This were the biggies for me. I have a lot of other mini tips/tricks/product recs too specific for this...if you guys like my approach or have any other questions lmk and I'll make posts of them.

Hair

Problems: jet black, dull, dry, curly, frizzy, very fine but a whole lot of it
Woah. This is a biggy. First off, health. Olaplex treatments made a big difference, and so did leave in creams. They made my curls defined and hydrated. A gentle detangler is a must: Tangler Teezer and Manta are both great. My two favorites are the Briogeo Curl Cream and the M Organics Annatto Oil. My method is to wash my hair (only the scalp) put in the leave in cream, comb my hair thoroughly, twist it into a secure low bun with spin pins, and let it dry that way. The result? Hair that's shiny and straight on top and gentle ringlets on the bottom.
I only wash my hair once a week, and the issue was that while it looked great after washing, it got horribly matted and frizzy when I slept - the curl pattern got ruined. The solution was to wrap my hair up in a silk turban when I slept - this was a GAME CHANGER. It was surprisingly hard finding a good large high quality silk scarf: I used this. I tie it in a loose turban (had to invent my own turban wrap style) and I put a Shhhowercap on top because I toss and turn a LOT when I sleep. This combo was a winner for me...perfectly secure but not tight, and my hair is perfectly preserved to the point that my hairstyling time in the morning is zero.
I also do regular scalp massages with oil to keep my scalp flake free and well nourished - I make my own DIY oil concotion from grapeseed oil with tea tree, geranium, rosemary, and lemongrass essential oils - smells like heaven and so good for hair.
So the above made my hair's texture and health perfect. But my hair still looked like just a dark mass. The curl pattern barely showed at all, and that was because my hair was just so dark and dull that it absorbed all the light rather than reflecting it. The cool tone was also really not nice because I'm a very very very warm toned person - my skin and haieyebrows always subtly clashed. I found a way to get my hands on salon quality bleaching products and lightened my hair at home to a warm dark blonde with subtle highlights and lowlights. I have some artistic talent and a sort of knack for these things; most people really should let a professional take care of it. My curls pop like crazy now and my hair and my skin suit each other so well that I look like I have a perpetual insta filter on. I get continuous compliments on hair which I never used to before. Lighter hair and eyebrows also suited my contrast and made my soft features look sharper whereas my ultra dark hair really washed them out - see my earlier post on contrast.
After shitty hair my whole life, I finally truly do have great hair and I am very proud.

Skin

Problems: horrible, unrelenting cystic acne. Tried a lot of shit. Accutane was the answer. My skin has stayed clear since thanks to a top notch skincare routine that focuses on ingredients rather than brands: think urea, niacinamide, good fats, tretinoin, vitamin c. I only have one "magic in a bottle" product, and that's biologique recherche's P50. the price is really steep, but I decant it into a glass spray bottle and use just 1-2 sprays a day. A single bottle lasts me a year, and that makes it affordable for me. Beef liver supplements are important - low vitamin A can really screw your skin- Vital proteins is a great brand. I have not had even a microzit since I started to supplement beef liver, and it's been over six months. To learn about skincare, Home (simpleskincarescience.com) is an amazing and informative blog. Also love Dr. Dray and Lab Muffin Beauty and Gothamista for those preferring a Youtube format.
Having noncomedogenic makeup is also very important. Noncomodegonic makeup is actually very hard to find - had to junk some beloved Glossier Cloud paint blushes because they contain Red 30 Lake which is a very irritating ingredient. If you guys are interested in my master list of high performance and skin safe makeup and skincare, lmk.

Bucktooth Situation

DISCLAIMER: only do this if you aren’t an idiot - see the teenagers taking this to extreme levels as a TikTok challenge. YOUR TEETH WILL NOT GROW BACK.
Ages ago I was looking into cheap long term solutions for my rabbit-tooth issue. I looked into a procedure called tooth sculpting, where dentists literally file away at your teeth to fix minor cosmetic issues. None of the dental clinics were very clear as to exactly how they did this - except one. They use very very fine sandpaper attached to a sort of drill-like thing, and also EMERY BOARD (!!)
Well, I thought, like the nifty little DIY-er I am, I can find emery boards myself! So I nipped down to a drugstore, bought a big pack of cheap emery nail files, sat in front of a mirror, and started to file away at the bottom of my front two teeth. I had to replace the emery board often. In about half an hour, I had perfected my teeth. The actual filing bit felt very weird, but it didn’t hurt. It’s been over a year, and my teeth are far prettier and perfectly fine. No increased sensitivity, nothing. All for three dollars!
Some obvious tips for dummies: If you feel anything approaching pain or discomfort, STOP. You only want to remove EXCESS enamel. Excess enamel is only at the bottom of your tooth, not the sides or front. Do not file anywhere else except the bottom cutting edge.

Dark undereye circles

Embraced them. I use a VERY subtle and sheer color corrector on really bad days: The Armani Color corrector in peach (just looks like an invisible but effective concealer on me) but I make no effort to cover them up. I find I look dumber and very generic if I try. Instead, eyeliner makes my eyes pop and makes my undereye circles less dark by comparison (contrast theory comes to the rescue!)

Bad wardrobe

...disguised as West Coast laid back style. I learned about Kibbe Body Types and invested in quality over quantity. Embraced a more feminine/dark academia style, with truly comfortable clothing like loose fit menswear-inspired trousers, belts, flowy light button downs, vests, bodysuits, turtlenecks, rompers, trench coats, and comfortable heels/boots. My favorite brands are Uniqlo, aritzia, lilysilk, mango, storets. Built a wardrobe along a harmonious color palette and silhouette so all your tops and bottoms go together. Makes getting dressed literally effortless.
Understood the concept of contrast (I made a previous post on this).

Color

I find most color theories sort of suck. Once you understand and apply the principles of contrast, color really just boils down to this: Red, Yellow, and Blue. All colors are made a combination of these three. red and yellow dominant colors are sort of lumped together as the "Warm" colors and blue toned colors are the "cool" colors, but that's stupid when it comes to dressing yourself. I am straight up yellow toned, with next to no red and no blue. Thanks to the "warm vs cool" concept, I figured reds were a safe bet. it took me ages to realize that red tones don't work for me unless I'm wearing lots of red-toned makeup like blush and lipstick. My new rule is any low contrast color with a strong yellow base (browns, rusts, cinnabars, creams, warm grays, some sagey greens, charcoals) are always wins and will look great even if I'm wearing no makeup that day. Those colors make me glow instead of washing me out. Gray is not yellow-dominant but it suits everyone regardless of skin tone.
The big benefit of the contrast-RYB model is that restricting all your clothing to your contrast and dominant primary color ENSURES everything goes together and makes shopping much simpler. If anyone is interested in a more elaborate post on this lmk.

Chronically flaky lips

Lip balms with urea in them are magic and work like nothing else does, including korean products, all natural products, expensive products, ANYTHING. I use Flexitol's lip balm. Urea is a magic skincare ingredient and makes hyaluronic acid look like a little b****.

Body hair

Epilator(braun is the best) + electrolysis for hair removal, but THIS is what REALLY eliminated my ingrowns: I use body scraping to clean myself in the shower. It removes dead skin and gunk and moisturizes like NOTHING does, and I used to be a "scrub myself every day with Salux" kinda person. It's simple: buy a scraper (like the kind they use to bake), wet your skin, lather yourself in grapeseed/olive/coconut/any grocery store oil, and literally scrape the oil off. Everything, and I mean everything, will come off with it like magic, leaving a very very thin layer of oil to keep you perfectly moisturized and clean. You will be shocked at how much comes off. Do not use soap after. I like to include antibacterial and sweet smelling essential oils like tea tree, geranium, and lemongrass. That way, the remaining thin layer of oil on my skin actively fights bacteria and smells floral. I have a glass pump bottle with the oil blend in my bathroom. The ancient Romans and Greeks cleaned themselves this way, which is where I got the idea, and scientific research backs up the fact that it works way better than soap. I smell sweet as a peach everywhere even if I haven't showered in five days (I'm not shitting you, my SO has confirmed this). I have a reputation for "smelling nice" and abandoning soap has not changed that lol. Can't promise 5 days for everyone though because I don't really sweat much and that definitely played a role.
Forgot to mention that my KP has basically disappeared since I started this, most likely because my skin is moisturized like it never has been before.

Hairline

There are three main aspects of your hairline that you can change: widow's peak, sidewisps, and hairline density. Sidewisps are the little wispy hairs that grow in front of your ears - a term I’ve coined because if you have what men call sideburns, it’s 100% too much, no debate.
A pro Korean makeup artist trick is to fill in sparse edges on the hairline with eyeshadow powder. Use as dark a shade as looks realistic; this really gives your hair the appearance of lushness, density, and lift.
One of the biggest improvements I made to my face was removing my widows peak. I just used tweezers and tweezed all the hair off. Studies show a peaky V is actually the most masculine hairline there is; the most feminine is a very softly rounding hairline (like a gentle upside down U). My widows peak was masculinizing my face while making my forehead look much smaller than it actually was. Small foreheads are not always a good thing, by the way; analysis has shown that one of the most attractive things in a woman’s face is high levels of neoteny, especially in the mid face. Larger foreheads are attractive in women, and in fact most models actually have a forehead that’s slightly MORE than 1/3 of their face.
Sidewisps are very interesting. A lot of people say sidewisps (light wispy hair in front of the ears) are very attractive and feminine, but I’ve noticed most celebs have them removed completely, to the points where they have no hair past the start of the ear. I think I’ve figured it out. Almost all models and actresses have camera-friendly features (very angular defined face, large cheekbones, long ramus, prominent and defined jaw, jutting chin.)
Sidewisps minimize/negate all those features. They make the ramus look shorter (create the illusion of less forward growth) and cover up the most sculpt-y part of sculpted cheeks. In summary, removing the sidewisps creates a more strong, sculpted look for your outer face. My forward growth isn’t as good as I’d like it to be and I have very broad and sharp cheekbones, so removing my sidewisps simultaneously remedied a flaw and brought out the best in my face.
Keeping in the sidewisps is a much more feminine, soft, childlike look. This is the move if 1) your forward growth is already good and you can afford to lose a little ramus length 2) you have a soft and delicate cheek and jaw area (think the ideal facial silhouette in Asia)

Eyes

I have nice eyes, and I like to emphasize them, I find mascara is the biggest "I'm wearing makeup" giveaway and I have never met one that doesn't flake or clump by the end of the day. I like using softly smudged pencil eyeliners in brown and black. The Marc Jacobs Highliners are truly budge proof from my experience and well worth the cost IMO.

Hourglass body shape

I find that having big breasts (I'm a 30DDD) is a huge ass challenge. The biggest problem is finding the right bra to keep them secure. I learned a lot from doing some proper research on the topic, and this is what I've learned; buy seamed, wired bras, preferably with a sling and side boning. Good quality seamed bras make a huge difference, and bras that are meant to convertible to strapless provide the best support. I like Curvy Kate and the Dita Von Teese lingerie line. Her Room is a good bra retailer, with good quality brands and filters for the features you want.

Folliculitis

I use the dermatologist-recommended trick of taking a bath with one cup of household bleach in the water and soaking for twenty minutes or so. The tub smells exactly like a swimming pool but doesn't burn or irritate or fade skin. It's just a powerfully antibacterial and soothing soak. Also recommended for psoriasis and eczema.

Handling your periods gracefully

Menstrual cup + period underwear from Thinxx to catch any drips or leaks. Never need another pad or tampon, good for the planet, and, once you master the menstrual cup, no smell either. I can always tell when women are using pads because the smell is truly horrendous any time you get within two feet of their nether regions. No matter how often you change them, the smell is there as soon as a pad does its job and collects blood. Also, if you put your bare foot in cow shit, would you just use a paper towel to wipe it off? No. Buy a bidet or hose. They aren't expensive, you can install them yourself, and man the one thing I find insanely gross about the west is that they use paper towels and not WATER. It's 1000x more hygeinic.

Anxious/bored eating + cooking

Intermittent fasting plus practicing mindfulness. Intermittent fasting lets me take a "break" from food and makes me very self-aware of times when I'm use it as an emotional crutch. I also say a benediction before I put anything in my mouth and you'd be surprised what a difference it makes: "This food is the gift of the earth, the sky, and much hard work. May I live in a way that makes me worthy to receive it: conquering greed, restlessness, impatience, anger, and laziness. May I eat slowly and mindfully, for nourishment, not pleasure, for no pleasure is equal to that of a meditative life."
I also cook at home and eat a no sugar, protein rich, vegetable heavy, probiotic heavy diet. A carbon steel saute pan, an Instant Pot, and a really good blender are all you need to make basically everything under the sun. My diet consists of beans, nuts, lentils, probiotic foods like yogurt, aged cheese, natto, and fermented rice, lots of spices, eggs, vegetables, and fruit. I use nutritional yeast to get my B vitamins. I actively cook in bulk about three times a week and store food in these huge gallon mason jars. Right after I go grocery shopping, I spend about an hour chopping/prepping all veggies and storing them in Ziplocs in the freezer. I'm lazy and chopping vegetables is VERY time consuming, so having prechopped veggies makes cooking regularly far easier for me. My guilty pleasures are mochi ice cream and neopolitan pizza. Learning to cook is a life skill - people who can't cook and don't make it a priority to learn key piss me off. Don't get me started on men who brag about never entering their kitchens...Eating out is a huge waste of money and is horribly unhealthy. Even trendy "healthy" places use a shitton of fat, salt, and sweetener in everything. This is a huge part of lifestylemaxxing, and since I'm VERY lazy it was really hard for me to get into a pattern of cooking regularly instead of caving and ordering in half the time. Meal prep, freezing vegetables, and cooking ahead have all helped tons, but it took me a long time to get into a routine that worked, so it's never too early to start. I feel a lot better than I used to when I was a takeout fiend. It's difficult cooking for yourself as a busy professional in a small apartment and I think I've perfected my kitchen appliance collection/layout/organization so if you're struggling with it please ask!

Extensive list of "improvement notes" I used to climb from Silver to Plat with Yuumi

I recently climbed to Plat for the first time playing nothing but Yuumi, and wanted to share some notes I compiled along the way. Ever since high Silver, after each game, I would try to think hard about mistakes I made, going back to watch the replay if necessary. If anything stuck out, I would make an "improvement note" in a text file. These really added up after a while, and I have pasted the entire list below. Those closer to the top are more recent. There may be a few typos here and there -- feel free to ask if you don't understand something.

When early game goes rough, you often start tunneling on immediate fights, and forget about vision set up around OBJECTIVES; try to calm down and think further ahead
Using Ignite+Exhaust on a seemingly isolated target while enemies are missing keeps baiting your allies to overcommit, and then die to the response
Basic: deep river wards are good against speedy junglers, but make no sense if your jungler is just about to take the crab in that same section of river...

