The Brewery Ft: Zach and Jared

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]Welcome back to Byitesize Magic. My name is Zach and today I sat down with a good buddy of mine, Jared, and we drink beers and talks about how to brew decks in CEDH. Jared is a Tim Nadargo pilot as well as a Clark Silus pilot here in local San Diego, and they're a really great brewer. It's something that they see as their defining trait in this game. They love to make decks that other people will play and that they can also pilot to success. There's no giveaway this week. Uh we've got a couple things in the works, but congrats to last week's giveaway winner. you've been shouted out in the comments. Make sure to hit me up if you want that free proxy deck from Gilded Goblet. I wanted to talk to you guys real quick about some tournaments that we're going to be going to in the very near future. Just jam DGrid. This is going to be May 30th and 31st in Phoenix, Arizona. Uh going to be a platinum or diamond level event. If you're in the West Coast, if you're interested in traveling from the east coast, this is the event to go to for this date. Again, May 30th and 31st, Phoenix, Arizona. Uh it's going to be two days of CDH. There's going to be an inswuite bar, table, food service, on demand chaos drafts running until midnight. I'll be there jamming. So again, if you're in the Southwest, make sure to register. This is the best tournament venue I've ever been to. They have phenomenal table space. Like I said, they have food delivered to your table. They have a bar uh that you don't want to go too crazy with until, you know, the event is over uh or until day one's over or if you get there early.

[00:01:18]All three of which I will be doing. But yeah, this is going to be a really fun tournament. If you get a chance, make sure to register, go check it out, and I will see you there. The Siege. This is going to be June 13 and 14 in Colorado.

[00:01:31]We're going to be out in Thornton, Colorado near the Denver area at the Double Tree Castle, by the way. It's a castle. That's pretty cool. I actually didn't think I was going to go to this event, but recently I got invited and huge thank you to the tour tournament organizers for helping me get out there.

[00:01:46]Really, really appreciate them. And I want to do my best to get everyone I know out to the siege. So, if you're not already registered, make sure to go check this out. Again, this is going to be in a castle and there's some really cool fun stuff in association. This is going to be hosted by MTG Basics, Critical EDH, and Level Level Games.

[00:02:02]They're going to be raffling off Gaia's cradles. There's going to be a 10K guaranteed prize pool. It's $100 entry and 100% proxy friendly, which we love out here in Bitesize Magic. Make sure to check this out. I I think this is going to be a huge event. I I would not be surprised if this is a diamond or will be a diamond within a few days. But this is again June 13 and 14. I will be there. I'm freaking pumped. I love Colorado tournaments. I love Colorado players. Super fun to play with them as always. I was at Mortal Kombat last year and I'm glad I get to run it back for the siege this year. So, go check this out. Really, really phenomenal tournament run by some of the best people in this game. See you there.

[00:02:42]>> We got a local craft beer for the brewery here. We got Japanese loggers from Harland here in San Diego, California.

[00:02:51]>> Cheers, man. Looks so good.

[00:02:53]>> M.

[00:02:54]>> Let's see.

[00:02:56]>> It's probably my favorite lighter beer that they have. It's a rice logger.

[00:02:59]>> That's really tasty.

[00:03:00]>> Mhm.

[00:03:00]>> I I wish I was more into like, you know, like Somalier beers, you know, like I could like, oh, there's earthy notes in here. And >> I don't know if you want to be those people, man.

[00:03:12]>> Part of me wants to be those people, but the other part of me is like I will drink pretty much anything. Same with wine. Terrible. I wish I could be better with wine. I worked at a winery. I know nothing.

[00:03:22]>> I think 90% of it is just getting past the wall. Like a lot of times when people start drinking, this is like how to be a professional alcoholic 101 is you have to get over the wall. Like people all they taste is alcohol at first and then over time you start to appreciate some of the >> I do love >> some of the different flavors. You know, >> I'm a water guy. I'm a water guy at heart. I I used to like IPAs, but they're they're so heavy. It's like a full meal in a beer.

[00:03:47]>> Yeah.

[00:03:48]>> You can't like walk around. You can't sprint after you drink an IPA.

[00:03:52]>> Did you know how the IPA was was discovered? Why it's called in India pale ale?

[00:03:56]>> Please tell.

[00:03:57]>> So there's a San Diego beer museum >> from San Diego.

[00:04:00]>> Well, so originally Okay. So there's a San Diego beer museum cuz Santa was known for their IPAs course and like it has like goes into all the different histories. But anyways, so it's called the IPA because they were shipping a long time ago pale ales to India and they found out that it would get over fermented by the time it reached India.

[00:04:19]So that would give them like a really distinct taste.

[00:04:22]>> And then in the West Coast and in New Zealand, they started adding hops, which are like these little plants. They kind of look like small artichoke thingies.

[00:04:30]They would add those to like the the beer to give it kind of that like over fermented kind of flavor and then it just became a whole craft thing.

[00:04:38]>> Um I love it. Yeah, it's in a world where I quit magic and get really into craft brewing.

[00:04:44]>> Yeah, I mean >> it's another universe.

[00:04:46]>> Another another Can you imagine?

[00:04:48]>> C137. Zach is definitely into craft brewing, not CEDH >> being Yeah. Well, actually, we are doing some some brewing today. We are doing some brewing.

[00:04:57]>> Different different kinds, but I I could imagine it. I mean, it's it's competitive beer competitions, you know.

[00:05:05]Well, Jared, do you want to talk about kind of what we're doing today and you know why why we got together and started drinking beer >> cuz Zach doesn't have time anymore. He's always recording, so I never get to hear about how he's doing or like the the competitive. We're a magic channel, by the way. But yeah, I just I wanted to get to know sort of like Yeah. just kind of how you've been in the space over some some beers and just kind of thinking about Yeah. Just first off, just how you've been generally like like you've been crushing it. You've been doing all these events. You've been converting pretty much every single one except when you played a tali, but that deck sucks.

[00:05:40]>> Yeah.

[00:05:41]>> Yeah. But >> it's been an interesting run. I mean, I think Breach the Bay, that was really the Well, I guess Cosmic Crown was where we started, you know, the year in terms of like real big events. There were some golds before that, some silvers, but Cosmic Crown was our first plat, I believe.

[00:05:57]>> I I I missed out on that one. I I couldn't do it, so I'm not sure, but I think so. That sounds >> I think for us I think for us it was >> no fishbowl. Fishbowl is technically the first cuz that's a diamond event.

[00:06:07]>> Yeah. Yeah. Well, that was I mean that was my first diamond event ever and >> Yeah. First diamond event.

[00:06:12]>> No [ __ ] Really?

[00:06:13]>> Yeah. Actually, I'm not I don't think the fishbowl previous was diamond.

[00:06:16]>> I could be wrong.

[00:06:17]>> No, it wasn't. It wasn't. It was plat.

[00:06:19]Yeah.

[00:06:19]>> Mhm.

[00:06:20]>> And previous fishbowl I bombed out. Did terrible. And then this fishbowl I played farm. I got to top 16. Played comedian for the first time which was super fun. I think he's a phenomenal one of the best players in the world. And we went to time. So we hit the three-hour mark. I had a resolved underworld breach on the stack. I had a grand abolisher in play and I had to beseech the mirror. I something like this. Basically I had I was in the process of winning the game and time was called.

[00:06:44]>> So that was a feels bad first.

[00:06:46]>> That's super frustrating like >> Yeah.

