New to the game and noticed there are a lot of different versions of Luffy. I'm leveling them all up for support, but not sure which, or if some of them are worth investing in for League battle. How would you rank them in a list and why?

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Hello there!
After three weeks of learning the basics of graphs, I think it is time to show you examples of how we can translate real-life problems to the graph theory domain
This will be the last of a series of posts introducing the basic concepts of graph theory before we dive into topics such as traversals, and finding cycles, among others.
Here’s a summary of what we have covered in the previous editions:

1. Introduction to the concepts of nodes, edges, and connectivity.
2. Defining what are neighbors, degrees, and colorings in graphs.
3. How to represent graphs in a computer program.

Today, we will learn about practical examples of how to use graphs in real life. For that, we are going to see examples of “games” that are played on boards. They might seem unrelated to graphs, but the truth is that they are more closely related than you might think.
At the end of the post, you will find some algorithmic challenges so you can try and apply some of the topics that I will explain today. Feel free to skip to that part if you think you already have the necessary skills to solve them.
Let’s begin!

An Initial Problem

Let’s dive in straight to the matter. Take a look at the following problem and think about how you would approach it:
https://preview.redd.it/krf1rmu0nr3b1.png?width=1304&format=png&auto=webp&s=c6890cc02f7ecafa3327f392163608c2660c39d1
By simple inspection, we can notice that there are three “sets“ of floor tiles that can be identified as “rooms“. These are all the rooms highlighted and numbered:
https://preview.redd.it/skr7qk73nr3b1.png?width=649&format=png&auto=webp&s=974ae5fafd8e618a05834c62ccb1dc555baf635d
Intuitively, we identify these “connected“ regions and we sort them out as “rooms” because it just makes sense in our heads.
But what if this was the input to a program? How could we design an algorithm that a computer will execute to find the number of “rooms” in any map of a house that uses this representation?
Well, unfortunately, before thinking about designing algorithms we have to think about modeling this problem in terms that a computer can understand. And one possibility, as you might have suspected already, is doing so by using graphs.

Representing Boards as Graphs

Let’s talk about a classical way of representing boards using graphs. Take a look at the following problem and try to think of a solution.
This time go a bit further and try to think of a general solution, instead of just solving this particular instance. It’s ok if you can’t, I will show you how to do it soon.
https://preview.redd.it/f04jvvg6nr3b1.png?width=1304&format=png&auto=webp&s=f4eb98877382658edbc5f182e3f522126ce6c5c3
Once again, our brains might identify that there are only two paths between the highlighted squares, and we can easily spot which one is the shortest:
https://preview.redd.it/j8b1n009nr3b1.png?width=1555&format=png&auto=webp&s=2b62fe71c2b3091ed3735d24b3d9cbf575d29002
The path shown on the left takes 9 steps while the one on the right takes 11 steps.
But, who defined what a path is in this problem? Who defined which tiles we can move to when standing on a specific tile?
Our brains (or at least mine) intuitively assumed that the possible moves from a given position were the following:
https://preview.redd.it/v7qf7k0bnr3b1.png?width=256&format=png&auto=webp&s=204d5817b885b926f020b7479fdc84fef4cc64e5
So, as long as we are not trying to go to a “wall” tile, we can move to the left, right, up, or down.
Let’s take this set of movements and the “floor“ tiles and see how they relate to graphs. Assuming that the start and end tiles are also floor tiles, we can number every floor tile arbitrarily like this:
https://preview.redd.it/jwkf1lohnr3b1.png?width=649&format=png&auto=webp&s=c1e17e2971c1c99f9a658111f0a9646be0a27ade
We have 14 “floor” tiles, which can be represented as 14 nodes of a graph. So, what about the edges?
Let’s add an edge between two pairs of nodes if it exists a valid movement between their corresponding tiles on the map. For example, we can add edges between nodes 1 and 2, and also between nodes 13 and 14.
That being said, our problem can be reduced to finding the path with the minimum length between two nodes in an undirected graph.
This is the graph that results from taking every floor tile as a node and adding edges according to the valid moves that we defined:
https://preview.redd.it/u94iiezjnr3b1.png?width=2195&format=png&auto=webp&s=33388b27b52c9b19d444a51fd51b264f9248d7fa
The problem of finding a path with the minimum length between two nodes is a standard problem in the graph theory domain, and we will learn how to solve it in future posts of this series.
For the moment, let’s go back to our initial problem and try to model it using graphs applying what we learned from this example.

