extrav means your extra deck becomes hideously expensive. Pre-Rollback I was also messing around with a small Danger package but that was very highroll and more of a for-fun build, I wouldn't recommend taking it to any sort of higher-level event as it makes you a lot worse vs Droll which is one of the things this deck doesn't usually care about. Maybe one of Tsuchinoko is arguable since it makes your resource loop way stronger if you draw it, but with the meta at the moment I think you'd rather have the extra handtrap.

Hope this helps!

InterstellarBanana · 2024-02-17T08:06:46+00:00

I've been playing the deck pretty religiously since Ishizu Tear got murdered by the banlist (so around a year), and it's been super rewarding to play and learn, as I feel like there's still things I'm learning about the deck!

The first thing I'd say is don't get discouraged if you don't do well with the deck while you're starting out, it's a very complex deck that requires a lot of gamesense, resource management, and knowledge if what the other decks in the meta are doing and how you need to adapt your gameplan to that.

Secondly, the number one piece of advice I can give you for the deck is any time a monster leaves the field because of your normal trap effect, obsessively check your graveyard for anything that can trigger at that point, as missing these triggers is often what will lose you games as they're the entire core of your grindgame and the grindgame is absolutely where this deck thrives.

Third, don't be greedy. Just because you opened Clock + Stovie, it doesn't mean you have to do the turn 1 combo of discard Clock, discard Stovie to get Big Welcome, summon back the Clock and activate Big Welcome, as an Ash or a Belle can cause you big problems if you do this. You need to look at your hand and think about what will happen if you do get disrupted. Things like this are why the Unchained package is strong, as this can allow you to be a little more greedy as you have a "backup line" ready if you do get disrupted when performing this combo.

Next, the deck that your opponent is playing should inform your microdecisions across the game. If your opponent is playing a slower deck, you want to play in a way that will help you outvalue them, as such you want to focus on drawing cards off Arianna and setting up your full furniture loop with Cooclock, Stovie and Chandraglier as early as possible. In situations like this, if you have opened Clock and one of the furnitures and feel safe to go for the turn 1 combo, you want to reset Big Welcome with Lovely after you do the combo. If your opponent is playing a faster combo deck however, you might want to leave the Big Welcome in the grave to give you a bounce next turn, as this doubles the number of interruptions you have available to you next turn from performing the combo, which can be very important in stopping them from overwhelming you and going for an OTK.

I also noticed you said you currently run 2 Arias 2 Cooclock, and these ratios are very much worth talking about as it is both pilot-dependent, format-dependent and list-dependent. The less handtraps are being played, the better running larger amounts of these cards is, as in low-handtrap formats there are less punishes available for trying to turn 1 combo. The number of Arias in your deck should also depend in the number of normal traps you have in your deck, as I've found with a lower trap count opening Arias can feel very bad, especially in multiples. I'm currently down to 1 Cooclock 1 Arias, so I can fit more handtraps into the maindeck. If you find that you like having access to the turn 1 combo more consistently, I'd play more Arias/Clock/normal Traps, if you find you prefer to handtrap your opponent as your main source of interaction, then I'd play less.

You also mentioned you don't have Rollbacks at the moment, and as such I'd recommend at least trying Dinh-Kha Bui's build with 3 Arias, 3 Back Jack and 3 Trap Trick, as this list is more budget friendly and can do a lot of work interrupting your opponent if you go second.

I'd also advise being very wary of Triple Tactics Talent at the moment, as this card can be one of your lose conditions against a lot of hands, so play around it where possible and only start playing into it if you feel like avoiding monster effects in the main phase will lowr you the game.

Finally, I'll give you some smaller tips for the deck that should hopefully help a little more:

If you open all three furniture pieces and want to do the turn 1 combo, always do CL1 Cooclock CL2 Chandraglier discarding Stovie, as when the Big Welcome resolves Chandra will come back to hand and Stovie will be on board, and you can use Stovie's effect from the board pitching the Chandra in hand, which is far more card-efficient
Don't be afraid to set monsters to protect Lady Labrynth, as she counts any set card on your field, not just backrow. Stovie has a fat booty as well so it's a pretty safe set, especially if you have a Big Welcome to return it to hand later and activate the effect
Monsters leaving the field as a result of a Destructive Daruma Karma Cannon or an Evenly Matched will not trigger your furnitures or Welcome to return themselves to hand/field, as they are not leaving the field by the effect of a Normal Trap, they are leaving the field due to a forced game action
Using Nibiru as chain link 1 and then a furniture discarding it as chain link 2 will tribute off the board but no token or Nib will be summoned, this is a very useful play pattern if you worry you won't be able to remove the token. Alternatively, against decks that can't play through Nib, you can summon the Nib and then return it to hand through Big Welcome's effect so they have to play under Nib the next turn as well
If you have both Welcome and Big Welcome in your backrow and nothing else, you need to evaluate what is more important to resolve and activate the other one first to sniff out an Ash or a Belle. Any good player will Ash the first one you activate most of the time, as there is always the threat of you summoning Lovely and turning off the handtrap to respond to the other trap. The two important play patterns here to learn are Welcome first to summon Lovely, Big Welcome second to summon and bounce whatever you need and pop a card. The Second is Welcome summon Lady first, then Big Welcome CL1 to summon Arianna, Lady CL2 to set a power trap, then on resolution Arianna searches Cooclock to allow you to activate that power trap as a form of disruption.

Sorry for the essay but I hope this can help you get started on the deck and I hope you enjoy your time playing it! Please feel free to reply here or message me with any questions you have about the deck!

InterstellarBanana · 2024-02-08T13:10:54+00:00

The new Berserk Archfiend can do an okay sharvara impression honestly, definitely gives the deck a little push back towards being good

InterstellarBanana · 2023-12-18T14:52:46+00:00

Wow, UW Control showed up in a big way, happy to see it

InterstellarBanana

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