[00:06:48]>> Especially since you've been you've been doing so well at all the other events.

[00:06:51]It's like I wish Yeah.

[00:06:54]>> It would have been really nice, you know, like I get you. CDH is such a complex game. There's so many factors.

[00:06:59]Time control being a super important one. But that was kind of the start of the competitive year after, you know, a couple tournaments in the beginning. And then we went to Cosmic, played farm again, taught for that, which was the first plat top four I've gotten, which was super exciting. And then we went to Cosmic Crown or sorry, Breach the Bay.

[00:07:16]Yeah.

[00:07:16]>> And you top 16.

[00:07:18]>> That was that was a good time.

[00:07:19]>> Clark Silus, right? And I did absolutely nothing on a tall >> because you played a taller. I don't know. I I I was super excited for your top 16. Dan also top four. He's another local uh Kennan player. Phenomenal Kenan player and hilarious dude. Um but it was so exciting to see you guys do so well in in this big of of an event and especially on a on a brew, right?

[00:07:39]>> Yeah. I mean, it was it was a very fortunate event. There was a lot of things that went well. Funny funnily enough, winning Quark flips wasn't one of them because I the Quark flips were very volatile for me that tournament. I think it was just overall it was an ideal choice for where my head was at, you know. I think as a player, given where I was at that time, I wanted to bring something that was really flexible that kind of had a lot of options because I didn't know what I was going to see. And the last time I brought a really focused deck to a tournament was Fishbowl 6 or five and I did terribly.

[00:08:11]It was terrible. I was on Teamer Malcolm. It felt really good. I was crushing the lobbycon. It was like 401 lobbycon. Like, dude, I got this locked up. This is so sick. And this is the one where you did Kenan and this is what put you off Ken. Like this. We both had a shitty event that time, but yeah, >> Teamer Mala or Teamer Pirates is back.

[00:08:27]>> It is back. Yeah, I'm I've been looking at it a little bit. I've been excited about it.

[00:08:30]>> Nick Tret, I interviewed him post I think it was Royal Rumble where he taught forward that event and then I saw Critical ADH did a video about it like super recently.

[00:08:40]>> So, Teamer Pirates is back.

[00:08:42]>> Duck looks cool. I I I >> always been good. Always been good.

[00:08:46]>> Yeah.

[00:08:46]>> But yeah, so it was Breach the Bay. Post Breach the Bay was >> something else. God, you know what? I'm just gonna pull up my top deck and we can follow that because my memory obviously is not it right now.

[00:09:00]>> You've been do Yeah. I mean, you've just you've been doing a lot of stuff and >> How have you been feeling about all this, dude? Like, this is so much all at once. Like, I feel like >> like the difference between last year and us jamming games and hanging out has been so different than what's been going on this year.

[00:09:15]>> Like, number 13, my favorite number, by the way.

[00:09:18]>> Yeah. Best number.

[00:09:19]>> Yeah. I was born Friday the 13th, so I got to love the cursed number, you know.

[00:09:25]>> So, yeah, we have we have breach the Bay. We have this double up event that I bubbled out of in 17th place, which is hilarious. Bronze event, bronze event, and then we go best in the West qualifier. This was, I think, just a silver. And then we go into the mid-season showdown. So, this was basically the midyear invitational. It was a tournament that, you know, I had been >> I didn't talk. That's what it is. I think where I where I kind of like I think we haven't caught up since midseason showdown because I think I know we talked a lot about you know in Merion events we were talking a whole bunch I think since breach I haven't had an opportunity to sort of >> talk with you I think the best in the west silver what no that wasn't the silver >> this was right before the plat event that you >> yeah exactly >> so that's the point from there on I have no idea what's what's been going on what's going on yeah catch catch catch me up. How was mid-season? You know, like generally like how how was it to to be at a event with so many good players and so many draws and all that?

[00:10:25]>> So many draws. So, this was an interesting one and this kind of I think starts the brewery which is um I had been playing I'd been planning on playing Kennan because I had just felt that it was just unbelievably powerful and it was a very different archetype than the things we've been used to.

[00:10:41]Also, just like looking at Waffle continuously winning and consistently performing, I know he's an amazing player, but he's also one of the very few top players who are consistently playing Kenan. And so, I felt that Kenan was >> being underrepresented. Um, so I'd been playing the deck a bit, having, you know, mixed results, enjoying it, and then I got and started playing with Jace in some Discord, uh, and he's playing Ragashai.

[00:11:04]>> Okay. And this is all happening since Breach. This is all like the new stuff you've been doing. Okay. This was maybe a week, maybe two weeks before the mid-season.

[00:11:13]>> Oh wow. Okay.

[00:11:14]>> This was literally recent like I was like I guess we're going to see what this deck does.

[00:11:18]>> So when you handed Julian >> to play the deck in in the platinum qualifier, was that its first like >> I had just put it together. I had maybe played one game on it >> and he just you ran it.

[00:11:28]>> Yeah.

[00:11:28]>> Wow.

[00:11:29]>> When he top 16.

[00:11:30]>> Yeah.

[00:11:30]>> I think he was number one in Swiss, too.

[00:11:32]>> He was. Yeah.

[00:11:33]>> Yeah, he was.

[00:11:33]>> Um and that was like the first big, you know, place where the deck got to shine.

[00:11:38]Um, and after that, and part of that, I was also just kind of like very interested in the play patterns and the ideas of the deck because it was really on this no bad cards plan. So, I, you know, I was like, [ __ ] it, I may as well try it at the mid-season. You know, I have maybe maybe 10, I don't even think maybe five games on this deck. You know, I but I have a fun idea of what it's doing >> and it's really good at not losing. So, that was a plus. I was like, I I definitely don't think it's going to lose that many games. We end up going to mid-season. I'm literally the day of like unsleving all my nice cards from Blue Farm and putting them in Ragashai because I'm deciding last moment that I'm playing it. And day round one I'm in a hyperdominant position. I have a draw force on me. Round two is a stream game where I just crush.

[00:12:22]>> I watched that dude. That was sick.

[00:12:24]>> I was like this deck's insane. That's you know that's an expose of the deck that makes >> seeing that kind of game happen and then just draws the rest of the time.

[00:12:34]>> And so Jace also brought it. top 16 and then we both got to top 16. We lost our top 16 matches. I'm old two in my top 16 game. I kept command tower flare duplication which in theory >> command tower flare do something right.

[00:12:47]Yeah, you can do somethingare.

[00:12:50]Who's your pod? Because if somebody nausees there, you can you can >> Well, yeah. So, Dexter is rag size C1.

[00:12:55]So, I'm like the odds of C2 Naws are actually pretty high.

[00:12:59]>> And did it happen?

[00:13:00]>> It didn't. C2 He had a necro. But the reason it works so well is because if he has a C2 nause in in or sorry a turn two nause in C1 and the blue farm player who uh Sterling who was part of the inv four I played last season.

[00:13:15]>> If he has a piece of counter magic I'm politicking him and I'm saying I may have something but I can't cast until I see your hand.

[00:13:22]>> Like if you have interaction you're going to have to go first cuz I'm on two.

[00:13:24]>> Yeah.

[00:13:25]>> So he goes to counter.

[00:13:26]>> He can't he's not going to in that situation. There's no way.

[00:13:29]>> If he has a counter spell he can counter the naw and I can flare on top. I can copy the N. If he has nothing, I flare the N and I counter the N. So I'm like, this too in theory could work out perfectly.

