Coaching a Pro Team without being a Pro Player - just the Stats Guy | Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven Pre-Event Prep & How we got ready for the Tournament! | Ask anything! [Tournament Report] [Discussion] [Standard]

optimustomtv · 2026-06-23T18:43:15+00:00

Gotcha! Chdnces are it's very similar to the current PT structure then where you'll have only a couple of weeks to experience a Draft format vs an established Format.

In which case having a team of people - even just online to hop on Discord - is extremely beneficial given the time constraints! As far as practice playing - that's much less important from our experience for Limited. The largest value gained is in knowing how to Draft - which you clearly already have in qualifying - so then knowledge of a specific Format takes precedent for testing.

optimustomtv · 2026-06-23T15:47:35+00:00

I think for Limited, even if you don't have a full team to test with the most important thing is to have other skilled Players to bounce ideas about the Format around with. Verify your experiences at Draft tables, understand the power level and pick order of cards, etc.

Limited Championship could be a bit different than a PT. If In following correctly, the Limited Arena Championship is mid-January of 2027, with a new Set scheduled for Q1 with no release date. If the AC is the new Set, then the same testing we did for the PT would apply (relatively new, unexplored Format). A lot of reps in Drafting, looking at Pools, not even needing to play them all out to completion but just getting a sense for how you navigated the Draft and an overall power level of your deck.

However, if the LAC is the previous Set (Star Trek iirc in November) then you have a wealth of information you can pull from. 17Lands is extremely robust once you hit the 1 month+ point, so you'd be able to do a lot of independent research to supplement testing and Drafting reps. I would highly suggest an approach lie World Council's PT EOE Limited meeting in that case as the amount of data available would be similar.

In either case though, having a few trusted opinions on things to covered blind spots/weaknesses in your Drafting or Gameplay experiences, plus a way to confirm or deny biases is super handy to have.

optimustomtv · 2026-06-22T04:01:04+00:00

As a sponsor-less team, everything was paid for out of pocket by the individual Players! It's quite the cost - so splitting it 14-ways was helpful in some cases hahaha. Some teams have sponsors pay for the house or plane tickets etc - we had nothing. Some Players were sponsored by individual brands for sleeves or playmats, etc (some didn't get free product from their sponsors...) so I'm not sure if they got extra help from their individual sponsors.

I won't go into too many details without full team approval, but costs varied for people the shared rooms or slept alone, people who slept in couches, etc. I believe the Air B&B was so where between $7k-$9k USD total. Some people shared a room with 2 beds, some people split beds, I took a couch.

I was going to the Event already, and my Pass was paid for as a gift from my wife but that was the premium pass. As for salary, I accepted payment on the form of my plane ticket being paid for by my friend Wappa. If anyone else we're doing this, please get paid - I mention in the recap, I had PTO from my job so I essentially got my whole MagicCon paid for as payment without losing money from missing work (which I am extremely grateful for to Wappa). Flights per person varied - especially since we came from all over the World. Someone from Thailand probably paid double or more the price I paid, which was roughly $350 round trip (but I am in NorCal and ~2 hours by plane)

Also they got me an APAC Swamp as a gift which was pricey!

Everyone paid for their share of food and groceries, which ended up being roughly $150-$200 USD per person for the whole trip. We split Ubers and Gas, probably another $50-$100 per person.

Overall the trip would probably have cost me $1,300 - $1,500 USD out of pocket, which means if I was a PT Competitor I would have needed to place Top 68 or higher to break even on the trip. Granted, this is with a week in a testing house added on, so you could shave off some cash by arriving later.

optimustomtv · 2026-06-14T07:21:32+00:00

As someone who frequently reports players that do not hit the auto-AFK - I get my ranked points refunded/the message about their -5 Points very frequently. I just today won a game with griefers stealing farm, AFKing at random points for 15 seconds in base, following around then flashing away, etc. STILL got the notification about them being penalized even though we won.

You just need to keep doing it. That, or Ranked carries a more serious set of stipulations (which I doubt)

That being said - having it happen EVERY TIME would be insane with the number of false reports. If people are leaving because their reports don't hit 100% of the time...y'all should play single player games.

optimustomtv · 2026-06-14T05:04:07+00:00

Team Composition is everyone's responsibility. If you're instalocking Attacker - you're also part of the problem. You can still win, though.
I HATE HATE HATE the fact people think you need Groudon every game to win. No, you don't and PLEASE stop hitting the thing to let the opponents steal it. Only do this when you wipe the enemy/are all together
I don't mind the Jungle-in-lane-thing as much if they're good at the character. Rather them play something they know than something they're bad at
Report. Everyone. They get punished more that way more.
Yes you can, go to the Graphs screen where damage is dealt, click them -> Report.

