[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Here's a two-carat, rom-brilliant, uh, solitaire pendant necklace for $1,950.


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[Assistant] I received a Visa gift card as a gift when I went out to use it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All $100 had been used on $5 Google Play transactions.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Same issuer, but purchased at a different retailer in a different state.


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[Assistant] How does this happen? I contacted their customer service and Google but got no help. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the FTC.


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[Assistant] Please warn your listeners to stay away from these gift cards. And Clark, I found a news story in a different place about someone that lost $200.


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[Assistant] When she bought this same issuers card.


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[Assistant] Vanilla Visa is the issuer. I'll pull it up for you.


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[Assistant] You are continually shaming folks for receiving IRS refunds because they have too much withheld. Millions of folks get huge refunds because of the child tax credit and earn income credit.


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[Assistant] These credits are refundable and wipe out any tax owed. It's not unusual to see refunds over $10,000. So it might look like they're having too much withheld and that is not the case. Two, you sh- you must understand how difficult it is for people to save.


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[Assistant] Using the IRS refund as a tool gives the taxpayer an easy way to force save. I realize they're giving up the .05% interest they might receive and pay tax on it, but the refund is a savings tool as a savings tool does work, Bill.


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[Assistant] Couple people wrote in about this one regarding your belief that putting your valuables in a large home fireproof safe is superior to a bank safe deposit box.


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[Assistant] A crook doesn't need to carry out your heavy home safe. All he needs to do is hold a gun to one of your loved ones heads


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[Assistant] And you will be frantically opening your safe and throwing your valuables at him. This actually happened to someone I know. It's just something I want you to consider. Daryl Lynn.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Clark, as a long time listener, I know you don't stink, but on the podcast, when you're discussing abusive relationships, you jumped way too quickly to saying that quote, real is the real issue is that you need to deal with why it is that you're attracted to someone who's abusive.


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[Assistant] You may already be aware of this, but sometimes the fact that someone's abusive doesn't make itself apparent until months, even years into the relationship.


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[Assistant] Andrew, and we also heard from a couple of women who had been victims of domestic abuse.


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[Assistant] And they should be able to give local resources out. And I know that all over the country, there are people trying to help, uh, people who are trapped in these relationships.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Clark, you're stinking it up a little bit on who is responsible for delivered packages. When a package is shipped, $100 of the package insurance is automatically included with the shipping fee.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From there, you can pay 25 cents per 100 to cover anything over $100. The same applies for businesses. When a package is lost or damaged or misdelivered by a shipping company, it is their responsibility to find or replace the damaged package through their insurance. So as soon as it's shipped, the responsibility of that package belongs to the shipping company.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So when someone like your son lost his package, you should have called UPS and said the package did not arrive.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They would investigate it and if it was not found they would file a claim. They would then pay the shipper who originally paid the shipping and insurance for the package.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You recently complained about a Florida power company charging a monthly fee of $40 to persons primarily using their own solar.


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[Assistant] The only thing which allows people to use solar wind is the backup provided by the public utilities which the rest of us pay for.


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[Assistant] So if someone doesn't like the flat feet, they can disconnect and sit in the dark when the sun doesn't shine.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] $40 is cheap. Love your show, but this answer was way off the mark, Jay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Clark, you've once again crossed the line from frugal to cheap. Your habitat work is commendable, but pinching pennies to give another hardworking volunteer, to give the, the hardworking volunteers a fast food lunch is disgusting and unhealthy. You can partially redeem yourself by telling me you gave the poor dominoes lady a big fat tip. Tom.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Clark answered a question about whether a parent should title their young adult child's car in the parent's name.


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[Assistant] or in the child's name or in both names in order to get the best auto insurance rate. There's another factor to consider that is potential liability in the event of an accident.


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[Assistant] In many states, if someone's in an accident, both the driver and owner of the car can be sued. It's not worth saving a few bucks on auto insurance only to subject yourself to huge liability in the event of an accident. Something to factor into the analysis, Kate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And check your eyeglass prescription because you are short sighted. Your summary of solar battery backup is way off. What you didn't tell Krista and your other listeners is that energy savings associated with $100,000 invested


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And solar battery backup is approximately 10% annually. This is almost as high as the return on the S&P 500 over any 10 year period.


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[Assistant] The return on the investment is what matters. The 10 year payback only matters if you sell your house before the end of the 10 years.


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[Assistant] I'm assuming Krista would not be financing solar since she can afford Starbucks every day. Mark in Florida.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it's a lot of money. We're still considering. We're still considering, like, there are so many different levels that you can do.


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[Assistant] And Mark, I can't afford it because I get Starbucks every day, although I've been bringing my coffee from home to save money.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is from Sterling. Due to Tesla's huge price increases on their cars, I've lost the Tesla vision. Let's play what if. If Clark was the CEO for Tesla, what would his five year plan look like? Also, if you ran GM or Toyota, same question.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Megan says, I have a five year old Nissan Leaf. It's lost four out of 12 bars and its range is no longer enough for me. I don't want to buy a new car, especially right now with the shortage and high prices. Does it make sense to replace the battery? And do I do that in a dealer? And can I get an upgrade from the previous range?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, that's Nissan's policy. I'll double check that the Leaf is specifically included in that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Nope, protection for your new Nissan Leaf includes 36 month, 36,000 mile basic coverage.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And this is from Paul in the District of Columbia. I'm on a bi-weekly payment plan with my mortgage company. The first payment doesn't apply until they have both payments. If I manually made a payment every two weeks, would they apply when each payment is made leading to less interest paid and would that be worth the effort?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And from Anna in Michigan, I know you're contacted so often by people who have been treated poorly.


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[Assistant] I wanted to let you know when a company came through and suggest a way for people to possibly get the help we need, they need.


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[Assistant] We were traveling home to Michigan from our duty station in Alabama when our car broke down in the cold and dark of Indiana.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it was after the time when we could have cancelled for a refund.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I tried calling Marriott's reservation number, but they gave me the brush off and didn't help.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I then tried the actual hotel where we had the reservation and explained our situation to the manager. He said he would manually cancel the reservation and we would not be charged. This helpful manager was a bright ray of sunshine in a very difficult night.


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[Assistant] Be back with you again this year. I love, love doing this with you. The Clark Howard Show is super fun to be a part of.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because when you're stressed out and then you get, like you have to get somewhere and you have angry, anger and stuff, which people seem like some mental health issues have gotten worse during COVID, maybe that has some correlation there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Under the current market for vehicles right now, what is the most cost effective plan to take in order to get a vehicle?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let's just assume they were great. So they were lucky too. Okay, this is, this is from Martin in Vermont.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Martin in Vermont says, I often read stories about someone leaving a very large tip to a waitress that is many times larger than the entire cost of the meal. Does that tip have to be reported as income to the IRS or can it be treated as a gift?


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[Assistant] If I pay for my car rental with this credit card in my fully covered insurance wise.


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[Assistant] Are there tax implications or liability or anything like that?


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[Assistant] Well, we're excited about the possibility of traveling. The reality is this will leave me without healthcare for six years.


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[Assistant] Jobs in my field use contract workers to fill positions and do not offer better benefits, do not often offer benefits. How do we find out what my medical care will cost in advance so we can prepare for the next three years?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thing, uhm, out in a place, a part of our town that I usually don't go to.


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[Assistant] And, uh, you, I told you where I was, and you're like, oh my gosh, there's a such-and-such g-convenience station across, across from you, and I think it's like the fifth generation type, like you know each kind.


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[Assistant] Well, Stephanie in Florida has done something really right because she says, we paid off our mortgage today and would like to know what paperwork and documents we need to keep.


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[Assistant] I've heard people getting their paid off homes stolen from them and I want to make sure we have everything proving our properties is ours.