In lane, highest payoff of mental energy seems to come from: 1) avoiding all CC; 2) hitting Qs (these add up!); 3) procing passive on enemy ADC while they last-hit
Reminder: continuing to lose 2v2's post-6 against Lulu in lane, even with significant HP advantage and good engages; stop underestimating her poly+R combo
When an ally is getting CC'd and potentially picked in an early invade, give them the heal and shield, then gtfo onto another ally; safer, and equally effective
Reminder: bush wards do NOT cut it against Hecarim, Nunu, Rammus, etc.; to be safe, you NEED a mid-river ward, and if possible, a control ward in your own jungle

With Tryndamere: even if he's fed, he's not a great anchor; your heals have anti-synergy with his kit, and may throw him off his ult; let him split if possible
Reminder: as games get later, not body-blocking a single Jhin W can mean ADC dies, which can in turn insta-lose the whole game on the spot
Best practice for ulting: ping your ult + target beforehand -> calculate best angle and fire -> continuously look for improvements using W and E for full duration
Missing P procs in crowded minion waves; try to better incorporate the target champion only key and use right-click on them

For first ward when on red side, putting it a bit further into the river, or bit left of the bush, will both give more time to see enemy jungler coming to gank
Reminder: whenever LeBlanc is anchor in a fight, you need to be holding space; crazy woman is constantly blinking, reverting, and cloning; very easy to get lost
When you get off to a really good start, you sometimes get too hype and want to perma-fight in lane; this is very dangerous if enemy jungle/mid are missing; careful
Weird aspect of Yuumi: perhaps because you often end up mainly supporting just one person, multiple teammates often feel useless; accept this and play, don't tilt

Against Sylas: in order to not get caught off guard by his CC and escape options, you MUST pay closer attention to whose ultimate he has
According to leagueofgraphs.com, my weakest stat by far is my gold income, relative to other Yuumis; seek out more quest procs -> get Moonstone sooner -> win more
If you're under 10% HP, just don't get off OR switch allies in any remotely hostile environment; sometimes weird effects proc and you just die to a light breeze
If you only have enough mana left for one heal, never use it to top off ADC, no matter how long they are; wait for right moment to use it to maximize MS/AS as well

Reminder: STILL forgetting to use heal when running it; try just permanently thinking about it?
Rather than wait out enemy CC before procing P, it's often better to ANTICIPATE ally CC, and then proc P during brief window where enemy can't retaliate
In a tight chase down on enemy target, E first to get your anchor closer, THEN Q to apply the slow; seems straight-forward, but you often mess it up
Playing a passive, safe lane is very coin-flippy (and boring), but against bad matchups (e.g. Thresh) that is better than trying to force an advantage and dying

When a teammate is tunneling and throwing, but doesn't seem outright tilted/toxic, try pinging them harder; may help snap them out of it
As games drag on and everyone tilts, both teams often seem to get dumber, regardless of who's winning; just chilling and looking for picks is weirdly effective
Even with Elder AND Baron, if your team doesn't have any tank/engage, and some members are weak, you can't just run it down mid; will have to split-push a bit to end
Reminder: if an important objective fight is coming up in ~1:30 min, you NEED to place wards there, back, and refill your wards; this is a critical responsibility

Observed: body-blocking works not just on Kaisa's W (missile), but also on her Q (burst), as some of the projectiles will naturally target you
Observed: if you are on Illaoi getting collapsed on 3v2, and she chills in a bush, the approaching enemies are in as much danger as you; stay calm, Illaoi strong
Observed: whenever anchor is backing, maximize downtime to scout whatever you safely can nearby, and W back to them at the end of their channel
Observed: you need to use W to laterally reposition during your ult more often; it's often key to rooting more enemies while your original anchor does their thing

Observed: you can proc passive on most forms of enemy clones, including Illaoi spirits
Observed: if enemy support keeps roaming and you can't follow, you should be attempting to freeze on enemy ADC
Reminder: you are a good tool for freezing waves; you can start tanking aggro if alone, then repeatedly apply aery to your ADC for free freezing
Observed: you are not utilizing Q to scout bushes enough; it's pretty cheap and can save a death

Observed: body blocking all types of enemy projectiles at the very last second is incredibly effective
Observed: if your ADC is absolutely going to be fatally hooked, and you can anticipate it, get off and take one for the team
Reminder: on ADCs like Ezreal and Tristana, if they get caught out and still have their dash, do NOT get off to proc P and then get left behind
Observed: on blue side, bush above red buff is a nice spot for an early control ward if you have a moment; try to use it more often

Client keeps resetting preference; ALWAYS make sure you have champion names visible over health bars, to prevent skins confusing you during key moments
Decent anti-tilt strat: after you make an "inexcusable" mistake, consider the game a well-deserved loss; then just play your best for your team, regardless of outcome
Against ANY type of engage/ambush/all-in lane opponents, just start E; you or your ADC keep giving up first blood from sudden, whacky shenanigans
When an ally makes you die, there will be a burning sting through your neck, stomach, and legs; if can feel it and not tilt, that's a major advantage over opponents

When a game is going well and there is no perfect support item to build, strongly consider building: mejai's, boots of lucidity, and redemption/mikael's
Major: you keep baiting in your ADC's with sudden exhaust+ignite on enemy ADC; instead, just ping they are ready and target, and let YOUR ADC be the one to initiate
In a way, every game starts as a coinflip either for or against you, just the degree varies; your goal: lose no games in your favor, and win those slightly against you
Reminder: you tilting leads to losses more directly than teammates throwing; enjoying or at least tolerating the game while losing is a very underrated "skill"

Even in high elo, good decisions are worth much more than perfect mechanics
10 minutes worth of smart lane trading can evaporate in an instant due to one slightly careless misposition; the game always hangs in the balance
Rage warding a new pink ward while your old pink ward is being destroyed is very rarely worth it
Reminder: don't blow your E for AS/MS alone unless there is zero danger of counter-kill; better to hold it for heal value in most cases

If possible, you want your lane to be a slow, safe war of attrition, not a violent fiesta of death
Reminder: when one enemy is uber-fed, you MUST save exhaust for them at all cost; doing anything else = directly lose the game
Reminder: ultimately, you will climb if you consistently outperform the enemy support; that means better lane trades, better vision, better objective/teamfight support
Against Rell/Tristana: if they hit level 2 first and all-in, they are capable of killing your ADC under tower, unless you start heal (!)

If your ADC gets hooked and locked down, try to time and aim your ult to root the enemy ADC just as the CC chain ends; this gives your ADC the best chance at escaping
After Moonstone, a point-blank Q can actually provide a critical heal to another teammate; in this rare situation, point-blank Q is good
Teamfighting directly underneath an angry Baron is not a good environment for Yuumi; his AA's alone can quickly kill you
Bad habit: when low HP ally is running, you keep trying to proc passive on the pursuer, and getting caught in hard CC; sometimes, it's better to just pray

When your team is winning early, it's fine to play safer, but don't play lazy; at the very least, keep hitting your Q's
Against any melee support, whenever their dangerous spells are on CD, HARASS the living hell out of them; show no mercy (though watch out for enemy ADC of course)
Too often, you "go down with the first ship" in teamfights; unless they're the sole carry, just let your anchors die; because if you die too early, then EVERYONE dies
Reminder: respect enemy burst more at level 2, regardless of their comp; you keep giving up first blood, stop that

If you are solo guarding while enemy ignores you and whacks your tower, treat them as a gold sponge; +20 per quest proc is great
Observed: on blue side, you can often soak lane experience at full value while in river bush, in order to better support your jungler invading enemy bot side
Observed: on blue side especially, if enemy jungler can't dash over walls, no reason not to ward a bit DEEPER in river on first ward
If your W gets put on CD, don't take potshot Q's while off; they are very unlikely to empowered hit, and you can be much more effective in a few seconds

Don't neglect landing your empowered Q's during key teamfights; the slow and extra damage are significant; keep one eye on your anchos, but aim it properly
Against Swain: fyi, his W (eye) has an insane range (5500+); also, his E (claw) has 850 range, and gives least time to dodge root at very tip, making it quite deadly
When you and your anchor get collapsed on in neutral territory, sometimes breaking off and running in opposite directions makes the double-kill impossible for enemy
Against Alistar: his flash-Q with ADC follow-up will 100-to-0 you through all countermeasures at all levels, just like Sett

Reminder: STOP getting off for random greedy P procs; you are throwing fights
For squishy ADCs like Twitch into CC heavy enemies, consider starting Mikael's; test it out a bit
If things are going south for your anchor, start looking for Plan B anchor immediately; slight delay can make a big difference
Consider P proc in teamfights as risk/reward; better to lose one anchor and continue the fight than lose whole game from getting hard CC'd and dying

In ~3/4 of games, someone on your team will be making attrocious decisions; if they're not playing with the team, do not encourage them with heals
When chasing and weaving in AAs, be more mindful of W CD; sometimes it is better to do nothing and just wait for Q
Reminder: when facing a tank support in lane, hard focus their squishier ADC with Q poke; if they all-in, hard focus their ADC in counter-attack
Against Malphite: if he levels up sapling first, then you probably want to start E; starting Q and then having your ADC get chunked low can be pretty rough

When games devolve into total fiestas, just sitting on whoever is farming mid is an okay principle; you're pretty good in ARAMs, and less likely to die in a pick
When you feel someone on your team doesn't "deserve" the win, just go on someone else who does; feels better, and sometimes it works out
When a carry is on a full rampage, just stay on them; no use trying to keep the whole team together, as the carry may dive in without you while out of sync
Your mid-laners keep getting killed by roaming enemy support; since you usually can't really match well, you must ping better

Against Sett: careful, his flash-E will not just chunk you at level 2; with his ADC, it can straight-up 100-to-0 you even through your E, potion, and ADC heal
Reminder: champ icons are safer to W to than champ models; also, you can't just W around in later teamfights once you've been chunked once; will explode
Against Lulu: if all her CDs are up post 6, you can't 2v2, even with HP advantage; she will just polymorph your ADC while ulting hers, and you will quickly die
Against Galio support: if possible, you want to poke down the enemy ADC with AP, while your ADC pokes him down with AD

Not tilting seems to make you play about 25% better, which is usually enough to turn a game
Reminder against Jhin: later in lane, his 4th shot or 4th bounce will chunk you for like 50% or more; imperative to keep track of and avoid these
Consider: roaming before end of laning phase often disheartens ADC a bit, especially if they get 2v1'd; try to ensure the roam is worth the mental toll
When an ally is "medium raging," just sitting on them and healing them a bit more than usual can actually seem to calm them down...

Reminder: on average, roughly HALF the players are better than you; if an ally is carrying, try just trusting them unconditionally unless it repeatedly backfires
Reminder: hold onto Exhaust, and put it on a dps carry, NOT a tank or support
Somehow keep getting stuck on the wrong side of the dragon/baron pit; again: stick to the member with dashes to avoid this
Unless grinding for wins, looking up teammates before the game often seems to make you play worse, like when someone is first-timing their champ, etc.

Late-game, try to save ignite for large threats with high healing, or those about to leave vision; don't just slam it on anyone unless it's the FINAL fight
Weird: if you ditch the carry before they die, they may believe they would have lived with you there, and int more; sometimes it may be worth dying WITH them??
If a teammate does something that makes you lose the desire to win, remember we're all ignorant in different ways; play for the moment and limit test
As soon as a player toxic pings once, mute them until at least late game; repeated toxic pings are sapping your desire to win

Play purely for improvement (win/loss due to team is meaningless!), until you feel you are at goal elo threshold; then play hard for the wins to try and reach it
Don't type after the match either, unless it's something all-around positive; not good for mental health
Major: sometimes you know your ADC is bad, but enemy gets low; in such cases, going in usually backfires horribly; just play safe, and do NOT fight with them
Pay closer attention to ebb and flow of minion waves for Q and P procs; there are certain windows when it is much easier to strike

Against Poppy: getting off or on in her W field counts as a dash, and will severely mess you up; never do that
Be liberal in your use of caution/danger pings; don't assume people see or understand obvious risks; this is your best chance of "improving teammate IQ"
If your ADC gets chunked horribly low and looks to back, don't bait them to stay with heals; good junglers will just dive and kill you before you can recover
Against Ekko: his W stun is telegraphed enough that you should never get caught; don't cut it too close either

Even when there is nothing to be body-blocked, getting off and getting aggressive can sometimes distract enemy enough for your ADC to escape in close fights
Pattern: your ADCs keep trading 1 for 1 in early bot lane battles; if possible, YOU should be the one dying in these trades, not them
There is an art to abandoning a teammate; heal them if they can get a kill, heal yourself if they are totally doomed, save heal if a new anchor is closeby
Some carries do NOT want your help (i.e. exp share) until late game, and will actively int if you force it; may need to play "suboptimal" to increase win chance

Boots of lucidity work surprisingly well after second item; CDR makes a big difference
Rare: potentially lost an entire game by hovering cursor too near a teammate while trying to get off to proc passive; be more precise
If enemy team has a single carry tearing through everyone, ping them hard whenever you see them in standoffs and throughout fights
In wild skirmishes, if you have ample health, things are really coming down to the wire, and everything is on CD, just get off and start AA'ing/body-blocking

Against Jhin: by mid-game, 3 ult shots will kill you; be careful not to get too carried away blocking; also, just stand still to block if possible, safer
If a hard carry anchor is destroying a T1 or T2 turret, and you can back, you can do so before it falls to increase the local gold going to your carry
General: at least once a game, you seem to make some completely questionable ult/exhaust/W decision; try to slow things down a bit and not make nonsense plays
Against Morgana: W is too slow to dodge her bind if she fires it from medium distance; give it more respect

When you have low vision and feel a gank may be coming, don't just ping once and hope your ADC wards; ping a lot, back off, and stay safe
The first honey fruit spawns between 6:00 - 6:30 near dragon pit; consider going to get it at 6:20 if safe
The wall-jumping blast cone spawns between 5:00 - 5:30; factor this into gank considerations
River ward placed at 2:30 will expire just as second ward comes online at 4:00; together this can give uninterrupted river vision until 5:30

When an ADC is not stepping up for your Q's to land, try pinging your target just before you fire; may help them get the message
Minor: when steering by map and hopping off to path to different ally, you keep hopping off in wrong direction (towards map); stop doing that
Still not used to running heal; when ADC takes ignite, try crossing your toes or something to remember
Unless you're at max mana, just do not shoot low chance/impact Q's in lane; your mana conservation is usually more important than your quest item

Talk as little as possible during champ select; much better for your mental
Especially when with jungler, need to be aware which of you revealed the ward, so that the other one can clear it for more gold; basic fundamentals
If ADC is pushing up with no vision, neither should you sit on them nor facecheck bushes; just BACK off, they can die alone if they insist
Against Neeko: she can be a surprisingly tough support to deal with; her emp. AA stings, her root is deadly, and her disguise can bait important CDs; careful!

Reminder: Wukong's ult continues to put your W on CD at bad times; whenever he is in the game, pay special attention for it
Consider getting an elixir of sorcery a bit more often if you sense both teams are tilted; one big win at a mid-game objective often makes the other team ff
Wasteful double-wards with allies happening fairly often; try to anticipate ally ward, or else ping your own ward and the spot beforehand
When there is clear down-time with no objectives, priority is: ward / rotate for possible picks -> back for more wards -> soak exp.

