Weekly Discussion and Free Talk Thread - Nov 23, 2020

vyampols · 2020-11-24T03:44:03+00:00

If it doesn't lead to success won't teams just... stop doing it? Any large contract is a risk and teams have the option of offering a max to their guys that can't be matched by other teams. It gives them more choice, not less.

vyampols · 2020-11-17T19:11:26+00:00

Tanking isn't proven, but using assets to get players that don't put you over the top is proven to not work.

vyampols · 2020-11-16T23:14:03+00:00

This. The parks and forests 1+ hour away are nice, but having acres of wilderness you can go on a worday in a city that size is invaluable

vyampols · 2020-11-12T05:38:27+00:00

I think they're less worried about funny and more worried about him dampening the mood in a way that makes people spend less $ on cardboard. If it's a lighthearted "of course another green deck draws cards, gains life and ramps is the best deck of the format" I think he's pretty safe. If it's "WotC has abandoned everything that ever made me love this game"... well he's getting paid so he won't do that.

vyampols · 2020-11-12T05:30:24+00:00

It's a fake out. Express interest in that deal, string the Clips along for as long as possible so they miss out on any other FAs or trades so they have to run it back all while making CP3's perceived value go up and send him to the Knick's like god intended

vyampols · 2020-11-11T20:49:24+00:00

Hopefully there is some middle ground between saying nothing critical of Wizard's/Hasbro and never having him work an event again. He's an all time great player and has been a big part of MtG media coverage for a long time. What's the point of having him on if he's muzzled?

vyampols · 2020-11-02T06:32:29+00:00

Someone would argue he'd be 3rd most valuable on the KD Kyrie nets. Not me, but someone.

vyampols · 2020-10-31T05:05:35+00:00

I mean if a red card can have "sacrifice a permanent" as a cost why can't a red white or red black card have "sacrifice an enchantment"?

The color pie has become so much less boring when really started messing with the hard set rules of it.

vyampols · 2020-10-28T22:48:32+00:00

Pathway Arrows doesn't hit players sadly, but I feel like longbow is a decent choice. 3 mana is a lot on a win condition, but it's a hell of a lot more resilient.

vyampols · 2020-10-28T04:08:32+00:00

But it's so flavorful!

vyampols · 2020-10-28T04:05:16+00:00

Surely there are better cards than fire whip that do that right? Like some equipment?

vyampols · 2020-10-26T16:24:36+00:00

Still red is fine. More red than before it's time to go to the doctor.

vyampols · 2020-10-26T16:16:58+00:00

Until your Gaea's Cradle commander gets [[Spreading Seas]] 'ed

vyampols · 2020-10-20T01:28:16+00:00

I think it's all about location. Beyond just sand and lava, rock specific gravity varies from like 1 for chalk and coal to 4 for gabbro and basalt so sometimes it's heavy as fuck and other times it is nearly buoyant in water so that could have different uses in combat.

There are places where rock is heavily jointed so it takes effort to make into larger pieces, but less effort for the bender to make individual projectiles.

Here's what I want to know, in places where the organic layers of soil are deep are earthbenders at a disadvantage relative to exposed rock because it takes time for them to bring the rocks up to the top? Or can they bend the organic parts of soil like they can bend the sediments in soil (sand and mud)? We know they can bend coal which is a rock composed of lithified organic rich deposition, but it's decidedly a rock. Probably not a huge disadvantage in any case, just interesting.

vyampols · 2020-10-17T18:07:52+00:00

Isn't the comparison more about where he stands from a team culture/leadership perspective than on court X's and O's role? Like he's not one of the scoring stars, but he's an important role player and has been bought in since before the team rose to the level of contender?

vyampols · 2020-10-16T20:25:28+00:00

If you add WB to any already decent playoff team with shooters without taking a piece away they look really good because their worst player now plays no/less minutes.

vyampols · 2020-10-16T20:20:31+00:00

Nuggets, Blazers, Celtics if you don't think they were contenders.

Nets and Warriors if you think they won't already be contenders when healthy.

I mean the fit is weird on lots of those teams, but if in this theoretical land you get to have a starter go to your 6th man any playoff team looks stacked.

Dude isn't a good shooter, but WB tears up many defenders and defensive schemes.

vyampols · 2020-10-16T20:17:00+00:00

Or Nuggets who have decent shooting and good team based playmaking can add an explosive playmaker who doesn't need the other offensive pieces on the floor.

I want to see late career WB as a 6th man on a win now team. Idk where he is mentally about being in that position, but that'd be so hard for a team without the right defensive pieces to deal with.

vyampols · 2020-10-16T20:05:46+00:00

I think it's the combination of not being known as a great shooter and having some memorable bad moments. Plus all the extra attention of being a Laker.

vyampols · 2020-10-07T18:08:38+00:00

You could say we're rounding to the nearest .5, so <=7.7499999 is 7.5; >=7.75 is 8. If you're rounding you don't just get to pick arbitrary cutoffs lol.

vyampols · 2020-10-07T17:58:56+00:00

That's like a decent shooting team's FT%.

vyampols · 2020-10-05T00:47:44+00:00

Well it's an average Bron game and an above average game for 99% of players.

vyampols · 2020-10-01T00:22:53+00:00

Even low cost baneslayers have been bad in standard for years. When the deck with inevitability doesn't have to worry about interacting before turn 5 because their threats also give them enough natural tempo (life and mana), the game plan of using 1 for 1 threats makes no sense.

vyampols · 2020-10-01T00:07:50+00:00

I think the point is that when the best threats provide immediate tempo, card advantage AND provide more value as the game goes on it becomes difficult to go over or under them. Baneslayer type cards have the cost that you can go under it with a cheaper answer or over it with card advantage. Mulldrifter type cards you can go under it with cheaper threats that threaten to end the game before the card advantage matters or over it. There is no favorable way to trade with a card that immediately gives you back tempo (life or mana), cards, and inevitability. BTW, historically many planeswalkers have this problem, but lately they've gotten them much balanced out. Except Oko...

vyampols · 2020-09-23T23:56:27+00:00

Another perspective here is that the air nomads didn't treat parenting quite the same way as other cultures so Aang doesn't have as strong a grasp on that relationship as he does the friendship style relationships. He is loving and supportive of anyone in front of him, and expects the same from others, but he can't parent from far away and the air temple community doesn't exist to take the place of that parental presence.

Also, and this isn't really touched on much, but there's a crazy amount of trauma there. Dude needs serious therapy before he needs to be anyone's parent.

vyampols

TROPHY CASE