[00:13:38]>> And then he cast Necro, got countered, and I sat there and waited until its handed pack resolved, copied it. Anyway, I got back into the game, it was too late. Regardless, the deck felt quite good except for mulling to two. And that's consistently what I've felt is the deck feels amazing as long as you don't have to mulligan to one or two, which has happened quite a few times.

[00:13:57]>> You're in an Italian household. You're starting to talk with your hands.

[00:13:59]>> Exactly. Yeah. the Jews out, the Italians in.

[00:14:03]>> But um yeah, so Jayce and I we chatted about the list. Um we had you know he he had it as his lobbycon deck for a while and you know uh I played it against him a bit and I was like this is really cool. Like this is doing what Kenan's trying to do in better colors in my opinion >> and it doesn't have the broken advantage Kenan has but it does have Ragre which is in you know I think a lot of us agree the best commander in the game.

[00:14:27]>> Yeah. Right now. Yeah.

[00:14:28]>> Yeah. It's just uber powerful. And and so it was me and him basically. I I suggested cards. I He already had most of the list built and I took Waffles's list and I said, "Let's just compare these two." And then we're like, "All right, Disrupting Shaw probably should be in here." Uh I think he was already on Common Deer.

[00:14:44]>> I think Unagi was something I recommended. Um >> I'm not sure about Wani Tong. Relic of Legends I think was an idea. There's about I would say like five to 10 cards that were recommended. The one that was hilarious was, oh god, it's a three mana tutor. I'm totally forgetting the name.

[00:15:03]>> Three mana, idyllic tutor.

[00:15:04]>> Idy tutor. Yeah, I put that in the considering board now. That's part of the deck, which is crazy. I've never seen that in a CDH deck.

[00:15:10]>> You got to you got to have redundancy of the decks, especially in linear plans.

[00:15:13]You have to have redundancy effects.

[00:15:15]>> Yeah. So, >> otherwise you're just mulling into oblivion.

[00:15:18]>> You're still mulling into oblivion.

[00:15:20]>> Yeah. Well, it's a linear.

[00:15:21]>> It happens a little less. But um so yeah, the deck's still being iterated upon, but it's just so insane to see basically, in my opinion, an entire new deck in the CDH a tier archetype, a to tier. You know, I jokingly called it the best deck in the format. I think a lot of people I've talked to have said it's the best deck they've ever played. And, you know, not brewing it completely, but being a part of it has been very cool.

[00:15:41]Getting to do a video with Jace and really just see, you know, the meteoric rise similar to what we saw in Rag Thras when Sam Black came into the scene and was like, "Yeah, this deck's broken."

[00:15:49]And then everyone played it. Yeah, it's just been it's been really cool to see that deck perform. And now coming into our next platinum event this weekend, I'm kind of trying to figure out what to play and that's at the top of my list right now because I just do believe it's so freaking strong.

[00:16:02]>> How's it how does it feel to be a part of that? Like you were there at the day one of the day ones to build the deck and now it's it's it's working and it's clicking and it's it seems like it's jelling with you as a person. So I just want to know like how has it felt to >> be one of the people that's involved with it? I I would say you're one of the main people involved in it given where it is now. And just like how Yeah. How's how has it felt to build something?

[00:16:27]Because I remember we had a conversation a while back where we were just like you're like I don't want to be the guy that's like engineering car. I want to be the guy that's driving it. But now that you've had an opportunity to do some of the engineering like how how is that sort of felt for you? Has it felt satisfying seeing the deck success or how many people enjoy it?

[00:16:47]>> Yeah. You know, I I would make a note here. I would not say that I built this deck at all. I think this is 100% Jace.

[00:16:52]Like I would give all the credit to Jace for this deck. I would say that I suggested some cards and then I I was like, "Hey, let's do this together." You tuned it up.

[00:16:59]>> Yeah. I I I made some suggestions for tuning and and I think more importantly, he was going to bring it to the mid-season. I was like, "Jase, like, let's just do this together." You know, and I think doing that with him was really fun. It was cool to have like us two representing this, you know, Darkhorse deck that no one had ever seen. And it was just like, oh, the new flashy thing. and it worked. Yeah, you know, 100% conversion rate, zero losses until top 16. It just was awesome. And I agree, it is super in line with my play style. You know, I I believe mid-range is the best archetype. I just that's where I'm coming from as a player. I think that being able to politic in the game gives you the most agency possible.

[00:17:37]And having the ability to be able to stop anyone on turn zero with Ragrack in the zone, infinite counter spells is really, really strong.

[00:17:44]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:17:45]>> So, kind of being on the side of engineering it, I would say it's cool, although it's not very different from what I normally do, which is I'll take a proven deck archetype or a deck, >> I'll tweak, make my changes, um, but I'm not making huge structural changes to the deck. So, got >> it was not like a, you know, wasn't like a light bulb moment where everything changed. It was just cool to be on the cusp with Jayce and kind of support him in making this into a very real deck.

[00:18:08]>> Yeah. So, so if I'm hearing correctly, it was originally Jayce's idea and then you kind of using NBC as a template. You sort of provided these things.

[00:18:17]>> Just a couple suggestions. I would not say it was like meteoric shifts in how the deck list was. Okay.

[00:18:22]>> But we definitely talked a lot about it.

[00:18:24]We had ideas, brewing sessions, mulligans together, but he's done he's done like infantess infinitely more work on the deck than I have. So, >> yeah, I wouldn't take any credit for it basically what I'm saying.

[00:18:34]>> That's fair. I mean, I also know you're a pretty humble person too, you know.

[00:18:38]Yeah, >> but I I >> I think I think Okay, but but watch this. Watch this. I do I do genuinely think though that what's it called? I do think that you being a part of this process is >> is cool because it it's like some of the scaffolding that you're going to end up using if you ever wanted to template 100% your own thing. You know, one of the things that we wanted to talk about today is the difference between like templating and theory crafting. That was like one of the ideas we talked about for the episode along with several other things.

[00:19:09]>> Do you want to explain what those two are?

[00:19:15]>> Sure. Um, so templating I would say is kind of like what Zach just described where you take a proven deck or a proven, you know, concept and then you brew a deck that does things similar to it. Um, has a similar game plan, but it's you're you're templating. You're basing it off of what's established and what's working. So Kenan very established good deck and then rag Ishai is doing something very similar with the no bad cards ideology. You're playing rristic you're cloning it all but the difference is that you're in sort of a a just sky shell.

[00:19:45]>> Totally.

[00:19:46]>> And so that's sort of like what I think of as like templating >> splicing things together importing ideas. Yeah. Sure.

[00:19:53]>> Yeah. So, you're taking an established meta deck strategy and you're you're doing the same thing but differently in a unique and fresh way.

[00:20:03]>> Sure.

[00:20:03]>> Um, and then theory crafting I think is a little bit more sort of nuts and bolts granular where you make something new out of some type of game theory that's inherent to a four-player game. Yeah.

[00:20:16]And so that would be Oh, thank you.

[00:20:18]>> Yeah. Kind of what you were doing with Park Silus. You would call that theory crafting.