Leading up to a river fight, if no one else is placing control wards, pixel bush often get more mileage than dragon/baron pit; sweep pit and ward later
When you are below average level, melee minions actually take 2 tower and 2 AA's to kill
In poke-heavy lane match-ups, make better use of aery shield as a blocking tool; especially good for Tristana and Zilean delayed explosions
Roaming to mid briefly after first back often has surprisingly good outcomes; even topping off their HP, hitting a Q, and leaving can give them an edge
Immediately going for free passive procs should be second nature; keep them in mind always until they are
Poke a bit more conservatively in lane, and try to focus the same target repeatedly -- whoever seems worse at positioning/dodging
When someone ganks you successfully once, there's a good chance they'll try again by the same angle; ward accordingly
In skirmishes and teamfights, work on holding Ult for an extra second; the improved angle once people burn their dashes can be devastating

Quick hop offs to land Exhaust/Ignite still need significant work; focus extra hard when you anticipate needing to land summs at longer range
Reminder: competent enemy supports will just clear your vision on objectives before fights; better to set it up well ahead, and then back for more wards
Sometimes, you really don't need to be fast and flashy; just give the heals and wards and hit your Q's, keep it simple; otherwise, risk a rushed misplay
When there's Leona+Wukong right on top of your anchor going nuts, you just can't get off; CC everywhere

When going for picks, there may be no "perfect" ult angle, as they can just dash diagonally out; then best to ult to cut off the max amount of retreat path
When it's too dangerous to get off, a point-blank Q can proc moonstone renewer and give an emergency heal to a nearby ally
Reminder: when getting invaded through tribush on blue side, run DOWN around the rock outcrop; cuts enemy vision of you, and you can ward back over
Reminder: when alone and getting invaded on either side, you must E in the proper direction within about 0.5 seconds, or you should die unless enemy messes up

Against Yasuo: don't forget or underestimate his tornados; they move fast, and getting hit by one at the wrong moment can lose the whole game
Minor: just put support item on proper key to begin with; it doesn't shift when it upgrades
When AA'ing a tower, rather than mindlessly kiting back and forth, better to position in safest place, and then inspect the map/scoreboard
In lane all-ins, once you've used all your CDs, it's often best to just stand directly in front of your ADC and AA; if you die and they live, it's ok

"Hookshot" Q's that you can bend all the way behind enemy minions have very high hit chance; keep them in mind as priority method
With Ekko: avoid procing shield when he's likely to ult; very easy to get left behind
Generally, the deeper up the river you can ward, the safe you'll be; ward near the actual crab early if convenient
When behind, just stay calm, set up vision ring, and predict where/when enemy team is most likely to greed; be ready to punish

When taking Baron and things get hairy, best to stay on champs with dashes that can gtfo/turn more easily; do NOT start wandering around on your own
Sometimes ulting your anchor's target gets them killed; e.g. it's often much better to proc passive on Karthus and shield ally, than to immediately ult him
In teamfights, focus more on your OWN positioning; which side you hop off on to proc passsive can make an enormous difference for avoiding CC
If your ADC ints once, chances are high they will int again; be extra ready to ditch them

With Trist: ask her to ping before she all-ins, or rocket jumps in general; helps prevent getting left behind
Against Jhin: easy to forget, if he roots you with W, you will probably just die
Dying early in lane is worse than just the initial effect; frequently ADCs will rage and int themselves later in the game...
When enemy places a yellow ward in lane bush, get into habit of (E+)AAx2 and pinging it for ADC; can insta-clear with good reflexes

Consider pinging objectives a bit harder if team is greeding/unfocused
Against Nami: if she's smart, she will send her bubble into your dash path, dangerous; her poke also stings quite a bit, don't underestimate
If there is an early skirmish, start E; it just gets way better value than Q outside of lane
When the game is a total fiesta, with no one really carrying, just sticking on the ADC seems best; they CS and survive better with you around

Get in the habit of checking the scoreboard EVERY time you back; quick scan over all champ levels/CS/items
Try not to panic when you or your anchors facechecks a bush and gets ambushed; mashing buttons (other than E) is never the best play there
With Lillia: she's a great anchor for roaming picks, but can be awkward to sit on in teamfights; squishy, and can be hard to reach teammates in need
Against Thresh: while his Flash-Flay is deadly, you should be able to bait his hook okay while in W range of ADC, as long as you're ready for it

Take more care with your ult angle; a few degrees can make a huge difference, especially in moving fights and around choke points
Basic: if you know there's a control ward in bush, don't place a yellow in unless you know you can clear it; otherwise just directly feeds gold/exp to enemy
Ideal lane skirmishing is complex: want to hit emp. Q and both summs on best targets, have ADC benefite from full passive+aery+E, all while weaving in AA's
When running heal, need to pay extra close attention during dense teamfights; be sure to use it at a good time

In lanes that feel awful, try to be more patient; just help your ADC farm and get through it
In crazy burst fiestas, you may get more mileage out of Mikael's than Redemption; instant heal and cleanse on carry is more consistent?
With Katarina: she can and will jump all over the place in strange ways; use ult more in the general direction of the enemy, can even zone with it
Important: really need to keep better track of whether current anchor has flash up; keep getting stranded when they use it unexpectedly

Against Soraka: watch out for the root at the end of her E, it is very dangerous; you can't really side-step her Q, must use W to dodge
Against Irelia: she likes to use her stun soon after she ults; it's not safe to get off until you're sure it's gone
Jumping off and repositioning while ulting can be good, but you can also just get CC'd and have the ult canceled entirely; be careful
Against Blitzcrank: in lane, his hook costs ~1/3 of his mana, on a ~20 sec CD; play around these numbers more consciously

Against Jhin: body-blocking his W on your ADC can be huge, always be ready to do so
When people are greeding, and backing out very slowly, try to avoid going back in to heal them; it often encourages them to int
Against Fiora: just don't hit her with summs until you see her blow parry; it's not worth having one blocked
Start thinking about toplaner TP flanks more, and set up a ward at mid bush at least if one is possible

With Kindred: you cannot heal allies who reach the 10% threshold inside her ult, which lasts 4 seconds; wait until after the ult's ending heal triggers
Against Kai'Sa: try to anticipate and body block her W missile in lane; she often uses it to try to poke/kill your ADC
Stop burning Exhaust when you are obviously already dead
Do not gamble your life by solo warding bushes that enemy champs could quite possibly be in

Reminder: stop spamming wards; you get 3 yellows up at once -- think consciously about the best places to put them; know where yours are
With Katarina and Leblanc: just hold space in fights; otherwise it is very easy to lose track of where you are
Reminder: it is very rarely ideal to use Exhaust on enemy support -- main exception is in lane when they are damage heavy
Against Thresh: watch out for his Flash-Flay combo; you can't really react, and it is very deadly; staying far away in a bush is your best bet

Against Maokai: even if you can't clear saplings with W, consider trying to block some of the damage onto your ADC with aery shield
Regardless of if you feel hype, you need to feel out enemy bot's playstyle before going too ham
I keep confusing small champs (e.g. Lulu vs. Fizz) in crucial moments; turn on champ names above HP bars; pay attention
Against Hecarim: need to ward further up the river; bush ward will be too late

Hopping off a CCed teammate to continue a moving ult can be huge; similarly, W'ing between allies while ulting can root more enemies
When you see CS going to waste in any free scenario, get into the habit of grabbing it with AAs or Q
Against Seraphine: keep track of her echo counter, and make sure not to get rooted by the 3rd ability
In weird chaotic games where different lanes are stomping on different teams, focus extra hard on the high priority target/s

Reminder: wait out the initial shitstorm in full 5v5's before ally hopping; you will just get caught by random CC and explode
One Q can make the difference on a gank, which can swing the game; if jungler is coming, pay extra close attention to mana, CDs, and ideal target
Against Soraka: to win the poke war, try very hard to avoid giving her free Q's
Against Ezreal: body blocking either his W or Q is quite helpful for your ADC

Try not to fire ult from super inflexible positions; if enemies respond quickly, it may just get wasted
In games that are getting away, try harder to save ult for enemy shutdown
Reminder: greedy ward clearing loses games
Against Nautilus: his ult is worse than it seems; the knockup will often catch you while it travels to someone else, be very careful

When a gank is imminent, try NOT to hop off, so as to preserve CD on W
Tacking ALL enemy CDs in lane is too hard for now; just focus harder on those that CC you
Keep forgetting I can't proc my passive during R; be more careful about that
If an anchor does something that seems questionable/greedy, give one caution ping at least before just going with it

W off for a little extra distance, ward, then W back on
Don't lose focus or play scared just because you get chunked once in lane; stay proactive and stick to the plan
With Hecarim: his E and R often put him behind the enemy target: careful not to fire your ult in the wrong direction
Against Rakan: watch out for his snappy engage from long distance, easy to get caught off guard

If an enemy tank appears caught out, but enemy carries are missing, do not hard commit to killing the tank; doing so may throw the ensuing teamfight
Keep better track of which enemies are a real threat vs non-threat; don't blow ult and summs on non-threats (very impactful)
Keep track of GA's on own team, and play around them more intelligently

When W is not on CD (especially post level 11) and teammate is running for their life, consider helping shield them with aery procs; it can make the difference
If someone is getting turbo-focused by entire enemy team, dashing to them is probably unsafe...
Don't back when fight may be about to break out, even if you need items/mana
Q's continuing to miss in lane; teamfight awareness needs further improvement

Put indicator-aimed Q on an easier key, for long-range solo snipes; helps clean up random CS, tag dragon while approaching, etc.
Reminder: usually passive is easiesafer to proc on ADC, since they are more focused on last-hitting
Enlarge map, and spend 5 games where overarching goal is to keep track of enemy jungler+mid through laning phase, warding and rotating accordingly

Be aggressive as hell around levels 1/2 if you think you can get away with it; may confuse enemies and inspire own ADC
If you need to jump around to proc Moonstone in grouped chaos, use W on hero icons; VERY useful under certain circumstances
Treat pre-level 11 W as a majorly important CD; getting stuck off an anchor during an early skirmish can be game-losing
If team is overextending and not heeding caution pings, just start backing on your own, and see if they get the message

Weird: consider hopping off and moving around a bit when there's clear downtime in lane, to avoid tilting unstable ADCs for being "afk"
Try to keep track of whether anchor has hourglass/zhonyas; don't get off if you think they are about to use it
Pay closer attention to when enemy ADC is about to last hit; that's usually a safer time to proc passive
If safe, consider helping hit minions after procing passive at level 1; level 2 comes after 6th melee minion

Still having some issues with proper ability buffering and ally hopping during intense skirmishes; make sure you at least always know WHO you are on
Don't get impatient under turret; look for rotation plays when possible, but try to move more intelligently
Reminder: once again, hit by hard CC in lane = death = deserved loss

Be more intentional with warding spots; don't just slam wards for the hell of it; first think about where enemy is most likely to go
If things are falling apart / desperate, don't even bother trying to heal squishy non-carries in chaotic fights; just make sure the carry survives
Try harder to stay oriented and aware of surroundings during skirmishes; choose and commit to Q and R targets properly
Reminder: NEED to not get hit by hard CC in early laning phase; it is very, very bad

Refocus on not missing Q's in lane; while steering it, shaking cursor back and forth slightly seems to help counter enemy jukes
Against Maokai, be very careful of his W (dash) -> Q (shockwave) combo; it comes out fast, and if you get hit by either part, your W goes on CD
Against Varus, avoid healing ADC while they are inside the GW zone from his E (arrow volley), unless absolutely necessary
In mid-game, look harder for reset opportunities when you are out of wards and have some time until next objective

Never get knocked up by dragon, herald, or baron
In loading screen, try making a mental checklist of every enemy ability that will put your W on CD
Be more conservative with pink wards; try not to waste them in indefensible places while laning
Don't try to fire off Q when surrounded by enemy minions; it will just get blocked

Don't underestimate the strength of top laners who have just been farming all game as potential anchors
Refocus on optimizing ward placements, at the very edge of bushes using green dot indicator
Look for chances to hop between allies while ulting / Q'ing; remain aware of best time to E while channeling Q/R
Try to keep moonstone renewer and ardent censer procs in back of mind once owned

Get better at quickly warding across the thick wall into the red side botlane river bush
Try to be consciously aware of key abilities you should be ready to body block, like Ashe W, Cait R, Nidalee spear, etc.
Try not to bait teammates into sketchy situations with low impact Q poke in mid-late game
Be more cautious about upgrading Dark Seal into Mejai's if things are still volatile

Keep better track of cursor and anchor during chaotic teamfights; hold space more if attached to someone "blinky" like Katarina
Basic: be sure you have actually started attaching before buffering E
Be more careful with W cooldowns before level 6; do not attach/detach for no reason; be intentional; default state is attached
Identify the key Exhaust+Ignite target/s ahead of time

Be careful not to run out of mana at critical times by throwing out low impact Q's
Try not to jump off of champions with dashes that might be about to dash
Don't just throw out R to engage with no warning; ping intentions a couple seconds ahead of time
Use the "quick cast with indicator" green highlighted ward option to ward in edges of bushes; try to ward more quickly and usefully

Hope at least some of these are useful to fellow Yuumi fans!

