[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And this is another one of those cases where there is perceived diversity and then not just one of these pathways, but multiple pathways in this case are impacted.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And we've given this, uh, drug to animals, uh, and worms, it's extended lifespans, uh, 30 to 40 days, which is no small amount of extension for a worm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And what are the other things, cause again, what we want to look for, if we want to know if Metformin is working in humans like it works in animals,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, we're not necessarily just going to look at the life ban extension because that takes a long time. What are sort of the intermediary things that we're seeing with Metformin?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, in, well in animals and that we can look for in humans.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're seeing all of these things in animals and also in humans. Right.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So when we control for everything else, what we see is that the people who are on Metformin are living longer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So now the question becomes, okay, take the type 2D diabetes part of the equation out. Will we still see an effect? And that is something that's being investigated in this, uh, really large study that's underway, the TAME study.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Why is it taking so long to raise money for this? Because this is really, I mean, everybody I know in the aging space is excited about this. And yet the money is hard to come by because.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which means anybody can make it. There's no profit motive for making this drug right now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're seeing a lot of doctors get a lot more comfortable with the idea of prescribing metformin off label, uh, just a few years ago.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, the constraints of what Metforma was actually approved for was keeping it out of the hands of a lot of people who thought that it might be good for them in their efforts to slow their aging. There's starting to be a little bit of a shift there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But doctors now are saying, okay, advising their patients as to these potential side effects and also saying, yeaah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Either because that doctor is sold on the idea that there's a potential aging benefit here or anti-aging benefit here or one of the other things you and I have talked about before is


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Doctors are increasingly getting sick of waiting until patients are full blown sick to prescribe the medications and they're prescribing it to pre-diabetic people and pre- what we might call pre-prediabetic people.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The one other thing that people should talk to the doctors about if they're considering, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Trying to get on Metformin, uh, is the concerns about the connection between Metformin and muscle loss.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] People are interested in, uh, the effects of metformin but are not able to work with a doctor to get a prescription for it, uh, or if they've tried out metformin and it just doesn't sit well with them, which is the case with about 20% of people, um, there's another alternative that works on some of the same pathways activating AMPK, uh, that's berberine.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And when you say it does seem to work, you mean not just, uh, showing, you know, the activation of AMPK and increased mitochondrial energy, but we actually in mice have seen increases, pretty substantial increases in lifespan.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I think you said you gotta take quite a bit of this stuff though.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We should say Berberin does have some of the similar side effects of metformin. We don't know, uh, in different groups of people, it might be different, but you're looking at, uh, diarrhea, conservation gas, potentially upset stomach.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, well, uh, that kind of brings us to try at home. Uhm, and again with the caveat that we're not telling anybody what to do. We're not giving them medical advice. You're not a doctor. I know you have been really open about what you do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, that has changed over the years, but let's just sort of take it through the things that you started doing, you know, 20 years ago, 10 years ago, 5 years ago. We'll just start from sort of a chronology. Uhm, when you started investigating resveratrol, you also started taking resveratrol.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How did you know how much to take though? Because you were giving resveratrol to yeast and eventually to mice.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so you take about a gram of resveratrol every day?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, Resveratrol, you're taking about a gram a day in the morning. Uh, also in the morning, you take NMN.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We mentioned earlier, uh, some concerns about, uh, exercise metformin. Uh, your practices, were that concerned?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, so that's not, that's not something you've adopted and you're like, I'm definitely sticking with it. This is, I'm adopted and I'm testing it out to see how it works.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let's take this morning through night just really quickly. Resveratrol, one gram.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] NMN as well. A gram, yep. Fisodin and curcidin.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then in the evenings, if you're not working out the next day, Metformin, how much? 800 mg.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now, you're not most people. A lot of other people are going to be different. You don't advise people, but it might be a good place for people to start their conversation with their doctor though, yeah?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So David, this has been a really comprehensive conversation. Uh, even still, we could have gone deeper on any one of these drugs or supplements. Uh, maybe we'll do that in future episodes, in a future season of LifeSquam Podcast.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, but what we're trying to do today is really give people an opportunity to really start thinking about


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Whether this might be something that they want to bring into their lives, and if so, how?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of course, again in consultation with their physician.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hey Duke fans, uh, we're back here with an episode of the Brotherhood podcast today. We have a real special guest, uh, Ed Dilley, first few days on campus here. I'll give you a quick introduction, even though we've spent, uh, some time together, uh, at Northwestern together, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Been in a number of college universities here. I have down Mizzou, Valparaiso, Northwestern, Loyola, Chicago, Eastern Illinois, most recently Oklahoma.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're known as being one of the best recruiters in the country, uh, throughout the college basketball realm. Uhm, and, uh, obviously I just mentioned me and you spent three years together at Northwestern. So this will be a fun episode where, uh, our fans will get some insight to hear about you and your past, your decision to come here, uh, what you're excited about, the opportunity.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Everybody a little bit of background, I'm sure everybody when they saw that graphic looked up your Wikipedia page or whatever to see kind of where you've been, but can you just go over a quick, you know, pitch about


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I know Rachel was talking about beforehand cause we had a long day that Saturday. I think you met us maybe halfway through, but we had a long day of meeting with people and there was some, there was some.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Some talk about whether or not we thought our guys could stay locked in the whole time, but they did. They did. Obviously we met, it's easy to stay locked in when you're meeting with some of, you know, how successful some of those people were that we did meet in Chicago. Obviously a connection with Chicago, Coach Shire, can you talk about how far back your relationship goes? You guys would have been not around, not in the city at the same time playing, correct?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it seems like, and it seems very apparent from this past weekend how much, uhm, just Chicago guys in general, but you two take so much pride in being, uh, from the city and coming out of that Chicago basketball area.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You have a Chicago, we used to do this all the time in Northwestern here too, cause a lot of guys on this team that think, seem to think that North Carolina is the basketball state. Uh, do you have a Chicago starting five?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oklahoma simply, you know, because, uh, Porter's your guy. I remember when you're leaving Northwestern, you told me and my teammates that you almost felt like it was something you couldn't turn down because he had been such a prolific person in your life and you had such, you know, he was your mentor at Loyola Chicago. How difficult was it to


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's interesting, this is, you're the second back-to-back higher that hasn't played here. Obviously somewhat of a Duke tradition to hire former players. Is that something you feel pressure with? Is it exciting? Have you talked to Jay Lucas last year? It's a little different. What goes through your head when you're thinking about this?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I thought it was pretty cool. I don't know if you saw right after we met with the CEO of McDonald's. We were in their headquarters and walked over to, uh, what was, I think, I guess, like they had just a lot of different objects and like, uh, glass.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Obviously, like we mentioned before, without having to build a program up, your recruiting will change here as well, I'm sure. Uh, people talk about it, but you just recruit less guys in general. Is there any way that you see, you know,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're a strategy changing. How do you think you'll recruit here versus other places? Uh, what's, you know, what kind of impact do you want to have in that realm?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah. The level of talent is, is different. I remember, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When I was hitting the portal last year, uhm, I was, uh, coached, I had reached out and I remember going back just to try and I was unsure if I thought I was going to be able to have an impact here, play serious minutes here. So I went and started watching like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Derrick Lively in flips and Christian's like high school mixtapes. And it was, I had like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, not, not the best competition.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I remember calling you and asking you, uhm, I just really respected your opinion obviously and asking you if you thought I could play against these kids, you know, what, if they were real, if they were the real deal, if, if I'd come here and be able to,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Play against them or if I just be a, you know, an end of the bench guy a couple minutes at the end of the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, so I remember that memory very distinctly. How do you see that? Obviously you've had much more experience. How do you watch a kid from a high school gym, see them playing at that level? Is it different when you can see guys that you know are going to have an impact immediately on the court? Cause that's what it'd be. Obviously we,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, here at Duke, that's the majority of guys we're recruiting.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He looks great, but like he's playing against, you know, like 6'2", uh, kids from Pennsylvania. So I remember immediately getting a greater respect for you guys' job as recruiters because I was lost. Uhm, you mentioned the transfer portal. I'm interested to get your take, especially being at a number of different schools, but, uh, at Oklahoma and now coming here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What's your thought in the past, you know, whatever, two years, uh, the, the changing landscape of college basketball with the transfer portal, with NIL, with everything that comes with that. Do you think it's been hurting the college basketball game? Do you think it's good? Where do you think it keeps going from here?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm the prime case study, I think, for that, because I read sure today and had the COVID year going on my sixth year, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let's talk about the change with the conference here. I was always asking coach Shire and the guys here their take on