Counting the Rooms

Let’s recall the problem we saw at the beginning of this post:
https://preview.redd.it/q63774ymnr3b1.png?width=1304&format=png&auto=webp&s=924e910b5767e9b60a7746efb2a798491bb6c585
Let’s number every floor tile, and assume that we have the same possible moves that we described above. That is, from a given tile we can move to the tiles at its right, left, top, and bottom as long as they are not “wall“ tiles.
A possible numbering could be the following:
https://preview.redd.it/bgtr6e0pnr3b1.png?width=649&format=png&auto=webp&s=3d451e28cf81d8ec82a07fcf60ea7ac9bd4fcfda
Translating this map to a graph the same way we did before, we get the following:
https://preview.redd.it/bz9ymsjqnr3b1.png?width=806&format=png&auto=webp&s=0311f27afc7d52f5a7f3cfde5c5a36d250c30b2c
And if we were to solve the problem of counting the number of rooms in a graph, we could rephrase that as counting the number of its connected components.
See all the “rooms“ taken to the domain of connected components below:
https://preview.redd.it/2xc3ctrtnr3b1.png?width=1742&format=png&auto=webp&s=305209b6f203bc9cf9921b2e15698aa1e05c736c
As you also might suspect, the problem of finding the connected components in an undirected graph is also a standard problem that can be solved by using various graph algorithms.
We will be covering those algorithms and more in future editions of Algorithmically Speaking.
In the meantime, it’s time to try what you’ve learned!

Test Your Skills

I have seen a variety of challenges and puzzles on boards that I would like to share some of them with you today.
I would suggest that you try to focus first on solving them by any means possible and then try to think about how to model this problem using a bit of graph theory.
As I promised before, no more plain-text statements. Here we go:
Problem #1:
https://preview.redd.it/xgj16v8znr3b1.png?width=1533&format=png&auto=webp&s=0e2c4b2ada71956c934bff787cdc79f71f0f93a3
Problem #2:
https://preview.redd.it/za6no143or3b1.png?width=1304&format=png&auto=webp&s=ed8e954472dbe4201880e15f851e254ded26fc87

Conclusions

I hope I was able to keep igniting your passion for graph theory by showing you some basic guidelines on how to model board problems using graphs.
This approach is used in numerous real-life applications (at the top of my mind I can think of numerous examples related to the gaming industry).
Also, I recently stumbled upon this video where I found out about a competition that has been going on for more than 50 years and has a lot to do with boards, mazes, and of course, graphs.
Some takeaways:

• Board problems can usually be modeled as graphs by taking some set of tiles as the nodes and the possible moves between the tiles as the edges.
• Usually, board games involve tasks such as counting regions, or finding paths which are usually standard problems of the graph theory domain.
• The chessboard is a bipartite graph. Do you see it now?

I wish you good luck when solving this week’s challenges. Don’t forget to share your progress with the community!
If you think this post can be helpful for someone, share it with them. Nothing will make me happier!
See you next week!

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Are tots from each league has a limited time period when you can acquire them or have them from packs or are they available throughout the whole tots events? For example if yesterday the seria A league tots were released does it mean the ligue 1 tots are no longer available in packs? I’m asking because I’ve got a bunch of packs and have no use of seria A players but rather ligue 1 tots.
If only seria A tots are the ones in packs now I’d rather save the packs for ultimate tots next Friday (I know it’s the best option either way, but still)

Heyo, I'm going to try posting a longer post (again).
So, I'm a 22 year old guy living in Italy and I was looking forward to meet and talk with people from this sub.
What could I tell you about myself?
I like gaming, I do play multiple kinds of games (both off and online). I have played games like League of Legends, Elden Ring, Red Dead Redemption 2, a bunch of other RPGs and idk, feel free to ask.
I enjoy watching series/movies (even though not really frequently). I have absolutely loved Breaking Bad, I also have watched Peaky Blinders and some other series, I don't watch that many movies but I've been watching the Harry Potter saga lately (finished it, too).
I enjoy learning different stuff or skills that may or may not be helpful to me
I enjoy music a lot, I listen to a lot of music during my day, mostly in the background while I'm studying/working on something and I enjoy rap/hip hop a lot, also like pop but I do enjoy a lot of different genres. I like listening to instrumentals too at times and I absolutely love pianos (was even looking forward to learning how to play it one day, who knows)
I like water.
That's pretty much it, thank you for reading all of this.

Not necessarily theabsolute best players in your favorite team’s history but the ones that made you a fan of them
Mine: Willie Mays - first off, “Willie Mays” is the most “good baseball player” name of all time. Then there’s the over the shoulder catches, the clutch hits, the 660 homers.. Willie is the fuckin man
Brandon Crawford - impeccable hair and the best defensive highlights.
Travis Ishikawa - one of the first minor league prospects i got hyped about as a kid, that walkoff homer against the reds is a lifelong memory
Sergio Romo - possibly the most pound for pound “dawg” of any baseball player ever

There is no hope for me, as a truly ugly women. No one will ever genuinely compliment me, be in a genuine long term relationship or want to become friends with me. Yet ton of guys still invalidate ugly women experience outside women only space and spew "dont be fat" bs yet ive seen ton of butterfaces get mistreated by guys, degraded, used, struggle to get a long term genuine relationships and its mostly over things that cant be easily changed like terrible bones structure, masculine features, big nose, etc so there is no hope for me yet guys still want to invalidate us, it pisses me off so much now....its just so frustrating when your already suffering so much from being ugly only to still get invalidated or shut down from the same guys who would probably go after hot women anyways and would never give ugly women a chance. As a matter of fact, ive seen more guys who dont meet conventional beauty standards happily married with women way more attractive than them meanwhile ive seen unattractive women suffer to the point even their own league dont want to do anything with them, atleast men arent told their worth goes down after the age of 30 yet they still want to whine how unattractive women have it easier. Im just tired now, a womens' worth will always be based on her looks and her ability to attract men.

