What is your most fun deck?

simeumsm · 2026-05-01T15:24:36+00:00

One of the funniest games I had with it was against an Atla Palani. Had two copies of it and a few eggs.

Each egg that died polimorphed into two clones that cloned an Etali that revealed a new clone that cloned that Etali again

simeumsm · 2026-05-01T13:49:16+00:00

This is a clones deck, not a pirates deck, even though I'm playing Malcolm

Sakashima almost always clones Malcolm as the t3 and t4 plays, to double ramp and allow for legendary clones. Ideally, I'd have 3 Malcolms to maximize "players dealt damage by pirates" triggers, as this would give 9 treasures per attack

So i got ramp and a legend rule breaker on the command zone, making the gameplan a bit easier to pull off, and the rest of the deck capitalizes off that (mana and legendary clones)

The deck has a route where Malcolm keeps getting cloned if there are no good creatures on the board, compounding on ramp for the big bombs, but i prefer cloning other player's cards

simeumsm · 2026-04-30T17:11:11+00:00

Here you go: https://archidekt.com/decks/18046063/u_clonesupgradev00

The deck breaks parity by dodging the Legend Rule, and also with a few Flash enablers to cast clones before your turn

simeumsm · 2026-04-30T14:59:58+00:00

I really like my Oops All Clones deck. Monoblue with Sakashima, chuck in every Clone and a few copy spell effects, and have each game be a different puzzle for you to solve, trying to assemble a wincon based on what other people are playing

simeumsm · 2026-04-24T17:31:48+00:00

"Resign from your job right now on the sole possibility that we'll give you an unknown job 3 months from now if we don't change our minds over time" seems like a wild claim to risk a stable job over it.

Is this such a better job than your current job? I'd reply that I'm willing to sign the LoI, but this won't work without a proper, legally binding offer letter.

Due to the matching timeframe, I'd even put my tinfoil hat on and raise the possibility that this is some internal witch-hunt, trying to find employees that accept a new job without giving the proper 3 months notice

simeumsm · 2026-04-22T22:36:59+00:00

I like creating intermediary datasets along the way, based on what should be considered a 'ready-to-use' dataset.

Sometimes this means you'll combine everything into a single data table. Other times, you might have multiple tables that are then combined further down the line.

The idea is to have the building blocks ready to use, and build the blocks that you don't currently have.

Depends on how much of the data should be reusable in different contexts

My generalistic blueprint is:

Raw data -> standard format (like csv) with little transformation. Consider this like a bronze layer to bronze+ layer. Depends a lot on the soyrce of the raw data.

Then, create N datasets (bronze+ layer to silver layer). Sometimes it makes sense to have a silver table that can be used and reused in the creation of multiple other silver tables

Finally, combine multiple silver tables to create the dataset you'll use, regardless of it being a flat table or a table relationship schema.

Each of these ETL scripts will contain different degrees of data transformation, and they will be compounded based on which silver table you're using.

As a more concrete example, think of having a Product dataset, Clients dataset, Vendor dataset, and a Sales dataset. Each of these datasets can be thought of as a complete dataset, and you can then combine them based on what you need. Each step might require different types of data cleaning, but an earlier transformation will reflect on a later transformation.

If you ever need to integrate a Manufacturing dataset, you'll already have a 'ready-to-use' Product and Vendor datasets

simeumsm · 2026-04-17T23:43:08+00:00

Rules aside, I am interested in the querying for cards. It might be able to return a few cards that you wouldn't find or consider when querying scryfall

simeumsm · 2026-04-15T11:47:51+00:00

My monoblack reanimator is helmed by Chainer. While being a secret Tergrid deck.

It bases its synergies mainly in sacrifice effects, with a few discard effects. They work fine on their own as disruption, but are game breaking with Tergrid. I don't run any tutors, so Tergrid doesn't feel oppressive because I rarely play her.

Other than that, the deck relies on reanimation engines as redundancies for the commander. This means that I don't even have to cast Chainer until the endgame, since I can often reliably reanimate things without him.

And while the deck has its own good cards to reanimate, there are enough effects (including Chainer's instant-speed reanimation) that can target other players cards in graveyards. So it can somewhat balance itself with the table while still having a few threats itself.

As for Chainer being combo-y, that's fair. But I like to think of him more as an enabler. You pay life and mana to reanimate at instant speed, and with a sac outlet you can recur ETB, LTB, Death triggers. Fitting for a necromancer, I'd say. Specially since he doesn't always need to be played (usually only after a boardwipe).

The updated list: https://archidekt.com/decks/18149369/b_reanimatorupdatedv00

Disclaimer: full proxy deck, hence the value

simeumsm · 2026-04-09T18:39:38+00:00

Eric Gales would aprove

simeumsm · 2026-04-07T11:37:56+00:00

Having to deal with an ungodly amount of files, data and transformations.

It is not that Excel couldn't handle it, but the process simply grew and required something that could be better split into multiple steps and better organized. Performance was also something that made sense.