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[Assistant] This is from Annette in Alabama. For years you've always talked about how great it will be to have a cashless society. Even though my push back to you was the same concerns you are sharing now. Fear of foreign enemy hackers taking the system down. You cannot have it both ways. You either believe in a cashless society or not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You are always trashing pennies, but I bet you have a safe full of them as well.


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[Assistant] Most of us are unlikely to install a separate VPN for a variety of reasons and thus are missing out on this important security measure.


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[Assistant] Can I say I also often see if you look the month before you move?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] People give them away for free right after they've moved on Nextdoor or Facebook marketplace, like local groups. I see them on Nextdoor all the time. They're like, I've got all these moving boxes, who wants them?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, Larry in Michigan says, I recently found out that my insurance company has the right to read or skim my emails. What? Why do they need to do this? Feels like a Clark outrage.


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[Assistant] And our 45K would be guaranteed to cover in-state tuition for four years when he graduates. Washington also offers a traditional 529 plan.


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[Assistant] It seems to me that the guaranteed tuition program eliminates the worry and stress of a fluctuating stock market. What am I missing? Is there a catch?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is from Nicholas in Wisconsin. How do I get a cell phone unlocked from a carrier? I bought a phone outright and I want to switch carriers. My carrier is refusing because we updated the phone and it has been on their network less than 12 months.


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[Assistant] It's my pleasure to welcome you to the Clark Howard Show, where our mission is to serve you and empower you so you make better financial decisions in your life.


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[Assistant] Was Friday, you know what that means? I get to hear about, well,


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[Assistant] My faults in the weekly Clark Stinks segment. And later,


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[Assistant] I've got an actually fantastic story to share with you about an Apple AirTag.


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[Assistant] Being used to catch a bad character and I talked about the bad.


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[Assistant] That's occurring with the Apple AirTags is important. I talk about the reverse too. And speaking of that.


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[Assistant] You know, people are both bad and good and I've got both in me and we get to hear about the bad in me right now, don't we?


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[Assistant] Sebastian, that's fantastic that your employer offers such a deal. And I should say


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[Assistant] I was so strident when I was talking about how important it is to own your own life insurance.


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[Assistant] A term insurance policy from one of the many companies.


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[Assistant] I work for that is their own insurance or employer provided insurance and I don't pay for it. They give me one time what they pay me free and obviously you take that we're talking about, uh, paying for more and in your case, the 12 times the salary


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[Assistant] Is do you have the right to convert that to a personal policy?


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[Assistant] If you do leave that employer or when you leave that employer, you lose the policy.


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[Assistant] David, thank you, and I didn't go out and look for free life insurance for employees with our benefits provider. It was just a throw in that


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[Assistant] If I didn't take it, I would be paying the same premiums for benefits every month. And so they just get it. It's not something I went out and saw it, not something I think I should be paying for as an employer, but it was like a mandatory add on or included in coverage that I already give the employees.


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[Assistant] Thank you, Nick. Uh, there were certain sought after items that people who didn't buy early could not get, certain toys, things like that.


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[Assistant] And the lowest prices were this Christmas season overall on


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[Assistant] Stuff for Christmas were during the month of November and there was actually it started the last few days of October through the month of November.


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[Assistant] We're really the low price points. We track the prices of things pretty thoroughly at ClarkDeals.com and November was


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As it is most years, it was again this past Christmas, the bargain month, but the supply chain disruptions are real. Okay. At my Aldi.


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[Assistant] They have Christmas merchandise still coming in. I feel so bad for them. They've had to take areas that they would normally be using for the early


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[Assistant] Entry of spring merchandise, which happens in the middle of summer, usually.


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[Assistant] And there's all this Christmas stuff piled up everywhere and they keep marking it down and marking it down and it's been rough.


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[Assistant] On retailers with goods of all kinds that did not come in.


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[Assistant] In time. And so I'm going to double down here, Nick. I'm going to say if there's stuff at a retailer that was designed for the Christmas season and it's still sitting there unloved and being really marked down, buy it now for next Christmas.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Paul, thank you and the programs that we were talking about are very different than these bridge programs at, uh, community colleges.


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[Assistant] And public two and four year colleges around the country.


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[Assistant] That are there for families who have individuals or foster kids as you mentioned.


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[Assistant] Who don't come from family environments have a tradition of college and college is a foreign thing in terms of how it's gonna work, what a college schedule is like.


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[Assistant] Uh, all the aspects of being at college and those programs are fantastic.


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[Assistant] The way they're pitched is it's going to help you get into uh, exclusive.


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[Assistant] Are hard to get into college simply because you've been to this enrichment program that is being offered at a college campus.


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[Assistant] So a parent reads, hey, my kid's going to be at Dartmouth for this program, or they're going to be at, you know, whatever fancy school, Stanford, whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] These people are just tenants renting space on that campus, making you feel like you're suddenly getting the prestigious rub from being at that school.


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[Assistant] Cynthia, thank you for this and I've also addressed this another time because I did, uh, fire up.


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[Assistant] People who love going on cruises and I was talking about how this is a time of great opportunity for deals with the hazards that I have addressed.


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[Assistant] Online and here on the podcast. So as you may have heard, we're going on a cruise in March and we're going on a cruise in June with our eyes wide open to the possible disruptions.


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[Assistant] That could occur and the possible cancellation at the last minute of the sailing we're on.


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[Assistant] That's a great question and I just made an assumption.


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[Assistant] That the requirement was only the initial purchase and you could be right and in the case you're right


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[Assistant] Then I'm all wet and I gave bad advice. At the time, the way I interpreted that,


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[Assistant] Was the only requirement was the initial purchase via vehicle, less than six years old.


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[Assistant] And if, and if it plays like you said, I gave a bad answer and the answer should have been, uh,


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[Assistant] Three year old or four year old vehicle, which right now, unfortunately, are incredibly pricey.


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[Assistant] Sarah, thank you and it's just an old habit that I, of course I know there are same sex couples and same sex marriages and it's just an old habit of mine to say husbands and wives and you make a good point that vocabulary does matter and that I should retrain myself in old dog new tricks to remember


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[Assistant] To use the word spouse in the cases where that's most appropriate.


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[Assistant] And so I appreciate all your posts on Clark Stinks. Remember if you feel, I've said something tone deaf, uhm, I'm missing part of the picture. You feel my advice is just out to lunch.


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[Assistant] Please go to Clark.com slash Clark Stinks and post it for me. And straight ahead.


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[Assistant] I talked about the things that have been freaky bad from the Apple AirTags.


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[Assistant] Now I've got an incredible suggestion for you.


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[Assistant] To steal vehicles, to stalk women, uhm, just terrible events that have occurred and they're not, uhm, theoretical, they've been happening. And so this is a technology unleashed that Apple designed for good purposes to be able to find a lost or stolen product of some, of whatever type. And they've been very effective because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Apple has the technology built up. It's like a worldwide relay system from one Apple device to another, to another, to another, to be able to locate items that have, you've either left somewhere or you've lost or they've been stolen.


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[Assistant] And then criminals being criminals have figured out how to use these.


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[Assistant] To harm, but man do I have a story about bad activity being stopped in its tracks.


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[Assistant] Buy the air tags. And this story is compliments of ZD net and it is about a woman named Valerie.


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[Assistant] Who the story originally appeared in military times because she's a military family. They were moving from one base to another and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] She got a real bad feeling about these movers when they came to get her stuff. So surreptitiously, she took air tags and placed them in her strategically among her possessions. And then her possessions went into the ether. And so finally she hears from


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[Assistant] The moving company after she's been complaining, complaining, complaining and told the military times that she was told by the mover that her stuff was still in Colorado and she was actually moving into the tri-state area, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut.


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[Assistant] So they say that all our stuff is still in Colorado. Guess where it was? In New Jersey.


