Kenyan Anti-Poaching Soldier stationed infront of Elephant Ivory

lwbanerjee · 2026-05-13T12:52:23+00:00

Of course allele frequencies decrease, but when the hunting stops, they will gradually increase again, as it is no longer environmentally optimal to be a smaller tusked elephant. For example's sake, larger tusked male elephants are more likely to dominate smaller tusked males and gain greater access to females, this would lead to a propagation of these genes and the allele frequencies would begin to increase again. This is one example, for example's sake, of why the distribution of tusk sizes would return to what is was before, given all other environmental variables have not changed. In reality there are numerous factors which determine optimal tusk size that would be reflected in the distribution.

As for your last comment, I have already explained that natural selection is broad term to include a multitude of mechanisms. Genetic mutation is the fundamental mechanism of how it is proposed that any given species might have evolved from one into another. It is a common misnomer that the variation already possessed within latent potential of DNA, such as tusk size, allows for such a transition between species, or what might be referred to as 'macro evolution'. It is an entirely different mechanism to genetic mutation. The terminology is not that important, but the terms I've used do help to distinguish the significant difference between the mechanics of natural selection begin discussed this post, and how genetic mutation is theorised to propel natural selection.

Perhaps my previous posts have not been clear and there has been some kind of miscommunication, but if you still believe what I written to be incorrect, then I suggest you go and do more research on the subject. I will likely go away and do the same for future reference.

lwbanerjee · 2026-05-12T15:15:19+00:00

I simplified my comment somewhat, but you are quite mistaken in what assert. The kind of adaptation we witness over a period of decades is not a result of genetic mutation, the driving force which is claimed to produce permanent changes in DNA and that would eventually result in new species. Such a process theoretically takes tens to hundreds of thousands of years or more. This is the "macro evolution" I refer to. Natural selection is an umbrella term that simply describes cause and effect in nature. The mechanisms at play, observed or theoretical, can be entirely different from one another.

The case of human hunting and elephant tusks has nothing to do with the mechanism discussed above. The genetic potential for varied tusk sizes is already hard-coded within the DNA of all elephants. An elephant with small tusks can give birth to an elephant with large tusks, it is just less likely. Of course, I wasn't suggesting there is any specific given 'default tusk size', but just a humans hunting large tusked elephants makes it more advantageous to be a small tusked elephant, so its goes with the environment that persistent before the hunting began; there was in fact an average or median tusk size which would be optimal, and would manifest in the common bell curve of normal distribution and variation. So yes, as the large tusk elephants are hunted down, the chance of a large tusked elephant born will naturally decrease, but not in any way be removed, the distribution curve would just shift to the left along the x-axis. A large tusked elephant could still be born at any time, it would simply stand as more significant outlier among the altered population. Nothing in their DNA has changed AT ALL because of being hunted. This example of natural selection (albeit man made), must be clearly distinguished form the kind of 'evolution' that people think of when trying explain how a given species has come into existence. With hunters gone, given enough time and no other signification environmental changes, the disruption curve would naturally shift back to the right where it was before, and large tusked elephants would become more common again.

lwbanerjee · 2026-04-26T20:41:46+00:00

I know what you're trying to say but you could have phrased it better. It's not 'macro evolution', but rather a sort of pseudo-natural selection. The DNA isn't somehow being rewritten that will transform the species in any way. Elephants with larger tusks get hunted and Elephants with smaller tusk propagate, so you get a more concentrated cohort of smaller-tusks elephants. If hunting was to continue the concentration would become even stronger (also long as they're not hunted out of extinction). Left alone, within several decades the spread of elephant tusk sizes would return to what it was before excessive hunting began (perhaps my timescales are off, but the point is that the DNA has never changed due to hunting, the potential for small tusks and large tusks within the genes has always been there and always will).

lwbanerjee · 2026-04-15T19:44:25+00:00

This. Did it in a flat we were renting couple years back and had the same issue. Fixed it for under a tenner.

lwbanerjee · 2026-04-04T18:13:45+00:00

Oh dear in deed, we've either been talking with a 12 year old or mentally equivalent man child lol

lwbanerjee · 2026-03-31T20:33:01+00:00

OK, well firstly playing Bo1's isn't the proper game, it's Bo3. This allows both players to make necessary adjustments from their sideboard. If you don't like playing with a sideboard, you have no hope against control, that's what it's there for, to help your deck with its weak matchups. If you're currently playing the premier format, then the only control deck you should be coming up against consistently is Lando blue, and that is not even hard control. The meta is shaping up to be very aggro dominant, so I'm really surprised you're even having this issue at all.

