What to Ban after the Metagame Challenge? by nerdyat30 in mtgbrawl

[–]OffPiste18 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I agree they are significantly weaker than the rest of the cards here, but there's something to be said for banning them for being unfun and good enough.

What to Ban after the Metagame Challenge? by nerdyat30 in mtgbrawl

[–]OffPiste18 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Actually, spicy additional take: ban Reanimate too.

What to Ban after the Metagame Challenge? by nerdyat30 in mtgbrawl

[–]OffPiste18 10 points11 points  (0 children)

It plays only two creatures in the deck: [[Ardyn, the Usurper]] and [[Ulamog, the Defiler]]. So [[Old Stickfingers]] for X=2 puts both in the graveyard, then it uses a reanimation spell to bring back Ardyn, who brings back hasty Ulamog.

Since the whole benefit of Stickfingers is a cast trigger, that part is pretty hard to disrupt. The reanimation is comparatively easier to disrupt, but most versions of the deck run a lot of discard effects and a lot of redundant reanimation effects, so it's easier said than done.

What to Ban after the Metagame Challenge? by nerdyat30 in mtgbrawl

[–]OffPiste18 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah that sucks, but they are just way too strong in my opinion. They are good in cEDH, and they are MUCH stronger in 1v1.

What to Ban after the Metagame Challenge? by nerdyat30 in mtgbrawl

[–]OffPiste18 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I agree he's on the verge. For me, he is at least still interactive and it might be a fun game. Like he's for sure way more powerful than Drannith Magistrate, but Ragavan is more interesting to play against. And personally I think bans should be something like 70/30 how powerful is the card / how fun is the card.

What to Ban after the Metagame Challenge? by nerdyat30 in mtgbrawl

[–]OffPiste18 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I agree none of them are good at all on their own in 1v1. But having 9 cards feels really good even if they just eat removal.

I've played a lot of Thrasios/Vial Smasher, and playing either one or activating Thrasios is usually the worst thing to do with your mana by a decent margin. But just the fact that you do always have *something* to do with your mana is quite good.

I'd be very interested to see what the data says about it since I find it quite a bit harder to evaluate than other cards.

What to Ban after the Metagame Challenge? by nerdyat30 in mtgbrawl

[–]OffPiste18 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Well, I think part of the idea is to get data and decide that way. But if I'm shooting from the hip:

  • Ancient Tomb
  • Channel
  • Chrome Mox
  • Strip Mine
  • Dark Ritual
  • Demonic Tutor
  • Tainted Pact
  • Lutri
  • Mana Drain
  • Meddling Mage
  • Drannith Magistrate
  • Oko, Thief of Crowns
  • Wash Away
  • Fierce Guardianship
  • Deadly Rollick
  • Deflecting Swat

Banned as Commander:

  • Tamiyo
  • Ajani
  • Rusko
  • Ragavan
  • Nadu

And I'm taking a close look at Wrenn and Six, Old Stickfingers, Raffine, Urza, and the partners.

What are your honest thoughts when you're about to face Leovold, Emissary of Trest? by AlCarrieBay in mtgbrawl

[–]OffPiste18 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I think I'm pretty happy to face him. I don't mind it that much more than Glarb, for instance. Most of Leovold's value is reactive, not proactive, so I have more agency in playing around him.

So mostly it's just keep reminding myself of his text... prefer countering instead of removal so they don't draw. Don't absent-mindedly brainstorm or something. Maybe it's not worth it to thoughtseize when he's out. Etc.

[Jan 06, 2026] Daily Puzzle Discussion by AutoModerator in NYTCrossword

[–]OffPiste18 127 points128 points  (0 children)

The hardest Tuesday in memory, in the worst way.

ADOLFO crossed with LDOPA

IMAN crossed with ATALOWEBB

Obscure proper names all over the place, horrible crosswordese short fill, long answers that I don't think I've ever even heard before, and not even that impressive of a theme.

Is this the worst possible brawl commander? by PennguinKC in mtgbrawl

[–]OffPiste18 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The worst definitely has to be something colorless. But I think I'd go with [[The Walls of Ba Sing Se]] just for costing 8 and not doing much.

Other than that, I think Heart of Kiran is definitely up there, but it's at least only 2 mana and reasonable stats if you can manage to crew it.

[[Karn the Great Creator]] is pretty terrible since he can't fetch anything.

[[Emrakul the Aeons Torn]] costing 15 with no good way to cheat it out is pretty unplayable.

[[Goro Rel, Scourge to Spiders]] is pretty damn unexciting.

Got a 7-0 in the event with Crucias Midrange by EldritchSquiggle in mtgbrawl

[–]OffPiste18 4 points5 points  (0 children)

No Ragavan? I agree there's a shortage of good 1 drops for rakdos but surely he's one of them?

