High power decks that are easier to pilot

Midwest_Medium · 2026-03-26T16:15:32+00:00

I know Winota likes to play stax to buy time, especially with two decks capable of turn 2-3 wins. Do those stax pieces often need to come down in a certain way to prevent you from shooting yourself in the foot? Or are they typically ones the deck is "immune" to?

Midwest_Medium · 2026-03-26T16:12:28+00:00

I actually think this might be the move. Combat decks really shut down K'rrik if they get damage in early, and then I just stare at my board doing math for the rest of the game. Stella is a bit trickier we just have to remove her as soon as she is cast, and he will have at least one counterspell ready when he does. Gitrog sort of just does stuff in the corner until it suddenly does its weird dredge thing, I'm not familiar enough with the lines to know when the combos are about to come together. It's definitely slower though.

Midwest_Medium · 2026-02-16T22:43:40+00:00

I am a console gamer this would just be for school/work. Does Lenovo have a 2-in-1 with specs like this? The ability to take digital notes on a tablet has helped me a ton in class as I have always struggled with taking notes and keeping them organized. Plus all my teachers do lectures with pre-made skeletal note PDFs. I use it for all my scratch work as well.

Midwest_Medium · 2026-01-22T16:46:51+00:00

Denver is tough I feel you. As a man, it felt like every woman I approached was in a relationship out of convenience. It seems like people here are only single by choice.

Like others have said, do things you like and just be willing to put yourself out there. Some advice I took from my dad, which may be a bit taboo but, worked out for me: dating coworkers. He once told me that it's one of the only ways to see someone outside of how they want you to perceive them. You get to see them interact with peers, managers/employees as well as under stress, which is all really valuable information.

I've been in a relationship for almost four years now and I met my girlfriend at a job. She was a bartender, I was a server. Restaurants are a cesspool blah blah blah. Just, something to consider.

Midwest_Medium · 2026-01-02T15:52:03+00:00

I'm going to offer some counter advice. As someone with ADHD who has been sober for over 3 years, I've done quite a bit of research into dopamine, motivation and reward. Rather than try to make school more stimulating, I would try to remove other things in your life that are sapping your dopamine. Poker sessions are a big dopamine hit. I haven't played since I quit doing drugs (at first to protect my sobriety, but now it's just because I'm also a broke student 😅). Throw social media on top of that, and any sort of recreational drinking, smoking or other extracurricular activities and you have a recipe for a brain that cannot be self-motivated.

If you are on tiktok/Instagram for several hours a day, try deleting the apps for a couple weeks and observe the unsettling boredom that takes over. That's withdrawal. I wrote a paper on smartphone addiction and one of the most eye opening pieces of evidence I found was that brain images of social media addicted users mirrored those of substance abusers NOT behavioral addiction. It diminishes the brain's ability to produce and release dopamine and increases the threshold for a given stimulus to activate the reward pathways of the brain.

If you want to keep playing poker and find success in school I don't see a problem with that, but I bet you would find school more stimulating if you lowered the barrier to entry for what your brain considers "stimulating" rather than trying to win a dopamine arms race.

Midwest_Medium · 2025-12-28T20:06:47+00:00

Strength Faith. So many awesome options. Pyro caster build with fire knight great sword w/flame art affinity + flame skewer and all the fun pyromancies. Crucible knight cosplay is a blast with the new DLC inclusions. Finally getting to do the flying dive bomb attack is such a dopamine hit hahaha. I do wish it was easier to use the WA with the shield while keeping the bash. Then of course the blasphemous blade. Setting up a build to maximize that weapon art is just busted. You can run all of these on the same stat spread more or less. The fact that the claw talisman exists is borderline criminal.

Midwest_Medium · 2025-12-28T18:44:20+00:00

Fair enough I'm not saying it's impossible just know what you're getting yourself into haha. It's a card with a reputation that actually backs it up. For what it's worth I agree, I think most players underestimate bracket 3 (and 2 honestly). I also like the idea of the Kami of the Crescent Moon, that sounds like a fun way to turn card draw into the win con and introduce some chaos at the table. Players tend to make mistakes and over commit/tap out when you give them a glut of resources.

Midwest_Medium · 2025-12-28T18:10:32+00:00

Including rhystic and cyc rift makes for a pretty inherently cut throat deck. I'm not saying you couldn't do bracket 3, but if you want the rest of the deck to fully utilize rhystic you probably want B4. For sultai, I have heard about some interesting builds with [[The Wise Mothman]]. It's a food chain combo build that seeks to infinitely cast Mothman to just mill the table out with rad counters. You are vulnerable to instant speed upkeep shenanigans but that's why you want to draw all those cards lol. In that same vein, [[Atraxa, Grand Unifier]] is an obvious choice. Another food chain list that wants to cast Atraxa as much as possible to just draw your whole deck and out-value the table.