[00:20:22]>> Yeah, I would. I think just because of without getting too much into the weeds of what that deck's trying to accomplish, it it's all about trade math. It's tradem. And it's just because I I lean on that a lot during my own play. I can get pretty nervous sometimes when I'm when I'm up against three three different people. But if I can find a way to fuse those people, I was thinking about this in the car. I was like, if I can fuse those people into a three-headed monster, >> it's a lot easier because Yeah. It's a lot easier for me cuz now I'm not fighting this person doing deals with this guy and this person going, "Oh, maybe." Instead, I'm fighting, okay, everybody's against me. I'll play all of you at once. You guys are all united against me. So, now it's just going to come down to the math.

[00:21:06]>> And do you have the do does your card is your card worth my card? And the answer is maybe. But is your card worth my card plus this trigger and this trigger and this trigger and this trigger? It's kind of like the deck triggers itself. So in Ishai, you were saying Rageshai, you were saying that you when you play a card, you don't generate any triggers off of that. You have you are completely reliant on on massaging the table, getting your opponents to do things and interact so that it can trigger you. You get the advantage and then you capitalize. And we saw that in that streamed game cuz I watched that. I had it literally on while I was doing work.

[00:21:39]I was just like doing work on one screen on the other screen. I'm like watching the game. Just like yeah, like this is this is sick. Croxide does that. But it triggers itself. Everything I do, I get value in the form of triggers. And if people don't have a response to those triggers, because they're triggers, there's not a whole lot you can respond to except for cards in your hand. If those triggers are going on top of their wristic triggers, you can kind of start snowballing into into some crazy thing that requires everybody to unite against you. And those are the types of games that I really like to capitalize on. If I'm going mid game, if I'm not going mid game, then it's it's a 1v3 anyway. I'm playing turbo. and you either have it or you don't. But I found that for myself >> and who I am as a player, I want to force situations where it's all three against me and the math working out in my favor, whatever that looks like. If it's a adnauseium versus a wristic study, the classic example, or a necro or mass draw effect versus aristic, I am going to see more cards faster because if they don't have the answer for it, how can your wristic compete with me seeing 20 cards? Yeah. You know, and that's kind of why I liked the master effect approach to Tim Nadargo when I was working on it with with Kellen.

[00:22:47]>> Yeah. And all the amazing Tim Nargo players.

[00:22:50]>> Yeah. Well, the Discord is awesome. Like one of the one of the things that started it was like the first town hall I was a part of Kellum was like this is an interesting approach and I'm like this is something that I made because I watched what everybody was doing and I assumed that people were you know making these calculations making these decisions and there's so much that everyone was trying to do that I thought was valuable and I was like I want to I want to take everything that people are doing and try to find the right fit and and match for what we want to do and then >> sort of like this mass draw effect variant of Tim Nadargo came to surface through a bunch of dedicated people working on it as a collective and then it became, you know, this tournament devouring monster.

[00:23:31]>> Yeah.

[00:23:32]>> It's and it's and it's just because to me I I find it easier to navigate when I have one opponent, one thing to deal with, one three-headed monster than having to deal with three separate people in the mid game. I can get pretty overwhelmed.

[00:23:47]>> I am the exact opposite. Yes, >> I'm like I have three I have three allies in CdH. I actually don't even think of the people across me as my opponents most of the time.

[00:23:57]>> And that's why mid-range makes so much sense is because I will I want to avoid a 1v3 at all costs.

[00:24:05]>> I'm so sure I'm going to win the 1v3 that it's trivial. You know, it's like I would like to put myself in positions where I don't have to push first. I am there to provide answers when they're needed, but I want people to play the game. I want people to push. I want to be part of the 3v1, >> you know, and as I'm part of the 3v1, >> then you more interaction is used on that one person, right? And then I get to go, okay, now my turn, right? After we've done our thing, right? You know, it's like I've had two wristic sightes this whole time. So I have my whole deck in my hands and I play more interaction than all three decks combined, you know?

[00:24:38]So that's why the rawishi build works for my play style and why Craig Silus might work better for you, you know, in this scenario.

[00:24:44]>> Yeah, I I really value proactivity. If I don't have a proactive thing to do or a clear plan or a clear thing that I'm working towards, I start getting overwhelmed by the options. Like, if I'm sitting there and I'm playing the control game and it's a 3v1, I'm thinking about, okay, how do I not get screwed over by my other two allies, right? So, now I'm even though I think I'm on everybody's team and we're fighting one person, I'm actually not cuz they can betray me at any point. And so, that starts going, okay, I could use this piece of interaction to stop this person, but now, how do I know my ally isn't going to turn against me? Exactly.

[00:25:17]>> That that [ __ ] makes me wired, dog. Like I I start I start getting like I start getting concerned that my friends will become my foes like that. But if that relationship is clearly defined up front, then then I'm a lot easier.

[00:25:31]>> It is a lot easier on on my on my brain for sure, you know. And I think if the deck is engineered in a way where the 3v1 is is, you know, winnable, whether through lines being hard to interact with or whether it be just simply my cards are worth more, I have I have more EV when I cast my spells. Eevee is like expected value. So this kind of gets more into the theory crafting mode, but it's like it's like your cards have certain value, right? One of your cards is worth 33% of its typical value because you have three opponents. So, one of your cards is worth three of your opponent's cards.

[00:26:10]And so, when you play any given card, any piece of interaction, you better be sure it's the right decision to to do it. And in order for it to be the right decision in CdH, you don't just have to consider the board state. You have to consider your opponent's intentions. You have to consider your opponent's, you know, what they what they want and things like that. And I think all of that stuff just can kind of get really overwhelming. And I want to try to force situations where I know for sure that my card is worth two of my opponent's cards. So now everything I'm using, they need two things now to deal with it or maybe sometimes three if I have like a croc doubler for example. Yeah. And so instead of developing wristic plus clone plus whatever, I'll develop arch magemeritus plus sca plus kark plus all these other things and I have a bunch of really shitty free spells. So I'm never really losing a croc flip. I can just recast whatever because when's trigger goes on top of the wristic study once it resolves you get the spell back underneath the trigger and you can just keep rolling.

[00:27:06]>> Yeah. And so I want my one spell to be worth three of my opponent's spells so that mathematically over time they are forced to exhaust their resources. And so I want to I want to put my opponents in positions where they're forced to to deal with something and put them sort of out of their comfort zone or ability to talk things through because at a certain stage you can't talk your way out of a losing position. It's and I want to try to make those conditions happen as best as I can. Yeah.

[00:27:35]>> Yeah. because otherwise it's just way too stressful.

[00:27:38]>> That's just that's just me.

[00:27:40]>> Well, you're playing to your strengths, right? As a as a person and as a player.

[00:27:43]>> Yeah.

[00:27:44]>> Yeah, that makes sense.

[00:27:44]>> I think that's what brewing is all about. It's all about understanding yourself as a competitor and like what you are good at doing. And it kind of took me a long time to find like what what is my competitive avatar? Like who am I at the table? What do I want from a situation? What is my personality when I'm, you know, sitting down at a CDH table and how do I play something that gels with that? I think it takes a really long time.

[00:28:06]>> I agree. I agree. I think one thing, one concept I find really fascinating in coaching sessions especially is people want to find the unicorn deck, which is a deck that they're going to play forever and it's going to be the funnest deck and it's never going to get boring and it's like you're never going to have to find another deck to play. You know, it's like the unicorn. And I think the better and maybe more worthwhile pursuit is to understand yourself >> because that determines what you play, right? What what kind of player do I want to be? You know, like have I tried turbo? Have I tried stacks? Have I tried mid-range? Have I tried enough archetypes to see what I resonate with?