Mythbusters in Mexican food (what I've learned)

[Tournament Report] 10th Place in MTGO PTQ with 4 Color Death's Shadow

Well, Friday I had the pleasure of playing 4 Color Death’s Shadow in a 10 round modern PTQ online (approximately 430 players). Came up a little short, ending in 10th place on breakers. Wanted to give a “little” write up and give some notes about the deck. I apologize for the post length ahead of time, I may have gotten a little overzealous. Enjoy!
Decklist:

1 Scourge of the Skyclaves
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Death's Shadow
4 Street Wraith
1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den
1 Cling to Dust
1 Assassin's Trophy
4 Fatal Push
3 Traverse the Ulvenwald
4 Stubborn Denial
4 Thoughtseize
2 Dismember
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Temur Battle Rage
4 Mishra's Bauble
2 Nurturing Peatland
2 Bloodstained Mire
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Polluted Delta
1 Watery Grave
1 Breeding Pool
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Blood Crypt
1 Forest
1 Swamp

Sideboard:

3 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Mana Leak
1 Plague Engineer
2 Ashiok, Dream Render
2 Kolaghan's Command
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Mystical Dispute
2 Veil of Summer
1 Aether Gust
1 Assassin’s Trophy

Round 1: spiderbyte12 on UG Reclamation (2-1, 1-0 Overall)
In: 2 Ashiok, Mystical Dispute, Mana Leak, 3 Nihil Spellbomb, Aether Gust
Out: 4 Fatal Push, 2 Dismember, 1 Traverse the Ulvenwald, Lurrus of the Dream-Den
Game 1, I open on thoughtseize to see remand, growth spiral, fof, double cryptic command, and double polluted delta. Immediate thought is Uro pile, so my thoughtseize, shadow, double fetch plus fatal push hand isn’t looking spectacular. I’m able to get a goyf and lurrus down under counter magic, but my clock is too slow and my opponent’s cryptics are able to take over the game while I draw more removal spells than I remember having in my deck. Game 2, I keep a 7 of fetch, peatland, wraith, bauble, thoughtseize, stubborn denial, and Ashiok. Can’t ask for more. Seize on turn 2 takes a remand (leaving fof and 5 lands) to clear the way for turn 3 Ashiok, which bridges in to turn 4 shadow and turn 5 scourge (all with stub backup) to close out the game extremely quickly. Game 3 sees a mull to 6 containing shadow, stub, ashiok, bauble, fetch and peatland. Soft stub a wrenn & six on their turn 2 lets us thoughtseize remand on our turn 2, leaving fof, growth spiral, jace the mind sculptor, and field of the dead. We get down a 1/1 shadow and pass, letting opponent main phase growth spiral which misses their fourth land. From here it’s chip in with shadow before it gets taken out by and engineered explosives, and slam goyf with stub backup. Thicc boi carries us across the finish line.
Sideboard tips: Goal number 1 is to keep Uro off the field. Their hands are fairly expensive with Jace, cryptic command, and wilderness reclamation, and stub plus thoughtseize can do a good job of keeping haymakers off the stack. Which means we need to focus efforts on the un-stubbable pieces. Ashiok does a fantastic job of locking up Uro plus preventing mystic sanctuary fetches. Beware of veil of summer. If you have a chance to force the action on it early with discard, do it. You don’t want an ashiok minus or stub getting countered later for maximum punishment.
Round 2: starfall on Amulet Titan (2-1, 2-0 Overall)
In: 2 Ashiok, Aether Gust, Mana Leak, Assassin’s Trophy, 1 Kolaghan’s Command
Out: Lurrus, 2 Traverse, 2 Fatal Push, Cling to Dust, 1 Stubborn Denial
Game 1, mull to a 6 of double fetch, bauble, traverse, stub, and shadow. Play out fetch and bauble and pass with stub up. Rewarded with opponent playing turn 1 snow-covered forest in to amulet of vigor. Easy soft stub. Unfortunately our hand doesn’t develop well from here, as we miss out on ways to lose life with a shadow in hand and 14 life for a few too many turns. By the time we get a goyf and the shadow out, our opponent has chained some arboreal grazers and a dryad. A top deck pact later an they’re able to burn us out with valakut. Game 2 has fetch, double wraith, inquisition, bauble, traverse, and Ashiok. Bauble gets us an easy shadow, and inquisition takes a dryad. Turn 2 yields double shadow in to turn 3 Ashiok, and we’re able to close the game out a turn later with traverse for a fetch plus battle rage. Game 3 we both mull to 5, us keeping fetch, wraith, shadow, double thoughtseize. We dodge amulet on their turn 1, and our thoughtseize reveals... 4 lands... Uh oh. We draw a bauble, which we fire off on their turn 3 upkeep, seeing dryad. And are rewarded for drawing the fatal push the turn before and good sequencing. 2 Turns later we can finally get a 2/2 shadow down, which we dismember at the end of our opponent’s turn. They, meanwhile, are being flooded with mana sources, including amulet, bounce land, and azusa, but no payoff. We start pressuring with shadow before finding a second copy, they draw in to a Karn that meets an untimely stubborn denial for the match.
Sideboard tips: Bojuka bog can give goyf, traverse, and lurrus some fits. We can’t afford to have dead cards in our hand, so trimming on some of these pieces makes our hands much more efficient at dodging their disruption attempts. Aether gust, mana leak, and ashiok are additional titan answers. K command helps with late game top decks, as well as bridge/artifacts off karn or amulet. Don’t get too wrapped up in using trophy on field of the dead, it’s a trap. Once field makes a couple zombies, the time that buys is more than enough for them to close out the game. Trophy is often better as a tempo play to clear a blocker or take out a bounce land. Otherwise, I don’t fault anyone for not bringing them in at all.
Round 3: jvidarte on Burn (0-2, 2-1 Overall)
In: Mana Leak, Aether Gust, 2 K Command, Assassin’s Trophy
Out: 4 Wraith, Lurrus (move to board as companion)
Oh man, what a quick loss. Game 1 our 7 in the blind is double wraith, fetch, watery grave, bauble, stub, and trophy. Opponent leads on goblin guide and we’re basically dead in the water. We draw another two more fetches, a peatland, and another bauble while opponent spams the burn button on us. Game 2 we keep a decent 7 of double fetch, breeding pool, fatal push, inquisition, goyf, and traverse. Getting basics to save as much life as possible. Opponent draws more than enough lethal burn to kill us anyway, including a boros charm while we’re at 7 before we would untap with lethal goyf and shadow. Rough, but it happens. Picking up the first loss early is a pain, but have to rebuild!
Sideboard tips: Moving Lurrus to the companion slot is a great option we have available. If you’re able to stabilize the board, the life gain can pull you ahead extremely quickly. Hands with goyf are typically preferred to shadow hands (unless they are extremely quick – think seize, shadow, battle rage, stub, triple fetch). Most of our spells trade up slightly on life (thoughtseize to prevent 3 damage, dismember to prevent guide/swiftspear dealing 4/5). Keep that in mind when evaluating spells.
Round 4: PieGonti on BW Hammertime (2-1, 3-1 Overall)
In: Engineered Explosives, 2 K Command, Plague Engineer, Assassin’s Trophy
Out: 3 Street Wraith, cling to dust, 1 Inquisition of Kozilek
Opening 7 of game 1 includes thoughtseize, bauble, traverse, double push, and double fetch against the revealed Lurrus. Opponent shows that affinity is alive and kicking with turn 1 inkmoth, springleaf drum, ornithopter, memnite, and giver of runes. We take the opportunity to bauble them and see hammer off the top, but our thoughtseize yields two lands. We find battle rage for our turn 3 and are able to traverse for a shadow. Opponent has Lurrus and get back give, but dismembering lurrus is enough to get our life total low enough to force a shadow through on the next turn for 20 trample. Game 2 we mull to 6, keeping forest, fetch, inquisition, goyf, EE, and K command. Inquisition sees double hammer, plains, push, and paladin (which we take). Opponent passes on 2, and we get goyf down, but they immediately draw a black source for push. We find a shadow as they find second push and add Lurrus to the hand. After they Lurrus back paladin on the next turn, K command is able to take out Lurrus and rebuy shadow, setting us up to EE away the paladin to clear the board, which we do. So we’re left with shadow plus battle rage in hand, setting up for lethal in 2 turns. Opponent attacks for an infect, we thoughtseize, putting ourselves to 6 with them at 17. We can fetch down to 5, but no more shock lands means we can only battle rage for 16, so have to wait another turn. We attack for our 7 and pass. Opponent top decks sigarda’s aid for the lethal infect kill. Game 3 we again mull to 6, keeping double inquisition, wraith, push, double fetch. Not spectacular, but clears the way fairly well for a threat, and sets up easy delirium. Inquisition takes giver, leaving plains, godless shrine, bauble, double hammer, and stoneforge. We take stoneforge on turn 2 after they steelshaper’s gift for a shadowspear. And play our drawn 1/1 shadow. From here we sandbag a third inquisition until they add Lurrus to hand, chip in with our shadow. Opponent finds Sigarda’s aid, but can’t find a threat until it’s too late, and we have the push ready and waiting.
Sideboarding tips: Your two primary concerns are Auriok Champion and Sigarda’s Aid. Those are pretty prime targets for hand disruption. We can usually fight through champion as long as we keep it from getting equipped. Holding hand disruption after turn 2 or so can be great for nabbing Lurrus out of hand. Redundant hammers are a huge problem with Aid out, but not too impressive otherwise.
Round 5: Purple_Rain on Oops, All Spells (2-0, 4-1 Overall)
In: 2 Kolaghan’s Command, Mana Leak, Assassin’s Trophy, 3 Nihil Spellbomb, Mystical Dispute
Out: 4 Fatal Push, 2 Dismember, 1 Traverse the Ulvenwald, Lurrus
Opening 7 of fetch, peatland, double bauble, double goyf, and shadow is pretty acceptable on the play. I’d consider shipping on the draw with no turn 1 interaction of any kind, but powering out threats on the play can be a solid win condition. Bauble them on 1 sees pentad prism, so we narrow it down to ad nauseum or oops. Second bauble sees dismember on our library, which we shuffle away rather quickly. The two baubles draw inquisition and thoughtseize, absolutely perfect. Turn 2 we double hand disruption and take both pentad prisms, revealing that our opponent on their mull to 5 does not have a payoff or a black source. We get down shadow and goyf on turn 3 and opponent scoops before seeing a black source or creature. Game 2 mull to 6 yields fetch, watery grave, wraith, goyf, mystical dispute, and nihil spellbomb. Solid, but folds to leyline of sanctity. We dodge leyline, and drop turn 1 spellbomb in to turn 2 2/2 shadow while our opponent sets up mana with a pentad prism. From here, we feel good against the spy effects with spellbomb, and hard casting mystical dispute protects us from charbelcher out of the board. The game ends after a few turns of opponent dropping balustrade spys to target us, and a hard cast creeping chill, but we have a cling to dust to gain enough life, keeping us out of lethal range.
Sideboard tips: Go fast, don’t have dead cards. We can’t afford to spin wheels, we need to close out the game. Spellbomb and Soul-Guide Lantern are fantastic against their primary plan, but fold to charbelcher. Be careful on keeps that are too reliant on spellbomb/hand disruption as leyline can ruin your plan very quickly. Mystical Dispute as a 3 drop mana leak is better than removal. I wouldn’t keep a hand without grave hate, as you need to stop their primary plan before you can race them.
Round 6: Traft on Ad Nauseum (2-1, 5-1 Overall)
In: Mana Leak, Mystical Dispute, 2 K command, 1 Veil of Summer, 1 Assassin’s trophy
Out: 4 Fatal Push, 2 Dismember, 1 Cling to Dust (on play)
Blind opening 7 of double fetch, forest, push, double stub, and goyf. Opponent starts off on temple of deceipt, which gives away ad naus pretty quickly. We play fetch and pass before getting to soft stub a turn 2 pentad prism. Goyf comes down on turn 2 while opponent develops their mana. We find bauble and thoughtseize over the next two draws to get traverse for scourge online (bigger than shadow, and had an ironic effect of disguising a stubborn denial). Goyf and Scourge are able to force out a couple angel’s graces in quick succession before closing out the game while opponent can’t assemble a lethal line. Game 2 our opener has mana leak as our only real interaction, which gets blanked by double lotus bloom very quickly. We do find an assassin’s trophy for phyrexian unlife in response to an ad naus while opponent has exactly 1 card left in hand. Unfortunately that card is pact of negation. Game 3 we keep a 6 of fetch, bauble, mana leak, goyf, trophy, and veil of summer. We wiff on second land for a couple turns before a turn 3 thoughtseize on ad naus leads to turn 4 and turn 5 goyf while opponent spins wheels for a few turns. We pick up K command and an additional veil of summer before our third land comes around and we can start attacking lotus blooms to activate mana leak. Finally, double goyf closes it out on turn 8 when opponent can’t draw out of our minimal disruption. Definitely fortunate to steal that game.
Sideboard tips: Veil is a little better than some of the other options, as it at least allows you to fight pact/flusterstorm/etc on the stack. Removal is pretty easy to cut, and from there it’s just boarding in live cards. Permanent removal like trophy and k command help take out mana rocks, phyrexian unlife, and such. From there, it’s just getting a clock. Often the best disruption is getting a threat on board to force premature angel’s grace/spoils of the vault. Making them draw to the combo helps our hand disruption by not giving them time to sandbag spells.
