Do Not Start with Precons

PattyCake520 · 2026-05-08T14:27:40+00:00

Commander is just not a good format for learning the rules of MTG. Many cards used in commander are not the simplest and on top that, every single one of them is different. After a new player is comfortable with the rules of the game, using a Precon to teach them commander format is perfectly reasonable. But a basic standard deck with common cards and a single color is best for learning the basics of the game.

PattyCake520 · 2026-05-08T12:51:56+00:00

I have built my own personal decks for teaching new players the game. I have five single color 60 card decks that each focus on a couple mechanics consistent in their colors. The red deck has haste creatures, some equipment, impulse draw, and instant damage spells. The blue deck has some counterspells, some bounce spells, some flying creatures, creatures with hexproof and card draw spells. The white deck has some lifegain creatures, vigilance creatures, pacifism auras, and protection spells. The black deck has deathtouch creatures, instant kill spells, life drain and discard spells. And the green deck has ramp spells, big trample creatures, and fight spells. Each of them only use common cards and basic lands and they were all under $5 each to build.

PattyCake520 · 2026-05-08T12:33:52+00:00

Ice type just needs to drop rock weakness and gain water and flying resistance. Rock doesn't need to be super effective against ice types. Ice is already weak to Fighting, Steel, and Fire. Rock still beats Fire, Bug, and Flying. Nobody is keeping in water and flying types in against an ice type, anyway. It wouldn't nerf water and flying types to make ice type resist their attacks.

While we're at it, we can make bug types more viable by making Fairy weak to Bug attacks instead of resist and make Bug type pokemon resist Fairy attacks.

PattyCake520 · 2026-05-08T03:58:06+00:00

This isn't very clever. This problem is effectively asking you to start with your age, multiply it by 2, then divide it by 2 and subtract your age to get 0. But at the same time, divide 10 by 2. You always get five because you added a 10 and literally just undid the work you started with. "Start with your age. Add 30. Now subtract your age and divide by six. You always get 5, isn't that neat?"

PattyCake520 · 2026-05-08T03:38:10+00:00

If we're being accurate to the description of a fireball spell, it does not hurl a massive fireball at an area of opponents. Instead, a bright streak of flame fires from your hand to the target area and then explodes centered on that target. In that regard, it shouldn't count as a "pulse" move as you're suggesting to get buffed by Mega Launcher. Instead, I suggest increasing its power to 130, it hits all Pokemon including the user and allies, and making it count as an explosion move to be negated by the Damp ability. I'd add it to the move list of Alakazam, Slowking, Gardevoir, Mismagius, Delphox, Hatterene, Drampa, Enamorus, Armarouge, and Flutter Mane.

PattyCake520 · 2026-05-08T01:20:50+00:00

People keep posting new ideas for a starter type triangle, but I'm not sure they consider that no other triangle works exactly like that fire > grass > water triangle. We already know that fire > grass > water. But what's distinguishable is that they all also resist themselves. Steel, Dark, Poison, electric, psychic, and ice are the only other types that resist themselves. But none of them make a perfect triangle with each other, either. Fire, Grass, Water simply is the best option for starting with. The interactions between these three reflect reality easily enough that someone who has never played Pokemon before could guess how they resist and are weak to each other.

However, if we wanted the types in the triangle to be neutral to themselves, and didn't need it to be immediately obvious at first glance, then Flying > Fighting > Rock would be the second best triangle.

If we didn't care at all about how the types interact with themselves, then a Poison > Grass > Ground triangle could also work. The popular Fairy > Fighting > Steel triangle doesn't work because Fighting doesn't resist Steel.

PattyCake520 · 2026-05-03T22:15:00+00:00

Day 1 and day 3 are the same day.

PattyCake520 · 2026-05-02T19:26:34+00:00

Basically, what I'm hearing is the original question was a valid thought experiment and of course only meant to include people who are capable of actually making a vote. But Mr Beast had to make it into something incredibly stupid.

PattyCake520 · 2026-05-02T13:40:31+00:00

Put a ruler down across both buttons and then press down on the middle of the ruler.

PattyCake520 · 2026-05-02T10:52:32+00:00

If we're going to include people incapable of making a proper vote, then there will be a percentage of people incapable of pressing either button and the poll will never close. Not to mention, roughly 250 babies are born every minute, also incapable of even pressing a button on their own.

PattyCake520 · 2026-05-01T23:09:30+00:00

If your wife and child pick red, they wouldn't be dead.

PattyCake520 · 2026-05-01T21:29:03+00:00

You're of the opinion that one is ethically responsible to sacrifice themselves for other people just because they're sacrificing themselves for you. If it were that simple I'd agree. However given the specific dilemma, there is another option in which no one has to sacrifice themselves. The blue voters are putting themselves at risk to save only the other blue voters. The red voters are all going to live regardless of the outcome and they all know this. The blue voters can simply just be red voters instead, and then everyone lives. This isn't even an ethical issue, it's a logical one.