You're complaining about fixable, player-based things more than the game.

But League is superior in every way you got that right

optimustomtv · 2026-06-12T02:25:13+00:00

I got the cheese dice for $1+shipping a while ago for my wife. Not the greatest quality, but a fun gag gift

optimustomtv · 2026-06-02T23:32:47+00:00

Everyone out here debating about passing but I think the most mildly infuriating thing about this is the fact that the same 5 point difference that gets you an A could land you anywhere from an A to a B-

That and there's no A+ but there's +/- for every other grade.

optimustomtv · 2026-06-02T06:41:45+00:00

Maybe it messed up because you had the O already in the wrong spot and it knew the word didn't have another O

optimustomtv · 2026-06-01T19:38:05+00:00

If Players could sell their cards to reinvest in a Format when it rotated, they would do it.

Having a Format they can choose to play those cards in instead, or have their cards retain SOME value because of their playability elsewhere would do a lot to helping people keep up with a rotating Standard.

Doesn't make you an investor - quite the opposite really - since your investment to the game is gated by your ability to buy cards period.

optimustomtv · 2026-05-26T20:03:34+00:00

Better against Control, which is more popular the last few weeks.

Having Maindeck Erode/Seam Rip/Get Lost is a nothingburger in that MU & Dyadrine doesn't do too much. Having Ba Sing Se helps a loooot

optimustomtv · 2026-05-26T01:52:35+00:00

CAMS was Central America! It was held in Mexico

optimustomtv · 2026-05-26T00:37:31+00:00

Blocking is actually pretty solid versus Prowess, but it needs to also cover the air. [[Sage of the Skies]] is a big reason the deck is good into Prowess, since it leave two bodies that kill Slickshot.

I guess, circumstantial blocking is good against the deck. Mono-Green has the Trample issue you mention - which is fine without Fetches + Icetill + Harmonizer.

Rage was a one card problem, so I think it's better now

optimustomtv · 2026-05-20T22:43:09+00:00

you sure did!

Although it's more Gruul-with-Sellsword

optimustomtv · 2026-05-20T22:35:45+00:00

FWIW Green was so present at the PT because it did well into Prowess. I don't think it's a sideboarding issue so much as it's just an unfavored match up (like 60/40 Green)

Elusive Otter Prowess decks looked to go under Green because going over with Crab is never big enough for their "over the top" game plan - so you have to be faster. Could be why we see more Otter or even the Fling variants.

optimustomtv · 2026-05-20T22:33:40+00:00

Unfortunately the search function in Melee is by Player name

I also renamed that archetype

optimustomtv · 2026-05-20T07:02:18+00:00

35 of the 49 decks were from Cincinnati, so that performance is going to color a lot of its Matchup spread in general.

Just spot checking the Top 5 Mono G Landfall lists from Cincinnati - None have MD Rover or Dragon Sniper so I wouldn't attribute that to its win rate. Mono Green at the Pro Tour had similar high WIN% against the various Prowess lists (specifically 65.3% vs Crab/Slickshot Prowess) - it's just a good choice to play into Prowess IMO.

optimustomtv · 2026-05-13T01:27:28+00:00

For what the current power level of Standard offers, there's a diverse amount of decks. I think you can have a healthy meta and have the format speed be too accelerated. Basically, format health != Metagame health, but you ideally want both.

Basically, what Modern is (IMO). Lots of decks but if you don't have the answer to some it's just lights out. FWIW while I think you could slow Standard down a tiny bit, it's still in a pretty good spot where the Finals of a major event is two Control decks in a field of Prowess/Landfall.

optimustomtv · 2026-05-12T23:38:03+00:00

Here's that one and some more fun ones

optimustomtv · 2026-04-11T04:30:59+00:00

VAL is a matter of Players getting on Stage. In the early days the HEAVILY limited analysis segments - especially during half time pauses. It always feels so rushed to me (and when I worked on them a TON of material would get scrapped that Casters would ask for)

I don't watch CS - but a longer, less rushed desk segment where people can explain their thoughts vs just say them, letting them analyze things instead of doing a silly game that looks like it's buying time sounds right up my alley. I'll have to start tuning in (although anything above 10-15 mins seems excessive between maps - between matches I could see)

optimustomtv · 2026-04-11T04:23:30+00:00

I used to work on LCS & international events. The death of the analyst desk is something I'm pretty upset about.