[00:28:39]>> You know, and then lock in there and say, "Okay, I'm a true dedicated stacks player or I'm a true dedicated mid-range player." And so what I play, what deck I play may change, >> but I know that the sphere of genius or the sphere of like uh influence that I have will remain consistent, you know, among those decks. And I might experiment. and I might play a turbo deck, you know, and I do and I do enjoy switching it up, but I know that at my best, I'm playing mid-range, and those are the decks that I really succeed on more often than not in a general setting.

[00:29:12]Real quick, I wanted to share a word from our sponsors for this episode, Gilded Goblet. If you're in need of proxies, Gilded Goblet is the place to go. This is a brand that I just co-launched, and I'm so pumped to be able to bring it to you. We offer custom decks so you can pick the hundred cards that you want with the art you love. We also offer singles, sets, and pre-constructed CEDH decks if you're just browsing. Every order, no matter how small it is, has free shipping. No order minimums. Just grab whatever you need and you'll get it ASAP. As a tournament grinder, the quality is topnotch, and these can be used in all proxyfriendly events. You can use code byte-size to get 10% off whenever you shop. Also, every Wednesday at 10:30 when we release a new byte-size video, Gilded Goblet will run an additional sale. So, just keep that in mind whenever you're shopping. You can check out the link in the description and go get yourself some proxies. All right, let's get back to the video.

[00:30:06]>> And so, that's what I >> So, let me ask you this. What What What is it about like cuz you've tried everything, right? And I think you're kind of, and you can correct me if I'm wrong here, but you're kind of at a place where it's like, okay, I worked on my first big deck. this this raw Ishai deck. I've I've played all the archetypes. I you're I know who I am as a mid-range player. I want the 1v one v1. I want to, you know, become an ally and then play that game where I'm I'm switching, you know, I'm switching it up and and and it's my turn. Now, in that process, what did you find out that you weren't like when you played Turbo and when you played Stacks? What was it about those experiences that you felt like ah that's just that's just not really for me, you know? I'm not having success with this. Like where where where was the point of like friction?

[00:30:51]Cuz I'm sure a lot of people watching are trying this thing cuz they want to get into brewing and they're like or playing and and they're like well yeah like I'm I'm trying everything. I'm having a good time but I just I just don't know where I'm going wrong. So what are like the indicators for you when you know oh this this is a good deck but it's just not for me. Like what are those things for you?

[00:31:11]>> You just know something isn't right for you?

[00:31:13]>> I think that's a good question and there's varied answers. For me, the most important part of a game is feeling like I am involved at all times.

[00:31:22]>> Okay. And to do that, mid-range is the archetype that makes sense.

[00:31:26]>> What does involved mean to you?

[00:31:28]>> Yeah. So, for example, when I played Turbo and I, you know, the first deck I ever saw real tournament success on, the first like big tournament, you know, or like medium-sized tournament I won was Rocky.

[00:31:39]>> Oh, yeah. I remember that was the autism awareness event.

[00:31:41]>> No, no, LDXP. Los Angeles like Laughing Dragon Command event. I don't even know what it was. It was It was a gold event.

[00:31:48]It was the first gold event.

[00:31:49]>> That was before the autism awareness event. Okay.

[00:31:51]>> Yeah. Um >> but I did play it there, too.

[00:31:54]>> Yeah. Yeah. It was good.

[00:31:55]>> Yeah. But yeah, at this tournament, I had played Rockside. I'd won. And I I had a great time. I enjoyed playing the deck, but the play patterns I found myself defaulting to were wristic study, necropents to a degree, adnauseium, obviously, and I do enjoy aspects of turbo. you know, playing blue farm, I do play nause a lot. Like I enjoy playing adnauseium and necropins, but I'm in the pocket when I'm able to get a wristic study down and then a smothering tithe.

[00:32:20]That's like I'm I'm defaulting there.

[00:32:23]Um, when I play pure turbo and I don't have those mid-range options to fall back on, I feel like I'm kind of just gambling.

[00:32:30]>> Really?

[00:32:30]>> Yeah.

[00:32:30]>> Like, okay, well, I mulligan. Well, I have a turn two nause or turn two necro and I cast it and you know, someone had a counter spell. Maybe I yapped my way into getting a few cards out of it, but it kind of felt like a roll of the dice.

[00:32:42]Playing rattle, for example, really felt like gambling. And uh it was >> I don't see that as my strength as a player. Like I I truly believe politics is where I am strongest. And fundamentals are definitely, you know, there, but I would not say that fundamentals are where I am at my best.

[00:32:58]And I haven't played a lot of 60 cards, so like I don't have that kind of background. But when I'm able to be in a game talking, discussing things, assessing the table, threat, you know, threat assessing, talking about what my spells are going to do, understanding other people's point of view, having emotional empathy, like being able to relate to what other people are doing, what they're trying to do in a game, that's where I'm like, I'm always involved. So, no matter what turn it is, you know, I have a risk study, so I'll have triggers. or you're casting a spell and I'm talking to you about the spell cuz I have interaction, you know, or someone casts a threatening thing and I may not have something to answer it, but I can at least have a conversation with the other players and say, "Hey guys, like if we don't do something now, we won't be able to do something later."

[00:33:37]>> It's now or never. Playing turbo felt like gambling. So, like I'm either winning the game on turn two or I'm not part of the game at all.

[00:33:44]>> That was all it was with a tali too. It totally had like multiple turn two atalies that just didn't work and I was like well I just I just got [ __ ] >> screwed cuz like I I did have a game that I I punted but a lot of those games it did feel like I got unlucky with the flips and I just had no agency >> and and that was not something I did.

[00:34:03]Stacks I actually do think stacks is really fun. I enjoy the archetype. I think that it's kind of like casual magic in a way where you're landing a piece that makes the game fair and then you're playing a fair game, but in the same way you have limited agency because your pieces are proactive. So it's like I'm going to cast a rule of law or a definite silence or something that's going to affect the board in a proactive way. Yeah.

[00:34:23]>> I cannot reactively do very much. No, you know, you have limited options reactively, but it's really like I'm trying to make the correct judgment call about what piece is going to be most impactful at the table and then also close. And that part of stacks is really unfun for me because I find that most of the time when you're playing stacks, you end up just getting draws for some because you have an oppressive board state. It stops the table.

[00:34:46]>> It's the 3v1 again, right? Exactly.

[00:34:48]>> Yeah. But in this scenario, >> you have no agency in a 3v1.

[00:34:51]>> Why?

[00:34:52]>> It's because the the rest of the table's like, "Oh, we're losing the game. Like, we have to remove the stacks pieces."

[00:34:57]And they're like, "Well, we have to do that together. So, like I'll remove his stacks piece, you'll remove the other stacks piece, and then player three will go for a win, and then we'll force a drop. And I'm like, that's not very fun.

[00:35:06]You know, that's not an enjoyable thing for me to deal with. Same with turbo, right? It's it's very low agency. It's very dice rolly. Uh, and it's also dependent on player skill. So, you know, better players will mulligan well for turbo. Um, they'll stop the turbo players generally. And better players also recognize when stacks is getting so oppressive that you're going to lose.

[00:35:25]And so at the top tables, I want to have agency at all points in the game. I want to know when I need to keep fast. I need to know when I should interact. I just want to be a part of the game at all points. And that's what I think playing CDH is for me is playing the full game, not just narrowing in on a singular more narrow archetype basically. That makes sense.