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[Assistant] Made a stopover. Made a stopover for a few days to hang out with someone and didn't do his job and there they are with nothing to sleep on, nothing to sit on.


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[Assistant] Et cetera, et cetera. So in this case, it was not the worst the moving industry has, which are the mob-run, uhm, theft rings.


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[Assistant] If you're not familiar with this, this is a huge problem in the moving industry with these organized crime organizations that use names similar to brand name moving companies or they have brokerage fronts.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Careful packing it up because they are going to kidnap your possessions and either sell them, ship them to a foreign country to sell there or they will hold them ransom.


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[Assistant] And the ransom can be for thousands and thousands of dollars. Well,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Enter the air tag. The humble air tag that is also used for nefarious purposes.


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[Assistant] What I realize now from the ZDNet and the Military Times stories is this could be a way to track your stuff that's been kidnapped. Think about that.


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[Assistant] So this is kind of like an equal time provision. We're not under one, but I was so harshing on the problems that the air tags are causing that here's one that's helping, that can help to bust up criminal rings because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is a huge problem in the moving industry. By the way, the best prevention up front.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is not the air tags when somebody gets there and you're like uh-oh. The best protection up front is how you hire a mover.


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[Assistant] On Clark.com about how to find what's referred to as a pro mover.


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[Assistant] Which are legitimate players in the industry that agree to live by a code of conduct. And also there's a process if you have a dispute with the mover to resolve it.


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[Assistant] Experience built up to know how to hire a mover. But AirTag's gotta tip my hat to you.


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[Assistant] So Christopher, the way you're asking your question, first of all, I should say the company Christopher is with is not a fiduciary. They are a high commission firm that sells people investments and insurance at outrageous costs. And often people will end up putting a lot of money in and having less than that amount of money to show for it.


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[Assistant] Because of all the massive fees and expenses you pay. And so


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[Assistant] You don't want to be with one of these sales people kind of organizations.


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[Assistant] I'm gathering from what you've said, these are in taxable accounts. So that makes this tough because if they were in, if the money


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Obviously the variable universal life would be in taxable account, but the high fee mutual funds, I'm guessing you don't mean any of it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is in an IRA. Any money that's in an IRA you don't have to worry about.


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[Assistant] You can sell out the positions and move your IRA to one of the low cost providers like somebody you're with right now in your own brokerage account and be in the low cost tax efficient index funds. With the other things, this is tough. I would like you to go buy some clock time with a Garrett person and get their help figuring out an exit strategy for you.


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[Assistant] Based on how much tax you're going to have to pay on capital gains on these funds and get you out of them.


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[Assistant] And into ultra low cost funds. The difference with the fees you're paying, it means that when you're in retirement,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The difference between you being in low cost funds and these high cost funds?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Means you'll end up with probably 40% less money to have in retirement. I mean, people don't have any idea how unbelievably expensive it is on what you have for retirement when you're with one of these commission sales organizations with their very high fees on the variable universal life.


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[Assistant] I want you to have an analysis run by the Consumer Federation of America.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There is a website called evaluatelifeinsurance.org.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And what is the cost now for that? Cause you used it recently.


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[Assistant] With this variable universal life policy. So in both cases, I want you to get expert advice. You're going to have to pay for a Garrett planning network.com and from evaluate life insurance.org one for the mutual funds, the other for the variable universal life garbage. And this way you'll know the right way to stop the bleed.


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[Assistant] And prevent as much potential embedded capital gains tax as you might have to pay.


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[Assistant] No, Bogdan, let me tell you what's going on. T-Mobile has a new CEO and the


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Crazy guy who had run it for so long, Ledger, has retired. And they're becoming no more the un-carrier.


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[Assistant] They've become very much a finger wagging organization and


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[Assistant] You know, they offer these benefits and then the bean counters that are now in charge at T-Mobile freak out.


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[Assistant] And they send these nasty gram texts to people. So the idea is there are people who sign up for T-Mobile just because they're traveling internationally, because the T-Mobile international benefits are much better than those offered by AT&T or Verizon. And if you just sign up and go over to a foreign country and you're using the daylights out of it,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're not doing the purpose of it, which is, is an added benefit for the occasional trip somebody takes overseas as something that binds you, uhm, emotionally and practically to T-Mobile.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I don't know if you just had switched to T-Mobile and went to Italy or if this is the new bean counter mentality at T-Mobile at work, but it's ridiculous because they offer this benefit. I don't know that you were in Italy, nothing about how long he was in Italy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, but normally most people go away on an international trip for three weeks or less.


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[Assistant] And that's what this benefit is intended for. And they haven't


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Canceled you or anything like that over it, but I just don't like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The current culture at T-Mobile, they have lost


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[Assistant] That special edge when John Ledger would call Verizon and AT&T dumb and dumber.


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[Assistant] Cause they were just typical corporate behemoths that worked overtime to alienate their customers.


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[Assistant] But now T-Mobile has decided they can't decide if they want to be dumb, dumber, or dumbest.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And be that same kind of culture with.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Saying, no, you can't do that or no. Why do you think we said you could do that either? And this is terrible because they really, for such a long time were different than the others and people or policy, you change the leadership of a company and they


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sometimes lose what made them special. So T-Mobile, get your act together.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Keith, I want you in the particular circumstance where I have you doing a charge twice a year to keep


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, credit card active in your mix for credit reporting.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Show that there was a balance there. Doesn't have to be a lot. It can be $10.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Your balance posts, that's when you're trying to raise your credit score by reducing how much of your available credit you're using. That's a whole different circumstance. In this case, I don't want you to pay before the statement closing date.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Beatrice, this is not a safe practice for patients and is popping up all over the country. Here's what's going on. Doctors who take your insurance.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are able to get an estimate of what insurance is going to pay and what portion is yours.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And again, it's just an estimate. What keeps happening.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's a huge problem for medical practices is the estimates wrong and there's a balance


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You owe and a lot of people get that balance. They're like, Hey, I already paid.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The doctor, what I owed and they don't pay the balance. They're like, I'm not paying that. And so this is a terrible problem for doctors at the same time. The solution.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's another part of the broken medical system in the United States.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That the ongoing war between insurers and providers, you and I are really just to them, we're just collateral damage. Nobody really cares at base about you and me and our wallets. So this is tough because the doctors aren't getting their money and at the same time you're giving up rights.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you sign this form and allow them to charge your credit card. So, there is a solution. And it's one we gave before.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's if you buy a Visa or MasterCard stored value card with a relatively small balance, you can use that on these forms and you'll know you will never be hit with a really large charge that you weren't able to say anything about.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If they try to put through a charge for hundreds of dollars and that stored value card only has $10 on it, all they're getting is $10 and then they've got to contact you and explain to you why you owe more money.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you can get those without fees and again, I've upset the doctors again, but this is, this is a thing where we are being put in the middle.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In this war that's going on between the insurers and the doctors and it's messy. I want to tell you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you got a mess with your wallet and you need to clean it up, I got the place for you. And we don't need your credit card because it's our Team Clark Consumer Action Center. Next birthday, 30 years old, answering your questions for free, one-on-one from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday. You want that one-on-one advice for free?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hey Duke fans, this is the 10th episode of the Brotherhood podcast, a milestone for myself and the team and everybody that's been working on this. So, uh, before we start, I want to just thank all of our listeners, uh, for sticking with us as we figure this out and, uh, learn and grow and hopefully,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As we said, as we started with, provide some insight into the program, but again, we're super excited that we've made it 10 episodes in here, uhm, with all the help and work from everybody behind.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, the curtain with everything we do. So, uh, excited for this 10th episode, something a little different today. I'll be the guest of this podcast and I'm going to turn it over to


