Michael Birch
@birchmd.bsky.social
Software developer; math enthusiast; he/him; MTG casual;
https://github.com/birchmd
https://www.typedriven.ca/portfolios/
https://github.com/birchmd
https://www.typedriven.ca/portfolios/
I know power cube is all the rage for limited players on #MTGArena but I was in the mood for a relaxing quick draft and I managed to get 7 wins!
November 9, 2025 at 11:20 PM
I know power cube is all the rage for limited players on #MTGArena but I was in the mood for a relaxing quick draft and I managed to get 7 wins!
If Friday the 13th is bad luck then is Friday the 31st good luck?
October 31, 2025 at 4:02 PM
If Friday the 13th is bad luck then is Friday the 31st good luck?
I guess this hand would be spookier if it was all Swamps, but 7 lands is still pretty scary! Happy Halloween!
October 31, 2025 at 3:45 PM
I guess this hand would be spookier if it was all Swamps, but 7 lands is still pretty scary! Happy Halloween!
I thought it would be fun to try to simulate playing this deck against a goldfish opponent. I'll share my results in a thread.
I also had fun playing the deck myself of Arena.
Thanks for sharing it @mtgcreativecombos.bsky.social !
I also had fun playing the deck myself of Arena.
Thanks for sharing it @mtgcreativecombos.bsky.social !
Duskmourn's Claim Combo!
Lots of high mana value cards makes Duskmourn's Claim (Parker Luck) do potentially 6-8 damage per turn. Geological Appraiser discovers into it, and the lands manipulate the top of the deck.
Decklist and Gameplay: youtu.be/8vFbUhJTFvM
@fireshoes.bsky.social
Lots of high mana value cards makes Duskmourn's Claim (Parker Luck) do potentially 6-8 damage per turn. Geological Appraiser discovers into it, and the lands manipulate the top of the deck.
Decklist and Gameplay: youtu.be/8vFbUhJTFvM
@fireshoes.bsky.social
October 28, 2025 at 2:21 AM
I thought it would be fun to try to simulate playing this deck against a goldfish opponent. I'll share my results in a thread.
I also had fun playing the deck myself of Arena.
Thanks for sharing it @mtgcreativecombos.bsky.social !
I also had fun playing the deck myself of Arena.
Thanks for sharing it @mtgcreativecombos.bsky.social !
#MTGArenaStats during Edge of Eternities
October 26, 2025 at 1:33 PM
#MTGArenaStats during Edge of Eternities
The Pi Day in March is far inferior to the one today. Not only is M.DD (3.14 in the case of Pi Day) a terrible date format, but 22/7 is a better approximation!
So happy Pi Day to all who celebrate!
That said, I can't complain about having two excuses to talk about math :)
So happy Pi Day to all who celebrate!
That said, I can't complain about having two excuses to talk about math :)
Happy π Approximation Day!
July 22, 2025 at 9:56 PM
The Pi Day in March is far inferior to the one today. Not only is M.DD (3.14 in the case of Pi Day) a terrible date format, but 22/7 is a better approximation!
So happy Pi Day to all who celebrate!
That said, I can't complain about having two excuses to talk about math :)
So happy Pi Day to all who celebrate!
That said, I can't complain about having two excuses to talk about math :)
It's no secret now that blue-red spells is a good deck in #MTGxFINALFANTASY draft. But it's still satisfying when a good version comes together and you get 7 wins on #MTGArena !
July 15, 2025 at 12:48 AM
It's no secret now that blue-red spells is a good deck in #MTGxFINALFANTASY draft. But it's still satisfying when a good version comes together and you get 7 wins on #MTGArena !
Ah Chocobo Spells, a classic archetype of #MTGxFINALFANTASY draft. Still good enough for 7 wins on #MTGArena
All joking aside, this deck was super fun to draft and play. And FF is a fun draft format because it has synergies allowing you build decks outside the seeded archetypes.
All joking aside, this deck was super fun to draft and play. And FF is a fun draft format because it has synergies allowing you build decks outside the seeded archetypes.
June 28, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Ah Chocobo Spells, a classic archetype of #MTGxFINALFANTASY draft. Still good enough for 7 wins on #MTGArena
All joking aside, this deck was super fun to draft and play. And FF is a fun draft format because it has synergies allowing you build decks outside the seeded archetypes.
