Hi! I’m Dave.
I used to play a lot of Magic: The Gathering®. I’ve probably played on and off for about 25 years, which feels absolutely bananas 🍌 🍌 🍌.
One time, I finished in the top 100 at the biggest Grand Prix of all time (at the time) — Grand Prix Las Vegas, 2013 🎰.
Another time, I finished in 17th (missed 16th on tiebreakers to my buddy Kurt Spiess) at what might’ve been the smallest American Grand Prix of all time (at the time…but who knows, I don’t really remember), Charleston, 2012 🌴.
And yet another time, I won a Star City “Modern Premier IQ” in Washington D.C. back in 2014 playing G/W Bogles 🇺🇸.
Magic, specifically, but more broadly, TCGs have done a lot to shape my life. They’re how I met the woman I’d eventually marry, and how I met an overwhelming number of people I really care about.
At times TCGs were how I paid my bills (selling ad space to local stores and doing event promotion on the strategy site I used to edit).
It’s also how I had conversations that ended up deeply developing my political views (I’m a Socialist. You might call me a radical Leftist. I think Black Lives Matter. I think the “American Experiment” only works when it leans into exploitation, and I think Capitalism is the cause of most of the suffering in the World). Go figure: now I’m writing about a Disney game.
Maybe that’s a lot to read on a “who tf is this guy, anyway?” page, but I don’t want it to catch you off guard the next time a police officer murders an unarmed Black person with absolutely no repercussions, and I tweet something like “ACAB” or “#blacklivesmatter” (like, all this to say: if you disagree, click here to be taken to your safe space) ✌🏾.
Anyway, I’m not very good at Magic, even if, at one point, I’d achieved a lot of community notoriety (mostly for being a whimsical troll, but maybe for a smidge of talent at the game) 👺. I started Dave’s Dumb Decks because I thought it would be fun to help new players understand some of the theory behind TCGs, deckbuilding, and playing competitively – whether that means at your weekly Lorcana League or in a huge, convention-like event with hundreds of players.
Anyway, you can check in here for decklists, strategy articles, and occasional musings on the game or life. Please follow me on twitter at @02drop.
Let’s go, I guess.
BEST WISHES,
Dave.