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Kyle Filipowski to be the host today.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so I guess it was a little bit of a brainchild of myself and the creative media team here, uhm, with everybody. Uh, I did that, you remember when we were at the first game in Orlando, I did like that, uh, I think a lot of teams do it where they have one guy being like a fake reporter in the room while we have like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I felt like there was like 50 real reporters there. Uhm, and I never really done anything like that, but it was pretty cool and fun. Uhm, and I felt like I was half-decent at it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, uh, when we were brainstorming ways to kind of help build my own personal brand, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, a lot of guys on our team like have TikToks and like all that and it's not really me. I couldn't like bring myself to create a TikTok.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, so I thought about doing something that was geared towards that because it was fun to do that and it seemed like uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was easy and natural, uh, so I brought up the idea of starting like some sort of podcast or some sort of off-season thing to, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Give back to the fans a little bit and, you know, while we're not playing games, do something to kind of, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just provide more insight into our guys. So this idea of a podcast was born and, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it was, the idea was, uh, you know, I guess a little bit to help drive my own, like, user engagement, uh, on social media, cause that's kind of what we originally were talking about, but honestly the biggest thing is, like I said, giving back to the fans, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've been talking about it all off season, but you know, the fact that we went like undefeated at home and uhm, coming from


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A school that I've been at for four years that just had less support for both the students and around. Uh, I, it's, I don't take for granted, you know, how impactful the fans are here at both.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just online, everywhere, globally, but especially in Cameron, uh, they really play, you know, a huge role in, in games and within there. So.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, further immerse themselves into the program and see what the day to day is like and all the personalities we have on the team.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's uh, I remember like leading up to it, not really understanding how big it was. Yep. And like, I'm just not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't mind like being in front of people and like, probably should be like, all that I'm fine with, but like, I'm not a-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm not a dancer at all. So to like try and dance in front of like 10,000 people is not...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And uhm, I remember like, wasn't, like everybody, for like the weeks leading up, like everybody's talking about like, what's your countdown song going to be? What's your countdown song going to be? And I was like, I don't know, I'll figure it out like a few days in advance.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I remember like sitting next to like Kale and uh, and he was like kinda going through the same thing as in like starting to like realize like how like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Bad this can be if you're not a good, you know, if you're not like that kind of person that wants to like go do this. And I was sitting there like at rehearsal like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not my thing, but nonetheless a super cool experience. And obviously it's fun to see the students get so into it and so excited about it. But I can't say, I can't say I'm excited to get back up there and dance more.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Geez, uhm. There's only one right answer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You and Tyrese were both good. You were just so early that I didn't really understand. I've got a lot better at hosting and not making it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've been trying to emphasize making it less of an interview and more of a conversation because the first few times I did it with you and Tyrese and Jay Blakes was early.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was like a, like a one on one interview. Yeah. Um, versus it being more of a conversation.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So these late ones, Mark was really funny to go back and forth with. Uhm, my favorite, like one of the best guesses though was definitely, uh, Woj. I know you know him pretty well from, you were coaching with him at K Academy, right? I just didn't really know him all that well and I didn't know what to expect from the podcast. And obviously he's a really good speaker because he's,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, been in coaching, been a head coach and all that, but he was just super open and like down to earth.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so uhm, I spent four years at Northwestern. Love it. It's a, it's a incredible experience. And then,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, by the time I'm, you know, I graduate, I'm starting to look for something new. I had two years left to play. I wasn't sure if I was going to use both, but you know, I knew I wanted to play another year somewhere. And the biggest thing was, uhm, just helping a team win. I had never been to, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, I'd never been to the tournament. Uh, we'd finished four times. Unfortunately, we couldn't really get over the hump. At Northwestern, we finished four times in the, in the bottom four of the Big Ten. So, you know, the biggest thing for me was getting to a place where I felt like I could help.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Contribute, uh, to winning and help get, you know, a team to their goals, win a championship. Uhm, and, uh, you know, I visited a couple schools, uhm, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I took up a few phone calls to kind of convince me that he thought I could play here. I wasn't too sure. Obviously, you know, the highest and the most talented.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Players in college basketball are here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I wasn't too sure. I wanted to help a team win, but I knew I wanted to also, you know, play a role on the court.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so when, when coach Shire, you know, told me that he thought I could do that and wanted me to come here and...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, uh, be a part of his first team. You know, I didn't think there was a better place to try and come and help and affect winning and help the team get to a postseason. Uhm, and then that coupled with, uh, the opportunity to get my MBA here, uh, was pretty convincing as well. And, uh, that's been a super, uhm, fun part of it as well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I was on all the draft boards, uhm, a lot of meetings, a lot of workouts, and I told him I didn't want to be the number one overall pick. I gotta get, I gotta get my NBA. Tough decision.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, that was part of it. I let Wembee take the number one spot and I wanted to come back and spend another year with you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I think it's just trying to identify what is necessary out of me to help the team win, cause, you know, I, I...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do a couple things well, uh, but I don't do anything, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Incredibly well. I'm not the best shooter on the court. I'm not the most athletic guy. So uhm, I think being around college basketball. What'd you say? I think we all know that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, I think, uh, I've been around college basketball enough and I've seen how effective, um, glue guys and hustle guys can be for teams. Uh, there's a lot of teams with a ton of talent, but if you don't have a few guys that are willing to do the dirty work and be gritty guys and do whatever it takes, you know, that team can only get as far, um, as they can without them. So, you know, there's, I wanted to come here and be,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A guy that does that, that does whatever it takes to win, uh, whether it's going after every rebound, every loose ball, or...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the other thing was just coming in and helping be a mentor to young guys. Obviously we had 8 freshmen last year and 7, 4 new guys, including myself. And, uh, you know, when I was a younger player, there was two guys on the Northwestern team, a kid named Derek Parton and Barrett Benson.


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[Assistant] Uhm, who were senior and junior at the time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That really played a prevalent role in, you know, my development.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, both on and off the court, but certainly, you know, when I showed up, I redshirted. I wasn't ready to, to play at that level. I was undersized, but I also just wasn't, wasn't ready. And uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Being, uh, so the great leaders that they were and teaching me how to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, how to be a successful, you know, player and successful student athlete. It felt like when I came here, one of the things that I wanted to do was almost pay it forward to them and be an older player that could help you guys show you the ropes and help you learn.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was harder to beat the shit out of you guys in practice. Because you guys are a little more talented than I was when I was 18. Uhm, but you know, it was just trying to, a long answer to your question is trying to identify whatever it takes to help the team.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it was different. That was the obstacle, I think, for me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And for the team in general. So, you know, through my time at Northwestern, we never, you know, you have three to four guys leave a year, leave each year and you have three to four freshmen come in or maybe one transfer. And it's easy to, not easy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it's, you have a buffer in between the staff and the new guys in the returning players to help smooth that transition, to help show them what


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, what practice, what's expected through practice, what's expected everywhere in the film sessions, you know, how to, how, uh, the coach wants the program run. So it was harder to be a leader and be an older guy, um, for everybody, for I think Jake and Max and Kale and all the older new guys. Cause Jeremy and.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Jaylen, but Jeremy playing, the only guy playing substantial minutes, you kind of lose that buffer when you have, you know, whatever it was, 10 new guys, 11 new guys, and one returner.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's harder because it's difficult for me to be a leader when I'm also everyday learning how...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Coach Shire wants the program one run how he wants, you know, practice going all these things. So I'm trying to be, you know, a mentor and help you guys kind of learn how, how