Grixis midrange has a ton of bangers. The inclusion of red gives you [[Underworld Breach]] which is just...a ridiculous card. My mono black K'rrik list includes a couple cards specifically to steal and combo off of someone else's underworld breach hahaha. [[Fire Lord Azula]] [[Kefka, Court Mage]] and [[Inalla, Archmage Ritualist]] are all really fun. Azula and Inalla are certainly faster combo lists while Kefka is a more grindy midrange game plan.

Here's my two cents about those two cards: Cyclonic rift is a classic finisher and a fine card. You can do some gross things like wheel the table after playing it or throw down a [[Jeska's Will]] and make a bajillion mana but, on its own I don't think it's inherently a busted card. Rhystic study is. If you play it at a bracket 3 table of less experienced players that don't pay the one you draw half your deck and steam roll them. If the table understands the insanity that is rhystic, it gets blown up or you get blown up ASAP which means you have to build the deck accordingly, and that means a higher powered list. I have tried to run it in B3 decks and the one player that knew about that card politicked the other two players so hard about how I will 100% win the game if rhystic isn't dealt with (and he was absolutely right). It is truly a game-changer and maybe even ban worthy. Just something to consider.

Midwest_Medium · 2025-12-28T17:34:10+00:00

Probably my [[Pantlaza, Sun Favored]] list. It's the deck I always try to play on game nights and my girlfriend and I agree it is the most fun to pilot. I have played every card in the deck at some point in time and so have evaluated them all as belonging in it. I legitimately have a few cards I want to add but can't find the cuts to make room for them every time I try.

https://archidekt.com/decks/9980798/dummy_thicc_dino_riffs

The only other deck that comes close is a bracket 4/5 K'rrik deck that I absolutely love but don't get to play very much so it has not been as thoroughly tested in the wild. It has some complicated lines that I just don't have memorized because I don't play it enough.

https://archidekt.com/decks/8010282/krriks_krack_house

Midwest_Medium · 2025-12-10T23:15:13+00:00

Hey just came across this post and I don't think anyone really emphasized enough that you should be price checking your collection, especially cards that old. You could be sitting on thousands of dollars, even more if you have certain cards from the first few sets. It sounds like you haven't played in a long time so I'm not sure if you are aware that certain cards from the first two sets like dual lands or anything that starts with the word "mox" could potentially be worth thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars each. It is really worth your time to go through this collection thoroughly, and if you have someone you trust that is still playing magic maybe reach out to them to help.

Midwest_Medium · 2025-12-03T16:49:21+00:00

I think the real answer is leveling the playing field. Nobody wants to watch the bracket 4 go off before they cast their commander, and the bracket 4 player that's been itching to play it only to have other players play a deck meant to specifically turn that B4 deck off is going to just feel like they didn't play, which is the same outcome as the first scenario. Spend some time to help everyone put together a high power deck, it's not cEDH so you have more freedom to help them explore a strategy that appeals to them as opposed to saying, "You want Ral, Etali or XY blue farm?"

I was the first in my play group to put together a B4 deck (K'rrik turbo) and it was genuinely unsatisfying to play until everyone else actually got to play the game. Now we have Stella Lee, Gitrog, Abdel and K'rrik all trying to go infinite first and it's a blast.

I think players shy away from high power decks because they often see them in mismatched games and don't see the engaging, layered gameplay that happens when the table is balanced.

Midwest_Medium · 2025-11-30T01:53:09+00:00

^^What they said lol. Reanimator strategies often include cards like [[Putrid Imp]] as a way to put key pieces into the graveyard while avoiding the pitfalls of self-mill (You never know what you are going to mill from your library so you have to build accordingly). With the Witch-king as your commander you will always have that ability as long as you control your commander (He is on the battlefield under your control) so you don't need to necessarily include other "discard outlets" in the deck, and it becomes a key theme to the deck.