Round 7: BoltTheBirds on UR Gifts Storm (2-0, 6-1 Overall)
In: 1 Nihil Spellbomb, Engineered Explosives, Plague Engineer, Mystical Dispute
Out: 2 Dismember, 1 Fatal Push, 1 Street Wraith
Opening 7 in game 1 sees fetch, overgrown tomb, wraith, inquisition, goyf, traverse, and trophy. Easy keep. Opponent’s UR pathway start gives away storm/kikki combo pretty quickly. Not much to say about this game, inquisition takes a ritual, we drop goyf on turn 2 before getting a few attacks in. We eventually find a shadow to drop down while opponent isn’t doing much. They drop double reducer in to ritual, manamorphose, second baral, and grapeshot our goyf, leaving the shadow alive. Big mistake. We untap with fetch + shock, traverse for a wraith, and battle rage for more than lethal. Game two is a little tighter. Opening 6 of double goyf, wraith, mystical dispute, watery grave and blood crypt. Sketchy keep, but on the draw with a wraith gives a few looks for a green source, plus interaction for their turn 2 bear. First draw ends up being a green source and we’re off to the races. Opponents wiffs on a pieces of the puzzle as we chip away with a very thicc goyf (6/7 off bauble and wraith from us plus aria that got flipped to pieces from them). Two turns later we’re battle raging for lethal.
Sideboard tips: Aria of Flame and Empty the Warrens are the two killers post board. Storm typically boards down on reducers and graveyard dependency to play a more value plan with pieces of the puzzle, aria, and their cantrips. EE/ plague enginee kozilek’s return all act as great answers to goblin tokens, while the best interaction for aria is stubborn denial/ hand disruption. It’s often suggested to bring in trophy for an aria, but typically if aria hits the battlefield, the trigger does more to set us back than the actual card’s effects. Either look for goyf hands to ignore aria or shadow + stub. Be careful about being overly aggressive. You don’t want to die to a “back to the wall” chain of spells plus a grapeshot for 5-7.
Round 8: Hemsley on UB Mill (2-1, 7-1 Overall)
In: Engineered Explosives, 3 Nihil Spellbomb, 2 Veil of Summer, Mana Leak, 1 Kolaghan’s Command, Mystical Dispute
Out: 4 Street Wraith, Lurrus (to companion), 2 Temur Battle Rage, 1 Fatal Push, 1 Traverse
Opponent starts off with revealing Lurrus, so I keep a 7 of double fetch, goyf, cling to dust, inquisition, fatal push, and dismember. Very interactive for creatures, especially against our opponent’s mull to 5. Our opponent’s turn 1 hedron crab is met with dismember before they archive trap us, surgical our shadows, and drop a second crab. They miss second land, which means hand disruption takes their only card left in mesmeric orb before killing the second crab. From here, opponent top decks air, we get down goyf in to second goyf and that leads to a quick concession. Game 2 starts off with another crab that we don’t have an answer to, this time backed up with lands. Second crab eats a mystical dispute, third one eats a mana leak before opponent fetches again to set up visions of beyond. Our hand disruption on our turn reveals 2 more crabs, one of which is able to land next turn and continue their clock while we have no pressure. We top deck a 4/4 scourge of the skyclaves to get on the board with 14 cards remaining, but opponent top decks an archive trap to put us to 1 card in deck. Can’t finish them off in time. Game 3 we keep a very good 7 of double fetch, bauble, push, mystical dispute, and thoughtseize. Bauble ourself sees shadow on top and thoughtseizing them takes archive trap, leaving a crab as the only spell. Crab meets push and second crab off the top meets dispute. We untap and play shadow to get our clock going while opponent blanks for a turn. We draw stubborn denial, add lurrus to our hand, and are able to race to the finish line, ignoring a couple mill effects that aren’t killing us while we sit on stub.
Sideboard tips: Veil of summer is an absolute all star if you see it. Otherwise, mystical dispute is huge, and spellbomb can often be a great way of interacting with surgical extraction, visions of beyond, and drown in the loch. EE is solid for crabs and mesmeric orb. K command is solid for rebuying milled creatures and taking our annoying permanents like orb and ensnaring bridge. Moving Lurrus to the companion zone gives us a reliable value piece every post-board game. I usually board out a traverse, which seems counterproductive since they’re milling us, but it’s a hedge for leyline of the void. Opponent didn’t reveal Lurrus game 2 or 3, which could be an indicator of leyline or ensnaring bridge.
Round 9: Gigy on RB Scourge (2-0, 8-1 Overall)
In: Engineered Explosives, 2 K Command, 2 Veil of Summer, Assassin’s Trophy, 1 Nihil Spellbomb, Plague Engineer
Out: 2 Street Wraith, 2 Stubborn Denial, 2 Battle Rage, 2 Inquisition
Game 1 is one of the best games of Magic I got to play the entire tournament. Not just both sides playing well, but the back and forth advantage swings of this game was pretty fantastic. On the draw, we keep breeding pool, traverse, bauble, dismember, stub, shadow, and inquisition. Typical traverse for a basic swamp opening option if we don’t top deck the black source. Scourge typically leads on 1 drops, so I feel pretty confident being able to get the traverse off. They mull to 6, play catacombs, and pass, and we get to fire off inquisition with a top deck blood crypt. We take scourge, leaving bolt and 3 lands. You’d think smooth sailing from here. We see dismember on their upkeep off bauble, draw an overgrown tomb and bauble, and have to slow down pretty heavily since we can’t get this shadow out protected. Finally we draw a wraith and fetch to get traverse online for a second shadow, opponent gets to Lurrus plus the discarded scourge, we dismember Lurrus, untap, and drop double 6/6 shadow with a fetch up (no shocks left in deck). Opponent is at 11 with a 9/9 scourge, we know about dismember and bolt in their hand. They kick off their turn with swiftspear, then inquisition, which eats one of the stubs in our hand, and a fatal push on a shadow which eats the other, leaving bolt and dismember. Opponent swings both, dismembers the shadow that blocks the swiftspear to wrath our board, and passes. We draw... scourge of the skyclaves. Our 13/13 scourge can at least trade with theirs, but we do have a battle rage in hand as our last card. We’re both at 7 life, opponent plays bomat, attacks in with the squad, we block scourge and battle rage it to eat theirs, taking a bolt to the face in the process and going down to 1. Opponent cracks bomat, and plays a scourge. We draw shadow, force the scourge trade, and play out our 11/11. Opponent baubles, and passes, we attack with shadow to force the chump. They night’s whipser, going to 2 as well and push our shadow. We draw push and pass, they draw shadow, which we push eot, and draw goyf for our turn. Opponent scoops after drawing. Come to find out, they had a tough line of whether or not to shock a couple turns earlier to make their shadows bigger than ours and chose to, resulting to them going down to 2 life. They died with thoughtseize in hand, which would have taken push to protect their shadow. But I still believe they made the right call. Game 2 we keep peatland, fetch, traverse, shadow, goyf, scourge, and thoughtseize. Easy keep, we have plenty of threats to help lock up the board. Despite their best efforts, they aren’t a removal heavy deck. Thoughtseize takes angrath’s rampage, leaving double shadow and bolt. They find a second swiftspear but miss their second land. We play shadow and back it up with a top deck veil of summer on their inquisition. We untap, swing in with a shadow, play a scourge and opponent has to start playing out shadows one at a time to stay alive. A push one the first shadow and k command to the face is all she wrote, and we’re able to take advantage of our opponent’s mana stumbles to close it out before their second land comes around.
Sideboard tips: It’s a grind fest. Creatures will likely die, so setting yourself up for the most possible two for ones is your best bet. Think K command, veil of summer, Lurrus, etc. They’re going to trade 1 for 1 as often as possible, so we need to get the extra leg up. Don’t overdo the grave hate for Lurrus, but you can up it slightly if you see or expect Kroxa. If you can afford to play around blood moon, it’s not the worst idea. But keep an eye on your opponent’s resources. If they have no basic swamps and have missed land drops, the blood moon chances are lower. Did they fetch out swamp early? The likelihood increases.
Match 10: Laplasjan on WB Hammertime (1-2, 8-2 Overall)
In: Engineered Explosives, 2 K Command, Plague Engineer, Assassin’s Trophy
Out: 3 Street Wraith, cling to dust, 1 Inquisition of Kozilek
Comes down to this. A win locks us in top 8 and a loss sends it to tie breakers. Opponent reveals Lurrus and we keep a 6 of double fetch, watery grave, wraith, stub, and shadow. Not the most disruptive, but hoping a turn 2 shadow should be enough to get there against whatevever we’re up against. Their turn 1 on the play includes plains, memnite, ornithopter, bauble, and sigarda’s aid. Affinity is alive and kicking. Their turn two involves strapping a hammer on a bird, bashing in for 11, and passing, to which we drop a turn 2 11/11 shadow with stub backup. Opponent passes with no attacks, we play out goyf plus a fetch to get blood crypt in case we can spike a battle rage off the top. Opponent stoneforges for a second hammer and passes, flashing it in on our end step for added insurance. We could have stubbed it, but were dead to their 3 attackers if we didn’t find a removal spell off the peatland on board anyway. Game 2 we keep fetch, watery grave, thoughtseize, double push, and assassin’s trophy. Seize takes sigarda’s aid, leaving plains, marsh flats, giver of runes, steelshaper’s gift, and paladin. Opponent plays giver, which we push on our turn, then double gifts for 2 hammers... oh boy. We draw land, they add Lurrus to hand, and we’re able to strip it away with a top deck thoughtseize. From here, opponent plays an auriok champion, we draw a bauble to traverse for a 5/5 shadow with a fetch up, but it immediately eats a fatal push. Looking bad for us. We do find push for the ornithopter and EE for the auriok champion before double push and trophy takes care of double ornithopter and paladin. Their give comes down, and a steelshaper’s gift finds shadowspear to strap it up and get us to 1 life. We top deck a k command to blow up the spear and rebuy a 12/12 shadow. Need to fade a draw. Opponent plays stoneforge for 4th hammer and passes. We attack with shadow, holding battle rage. They have to with at least stoneforge plus another creature to survive. They go for the triple block, giving the stoneforge pro-black, preventing lethal, but losing give and inkmoth. We pass and opponent attacks back for what should be lethal, if it weren’t for a pesky cling to dust in our yard. We gain up to 4, take 1, and untap with a battle raged shadow for the win. On to game 3 for all the metaphorical marbles. Opponent keeps 7 and starts with plains plus aid. Oof. We thoughtseize to see double paladin, shadowspear, stoneforge, inkmoth, and plains. We take stoneforge to prevent them from tutoring a hammer. They play paladin on 2 and we play goyf. Their paladin plus shadowspear on 3 draws a couple cards, but no attacks. Our goyf swins in and lets us drop a 1/1 shadow with a trophy backup. Opponent plays Auriok Champion, we eot trophy the equipped paladin, to which opponent responds with a hammer on an auriok champion and 2 new cards. We untap, swing again with a 5/6 goyf, holding up k command to blow up a hammer if opponent decides to block with the champion, but they don’t, tying the game up at 10 life. We could play out a scourge, but decide to sit on k command plus stub to our opponent’s 3 cards. They draw, play a plains and crack a silent clearing. Steelshapers gift goes and finds another hammer. Our plan becomes k command to kill the hammer on the champion plus the k command, and stub the new hammer, which would leave us with a shadow and a goyf, a scourge in hand, against a naked auriok champion, shadowspear, and an inkmoth. Unfortunately our line has a fatal flaw. Third hammer. Which they have. That extra hammer gets under our interaction, straps up auriok champion, and bashes us for 11 to the face for lethal. I don’t believe any line we had available beat triple hammer. Oh well, ggs.
Additional thoughts on the deck.
Four color shadow is sweet. If you’re looking for a variant that’s fairly flexible and gets to play a lot more haymakers than other color combos, I’d give this deck a shot. Matches are a ton of fun, and you have a bit of game against pretty much everything. The mana base can certainly be painful at times, so life total management is crucial.
Sorry this went on for so long! Thanks so much for reading, and I’m happy to answer any and all questions you guys can come up with. Insert shameless plug: If you’re interested in seeing more about the deck or other shadow variants, you’re always welcome to come hang out on our stream at twitch.tv/the_cntrlfreak where we have a lot of extremely talented brewers, players, and theory crafters in the chat at almost all times. We’d love to have you stop by with questions and recommendations! Hope everyone has a fantastic rest of their day, and look forward to hearing what you all have to say about the deck!