[00:35:46]>> I see. So that's interesting that you said that because another thing that we talked about for this episode was linear versus flexible game >> plans. and and and and I think what what you said just now was you don't >> you want to be around at all phases of the game and and so in that regard you want to be flexible but you want a linear game plan >> that gets you to all phases of the game right so in a weird way you're like a hybrid type of player where you want something that's like a linear game plan but not necessarily proactive because if you're too proactive you you know you're saying that when you're hyper proactive you end up in situations where you have less agency because the 3v1 when that happens you feel like >> I have no control over this and I have to I have to gamble in order to get past this situation but you don't want too flexible. I I guess what I'm trying to understand is if you want a flexible game why play a linear deck because Rag is essentially gambling on whether or not you can make the linear plan happen when you mold it too. So I'm trying to understand sort of what to you is like gambling in in that aspect versus like your mulligans and your your linear game plan.

[00:36:55]>> Yeah. So why don't maybe before we go into it linear versus flexible, right?

[00:37:00]Linear is I have a plan, >> right?

[00:37:03]>> Super specific.

[00:37:04]>> This is what my deck does. It does one thing and this is it. Yeah.

[00:37:06]>> Right. So Ragsaw very classic linear deck, right? I am either trying to get a necro an or worst case scenario a fish.

[00:37:14]>> Right. Blue farm, I would say, is a much less linear game plan, right? I have necronauts, I have breach, I have intuition piles, I have wristic fish, uh I have my creature game plan if I want to go that route, right? There's a wide variety of options that you can choose.

[00:37:30]And so you you really have flexibility in terms of what the hands are giving you and what the pod comp is telling you.

[00:37:35]>> Y >> a another example of more linear decks.

[00:37:38]I think Vive is an extremely linear deck, right? It's VV Curiosity every time. That's the goal. That's what you're trying to do. You do have backup plans with wristic and fish and >> Malcolm Tana too.

[00:37:47]>> Totally. Yeah. Yeah. It's like Lin Horner bust, right? Right.

[00:37:50]>> You know, you have Kiki, I guess, but it's all creature combos.

[00:37:55]>> Yeah. Uh Kenan has evolved into a linear game plan where it's like I need >> to have a card strategy. You do have backups with like quick bault wins and hole breaker horror, but in the most part, Kenan is >> is pretty linear. I think I'm less concerned about a linear plan that is less gambly. So RO size linear Ragishai's linear, right?

[00:38:17]>> Yeah.

[00:38:18]>> Okay. Rag size linear plan is a turn two push.

[00:38:21]>> Right. Ragishi's linear game plan is a turn two draw engine.

[00:38:25]>> Yeah.

[00:38:26]>> The odds of my turn two drawing getting countered are very low. The odds of my turn two nause getting countered are very high if someone has a counter spell. Sure.

[00:38:32]>> Right. I think I'm going to get more if I have a linear plan and that plan does not win the game right away. It does win the game in a few turns, right? Aristic study is essentially a nause that is delayed a few turns cuz you're going to get the amount of cards you need to win the game. Just going to take a little while and so it's inherently less threatening, but still uber powerful.

[00:38:53]And it's still a card that we're obviously all talking about um as being something that's banan worthy, which I agree with. I think we should ban risk setting. It's it's a situation where on turn two I've mulligan. You know, I've done what I needed to do to get my plan online. I cast my wristic. Someone's like, "Hey, I have a force of swole."

[00:39:07]And then you're like, "Okay, that's reasonable. Like, I understand that you want to counter this." Uh, if it's an Oz, maybe I can get a few cards out of it, right? Maybe I can be like, "Hey, can I see like five cards, seven cards, nine cards, whatever is going to work."

[00:39:19]Um, but once I make a concession there, I automatically lose most of the equity in the game >> because I've my main plan was the >> has somewhat succeeded, but really not at all. And then the backup plan is usually much worse. And the longer the game goes with Ragai, the worse my plan get.

[00:39:37]>> Yeah, sure.

[00:39:38]>> Ragishi, same situation. I have the wristic study, someone cast force of so much more agency. I'm like, okay, understand wristic is a broken card, right? But >> you have more you have more what wiggle room >> be like I get you want to counter this Ral's right next. So if you have a second counter spell and you feel like one counter spell can stop Ral like you have a force soil on a mind break trap you're like that can stop R then by all means you can counter this wristic but if you don't think that Ral can push and win or Tally can push and win or blue farm can push and win or Kenan can push and win you have so much more wiggle room to be like I really do think that wristic study is not going to be the gamebreaking card. you still get to keep playing the game basically. So, you get to rely on your opponent's instincts of survival and you say like this card is not immediately winning, right? And because I'm playing such an interactive deck, I'm actually a good guy here >> for now.

[00:40:30]>> Yeah, exactly.

[00:40:32]>> Until I assemble insurmountable value and I crush you and in in the end game, you know, but >> composition is much better versus like just let me have a turn to nause, you know, it's like no. So that's more like the parasitic idea. Like you want to be somebody that sort of feeds off of the table's need to not die.

[00:40:53]>> Well, what is parasitic? What's what would be a non-parasic deck?

[00:40:56]>> Okay, good good example. I would say that any deck that is trying to so this is how I define parasitic and correct me if this is wrong but I see a parasite deck that is a deck that is just there to feed off of the table in some way.

[00:41:13]>> Isn't every deck trying to do that?

[00:41:15]>> No.

[00:41:15]>> I think there's some decks that they don't try to necessarily feed off the table. They don't necessarily care what the table is doing. They have a direct way to win the game and they're there to not necessarily cannibalize the table.

[00:41:27]So, a good example would be I actually think Malcolm Tana is not a parasitic deck because that deck has one game plan and that one game plan is to win the game. It's not feeding off of anything.

[00:41:35]It's not feeding off anybody in the same way.

[00:41:37]>> I think that's a worse plan though in my opinion.

[00:41:39]>> It could be a worse plan to you, but we're talking about we're talking about parasitic versus nonparasic.

[00:41:44]>> Okay. Yeah. Instead of value judgments, I I hear what you're saying. So, you're saying parasitic are things that when someone else says something, I benefit.

[00:41:50]Correct. Yeah. You you you your deck is relying on somebody else to feed you cuz that's what a parasite is. It feeds off of the table and and Yeah, exactly. It feeds off of the table's need for something. So, a real parasite will will feed off of your need to nourish your body and and your need to feed yourself.

[00:42:09]So, in that way, rag is could be considered parasitic in that fashion.

[00:42:14]Right. And so, that's how I've always defined it. That might not be how everyone thinks about a parasitic deck, but I think >> yeah, anytime somebody's trying to feed off of or their their their game plan is relying on other people, you know, feeding them or whatever, I would consider that to be a parasite. That's >> So, the opposite of that would be a deck that is pushing forward.

[00:42:34]>> Correct. I I would say I would say decks like I would say decks like Crocs Silus being more flexible and not necessarily needing other people to you're not feeding off of anybody really. You're kind of just jacking yourself off till you win until Yeah. Until you >> Is Talion parasitic?

[00:42:51]>> Yes. Because Talion's effect says whenever an opponent does X, you get this. So you're trying to induce your opponents to do things that benefit you.

[00:43:01]>> Sure. I I just believe with this definition in mind that being parasitic is the best way to play the game.

[00:43:06]>> It could be.

[00:43:07]>> That's my opinion.

[00:43:08]>> It could be. It could be the best way for you to play the game.

[00:43:10]>> Exactly.