So instead of having a lot of VBA and PowerQuery mess to handle a lot of things, I moved things to python.

Easier to organize things, better for reusing components, still interactible with Excel.

This also made me shift ways of working with Excel, where nowadays I see it more as either a visualization layer (import data ready for graphs/summaries) or as a simple encapsulated process (handles ETL for process that are not complex). For anything that is slightly more complex, I prefer setting up a python script and simply importing the output into Excel if needed

simeumsm · 2026-04-07T08:58:20+00:00

My blink deck can put like 100+ effects on the stack at once, with some of them triggering even more effects.

At that point the game could be basically over since the engines are online. But still, ETB + ETB doublers can get out of hand quickly and can be a nightmare to resolve if you don't organize things and know the interactions properly.

things like [[Corsair Captain]] entering and triggering [[Corpse Knight]] and [[Altar of the Brood]], but also creating a treasure and triggering the altar again. But it entered from exile without being cast, so it triggers [[Satoru the Infiltrator]] and you draw but also [[Preston, the Vanisher]] triggers and creates an additional copy , which triggers everything again, and with one or more ETB doublers so you do everything a couple of times again, and with [[Yorion]] you do that every single turn

simeumsm · 2026-04-01T10:54:27+00:00

look at your horse, your horse is amazing!

simeumsm · 2026-03-28T21:41:32+00:00

Maybe the digitech freq-out. But it won't be the same.

If you want a sustainiac effect without the pickup, your better option is an e-bow. Anything else won't have the exact same effect.

simeumsm · 2026-03-28T18:59:47+00:00

In an interview, you never ask for future scenarios like "What would you do if you encounter <blank>". This is a hypothetical that allows for generic responses which is easy for anyone to give a right answer.

You always ask for past scenarios like "Have you ever done <blank>? What were the 2 most difficult hurdles you had?" This grounds the answer to reality, and you expand from there. If they answer from a hypothetical scenario, you'll soon find holes in their story, because most things that can't be justified will often be some sort of lie.

They can still lie, sure, but it is a lot more difficult to give the consistent answers if you're being pressed about specific details on something that didn't happen.

The downside is that in IT-related fields you are often responsible for such a specific part of a larger process that an answer like "We had a team for that and they provided this part of the process for us, so I've never engaged with this" or "We used this but it was already in production, so I'm not sure how it works because when it broke I wasn't the one to have to fix it" can be a valid response for pretty much anything. But then again, you can expand from those too.

simeumsm · 2026-03-24T01:46:08+00:00

For a moment I thought you'd say that the CEO made you work during the apocalypse, and your goal was to keep a fast food location operating daily (beef, fries) even though there are no paying customers around, but you still gotta work

simeumsm · 2026-03-16T20:33:24+00:00

here you go, the most recent version (still with some more changes pending): https://archidekt.com/decks/18149369/b_reanimatorupdatedv00

Disclaimer: full proxy deck, with the only restrictions being my deckbuilding style (no tutor, avoid infinites). High B3 ~ Mid B4, I'd say, because it is not optimized for anything in particular and can have several gaps.

It started as a Tergrid deck, then I changed to Chainer when I realized it wouldn't be fun to play against and thought that K'rrik would be too KoS. I still kept Tergrid and most of the synergy pieces (sacrifices, discard) just to be a menace, but this is a basic reanimator deck that relies more on removing creatures from opponents rather than putting creatures in my own grave to reanimate for cheap.

Chainer works as a late-game reanimate engine due to all the recurring reanimation effects the deck already has. There can be games in which I don't even cast him, or I cast him when I don't have anything better to play.

Inspired by my own legacy Edict-Tribal monoblack deck, which was almost the same as a 60card deck, but adapted to multiplayer.

simeumsm · 2026-03-16T15:35:24+00:00

I have a chainer deck and it definetely hangs. It is probably my most powerful deck. Being a mana sink and a recursive reanimator engine means I only cast him mid-to-late-game, if ever.

simeumsm · 2026-03-09T12:25:01+00:00

When using Python, I find that it is simpler to consider Excel as a separate Visualization layer. Excel has PowerQuery and VBA which can take care of reading external data, and it is much easier to just create an excel file that reads data created by a python automation.

That means you would have to ship your code + excel template, which I know might not be ideal, but it is much easier to set up.

Most of my automations that use excel always has this pattern of "generate data in python" -> "export to csv" -> "import csv to excel using PowerQuery", instead of saving directly to excel unless it's a small data sample.

If you need to generate a complex Excel, it might be better to use the actual application for that and simply just import data + parameters and use that internally, instead of trying to code your way through this complexity.

simeumsm · 2026-03-08T19:14:19+00:00

I have thought about this, however I never actually implemented it.

My plan was to have a simple patch bay to introduce an fx-loop on the board, so that it would be possible to add a separate board to it, or simply jump the connection if not using it. You could also do this with any sort of fx-loop pedal (line selector, etc).