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, the Big 10, I came in with Jacob Grandison, so we had a ton of conversations about the change from the Big 10 to ACC. What do you see would be the biggest differences between the Big 12 and the ACC?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Coaching a number of different conferences, so just intrigued to get your take on, uh, on shifting conferences and what you think, you know, if that'll change your, your strategy at all, your philosophy, anything like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Why do you think, uh, I've always tried to pick people's brains on this because I don't really know the answer. Uhm, even playing in the league for three years in the Big Ten, but you talked about it, everybody says it's the most physical league, it's the best league, we always have, uh, you know, the Big Ten always has the, the, the, whatever, seven or eight, nine teams go to the tournament.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Haven't been able to get over the hump, uh, and even send a lot of teams to the Sweet 16 Elite 8. Why do you think that is?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No. Definitely, I just, cause I don't know the, I don't know the answer. Right, right, right. It's crazy to see, especially playing in there, you play against so many incredible teams that you're, I'm thinking they're, you know, we gotta, after some of those seasons, I'm thinking we gotta have two or three teams and they lead a final four and it, it just falls apart. So uhm, I'm always asking that question cause I have no idea.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, no, it's a lot of conversations with, uh, with Jacob Grandison last year about that. Um, but just both leagues, super talented, a little bit more. I thought diversity in the style of play in the ACC this past year, you have.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not that every team in the Big Ten plays a similar brand, uhm, but there's not too much difference.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Throw the ball into your seven foot two seven and operate, you know, it's very slow down the, you know, um, so that's one thing that stood out, but I don't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know if that's it. It's a, it's a, like you said, there's a million different factors.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're gonna wrap this up quickly with, uh, I don't know if you know this about me, I'm a huge trivia guy. So I got some, uh, some Chicago trivia.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I asked this to Coach Shire on the way home, uh, from Chicago. He didn't know it. I, I, hoping you do it. You know it. Do you know why Chicago is called the Windy City? Politics. Yeah. Yep. He said, he said, cause it's windy. Lost a lot of, lost a lot of respect for him right there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it is politics, I remember that. Alright, one for one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, that's what they're, is that what they're, I was, I saw you Christian.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I didn't ask him all the questions, I just asked him the Windy City one because somebody said something about the Windy City and I figured he was just going to know it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Name, I'll let you name four. Name all five of the traditional toppings on a Chicago style hot dog.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'll count that. Spicy peppers. Spicy peppers, yeaah. Up in the air. Uhm, 3 for 5. You can just keep your dignity and you get to still tell people you're from Chicago.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Give these fans a little bit of perspective on, on your past, your decision to come here and what you're most excited about, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, hello. Many Magic the Gathering players ask the question, what is the future of professional Magic the Gathering play, of organized play? So, I have brought here the one


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I phoned him up to talk about this very important subject. Paulo, thank you so much for being here today.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's the second for the most pro tour top 8 finishes of all time in the history of the game, won the world championship for the 2019 season, and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Gotta say, uh, I believe he's the number one leader in terms of prize money from professional Magic Play at the professional level.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Youngest player to ever reach 300 lifetime pro points. An incredibly impressive resume that could go on and on, but we want to actually have a discussion here today. I can think of no one finer to discuss the future of professional play than the professional himself, Paulo.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, well let's just start with it. How do you, as a professional Magic the Gathering player, view the current state of professional or organized Magic players?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, and I, I gotta say, just as a spectator, I'm, I've never, never pursued professional magic play myself, but I love watching it and following all of you, the titans of our game, play it out on the battlefield, and over these last two years, I don't know what's going on just as a viewer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's, I don't even know what to call some of the events. They've taken names and terminology that was so established.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And now I don't know what to say, like is it the players tour and what is that in relation to the pro tour? Used to be, and then they brought things back and it's just very...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Confusing for me as a spectator, so I can only imagine what it's like as someone trying to actually succeed within that system.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When was it then, I mean you have a long history in the game playing at the professional level, if you had to pick a period when you think out of all the periods you've played through,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When you think organized play was just at its best. Maybe it still had problems, but overall was, was just the peak.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of, uh, uh, organized play. When do you think that is? And I'm speaking in terms of like the system. Like when do you think that it was, uh, the most well-oiled machine or working to your liking the most?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of course, I, I think spectators want that as well. We, we players, I mean, we who just watch want our pros taken care of. We don't want...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, you being exploited, uh, uh, for your fans, and we want to, the, the company that's making a lot of money off of you to treat you well for your time and effort and, uh, uh, immeasurable skill, or measurable skill, depending on how you look at it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of maybe I can, can make it as well. And it seemed so much more obtainable in the old system. Do you feel that now, uh, it's just as obtainable for your just average new player getting interested in professional magic to climb the ranks and climb the ladder and stand?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Shoulder to shoulder with, with, with you folks, or has that changed, do you think?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, pro play as, as we know it, do you think that it's possible that we would ever, that, that they would ever go so far as to just abandon organized play and, and what effect would that have on the game do you think?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I couldn't parse it, so I, I literally, I read it and I got a headache. I had to work, I had to literally, uh, uh, I tried to do a video with the first batch of changes explaining them and I couldn't do it. I had to, to, to hire as a professional consultant Emma Handy to essentially explain it to me and write out this script.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I, I, I have enough, I have enough, uh, uh, pro player friends and acquaintances to know that, that you folks are definitely, uh, more in the dark than people, uh, uh, uh, assume in that regard. But, uh, uh, well that, that certainly sounds positive. So if, I mean, I value, I really, as a content creator, I value,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Organized play and the pro circuit and all of that stuff. I think that that's vital to my existence even though I don't cover it at all. I think it's all connected and I think that it all has to do with the larger magic ecosystem. I think it's personally one of the most important things is organized play, if not the most important.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, if, if you can't see a future where we would go to not having any pro play or organized play, what about this? Can you see a future where it's all digital and where wizards might abandon all paper professional play or organized play and we just shift to being digital only?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And just in terms of the play, not in terms of like, not still making paper cards, but where everything that we compete in, that I as a spectator watch, that you as a professional play in, 100% we're gonna shift over to digital. Do you think that's a possibility?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Magic Arena as a client, professionally speaking, do you feel that it, it, uh, is capable of meeting those demands? Do you think that it has, uh, issues that, like, is there things that need to be added in terms of the competitive


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, I'm really surprised that, not to go off subject, but I'm really surprised that they haven't just made it so that we can each buy the type of board we prefer to see, and then have that be the default board that we see as we play, so that if I like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This board, I can spend some gems and get that just like we get sleeves and have that board be what I see as I play, uh, considering how much they like monetizing those features. It's surprising to me. Maybe it's a program issue. Maybe it's a program issue.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You've just made a terrible mistake because now everybody watching knows that if they're going to compete and they might get paired up against you to make their pet the dog and just click on it and make it bark the whole time to distract you. It's like people used to complain about too much flicking of cards being a distraction. Now we got the barking dog.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Getting back to the organized play, you said that you thought that the security and the amount of money that is being put in to take care of players is one of the best advantages to these changes. What do you think is just the biggest failing