UFC 257 Fight Predictions

Hello, once again. Ya'll are seeing me a lot this week huh?
So, I need to preface this prediction with a very, very quick apology... A horrible start to the year for me, and I'm very sorry for that, I know a lot of you come here to read this in hope that you make some money, and i've always tried to make that possible, but there have been some disgustingly hard fights to predict these past two events, and this week is definitely not any different. THERE WILL BE CONTROVERSIAL PICKS THIS EVENT
So, with that said, please... don't hate me over my picks, you know that i'm never 100% accurate, you know i've had shit predictions in the past, you can check all of my predictions on Tapology here Nothing but full disclosure, i don't like hiding shit from you guys, you're all my family.
Onto the fights!
(D) - Debut
(c) - Champ
FLS - Fight Lose Streak
FWS - Fight Win Streak
NS - No Streak
(#x) - Rank in Division
Lets go!
Prelims
Flyweight
Amir Albazi (13-1-0, 2 FWS) v Zhalgas Zhumagulov (13-4-0, NS) - A fun and interesting scrap to start the first PPV of 2021. Albazi made a statement when he fought Malcolm Gordon, he looked sharp, and the moment he landed that single leg takedown it was practically over for Gordon. I highly suspect he will have a similar game plan coming into this fight, throw some strikes, land some of them to get his opponent to think of the strikes, then go for a takedown. Once the fight goes to the ground then it’s all Albazi. Zhumagulovv is a very fast moving fighter who utilizes a lot of in and out movement that kind of lures his opponent into swinging, in which he most of the time goes for a counter. One of the tendencies I've seen on Zhumagulov’s side is that his striking is always a colliding force. He’s never jabbing at range, he’s always slamming his way in, which makes me think that Albazi will be using that to his advantage, duck an overhand and go for the takedown. This is of course all guess work but based on each fighter's patterns, it makes sense that Albazi would want to take the fight to the ground. I’m leaning on Albazi on this one.
Albazi via UD
Featherweight
Nik Lentz (30-11-2, 2 FLS) v Movsar Evloev (13-0-0, 13 FWS) - Another interesting fight. Lentz is a very experienced Featherweight who has faced some tough fighters, including Charles Oliveira twice, he has never fought in the top rankings yet and I don’t think he ever will, but his ability to keep coming back for fights and putting on impressive performances is testament to his love of fighting, and we all love to see that. Lents hasn’t really made a stamp in the UFC other than his record (13-8-1). He is fairly well rounded with a relative inclination to wrestle, most of his fights involve him grinding out a win. He isn’t necessarily exciting, but he does have a heavy workload. Evloev is coming in as a late replacement, but honestly that shouldn’t matter, Evloev is a fucking animal and regardless of his small frame, he has power in his wrestling, he has excellent, near endless cardio and he’s just overall a dominant fighter. He destroyed Grundy, Barzola and Choi with effortless ease. Evloev is a problem. Very short analysis for him as he is a late replacement.
Evloev via UD
Middleweight
Andrew Sanchez (12-5-0, NS) v Makhmud Muradov (24-6-0, 13 FWS) - Sanchez looked very good against Turman last year, he maintained a solid amount of pressure, showed some upgrades to his striking capabilities, looked insanely loose and powerful, and for a fighter that has a tendency to wrestle and grind out his opponent, if he can continue doing what he did in that fight, against Muradov, then he’s going to surprise some people. That slick one-two knockout was beautiful and exactly what Sanchez needed to make a statement. I can see Sanchez doing his best to pressure and wrestle, grind down Muradov and tire him out, because I doubt he’ll be willing to strike with someone who is as sharp on the feet as Muradov. Muradov is a very loose boxer who just floats in the octagon. His jab is gorgeous and he seems to utilize a lot of feints in order to set up those punches. Muradov sort of starts slow, which isn’t a bad thing in this case because he’s landing shots and finding his range at the same time, he’s a fairly technical fighter and I don’t think Sanchez is going to have an easy time on the feet against Muradov. The only way I see Sanchez winning is if he just wrestles and shuts down the striking game of Muradov. I love Muradov, I like what I see and I feel like he will be the far better striker in this fight, and well, Sanchez doesn’t have a super good chin so... As long as it doesn’t go to the ground, Muradov has this.
Muradov via KO R2
Light Heavyweight
Khalil Rountree Jr (8-4-0, NS) v Marcin Prachnio (13-5-0, 3 FLS) - I had no idea Rountree was back. Rountree had some time in the spotlight thanks to his power and now his slight adjustment to his striking ability, having trained with the best Muay Thai trainers in the world, but it has been a long time since we’ve seen him fight and having followed his social media a little bit, it looks like he’s getting some solid work in, so if there’s one thing i'm ready for, it’s a more durable Rountree, someone who will be more patient but also have the same impact and explosiveness after setting everything up. Now, i’m not sure if he’s going to come in looking like a Muay Thai fighter, but what I am fairly confident about is he’s going to fire off those chin seeking missiles and put insane pressure on Prachnio, and I mean, I don’t think Prachnio can handle big punches anyway because he’s been knocked out 3 times in a row over the span of 2 and a bit years. Prachnio seems to be fed to the wolves in this fight, and honestly i’m not sure if he can handle the pressure and power of Rountree. He has 3 fights in the UFC, all 3 fights he lost in the first round by KO. He is going to have to figure something out because if he loses this fight, he’s not coming back to the UFC. He will need to wrestle or something. I can’t analyse or see what he’s good at simply because there was no highlight moment in his UFC career to look back to. I’m leaning heavily on Rountree on this one. Lets go War Horse!
Rountree Jr via KO R1 (bonus points for head kick?)
Women’s Bantamweight
Sara Mcmann (#9) (12-5-0, NS) v Julianna Pena (#8) (9-4-0, NS) - I don’t know who fights less, McMann or McGregor. McMann is a fairly decent fighter who has faced the gauntlet of fighters that the UFC has to offer, and at times lost. Recently she has shown signs of slowing down, not throwing as much volume as she used to and just not having that same cardio she had that made her a relatively dominant fighter back in the day, and i mean, she’s 40 years old, there’s no doubt more signs of slowing down to come. McMann is a profoundly good wrestler, she’s highly technical and has great pressure, but she’s not a good grappler, I know that sounds confusing, but whilst she’s an elite wrestler, she doesn’t have the know how to avoid submissions and if she’s facing a BJJ practitioner she’s in trouble. Fortunately, Pena is only a somewhat decent submission artist, she’s more well known for her pressure and her wrestling, but with not many memorable performances, it’s hard to look back at certain fights in awe. Most of her performances have somewhat been similar, a lot of pressure, some octagon control, decent striking and much better wrestling, but can a wrestler of Pena’s capabilities out wrestle a former olympic level wrestler? I’m not sure, what I am somewhat sure of is that Pena is going to look for a submission if the fight goes to the ground, that’s her opening and if McMann takes her down, Pena will be firing off submission attempts in order to sway the offensive from McMann. I got Pena on this one. Pena via Sub R3
Middleweight
Brad Tavares (17-6-0, 2 FLS) v Antonio Carlos Junior (10-4-0, 2 FLS) - This is an entertaining one. Tavares is almost always looking for a violent fight, he’s an absolute savage who is wild with his strikes and throws everything into them. Don’t let his two fight losing streak fool you, despite losing to Israel Adesanya, who is the current Middleweight champ, and Edmen Shahbazyan, who is one hell of a prospect, Tavares is still a tough cookie to crack, he’s fairly methodical with his striking, he doesn’t necessarily throw/land much volume but almost all of his punches land significantly. He is very much a dangerous foe on the feet, which is why Carlos Junior is a great fight for Tavares. Carlos Junior is a very, very good grappler who will almost do anything to take the fight to the ground, since he’s not a super good striker, but what skill he has when it comes to fighting, especially grappling and submission skills, he has mastered. He’s going to be looking for a takedown early on, whilst both fighters are dry, he has more of a chance to submit Tavares in the first two rounds than the third, and that’s what I'm predicting at the moment, but can he handle the bombs of Tavares? This is what makes predicting some of these fights hard. I’m leaning on Junior on this one. Very controversial, I know, but this year has been full of crazy fights so far.
Junior via Sub R2
Lightweight
Arman Tsarukyan (15-2-0, 2 FWS) v Nasrat Haqparast (12-3-0, NS) - This is a tough one. Tsarukyan has made a name for himself for his tough durability, highly technical skillset and his insane debut against Islam Makhachev. Tsarukyan is a machine, he has excellent cardio, a bottomless pit of energy, and he doesn’t give his opponent any time to sit down on their punches and initiate their gameplan, he’s always throwing something, disrupting the pattern and taking no risks with going into a brawl. Tsarukyan is in my opinion as perfect of a fighter as you can get in terms of durability and skill, he’s smart and constantly changes targets with his strikes. He kept Ramos guessing as he was picking him apart, it was absolutely masterful the way he did it. Haqparast brings one thing to this fight that is dangerous for Tsarukyan, and that’s his powerful boxing. Haqparast is an excellent boxer who isn’t wild, is incredibly sharp with his strikes and makes sure to land at a high proficiency. He needs to initiate, he needs to pressure and cut off the octagon from Tsarukyan's excellent movement. This is a fucking amazing fight and I’ve been a fan of both fighters since they’ve started, but at the moment, i’m leaning fairly heavily on Tsarukyan winning this one, his cardio is going to be too much for Haqparast, he’s going to do what he did against Ramos, keep at range, hit Haqparast on a mid-step, everything looks great. This is a great fight, one that cannot be missed.
Tsarukyan via UD
Main Card
Women’s Strawweight
Marina Rodriguez (#9) (12-1-2, NS) v Amanda Ribas (10-1-0, 5 FWS) - Rarely do I ever get excited for a women’s fight, mostly because of its horrible roster, but holy hell is this fight one that you need to see. Rodriguez is great at one thing, and that’s relentless pressure. She’s always throwing punches, always moving forward and once she gets close, she works great in the clinch, because of her solid Muay Thai base I feel like that’s where she’s most comfortable, she’s going to want to rush forward, close the distance and pin Ribas against the cage and work very close from there. Hopefully she’s worked on her takedown defence a little bit because Ribas is a genius level grappler and has incredible trips and takedowns. Ribas is riding a wave of hype and rise to fame right now, she’s the queen of Fight Island and for a very good reason. The way she destroyed Paige Vanzant in near effortless fashion was beautiful. But, she does have one big issue, and that’s her striking, whilst she does throw volume, that’s mostly pressure volume, she is still quite easy to hit if her opponent holds their ground and pushes forward. Ribas dictates her fights though, she’s excellent at maintaining pressure in the grappling department and once the fight goes to the ground we see an excellent display of positional changes and ground and pound. This is a great fight but I only see this going down the following way. Marina tries to rush forward and go into a clinch position, Ribas lands a trip or a lateral drop or something, then works from the ground. That’s what I can see happening at the moment. Again, crazy sport, anything can happen (See Lazzez as a recent example of crazy hype trains being derailed).
Ribas via Sub R2
Lightweight
Ottman Azaitar (13-0-0, 13 FWS) v Matt Frevola (8-1-1, NS) - This is a great fight, that’s going to end in someone going to sleep. Azaitar has blown me away. 11 of his 13 fights have ended in the first round in devastating fashion, he is a walking nuclear submarine and each of his punches holds the power of a nuclear warhead, it’s insane how fast and explosive he is, and also how accurate. Everything he throws, is with the intent to shut the lights off and put his opponent away. That’s all I can say about him, it’s simple, watch him strike, watch his aggression, watch his attitude, he’s a freakishly powerful striker. Frevola though isn’t someone to accept a fight knowing he’s going to be in danger, he’s the type to accept a fight to put on a phenomenal show. Frevola is an excellent, well rounded fighter who puts on an incredible pace and has a wrestling advantage over Azaitar from what I can see. But it’s kinda like trying to catch a skunk, you know that fucker can be stinky but you gotta get close to get a hold of him, it’s a dangerous and gross job but someones gotta do it. Frevola, if he chooses to wrestle, is going to eat some heavy, heavy shots upon entry and i’m not too sure if his chin can withstand the power of Azaitar, one clean uppercut upon entry and it would be an interesting yet unknown result until it happens. War Azaitar!
Azaitar via KO R1
Women’s Flyweight
Jessica Eye (#6) (15-8-0, NS) v Joanne Calderwood (#8) (14-5-0, NS) - HERE WE GO EVIL HERE WE GO! WOOF WOOF! Sorry, every time Eye fights, that video appears in my head and I can't help but laugh sadly. Eye is definitely an interesting fighter who only fought for the title because she gently defeated her other opponents. Her performances have been… somewhat okay? Like, nothing too exceptional, some volume punches, some grappling but really, zero highlights worth mentioning. That isn’t to say that she’s not tough because she is going to fight until the fight is over, she’s not one to be too timid, she’s pretty vicious when she wants to be, but she has always had setbacks and I just feel like this is going to be another setback. Calderwood is violence when she wants to be, not violent, but violence incarnate. She’s got absolutely gorgeous knees and can tough it out with the best of them. Her loss against Jennifer Maia was a surprise to pretty much everyone and kinda showcased an issue that Calderwood has always had, and that’s her ground game, she's very vulnerable on the ground with no wherewithal on how to avoid submissions. Fortunately for her, Eye doesn’t know what a submission is, so I expect this fight to stay on the feet, with Calderwood putting in the more work, especially in the clinch, in fact that’s where I see the majority of the damage coming in from, knees and elbows in the clinch. Anyway, I got Calderwood on this one, but this is Eye we’re talking about, she could pull something off here.
Calderwood via UD
Co-Main Event
Lightweight
Dan Hooker (#5) (20-9-0, NS) v Michael Chandler (D) (21-5-0, 2 FWS) - Oh boy. Ohhhh boy, I don’t know where to start with this one. If you’re not excited for this fight then get the fuck out of the MMA world, we don’t need ya. Hooker is a warrior in every sense of the word. I can say so many good things about Hooker, I can go on all day, but let’s get down to business. Hooker is a phenomenal kickboxer, his long limbs allow him to attack at range effectively, his knees up the middle are effective at stopping opponents from looking for takedowns and everything he throws is effective and super well timed. Look at his fight against Poirier, he might look violent and wild but everything he throws is methodical and is to set up another set of combos. Hooker only somewhat fails against heavy wrestlers, as Poirier in the later rounds has shown us, even basic holds and positions are enough to slow down Hooker, and Poirier isn’t even a wrestler. Hooker is a savage, and according to interviews, he’s going to look different, and fight more smart, which makes sense because Chandler is a mixed bag of chaos. Chandler is a very long awaited debuting fighter coming off a very successful career in Bellator. Now, for those fortunate enough to never have watched Bellator, like us Aussies, then you probably aren’t super aware of Chandler, I wasn’t until maybe mid last year, and I can only relate him to one other UFC fighter that we all know and love, Gaethje. His style reminds me so much of Gaethjes, he swarms his opponents, his pressure, pace, and consistency with his actions are insane. Some argue that he’s past his peak but we won’t know that until he fights Hooker, but holy shit what a tough fight for Hooker. Chandler is a wrestler at heart, he’s very good at finding takedowns, whether its through chain wrestling or switching targets, he’s dangerous on the ground, with great top pressure. And I feel like that’s where he’s going to find success. This is a striker v wrestler at heart, but this is also one of the most highest calibre MMA fights that we might see this year. I gotta go with my NZ brother on this one. I know in previous conversations I was talking about Chandler winning via UD, but Hooker… something about him just makes me go “dudes gonna win this one”. Maybe i'm crazy, but i’m also confident, somewhat. Chandler is going to surprise us all, isn’t he?
Hooker via KO R3
Main Event
Lightweight
Dustin Poirier (#1) (26-6-0, NS) v Conor McGregor (#11) (22-4-0, NS) - It’s time guys. Now, just a warning, I have some stupid hot takes here, no one here is gonna like them, unless you actually like them. Poirier has made incredible improvements to his skills and capabilities over the span of the years, and since his fight against Pettis, he has shown nothing but violence and determination to get that belt. Poiriers boxing is fucking gorgeous, the way that he sets everything up, the way he reads his opponent, the way he changes target on the fly, body, head, body, head, giving his opponent very little time to defend or adjust is absolutely masterful and if he can do the same to McGregor, then holy shit. Poirier in my opinion is the best boxer in the division at the moment, even with Conor being there. Now, I only say that because Conor hasn’t been super active, and when he has been active, he has either been wrestlefucked, or not Conor at all, ill expand on that later. Poirier has something to fall back on if his striking isn’t as effective as he wants it to be, and that’s his wrestling ability, if he can maybe push Conor back against the cage, and do a Khabib on him and grind him out, then that’s going to be big. McGregor On the other hand, has always been an outstanding fighter, he’s revolutionary with his striking, but recently his performances have been… interesting to say the least. Looking back on his Cerrone fight, I didn’t see a McGregor that we all knew, it was a… crazy McGregor, it wasn’t his style, it wasn’t that patient, long stance left hand sniper that we all love. See, the issue I have with McGregor is that he’s a wild card, he’s obviously a dangerously sharp counterboxer, but does he still have it? And has Poirier developed a solid game plan? These are questions I can’t answer directly, but I can only speculate, and even then I don’t know what the fuck to say. Going forward, Poirier will get hit, going backwards, Poirier will get hit, he either needs to make this absolutely filthy and dirty to win, or wrestle, that’s the two only ways I see him winning. Otherwise, Conor is going to win. Honestly guys, it’s a coin flip. I’m probably going to get this wrong, so that’s the biggest warning i can give, but i’m going with Poirier on this one, it’s… not going to end in my favour, I know, and that’s on me. So, the safest bet would be McGregor via KO in the first 3, but my personal prediction?
Poirier via KO R4
And that's it!
Again, im not a prediction god, those of you that read all of mine every week know that for certain lol.
As with every Poirier fight, after the event i'll be donating 50 USD to the Good Fight Foundation. Gotta love Poirier for that.
If you wish to support me please message me and i can provide details on how you can do so.
If you would like to follow me on twitter, you can find me @Slayer_Tip or if you want, add me on discord and we can have a super friendly chat about all things MMA: Slayertip#7013
Lets have a fun discussion down below, let me know if you agree/disagree with my picks :)
But for now, have a beautiful week, take care of yourselves :)

Juicy's First Official 2021 NFL Mock Draft (3 Rounds). Trades At The Top. Pick By Pick Analysis Continued In Comments.