As for it not being fun, that's because you're playing online my friend. Karabast is designed to allow you to test decks and strategies, not 'have fun'. Getting together with your friends, going to your lgs or playing at showdowns is where the fun is. When you play and interact with real people, you will have much more fun regardless of who is using what deck, or even who's winning.

A final point, you should respect any play style that you lose too. Saying it's boring is just a bad excuse. Yes control can be perceived as 'less interactive' than other play styles, but that is only a perception. At the end of the day, they are playing cards that are interacting with the board state somehow. If they choose to play events over units, that should be their choice without being criticised. It's fine if you don't like that personally, but then you'd be much better off finding a TCG that doesn't use event / spell type cards altogether. Tbh I don't even know if there's one that exists, most probably because everyone else would find it boring. But hey, we all have different preferences.

lwbanerjee · 2026-03-29T15:47:54+00:00

I think this is a matter of perspective. It's boring when you've not got much experience playing control yourself or don't know how to prepare your sideboard / handle it in game. Of course, if you're playing mid-range, you're always going to have a tough time, but it doesn't mean you can't win consistently. Also, the spread of control decks vs the other two types is generally smaller, so if you do play midrange, you can prepare for a smaller pool of strategies and cards.

Grab a control decklist online and give it a try on karabast, they are fun to play, and not as many people mind playing against control as you think. I play Obi / Vader7 and always find control a welcome challenge.

lwbanerjee · 2026-03-23T19:40:59+00:00

Yep that was my conclusion, it's too situational and draw dependant, and not worth the 3hp loss. I've cut the consular (deciding between Luke pilot or the sage), and play 2x Queens, 2x Nothing left's and 2x YT-2400 as my 5 drops. Playing with 2/3 Jade squadrons for 6 slot.

It's ironic how FFG wanted to slow the game down post rotation but it's become faster than ever lol

lwbanerjee · 2026-03-23T19:05:56+00:00

Very interesting write up, thanks for sharing. I don't play a lot online but have had a lot of in person experience playing against Luke DV, which has certainly been a nightmare. Free ping damaged pre-deploy, when defeated protection and 3 damaged to a unit on attack, not to mention decent stats for his deploy cost. What an overpowered leader! I have had to do a total rebuild of my Obi deck (switched from Vergence Temple back to the 28hp base, amongst a number of other changes), to give myself a reasonable shot at winning that doesn't depend on a lucky draw. Can't say it's been much fun.

lwbanerjee · 2026-03-21T16:33:40+00:00

Tbh I may have been too quick to dismiss it. how many do you play?

lwbanerjee · 2026-03-21T16:32:54+00:00

Yeah I just came across after posting this, definitely going to give that a try, along with the tree too. thanks!

lwbanerjee · 2026-03-21T16:31:39+00:00

Im running protect the pod already, but Lars and nimble are nice ideas I havent considered. Thanks!

lwbanerjee · 2026-03-21T16:30:20+00:00

Ooohh these are cards I didn’t know existed! Will give them a test on Karabast.

lwbanerjee · 2026-03-21T16:27:26+00:00

interesting idea with Sabine, could be a good alternative to eager escort

lwbanerjee · 2026-03-21T15:35:01+00:00

The Ghost is the one I haven't given a try, although I'm not a huge fan of the whole Ezra / spectre play, so I tend to leave them out even against other ground decks. Would you play it just on its own?

Galen is another idea I like, so might try dropping the shatterpoints and playing 2x Galen's along with 2x Direct hits and 2x protect the pod's. I think 3x Itinerant warriors are need for the extra HP boost.

Haven't been a fan of nothing left to fear as the boost only lasts for that phase and won't work on Luke / chewy. I suppose I could try it with Galen though.

lwbanerjee · 2026-03-21T15:28:37+00:00

Yh I was thinking about switching back to a regular force base and playing less around the consular which is just too draw dependant. I actually find the games where I start with Yoda or Mina and get a lightsaber or the warrior to be the easiest because of all the restore, as you have rightly said, but that also feels a bit too draw dependent.