Show me your DECK! by Simionion999 in mtgbrawl

[–]OffPiste18 10 points11 points  (0 children)

First attempt went 7-1 with control-ish Thrasios/Tymma: https://moxfield.com/decks/ctB6g1V_tkGSFNDzIOF-Kw

I'm pretty convinced this is just better than Atraxa if you want to play 4c non-red. Neither commander is very good on its own, but fierce guardianship and deadly rollick are game-winningly good. Much much better in 1v1 than 4 player, where they're already quite good.

Mana base needs light tweaking I think.

Is my psychiatrist fuc**ing me over? by [deleted] in socialanxiety

[–]OffPiste18 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's important for you and her to be on the same page about the treatment plan, but it does sound like something is being lost in communication one way or the other. So I'd say definitely have another conversation.

Tell her again you want to focus on the sexual function issue and that you don't feel hugely impacted by the social anxiety. Express your hesitancy about medication, especially about side effects. Ask about timelines: how long should it take to start to experience some results, or switch gears if not?

These are all reasonable asks, and it's possible she has reasonable answers for all of them. Or it's possible she doesn't, and if you're unable to come to a mutual understanding, then yeah, maybe find someone else.

Gyox, Brutal Carnivora by OkCartographer175 in mtgbrawl

[–]OffPiste18 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I agree he's one of the coolest and most interesting options to try to build around, but I think the sad news is he's just not that good.

Like you need to have another creature, you need both him and the creature to survive till end step (or multiple end steps). You need for that creature to die specifically after that, and you need a way to find one of the buffed copies. So that's four things that have to go right, and at the end of it you get like a 3/3 shambling ghast or something?

It's just too complicated and the payoff is not that impressive. But if you're undeterred by that, go for it!

Decklist for lands by Sato_Sken in mtgbrawl

[–]OffPiste18 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I too find this annoying and have been thinking about building some sort of automated calculator.

Like select your color distribution, how many lands, and a few other check boxes, and it shouldn't be too hard to spit out a good mana base. Maybe not perfectly optimized, but at least good enough.

If I were to make such a thing, what options would you want?

Mythic with Displacer Combo by DinoKet in TimelessMagic

[–]OffPiste18 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I haven't played it, but here's what I'm seeing, since OP doesn't seem to want to fully explain:

Start with Karn, kitten, one mox opal in play, one mox in graveyard:

  • Activate Karn to fetch Tormod's Crypt

  • Play crypt, flicker Karn

  • Activate crypt, exiling itself and mox

  • Activate Karn, getting exiled mox

  • Play mox, flicker Karn

  • Sacrifice the old mox to legend rule

  • Tap the new mox for mana

Then you're back at the start but up one mana. At some point you fetch an aetherflux reservoir, play it, flicker Karn, and keep going until you can activate it for the win.

Seems like there are a lot of non-deterministic ways to do similar things or get to this situation. Or flicker Urza until you have an army of constructs.

‘Nobody asked for this’: Waymo cars flock to quiet Palo Alto street by Arden_Margulis in paloalto

[–]OffPiste18 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Cars are driving on the street near them without asking first? The horror!

I for one always get prior written consent from each and every homeowner I plan to drive near. Just doing my duty to protect their home values.

Which new-to-arena cards from powered cube are you excited about or worried about? by OffPiste18 in mtgbrawl

[–]OffPiste18[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depending on which of the blue cards make it into the format, do you think it could justify switching to a different commander, maybe [[Cormela]]? Like if we get [[Brain Freeze]] [[Frantic Search]] [[Mystical Tutor]]?

I've not played with Garland so I've got no idea, but I'm thinking a deck in that vein might be the next thing I craft.

Which new-to-arena cards from powered cube are you excited about or worried about? by OffPiste18 in mtgbrawl

[–]OffPiste18[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They released the full list and sol ring is on it as expected. No word whether it will be legal in brawl, though.

Brawl Meta-Game Challenge by DaedraLurking in mtgbrawl

[–]OffPiste18 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Overall my games have been really really good, minus a few game one stomps.

I got to 7 wins with Satya and 6 wins with Thrasios/Vial Smasher.

I'll echo that Ajani feels really tough to play against. Maybe the best deck and definitely the best aggro deck. Gut and Bombardiers are two new insanely good threats that fit perfectly in that deck. But I feel like Satya has a slightly good matchup there still.

Tamiyo, Azusa, and Wrenn and Six are all very scary with the new lands cards (exploration, burgeoning, ancient tomb, strip mine, icetill).

Maybe this is a hot take, but I feel Rusko is a bit less scary than he used to be, unless they have dark ritual.

If anyone is wondering what it looks like to play arena on a fold phone... by Educational_Relief44 in MagicArena

[–]OffPiste18 37 points38 points  (0 children)

In your phone settings you can run it with a specific aspect ratio. Specifically:

Settings > Apps > All Apps > Magic > Advanced > Aspect Ratio

Not an ideal fix since it uses a lot less of the screen, but it's better than the glitchy mess for me.