Trades:
Broncos trade 2021 RD1#12, 2021 RD4 #105 and 2022 RD1 for Cowboys 2021 RD1#4
Panthers trade 2021 RD1#7 and 2021 RD4 #102 and 2022 RD4 for Chargers 2021 RD1#5
Jaguars Trade 2021 Rd1#25 and 2021 RD3#66 for Raiders 2021 RD1#25
The 49ers trade 2021 RD2 #47, 2022 4th and Jimmy Garapolo for Patriots 2021 RD2 #46 and 2022 RD6
Steelers Trade 2021 RD2#64, 2021 RD4#128 and 2021 RD7#239 for Seahawks 2021 RD2#58
Football Team trades 2021 RD3 #75 and 2021 RD4 #106 for Seahawks 2021 RD2 #64
Seahawks Trade 2021 RD4 #122 and 2022 RD4 Via Jets for Packers 2021 RD3 #93
Steelers trade 2021 Rd3 #96 and Conditional 2022 Pick (2nd or 3rd) For Jets QB Sam Darnold
1. *Jets*- Trevor Lawrence-QB-Clemson
Sometimes you just don’t need to overthink it. Darnold’s failure in the Garden State wasn’t his own fault but you don’t pass on free, generational QBs like Lawrence. While you can try to get cute and make cases for Fields, Lance or Wilson, you really shouldn’t, especially with the 2021 scheme still TBD. Lawrence has the arm talent, IQ, athleticism, size and character to fit well in any scheme and any coaching staff. His only weakness I see is a reckless streak to force balls to his first option through tight windows. IMO this is simply a result of being more talented than the competition, throwing to receivers more talented than the opposition and having better scheming than the opposition. It should go away with NFL reps. Slam dunk pick. It’s time to bring sunshine to the garden state.
2. *Jaguars*- Justin Fields-QB-Ohio St
For as poor as their record is, the Jags actually have some pretty good pieces to build around. This has to be one of the youngest teams in football and with Coughlin gone, maybe they can actually start bringing in free agents and keeping stars in house. James Robinson, Laviska Shenualt, DJ Chark and a surprisingly good interior O-line lead by a potential all-pro in Brandon Linder give the offense a good baseline to build around. Give Justin Fields some good protection, an emerging young RB who can catch passes, an OC who can scheme first reads into space and a playmaking receiving group and we have a good chance to do something. For my money, Fields is the most accurate QB in the class and arguably the best at grasping route-tree concepts. Like Lawrence, he struggles to come off of his first read at times and for very similar reasons, though in his case it leads to less yolo balls and more tucking and running while second reads run free. He will need reps to come off of this, but in a quick-hitting system with playmakers, he could really hit the ground running.
3. *Bengals*- Penei Sewell-OT-Oregon
This pick is the easiest in the entire draft. Best LT I’ve personally scouted coming out to a team that needs it more than any other team, with an injured 1-1 QB who looked every bit the part in his rookie year. If it were any more obvious, Avril Lavigne would write a song about it.
4. *Broncos Via Cowboys*- Zach Wilson-QB-BYU
Either John Elway’s good will in Denver will be good enough to get him one last shot at drafting his QB, or a new regime will come in and want to draft their own QB. Either way, a new QB is coming, which is exciting given that they actually have some really good pieces on offense. Going with the idea that Elway remains, I can see Elway falling in love with either guy, likely seeing more of himself in Wilson, but Lance likely blowing him away in interviews and more importantly being slightly taller. In the end, while I have Lance rated higher, I think Elway will want to go the perceived safer route in Wilson, who is still a high ceiling player in his own right and has experience playing at high altitudes for BYU. Either way, I think Denver trading into the top 5 for a QB is one of the biggest locks of the draft. Dallas has a plethora of needs, but a healthy Dak Prescott has looked like a top 5 QB in recent years and is simply too good to walk away from. Since I have CB as their top need and Sewell off of the board, it makes sense for them to grab draft capital and still likely land a top 2-3 CB.
5. *Panthers Via Chargers*- Trey Lance-QB-NDSU
With Wilson off of the board, the Panthers pay a slight price to flip with the Chargers and ensure they get their QB. While I have Lance rated higher than Wilson for most teams, I actually slightly prefer Wilson in Carolina if they got their choice, but Lance is far too good to pass on. While Brady may not be able to run his full concept year one with Lance, Teddy’s still tentative nature has held back the offense at times and still lead to too many turnover worthy plays. They will need to slow down the game a bit for Lance if he starts from day one, but they have the pieces to do so. Lance will add a game-breaking dynamic to open up the entire field with his arm, while taking pressure off of CMC and demanding QB spies. This should really open things up for Brady to slowly unleash Lance. They have the pieces to have one of the best offenses in football (and the coaching) if this hits. With so many targets schemed into space and a heavy dose of CMC to make defenses respect the run, Lance’s potential accuracy issues will be muted and he has the ability to drive the ball in ways that help receivers functionally be more open than with a touch passer. They are also perfectly situated to start a cheap Teddy until Lance is ready with a long term minded coaching staff and ownership. Really like this fit and team.
6. *Eagles*- Caleb Farley-CB-Virginia Tech
I could see a case for the Eagles going after Chase here, but with how poor the Eagles secondary has been this year outside of an aging Darius Slay, I can’t see them passing on a talent like Farley. Jim Schwartz likes to put a ton of pressure on his secondary and Maddox/NRC simply don’t have the size or physicality to deal with what’s asked of them. IMO Farley has the highest ceiling of any CB i’ve scouted since Ramsey and similarly has the rare combo of size, speed and football IQ to match up with any receiver or QB in the game. The former QB still knows how to think like a CB and has the ball skills that made him highly recruited as a WR before he transitioned to CB. Farley checks every physical box, every mental box, every playmaking box and is said to have a home run character. If i’m searching for an issue, he can take an occasional miss-step in zone, but Schwartz is famously averse to soft zone. Farley has a bit of an injury history and is still fairly new to the position, but he has all-pro potential, a high floor and is a much needed good fit for this Eagles secondary. They can’t afford to pass on him.
7. *Chargers Via Panthers*- Samuel Cosmi-OT-Texas
The Chargers traded back, acquiring two fourths to make stomaching reaching for a tackle a bit easier. Still they have to do it. They look to have a franchise QB and play-action can only mask so much. The line is simply terrible. Per PFF, the Chargers line ranks as follows: tackles Sam Tevi and Brian Bulaga (71st and 56th out of 78 with Pipkins ranked 77th getting snaps), Trai Turner and Forrest Lamp (81st and 74th of 83) at guard and Dan Feeney (35th of 36) at center. Oof. The only borderline passable starter is a Bulaga at RT who will be 32 next year. With a QB who has wheels and big money tied to a fleet footed Ekeler, I think adding lateral mobility and athleticism to the line is a must. Cosmi isn’t a finished product technically or physically but he has the frame to add good weight while maintaining plus athleticism at the blind side and is used to playing with a mobile QB who will make life tougher on him. He rarely fully loses reps and should provide an immediate upgrade from Tevi, while having an extremely high ceiling. It’s time to change the identity of that line and lean into the play action game that is keeping the offense functional, even if I have Darrishaw rated slightly higher, I prefer this fit.
8. *Football Team*- Ja’Marr Chase-WR-LSU
People seem to be forgetting how good Ja’Marr Chase is after a year off. Justin Jefferson has been one of the best receivers in the entire NFL his rookie year, Terrace Marshall is a borderline round one guy, CEH was a first round pick and yet the most impressive skill player on that 2019 LSU team was Chase. While the Football Team clearly doesn’t have a long term solution at QB, the top 4 guys are gone and I’m not sure they have the skill players or line for a new QB to ever be successful anyways. When your receivers 2-5 are Steven Sims, Cam Sims, Dontrell Inman and Isaiah Wright, you don’t pass on a Ja’Marr Chase. Easily the worst 2-5 in the NFL. Logan Thomas isn’t a top 30 TE either. There are some pieces in DC. McLaurin is a stud and Gibson is everything I hoped he would be. The line has some good pieces, but have two weak links in Martin and Christian that need to be replaced before it can become functional. With a year left on Smith’s deal and 50 mil in cap space, the FT can afford to bring back Scherff, upgrade from Martin and take a swing on a mid round QB. Worst case scenario they go all in on a 2021 QB but actually have the pieces in place for him to hit the ground running.
9. *Lions*- DeVonta Smith-WR-Alabama
The Lions currently have Quintez Cephus and Geronimo Allison as receivers under contract in 2021...that’s it. They have approximately 1.23M in available cap space as it currently stands. I still expect them to figure out a way to bring back Kenny G, but even then, they are going to need a day one starter at WR. My mind is telling me Jaylen Waddle’s speed will get him to top 10, but I don’t love how his game meshes with Stafford nor am I fully confident he’s ready to go day one in 2021. Smith may be built like a teen who just hit a growth spurt but he’s a day one starter in the NFL and his game meshes really well with both Stafford and compliments Golladay’s. I’m really interested to see who takes in Detroit next year, but whoever it is, a potential unit of Kenny G, DeVonta Smith, an emergent TJ Hockenson and D’Andre Swift isn’t the worst place to start.
10. *Falcons*- Kwity Paye-Edge-Michigan
The Falcons need a pass rusher off of the edge, we all know that, it just comes down to which one; so having Rousseau, Paye and Parsons all still on the board is a dream scenario. While I personally have them rated Parsons, Rousseau and then Paye, it’s close enough between all three to go by fit. I honestly think the Falcons have a very strong linebacker corps and won’t get the greatest usage out of Parsons and while I love the idea of Rousseau sliding inside next to Grady Jarrett on 3rd and long, I think they need to go for day one impact and mainly the best all around true edge. For me, that makes Paye the best fit. Always a true freak athlete (which, check out Bruce Feldman’s freak list (https://theathletic.com/1938659/2020/07/21/bruce-feldmans-freaks-list-2019-college-football-top-athletic-performances-2/) but in 2020 he has made a herculean jump in production and polish. This a day one starter, with incredibly rare athletic traits, a feel good backstory and immediate impact at a gigantic need.
11. *Dolphins Via Texans*- Micah Parsons-LB-Penn St
I don’t need to go into too much detail here. The Dolphins have one of the NFL’s few good defenses thanks to a strong secondary and simply elite play calling and positioning from Flores/Boyer. That’s despite Elandon Roberts and Jerome Baker’s poor play and general talent. So what if we gave them a uniquely talented player who can play inside, outside and even play as a pure edge while fitting what the scheme wants to do perfectly? I can’t wait to find out. I think Parsons is still somewhat raw as a player and will have a few rough moments early on, simply because he’s been so so so much more naturally gifted than his competition for his entire life and hasn’t been punished for small mistakes. That said, I can’t think of a better landing spot at getting the most out of him early on and putting him in positions to succeed, nor can I think of a better player at mentoring him than Kyle Van Noy. Parsons will be an immediate upgrade and the potential for what he could grow into in Miami is tantalizing. Thanks Houston.
12. *Cowboys Via Broncos*- Patrick Surtain II-CB-Alabama
The Cowboy’s trade back pays off. I would have been between Surtain and Farley at 4th overall and while I would have leaned Farley, the gap certainly isn’t a 2022 (likely somewhat early) 1st rounder and a 4th. Pairing Surtain up with his college counterpart in Diggs should allow Diggs to go back to his natural 2 spot and provide an immediate upgrade from the triumvirate of Awuzie, Brown and Lewis. Surtain may not be the fastest straight line runner, but his hips are as smooth as they come and he makes up for any long speed deficiencies with elite mirroring and physicality. Surtain has improved as a tackler in 2020 and is probably the best day one starter at CB in this class. The Cowboys will need some safety help over the top against speed receivers, but this is an easy pick.
13. *Bears*- Christian Darrisaw-OT-Virginia Tech
The Bears would love a top 4 QB to fall into their laps at 13, but I just don’t know if they have the assets to afford a move into the top 5 right now. With Nick Foles more expensive to cut than to keep and only 2 mil in expected cap room in 2021, they will need to clear up some space. They happen to have two expensive tackles that are playing solidly but are the only non Akiem Hicks way to open up a big chunk of cap. With Ifedi a free agent expecting to see a bigger contract in 2021, the Bears have a day one need at tackle. Luckily for them, my #2 rated tackle is still on the board and is an absolute monster when he’s set and moves extremely well for his size. There are some issues getting set, but he has an extremely high ceiling and could help open up some much needed cap space for Chicago, while providing a long term solution to a two tackles who are due a lot of money, are cheap to cut and getting onto the wrong side of 30 (and coming off of a severe knee injury in Massie’s case). A receiver is an option here if they cant bring back A-Rob, as could be CB if they cut Fuller. Safety appears as a need as well, but nobody is close to a value this early. Darrishaw is the best value to need for me.
14. *Vikings*- Gregory Rousseau-Edge-Miami (FL)
I looooove this pick. A lot of people are low on Rousseau since he isn’t a finished product, but I think that’s pretty unfair. Rousseau, in his first year as a starter managed 15.5 sacks and 19.5 TFL. While his pressure rate made the sack total seem unsustainable, this is a player who will always have a high sack to pressure ratio due to his insane length, absurd speed to power and insane closing burst. Rousseau is unlikely to be a finished product in 2021, he needs to improve his move repertoire and would do well to use his length to shut down passing lanes. But he has a much higher floor than people give him credit for because he does such a good job of using his length to keep defenders outside of his body and can always detach from blocks. He physically resembles Jevon Kearse, which is something I’ve never said before and his athletic testing is going to be nutty. From a traits perspective this is a once every 5-10 years prospect. Minnesota has done a great job developing high ceiling players and have needs across the D-line. Rousseau setting an edge on run downs and sliding inside for passing downs (where he will be a nightmare from day one) will be a huge asset for the Viks. I can’t see them passing on Rousseau should he be on the board at 14 barring a sliding Trey Lance.
15. *Patriots*- Jaylen Waddle-WR-Alabama
It baffles me that a great defensive mind like BB has allowed himself to have such a slow receiver group, but I can’t imagine him just allowing it to remain as is. The Pats have holes along the D-line and would love a franchise QB, but have played themselves out of contention for the clear round one talents. While I have to imagine Kyle Pitts would be extremely enticing here, he doesn’t offer the ability to play in-line/move nor would he be functional slid in at FB. Without the ability to disguise playcalls, I see Waddle as the pick here to add some much needed electricity and field stretching ability despite having Pitts rated slightly higher. Jakobi Meyers has emerged as a solid receiver for the Pats and the ghost of Julian Edelman remains. With Waddle demanding defensive attention, perhaps he can open up some free space for N’Keal Harry to finally realize some of the yac ability that got him drafted so highly. Edge has to be tempting, but with Rousseau and Paye both off of the board the gap between what Waddle brings to the table vs a second round receiver and a Basham type vs who will be there at 46 leans heavily in Waddle’s favor. Assuming he’s fully healthy at the combine, I think this is Waddle’s floor.
16. *49ers*- Jaycee Horn-CB-South Carolina
The 49ers would love to see a top 4 QB fall to 16 and have to be somewhat interested in Trask and Jones as scheme fits, but they also currently have literally zero cornerbacks under contract for 2021, nor are they particularly flush with cap space nor do they have a third round pick. Jaycee Horn is not only my clear cut CB3 (maaaybe can see a case for Stokes) but he’s also a great fit for what Saleh wants to do should he remain in town. This is one of the easier picks in the first for me. Good fit, arguably best player available and absolutely massive,gaping, day one need. Wyatt Davis is a strong 1B for me though.
17. *Jaguars Via Raiders*- Kyle Pitts-TE-Florida
The Jags have a ton of picks early this year, a coordinator who excels at using athletic receiving TE, a rookie QB who they will be heavily invested in succeeding, a clear need at TE and a likely willing trade partner in Las Vegas. Trading up to grab Pitts is a no-brainer for me. He’s a top 10 talent in the class who could legitimately compete for WR1 in the class should he be listed that way. Is he a great blocker? No. But he’s literally breaking records at catching contested balls, runs the crispest routes i’ve ever seen from a TE and is going to be a prime Jimmy Graham level end-zone threat who can win at every point on the field. Who matches up with this guy? Not a CB, not an LB, maaaaaybe Isaiah Simmons on his best day or a Derwin James? Factor in Jay Gruden knowing exactly how to use this kind of talent and how ridiculously accurate Justin Fields is and you have to make this trade. A Justin Fields offense with this receiving group and Gruden calling plays gets me excited. Just need a tackle and a defense and we may just have something here. Jason Mendoza would be ecstatic.