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of the current system. If you had to like, look, focus on one thing that you think is the biggest mistake going on in terms of organized play right now, what do you think that would be?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, well I think that, uh, uh, it's very alarming to me to see the de-emphasis on draft. They've even designed new booster packs, uh, these set boosters that are coming out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That are, are so that you can buy and crack packs that are not meant for drafts, just straight up buy and crack them, I guess to just get cards you want for standard or such, but it's such


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I've heard that stores are pre-, and I know, we're in pandemic right now, so of course it's harder for people to go into stores and uh, pre-order, but I've heard stores are, are uh, ordering five to one set boosters versus draft boosters for the fall set, and it just sounds like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wizards might take those numbers, combine it with their viewership concerns, and draft is getting pushed to the side, which I certainly think is a big mistake. And I'm not even a big drafter, but I definitely think that's a huge mistake.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I agree with you 100%, and I think that they're obsessed with the Hearthstone numbers, the League of Legends numbers, and they're asking, why can't we be getting that? Well, what if we try and make ourselves more like that, and it's coming at a cost of a lot of what


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] has made and defined magic, perhaps. But that's me becoming, uh, uh, uh, alarmist again, and I don't want to, I don't want to do that. Uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With this shift though, with this shift that we're seeing away from possibly things like draft, there's definitely been a rise in casual Magic the Gathering. Formats like Commander are becoming King, as it were.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Certainly, it's hard to argue that Commander is not becoming one of Magic's big selling points as what the game is. What do you make of this? What do you think when you see all the emphasis on Commander and not competitive 1v1 Magic?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you think it's just a fad? Do you think it's the changing face of the game?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What about the rise of online personalities? Uh, YouTubers, streamers, podcasters who are not rooted in the professional


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] side of magic. It used to be when long before I had a YouTube channel that all the articles, all the podcasts, all the information was coming just from the, the, the, the heart of pro play. And while


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Never will, and yet command a great deal of, uh, attention in, uh, the magic sphere. Are, are we a part of a new world of magic, or a part of the problem, perhaps?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think a lot of, I mean, here's where we can get that, that graphic of the two hands clasping and, and, uh, as a content creator, boy, do I agree with that because they are, are ignored. Everybody, all of my friends who do podcasts and write articles and cosplay and all of this stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All my colleagues, uh, if you're not a streamer, they're not interested in you. And there's so much value to be had across the board through that diversity of, of creation of that diversity of what format, whether it's


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Draft or cube or commander that you want to write about, talk about, create videos about.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And yeah, stream about. Uh, but yeah, that definitely seems to be their emphasis is on streaming. I wonder if that's going to change. I mean, they didn't get the numbers, did they? They, they, they bought a lot of views, but they didn't actually get the organic numbers ever with it. And so it didn't seem to pay off in that regard.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] System of, of, of what they want to do and accomplish and how they want to structure pro play.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You have unquestioned authority and an, you know, a reasonable enough budget to do what you want. What's the first couple of things you would do with this, this power to, uh, uh, change those priorities or change that system?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Fantastic, fantastic. Well, uh, Paulo, if people want to find more from you, I'm gonna put links in this video's description, but why don't you tell us where, if people want to find your content or, or the work that you do to help them get better and help them on their journey, uh, where can you be found?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I'll have links to all of that, uh, in this video's description so be sure to check it out. What an amazing resource, uh, for our viewers to have.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, uh, kinda started off as normal, you know, September, early September, get out there. We were there doing our preseason practices, some exhibition games, and then, yeah, it was, uh, gonna be the first game week. It was like a day off before the first game week.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, had been there for about a month and yea, just kind of wake up to-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The news of, or really wake up to phone calls, uh, from teammates.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, and, you know, checking in on me, asking if I'm okay, and I'm confused, like, I'm like, what's going on? And so...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Kind of start hearing all the news that's going on throughout that day and it's, yeaah, it was a very scary situation.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, a tough situation that is, you know, still going on over there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, but fortunately, actually, uh, I have some friends that Coach Shire introduced me to when I first went over to Israel that I got to be good friends with myself.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they invited me over to their house, I stayed with them, uh, they took care of me and kinda kept me safe and kept me, you know, mentally okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so uhm, I played two full seasons, uh, in Israel the last couple years, and uhm, yeah, I met this family, uh, the Pappachatos, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] First couple weeks I was there actually, like my first time being there. They invited me over for a nice like Shabbat dinner, family dinner. Uh, we had a lot of fun and so I saw them pretty frequently actually. They got to be good friends over those couple years.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, uhm, so yeah, when you're playing overseas, uh, most leagues it'll be two to six, uh, foreigners allowed and then the rest of the team would be, uh, local players and so for my league it was two, uh, foreigners allowed and then the other eleven or so, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where we were, they didn't really need to relocate, but I mean, still, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not doing too much, you're staying pretty safe, uh, you know, you have to be in bomb shelters at random times, so staying near to those, keeping that in mind, but I think they've been saying they've been starting, you know, to work out and practice again a little bit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know what's going to happen with their season. Uh, and the, yeaah, I was just trying to kind of...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, get back to social g- like, you know, doing as much as you can just safely right now. Uh, but they said it's- they've been saying it's still a very serious situation, you know. Uh, yeaah, still a tough time over there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I think, uhm, this is a great time for my life to, because just being, that season being cut short gives me a chance to really pause and to think, kind of reevaluate things, uh, just as a whole person, you know, with career, life, just, uh, yeaah, to take that time, and so,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] One of the things that I'm really interested in is coaching and so I'm hoping to, uh, this season come back as a, like as a player development coach and, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Help y'all, help y'all grow as players and as people off the court.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, in class, obviously on the court as much as I can, uh, so yeaah, we'll...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The more and more, like, time goes on, the more I see how much it really means, like, how...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So many times you have like friends from either high school or college and like that you great friends, but just life kind of takes you apart. You know, you go separate ways and you lose contact. But I think the brotherhood is just a special bond that even, you know, when we're all over the place.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When you get together, you really just pick up like, you know, like you, like you never left, you know, especially with the guys that you play with and then.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In addition to just those teammates, you have the generation, uh, the different generations, and so...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, I think K Academy is an awesome, like, reunion for us and a chance to meet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All the different teams and, you know, different players that you could think of, like I have players, like friends.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, like, like I'm really good friends with Chip England, like, and you know, he played a while ago, like we, I think it was, we were talking about, I think we had like a 30 year maybe difference roughly, you know, but like we still, we just hit it off. We, we became friends and kind of through common.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Common themes, you know, common experiences with coach and, uh, with the program.