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Things should be operating, but I'm also at the same time learning. So uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That was a bit of an obstacle, but honestly it was easy with the personalities we have in the locker room. Uh, I think...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and the staff do an incredible job of recruiting guys that...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like you have great personalities and you want to get better and you want to ask questions and you want to learn. So uhm, I thought our team did an incredible job of coming together despite, like you said, having all the newness and all the craziness that comes with 11 new guys and a new head coach.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Specifically, I feel like I saw it with Derek. Obviously, the Bigs all work closely together, but, you know, Derek being the number one high school recruit coming in and hitting a little bit of a freshman wall and taking a few games to kind of gather, you know, get his bearings.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, it really had a huge impact on me to see him not


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, frazzle it all in that moment. Uhm, and I think that that's where you see in this program, you see guys be able to back up and use, like you said, that high character that all these kids have, all their personalities.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know what I would have done if I was an 18 year old and I was the number one recruiter in the nation and I came and, you know, he was, if I had the same kind of struggles he did throughout the beginning of the year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and just to see him come in every day in practice, work harder, you know, who's still the loudest guy in practice in gym every day. And, uh, that's just as a fifth year senior, like to see that, uhm, it's a big deal because it, you know, I'm thinking to myself,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If this kid can come into practice with all the pressure he's hearing, with all the stuff he's probably seeing on social media with all, you know, with all the people in his ear and all he cares about is still coming to practice and working hard and still, you know, he's still the most excited guy in the locker room when, uhm, even though he's probably not personally playing as well as he would like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, or getting the minutes that he would like. It's, it's, uh, it's a big deal. And like you said, it backs up onto the character in the locker room.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's funny to, it's funny to learn what you can get away with in practice because there's no college basketball coach that's going to tell you to be less physical in practice and especially as


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Be hitting you guys on day one. Right. I do remember that. Uh, and I do remember like all you guys, and you never know, like coming out of high school is so different as a big, um, you know, like you're,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You don't realize just how physical and it starts early, like as soon as you cross half court.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, the big, you know, you're trying to find each other and you're working for positioning immediately. Um, and uh, yeaah, there's no, there's no way Emil or Shire was gonna like call, you know, like tiki tag fouls that probably get called in games. You know, you have to, you have to learn what you can actually get away with, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I remember walking in day one, but that was something that, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Being in better shape, being more aggressive, and knowing the scout. Uh, so those are the three things that I try and, you know, our group of digs, but me personally, you want to feel confident about those three things going in every game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and feeling confident means you've done...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] More than the opposing big, um, in all three of those. So being in better shape, knowing that you to come in and play harder and be aggressive has to be a given. And the third one is, you know, feeling like you've done your homework more than they have. So those are the three things when I think game became, but overall, um, you know, coach, I always emphasize that he wants to play faster. And that's a thing that, you know, you can only play.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Me, you, Christian, Sean, everybody. Uhm, the biggest thing is going to be, you know, in the best shape possible. And then I think, uhm, for me personally, being able to get out there and be a threat from beyond the three point line is a big deal. Obviously, you know, playing you in small ball five gives us such a dynamic look.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It gives him so much more space. So uhm, if I can get to a point where, you know, uhm, I can really threaten that shot and get opposing base to come out and guard me, uhm, instead of plugging up the lane, you know, that'll be a big deal for our offense. And then obviously defensively protect the rim.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What everybody keeps on asking me, well everybody always asks the over under for dunks. What do you think my over under for dunks is this year?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh yea, for just some event we were doing. We were doing an event and like, she's like, originally it was like where we got polos, they gave us like the polo to wear and she was like, everybody just wear like, a pair of khakis and like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, all the freshmen and like four other guys were like, I don't have a pair of caches. She was like, okay, then just wear jeans. And then like Jay, like four of the freshmen were like, I don't own a pair of jeans.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's unbelievable. Uhm, and, uh, uh, no, I like, uh, I mean,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Jared has like his L.A. style going on, uhm, and uh, he seems to get so much, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know if that's legal. I'm pretty sure it's legal. We'll check on it. Um, uh, yeah, I like Jarris. I like Caleb's a lot. I don't know what Sean's been breaking out recently. TJ is, TJ might as well be in the last class. He's, he's wears, he only wears Duke stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A big thing for me is having to put on fits to get those like pregame pictures.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Couple hundred, like probably over 500 pictures of me playing basketball. I'd say like, less than five of them are like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wow, uhm, I like geography. I like to travel and see new places, so geography's pretty fun. Okay, I suck at that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But if I get it wrong, it's like, oh, okay, this is where, whatever, you're like a European country wrong. And I feel, I feel like now I know it. Oh, and you're gonna travel there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I couldn't give it a 10 out of 10. It's against core principles to give a 10 out of 10. Whose principles? Mine. I don't think, I don't think, you can't, you can't give a 10 out of 10. Uhm, I like Shawshank a lot though. So what do you rate it? Like a 9.9.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Letterboxx is like the premier, well like, there's uhm, IMDB, but like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I took a movie review app that's like easy to use. No, I like Shawshank.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's unfortunately like not really a movie that you can re-watch. Actually, do you remember?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But so you understand the ending is like the whole movie. Yea, I know. I'm going to spoil it. I'm going to spoil it for everybody listening. But also, it's like a 30 year old movie, so if you haven't seen it yet, that's your own fault. But you know, he breaks out of prison the whole time. You don't know it until like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, or I guess you do know it. No, you don't. You don't know until he breaks out of prison, until the end. And uhm, and Coach Shire, I think...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, the point was maybe we were going to be like in a tough stretch of the season. His point was like, you know, it's not, it's not going to happen all in one day. Like the guy spends like whatever, like eight to 10 years in prison, like all it's chomping like with.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Whatever the little like pickaxe and uh, I think coach Shire's like message was, you know, we're not going to break through in one big hit. It's going to take days, you know, stacking days, stacking practices, stacking workouts, which was a great message.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But after we watched the final like 10 minutes where he breaks through and like swims through whatever the football fields of, uh, of sewage, you know,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, Coach Shire like asked everybody like who's seen the movie and like two guys raised their hands and I was like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I don't really have a spare. I'm a Lebron guy. Whatever team Lebron James is playing for.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, uh, I'll say the people. Uhm, we talked about, uh, I'll make this quick because this is a quick segment.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I just thought it was like their mantra, uh, like every team has one. So, uh, I just figured like it's a thing people say, but when you get here, you realize, uh, just how impactful it is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My parents both attended Syracuse University and played sports there, so I was a big Syracuse fan. I was actually, I used to joke around with Emil, there's a picture of me, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I went to the Duke Syracuse game in the Dome in like 2015. A male was on the team and there's a picture with like me courtside as like a kid. I might've, I must've been like 14, 15 years old.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, as like a 14 year old kid and a meal's like in the background, which is uh, which is super funny. But anyway, I was a Syracuse fan growing up because that's where my parents are from. That's very good. That's awesome.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'd like to explore more of Europe. We took a European tour when I was at Northwestern. That was really the first time I'd been, uh, abroad.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I've spent, I've spent enough, I've spent some time in Chicago. I don't need to do more sightseeing there. Uh, I haven't been to the UK, so I think


