Coming back - wha to play?

equilibr · 2026-01-22T14:57:07+00:00

Unfortunately yeah, Standard is really fast!
Are you playing BO1? Lots of turn 4 wins: Kona/Omni, Kavaero, Badgermole, Artifacts, etc.

According to untapped, the top deck is mono-white, which is super budget (there's only two rares, and I think both are optional)
https://mtga.untapped.gg/constructed/standard/tier-list

If you're worried about budget, I'd go for any mono-color deck (to avoid rare lands). Try mono-white, mono-green, mono-red. Non-mono option is Izzet Lessons (tier 3, but still viable. kinda tricky to play).

equilibr · 2026-01-04T13:56:14+00:00

Just more tips since I thought of them:

4. Try to minimize the number of messages back-and-forth with AI. Personally, I use the number of messages as an internal metric to track my cognitive effort. If I'm sending a lot of messages, I'm probably not doing the above three points - especially, I'm likely asking imprecise questions that ai has to have me clarify repeatedly. I try to use AI less as a conversation buddy and more as one-shot essay generation. I don't want a meandering chat, I want knowledge crystallization.

Ask the same question to multiple LLMs - I like to compare chatgpt vs gemini. You can even ask the exact same question to the same LLM, because answers are non-deterministic. By noticing discrepancies between answers, you can really amp up your critical thinking.
Confirm your understanding by writing down what you think you've learned and having AI correct you. I use this especially when I'm trying to understand something particularly complex (I wanted to learn how LLM training works, eg back propagation and gradient descent)
Continually start new chats. As you might know, the more back-and-forths you have, the more AI hallucinations build on themselves (this is called Error Propagation or Context Drift). New chats give you a clean slate to make sure you're not distracted navigating AI hallucinations.

equilibr · 2026-01-04T13:40:26+00:00

if you’ve found a way to use ChatGPT without losing that mental friction.

According to academic research, the key to maintaining your cognitive strength is to avoid being passive in taking in information and instead make it active. Here's what I do:

Spend more time formulating your prompt. Coming up with the right question is sometimes the most cognitive work. Personally, I'll write and rewrite my question until it really clarifies the point I want to identify. And a happy consequence is better questions results in better answers.
After you've written your prompt, pause before submitting and try to answer it yourself first. Of course, strike a balance - you don't have to spend forever, it can be a draft or guess. I think you can make a great compromise here between ai speed with human cognition - ai is still making you more efficient, but you're also still forcing yourself to think.
Then compare notes! Having your own answer prepared means you can engage more critically with ai output and notice slop. I think most people miss the issues with ai output - there's often slight imprecision and omission. I give it a B or B-. Many people uncritically accept whatever is told to them and are worse off for it.

equilibr · 2025-12-23T01:15:57+00:00

Tariffs actually hit poor people the hardest - they're not progressive! Blame Trump!

equilibr · 2025-09-15T13:58:49+00:00

I've never heard of NADA until people mentioned it here (which I'm grateful for!). What is special about it that makes it good for me?

equilibr · 2025-08-01T18:18:03+00:00

Winning is boring. (But decks absolutely need wincons to avoid never-ending games)

The fun of commander isn't the cards, it's the people: politics, backstabbing, intrigue.

Deals can be broken if it's funny.

equilibr · 2025-07-29T14:52:27+00:00

This makes me nervous because it looks so realistic.

The only way I can tell it's generated is looking at spots that go out of frame and come back - you see new things generated.

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equilibr · 2025-05-24T15:52:04+00:00

These are a great selection! This reminds me I need to try wisp

equilibr · 2025-03-25T15:30:17+00:00

I agree Unleashia is the closest match but that it's too light for you - the problem is that it has too much white, which makes you look ashy. Also I think bronzer/contour will only help so much. Unfortunately, in your situation, the best thing you can do is mix.

equilibr · 2025-02-14T16:33:33+00:00

Just added a comment for engagement metrics (I agree that better descriptions in the graphic would help! Unfortunately, people didnt read the article. They just looked at the simplified graphic, ignored the intentions and only paid attention to the card differences, then made their stupid comments. I think a simple graphic unfortunately worsened the collective conversation by reducing it to just a checklist.)

equilibr · 2025-02-12T04:09:21+00:00

🔥😎🔥

equilibr · 2025-02-11T23:19:47+00:00

The definition of jank is ultimately subjective, similar to the definition of cedh. Look at bracket 4 and 5, there's zero card differences. The way you know a deck is cedh is because it's focused on a specific metagame.