All joking aside, this deck was super fun to draft and play. And FF is a fun draft format because it has synergies allowing you build decks outside the seeded archetypes.
My first 7 wins in #MTGxFINALFANTASY draft on #MTGArena !
June 20, 2025 at 2:25 AM
My first 7 wins in #MTGxFINALFANTASY draft on #MTGArena !
Poll: Which one of the following four talk titles is fake?
A. First-Person Choreographic Programming with Continuation-Passing Communications
B. Verification of Hybrid Hierarchical Systems via Approximate Abstraction Refining
(continued in 🧵)
A. First-Person Choreographic Programming with Continuation-Passing Communications
B. Verification of Hybrid Hierarchical Systems via Approximate Abstraction Refining
(continued in 🧵)
May 8, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Poll: Which one of the following four talk titles is fake?
A. First-Person Choreographic Programming with Continuation-Passing Communications
B. Verification of Hybrid Hierarchical Systems via Approximate Abstraction Refining
(continued in 🧵)
A. First-Person Choreographic Programming with Continuation-Passing Communications
B. Verification of Hybrid Hierarchical Systems via Approximate Abstraction Refining
(continued in 🧵)
Let's do some mathematical modelling for fun! 🧵
War is a simple card "game" sometimes played by children. It's really more of an activity actually because there are no decisions for the players to make, but this makes it easier to model.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_(ca...
War is a simple card "game" sometimes played by children. It's really more of an activity actually because there are no decisions for the players to make, but this makes it easier to model.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_(ca...
War (card game) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
April 13, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Let's do some mathematical modelling for fun! 🧵
War is a simple card "game" sometimes played by children. It's really more of an activity actually because there are no decisions for the players to make, but this makes it easier to model.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_(ca...
War is a simple card "game" sometimes played by children. It's really more of an activity actually because there are no decisions for the players to make, but this makes it easier to model.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_(ca...
7 wins with a blue/white artifacts deck in #MTGAetherdrift !
March 22, 2025 at 3:17 PM
7 wins with a blue/white artifacts deck in #MTGAetherdrift !
There's something beautiful and arcane about Haskell. They even include a poem in the documentation!
"To summarise in haiku:
Monad axioms:
Kleisli composition forms
a category."
"To summarise in haiku:
Monad axioms:
Kleisli composition forms
a category."
March 21, 2025 at 11:00 PM
There's something beautiful and arcane about Haskell. They even include a poem in the documentation!
"To summarise in haiku:
Monad axioms:
Kleisli composition forms
a category."
"To summarise in haiku:
Monad axioms:
Kleisli composition forms
a category."
@standupmaths.bsky.social famously[1] attempted to make a magic square of squares and many people have since worked on this problem[2], but no solution has yet been found. So in the great tradition of "giving it a go" I thought I would seriously think about it a bit myself.
0/13
0/13
March 6, 2025 at 9:36 PM
@standupmaths.bsky.social famously[1] attempted to make a magic square of squares and many people have since worked on this problem[2], but no solution has yet been found. So in the great tradition of "giving it a go" I thought I would seriously think about it a bit myself.
0/13
0/13
I went 0-4 in Day 2 of the #MTGArena Open. I don't think my deck was incredible (lacking on removal for example), but it would have been nice to win at least one game. Oh well, better luck next time!
March 2, 2025 at 3:37 PM
I went 0-4 in Day 2 of the #MTGArena Open. I don't think my deck was incredible (lacking on removal for example), but it would have been nice to win at least one game. Oh well, better luck next time!
I qualified for Day 2 of the #MTGAetherdrift Arena Open! I didn't think my sealed pool was that strong, but the RB speed deck managed to go the distance!
March 1, 2025 at 9:18 PM
I qualified for Day 2 of the #MTGAetherdrift Arena Open! I didn't think my sealed pool was that strong, but the RB speed deck managed to go the distance!
#MTGArenaStats during Foundations. Looks like I played fewer games than I normally do, but hitting mythic (a while ago now) was cool!
February 20, 2025 at 9:09 AM
#MTGArenaStats during Foundations. Looks like I played fewer games than I normally do, but hitting mythic (a while ago now) was cool!
Thanks to @standupmaths.bsky.social and his book Love Triangle for introducing me to the phrase
"Every triangle is a love triangle, if you love triangles".
