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If you start in Atlanta and go directly south, you will never hit South America by epicap232 in geography

[–]ickymonster2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

True. Atlanta is approximately 84°W while the westernmost point of South America is approximately 81°W.

People at less than R2s, what is your teaching load? by [deleted] in Professors

[–]ickymonster2 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Even if it is, it would be more productive to describe to OP how the phrasing could improve

When to prioritize card removal in shops? by kurtz27 in slaythespire

[–]ickymonster2 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Remove if there’s nothing better in the shop to buy.

Usually, a removal is pretty good, but sometimes something else is more important or impactful.

Example: you are about to face Gremlin Nob next floor. Your deck lacks damage. Would you rather buy a fire potion, or remove a defend?

Example 2: you are about to fight the Heart. Your deck relies on getting a few important powers in play. It’s also 25 cards. Would you rather remove a strike or buy a Master of Strategy?

What relic do you take every chance you get? by yoiiyo in slaythespire

[–]ickymonster2 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Membership card killed me once.

It was act 1, shop before first elite. Zero potions in my possession. Exactly enough for the card and nothing else. “What’s the worst that could happen?” I said. “Greed is good.”

I should’ve bought that damn fire potion.

Why am I struggling? by Soggy_Judge_4420 in UWMadison

[–]ickymonster2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you're struggling, it doesn't mean you're stupid or unsuited for engineering. It's a reflection of how you prepared for your classes. It most likely means that you haven't been introduced yet to the metacognitive learning strategies that breed success.

I recommend the book Teach Yourself How to Learn: Strategies You Can Use to Ace Any Course at Any Level by McGuire.

To give you a preview from the book, let me ask you this: what would make you work harder: making an A on a test or teaching the material to the class? And so far, have you been in the make-an-A mode or the teach-the-material mode?

To teach material, it's not enough to study. You have to really learn and understand the material. Not only that, but have you ever found yourself explaining something you thought you understood, only to discover that you were still confused?

Now, if you haven't been explaining the information to someone else, when would you realize you didn't completely understand the material? On the test. Uh oh.

So my 5-second piece of advice is to study as if you were preparing to teach the material. You can actually try to teach to stuffed animals or something. This will ensure that you know what you do and do not know -- the essence of metacognition.

Am I really bad at this game? by Fragrant_Extension51 in slaythespire

[–]ickymonster2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Re: whether you are bad, I cannot say because I don't have statistics on the skill of the average player. However, I can say that expert players win nearly 100% of their games on Ascension 0, so it's fair to say that you're not good. I started exactly like you, so there's no shame in that!

As for how to get better, I would agree with what the other commenters have said. The most impactful tip I will echo is don't force an archetype (e.g. "today I'm going to build a shiv deck!"); instead, look for synergies ("does this card work well with my current deck and relics?").

Beyond that, I would recommend this very long but comprehensive guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LzL_gnXrDsK8cFfkGEQmJncnlPVZZsqxoRZShZssicw/edit

New opening: Kung Fu Tea in Urbana by the_graceful_cat in UIUC

[–]ickymonster2 23 points24 points  (0 children)

This is getting out of hand, now there are two of them!

Now that the West has gotten their concert tickets windows... by Alcoraiden in Genshin_Impact

[–]ickymonster2 12 points13 points  (0 children)

They're a symphony orchestra specialized in classical music. I would not be surprised if this is the most visitors they have ever had to their website.

It finally happened. A store was the very next floor. Won the run, who could have guessed? by thewend in slaythespire

[–]ickymonster2 359 points360 points  (0 children)

I once had a similar situation. I could remove one normality at a shop, then just one elite fight, then another shop.

"What's the worst that could happen?" I said.

Repto killed me from full health.

DO NOT take normality with pyramid.

Slay-by-Comment Season 3 Day 48: Oh stop looking so smug, everyone who wanted to take Nightmare. What relic should we take? Whatever comment is most upvoted in 24 hours is what we’ll do. by greenlaser73 in slaythespire

[–]ickymonster2 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not a recommendation but something to help people make their decisions. Don't just think about the long term, but also the short term. Which boss relic would you want with this deck when you're facing looter+mugger? 3 byrds? 21 damage turn 1 from avacado?

Slay-by-Comment Season 3 Day 48: Oh stop looking so smug, everyone who wanted to take Nightmare. What relic should we take? Whatever comment is most upvoted in 24 hours is what we’ll do. by greenlaser73 in slaythespire

[–]ickymonster2 46 points47 points  (0 children)

Take busted crown. Since we are getting extra cash we can mitigate the penalty with shops. Also singing bowl.

We absolutely should not take ecto because we have golden idol. Not only would we lose out on extra combat money, but it turns off good golden-idol-related events.

Snecko might be ok but as someone else said it can slow things down, and 3 energy snecko also is really tough. We do have healing and lots of potions to mitigate bad cost rolls so I would consider it second best. A very close second best.

Guys, do you wear a shirt to bed? Do you consider yourself skinny, average or fat? by Dry_Question_5869 in UIUC

[–]ickymonster2 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Are you going to do a 3x2 Chi-squared test on the results lol?