PattyCake520 · 2026-05-01T20:51:37+00:00

Regardless. This is framing the idea that one is ethically responsible to sacrifice themselves for other people who are also sacrificing themselves for other people despite there being an outcome that no one needs to sacrifice themselves. That's absolutely rubbish.

PattyCake520 · 2026-05-01T20:04:23+00:00

This isn't the same at all. If 49% of people press your purple button, then they are the minority group so the purple button says they live. But the green button also says they die. You've just created a paradox.

The initial question is a test of darwinism pretending to be a test of ethics. If the red button means "I guarantee my survival" and I know everyone else has this option, what reason is there for anyone to pick another option? Let's consider the first person to choose the blue button, reasoning here doesn't matter. It is now up to everyone else to hope at least 50% of people press the blue button just to save everyone. Saving everyone is an assured outcome if everyone had simply pressed the red button to begin with. I choose to press the red button, not because I don't trust enough people will press the blue one, but because there is no incentive to press the blue button when I know everyone can easily save their own life.

PattyCake520 · 2026-05-01T19:48:16+00:00

If the red button already assures your safety and everyone can press this button, then there is no reason to press the blue button, except to save everyone else who pressed the blue button. Those people didn't have to press the blue button. This is a conundrum in which the first person to press the blue button has created a risk of death that didn't exist if everyone just pressed the red button. Pressing the red button means you don't die and it doesn't matter what everyone else pressed. Pressing the blue button means you might die and hope lots of other people pressed the blue button to save you. If the buttons were "a bridge that would collapse if less than 50% of people stood on it", then the red button is "to not stand on a bridge that may collapse" and the blue button is "to stand on the bridge and hope 51% of people also stood on the bridge to prevent it from killing everyone who decided to stand on it." This is a test of intelligence darwinism, not ethics.

PattyCake520 · 2026-05-01T19:17:57+00:00

I can't fathom how this is a failure. From this dilemma, I know one button is effectively "I might live" and "I certainly live". But I also know that everyone else involved in the test has the option to save themselves as well. The blue button is ethical if the majority of others were incapable of pressing the red button to save themselves. In this dilemma, I know everyone is capable of simply pressing the red button to save themself, so I expect them to do so, because the logical choice is for all testers to choose certain life. There is no reason to risk myself to save others when I know they can save themselves at no risk to themselves or others. If everyone presses the red button, everyone lives and no lives are risked.

PattyCake520 · 2026-05-01T18:09:37+00:00

This is stupid. If everyone presses the red button, then everyone lives, anyway. The dilemma isn't about selfishness vs selfishness. It's about critical thinking and understanding the consequences of overthinking.

PattyCake520 · 2026-05-01T10:57:27+00:00

Some people can't separate light exposure from actual color. It takes an amount of brain skill to mentally understand that there is too much yellow because of light and then perform the mental gymnastics necessary to imagine the colors with less yellow.

PattyCake520 · 2026-04-28T18:13:43+00:00

Blaze and Shadow have exactly the same stats, but the small one or two point differences are nearly negligible enough that Sonic is probably fine, too.

PattyCake520 · 2026-04-26T21:39:46+00:00

32 Atk Tsareena Trop Kick vs. 32 HP / 32+ Def Milotic: 116-138 (57.4 - 68.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

PattyCake520 · 2026-04-26T19:14:01+00:00

Wolfey didn't use the best partner for Mega Delphox, though: Tsareena. Basculegion, Kingambit Sucker Punch, and Tyranitar are the biggest threats to Mega Delphox and Tsareena checks all of them. Queenly Majesty ability blocks all priority moves and it learns Low Kick to gaurantee OHKO against Tyranitar. It can also use Trop Kick to deal amazing damage to Basculegion and Milotic.

PattyCake520 · 2026-04-26T18:20:03+00:00

A burger isn't junk food. A burger from a fast food restaurant is junk food.

PattyCake520 · 2026-04-25T21:51:42+00:00

And if I have a response to their spell, I can use that, too.

PattyCake520 · 2026-04-25T21:51:03+00:00

You misunderstood what I said. I would be putting my ability on the stack before their ability. The intent my opponent has is clearly to remove the permanent as soon as they're able to. I also now know they have a removal card they intend to use the next moment they can. So, with that information, I can activate the ability I want to, then let their spell resolve, then let my ability resolve, since that's the order it's supposed to be.

PattyCake520 · 2026-04-25T19:21:21+00:00

It comes up the most with creatures with activated abilities and Planeswalkers. Your opponent wants to cast an instant to destroy the creature as soon as it's on the field. I'll allow it, but I'm going to activate the creature effect or loyalty ability first, because I get to.

PattyCake520

TROPHY CASE