My first time playing the franchise since Diablo 2.
I'm sort of shocked that such a basic feature is missing from the game. I don't think I've ever played a game without the ability to pause play before, other than perhaps rocket league, but a game of rocket league is like five minutes.
How are you supposed to like, use the bathroom? Send a quick text message? How does anyone play this game???

Good day everyone. Hope you're all doing great. I just wanted to make this post to share an experience that I hope we can all learn from. I had a game where my team faced a pos1 bloodseeker that went magic build (radi, bloodstone, aghs). All was fine at first, but it got to a point where he could unironically 1v9 the whole game even with spirit vessel and silver edge break. I'm thinking if more antiheals like skadi were purchased it might've helped (checking the networth graph it seemed like we had zero chance of winning) but I'm not entirely sure.
This straight up became an unwinnable game because the bs turned immortal. It could be bad team coordination, we were countered/outdrafted, or bought the wrong items. I hope you guys could help shed some tips on this game and general tips on how to handle this scenario.
Match ID: 7169403804 I'm the Oracle in this game.
Hope you have a good rest of your day and let's all climb the mmr ladder 🙌🏼
Edit: here's a dotabuff link https://www.dotabuff.com/matches/7169403804

I'm from Germany and I fully accept that the NBA as the highest class of basketball individually and the most stacked league. But isn't it weird that the winners of a national Basketball association call themselves world champions. I find that a bit overbearing maybe. What's your take on that?