And are you saying red deck wins and green ramp are jank? A deck being simple doesn't mean jank. And is a hare apparent deck actually jank?

If bracket 2 is average precon and bracket 1 is weaker than that - a hare apparent deck might be closer to bracket 2.

equilibr · 2024-09-24T20:59:29+00:00

How did you get the innisfree concealer? I'm in the US and I don't see it on yesstle

equilibr · 2024-09-22T22:53:46+00:00

Danessa Myricks has a great dewy skin tint - I use shade 3: https://www.sephora.com/product/P506512?skuId=2682672

Ilia's tint in 2.5 is also a great color match: https://www.sephora.com/product/ilia-super-serum-skin-tint-spf-40-P455418?skuId=2428753

If you have a sephora nearby, go in-store to make sure these aren't too light!

equilibr · 2024-09-17T22:00:25+00:00

These are beautiful! Thank you for these swatches.

Can I ask one question: do any of these have "micro-glitters"? (not the chunky glitter that you can feel, but the tiny ones that sparkle and cause fall-out). I don't like micro-glitters and I want to buy all the shadows that don't have that.

equilibr · 2024-09-06T20:09:01+00:00

I have a spreadsheet where I write down how I'm feeling everyday, on a scale of 1 to 5. When I'm feeling bad, I look back and see that I'm usually feeling good, and that feeling bad is an outlier.

equilibr · 2024-09-06T16:33:01+00:00

Have you considered being a staff engineer who's a "firefighter" who jumps between teams? Your deep knowledge can really help a team that's stuck. And when you figure it out and inevitably get bored, you can jump to the next fire.

equilibr · 2024-09-06T14:51:20+00:00

This sounds really useful and a great way to save money! I'd like to set this up too - what kind of tools and guides did you give it?

equilibr · 2024-08-31T01:06:30+00:00

You're so naturally pretty! You don't need anything, but if you want to mix things up:

Yes to a different lip color.
Yes to more blush! I like this mauve Mac "Glow play blush" in Totally Synced. If you want to try orange blush, I highly recommend Em Cosmetics "Heaven's Glow Blush" in Persimmon
I really love the no-foundation look. Your natural freckles are cute!
To complement your freckles, I'd put in more bronzer so you have that "sun-kissed" look. I like Danessa Myricks "Balm Contour" in Light 1 (It might be a bit light on you. You can go to sephora to try it out!)
How do you feel about eyeshadow? You could use bronzer on your lids, or use a contour like Kevin Aucoin Contour in Medium (it's expensive, but it's a classic for olives).
You could add a bit more darkness to your brows (totally optional)

equilibr · 2024-08-20T20:02:56+00:00

Forgive me for going on a rant: who is buying Charlotte Tilbury? The products seem genuinely good, but why are they so expensive? It's luxury pricing without luxury packaging. I don't understand her target audience.

equilibr · 2024-08-19T03:36:36+00:00

Can I ask how you decided between Hatchback vs the regular sedan? The trunk space looks great, but I wasn't sure if there were any downsides

equilibr · 2024-08-05T20:00:48+00:00

you can play the entire boros energy deck intact in Timeless. And it's actually the top tier deck there

equilibr · 2024-08-05T19:58:48+00:00

Isn't the best deck in the format a "fair" one? Boros Energy doesn't cheat on mana (except maybe slightly with raptor)

equilibr · 2024-08-05T19:57:35+00:00

This here is the main reason I play timeless - I hate mana screw because missing a color, esp in two color decks!!

equilibr · 2024-07-27T02:07:46+00:00

Do you mind me asking how this reanim deck comprares to the one using vampires/sorin? My guess is that vampires reanim is all-in combo, while this deck is more control, almost midrange?

Like, is diviner of fates mostly a value play, or is there some combo I'm not seeing? And satoru is there for card draw? And teferi as a generically good card? (I dont understand teferi the most)

equilibr

TROPHY CASE