Hi all!

Sorry its been abit of delay in this one but im quiet excited to have a very special guest on the blog today!

As most of you know, im a huge nerd, im a huge D&D player and an avid magic the gathering playing as well as Jiujitsu

“dice, cards and passing guard” as my Instagram description states! Haha.

So today, I am joined by Dave Lee, AKA, Durdlingaround, AKA Blue belt & Magic the gathering player and Instagram comic book artist & MTG artist.

So I figured I’d fire some questions over too him about both! So lets play!

What is your favourite deck to play?

Right now it’s my Old School troll disco deck. It started out as mono black but I kept adding red and blue to it, so now it’s Grixis! I love Sedge Trolls. They are the reason I play Old School.

And what about format, do you play much standard or are you very much a commander sort of guy?

I used to play a lot of Legacy and Commander, but lately it’s just Old School and the occasional cube draft. I’m very much a nostalgia-driven player these days.

Moving away from nerd cards, what about jiujitsu, how long have you been training and where do you train?

I’ve been training for about three years at a Toronto club called Grapple Lab BJJ (https://www.instagram.com/grapplelabbjj/), which is a Nova Uniao affiliate. It’s a smaller gym but the coaches are great and everyone’s really friendly.

That’s great, and what are a few favourite positions or subs?

I favour very short-range guards like sit-up guard or knee shield to take advantage of my short limbs, haha. I love playing half guard and attacking single legs. I usually go for chokes like ezekiels and guillotines, but I’ll occasionally catch someone with a kimura.

Do you find that theres much cross over in your jiujitsu game with your magic game? Are you an all out attack kinda player or do you find a control game suits you more?

In Magic, I lean towards aggro but I actually enjoy playing every strategy except combo (I’m too dumb). Because I’m a smaller guy (130 lbs), in BJJ I have to be more active about passing and scrambling. If I’m too passive, people will just smash me. My goal is usually to get top position and keep it, and go from there. As a BJJ player I wouldn’t say I’m aggressive…maybe “proactive” is a better word.

Whats your favourite thing about both, MTG and BJJ, respectively

I love Magic because it’s a game that can be whatever you want it to be. Competitive? Casual? Multiplayer? Magic can be any of those things. As an artist, the game’s artwork is also a big deal for me.

I love BJJ more than any other sport because it keeps me thinking all the time. There’s always something you’re trying to figure out or improve on. It’s addictive that way (as you probably know :))

How do you think social media has influenced and helped you as both a BJJ practitioner and a MTG player, obviously from the art side but a personal side?

Social media helps me connect with people I would never have met otherwise through a mutual interest. Like you, for example 🙂 For BJJ, YouTube has been a big part of my learning. If I have a question about technique or a problem I need to solve, someone on YouTube has probably made a video. I even have a “YouTube Top Team” joke patch on one of my gis, haha. For me, social media is about keeping up with the things that I enjoy.





I, for one, have met some amazing people through both, what about you, friends you still keep in contact with from competing, in both, if you do compete of course.

Although I don’t play Magic a lot these days, I still have friends in the community and it’s fun to catch up with them at a big event like a Grand Prix (I mean MagicFest lol). I’ve seen a few friends leave BJJ over the years, which is sad, but mostly all my current training partners are still with me, which is good! Sadly I have yet to compete in BJJ, due to injuries and bad timing. Don’t be like me: compete when you’re still a white belt!

Awesome, well thank you for joining my Dave, its been a pleasure, lastly, where can we find you?

I’m on Facebook and Instagram at @durdlingaround, and on Twitter at @derfington. To read my comic, you can also check out my website at derfington.com or my sponsor’s site, magic.facetofacegames.com.

Thanks for having me! Hopefully we’ll train together someday 🙂

I was really stoked to have Dave on the blog and i do hope we cross paths one day! Just yet another great community which crosses over!

Cheers for reading folks! Back soon!

Maks