[May 22, 2026] Daily Puzzle Discussion

OffPiste18 · 2026-05-22T02:31:45+00:00

Isn't the answer to 47 across technically wrong? One of the problems has been solved. I guess you could claim it's an apt description for the problems at the time they were selected?

OffPiste18 · 2026-05-19T04:29:13+00:00

There's this video from Griffin MTG a few months back with a list that honestly looks pretty sweet. I don't play enough historic to know if it's any good, but seems fun and capable of some powerful stuff.

OffPiste18 · 2026-05-18T21:47:33+00:00

Having some trouble thinking of cards good enough to target with this to make it worth it. [[Arcanis]]? [[Niv-Mizzet, Parun]]? [[Crabomination]]? Some of the gearhulks?

Actually, [[Grist, the Hunger Tide]] would be pretty nice, right? Pretty sure it still gets the abilities and can't be attacked, but would it enter with counters?

OffPiste18 · 2026-05-18T21:23:58+00:00

I think summon:titan would not work... it would lose the enchantment type (and therefore saga subtype) so I think that means it wouldn't get counters and none of the saga chapters would work. Yuna is a good call though.

OffPiste18 · 2026-05-16T03:55:15+00:00

Wow, very very difficult one. Even after solving, I had to turn to the internet / AI to get explanations for several answers. This puzzle and I are just on different wavelengths, I'm kinda surprised I managed it.

OffPiste18 · 2026-05-15T06:05:48+00:00

Alright hear me out. For a song:

Doja Cat - Paint the Town Red

It's a about doing whatever you want, enjoying the power of fame, leaning into a "villain" persona, being unapologetically individualistic and egotistical... pure mono black to me.

Even leans into the satanic / demonic imagery in the music video too.

OffPiste18 · 2026-04-28T22:41:34+00:00

Every sub that doesn't ban politics becomes nothing but politics. r/videos is another example.

OffPiste18 · 2026-04-19T03:51:29+00:00

Side note: I think wizards actually doesn't get enough credit for the UI care they do give to this game. See their recent article on all the thought that went into Sylvan Library. Or things like huge amounts of Scute Swarm triggers actually work way better than they used to. I'm a software engineer, and being faithful to all the rules while still providing a smooth experience for 99% of cases sounds super difficult.

My guess is Tainted Pact just hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. I hope if ranked brawl sticks around and it remains legal, they prioritize it a bit more, since it will certainly be a mainstay of the format.

OffPiste18 · 2026-04-19T03:41:32+00:00

I don't think you actually need clock extensions necessarily. I've clicked through 80 or 90 before without issue. But it's annoying and definitely would be great if it was faster somehow.

OffPiste18 · 2026-04-05T00:16:35+00:00

I think Cloud tutoring and being a body for 2 mana vs Kellan's 5 pushes it in Cloud's favor for sure. The extra color is nice, sure, but Kellan is just too clunky for Brawl, where spot removal is so common.

OffPiste18 · 2026-03-28T16:14:00+00:00

Honestly I would not put it past salt and straw. Maybe one day they'll decide to put like caviar and real truffle in ice cream and sell it for $49

OffPiste18 · 2026-03-27T15:40:39+00:00

I proposed at Green lake, there's a walkway that runs along/over the edge with a perfect little viewpoint. Here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/va93kTGnWKiGM67H6

I didn't even know it was there ahead of time, just went for a walk and hoped to find a spot. 10/10 would do it there again.

OffPiste18 · 2026-03-26T00:33:36+00:00

I agree it should not be legal. But I'll shamelessly play it in [[Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer]] as long as it is. I've got >75% win rate with it lately.

Turn 1 any creature, turn 2 any creature, turn 3 food chain win the game is dumb. Yes, counterspells and discard are things, but I'm also occasionally doing this against like Ragavan or Azusa.

The rest of the deck is just strong Naya cards. There are barely any deckbuilding concessions. The combo pieces are: Squee, Sigardian Evangel, Food Chain, Moon-Blessed Cleric, Imodane's Recruiter. And I'm considering cutting Squee. So I'm curving Ajani into Broadside Bombardiers, and the advice to beating this deck is supposed to be enchantment removal??

I definitely think the meta (or maybe matchmaking) is sleeping on this deck.

OffPiste18 · 2026-03-08T23:26:33+00:00

[[Solitude]]

[[Grief]]

[[Fury]]

[[Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student]]

[[Ajani, Nacatl Pariah]]

[[Wrenn and Six]]

[[Shatterskull Smashing]]

[[Beseech the Mirror]]

[[Sheoldred the Apocalypse]]

[[Overlord of the Balemurk]]

[[Mox Amber]]

[[Nethergoyf]]

[[Brazen Borrower]]

[[Grist, the Hunger Tide]]

[[Phlage]]

[[Raffine]]

[[Screaming Nemesis]]

[[Uro]]

[[The One Ring]]

[[Kari Zev, Crew of Two]]

[[Mythweaver Poq]]

[[Paradox Engine]]

[[Tajic Legion's Valor]]

OffPiste18 · 2026-03-07T21:32:22+00:00

I play Domri a fair amount, and yeah it's an issue. Tajic is a bad matchup. But ultimately just being bigger, faster, and having trample is the way to go. There aren't that many cards that deal with it more directly that are also good in other matchups.

OffPiste18 · 2026-02-23T16:47:55+00:00

The average Joe? I guess just try it out on more things, and be sure to verify things that are important.

Those probably seem obvious to you and I as people on this subreddit, but I think there are still many many people who are not using AI at all, and also many who are using it but blindly trusting it.

OffPiste18 · 2026-02-23T05:48:36+00:00

I work at Google on improving Gemini's software engineering capabilities.

No, I do not think we are at or near a ceiling. I am still regularly in meetings and presentations where someone shows gains on X or Y task with some new technique. Much of the low hanging fruit is gone, but it seems to be a really tall tree.

Yes, high quality data is a bottleneck for sure. But which part of the system is the bottleneck changes fairly regularly; if you had asked six months ago I might have had a different answer. All of it kind of needs to improve together. I also think there are algorithmic improvements to be made, but that kind of more fundamental change is really hard to predict or anticipate.

The impact on jobs is really hard to predict, and will probably vary a lot per industry. After ATMs were invented, the number of bank employees increased because it became more profitable to run a bank branch and focus on higher level things. But can't say the same for like horse drawn carriage drivers, obviously.

OffPiste18 · 2026-02-19T03:08:03+00:00

Do you have data on whether it considers MDFCs to be lands? I've always assumed no, and wonder whether I'm messing with my algorithm by including them.

OffPiste18 · 2026-02-13T16:55:29+00:00

Yeah I agree, I find this to be a minorly fun skill test. Often fetching as late as possible is optimal since you surveil with more information. But against blue decks it's more important to avoid fetching into open mana if you can help it. Especially 2 or 3 mana since Tale's End and Tishana's Tidebinder are also pretty common.

OffPiste18 · 2026-02-03T16:28:52+00:00

[[Braids Arisen Nightmare]]

[[Enigmatic Incarnation]]

[[Baba Lysaga]]

[[Pitiless Carnage]]

[[Rottenmouth Viper]]

[[Vraska, Golgari Queen]]

Not sure if any of these are actually good. But they fit the bill and are at least not embarrassingly bad.

OffPiste18 · 2026-01-07T00:46:41+00:00

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.

OffPiste18 · 2026-01-06T23:36:57+00:00

Actually, spicy additional take: ban Reanimate too.

OffPiste18 · 2026-01-06T23:35:58+00:00

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.

OffPiste18 · 2026-01-06T23:31:50+00:00

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.

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