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[Assistant] So I think, yeaah, that's just a special, a special relationship. And we look out for each other, like you were saying with Coach Shire looking out for me, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I get now a chance to look out for y'all and I just, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, to try to take care of the program and take care of each other as much as possible.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He, he was, I think, uh, this year, actually, he just transitioned to, uh, OKC to look under, uh, yeaah, but he, for a long time, San Antonio, so we kinda had a,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A connection through that, but we really got closer, uh, when I came to Duke and through K Academy, we coached together on Team San Antonio actually. Yeah, so that worked out great. And so, uh, yeah, we got way closer, became actual friends before it was, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Through my dad and through the Spurs, we knew each other. But it's a different relationship once, once you become the brotherhood.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think that's, uh, one of the decisions I'll make, uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm still, you know, my body still feels great and, you know, I was, was playing this year and so, uh, I still feel like I can, uhm, I think now I just want to decide.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What, uh, my priorities would be because I think with being overseas, you have the being away for nine to 10 months. That's a really big factor. It's hard. It's a hard part of it. It's amazing. And there's so many new experiences and you're playing basketball, so it's fun, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're away, you miss a lot of your family and your friends, uh, you can get lonely. Like sometimes you, there were three out of, er, no.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Two out of my like, uh, four years, I went to a place and I didn't know a single person in the country. Like, and you know, and you're there for nine months and you're like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I better learn how to make friends quickly. You know, but it's exhausting. It can be fun, but it's tiring. And so...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I gotta kinda decide, what are my priorities? Do I wanna keep playing? Or do I wanna get into coaching? You know, uh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have the MMS, same thing you did, so do I want to go into the business route? Uhm, I love music, so maybe he's to bat down a music route of some sort. Uh, there's a lot of kind of interests right now I'm trying to sort through.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I did my rookie season in Montenegro, actually, and then, uh, in a town called Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, and then, uh, did two full years and then this was gonna be my third year in Israel.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Other people telling me that I would be a good coach was, it never was a thought that I had growing up. Uh, I always thought, you know, playing's fun, but...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Coaching, it just, it wasn't that I had anything against it. It just never occurred to me. Uh, but I think while I was here, especially something that came naturally was the, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Was the kind of mentoring, I mean at the time I wasn't, you know, even when I was like a freshman, it wasn't, I don't know if I would call it mentoring, but like having little meetings, you know, with like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Marshall or like Matt Jones or like, you know, like having those little talks and like talking through what they can do to adjust to that team, you know, like thinking through like how can they be more effective as a player, you know, not worrying, not thinking about what I'm doing, just thinking.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, what, what can we do as a team or as an individual player to be better? It's a really fun thing, like that's a fun thing to talk through and it's fun to work with guys, like, uh, and yeah, just try to get better. And so,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think that's my main draw to coaching, is seeing how I can help, especially individual players and as young men.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, grow and find what they want to do and, you know, help them get the most out of their experience here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and then I want to, you know, hopefully if I can come back here, I would love to learn and, uh, explore the other sides of coaching, you know, the game planning, the.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Film, breaking down film and uh, trying to explain that to a team.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, that stuff I really have no clue about. But would love to see what it's like and to learn from, we have one of the best coaching staffs in the world here. And so to be able to learn and, uh, grow with them would be awesome.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Was when I first really started getting recruited. I uhm, kind of a late bloomer, uh, hit a-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Big growth spurt in high school, so by like junior year I got to be, you know, 6'6", 6'7".


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Started to be able to jump a little, you know, started to kind of grow into and figure it out, but I was not, I was really not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I was not a Duke caliber player, basically. Uh, I was starting to get recruited by some smaller schools, but I actually, uh, was a huge Duke fan growing up. That, uh, when I was really young, uh, my dad,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I came to a, like a leadership conference, uhm, of some sort, uhm, with that coach was putting on, that Coach K was putting on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, uh, he came back from it. He like spent time like talking to the team a little bit and, uh, talking to coach a lot, uh, cause you know, they had the dream team connection, like they knew each other and he came back home and was just raving about Duke as a basketball program, as a culture and as a school, he was, he was just like, like essentially he was like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] One of y'all should go to Duke. And for me, I just, I took it and so started watching Duke basketball, became a huge fan, came to a couple of Duke camps. Uh, like when I was in high school, like freshman and sophomore years of high school, came to like the Duke basketball camp and got to know


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, Coach Shire and Coach K threw those, and yeaah, they reached out to me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I said I could come, uh, be a preferred walk-on, ask if that was interesting.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And told me, you know, that they believe in my potential and that I can grow as a player. And yeaah, I just...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That was, simply put, that was an honor. Like, it was just to have earned that level of, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Respect and, and uhm, trust, like they trusted me that much and to, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To give me a scholarship and then for my teammates to celebrate me like that. You know, it's uhm...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it felt like a big reward and recognition for the hard work that I had been putting in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I put it all over my head. I have like some funny, yea, I have some funny pictures and stuff of those. Like actually, yea, uh, Grayson, uh, was my roommate at one point and he got me a like puzzle with a picture of him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Incredible, like, just something new every day even, like, just with that level of talent and the amount of growth that, you know, so many of those players had.


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[Assistant] You really just like seeing them evolve into superstars, like, and that's, that's incredible. And then to be a part of that, to like learn.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With them, you know, and for me, it was honestly, it was pretty...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pretty hard, because my matchups in practice were...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Probably like some of the hardest matchups. I would argue.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Any college player has ever had. Like my freshman year, my matchup was Brandon Ingram.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then my sophomore year is Jason Tatum. And then my junior year is, uh, Marvin Bagley and Wendell Carter switching off between them. And then my, uh, senior year was Zion. And so like, you just go year to year, that's who you're playing every day. That's who I'm guarding. That's who I'm trying to score on. And it's.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Kinda trial by fire, but it got me to be such a better player, and to understand the game so much better, and it taught me to...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It taught me to grow up and be tougher and, you know, to find my own confidence, cause...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But to have like confidence in yourself, in your work, and to...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, you know, we had amazing guards as well that, you know, I didn't guard every day, but you know, we're meeting each other at the rim. Like that was kind of my thing is I'm a shot blocker kind of that's my.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In my mind, that's my specialty. And so to meet guys at the rim and, you know, challenge them and like, yo, like I can jump, like I can keep up with you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You gotta work to score on me and to have that mutual respect that you would see from them where, you know, they're incredible players. They could easily have an ego and be like, nah, I'm like way better than this walk on, but to have that respect and to take that challenge and then to challenge me back.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That type of environment was so fun. Every year, every day, like, yeaah, it's, like, where else


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I did, yeaah. Then I was more in the mix, so it wasn't like I was just scout team. So that was seeing different matchups, yeaah, that year. That was, yeaah, another experience.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Honestly, I came into that game with a lot of confidence because the last couple games before that I started to get a lot more minutes and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, had played, you know, pretty solid going into them and, uh, coach was, had a lot more trust in me at that point. Gave me a lot more freedom when I was on the court to make decisions, you know, to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like we liked to play a lot of high low, so to have that chance to shoot when I wanted to and then to look for those over the top passes down to like Vernon and uhm, and then to, you know, go and just...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Have fun and play hard defense and, you know, do what we can and then just be a leader on the court. Like that was what was going through my mind, that kind of end stretch. And so that Carolina game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I just, I felt good about it. I don't know, like I just like, you know, going into it, you know, I think.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was nerve, like nerves, but like fun nerve, you know, it's like excitement and the energy in here is amazing. And then for it to be my last game here, uh, like in Cameron, um, like it was a special, a special energy. And then.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, right, yeah, when we get on the, when we got on the court, it just, it just came naturally. I wasn't really thinking. I was just playing, having fun.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Trying to be outside of myself, try to soak in the atmosphere and just try to be with my teammates and try to win a tough game. Uhm, so I didn't even, yea, like a lot of the stuff, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know? Like, uh, it just kinda was play-by-play, and like, try to do the next thing right, and like, do it well, and kinda get into a flow. Yeah, it was, that was a really special, like, fun game. That was for sure the most fun game of my career here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Absolutely, yeaah, that's kinda what I mean, you like get into this flow of like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's too much to think about, so you really just can't think about, like you can't think about anything, you just have to be like, okay, like, for me, it was, like I was saying, like, I picked, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Two things, really, to focus on, and then everything else just kinda came naturally. Like, so like, for me it was like, defense, like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's what I'm, you know, I'm gonna like work hard and try to like rebound as much as possible and like try to block some shots, like try to help protect the rim and then try to help on like those ball screens, like help, cause Trey was such an amazing on-ball defender.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Try to be there and, you know, make his life as easy as possible, make their guard's life as miserable as possible. And then, uh, the other end, just to be like the leader, the talker, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The glue for the team, you know, because there's so much emotion, somebody to kind of level us, and that was my goal. And all I thought about all game long was just do that. Like each possession was like, how can I do that? And then, yeah, and then the game was over. You're just like, oh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, no sense of like, okay, you know, like, first half's like kind of winding, now it's like, no, no, like it just, it just, you're just going.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Coach has got that covered. Like I was like, I'll just, you know, get into the timeout and like, he'll explain what we need to do this segment, you know, and just focus on that segment, what we're doing and what our plan is. And yeah, and just try to be us. Like I think when those, those big games come up,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's just all of the, your core, core principles as a team, like all the stuff you start working on in the summer, like when you get here, you know, with Coach Will and like when those individual workouts and with the pickup, like, like your core, core, you know, it's heart and like toughness and communication.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Doesn't matter what the schemes are, you know? It doesn't matter what plays you're running.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You just gotta go make it. Like, make it happen. Go get a rebound. Like, who cares who you're blocking out? Just go, you know, go.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Make it work. And, uh, I think that's like, that's what's special about those big games and like the energy in that arena. I mean.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You feel it like shake. You really, you feel Cameron just like shaking and it feels electric. You could, like you really, it's a different atmosphere. And so yeah, now that, those are special. Those are really cool.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, I mean, that was, that was hard. Uhm, I think, you know, in so many ways though, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That whole pandemic, COVID, it just like, everything came to a stop. And so for us, it was, yeah, our season, uhm, we had a lot of momentum. We had, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We had kind of just kind of started to find each other, like find out how to play together, because we had, obviously we had talent, like so many of Duke teams, we get talent, but