Thanks to "Sithking Zero" on the NoP Discord for editing help.
Memory transcription subject: Tellek , Farmer
Date [standardized human time]: January 19th, 2137
Has it really come to this, am I really this desperate?
I was, for all intents and purposes, broke. The last harvest had been terrible, in addition to the one before that, which was practically a deathblow for my new farmstead. The debts and missed payments had started to pile up, and I was one more bad harvest away from going completely bankrupt.
Like so many farmers before me, I was becoming another victim of the 5 harvest curse.
I told you that starting a new farm was a bad idea.
What was I supposed to do, brain, keep working in the office until I died?
I sat on my chair, surrounded by other farmers who were presumably in similar states of desperation, the room we were in akin to the schoolrooms I had been in as a pup; a desk and whiteboard up front sitting in front of the rows of chairs. Most of the twenty or so figures around me were fellow Venlil, except for a handful of Gojid and even a single Yotul who was sitting in the back, all of us awaiting the start of the ‘lesson’.
They claimed they had a solution to our problem, that they knew how to increase our yields. How could a predator know how to fix our farming issues?.
Human. Human Human Human Human. Not a predator.
Yes yes I know, I’m trying to be better about that.
I stopped my train of thought and corrected myself. Ever since the revelations about many of our allies being former predators, I had been making an effort to stop thinking of the world in terms of predator and prey. It was difficult at times, but given that I was working against a lifetimes worth of lies, I thought I was making good progress..
But even if “Predator” wasn’t the curse it used to be, how could a human claim to know how to fix our farming issues? Even if we ignored the differences between our diets, for all their advantages, humans were still far below our technological advancements.
Almost on cue, the door to the room opened up, and the figure of the human who had invited us here entered with an enthusiastic bounce, caring two large cases covered with black cloth
Unlike most, this human was unmasked, its piercing eyes and beaming teeth filled smile visible for all to see. I could feel the room start to fill with panic. Sure, logically I knew I was probably safe, but seeing the unmasked features of an apex predator caused fear to grip the edge of my heart.
I could proudly say I can walk past and interact with masked humans without wanting to flee anymore, but seeing those forward-facing eyes boring a hole into my soul was another task altogether.
Come on, you should be better than this.
I’m trying, ok!
"Hello everyone. My name is Joseph. I'm an ecology student, and I'm here to provide a solution to your farming yields." The human spoke with an unbridled joy, seeming to wait a moment while our translators attempted to explain what Ecology was, stopping half way through and seemingly giving up.
“You might be wondering why I’m unmasked, well we’re going to be covering a lot of ‘predatory’ concepts today, so if you can’t handle this? We’re gonna have bigger problems.” Joseph took a moment to broadly gesture to himself, leaving a feeling of dread to start in the pit of my stomach.
If this was just the start, what exactly was going to happen here?
Silence! Wait and see, knowing humans it’s probably interesting at the very least.
“I’ve finally been given authorization to start a trial of this program. Both the UN and Venlil governments are very interested in increasing food supply for both our people. As you might know we’re kinda at war, and logistics wins wars.”
The human paused for a moment, a shiver running around most of the room as he gave a large beaming smile.
“So to start: paws, claws, or tails up if you know about the ‘5 harvest curse.’”
The room immediately was filled with Federation species all raising their prospective limbs in affirmation. Of course we all knew what it was, that was why most of us were here.
How would the human know about that?
Basic research, simple reading, asking literally any farmer?
“Fantastic! I’m still going to explain it so we’re all on the same page. The ‘5 harvest curse’ is a phenomenon where new farms on Venlil prime often fail within the first five harvests. On a side note, the coincidental fact that five has a religious contention in Venlil culture is neat.”
I could feel an annoyance start to course through me, that the affliction currently driving me to destitution was being described as ‘neat’ by the callous predator. I mean human.
Stupid human.
Joseph either didn’t pick up or ignored my annoyance as he pressed a button, a graph appearing on the whiteboard showing expected yields over time, continuing on in his seemingly endless enthusiasm.
“So in general the five harvest curse follows a standard pattern of yields, with the first two harvests being up to 52% larger than even more established farms, plummeting after that until the business is non-viable and collapses. Officially the reason for this is unknown, with some vague religious stupidity about new farms being too far away from the center of the habitable strip.”
This was nothing new to me, I remembered feeling the joy of the sheer output from my first harvest, of wondering if I could finally make something of myself, a joy that had been whittled down as my last two harvests had been pitiful.
“However there’s an interesting thing, if you also plot the number of predator sightings during this time against the yields, you can see a direct correlation between number of predators and the success of each harvest.”
Wait, what? Is this human trying to say that predators… increase harvest? That can’t be right, that can’t be right at all. That would be insanity.
The data is literally there in front of you.
Yet it was there on the screen, a second graph had appeared on the whiteboard, tracking predator sightings over time in each of the farms afflicted by the curse.
“This tracks with most farms' general lifecycle. You buy a plot of untamed land on the edge of the habitable zone but you don’t have enough money to go full anti-predator. As the harvests come in you end up spending more and inadvertently messing it up.”
This caused a small amount of murmuring and energetic rejection by myself and the other members of the room, wiping away the previous undercurrent of fear. It was insanity, it went against everything I had ever known or been taught about farming and how the world worked. How could a predator of all things be beneficial?
Didn’t the introduction of humans also go against everything I had ever known or been taught about?
“If this effect is so obvious, how has nobody found this before?”
The sound of a Venlil challenging Joseph was greeted by murmurs of agreement from the group, causing the human to give a different kind of smile. Not a smile of joy or excitement as had been seen before, but the smile of someone who had something for this.
“Because you have. 150 years ago, a Venlil named Slavek wrote a paper regarding this. 119 years ago, Vicktal did the same. As well as Traval, Stralan, and Vilkin in between then and now. Those are just the ones I’ve found. Who can guess what happened to them?”
There was a pause, before the uplift in the back spoke up for the first time, a surety in the Yotul’s voice.
“They were diagnosed with predator disease.”
Joseph pointed at the Yotul in the back with both hands, the joy radiating from him.
“Based Space Kangaroo gets 10 points for being correct! Yep the federation has been actively suppressing anything that suggests that predators are more than some kind of eldritch evil, that and your surprising lack of hydroponics causes most planets to be dependent on the core worlds for food imports. Probably by design for control.”
Wait… that’s a good point, why aren’t we using hydroponics?
The human took a moment to switch to the next slide, showing a simple three part cycle.
“Most healthy ecological systems are made up of three parts: Plants, which are eaten by herbivores, which are in turn eaten by carnivores. In reality actual systems are far more complex than these, but as a basic understanding this will suffice. These three parts keep each other in check, each part dependent on the other, which-”
“Are you trying to say that predator attacks are a good thing? Are you suffering from predator disease?! ”
The Venlil interrupted once again to more murmured agreement, causing Joseph to give a sigh of clear annoyance in response. I wished the Venlil would shut up and just let the human talk.
“No, I’m not suggesting we airdrop a bunch of Nissa into the Capital, I'm explaining how natural systems work. Sapience obviously breaks this cycle, which if you deviate too far, you end up with something called trophic cascade."
The human seemed to wait a moment for the translator to once again fail to explain the meaning of the phrase.
I wonder how many basic concepts the federation lacks words for…
"Rather simply, the removal of one of these pieces has wider effects, reducing biodiversity and in many cases causing a complete ecological collapse. An example of this is the dust bowl effect, something the federation is well acquainted with."
There was a moment before the whiteboard changed before showing pictures of desolate barren worlds. Without any explanation I knew exactly what I was looking at. It was one of the… lesser talked about aspects of the federation.
"The Skivit grand herd are a species who go from planet to planet stripping ecosystems bare, devouring everything down to the smallest sapling. This removes important root systems that act as drainage, causing flooding and deserts to form as new plantlife lacks the structure to grow. In many cases these ecosystems are permanently destroyed, turning once lush planets into lifeless husks”.
I couldn’t help but feel sorrow for those planets. It was well known the impact the Skivit had on planets, once thriving planets of beauty. Although if I was following this human’s logic correctly did that mean…