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Grew up around New York, uhm, so, but I like Chicago. I thought it was a great balance of like, I thought,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] One of them's, one of them's Christian Leitner in a Final Four game. Mine was in a conference game. I did in a conference game. So it was Florida State, I think.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It should be a, it's going to be a big, probably. Yep. Did, cause it's just the shooting percentage, I assume. Did Celia Lokeford do it? Nope. Did Marvin Bagley do it? Nope.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's, uh, Collins is up there. I don't know if he's won yet. Uhm, it's the guy before him, he went to Holy Cross after, I can't remember his name, cause he was there for a long time. I'm not gonna remember his name.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We have one, yeaah. Uh, it was not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In New Jersey, I was like the fourth or fifth rank. National. Yeah, I don't even know if I was, like, I was not within like the top like 200, right? No.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have to delve more into this. I'm doing an independent study with a marketing professor on the data and analytics of this, but I don't know what it is. In terms of basketball podcasts, we're not above JJ Reddix, we're certainly not above, uh, Paul George, Traymont Green.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's probably a few other like rogue ones that are up there. Are we in the top?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's been a lot of comments about getting a fan on the podcast, which would be a really unique thing. The cool thing about the podcast is like, it's, nothing's like set in stone at all. Yeah. Cause we just kind of like, it's very new and, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, everything, we're super open to trying different things and like keeping and molding and shaping it as it goes, especially, you know, once we get into the season and play more, there's a lot of different cool and unique things we can do. So it's exciting.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If we're, if we're twelve in America, if we're twelve overall, I'm sure we're not one in the United States.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, would it be Australia? Cause it's an entire Rees episode?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, that makes me think beaches, I guess. No. Like the flag has pretty colors? No. Oh, I don't know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thanks for doing this, Flip. This is fun. I'm excited to see what the fans think of you as a host.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, well, alright, thanks Duke fans. Again, 10th episode. We're super thankful for all of our viewers and listeners. It's been super special and we're excited to keep this thing going. We'll see you next Tuesday.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, to start with, I can tell you right now that casual commander is not the pejorative that people would like to use. It doesn't mean simple magic for babies. Let's start by defining competitive commander first.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because with competitive commander, then you can extrapolate out to casual. So what competitive commander to me means...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is taking the card pool of 24,000 cards that we have in EDH and finding the cards that are the most powerful that skim the top edge of the entire card pool.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Optimizing them into a way that will effectively and quickly win a game either through combo or through, uhm, some kind of just very fast and effective way to win. Like a classic would be, uhm, Painter, Servant, and Grindstone, for instance.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And being able to grind out a game and win as quickly as you can. The object of a competitive commander game is to prove your skill and magic, to show how good you are at finding the best cards out of this pool and getting the most possible value and strength out of them and then exerting your dominance over the rest of the table. Now, in contrast to that, casual commander is


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, the entire rest of the format, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Taking your favorite cards, putting them into a pile with your favorite commanders to choose from, finding a way to play that's like tribal based or, uh, actually it's not even fair to say tribal based or anything, it's just casual commander is how you play commander. It's just, we're getting together, I've got 99 cards as a general, any number of themes or any number of things,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The key here though, is that we're not playing for prizes, we're not playing for rankings, we're just playing to have a good time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right. And we're playing with our friends either at, uh, GP, uh, Magic Fest, your home, your office, your library, your workplace, whatever, uh, your local game store. But the entire point of the game is to find a way to hang out with your friends and play Magic that is not, doesn't have the pressure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The point is, obviously you want to win the game. We're playing a game to win, right? I've got 40 life, you've got 40 life, I want you to get to zero before I do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's not the motivation. Like, the driving motivation of a competitive deck is


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I built this deck to win. I came here tonight so that I can crush you into the ground. Not, and I don't mean like, I'm not trying to obliterate you, but I'm just saying like, I want to win. I really want to win. When I'm playing in a,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Non-competitive commander. It's more like, okay, well I want to win. I'm going to try to win.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I also want to hang out with you. Right. And I want to chill and I want to be hanging out with my friends and our motivation is less about winning. I mean, let's be real. Winning is the point, right? Like when me and Olivia and the professor sit down to play,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] One of us is gonna win and I'm gonna try to crush them because they're my friends and I want to crush them. But if I lose, whatever, we just hung out and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I feel like the two hours or whatever that I spent with you playing my game was a valuable use of my time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, because for instance, you'll have infinite combos in your commander decks. You're gonna have brutally huge creatures, Voltron decks, unblockability, but that's just incidental. That's cards that you're playing that you find interesting and fun. Yeah, you'll win, but your motivation isn't to try to get the best possible way to win.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like in a competitive space, you might be playing with cards that you don't necessarily like, but are the best iteration of that card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If there's a 1 mana effect that does this and a 5 mana effect that does this, you might not take the 5 mana effect even though it's also got some other fun and cool things or cool piece of art or whatever. You're gonna take the one that's always gonna be better. And that's gonna be in your competitive deck.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or you're going to pick your commander to maximize the ability for you to win in the most effective way possible or to give you the widest color spread to be able to do what you want to do. Whereas if you're playing a non-competitive commander, you might be picking your commander because you like their artwork or because you want to build around the theme that's based on that card. You might be picking cards that are suboptimal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because they're emotionally resonant to you in some way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right, like, in my Titania deck, I pick, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've got like 12 different rampant growth type effects. Some of them are just terrible objectively, but I pick them because they remind me of when I was in 6th grade playing Magic, or they remind me of like, oh, I like this art and I got this card from this person and I traded that person. You know, they give, they tell me a different story than the cards on the table.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that's okay because I'm not trying to get the most optimal way to win.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've been building a green-blue Sea Monster deck with Kiora for a very long time, and I've got Mahomori Jin in there. Mahomori Jin is a 5-6 flier that does literally nothing else but sit and be very expensive and fly. And it's in my deck because I love that card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it could be any number of much better 5-6 fliers that do infinitely better things than just sit there and fly, but this is my card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Casual commander, all commander is fundamentally from the core a broken game of magic. Cause you can, you've got such a small band list with such a wide card pool that all of the things you can do in other forms of magic that are just absurdly busted


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are legal because singleton format of commander makes it fair and not fair. I don't mean fair as in like, oh, of course it's balanced magic, but it means that you have just as much chance of finding your utterly broken and completely jank combo as anybody else does. Right. The lack of consistency is what helps commander be a broken format without being a like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just, you know, hideously broken format. I mean, we've got the ability to, you can do things that are just...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I can, like my Brea deck, every time I play it I find an infinite combo that I did not deliberately put in there. Just accidentally. Because it's like, oh, if I put these two cards that I totally forgot were in the deck together, then I, I mean, I can go infinite with Eldrazi Displacer and Brea and Ashnod's Altar and doing all these things and bouncing up and down and just,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, did I just win accidentally because I forgot that I had Zulaport Cutthroat in play? And it just did 12 billion damage to everybody?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Commander is broken on purpose. Commander is broken because it's the format where we can sit and play the most fun, ridiculous things you can do in Magic.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But because we're playing with the social contract with the idea of we're trying to have fun, it's okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, if it was trying to play for rankings or prizes or competitions,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We would have to ban so many cards to make it fair. Not even fair, it's not possible. It's not possible to make commander into a fair format.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Here's the- oh god, I hate Leovold so much. But, okay, so let's, let's pull back- I do too, but I look like him when my hair is done, so. So let's pull back a step, and let me answer your question broadly. First off, we have this thing called the Commander philosophy document that we came up with last year, which kind of sets out what the-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The idea of commander is what, what it means when you sit down and play commander, what are we agreeing to do?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right, and the bottom line of this says, Commander is a broken format. It's more fun if you don't break it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right? Like, we fundamentally believe that you can do the most absurd, obscene things in Commander.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We just think you would be having a better time if you maybe didn't, right? So, why do we need a banlist? Because we have rules here. Rules here says when, before we sit down to play, you and I will sit and have a discussion and say like, okay, well I'm playing my Attracts of Planeswalkers deck and you're going to be playing your like, mono chair tribal or ladies turning left deck or whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Maybe we should find a better deck to have a better play experience with each other, because my deck is going to blow yours out of the water, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So yeaah, so we can have this, uhm, conversation beforehand, the rule zero discussion where we sit and say, look, we have an imbalance in decks, let's find better decks to play with each other.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the reason we have a ban list is because some cards are just stronger than a discussion. Some cards are just so fundamentally


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Against the core of the format that they represent either being too strong or just