[00:43:10]>> And that's what we're here to like really talk about. We want to encourage the viewer to find their best approach to the game.

[00:43:16]>> Well, it's just to me it makes sense, right? It's like I, you know, pure mathwise, right? If I'm proactive, my game plan is advancing me towards winning, right? That's 25% of the game >> because there's three other players, so that's 75%. If I'm playing a parasitic deck, I switch. My 25% doesn't matter.

[00:43:32]Your 75% does. So, the inputs that that allows and the value it generates is three times as good.

[00:43:40]>> Yes. Right. And so the question is, yeah, and that's that's the key for for for all of us is how are we converting our negative EV, that is to say, each of our cards only having 33% of its value.

[00:43:52]How are we converting our negative EV into positive? So maybe that's making an alliance from a player. Maybe that's talking to somebody. Maybe that's letting them resolve the risic study.

[00:44:02]You either generate it that way or you generate it yourself inherently through the construction of your deck. And that I think is a really interesting, you know, delineation between our different approaches because I'm thinking that you either overcome this this inherent lack of of card quality, this inherent as a four-player game, your card being worth, you know, three of your bonus cards through your words and through what you say and through how you >> navigate the circumstance versus inherently what the deck does. if it can if it can overcome that through some other way, some other means. And I think that's kind of the difference I would say between like a a proactive I'm not I don't need I don't need you. I don't need to feed off of you. I am I am >> an issue and you need to deal with me.

[00:44:49]Can you? Maybe you can. Maybe you can't.

[00:44:52]But if I can create enough situations where you can't most of the time, then across rounds that's positive.

[00:44:58]>> Totally. I hear what you said.

[00:45:00]>> I think it's it's kind of like when you're playing blackjack. I get this question all the time. Why would you count cards as a part-time job instead of playing poker? The reason is because yes, in poker you can get positive EV by reading your opponent and things like that and you know trusting your skill as a poker player to do that. For me, I trust the math and what the numbers are saying if I do a certain thing enough times, if I'm guaranteed equity. So for me, it's about the guarantee. And that goes back to the first thing I was saying about the anxiety is that it comes from the lack of guarantees. So when you have a a game plan that you know gives you equity across time >> across time I know with Crocs Silus for example I have a 25% equity cuz I'm prepared to cast everything twice.

[00:45:45]That's 75%. That means across rounds if I'm doing something twice I get 25% of the time you know compounded. Yeah.

[00:45:53]Which is worth a person by the way. Like like if if I can gain 25% EV, then my EV is worth one entire person, which makes sense. If I'm casting a spell twice with Krak, then I get two of them. And because I get two of them, that second copy is worth what another person's card is worth per card. And so if you think about things in terms of that, then you're the way you're overcoming that inherent lack of of I guess EV is just by force and game and gameplay and how you play the game. So for me, playing blackjack part time, I was like, okay, I know if I play this way, I'm guaranteed value over time. I may not be guaranteed value in the short term and you may not necessarily know how it's going to play out, but you know that as n approaches infinity, n being the number of iterations or times you're doing it. If you know that it's going to approach infinity, in the long term you're guaranteed value, positive EV. So it feels like gambling in the short term, but in the long term you're guaranteed that value. So, I think whether you prioritize the reactive, more parasitic play patterns and how that gives you agency in the short term, how it makes you feel in that moment is definitely better. But at that point, you're relying on your own ability to convince or massage the table, which is akin to poker, right? When you're when you're playing as an advantage, you're reading people, you're doing this stuff. But that can be wrong. The math can never be wrong. the math the math that says that you are guaranteed value if you play a certain way. The only condition that needs to be met is you playing that way and you're guaranteed value. So that's why my anxiety is less when I play turbo.

[00:47:37]>> Reasonable.

[00:47:38]>> Yeah. You see why that's weird how that's like a difference in mentality.

[00:47:42]>> I do I would argue that playing parasitically is actually more like playing CEDH as a game. I think that playing proactively is like playing a deck or goldfish >> because like you said, I don't care about what you guys are doing. I'm doing my own thing. I'm feeding myself, right?

[00:48:01]>> Playing parasitically is in my opinion playing socially. You know, this is where we have more conversations.

[00:48:07]There's more discussion. You know, I we're working together. There's more collaboration, right? Proactivity is very much like I'm doing my thing. Like you can stop me or you cannot stop me, right? you know, and so for me, what I found too is the reason I enjoy this game so much is because it's so social and because if I can play a more social deck, right?

[00:48:25]>> Mhm.

[00:48:26]>> I'm going to have more fun, >> right?

[00:48:27]>> You know, and you're right, I may not have the math on my side and there's times when I'm wrong and there's times when I make mistakes, you know, that are, oh, I read the player wrong or I politicked wrong or I didn't interact when I needed to interact with the spell that was going to win the game or that was going to put someone too far over the edge. But I think people skills-wise that's where I'm gonna have the most Eevee.

[00:48:48]>> Sure.

[00:48:48]>> Where yours I'm you're going to get 25% extra Eevee from your spells doing more >> for car for crocs specifically. Yes. Um, on my end, it's like I will get more Eevee by playing the game of CDH on a longer scale, having positive relationships, you know, being collaborative, working with the table, making plays that are correct for me that don't screw people over, right?

[00:49:11]Like I the goal is never ever to have someone walk away from a game having a bad time, right? you know, and and that's not like me being like, I want to make everyone happy, but it's like I do care that if I play a game with someone and I make a deal with them and they felt like I got them or like there was some, you know, angle shooting and lying that occurred, I'm not doing my job right. I'm not going to have the most fun doing that. And I know that if I play with that person again, I have a negative relationship overall. So, all that's to say, our different avatars, competitive avatars, have their unique strengths, right? And the reason I think I'm choosing or gravitating towards mid-range is because of the social aspect of it. And I do think although parasitic I think has some negative connotation >> it does to me feel much more positive in the long run because it is so social because it's so relational.

[00:50:01]>> Yeah, you can be relational regardless of what game plan you're enacting. Like even though I always play proactively, I'm very reasonable. You can talk me out of doing something if it's going to make everybody else, you know, if it's going to throw the game to somebody else. You never want to be proactive at the point where you're throwing the game.

[00:50:17]>> I would say that playing parasitically does have negative connotations, but I think being honest about it and being honest that this is my game plan. This is what I'm trying to do makes an expectation up front where people people can trust you more. If you're trying to be parasitic but be hide but be like shady and hide, you know, hide about it, that can come across as being really snaky. Yeah.

[00:50:38]>> Right. So, I I know players, you're not one of them. I know players that they they when they play this way, they're doing it simply because of their their own interests predominantly and not the interest of the table. But I think the the skill test of like a mid-range deck, you know, is just finding creative ways to help the table and not throw to somebody else and being social, but also still having, you know, winning in mind in a way that's transparent. And I I think that being transparent when you're playing this way is essential. I think if you're not being transparent, that's where we get a lot of the deal breakins or we get the lying and things like that.

[00:51:17]>> But if someone were to be playing proactively and >> and lie about being proactively, that's the same problem in the other direction.

[00:51:24]>> Almost not I mean to a degree, yeah. But like if you're not even policing that much, then it's like you you lying maybe still bad obviously, but you're not putting yourself in positions to like make deals that you're going to lie about. You're like, I'm just doing my thing. Yeah. You know, which is why totally understand why people play rockside, whatever, Italy. It's like I'm going to be proactive in my game plan. I am not going to approach politics as like the centerpiece of what I'm doing.