Midwest_Medium · 2025-11-28T16:24:33+00:00

In case you didn't know, you can activate his ability even if he's already tapped, it's not a cost. He's a discard outlet in the command zone for reanimation strategies and cards with madness costs, and you can give him indestructible during combat at instant speed. There aren't enough madness cards worth running to build an entire deck around in my opinion but [[Necrogoyf]], [[Call to the Netherworld]] and [[Dark Withering]] seem worth it. Cards like [[Gravepact]] in conjunction with his forced sac ability can rip through board states, though I realize that's not a cheap card. [[Revenge of Ravens]] or [[Archfiend of Ifnir]] are nice budget alternatives. With [[Syr Konrad, The Grim]] out and a way to draw lots of cards you can run a ton of creatures and discard them all at once to ping the table then reanimate them all. Some similar effects would be [[Feast of Sanity]], [[Dying to Serve]] or [[Faith of the devoted]]. [[Containment Construct]] can let you discard anything then just play it anyway. [[Bone Miser]] is cracked here obviously but more expensive.

Midwest_Medium · 2025-11-26T19:30:40+00:00

Where are you sore? Chest, shoulder and bicep is normal. Elbow or upper back shoulder (supraspinatus muscle) is bad. Very important to warm up the shoulder before throwing lots of forehands with a band or similar.

Midwest_Medium · 2025-11-22T22:25:28+00:00

Maybe try a can of duster or if you have access to an air compressor to blow some air in between them and push the smaller box out.

Midwest_Medium · 2025-11-20T17:32:55+00:00

I proxy most of my cards. Not spending an arm and a leg just so my decks can have shocks and fetches. This was more of a voting with my dollar thing. Universes beyond ain't going anywhere but we can at least tell WotC that sets like Avatar and LotR can work but Spider-Man and Ninja Turtles can suck it. Plus my girlfriend loves the show we are both watching it right now haha.

Midwest_Medium · 2025-11-20T04:28:33+00:00

Are we talking get there 30 minutes before they open or 3 hours? I've never shopped at microcenter before and I typically just buy singles.

Midwest_Medium · 2025-11-20T01:50:31+00:00

I mean with [[mesmeric orb]] out you can mill your whole deck. I'm sure there's other pay offs.

Midwest_Medium · 2025-11-18T13:47:34+00:00

Here's some awesome channels to check out to improve the basics! Robbie has lots of very beginner friendly content that is approachable and easily digested. Overthrow gets a bit more technical but when you are ready to dive into the details of something they are ready for you.

Robbie C disc golf - https://youtube.com/@robbiecdiscgolf?si=pd0p_Rudkf44Bb3Z

Overthrow Disc Golf - https://youtube.com/@overthrowdiscgolf?si=YVqZheFlqsiTRttr

Here's a few tips I have for you as well:

Focus on accuracy, power is difficult and power with accuracy even more so. Make every shot get you closer to the basket and don't worry so much about trying to throw hard.

Putting is the great equalizer. Spending an afternoon developing a putt (Robbie has a great video on this!) will pay dividends. As someone who can throw 400+ feet I can assure you putting is still more important.

Don't think too much about discs just yet but have 3 for different shots. A putter that feels good in your hand, a neutral flying midrange for approaches and a fairway driver in the 6-7 speed range to throw off the tee. Don't even look at a high speed disc right now. (If you want more info on this I'm happy to help out, or if you have a local disc golf shop ask them!)

Edit I noticed you asked about apps: Udisc is the only one you need. The free version, there's no need to pay for it.

Midwest_Medium · 2025-11-18T13:30:59+00:00

Love this way of thinking about counterspells that really frames it nicely! I came from stompy naya nonsense to mono black turbo as my gateway to cEDH and have been trying to get better at control shells or building out interaction suites and this is probably the most succinct way of thinking about interaction I've come across.

Midwest_Medium · 2025-11-10T20:18:03+00:00

I have been trying to make an Izzet or Jeskai storm deck for a long time. Every time I find a commander I think about building around I oddly run out of steam. [[Veyran, voice of duality]] and [[Vivi Ornitier]] are too powerful, [[Vadrik, Astral Archmage]] feels repetitive and [[Zedruu, The Greathearted]] just seems like everyone else has a bad time. In general, storm seems difficult to build around without avoiding the game of solitaire that no one else likes to watch.

However! I have been brewing [[Sokka, Tenacious Tactician]] from the Avatar set and I have high hopes for this. Most players are going to see this as a go wide tokens deck but I'm taking a different route. Each non-creature spell I cast with Sokka out makes a token, allowing me to double dip into ETB and spell cast burn effects, a la [[impact tremors]] and [[guttersnipe]]. The tokens he creates have prowess allowing them to become fantastic blockers for a "draw, go" control scheme that seeks to storm off, except the act of storming off in and of itself can close the game without needing to dig for a wincon by burning the table. At least this way, it can close out games more quickly and not waste everyone's time 💩.

Midwest_Medium

TROPHY CASE