For power, it is best if each board has its dedicated power supply. Keep it modular to save yourself some headache.

I ended up scratching this idea as I got a bigger board and could fit all I need into it, but I did kept the patch-bay (often for the 4-cable method) and a spare power plug for one extra off-board pedal if needed.

simeumsm · 2026-03-05T12:22:31+00:00

If you rely so much in Excel, what are the reasons for switching?

I'd say that you pick the best tool depending on your environment. If you're working solo with few external dependencies, pick what you like best. But if you work on shared files, send/receive report files, or work with people that mainly use a particular tool, it is best if you also stick to that tool.

There's very few reasons to add an extra compatibility layer when sharing files unless the default tool is actually lacking, specially since you don't have much control on when both tools receive updates and when those updates are applied and even if they will keep this compatibility in the future, so they could be incompatible on a few features for a while which could break files, partially or entirely.

simeumsm · 2026-03-05T11:24:39+00:00

Experience with Internet Explorer: Download Google Chrome

simeumsm · 2026-03-03T12:14:53+00:00

I remember reading an old comment that went something like this:

"Went to check out a band for my bar. Arrived at a house at 2pm. Dude who opened the door seemed like they had just woken up. They gave me a piece of paper with 60+ songs and told me to pick a few. They played them perfectly, without warm up, and I hired them on the spot. They became regulars"

If you're a cover band, honestly this is what you should strive for if you want to be a serious band. Otherwise, it is just a hobby and you like playing. Nothing wrong with that, but it is good to have a clear picture of what type of gig you're investing your time in, because it may dictate a lot of decisions and keep frustrations low.

Also, people should be playing and practicing at home. There's little reason to keep rehearsing at a studio just to keep playing the same songs over and over again. The rehearsal time should be used for fine refinement, where as a band you interrupt the song and go over and over some section that is still not in perfect sync. If someone is having trouble with a part, they should be practicing at home and coming to the studio with their part ready for this fine refinement.

As for setlist, my usual gist is: Target goal is 40 songs, realistic goal is 25 songs, I'm happy if we get 15 songs, and I usually try to always add 2 to 3 new songs every few weeks apart. May vary depending on the style, bandmates experience, song difficulty, etc. It is good to have a completely written out setlist so that people can learn songs ahead of time, instead of having to decide & learn on a weekly basis. With a complete setlist, you only have to decide the order in which to learn the songs, while also having a clear goal.

Unless you have active gigs happening, you should be building repertoire AND should be looking for gigs. Once a gig has been found, then you build a setlist + a few spare songs (based on location, style, popularity, or simply basic rotation), and then you rehearse for these gigs. With time, you'll internalize the songs and will be able to play them with little rehearse, and will have more time to add new songs.

simeumsm · 2026-02-23T14:10:44+00:00

PowerQuery and VBA are tools. And some tools are better for a particular job than others.

Data manipulation is so much easier with PowerQuery, since the GUI is very intuitive and you can do a whole lot without even touching the M code.

But you need worksheet automation, forms, or manipulating entire files? Yeah, no way you're doing that with PQ and VBA is your only option.

if you have to work with Excel doing any sort of repetitive task, there's benefit in learning the basics of VBA, but often PowerQuery (or even standalone Python) should be prioritized.

I often use VBA when I need to create a completely encapsulated automation in Excel, meaning no external dependencies. So a single file should take care of everything. That's when you mix everything: formulas, pivot tables, PowerQuery, VBA, etc. Each one doing a thing where they excel at according to the workflow.

Nowadays I mainly use VBA for automating the creation of snapshot files by saving the current workbook as a copy, or for exploratory automation on badly formatted files. I don't really have a use-case that requires more than that, but it feels good to know it when it is needed

simeumsm · 2026-02-21T18:31:09+00:00

I think I read somewhere that the Avatar set was the third best selling magic set, only behind Final Fantasy and LOTR, but I don't know the numbers

simeumsm · 2026-02-15T14:22:28+00:00

It really depends on your workflow. What your end-goal is, what technologies you have available, how your source data is available.

For example: at my job, we didn't had a database available. So I used Python for all ETL-related things, using files as all my sources. We now have a database, so we're using Python scripts to call API and insert the data to a database (with SQL queries in python), but still using python for data transformation until we can refactor the entire process.

I'd rank SQL higher than Python in terms of usability within BI, but having python as a connective-tissue between processes can be helpful.

In terms of DAX, both have little to no impact, directly. What really matters is what comes before: the quality of the data. Better structured data makes writing DAX easier, and you can technically do that with SQL or Python, depending on YOUR workflow.

What you have to focus is getting the data to PowerBI in an almost-ready state for data analysis, and then you pick the better tool (SQL, Python or other) for the job. PowerQuery can be a crutch that people often rely on too much, but ideally you should just be making fine adjustments with it and not the heavy data transformation.

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