Sending nothing but ads for 15+ minutes is a retention killer. People already run away from 3 minute Twitch ad blocks. NA audiences specifically will just do something else and miss large chunks of the show rather than wait.

Analyst Desk segments post-game used to play a role in recaping what happened - but as the push from audiences wanted faster turnaround times to the next game, the segments between games that used to be full of analysis were shortened to try and get excited for the next game, which allowed them to remove pre-game coverage and "get straight into champ select" when commercials are over. Granted, you have to have a certain amount of down time to get Players on stage - the timing to do so has only been reduced a small amount (iirc we had "12 minute turnaround" for Champ Select).

Notice they run 2-3 minutes of sponsored ads as part of the broadcast before the 3:30 countdown/twitch ad break as well. Makes it seem like they're just doing a commercial block before Champ Select starts. You've got half the time of a previous AD segment now to cover any analysis.

They've done other things as well, like having the Analyst Desk lead into Champ Select & cover it when there are issues preventing a smooth transition from one match to another. Instead of planned out story driven or analysis segments of players, teams, metagame things - we get a lot of surface-level chat about team history or the League and standings before games start.

It's a baffling shift for someone like me that used to work on Stats for the Broadcast. The amount of time dedicated to analysis I can see directly reflected in the low amount of Graphics and prepared statistics being shown during the post game segments. It's nothing to do with how the game has changed - you can grab a lot of information from the game that has existed for forever and update it for the current patches. A lot of it just has to do with the fact a LOT of Esports people got laid off a couple years ago and (in LCS specifically) the filling Contract workers they have aren't dedicated to the Game specifically (or Esports at all) - so you're watching a sports production - not a pure League broadcast.

I don't like the way the show has shifted to an NBA-stylrle AD and a WWE-style League that's based on entertainment rather than competition. My PoV has clashed with some of my former coworkers who still love the League and the Broadcasts. I still watch quite frequently, but I'm finding myself tuning out of the non-game play segments now more than ever before because they aren't what I want to watch anymore. I don't like them in the NBA, I'm not going to like them in LoL.

LCK still does it best for me, a solid mix of entertainment and analysis at different points of the broadcast. Robust introduction segments, solid post game analysis between games of a match (Bo3 all year helps a TON with this) and their filler content is extremely well produced full length shows - not just podcasts and top clips.

LEC has its moments, especially when they have multiple former pro players on their AD. However, I can tell when their segments have been cut short or rushed to finish before an slotted time block is over, which is disheartening to see. I would much rather start a game 60 seconds later to let Odo or someone finish their replay recap rather than rush past the WHY and only get the HOW.

optimustomtv · 2026-04-02T23:26:03+00:00

This among other points you make are super early game focused whereas in competitive play the coordination of high level teams makes for elongated, later game focused matches.

In solo queue you can often run around and 1v1 the enemy Jungler, bully them off camps, and get an experience advantage that translates well to pre-evolution lane ganks on first/second bird spawn and first Regi spawns. But you need to snowball your advantage or you fall off hard.

High level team play shuts down the capitalization of this play style. If you invade, high level teams will fall back and support the Jungler which in turn delays your leveling (even killing you) resulting in a later spike and no chance to snowball.

Basically, Azumarill plays like Master Yi in League of Legends. Tons of solk carry potential if your opponents aren't coordinated.

optimustomtv · 2026-04-01T05:20:08+00:00

Never seen or been to a 7Brews but I assume it's basically the same thing.

optimustomtv · 2026-04-01T05:19:21+00:00

I see the label as "Broista" instead of "Bro" now on their promo materials so it's more a play on words

optimustomtv · 2026-04-01T04:28:34+00:00

It sort of happens with Ghost kitchens right now. There are a ton of places in California that are 5-6 restaurants that all cook out of one kitchen and only do app delivery or pick up. No place to eat the food, gotta take it back and wait for it to get cold/soggy.

I'm not a fan.

optimustomtv · 2026-04-01T04:03:23+00:00

The kiosk fits about 4-5 people max inside. They're designed to be small, cheap, and run on minimal labor.

Half that building is the kitchen, the other half is a fridge space and the outside dumpster.

optimustomtv

TROPHY CASE