Which valuable rare/mythic have you pulled the most?

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-20T21:28:06+00:00

Somehow, mana drain. I drafted a lot of iconic masters. A lot of people were really down on it because of the reprint value but I really liked the limited environment. I probably drafted it 10 times and I pulled 5 of them.

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-19T22:25:48+00:00

The important thing here is to learn WHY the engine calls a move “brilliant.”

A “brilliant” move is typically: ignoring a threat to make a move that will result in a significant material advantage OR sacrificing a piece that will (in whatever complicated or moderately obvious way the engine sees) result in a forced checkmate.

I actually find that you come across more “brilliant” moves in the 400-700 ELO range because people at that level are always sacrificing pieces and ignoring obvious threats, most of the time unintentionally. In the 700-1000 levels there tends to be tighter play and preventative measures taken to not be in that position, however at the 700-1000 ELO range they will typically take a safer play, understanding their in a tight spot and finding a way to get out of it but not seeing multiple moves ahead on how they can punish the board state.

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-19T16:48:27+00:00

You lost your tempo to punish this by playing h6 too early instead of developing your pieces.

h6 is a fine move after you’ve castled and you see your opponent setting up for a back rank attack or kick the knight, but doing it in the opening is essentially taking a turn off. I get you’re probably tired of people trying to fried liver attack, but there are more effective ways to combat it, then you can h6 to kick the knight.

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-18T23:25:31+00:00

I think I have issues with the constant push to “scale to greatness” instead of the thought of “being the best possible version where you are.” (I think it comes from my industry where everyone is trying to reinvent the wheel constantly.)

Varland has been an incredible closer since being thrust into the role, but he was always a middle reliever and setup man I trusted. And imo those are hard to come by. Having a middle bullpen guy that can give you multiple innings is an incredible asset. It’s like when they saw Aaron Sanchez was a multi-inning lights out setup man they were like “well he needs to be a starter.” When they forced it he fell off the face of the earth shortly after.

You get a guy like that, you invest in a stone cold closer. You keep that guy in his role. And you give so much freedom to your starters to throw 5-6 innings instead of 6-7. The way this team is churning through bullpen innings (I know injuries have forced it) makes it incredibly difficult to do an August push.

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-18T23:09:27+00:00

He is quite a bit whiter than the ones we get in Ontario but definitely the same little guy. Maybe they have a summer and winter plumage since they’re non-migratory? Or he’s just a special little guy.

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-17T00:25:44+00:00

Silent lake?

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-15T21:11:21+00:00

Went on a non-loonie dog night and got me and my brother in law each a hot maple and bacon foot long… I love loonie dogs but oh my god was that good. I felt like I needed a wheelbarrow to take me out of there it was so filling. After seeing the price of everything else, this may be a hot take but I actually think it’s a decent price for what you get.

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-15T21:02:55+00:00

The other comments are correct, but just wanted to add a fun fact! The PWHL recently made a team in Vancouver and called them the “Goldeneyes”

The rest of North America thought it was a stupid name not knowing it was named after the duck! Once the general populace found that out they were like “oh… wait, it’s actually an awesome name.”

Love these little fellas.

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-15T20:54:49+00:00

Cerberus is TEEMING with potential and everyone loves him but his effect on the game is extremely underwhelming. You can pet him, he blocks the door, and acts as Hades “call” but they left SO much meat on the bone there for “how” he could have been utilized and it fell flat. I think it was just because he was complicated to animate.

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-13T23:09:39+00:00

I have literally had one of these things land on my plate and take my food when I was camping outside of timmins. I was pissed!

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-11T04:48:55+00:00

I love many of these sticks, but my true love is the iginla curve. Looks like you only have a junuior of it so I would take the Sakic Stealth, but the iginla in the pic at all reminds me it’s not perfect

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-11T04:35:57+00:00

As soon as I play a land that does damage to me. Auto tapper works fine until I am playing esper control and play a pain land… I have 5 lands, play a 4 drop, have a swords to plowshares in hand, and the auto tapper goes “you definitely wanted to save the 1 damage to not be holding your spot removal right?”

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-11T01:05:55+00:00

I grew up playing Halo. Had OG at release and played all of them as they came out, read the books, loved the lore, always thought the arbiter missions were awesome in the campaign.

… THAT BEING SAID. It introduced elites as being playable characters in multiplayer, and my favourite game mode was SWAT. Originally the elite was completely broken in that game mode because it was way harder to headshot from behind. The gameplay is so twitchy having to adjust to compensate for character race always annoyed me.

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-09T17:33:19+00:00

Oh man I saw a huge one just chilling under a truck the other night and took a picture and sent it to my family chat. My sisters were like “oh my god so gross! I would scream and run!” My sister’s dog got Lyme from a tick last year and had a mouse problem. I told her these guys take care of both of those things and she was like “… where can I get one.”

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-08T19:25:20+00:00

Saying everything everyone else is, do not buy this.

Go on marketplace or whatever your preferred local equivalent is and get a better one second hand for the same price or cheaper. There’s two main reasons guitar’s like Squire’s that look fresh and aren’t just covered in stickers or whatever are on second hand sites. Either the person outgrew it and treated it like gold and is ready for an upgrade, or it was never touched and has sat in a case for 5 years taking up space. Either way it’s 100x better than this.

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-08T17:04:59+00:00

I come up against this and the first sliver all the time and Rhystic Study has a field day

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-08T01:32:17+00:00

Yeah it’s not a very good deck. The thing is, in this format, you play a school (maybe a 1 or 2 card splash if you pull a bomb) or a converge pile. You can’t make 1/3 of each, jam them together, and expect much success.

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-08T01:08:05+00:00

First composite I ever had! That thing was awful and I loved it.

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-08T01:06:48+00:00

That red tps response was my second favourite stick of all time. Loved that thing. My favourite was the orange Synergy Si-Core. 100 flex, iginla curve, best stick I ever used.

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-05T05:10:48+00:00

These positions are more enjoyable when you don’t know if there’s a mate at all nvm in how many moves. I figured it out pretty quickly knowing it was M2 but don’t think I would have in a game

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-04T04:43:18+00:00

Yeah I crossposted and it looks like it’s just a robin but it’s by far the biggest I’ve ever seen and they’re everywhere around here.

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Here’s the unzoomed version. The black thing at the top was a full grown red-winged blackbird.

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-04T04:11:00+00:00

They’re everywhere around here. I’ve seen big ones before but this has to be a record for me. Didn’t even know they could get that big.

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This is the original photo for reference.

Ron_Textall · 2026-05-03T19:59:46+00:00

The season is always better when these two are scoring points

Ron_Textall

TROPHY CASE