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Change gameplay to be something that we don't want it to be. So uhm, I'll use your Leovold example for, so one of the things that when Leovold came out, Leovold is the card that says uhm, that when you draw, when your opponents draw the cards past their first one, they don't draw it. Right? And when Leovold is targeted, you can draw Leovold, draws a card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so what you would do is you would play Levold and then you'd play like a time twister style thing. Right. Force you to discard your cards. You get seven new cards. The other player's getting none. And then you would have to fair each puzzle box, which is a card that replaces your first draw. And the net result is that the other players get locked out of the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And what, the way we look at it with all these, there's a whole category of these cards which are like, like Iona for instance, or Leovold or stuff like that, which are basically that say,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That player doesn't get to play magic.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That to me personally, and to kind of the rules committee in general,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is counter to the idea of commander. Commander is a social format. We're getting together. We're setting time aside to come and hang out and play cards. The cartridge is kind of the facilitating us being able to play.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So that's the thing. Like, I'm not gonna sit there and advocate that we ban all the stax cards. We can't ban smokestacks and winter orbs and torpor orb and all of these things that make your things miserable to play. We can't ban pillowforts.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] By taking out Leovold, which is a repeatable effect because it's your commander, or Iona because it's your commander, all these things, by taking them out, what you're doing is you're saying like, we don't...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Want this type of play to be represented in the format. So use this kind of as an example. I mean, the RC wanted cards to represent an example of what you shouldn't be doing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But that didn't really work out, so there's some cards that... So let me use a different example. Primeval Titan.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Prime Evil Titans is one of my favorite cards. It's one of the cards I played Commander for when it started.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I was so bad, so, so mad when they banned Primeval Titan because it's one of the greatest cards in Magic. Why wouldn't you want to ramp all the time?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well it turns out when you're playing Primeval Titan, the entire game becomes about Primeval Titan. You put it out, you get your two lands, and then the next player is trying to control magic that, or clone it, or write a replication, or do something. The entire game basically becomes hot potato with the Primeval Titan. You're either playing Primeval Titan or you're playing a way to take it. And when the entire game becomes the focus of that,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, look, that's fine if you want to play that and everybody's okay with it, knock yourself out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right, that's exactly it. Like, I think those are the two things that, uh, keep Commander, Commander is one is we have a discussion and sit there and say like, yo, you know what? I really don't want to be playing against Winter Orb because that's not the game I'm looking for. I want to actually try to play. My deck's not built to fight against it. I'm just going to get checked out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And two is, okay, you know what? You played this deck against me, I'm just gonna choose not to play with you again. Right. And, I don't like that, but it's also, nobody's keeping you at the table in Commander. True.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Going back to what we talked about with casual, what does casual mean, right? Casual, the idea is we're coming out, we're playing a game of magic. We're hanging out, we're just chilling, we're having a good time. What does it mean to have a good time? That is a really objective, that's a really subjective idea, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, my good time and the good time of somebody who enjoys a good stacks deck is not the same, right? Like somebody might be like, I love the puzzle of breaking stacks open, of sitting there and trying to figure out how do I get past all these taxing effects and actually win the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cool, I get it. But also, like, I just want to play my Tribal Soldiers deck, and you want to play your Tribal Hydras deck, and then our friend comes over here with like an Elora Lockdown deck and like, okay, well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're not on the same page, right? So keeping it casual to me means coming in with a mindset that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We want to make sure that everybody leaves the table feeling like they had a good time. There's ways to do, to play magic so that everybody is super stoked by what you just did. Right? Like, when I talk about casual magic, I talk about when we play


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you do something amazing, I want to be excited about it. I want to be so stoked that you got your deck to do this weird, obscure 12 card combo, or that you got this 2 card combo to go off, and it went infinite, and you obliterated the whole table even though you were in the fa- I mean, I don't want to sit here with Torment of Hailfire sitting there telling me like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now do it 48 more times? Yeaah. And I'm like, ugh. You know why I hate that card and why I think that card's not a casual card? Because some people are like, well just scoop, you lose. But because it gives you a choice, your mind always wants to find the way out to try to make, and then you extend it and stretch it and it's just like, oh, you're not going to win, dude.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or you're aiming for a casual mindset, maybe leave the torment of hellfire to the side. Right? Like, maybe that's not the co- like, what mood do you want people to leave the table with?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Combos are great, but it's just about like, okay, so think about this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Why do you think commander doesn't like turn 4 combos, or turn earlier than 4 combos, or turn 6 combos?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Commander is by nature a, like, you don't get started until about turn 6, turn 7. That's when you, after you've built up your kind of base, put out your mono rocks, kind of set up your establishment.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then the game starts rolling. And there's this notion of phases of commander. There's a build up phase, then like there's blocks of turn one to three where you just, you're playing your monorox, there's nothing going on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Turns four to six. Okay, you're playing some incidental things. Maybe we're having some interaction here and there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Turn seven through nine. Okay, now your combo can go off. Now maybe you've got your setup. Now maybe you can actually start alpha striking. And then from turns like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] 10 through 13, 10 to 12. Okay, now the big finishers are coming down. And your crater hoofs are coming out. Your big mega combo winds are coming.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because enough time has passed, people have been able to build up and play the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you end the game at turn four, think about it, I shuffled up my deck and commanded a hundred cards, it's forever to shuffle.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then I sat down, I played, we did mulligans, we went through half an hour, I finally got my hand that I can play with, I put out a card, I put out like, you know, island, soul ring, go, and you're like, island, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, okay, well, I've got like 12 monorock stuff, and you're like, okay, well, I put out coiling oracle, and then you're like, I combo off and win. By the time, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You haven't gotten fulfillment. You have, you've spent all that time setting up your game and you haven't gotten to play.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is, to me, contra to the idea of casual magic because...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Both sides haven't had a chance to build up their tables to actually get to experience their decks. I mean, it sucks when you get mono-screwed. It sucks when you get mono-flooded. It sucks when you're stuck with a handful of cards and you don't get to do anything.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right? Like, that to me is miserable. That's not how I want to-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's not what I intended when I sat down to play for an afternoon magic cards, right? Like I want to sit there. I mean, I don't necessarily need to win.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I wanna play. I wanna do things. I wanna feel like I had a meaningful impact on the game. And...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because when I play Magic, my goal is to make sure that the people I play against don't feel like they wasted their afternoon.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, I want you to get up from the game, whether you won or lost, and feel like, oh man, some cool things happened. Oh man, I got to do thing with my deck. Oh man, I got to combo off, but then they stopped me with a fluster storm. Oh no. You know, I want to be able to tell those stories. But, if you win before I can even get started, or your deck's whole point is to stop me from getting started.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What did I come here for? I could have been watching a movie if I didn't want to interact with anything.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's a super fair question. It's super important question too. Because again, for me, the core commander is that when you shuffle up your 99 cards, when you play, they're going to be a different set of 99 than the different set of seven than they were the last time you played. And it's going to be super weird, super random things are going to happen.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But some people like consistency in their decks, right? Sure. And you want, maybe part of the doing the thing of your deck is getting those combo pieces and be able to do the thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's two parts to why don't we ban tutors. One is, they are fun. It's fun to get your favorite. Like, in my Tuvasa deck, I've got Elad, Elad Amari's Call. The two mana that gets a creature and puts it into your hand or whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because I want to pull Rafiq out so that I can load him up with enchantments and go to Auratown and crush people, right? But why can't we ban tutors? Well, what's a tutor?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right? Demonic Tutor, Enlightened Tutor, Worldly Tutor, and Rampant Growth Tutor.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There are over 200 cards that would just immediately, and they're like fundamental staples of commanders that would just be like sliced right out. They're commanders that wouldn't be playable anymore because you come into play and you get to tutor for a thing and it's just untenable. It would just