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To be able to like work together and make each other better and just to find your role.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And how you, you know, like how each guy, we were just starting to figure out how each guy could contribute.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then for me personally, I was taking a huge role at that point, you know, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, uh, yeah, I was getting into the main rotation at that point. You know, I was one of, one of the guys we were relying on. So for me, that was a whole new fun experience I was looking forward to, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, I mean, it's okay. I really have no regrets or anything about it. I think, honestly, to leave on that, that high note of that Carolina game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Was kinda awesome, like, to just have that be the last thing, like, that's not a bad way to, that's not a bad way to end it. And so, it was really, yea, it was disheartening, especially at the time, but in hindsight,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't think I would have really changed my Duke experience. I think it went as it should've and it was, yea, it was a huge blessing for me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I just always liked music, uh, like especially my dad.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He would just have musical instruments around, you know, a bunch, we just had a bunch of different things that we could pick up and try when we were young, uh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Whether it be like a ukulele or like a bass or, you know, piano, we could just try it. And my brother was a, still is an incredible musician, but like growing up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, that was really one of his main hobbies, his main passions, and uhm, he would drag me along, kinda.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With musical instruments and music in general. Uhm, and then I always loved listening to music.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, that was, yeaah. That's, that was kind of how I interacted with it though, was I would just listen and find new music was my hobby, kind of, uh, involving music. And then my senior, my grad year, really, uh, going into my grad year,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Really was on a whim, like it was not much, uh, so I just, let me take a month and learn the basics, you know, just learn like four or five chords and learn how to strum and just like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Write a song, like, just try, you know? And fell in love with it, like, it just took off from there, uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That whole, yeaah, that whole last year I just spent learning guitar and, uh, like writing terrible songs and just like having fun with it though and just like trying new things, trying different styles of music, finding what I liked, trying like acoustic and electric guitar, uhm, and then when I went, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Kind of continued with that, and then when I went to Israel, actually, was when it took another step, I would say.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In Israel, I kinda fell into this cool music scene of, uh, Met, like I would go to some like open mics and like watch at first, like I would just go, just, there was a nice, like a nice open stage place in my town and I would go check out the bands and I ended up meeting a band that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Kinda played like funk and soul, like old American kinda funk and soul, really great music.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, uh, got to be friends with them, just started, they invited me to come jam, and then that was my first experience playing with other musicians, and that's a whole nother world. That...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The big picture is the most important, you know, like, who cares if you can do all this cool stuff on a guitar if the song doesn't flow? Like if, you know, if y'all don't sound good together. And so you have to find that balance and you have to listen to each other. You have to communicate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, and it, it's, there's a, there's a magic to it. And so then I fell in love and that's when I started writing some of this new, so like the stuff I've been releasing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, uh, started, you know, playing live shows with them, like live, you know, not big shows, but like live, uh, like open stage shows and stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, and yeah, since then, the last couple years, it's just been, it's been my...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Main like hobby, passion, like any, you know, whenever I was not playing basketball, it was usually music, doing something with it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think the nerves are very similar, like the pressure of having an audience and trying to, you know, basically like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think on the other side of that you get that same magic that you get.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Once you're in it, like you like how we were saying with the big, with the big game, like, I mean, I haven't done any big performances, right? But when you get into a performance and things are going like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You just lose it. Like you lose yourself. You're not thinking anymore. You're just in the song, in the performance, having fun. You know, you see people singing along and you're like, that's like, it's just a...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A special connection, I think, that you can really...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You can only find in specific things and I think especially like sport, team sports and music, uh, live music are two of those things.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As a father. Yeah, absolutely. Uhm, I would say...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He never pushed me to play basketball, like he...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Encouraged me actually to try everything, and me and my brothers, I have two older brothers, uh, and so growing up, yeaah, he really wanted us to just try as much as we could, and then to choose for ourselves what we decided to focus on. And so until, I think,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Probably about sophomore year of high school. I was not focused on any one thing. I played soccer. I played, of course, basketball. I love volleyball. Played a ton of volleyball.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Trying them out, played football once, did not enjoy that, that was not for me. But uh, but my brother picked up, he took off with football and ended up playing in college. But uhm, yeaah, we were just trying whatever we could. We tried gymnastics, like my dad is,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My dad, actually growing up, was really big into gymnastics and, uh, baseball. So, you know, like, that was actually what he was pushing for, you know? Like, we all had to learn, like, we all had to learn, you know, the progression of, like, do, like, a handspring and then, like, learn a flip, like, learn how to flip, you know?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Try that out and then, uh, yeaah, just see what we, see what we liked. And then, but doing all that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It gave me different tools to use, you know, for basketball when I decided to focus. So that was actually a really nice way to experience it and then to choose basketball myself.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It made it feel like it was my thing, not his thing. You know? It didn't feel like I was following his footsteps. It felt like this was what I wanna do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Casting as much of a shadow in my mind at that point, which was amazing. Uh, and you know, there was, for sure there's a lot of external pressure just because he's had an incredible career. He's...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so, especially in San Antonio and, you know, around NBA and like, when I was here, there was a lot of, oh, you're Robinson's kid, like, that, it didn't bother me, I would say, it was there, but,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I never felt that pressure from my family, like from him, uh, and then I never felt it from my close, close friends or my teammates. Uhm, and so, yeaah, it was, it was fine. It was, you know, like who cares what, you can't please everybody, you can't do, you know, you can't be,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Everybody's favorite. And so I could do my own thing. Like if I disappoint people because I'm not playing like him, oh well. Like I wanted to be more, a little bit more outside. So I like learned how to shoot when I was young, you know? I didn't want to be that guy. But then as I got more athletic, I realized dunking and blocking shots is really