18. *Ravens*-Wyatt Davis-IOL-Ohio St
The Ravens are reeeeally missing Marshall Yanda and Davis is easily the top IOL in this class for me. I think the Ravens are trying to move away from their 2019 offensive strategy since the don’t have the pieces, but the answer is actually to rebuild around what actually worked. That has to start in the trenches. Wyatt Davis embodies Ravens football. He is a genuine people mover, but he doesn’t sacrifice speed or mobility to achieve that power. He’s pure controlled aggression, and if that’s not a Harbaugh player, I don’t know Harbaugh. If Davis played any other position, he wouldn’t be on the board at 18. Plug and play week one starter who can help get the Ravens back to the 2019 glory. If Pitts is off of the board, this has to be the pick.
19. *Giants*- Joseph Ossai-Edge-Texas
The Giants situation isn’t as bad as I thought at first glance. They haven’t had the best offensive line pay, but with Nate Solder set to return in ‘21, Andrew Thomas starting to look closer to a top 10 pick and Matt Peart as an interesting developmental piece, it felt early to reach on a tackle and I don’t love any interior lineman enough to pull the trigger here. Receiver is a glaring need, but I think there will still be impact starters to get in round two and money to spend in FA as needed. I don’t hate Daniel Jones from my looks and think if the line and skill positions improve around him, he still has a chance to develop into a second contract sort of guy. He deserves his 40 start sample size. With Saquon set to return, that leaves edge as the most glaring need. Leonard Williams and Dalvin Tomlinson are both free agents (though should imo be brought back) and Kyle Fackrell doesn’t deserve another season as a starter. In Patrick Graham’s multiple 3-4 front, there happen to be two exciting players who fit the rush LB mold extremely well and fit value wise. Azeez Ojulari and Jospeh Ossai. I have Ossai rated slightly higher on my board and love his fit in this defense as a better early down linebacker with a higher athletic ceiling in coverage and better length to entice Gettleman while avoiding combo blocks. The dude is no slouch as a pass rusher either. I love the player and love the fit in a defense that might just emerge in ‘21 if things go right.
20. *Cardinals*- Eric Stokes-CB-Georgia
The Cardinals 2021 will have Patrick Peterson, Johnathan Joseph and Dre Kirkpatrick all hitting free agency next year, leaving just slot corner Byron Murphy and a soon to be 33 year old Robert Alford coming off a broken leg to end 2019, torn pec that cost him all of 2020 who can be cut to clear 7.5M of cap space. Corner jumps out as a need both long term and potentially from day one. Few players in this class have impressed me as much as Stokes has. Stokes has always been a technically sound player who shines bright outside in press, with loose hips and long arms to obscure passing lanes. But in 2020, he’s taken that next step into a playmaker. Despite teams tending to avoid throwing at him, he’s flashed greatly improved ball skills and even housed two of the picks he has. I think this is a true all around outside corner who can fit in any scheme and do whatever is asked of him. I don’t exactly see a pro bowl ceiling here, but I think Stokes might be the safest CB in this entire class and it wouldn’t shock me if he had the best rookie year of this solid corner class. People tend to underrate a good, polished CB2 chasing upside that doesn’t always fully develop. Draft good football players.
21. *Buccaneers*- Azeez Ojulari-Edge-Georgia
In a down IDL class, I’m tempted to reach for Barmore here and with Donovan Smith able to be cut to clear 14.25M in 2021, a polished tackle like Eichenberg is somewhat enticing. But with both Lavonte David and Shaq Barrett set to be expensive free agents next year, I think a rush LB/edge hybrid is the biggest need and it just so happens Ojulari is still on the board. When I watch Ojulari I pretty much see Shaq Barrett. A smaller, still long bursty/bendy player who can rush the passer at an elite rate, but will struggle setting an edge. Barrett is a good player, but he’s going to demand a contract that will pay him more than he’s worth and take him into the wrong side of 30. Ojulari can replace something very close to Barrett on rushing downs while a cheap Anthony Nelson is already an elite edge setter on run downs. Lavonte David is a much harder player to replace IMO and they should give him the big contract. Between Nelson and Ojulari, I think they can replace Barrett for 20M less a year and honestly, the pairing has a higher ceiling if everything comes together. It will also help the Bucc’s line get younger, which is much needed for future outlook. I can’t think of a better coach than Todd Bowles to max out a guy like Ojulari. Love this fit.
22. *Dolphins*- Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah-LB-Notre Dame
After addressing linebacker with pick number 11, the Dolphins double down and draft another at pick 22. If you’re going to start two monster rush LB like Kyle Van Noy and Micah Parsons, it sure as hell won’t hurt to have an absolute speed freak to fly around and neutralize both TE and speed backs. The closest thing I’ve seen to Owusu-Koramoah is basically the 2020 Seahawks version of Jamal Adams (minus the injury) undersized for an LB but incredibly fast, incredibly good at deciphering plays and a surprisingly good blitzer. The dude finishes tackles against future sunday morning players too. As mentioned earlier, Elandon Roberts and Jerome Baker ain’t it, especially in a mainly odd front defense. JOK offers a truly unique skill set that not only compliments the pieces already there well, but will be maximized by a coach like Flores. The Dolphins have needs on the O-line, receiver and RB, but you won’t find another JOK in the second round, where they have two picks. Perhaps they can target Owusu-Koramaoh’s son, Travis Etienne with one of those picks.
23. *Colts*- Jaelan Phillips-Edge-Miami (FL)
The Colts have needs at WR,CB and will likely do their due diligence on the remaining QBs. However, the Colts top 3 snap getters on the edge (Houston, Muhammad and Autry) are all free agents, only Houston has been performing well and he’s already 32. Even if he returns, edge will be a need. While Phillips won’t be the top edge available on every team's board here due to a very small sample size and a long injury history, I have to imagine Ballard will be head over heals for this player. Ballard has shown in the past he wants to target athletes with length and Phillips has both in spades. The former #1 overall recruit has insane length, insane burst, elite bend,elite speed to power and knows how to use all four to be first to contact and shed tackles like snake skin. Phillips measurables and 2020 tape are clear cut first round grades and had he had three healthy years, he might be the top edge in the class. The dude even wins in coverage at 6’5 265. The question is, do you trust him to stay healthy. He’s the type of player that will be top 15 on 8 teams boards, mid day two on 10 teams boards and completely off of 14 teams boards. I think Ballard is going to fall in the first group of GMs and he will rush to the podium to get Phillips in the building.
24. *Browns*- Zaven Collins-LB-Tulsa
The Browns have clear needs at edge and linebacker. If Owusu-Koramoah were on the board, he’d be the pick and Dylan Moses has to make them think. But I think they instead get them somebody who can do both. Andrew Berry has shown a strong correlation of draft picks to PFF grades and guess who PFF’s top graded LB in all of college football is? Zaven Collins. More than just questionably important player grades at Tulsa, Zaven Collins has the unteachable traits you can’t coach and scouting teams will love. 6’4 260 pound men shouldn’t be able to move like this. Collins is nimble and agile and is going to blow up the combine. I’d bet money on that. He uses this blend of size and agility to simple avoid blocks at Tulsa but has the size and length to easily disengage at any level. He is borderline elite in coverage and has bullied American conference passers into 2 pass deflections and 4 picks (which he’s returned for 152 yards and 2 TDs) in just 6 2020 games. Collins can rush the passer as well and has legit edge size. Collins currently plays more fast (which he is) than powerful (which he also is). I’d like to see him learn to use his size to initiate contact and bully people at the point of contact because he absolutely can, but I guess why do it when you can just avoid them completely. The game speeds up from the American conference to the AFC North, but I think Collins is a day one LB, special teams force and has potential to develop into a very special player. Watching him play, he reminds me of a cross between KJ Wright and Jamie Collins, but bigger. Fun Player and easy fit.
25. *Raiders Via Jaguars*- Christian Barmore-IDL-Alabama
After trading back and acquiring an extra top 70 pick, the Raiders select the player they wanted all along. The Raiders need a more consistent pass rush. Clelin Ferell has taken a huge step forward in 2020, but he will always be a stop the run player more than a sack artist (as is Nassib), while I’m not ready to give up on Maxx Crosby, he hasn’t been the same player he was in 2019 (or close to it). Maurice Hurst has been their only good pass rusher for my money, but he will need help inside. Johnathan Hankins is a free agent, soon to be on the wrong side of 30. Vickers and Collins certainly aren’t the answer. In a down IDL class, Barmore is the only player I can see ging round one and is easily my top IDL in the class. Is he a polished player and tactician? Nope. NFL double teams will likely eat him if he can’t add more moves or play with better leverage. That said, if you try to double him, Hurst is gonna murder your quarterback. Barmore has rare length, bend and power for an interior player. He already wins against SEC lineman and can play all across the line despite being 310 pounds. When he wins, he wins quickly and is an immediate disruptive force up the middle. Put him outside in short yardage situations and back inside on clear passing downs and he will immediately be an upgrade for the black and silver. He won’t be a 3-down guy year one, but that doesn’t mean he won’t make an impact. Long term, the sky is the limit. This is the only IDL in this class I can envision making a pro bowl. He also just so happens to come from the winning culture that Gruden?Mayock love. It just makes too much sense not to happen.
26. *Jets Via Seattle*- Carlos Basham-Edge-Wake Forest
It’s still TBD who will be the Jets DC in 2021, but I think they have personnel best suited for a true multiple front but could certainly use a genuinely polished power edge suited to play both 3-4 and 4-3 edge. Basham is that guy and while Joe Douglas has a love for quick twitch athletes off of the edge, I think Boogie Basham would make too much sense to pass up on here. Basham (who’s cousin Tarrell is a current Jet likely to be brought back for 2021) is a relentless load to handle on the perimeter who has the kind of day one polish this team needs. Basham has a fantastic grasp on how to clog gaps on run downs, is a sure tackler with his massive wingspan, sheds blocks with a very impressive and polished array of moves, never seems to be out of position, doesn’t over pursue and get out of position and man knows how to use his long-limbed frame to create chaos. Across his last 19 games, he has forced 7 fumbles and tipped 4 passes despite being double and triple teamed week in, week out. Basham isn’t a poor athlete by any means, but I would say he’s more of a day two bend/burst combo than typical day one. That said, he has day one starter polish at 285, makes the players around him better and creates turnovers. This isn’t your 10 sack a year guy, but it’s your 6-8 sack a year, consistent 3 down/scheme versatile edge who makes the players around him better and brings much needed leadership skills.
27. *Titans*- Dylan Moses-LB-Alabama
I expect this to be one of my most controversial picks in this mock. With Clowney a free agent again, edge is a glaring need, but unless you want to reach big time for an edge there isn’t anybody left. With only 10M of cap space currently in 2021, Corey davis has likely priced himself out of town with a boom season. WR is a need but one that can be addressed later. Daquan Jones will need to be replaced at DT. But with Jayon Brown likely gone in 2021, I have to think the former LB and the former Patriot in Mike Vrabel is going to fall in love with Dylan Moses the player; as well as Dylan Moses the person. Moses is a freak athlete with a freak work ethic who clearly just loves the game of football. The movement skills, power and tackling ability are all special. That said, he’s had a somewhat down year. He has good instincts, but you can visually see him second guess himself and overthink plays. RPO’s, sudden moves and good routes have eaten him up in 2020. Who better to teach a special ball of clay how to turn his brain off than Vrabel? Moses will be a day one starter, immediate locker room leader and running back neutralizer in day one for the Titans. There will be some rough moments early on, but this is the kind of player Vrabel loves and the ceiling is really high for this pairing. A reach for Jason Oweh or Jay Tufele feel possible here as well, as could a Bateman or Marshall pick.
28. *Bills*- Shaun Wade-CB-Ohio St
Bills could use an edge if they can’t bring back Murphy, would have to take a long look at Moses if he were on the board and could really use a Pat Freiermuth...but if the draft falls like this I expect them to run to the podium. Josh Norman, Levi Wallace and Daryl Worley are all free agents in 2021 and Taron Johnson isn’t particularly good. With just 4.8M in 2021, this likely means the Bills will need a minimum of one cheap starting CB and likely both a slot and outside guy. Wade can fill both roles and is simply too talented to remain on the board here. Easy pick to make.
29. *Packers*- Rashod Bateman-WR-Minnesota
Do the Packers seemingly ever draft WR round one? No. Should they? Yep. Do they currently have the cap space to bring back Allan Lazard? Lol no. They have -18M in cap space next year. It’s worth noting that this means they are extremely unlikely to be able to resign Aaron Jones, which explains the weird AJ Dillon reach and opens up RB as a possibility. That makes me tempted to grab Kadarius Toney as a Kamara role hybrid, but that doesn’t seem like a Packers move. Terrace Marshall feels like a Packers pick, but he doesn’t block as well as Bateman and won’t be quite as good day one. I think Gutekunst will fall in love with Bateman’s boundary receiving skills, Rodgers will lobby hard for a receiver that wins with a skillset similar to Davante Adams and LaFleur will fall in love with Bateman’s alpha run-blocking game. Toss in the fact that Bateman in Green Bay will rip the heart out of Vikings fans and it’s an all around win. Linebacker is an absolutely glaring need, but all the good ones are gone and the Packers seem to hate drafting them even more than hate drafting receivers. Love this fit and pick.
30. *Chiefs*- Rashawn Slater-OT-Northwestern
The Chiefs have had one hell of a run, but 2021 will be the beginning of having to pay the piper. Even without resigning Sammy Watkins, Charvarius Ward, Breeland, Nieman, Wilson, osemele, Rieters, Remmers, Wylie, Robinson, Lev Bell, Sorenson,kpassagnon and Pennell among players who saw heavy snaps in 2020; they will be -15M in 2021 cap space. And that’s BEFORE the roster gets expensive in 2022. This means, at minimum two of the Honey Badger, Mitchell Schwartz and Eric Fisher will be cap casualties. Basically the entire o-line and secondary will be needs, as well as 1-2 WR. Rashawn Slater of “the only player not to be sucked into the void by Chase Young in 2019” fame can play 4 of the line slots, moves incredibly well for a man his size, can play in cold weather and is apparently loved by “NFL types”. This feels like a pick the Chiefs have to make.
31. *Saints*- Tyson Campbell-CB-Georgia
If you thought the Chiefs cap situation was bad….the Saints currently have -95M of cap space in 2021. -95M. Jared Cook, Alex Anzalone, Sheldon Rankins, Marcus Williams and Trey Hendrickson are impact free agents who won’t be able to be resigned. Making LB, FS, Edge and IDL big needs. Ryan Ramczyk, Marshon Lattimore, Malcolm Brown and Kwon Alexander almost 100% have to be cut. It’s a bad spot to be in. Tackle, QB, LB, DT and CB all stand out as the biggest needs. With two QB’s fully guaranteed over 33M in dead cap in 2021, reaching for a QB round one doesn’t seem likely. Jaylen Mayfield or a Liam Eichenberg seem possible, as could a Jay Tufele but there will be more potential day one starters there round two than CB. Tyson Campbell has injury concerns and has had a pretty poor 2020, but he looks built in a lab to be a CB1. I think this is the replacement for a Lattimore that the Saints simply can’t afford next year. It’s a very wide range of possible outcome player, but it’s a risk they have to take.
32. *Steelers*- Jalen Mayfield-OT-Michigan
The Steelers are yet another team in 2021 cap hell. Sitting pretty at -20M in 2021, the Steelers will have Bud Dupree, Juju, James Conner, Matt Feiler, Cam Sutton, Mike Hilton, Robert Spillane and Tyson Alualu as free agent starters. Edge, OT, CB and RB all jump out as big needs even before cap casualties and the QB of the future still isn’t in the building. In particular, tackle, edge and RB jump out as needs. Jalen Mayfield is a lab built tackle with great length, power and agility wrapped up in a prototypical frame. He is not yet a finished product, who struggles against speed to power and gets over his toes at times. But he has the traits you can’t teach and should thrive in a power concept. Year one will be up and down and in a perfect world, he’d have a year or two to season. Maybe Eichenberg will be a better fit. But he just screams Steelers power football when he gets his lower half right. I can’t see Mike Tomlin go for a RB with the ball security issues Etienne has and while Harris will be tempting, the needs up front are just too much to pass up on a potential starter.

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