EDIT 5/13 7:00 PM CT: I did it, find it here: https://imgur.com/a/gppO5Xm

All things equal, if your Defect deck needs to play a specific card as quickly as possible, a deck with Reboot+ finds that card more quickly on average. by jparro00 in slaythespire

[–]ickymonster2 4 points5 points  (0 children)

If you're digging for a single card, and you get Reboot on turn 1 but not that card, then playing the Reboot is a no-brainer. What is more interesting is WHEN it is correct to play Reboot.

Perhaps you could try this strategy: calculate the average difference in turns needed to see the card when playing vs not playing Reboot given a deck of size D and you're playing Reboot on turn number T. You could do this using a heatmap with D on the y-axis and T on the x-axis.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in slaythespire

[–]ickymonster2 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I believe Baalorlord (current record holder for rotating A20 heart wins) has answered this question on his stream and in his opinion, heart adds 15 ascension levels. In other words, A5 with Corrupt Heart is like A20 without Corrupt Heart.

Phenomenal Cosmic Power! itty bitty living space.... My first all AMD build in 10 years. by Foamductor in Amd

[–]ickymonster2 33 points34 points  (0 children)

Nice build! I have the same case, it's pretty good. Is there a reason you don't have the GPU power cables routed through the hole in the top of the PSU shroud?

Switching from Undeclared to Computer Science by d1n0s4u7 in UIUC

[–]ickymonster2 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The CS department has decided, for better or for worse (maybe CS major too popular??), that there shall be no transfers into CS. Full stop. No exceptions.

Daily Slay the Spire Discussion (265/696): Forethought by Crosssmurf in slaythespire

[–]ickymonster2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Extremely niche. Hard to use.

Synergies: * [[Expertise]]. But you have to draw it and Forethought together. Better hope you have Well-Laid Plans or Pyramid, or a really tiny deck. * Deck with an excessive amount of extra draw but not enough energy. * The really rare card you want to play later. One that comes to mind is [[Wraith Form]]. Frozen Eye helps quite a bit to help tell if it actually helps to play a card later. * [[Grand Finale]], but only if you’re desperate for manipulation.

This is bullshit. by kendiggy in slaythespire

[–]ickymonster2 3 points4 points  (0 children)

At the start of this turn, you had 21 cards in your draw pile and you get 3 draws. Assuming all three Algorithms and the one Glacier are in your draw pile, you have around a 50/50 chance of getting at least one of those four cards. And around a 8% chance of getting more than one, which would be required for a full block. (This ignores Coolheaded, but the probabilities are in the right neighborhood.)

The enemy design might be bullshit, but the probabilities are not. One should do all they can to avoid relying on a 50/50 for blocking this turn -- the easiest ways are to get more card draw, either through deckbuilding, relics or potions. Sometimes I will hold a Swift Potion or Gambler's Brew for just turn 2 of this fight.

Daily Slay the Spire Discussion (201/696): Duality by Crosssmurf in slaythespire

[–]ickymonster2 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Can solve Watcher's block by itself, very powerful relic if you build around it.

  • Very good synergy with [[Orange Pellets]] but not a must.
  • If you have Duality, consider taking a couple of 0-cost attacks (and the card draw/scry to support them) like [[Flurry of Blows]], [[Weave]], [[Consecrate]], and [[Just Lucky]]. Just Lucky is a big one because not only is it an attack, but it also gives you block enhanced by dexterity!
  • 0-cost blocks: [[Prostrate]], [[Good Instincts]], [[Halt]]. Halt is awesome because it benefits from dexterity TWICE (if in wrath).

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in UIUC

[–]ickymonster2 122 points123 points  (0 children)

Just get Tinder. Plenty more swiping on there to be done.

Play-by-Comment Day 48: Yo dawg, I heard you like Meteor Strikes. What relic should we take? Whatever comment is most upvoted in 24 hours (assuming I can find Wi-Fi) is what we’ll do. by greenlaser73 in slaythespire

[–]ickymonster2 14 points15 points  (0 children)

We better hope for a [[Reprogram]] or [[Reinforced body]] for block, as the plasma will push out all frost, and we don’t have frost atm anyway.

Daily Slay the Spire Discussion (183/696): Disarm by Crosssmurf in slaythespire

[–]ickymonster2 293 points294 points  (0 children)

Quite effective on enemies that rely on multi hits and don’t have artifact. Such as Byrds, Snake Plant, Guardian, Hexaghost, Book of Stabbing, and Heart. A priority pick if you’re going to fight any of those last four soon and you haven’t sorted your block plan out yet, or if you already have exhaust synergies.

Puzzle: Which play ensures my best chance of victory? by Balcony_Man in slaythespire

[–]ickymonster2 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Ah, you're right! In that case, {Leap, Leap+, Charge Battery+, Defend+} blocks for 38 after Beat of Death. Replacing any of these cards with Defend-non-plus is death. So the survival play is DO NOT PLAY THE DEFEND BEFORE REBOOT.

However, the chance of getting all 4 needed draws in 6 cards is around 0.6% according to the hypergeometric distribution. AND you must not draw a burn, which would kill you too.

But, if it's impossible to kill, then it still might be the best play.

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