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So then it was like, okay, wait, how did he, you know, like, how did he learn how to, like, how to dunk like that? Like in, in a game, you know, like a lot of people can trick dunk, but to be able to dunk in a game is a different, like a different skill set. It's a timing and it's a positioning.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's like a connection with guards, cause you gotta, you know, like for us big guys, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We rely on the guards a lot to get the ball, especially for a dunk, like you're not making a post move to a dunk very often, but for like an alley-oop or something like, it's a different skill set. So I had to learn that, you know, like watching some of his stuff and, uh, taking some moves from him and then like talking to him. But, uh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it's always been a good, like a nice balance for me, uhm, between, you know,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I did take a big advantage of, uh, that Spurs group, because a lot of those, a lot of his teammates, uh, you know, especially like Tim Duncan, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They, you know, they stay around San Antonio and I got to be close with them and I got to learn so much over the years from them, just...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Picking their brain, working out, seeing how they work, you know, like how to prepare for a season in the off season, you know, how to prepare for a game, how to be a professional about the sport.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I think those were some of the biggest lessons. And then the skills and the, you know, the skills and the conditioning and the strength, they came a little bit later. But growing up, the learning how to approach it was probably the biggest lesson from my dad and from the other Spurs players.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay. There are so many, but I think that, that Carolina game is special. I think specifically the one time when I kind of blacked back in, uh, was I think toward the end of the game. I don't really know the specific, how many, uh, minutes were left, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We like, had like kind of end of a shot clock and...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We got, like we beat them and then to hear the crowd during that time out and to like look around and you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Indiana was a really cool one. It's very, like, tall. Like, uh, it doesn't kind of spread out the bleachers. They're kind of right on top of each other and like right on top of you, so it's very imposing. And then those fans are incredible, uh, you know, kind of...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All that red is also kind of imposed, like it's a, that was a very special energy of a cool away arena.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was, yeaah, one of the big ten, uh, yeaah, uh, yeaah, I think we did actually.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, it's a band called Iration. Uh, it's a reggae band. They're, a lot of the guys are from Hawaii, uh, but I think they're based out of California now. Really.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Incredible, relaxing, kind of positive chill music.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, uhm, to be honest, I think each team was so different. And like, I don't know...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was different experiences and I think, you know, it's hard to imagine if they were like match up and compare them like that. Like I don't really know how that would go. And then from like my experience being on the team where I think probably.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I think a lot of that though, it was because of the, you know, athletic ability of those guys, you know, where we just...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Doing, you know, like we were dominating because we're dunking on them. You know, it's like that's a special type of thing, but I mean.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well one, when my dad was playing, I think he retired when I was six. And so, not like a lot of vivid memories. Like I vaguely remember like that last like 2003 championship.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I wouldn't say that that's something I, you know, can picture very well. And then the other champion, like I think 2005 and 2007, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was still young, and like, couldn't really appreciate what was going on, but then now that 14...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was, you know, in high school, I guess that would have been my junior year probably.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, that would have been my junior, my junior year of high school. So, you know, I'm gonna, you know, I'm into basketball. Like it's, I've decided that's what I want to do and I can really appreciate the way they played.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And yeaah, that was just the revenge against the heat after the heartbreaking loss, you know, the year before. Like you can really, San Antonio.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Really, our mood as a city is affected by the Spurs. Cause that's our only, you know, sports, that's our only, we have some minor league sports teams and stuff, but that's our big sports team.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so for 2013, that whole summer was just like sad. And you know, we were like, ugh, what happened? And then to have that revenge, never, you know, the city lit up. It felt like a holiday all summer long. Like that was a special, a special time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, uh, I'll tell you what it means, uh, at least in my perspective, the party evaluation, uh, is probably...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The, uh, like you said, the most, uh, under, you know, probably the most underrated or least understood aspect of magic. Uh, but the way I evaluate them is going to be through, you know, costs. So like, you know, what is the mana cost?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What is the effect of the card? How many times can you use it? Also, what colors the card is in? You know, so it's like relative to what kind of decks it can actually go in. If something's like off-color, you know, card effect is off-color, maybe it's not going to work as well in a thicker style of deck. You know, let's say a black card that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I do think that, that card evaluation should probably be, uh, higher on people's lists as far as, uhm, magic skills is concerned.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just because I feel that, uh, that's what's gonna help you be able to build better decks. Uh, once you understand how a card, you know, works, uh, you know, like, beyond the surface value, like, you know, let's say you look at a card, uh, like, you know, like Fires of Revention.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I mean, of course it's banned now, but, you know, let's say you look at that, let's say you look at that card. Right. Uh, the first thing you would probably say is, oh, it's a four mana, do nothing enchantment.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, like, it doesn't actually do anything, you have to have other cards to support to be good, right? Right. Uh, and it, you know, your opponent can actually remove it, because it's an enchantment.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right. And I think a lot of people were skeptical of that card just because of the fact that yes, it can be destroyed. Not realizing the other implications that it has on a game like activating your activated abilities with the extra mana. I do think that like the effect a card has on the game itself, not just the effect of the card. Don't look at just the effect of the card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Look at the effect that it has on the game itself. For example, like Ember Cleave.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Amber Cleave doesn't seem that great, right? Cause you can just remove the creature, or you can remove the Amber Cleave. But...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What does it, what does it do? It forces an opponent, like, just, just the fact that Ember Cleave is a card, and your opponent swings at you, you don't wanna block, right? Right. You don't wanna block. Your opponent can not even have it in their hand.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But you don't want to block, just because of the fact that that is a card. You know, like, even if you have the answer for it, now you have to keep leaving mana up every single turn, and your opponent's just sitting there like, yea, they're just gaining advantage every single turn, because you're leaving up two mana every turn while they're tapping out, and just the, the effect that it has on the game itself. Even though the card is not really what you would think would be, be great, or at least at first, when people, when it first


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And look at, uh, Claim the Firstborn, for example.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, let's say you're playing a Sacrifice, do you ever want to play a 3 mana cost or less creature against a Sacrifice deck? Right. Probably not. Probably not. You probably don't want to, like ever, because, you know, uh, claim the Firstborn. Just the fact that your opponent is, you know, like afraid of it, they can be trying to play around it while either you don't have it,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or, they're forced to keep trying to play things into it, and, either way, like, you know, let's say they are playing into it, you can just take their creature.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then you just do what you need to do and win the game. Stuff like that, like, you know, any card that you're forced to try to play around is gonna be one of those cards that are of high power level. Even though it may not seem like it would be. If it's a card that you would not want your opponent to have, then it's a good card. Like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, so, okay, so take for example a card that goes in aggro. Uh, you want it to cost between 1, 2, and 3 mana.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It has to have a huge effect on the game. Like, it has to. Otherwise, you're spending 4 mana to do pretty much nothing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, and if you're playing aggro deck, you have to be loaded to ground.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let's say Robber of the Rich. The fact that it costs 2 mana makes it a good card. If it was 3 mana, a card would not be playable. The card would just be in the binder somewhere. That's where...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, of course you want to play that, because most of your lanes are, most of your mana sources are green. And in, in, in Mana Blue, Cavalier of Gales is far too slow for, for Mana Blue deck. That's one reason why Cavalier of Gales has just never been good in anything other than Fire is just because the card itself is not really that great, that powerful. Whereas Cavalier of