“Now I’m not suggesting that the Skivit need a predator, that would be immoral.” Joseph cut off the thought I was about to have, seemingly understanding the logical thought many of us had picked up on. “But instead this is a real life example of damage an unchecked herbivore can have on ecosystems. If the Skivit didn’t have FTL travel they would have long ago driven themselves to starvation under their current society. It’s also not the only form of this trophic cascade.”
“Surely this doesn’t just apply to prey? Or are you saying prey are somehow inferior?”
The sound of the Gojid cutting in was filled with an unspoken challenge against the idea, inciting general sounds of agreement from those around him. Surprisingly however, Joseph seemed to respond positively.
“That is entirely correct, an overabundance of carnivorous species can also cause their own issues. Keep in mind what I’m describing here is an extremely simplified version, just the addition or removal of a single species can cause untold damage and harm to the diversity of ecological systems as the impacts are felt in the most seemingly unlikely cases.”
With that the human reached under the desk, taking one of the two covered containers he had brought with him and placing it into view.
“In Venlil Prime’s case, while the impact of Federation thinking has been reduced due to the day and night sides being mostly untouched, you still have the problem of overpopulation of certain species, and a lack of reasonable fear response from certain prey species. This has accumulated into the problem you all face.”
With that he removed the cover, causing a surge of fear to ripple through the participants around me until we all calmed down at what was underneath: A small cage, containing a single red bird busily eating seeds.
All farmer’s arch nemesis.
“This is a Flowerbird, a seed eating avian often coming in solid red, blue, or green. They are adorable, dumb as a sack of bricks and food motivated to a fault. They are also one of the biggest causes of farm yield destruction, with these birds alone being responsible for around about 41% of all losses. If we include Voidpins and other similar wildlife, farms can have up to 94% of their yield destroyed before they even get to harvest.”
Everyone in this room was familiar with the cursed avians. While your average city dweller would enjoy the sight of a flock of Flowerbirds, the farming community knew of them as a blight that devastated crops.
Joseph took a moment to open the cage, reaching inside and grabbing the bird. A small part of me wondered if he was about to devour it in front of us, before I tamped down on such an illogical idea. Of course the humans wouldn’t, we knew they didn’t do that. The Flowerbird also seemed completely unfazed about being in the meaty grasp of a predator, simply continuing to eat.
“Even worse, these things have basically zero fear response to noises and large beasts, probably due to all major predators having been removed. As you can see this specimen doesn’t mind a ‘scary predator’ grabbing it. As long as it has food, it couldn’t care less. This makes pest control tricky, as scaring them away is no longer an option. Poisons would be used in such a case, but they can have wider ranging effects, and poisoning prey is considered ‘Predatory’, not that many of you haven’t tried ‘accidentally’ leaving potential pesticides out.”
This caused a sway of discomfort to sweep through the room, tails switching in guilty movements as everyone tried to hide the truth of this human’s words. I knew I personally had considered such actions in desperation.
I mean, would ‘accidently’ leaving out a known poisonous chemical really be a sign of predator disease?
“Ha! I know enough tail language to know I’m right, that’s guilt isn’t it? I’ve read your internet, I know your discussions on loopholes about what is and isn’t predatory!” Joseph cried out in triumph as many of the Venlil of the room reached out to grab their traitorous appendages. “Now normally I would just tell people to stop being idiots, but in this case we can’t do that. Ironically because predators are actually dangerous. Because of your slaughter the only species left are ones aggressive and smart enough to survive. Shadestalkers are legitimately dangerous and can’t be left to interact with the farming community because people will die.”
The words from Joseph all sounded so… reasonable at this point. However, I, along with the rest of the room, were all desperately waiting for the other paw to drop. Because there would be, humans always had something they were about to do.
Almost in response to our thoughts the human placed the second container on the desk, covering up the first in response.
“Humans have dealt with this problem in a simple way, a way that our Yotul friend over there will know of. I need all of you to please remain calm and orderly, and to remember that you’re perfectly safe and there’s no need to overreact or panic. Humans dealt with this pest problem, through the use of safe predators.”
Before anyone could properly react to those words, the cover of the second container was removed, showing… a predator. An actual one, not a human but an actual real threat. Small piercing front facing yellow eyes attached to a brown feline form, sulking from the cage it was being held in.
Speh speh speh speh that’s a PREDATOR, A FERAL PREDATOR
If it was a danger the human wouldn't have-
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO DO NOT LIKE NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.
The panic in the room was immediate. Sapient human predators we had gotten used to, but none sapient ones were another deal entirely. Chaos started to spread as the 7 in the front row got up, pushing themselves up against the back wall as everyone else in the room did the same. Three Venlil made the choice to bolt out of the room, rushing past the human and his tiny devourer, while another clean fainted, hitting the floor with a thud. One even decided to take things further, jumping out of the singular window attached to the far wall in a frantic motion.
I could feel fear overwhelm me, desperately staring at the feline and waiting for it to make its move. What was the human thinking, it was going to attack at any moment, it was going to-
“STOP, Stop this stupidity. Right. NOW!”
The stern commanding voice of Joseph caused everyone in the room to freeze. The calm enthusiastic demeanor of the predator was gone, replaced with an emotion I’d never actually seen a human show before: anger.
“It has been six months! Do you really still believe that the UN or the Venlil government would put you in actual danger? You’re still thinking based on your stupid fascist Federation propaganda. Thinking that tells you that the Yotul are primitive, or the Venlil are weak. Propaganda that says genetically modifying people against their will is morally OK”
I knew that humans normally bared their teeth in joy, as a sign of happiness and friendship. This wasn’t the case right now, as everything in Joseph’s body language screamed of rage, of pain, of words spoken through gritted teeth. Nobody in the room was focused on the predator in the cage at this point, instead all eyes staring at the human. Suddenly the feline mattered a lot less than the anger of the human.
“That sort of thinking leads to the belief that killing over a billion innocent people is somehow the right thing to do. You are all presumably intelligent sapient adults able to think things through logically. Could you all please act that way?”
I could see the swishes of shame from the other Venlil’s tails, everyone in the room avoiding eye contact guiltily. Well, apart from the Yotul, who had remained seated and calm this entire time, staring almost joyfully at the feline predator. The human, of course, was completely right. Taking a moment to force myself to think, the predator was safely behind metal bars and was making no move to attack, seemingly content to stare lazily at us.
You finished overreacting?
Shut up, brain.
“Also, at the risk of ruining the angry vibe I’m giving off, is the guy who jumped out the window OK? Jesus Christ, we are two stories up, do we have to call someone or….”
Joseph had relaxed a little in response to the group calming down, allowing the normal empathetic nature of humans to come through once more. Slowly I made my way to the window, looking down to see a singular Venlil running off into the distance.
“I-I think he’s fine.” I responded, causing the human to give a sigh of relief in response.
“Good. Note to self, do this in a room without windows next time… or maybe just the ground floor. So, to continue where I left off, humans have used tame predators as a natural non-invasive form of pest control since we started farming. This is a cat, completely harmless unless you’re a small rodent or bird. They also have this effect.”
With a flourish Joseph removed the covering for the cage containing the Flowerbird once more, the red little avian had been busily eating during the entire presentation so far. However upon spotting the Feline predator did something none of us had ever seen before.
It stopped eating. Wait, the human managed to get a Flowerbird to stop eating! I didn’t even know that was possible…
Giving repeated alarmed chirps it moved as far away as it could from the predator, still trapped inside the small cage, a frantic fear obvious on the poor little thing. Joseph let this go on for a few moments more, before dropping the cover back on and silencing the Flowerbird once more.
Everyone in the room was shocked. You could literally scream and shout all you wanted at the dumb little birds and they would ignore you and continue to devour crops. The fact that the feral predator had managed to stop the bird from doing that simply with its presence… was huge. Was more than huge.
“As you can see, the instincts of the ‘prey’ animal still remain. Presumably, whatever predator used to hunt these Flowerbirds has a resemblance to our cats. Normally it would be sacrilege to suggest introducing cats to an ecosystem, but in this case your ecosystems are so messed up that’s exactly what we want to do: Provide any farmer who wants one with a kitten, in order to quickly reduce yield lost to pests.”