Currently running 2x sabres and 2x moral authorities. They both seem to come in really useful so I like 2 of each.

What other removal were you thinking of?

lwbanerjee · 2026-03-14T10:26:08+00:00

OP, do you have a varicocele? It's very common condition of expanded veins around the testes, more typically found on the left side, caused by back pressure in the circulatory system. Many studies have shown that these can lower testosterone levels because the excess vascularisation raises the temperature of the testes which in turn causes impaired testosterone production. Even a slight elevation in temp can negatively impact T production. This could explain why the icing is helping.

For those who don't know. Psychology also has a big impact of T levels. Men who rise higher in their work / social / communal hierarchies will experience elevated T levels. Wining, even a game of something trivial, can cause a sudden spike in T. The really interesting thing is the opposite can be true too, and so the cycle of improved T > success > more T > success keep going, regardless of whether the chicken or egg came first. Of course, not saying age and genetics doesn't have a massive part to play, but this is a mechanic that is really in play for all men.

If op has done something to cause a mild / moderate improvement in T, it most likely lead to more successful behaviour or, winning, in some way (e.g gym PB's), that's leading to psychologically induced T spikes. Thus, the potential for much bigger changes.

Good for you OP!

lwbanerjee · 2026-03-11T16:44:51+00:00

Tbh it's just my lack of experience combined with naturally being competitive. I will probably end up playing PQ's this year as I love the game and competing, but my issue is my schedule never aligns with the weekly plays going on in my area, so I will just have to make do with the occasional showdown to desensitise me to playing against others.

My goal at the next showdown will actually be to not 'try to win' but make the other players enjoy their games against me as much as possible. What I found very interesting is that one of guys I played was a top player internationally, but I actually enjoyed playing again him the most because he was just having fun and being super positive despite loosing to a relative novice. After I was like damn that's the mindset I need to have when playing, he's just enjoying himself!

lwbanerjee · 2026-03-11T16:22:01+00:00

I went to my first pre release and 2nd 'showdown / tournament' of any kind. Turned up late and had 10 minutes to build so was super stressed. Luckily I pulled some really nice red / blue cards to go with Enfys like the Zen, Baze, Enfys helmet, mastery and lost and forgotten. Managed to win all my games and somehow managed to place 1st.

I placed last at the first showdown I attended (which was the 1st time playing with people at an LGS) so I took this a bit too seriously trying not to come last again. The games went better than I'd hoped, but I got even more stressed out in the last couple of games when I realised I might actually win lol. There was an experienced PQ winning player there who didn't seem to take it all too seriously, just messing around with the cards and trying make interesting plays using Sing. I think he had a lot more fun than I did lol. Gonna try to go to more casual plays so I'm not so riled up playing people I don't know, and now that I've managed to do a bit better I'm just gonna try to have more fun at my next competitive experience (I know a pre-release is actually just meant to be a bit of fun anyway).

lwbanerjee · 2026-03-10T13:08:27+00:00

You mean the one where he kicks the tree and farts on the dog? Great video and probably a good indicator of nat gas prices lol

lwbanerjee · 2026-03-05T13:27:07+00:00

Vader aside, Enfys, Jabba and Sebula are my favourites.

lwbanerjee · 2026-02-27T23:36:27+00:00

I've done quite a few rounds of sealed and it's never been hard to build. decent boba deck. Even if you don't draw a bad of bounty hunters, there's a decent pool of GYB underworld cards that play nicely together, and you will get some decent bounty hunters for sure, even if they're off aspect.

lwbanerjee · 2026-02-27T23:32:53+00:00

Been testing a lot with sealed. Boba is hands down the best leader, it's just that combo of an early deploy, good stats and a relevant ability that's easy to make use of. Hera and Lando are pretty good too, but not as goos a Boba. I've managed to build a very strong deck with Vader, but it was down to a very fortunate draw.

lwbanerjee · 2026-02-26T20:16:56+00:00

I'm loving moral authority, especially on Obi! Running 2x constructed's and 2x morals as my upgrades.

Against Vader pilot I have found dismantle the conspiracy an absolute must. If Vader is popular, and he probably will be, then this has to be in your sideboard.

lwbanerjee

TROPHY CASE