[00:51:48]I'm going to trust the math. I'm going to trust the numbers and have that really be what I find my competitive edge to be. Yeah. You know, >> um Yeah. Okay. So, in the last couple minutes here, I wanted to kind of recap what we talked about and maybe tease what we might be going to next time.

[00:52:02]>> Sure.

[00:52:02]>> Okay. So, Overall, I think today we really went into competitive avatars, right? So, it's like understanding who you are as a player, what you're trying to do, what your advantages are, what your disadvantages are, and how that might lend itself to playing one deck or another, you know, >> or one brew over another cuz this is the brewery after all. We are going to make some pretty spicy brews in the coming episodes. Very weird, funny stuff. But ultimately, it's in alignment with who we are as people. And I think that's what you said about it being a social format and putting people first is is the goal. Whether it be to >> understand I I I think what's so helpful about a channel like this is you're helping show people who they are at the table. You're you're you're giving them confidence in, hey, I know this is who I am and who I am isn't wrong. And finding ways to make who people are work in a competitive setting. I think that's extremely valuable.

[00:52:57]>> Yeah.

[00:52:57]>> I love it. Well, that's the whole goal of the channel, right? It's like we want to make CDH the best it can be and we want to help people grow into the people the competitors that they can be, right?

[00:53:05]So access to information, access to coaching, everything like that is really where you know we want to place the importance of byte-size. So totally agree. Um but anyway, we talk about linear linearity versus flexibility. So linearity being like my philosophy of this deck is uber focused. I'm trying to do landistic study aromistic or more and ragai. uh flexibility being, you know, I have this plan and that plan and this plan and that plan and however my mulligans work or the pod composition works, I can pivot and change and how those two, you know, different archetypes work.

[00:53:36]>> And then we went into kind of the idea of parasitic decks or proactive decks and how those two kind of resonate with each other, what the differences might be like and also like what kind of people will enjoy which deck and and you know, stuff like that. I think big takeaways would be >> testing a lot of different decks obviously. to trying different archetypes, seeing what you enjoy, what you don't enjoy. But the big thing is like something I ask coaching clients in every first session is I'm like, "What do you actually like about this game?"

[00:54:04]>> Yeah. Like why why you here?

[00:54:07]And ranges, you know, some people like, "I really love winning and I love being competitive." And some people are like, "Well, I love the social aspect." And the more you can drill down into why you love something, I think the more you can understand about yourself and the truth um that that presents. So that's kind of what we covered this time. I think next time where we might go is looking at ideas of some of the things we talked about before which is resiliency versus efficiency. I think that's a really fascinating concept. And then >> what else do you think we go into next time?

[00:54:34]>> Yeah. Uh next time I think we I think resiliency versus efficiency is a very very cool topic. And shout out to Bad Dog for for the one car ride we had. He knows which one it is. um where we we we h we talked it through and and I think a lot of the things that we talk about are in terms of how do I get better at playing this deck, this strategy? How do I improve my game play? How do I improve my politic? How is that? Great. I want to go into the psychology of it. I'm I for those who don't know, I I I'm in psych psych psychological research. Um I work with folks with bipolar disorder right now anyway. And one of the things I really care about is when you're showing up to a table, when you're about to compete, where's your head at? You know, what are you worried about? What are your concerns? What do you like?

[00:55:25]What is making you play poorly?

[00:55:27]>> Or why what makes you play well >> or what makes you play well?

[00:55:29]>> Like what are you enjoying about the game? Right.

[00:55:31]>> Yeah. And then when you find those things, finding a strategy that can mitigate the things that you're worried about, what lets you check those things at the door will make you play better.

[00:55:41]Like when I'm playing anxious for example, I play worse, right? And so when you said at the very beginning of this, like you played Quarksy and and you did well, the only reason I did well was because at that particular moment, that was the deck that was in most alignment with my with my psychology. I needed something flexible. If I was going too linear into a big tournament like that, what happened last time I played Teamer Malcolm, got stomped, right? And so in a big meta, I wanted something flexible that could do different things that I know if certain conditions are met, I'm unbeatable.

[00:56:14]>> And so I played a deck that reflected that. But that's not always going to be how I'm coming into a tournament.

[00:56:18]Sometimes I'm coming in where I'm like I'm I'm worried that if it gets past turn three in this tournament, I'm going to die. So I need to play a deck that has the strongest ability to win before turn four, you know? And so it just it just depends on where you're at. And so I think creating an environment where we can be honest with ourselves and where we're at mentally can help us make a good decision as to what we're supposed to bring, what we're supposed to brew, and what we're supposed to play in any given any given tournament, any given space. Yeah.

[00:56:48]>> Yeah. I love it. Yeah. Well, maybe next time we'll dive into some brews and some ideas around that and what, you know, inklings of ideas of decks that might be brewed on the channel or in these episodes, too. So, >> yeah. This is sick.

[00:57:00]>> Okay. Okay. Uh well, thank you guys so for watching. Uh if you have any questions or you're curious about, you know, what we do, feel free to reach out or leave a comment. If you have any ideas for next time or you want to hear us talk about something, um let us know.

[00:57:11]And if there's anything that you didn't like about the episode or you were like, I don't know about this or I have questions about that, again, feel free to leave those below. Uh we're always open to feedback. We want to make the channel the best it can be and we really want to bring quality content that, you know, we enjoy making and you enjoy watching. So anyway, >> yeah, we Yeah, we want to hear we want to hear from you. What what is your type of competitive personality? What do you want to bring to a table? What do you agree or disagree with with what we said here? Um or how are you taking it and digesting it? We want to know all that stuff. So, yeah.

[00:57:41]>> Yeah. Awesome. Well, Jared, thank you.

[00:57:43]Great beer.

[00:57:43]>> Of course, Harland Brewing. Shout out to Harland Brewing and your Japanese logger.

[00:57:47]>> We'll be back with the IPA next time.

[00:57:50]>> And uh yeah, anyways, thank you guys.

[00:57:52]Enjoy. Play Magic and we'll see you next week.

[00:57:54]>> Bye.

[00:57:55]>> Sweet.

[00:57:57]Huge thanks to Jared for joining me in this week's video. It was really fun to talk about some of the core aspects of brewing and CDH. This is just kind of the beginning. So, if you guys have any questions or you want us to do a part two for this, just let me know. I'm sure we'd be happy to get that going. Reach out to me if you're interested in CEDH coaching. I won last year's invitational and I'm currently ranked top five on the leaderboard this year. been working with coaching clients on one-to-one personalized plans where we diagnose what they're working on, their struggles, their goals, and help them reach them. In addition, we're also doing spellt coaching sessions so that we can watch you play and give you direct feedback on your game. If you're interested in coaching, reach out to me on Discord. It's at byte-size_nack or leave a comment on this video. We'll reach out to you. Huge thanks to all the patrons of Byte-Size. You guys are the best. You help us make videos that we wouldn't make otherwise. you're contributing to the channel and you're part of the direction of byite-size magic. Especially big thanks to our Jumbo patrons, Candy Diabetes, Nick Ray, and Shardikus. You guys are awesome. If anyone is interested in joining the Patreon, you can check it out at the link below. Helps us support us just a little bit more, and you get a bunch of really cool perks. So, go check that out. That's it for this week's video.

[00:59:08]Thank you guys so much for watching.

[00:59:10]We'll catch you on the next one.