I would be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t interested. On the one hand having a vicious predator in my house, where my pups would visit seemed like something a predator diseased individual would only consider. On the other hand, nothing else I had ever tried had even come close to the simple effectiveness shown here.
Would I be this desperate and in debt if I had one of these “cats” already?
“So I can see you’re all still a little worried, so we’re going to have a little discussion, for which I need a volunteer-'' The Yotul in the back practically fell over with excitement, with his arm raised immediately as he interrupted, causing Joseph to give a small smile. “One who isn’t a Yotul. I know your history with similar pets, and we are totally going to hook you up with a cat, but for this I could do with a Venlil please.”
The Yotul sat back down, a look of disappointment plastered over his face as the rest of the room shifted uncomfortably. Nobody wanted to be the person to step up and presumably get closer to the predator. Until I found myself raising my hand.
Brain, what the hell are you doing?
You said you wanted to be better, and we’re desperate.
NOT LIKE THIS BRAIN!
In a blur I found myself being introduced to the room and being told to sit at a chair next to the desk in front of the rest of the members here. Then, to my horror, Joseph opened the cage and took the feline predator out of its holding cell. The human took a few moments to fuss over the beast before turning to the rest of us.
“So now that we have our volunteer, let's logically look at our ‘dangerous predator’. The first thing to notice is simply the size. Regardless of anything else, size matters, size matters a lot. It’s hard to feel threatened by something that you can literally throw across the room.”
Joseph took a moment to hold the small creature next to me for context, highlighting just how small the predator actually was: barely the size of a Skivit, like a furry little pup. Logically if it wasn't for the forward facing eyes, I might consider it… cute?
“But what about its teeth and claws? It’s a predator that will tear people apart!”
The voice of the Gojid sounded out, a shrill fearful voice filled with barely contained panic and fear, the source of the sound looking ready to flee even though they weren’t the one sitting next to the predator
“Let's compare these. Tellek can you please extend your paws and show your claws to the group.”
I did as asked, my four black claws visible for all to see as Joseph moved the predator close. He stretched out one of its paws and pressed on a knuckle, a singular sharp claw protruding as he did so, causing a fresh burst of fear to erupt in my heart from being so close to such a thing.
Although if I was to be fully honest, if I was comparing the two, the predator’s claw were…
“As you can see, the cat’s claw, while sharper, is far smaller and more brittle. A Venlil can do some serious damage with their claws, while the worst this cat’s claw could do is break the skin. The teeth are similar, if you could show the group your pearly whites please.”
I again did as asked, feeling embarrassed and weird just having my mouth wide open in front of everyone. I hoped that there was nothing stuck in my teeth. While I did Joseph manhandled the cat again, taking a moment to move the lips and display the sharp needle point teeth, doing so for a moment before the small predator gave a small lazy growl of annoyance, clearly reaching the end of its acceptability.
“Once again we have similar results: Notice the small size of the cat's teeth compared with the Venlil’s. These would pierce skin, the Venlil’s would pulverize bone. Gojid aren’t much better with your literal claws and a back full of knives. Ironically enough the two ‘predators’ in the room are probably the least physically imposing.”
There was a moment as the room seemed to ponder this statement, allowing Joseph enough time to place the cat on the desk next to me, the predator promptly giving a stretch then curling up into a ball. The human was right, even humans themselves were physically… underwhelming, apart from their endurance. No claws, small teeth, no defensive armor or spines.
It’s kinda sad to think the only reason we’re all so scared of humans is their eye placement.
“Now the UN and Venlil government are looking for people to use cats as pest control to increase farming yield, with an initial trial size of about 100 participants. We’re offering a stipend for food, instructional care of your kitten, and as much support as needed. There are risks, for instance you’re going to need warning signs near your property and a containment system, as cats are actually dangerous to the Dossur.”
I could hardly hear Joseph speak, my entire concentration focused on the predator right next to me. I knew logically that the human wouldn’t do something to bring me to harm, but it was difficult to think that with a potentially feral predator right next to me. I saw its eyes fixate onto mine and I quickly looked away.
Maybe if I don’t look at it, it won’t take it as a challenge.
However much to both mine and the rest of the room's shock, slowly and carefully the cat stood up, stretched once before walking purposefully towards me, the room erupting into cries of worry as it leapt off the desk and onto my lap, curling into a ball with me trapped underneath.
“H-h-help…. Help…..!”
The human turned to look at me, breaking into a smile seemingly at my misfortune and giving a small chuckle.
“Awwww, she likes you. As you all can see cats share a lot of characteristics with ‘prey’. They will often seek companionship from others, and have a lot of prey characteristics, being at times skittish due to having many natural predators.”
That was good and all, but didn’t stop me from being trapped under the beast.
I don’t want to think about what could cause a predator to become prey.
“W-What d-do I do?”
Joseph gave a small shrug in response, clearly amused by my reaction.
“You could try petting her. Her name is Sprinkles and I can confirm she likes pets.”
You see brain, this is what happens when I let you do things! Now I'm trapped by a predator and I'm gonna die!
Stop being such a pup, the thing is tiny. Besides, don't humans claim petting stuff is nice?
Slowly I reached out a paw, gingerly approaching the predator, those yellow slitted eyes regarding my exposed arm as I gently placed it on the "cat", running my paw across its back.
I felt my held breath release as the predator did nothing, some of the tension of the room releasing in the instant.
"So interesting thing about cats: they 'chose' to be domesticated."
Joseph had gone back to talking, seemingly happy that I wasn't about to be torn apart. I had stopped listening, entirely focused on keeping the predator satisfied by running my paws across its fur.
Isn't this nice? I gotta admit I understand why humans like doing this.
Fine. I'll admit that this isn't unpleasant, the cat is rather soft.
"When humans originally started farming, that also attracted pests. Cats just turned up, following their food source. They stuck around because humans would feed them and provide companionship."
I was entirely focused on the cat at this point, running my claws through the fur, feeling the predator press itself against my paw, seeming to be enjoying itself. Gently I moved my claw to the back of one of its tiny little ears, scratching behind it like you might do to comfort a young pup. It started to emanate a low vibrating noise in response, causing another wave of tension to emit from the rest of the room.
For some reason, even though this feral predator was sitting on my lap, the sound seemed to vibrate through my heart in a calming motion.
Maybe this is some kind of predatory hypnosis?
Really? Just shush and enjoy this. Being scared of everything all the time is so tiring.
"Nobody needs to worry. That is just the sound a happy cat makes, it's called purring. Although I do need to take Sprinkles back now."
Joseph motioned towards the cat on my lap, a motion I decided to ignore, enjoying petting the purring cat for a few moments more. Eventually the human reached down and removed Sprinkles from my grasp as I momentarily resisted before letting the feline go.
See, that wasn't so bad.
Brain, I will admit- reluctantly- that I would have preferred to keep doing that.
With a small amount of resentment I watched as Joseph placed the cat back inside the cage, before turning back to the rest of the room.
"So anyone who is interested, stick around and we can get the paperwork completed."
—-------------
In the end eight of us remained, 5 Venlil, 2 Gojid, and obviously the Yotul. We had spent the last half a claw having instructions and paper work thrust upon us. Many of the group had immediately left, with others dropping out as various facts of cat ownership became apparent.
Still, those of us who were left behind were now heading to our respective farms, each with a single carry case. Mine was currently containing a gray and black “kitten,” which had been “meowing” loudly during the entire journey.
I looked simply at the little bundle of fur and eyes that peered out from inside the cage I had been given. Part of my mind still screamed danger, but it was a part that was getting quieter and quieter as I continued to look at what was a small fragile bundle of fur that I was now ultimately in charge of.
How could you look at something that’s hardly bigger than your paw, and think it’s a danger?
As I reached my farm, I finally opened up the container and pulled out the tiny predator. My tiny predator. There would be work to do, fences to erect and warning signs to place, but for now I just held the tiny thing in my paws, supporting it in the way I’d been told to. I now knew why humans spent all their time trying to pet things: with the troubles on the farm I hadn’t felt this calm in several cycles.
He was more energetic then Sprinkles had been, but in a way the more skittish nature pulled at my heartstrings, as if it was a small innocent Venlil pup. I sat there stroking it, realizing I still needed to give him a name. He was fluffy, Tiny, innocent, fragile. Yet with an underlying spice as it continued to meow loudly as I held in my paws
“I will call you Fireberry. My little predator.”