I sure do love triangles 😁
"Every triangle is a love triangle, if you love triangles".
I sure do love triangles 😁
February 3, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Thanks to @standupmaths.bsky.social and his book Love Triangle for introducing me to the phrase
"Every triangle is a love triangle, if you love triangles".
I sure do love triangles 😁
"Every triangle is a love triangle, if you love triangles".
I sure do love triangles 😁
I mentioned previously 2024 was my first year doing #AdventOfCode. I enjoyed it so much that I spent the month of January going back to do 2023! I also decided that if I was in this for the long haul then I should have a proper repo to push my solutions and structure it nicely as a #rustlang project
January 24, 2025 at 8:35 PM
I mentioned previously 2024 was my first year doing #AdventOfCode. I enjoyed it so much that I spent the month of January going back to do 2023! I also decided that if I was in this for the long haul then I should have a proper repo to push my solutions and structure it nicely as a #rustlang project
An often overlooked virtue of intuitionism is that it dissolves this kind of paradoxes: I can affirm that one or two stones do not make a heap and that fifty or more stones make a heap without having to make up my mind for the numbers in between.
J. Granström (Treatise on Intuitionistic Type Theory)
J. Granström (Treatise on Intuitionistic Type Theory)
January 3, 2025 at 9:29 PM
An often overlooked virtue of intuitionism is that it dissolves this kind of paradoxes: I can affirm that one or two stones do not make a heap and that fifty or more stones make a heap without having to make up my mind for the numbers in between.
J. Granström (Treatise on Intuitionistic Type Theory)
J. Granström (Treatise on Intuitionistic Type Theory)
Happy new year!
2025 = (20 + 25)^2
A slightly different set of numerical coincidences was discussed in a recent Michael Penn video. For example
8833 = 88^2 + 33^2
Playing around with this, I also noticed
420 = 4^2 + 20^2 (base 8)
Isn't math fun? 😂
2025 = (20 + 25)^2
A slightly different set of numerical coincidences was discussed in a recent Michael Penn video. For example
8833 = 88^2 + 33^2
Playing around with this, I also noticed
420 = 4^2 + 20^2 (base 8)
Isn't math fun? 😂
January 1, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Happy new year!
2025 = (20 + 25)^2
A slightly different set of numerical coincidences was discussed in a recent Michael Penn video. For example
8833 = 88^2 + 33^2
Playing around with this, I also noticed
420 = 4^2 + 20^2 (base 8)
Isn't math fun? 😂
2025 = (20 + 25)^2
A slightly different set of numerical coincidences was discussed in a recent Michael Penn video. For example
8833 = 88^2 + 33^2
Playing around with this, I also noticed
420 = 4^2 + 20^2 (base 8)
Isn't math fun? 😂
I just completed all 25 days of Advent of Code 2024! #AdventOfCode adventofcode.com
This was my first year doing it and I had a blast! Thanks @was.tl for putting together all the problems!
This was my first year doing it and I had a blast! Thanks @was.tl for putting together all the problems!
Advent of Code 2024
adventofcode.com
December 25, 2024 at 1:29 PM
I just completed all 25 days of Advent of Code 2024! #AdventOfCode adventofcode.com
This was my first year doing it and I had a blast! Thanks @was.tl for putting together all the problems!
This was my first year doing it and I had a blast! Thanks @was.tl for putting together all the problems!
Finishing up beermas 2024 *strong*! You really feel the 10% ABV on this one.
#BeerSky
Looking back, this was a good beermas. I really enjoyed most of the beers from Brock St Brewing's Advent Calendar. I recommend giving them a try if you haven't before!
#BeerSky
Looking back, this was a good beermas. I really enjoyed most of the beers from Brock St Brewing's Advent Calendar. I recommend giving them a try if you haven't before!
December 24, 2024 at 10:46 PM
Finishing up beermas 2024 *strong*! You really feel the 10% ABV on this one.
#BeerSky
Looking back, this was a good beermas. I really enjoyed most of the beers from Brock St Brewing's Advent Calendar. I recommend giving them a try if you haven't before!
#BeerSky
Looking back, this was a good beermas. I really enjoyed most of the beers from Brock St Brewing's Advent Calendar. I recommend giving them a try if you haven't before!