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is it something that's going to force your opponent to have to answer right away? If it does not provide any value right away, and it's not a card that has to be answered right away, then the power level is going to be pretty low. It may be like a synergy base card that you have to find like a niche for. Other than that though, like uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, if you, if you're able to answer, if you're able to say yes, it provides value immediately. It has to be answered. And the mana cost is actually not, not bad. Then.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That card is going to be high on the list as far as playability. That W like my main criteria to look at. After cost it would have to be what is the effect of the card, the power toughness, the ability to counter other cards in the metagame. So like let's say a card that's like a 3, 4.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let's see, let's see Thrashing Brontodon for example. It checks off.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A lot of things on the list of what it needs to do in order to be a playable card. It destroys artifacts and enchantments. So, artifacts and enchantments are huge, at least right now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, and, and standard. It has four toughness, which survives a hasted girl, Sparrowbreaker, uh, Nissa lands.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's got the 3 power to be able to kill a lot of things as well. The fact that it's a 3, 4 that also has the ability to destroy an artifact enchantment. That card would be a great card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, as far as playability. Uh, that, that's something you gotta look for. It's like, what, what little things does a card have that can, can, uh, give it an edge in, in a metagame?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, like, uh, like another thing to look at too is, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like what kind of drawbacks it may have, like something like, let's say like Assassin's Trophy. Uh, that card has been non-existent and standard.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, uh, because the drawback of the, you know, giving your opponent a land essentially. So, you know, assuming that they have basic lands in the deck, of course.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, uh, the fact that your opponent can actually search a deck for a land in standard, uh, that's a big no-go. It's like, I don't care what permanent your opponent has on the board.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not like, that much of an impact. This does not have that much of an impact, uh, as standard.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just because, uh, the games play a lot differently and, like, the cards are much different. Uh, so...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The power level of Assassin's Trophy is pretty high in a format like Modern or Legacy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it's always been the same for me. As long as I play Magic, the card evaluation has always been the same for me. That's one reason why you see me with so many wacky brews, because I don't just dismiss every card. Right. I mean, obviously some cards are not going to be as powerful as some of the most popular ones in the format.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I feel like a lot of cards are dismissed because people aren't realizing the actual potential of the card. Yeaah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or they're not, maybe not using it, using it in, in the proper way. Maybe they're, they're trying to, you know, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, put it out too quickly or they're not using it at the right time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Until somebody, you know, somebody magically plays it in a, in a, in a player's tour.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Back in Return of Ravnica days, I was playing Pack Rat, and everyone was like, why are you playing Pack Rat? That card is so bad. That card is so bad. And I would just beat everybody with Pack Rats. And, you know, I, it was crazy. I used to win F&M's with Pack Rat. And people thought I was bad because I wasn't playing the meta deck. I was playing my own Bruce. It was, it was crazy because it was like, not too long, I think it was like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not even a month after I was winning these eponyms, like, somebody top-8ed a pro-tour, they top-8ed with it, and then it went everywhere. It was everywhere. Of course, no one-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You have to wait a whole turn before you can even use it. So like even if a card has a really good effect.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, and it costs mana, you probably are better off using something else in its place. Unless that effect is really that powerful and you can actually protect your threat.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, so uh, look at Brash Taunter for example. I've seen a lot of people make a big deal out of that card. It's a new card from M21. Indestructible, you know, whenever it's dealt damage, it does that much damage to the target opponent. But it has an active ability for 2 and red, and you tap it. Brash Taunter fights another target creature.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which, I mean, that seems cool, right? You know, your opponent has a Love Strike Beast out there, you fight, you deal five to the opponent, it's like, that's, that's too expensive. Three mana to, to fight, and you're not even killing the Love Strike Beast. I mean, like, I can see where this could be good in, you know, different combos, but, uh, you can't really, you can't really, uh, rely on that being, uh, uh, an effect that would actually


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Help you win the game. So, I mean, if it was something that was immediate, let's say it had haste. Like, let's say your partner has, uh, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where something seems really good, but then you have to put a lot of work into doing it, and it doesn't actually even win you the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I can't say that I've looked at things like that before and was like, oh man, this seems really cool, I wanna do this, you know? But then you need to use real yourself back in, like, you know what, let's be real here. What is that gonna happen, you know?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, uh, like that's why, that's why wherever I look at planeswalkers, like I don't even pay attention to the ultimates on the planeswalkers. Yeaah. I just look at the, the pluses and the minuses, like the ones that are not, not the ones that you have to like, minus everything just to, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Activate its ability, you know, but, you know, cause uhm, here's the thing. Opponents have, or should, or probably will have interaction.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If anybody has some kind of interaction, you know, they're gonna have creatures to attack it. You know, it's not a solitaire game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, I mean, some people can make it that way, but, uh, it's not a solitaire game. There's two people.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it depends on if your opponent is gonna do something about it, which, I mean, you're not gonna let your opponent ultimate a Planeswalker, right? Right.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah, so, so there's no point of even evaluating a card based off of the ultimate. Now, if a card has a game winning ultimate, to straight up win the game, and it doesn't take long, like say it takes two turns to get to the, you know, like two, three turns, or you have some ways to get extra counters on it,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And uh, this is actually a combo I actually built a while back.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Mule a bunch of cards, or over the course of the game, get them into the graveyard, and you play Command- Command of Dreadhorde, and you would revive Liliana, plus, you know, let's say like, you know, two or three raptors, uh, with, uh, Johnny, and then you just instantly ultimate Liliana. So, haha.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So you, you literally just, you put it on the battlefield. Oh, good game. And then, uh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Your opponent just scoops. So, something like that. Yes, you can reasonably ultimate, uh, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I played that in Negrix's deck before rotation with, uh, with Shandra, the, uh, Acolyte of Flame. It, it actually ultimates Nicobolis, uh, usually by turn 6. Uh, I would use Nicobolis effect to copy Shandra, put an extra counter so that it'd get 2 counters, and then Shandra put an extra counter on Nicobolis.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the next turn, trying to put another counter in an old Nicobolis.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So yeaah, I would play Nicol Bolas and then Ultimate him on the next turn. Uh, it actually worked surprisingly well. Because I would just kill all your opponent's cards and counter them and all that kind of stuff. But yeaah, if you're not doing something like that, you can not ever look at an Ultimate on the Planeswalker.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In a, in a realistic fashion, like, you can be like, oh, you know, maybe, maybe I can get it, you know, at some point. But don't ever think that you're actually gonna get it though.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, potential cards that you're going to be adding to your deck. What cards are going to be able to stop your card? Right. Like, what cards are being played? Like, oh, okay, it's a three mana cost or higher. And there's a lot of, uh, Elseworld Conqueror's Deaths running around.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's probably not a good idea, unless it has, uh, immediate impact. If it's just, uh, uh, uh, you know, three mana, four mana, you know, oh, I hope I tap with this. It's probably, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're gonna wanna have some kind of way to have value whenever you're playing your card. Let's say Niv Mizzet Reborn.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For example, when that enters, boom, you get value. Or at least you're very likely to get value. Even though it does not have haste, it's five colors, but you get tons of value potentially. So something like that is reasonable. Let's say it was a 6x flyer that did, you know, let's say it had like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Doing this particular action, that's what you have to look at. Like, what, what can the opponent do to get ahead? If I were to do this, what can my opponent do to get ahead? And if, if it's, if it's a lot of things, you may have to reconsider your choice. If there's not very many things, like, oh, okay, if I play this, okay, uhm, so I can actually get something out of it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So like, let's say, uh, you know, I play, I play, uh, uh, it's a fairy time reveler, for example. I bounce a card, draw a card. And then, if they answer it, if they kill it, you don't really care, right? You don't care. Because you already got value. You time walk your opponent while drawing a card. Whereas, let's say you play a Nicobolis against, you know, you drop it against a ramp deck.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then you draw a card, your opponent exiles a card, and then they kill your Nicol Bolas. Like, you're probably gonna lose the game at that point. So.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, if you destroy a creature with Planeswalker, that's fine, but if you're, if you're, if you're dropping it to draw a card, and, and your opponent exiles a card, they get to choose which one they exile, whether it's in the hand or on the field, that's very, very, very low impact, in my opinion. You gotta look at cards like that. You gotta look at, whenever you're, you're making a play,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You gotta make sure it's a play that's gonna matter. Uhm, and if the card is not good enough to matter whenever you play it, it might not be good enough.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, that's why something like Nissa is just so powerful, because you're getting a creature out of it immediately, and then you can access, you can get mana from it immediately, so it essentially costs 3 mana when you play it, uh, because you get 2 on the back most of the time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, but like, uh, let's say, let's say, for example, Cavalier of Gales, uh, instead of putting the cards back on top of your deck, you put two cards at the bottom. If you put it at the bottom,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That card would be bonkers. That card would be so playable.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think people would be going out of their way to play that card because you're drawing 3 and putting 2 at the bottom so you put back whatever you don't want instead of putting it on top of your deck.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I consider, like, little parts of an effect to be very important. You know, those little things, yea, look for. You know, like, uh, you know, Scry 1 vs Scry 2.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's another huge deal. That's why, uh, Omen of the Sea is so good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because you're scrying two before you draw your card. It's not, you just draw a card. Or you scry one and draw a card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, you get to see your next two cards, like, okay, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] These two cards are on top of my deck, which means I can do this and this and this, and then next turn do that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, so okay, I'll keep these two on top. You know, whereas the Sky 1 is like, okay, I see this is on top. This, this may help me, but only if I draw this other card next turn.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, so yeaah, but yeaah, that's a, like, little things like that have a huge impact on the game, and I think a lot of people don't really realize that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Really good cards, and then there's some cards that are kind of like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You can probably save the best for last. Yeah, save the best for last.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, so it's a 4-4 for 4, which, I mean, typically it's not very good, right? But, the effects that it has, has no, uh, no real impact on the game. So, I see a lot of people getting excited about Rinsed Area, it's like, oh man, you know, like, you know, build dogs and cats, you know. I mean, maybe they just wanna do it for fun, but, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, I think, you know, maybe you've gone a little bit too far though on it, you know, uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Maybe, you know, but, uh, but in standard, no, like I think in brawl commander.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think the car can be fantastic obviously, uh, but yea, as far as standard or any constructed format, I don't think it's gonna be very, uh, very good just because it, it,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The way I look at it is, if you have to play other cards after you play that card, and it's not even playable until no earlier than turn 3, I don't think it's gonna be worth playing. I don't care how many dogs and cats you have ready to play from your hand.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, cause All It Takes is a, uh, Shadow of the Sky, or Extinction Event. All It Takes is one of those, and you're probably gonna cry.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, the fact that you get tokens when you play a card, they're only 1-1 tokens, and then the activability is not going to have much impact. I just think it's, honestly, it's uh, done of a card. I hate to say that, I'm sorry. I apologize to everyone, but it's just, it's not very good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This card's gonna lead to a lot of blowouts if people catch on. If people catch on, like, you're playing it in a creature mirror match, for example, you know, your opponent swings out with their team, you know, let's say, you know, they got the amber cleave, and you're like, oh man, you know, like, what are we gonna do? You know, you set your blocks, they amber cleave you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, you're like, you're like, haha, I knew this was coming. Heroic intervention. And then, all your creatures are just...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, like, what was that? Like, did somebody just hit me with a cleave? I didn't feel that, you know? And then, all of a sudden, the game goes from...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just because your creatures gain hexproof and indestructible. Hexproof is not going to matter in this case, you know, if your opponents aren't being tapped out and recleaving you, but the fact that you can actually blow out your opponent that has a better board state than you is incredible.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, with that card, it can stop Shatters, it can stop, you know, Storm's Wrath, you know, it's a lot, it's a lot of things it can do, um, uh, so it's, it's a card that I would say is, it seems kind of like overpowered, but it's kind of like a balanced card that's just really good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And in my opinion, so I think, yes, evaluating something like that, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, it's kind of hard to look at it and say, you know, like, oh, how can this be bad? There are situations where it can be bad, you know, or your opponent has a teferi on the board.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So yes, there are downsides to the car, but I do think overall the car is really good. I'm glad that it's actually back in the format.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Another overhyped one, uh, I would have to say, uh, the fairy. Thank goodness!