Hello! I'm looking for some people to play games and hang out with. Now I play an assortment of games but ill get to that in a minute.First I would prefer if you were around my age 16-19 and he timezone/region can be whatever because my sleep schedule is wack when I don't work. I'm also looking for people who are willing to message each other. I also would prefer if you had a mic because it makes communicating a lot easier.
Now on about myself, I enjoy lots of anime and have seen enough to where I can have long conversations (a little too much lol). I've seen A LOT of it so I would be down to watch or even rewatch some. I like a lot of genres of games such as Fps, survival, space,rogue-like, automation etc. I'm a night owl when I don't work so ill be on almost the whole day. I also can have a dark sense of humour at times and don't mind if you have one as well.
Here are just a few that I have been playing or would possibly want to play
Stardew Valley
Valorant
Terraria/Modded
Valheim
Risk of Rain 2
Apex legends (main)
Starbound
Guilty Gear Strive
league
Lost Ark (basically at the beginning)
and possibly Maplestory (idk looked interesting)
and many other parties or games of the genre that I mentioned. (also your skill level in gaming doesn't really matter to me, as long as you can have a good time while playing)
I'm also down to just be on a call and talk while we play different games or if you want to vent about your day.
That's about it for this post! Just be around my age and timezone and it should be good.
message me your discord and an intro about yourself (age, name, likes, whatever you want).
also don't be shocked if it takes me a while to respond sometimes, I get swamped with work quite often!