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A lot of these decisions are made during deck construction.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're making choices of the kind of game you're going to play by the cards you put into your deck.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right? Like when you're building your deck, you are deciding, am I going to be the person who's winning on turn four or am I going to be the one who's helping you do the cool thing with your deck? You know, it's like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What is my goal here? When I put Torment of Hailfire into my deck, that's making a statement.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have made a choice, or when I put flash into my deck, or when I put- Tangle wire. When you put tangle wire in your deck. Or you put winter orb.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like think about it, every card you put in your deck is a card you intend to play. Right. And when you play it, ask yourself why. What are you doing? What do you want to do with it? Why is this card in your deck? What is the mood and the feel and the vibe that you're going for with this card?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that will determine who you are and what you are taken as and what people think of you. Like, are you going to be a casual player? Then you're probably not putting in like your Leovold into your deck. You can't anymore because it's banned.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, but I mean, there's like cards that are just like, why would you do that? Why did you make that choice? You didn't need to put torment to hellfire. There's plenty of ways to win in black that don't need to be the torture.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Viewers, viewers, we have vision. I'm sorry. I'm, I'm, I'm on school podcast.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But here's the thing, I'm not trying to tell people we're going to ban torment and hellfire. It's not going to happen. No. You don't have the power to do that. I don't have the power to do that. You're just an advisor. But also, also it's just, it's not ban worthy. It's just irritating, but it's not ban worthy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know what? That's kind of what the meetings go like. I'm just saying.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But uh, but the point though is like when you make the, I guess, if we go back all the way to the top of the show topic. Yes. What is casual magic? I think fundamentally casual magic is deck construction.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is choosing to pick the cards that are going to enhance the enjoyment and the experience of everybody playing the game without like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, you're trying to uplift the table. You're trying to give a positive expression. I'm not saying you're trying to lose. You could still try to win and win in a really cool and fun way. I'm just saying, and maybe not even really cool, I don't want to be forcing my opinion of casual magic on all the people. Some people just want to play the best cards and win the best way. That's fine. That's great.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But when you're constructing your deck, when you're picking the cards, the cards you pick...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I gain a life, you take a life, and well now we know what the game is gonna be. Right. Right? Like, or you put out Sulfuric Vortex. Okay, now we know what the game is gonna be. Sure. That's fine, but you're making a statement.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And what is that statement and what do you want the other players to take away from that?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let me, let me use an example piece off of that. So there's a card called Aura Shard.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] One green white, right? Like, when you play an enchantment or something, it breaks another permanent. And that card is a very hostile card. It can destroy tables of wrecking permanents left and right.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it's also like when I play, I like to play defensively basically. Like, I'm building my Voltron, I've got Aura Shards out because it gives me the extra cards out of my Tuvasa deck, and I play it and then I can just zap things that are going to start destroying my enchantments.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, when you're playing against someone like, I was playing against a friend of mine who was playing an all vehicles deck. Vehicles is super weak to aura shards, and he was-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] By, you know, by right, very, very scared of this card. He didn't want to play his cards or his deck because anything I did would just start destroying his game plan.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Until he could find a way to remove war sharks in the game and then he could start actually playing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that's when I realized, I'm like, oh, I'm sending the wrong message with this card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, I'm sending a message that when I play this card, I'm going to be a proactive, hostile, destroying your game plan type of player. That's not the type of person I am. I'm a, I want you to have fun, I want your deck to do the thing, I want to beat you, but I don't want to beat you by stopping you from playing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When I realized that, oh, I am stopping these people from playing because a card that I thought was just going to be a defensive, help them get out of a jam type of card ended up being a proactive and super dangerous card. So I took Aura Shards out of my deck because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In deck construction, I made that choice that I want to present.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A deck that says, if you let me do my thing, I'm going to do something cool and do it, but I'm not going to stop you from doing your thing. I'm not going to prevent you from playing the game because that doesn't advance my deck concept in any way. And it also makes the game more animosity, more hostile than the type of game I want to play.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Similarly, when I built my Titania deck, Titania is all about throwing your lanterns at the graveyard to get 5-3 elementals and then office breaking.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The thing that I realized when I was building the deck first, I was like, okay, what are the best ways for me to get my lands into the graveyard? And I found cards like Dust Bowl. Dust Bowl says, you know, pay three, sacrifice it, sack one of your lands and destroy target land. I'm like, great, I can repeatedly put my lands into the graveyard.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What I didn't realize, I'm like, oh, I'm also just like, terrible land destruction. Like I had all the script mines and wastelands and everything and crucible worlds. And I realized that my deck was basically just a pawns a deck that was just stopping everybody. It was the most hateful, like completely destructive deck ever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I took like half those cards out of the deck because I realized that, whoa.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I want to be playing because I'm making big tokens and winning by doing cool dumb token things, not by being like the complete lockdown, you don't get to play magic guy. And that realization.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, like, I mean, look, it's, it's not about whether you're winning or losing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Exactly. It turns out Thassa's Oracle is a card, right? Or is it? Lab Maniac, Laboratory Maniac, Jason, whatever. But Jason's whatever. I want a card called Jason's whatever. You know, it had a card name, but I forgot.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the point though is, the point though is it's the mentality that you're looking for. Like, what do you want?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like I still want to win. I just don't want to win that's stopped you from- I want to win because we played a game. I don't want to win because I played a game and you watched me play.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If I can give a defense of stacks for a second because I, I hate stacks. It's my least favorite way to play magic. It is 100%.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, Earth is a, I mean, Earth is a mean old man, but uhm, the thing though is that when you're playing in a meta with your friends, or with your group at your local game store, and sometimes decks get out of control and sometimes people are just going and you're just steadily building up, the war is getting stronger and stronger, because that's just what happens in groups, you always want to one up your playgroup. Sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At some point, you do need to have stacks, which is the $5,000 solution, right? Like the whole point of stacks was to stop vintage decks from


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Getting too big for the britches, right? Right. Like, it's to slow people down, it's to attack you, it's to prevent you from doing things, teach you a lesson that maybe this is getting out of control. Magic needs escape valves like that. You need to have the fun killer deck, the fun police that will sit there and go like, okay guys, we need to ramp back because if you're going to keep playing this overwhelming deck that's going to blast it out of the water, let's


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm gonna play my deck that's gonna punish you for doing that. Right. Fine. The problem is when you sit down and take that punishment deck against somebody who's playing a deck where everybody's in a chair.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Fair point. Right? Like, it's all, it comes all the way back to that first rule zero discussion. What are we playing? What kind of game are we playing? Are we playing a hardcore competitive cutthroat game? Rad, I'll pull out my super combo deck.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you can pull out your sac sec and we can do this. As long as we understand, then our fun can still be at parity to each other. And we can still be keeping it casual while playing the most hardcore aggressively competitive decks there is. But.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If there's an imbalance, if there's a discussion break, if there's a lack of communication where it's like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, well, I thought we were just playing, you know, my, I was playing my seven and you're playing your seven. My seven is like, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's a line between, hey, what kind of deck are you playing, and hey, tell me the deck so I can attack against it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's not the kind of, I mean, I'm not trying to get that win. I don't want to win because I built the deck that has the key to win your deck.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, that's not a fun way to play commander. I want to play the commander I want to play. I just want to make sure that we're all just in the same neighborhood as each other. Sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sometimes it's fine for me to accidentally oops into my low power deck against all your high power decks and just get blanked out of the game. You know what? It happens. Whatever. I wanted to play this commander. I knew what I was getting into.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I got crushed, that's fine. And sometimes it's the, you know, the reverse, you're like, hey guys, I just built this deck, I don't necessarily know the power of it, oh my god, I'm sorry, I just blew everybody out of the water. Right, right. That feels bad too, but it's also like, it happens, it's casual, there's nothing on the line. Shuffle up, get another game. Yeah, there's nothing on the line, except our good time.