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I know a lot of people are probably high on them, but I'm not too high on them. There's not many games where a point resolved to Teferi and it was like, oh no, you know, like, or at least it was Teferi 4. Teferi 3 is far, far worse in my opinion. I'm usually not happy about seeing that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the, it's a fairy four, it's annoying, yes, and it does fuel, uh, euro, which, which does suck, but there are ways around that. You could, you know, you scavenge in ooze and, uh, you know, other exile effects. There's not really any way around the...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The Fairy 3, but yea, the Fairy 4, I feel like it doesn't do enough. Like, it can phase a creature, but it doesn't actually, it doesn't actually slow you down. So I feel like that card is kinda overhyped. I mean, it's a cool card, don't get me wrong. It's a really cool card. I do think it's very strong. But it's not, I don't think it's as strong as people think that it is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right. It could become a whole lot better cause, uh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so, so it just crossed our fingers that, that, you know, it's not going to take over. Yes. But as of right now, I don't think it's, it's going to be very good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It may not seem like it's that good, which I mean, in all fairness, the card is not really that good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's not really that good. It's not like, oh my goodness, I have to get four of these. You know, it's, you know, it's not like that. But in the decks that it...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That you can slide them in, or you can even build around it, to be honest. It's, it's, it's actually good enough to build around the fact that you can get creatures from the Planeswalker. 3-3 creatures on a 4-mana Planeswalker.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's insane. Like, it's a minus, but you can do it twice before it dies. Maybe three times, depending on if your opponent has creatures or not. Because if your opponent has more creatures than you, after you get the token,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You get to put a loyalty counter on it. And then, all your creatures that you would normally not want to combat with, you can actually combat with. Uh, you can combat with Leafkin Druid, you can combat with Paradise Druid, Gilded Goose, you can even trample Depth Touch with uh, Quiescing Beast.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, it's, it's, it's very, very good. So I think Garret Unleashed is, is one of those cards that is borderline broken in my opinion.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I think, I think a lot of people are actually sleeping on it. And I think it should be played in more decks than what is being played in right now. Uh, I even think that, uh, it could be worth playing in Team Aurek as well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, like this is actually probably the most broken card in the set. In my opinion. Yes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, not only do you see a Gruul card that draws cards, technically, but you get to see the top card of your deck. You get to see the top card of your deck. You know how important, how much impact that is? Like, oh, I know this is coming up. Okay, so you know what, I'm gonna do this turn, I'm gonna do this. And it's like, oh, I know I don't have a spell coming up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, you know, I can use my, you know, I can use my Gilded Goose now. And then, next turn...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'll just make a food with the goose, knowing that I'm not gonna hit a land to play this other card in my hand. You know, or, or let's say, let's say, you know, like, you have a cycle land, and...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're like, uhm, I really, I really don't want to draw more lands. So, I have a spell on top of my deck, let me use my cycle to draw this spell. If there's a land on top, so I can put that on the battlefield instead of playing my land drop from my hand. And then also potentially give your opponent, like lesser, like, your opponent will have more to worry about thinking that, you know, you're like, oh, this person has four or five cards in their hand.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But then you're just playing lands off the top of your deck. So you keep, you keep a good amount of cards in your hand. You know, so you're playing around a whole bunch of stuff that you don't even have. And then, you know, you're just, you're just getting, you're just getting free cards. Every single turn getting free cards. And it even can combo with Teferi Master of Time. Like, if you go Rata into a Teferi Master of Time, come on now, like that's, that's gonna, that's gonna be good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Very good. Being able to just, you know, hit cards off the top of your deck with Rata, and then filtering the lands, the excess lands that you have in your hand. Uh, that, I think that's a recipe for, for like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Good combos right there, uhm, it feels zero, all that kind of stuff, so I do think rata has more of a place in this format than a lot of people are thinking at the moment. Yeaah. They haven't thought about it at all.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, but even the activatability. Oh my goodness. Activatability.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So many games have been won. I've played around with this card. And...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You have Nissa on the board. You have a buttload of mana.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, you, you could activate Rata multiple times.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, let's say you have 6 lanes on the board, 7 lanes on the board.