Valve once again decided to release an updated DPC points table. According to their data, BetBoom has only 160 points instead of 510, and Spirit has 340 instead of 720. While rounding with decimal truncation could somewhat justify their numbers a year ago, this time they simply made a bunch of errors. They have no intention of correcting anything, so naturally, the points are incorrectly calculated for all teams.
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https://preview.redd.it/rolg96ukjr3b1.png?width=963&format=png&auto=webp&s=3e7ece4315f32943405b4be47d6131cd55aad304
For comparison, Liquipedia's accurate calculations and what Valve users have done are worth mentioning:
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https://preview.redd.it/fenbt10kjr3b1.png?width=333&format=png&auto=webp&s=ad5864cf55c9a75d77c1014ec55e66f5fba9c157
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https://preview.redd.it/r856yockjr3b1.png?width=441&format=png&auto=webp&s=61db316d2ab6764483396e71863f8c1dce0af04c
Users who carefully examined this table found three significant flaws. The results of the first DPC league were completely disregarded for the CIS and Europe regions, meaning the points for the Limski and Berlin Majors were not considered. While there are points for the second league, they simply forgot about the first one. Furthermore, player substitutions deduct not 20% of the points as stated in the rules, but only 15%. And any substitutions in the Major deducted 40% of the points from Team Liquid. That's exactly how much they deducted for Boxe's substitution in Rome and 9Panda's substitution for Solo in Berlin. It's worth reminding everyone that all news sources and representatives of these teams assured that there would be no penalties for such substitutions. By the way, OG lost a total of 80% of their points since the last Major, with two substitutions taking place.
Overall, Valve's calculations are so terrible that it's almost amusing. XTREME, which has never been anywhere near the level of Aster and LGD, is ranked eternal Top 3 in America on NOUNS, higher than BetBoom. OG has only 140 points, while Tundra has 540 instead of 1160. I can't help but laugh if they update this table only towards the end of the season. Yes, they will acknowledge the plethora of errors, but they won't correct anything. It's like they're saying, "Hey guys, this season operates under special Seattle mathematics. Deal with it."Valve's dpc point scoring