Using ChatGPT to generate a description of the deck

General forum

Posted on May 31, 2023, 6:50 a.m. by metalflame

With browsing plugin in ChatGPT you can give it a link to a deck, and it will coherently describe the decks overall strategy, and can even include the brackets, and formatting used in the description field.

This is something I did in a deck I have Yargle, and Multani. Im just BIG boned.

I am curious how this is perceived, and if it will be more common moving forward.

pinecone2k3 says... #2

Personally, I probably wouldn’t use it to do the work of writing a description for me to actually post with the deck, but I would definitely be curious what the AI had to say, in case I overlooked some interaction or a sub-theme of some kind when I put the deck together.

May 31, 2023 9:51 a.m.

Caerwyn says... #3

The deck description looks real bad - it is poorly written and frequently provides unhelpful commentary.

Like with most all AI writings, we are at a stage where I expect folks might start using it for these purposes (though I think for something like deck descriptions, it will not become the norm anytime soon), but AI tech is not sufficiently competent that it can sound like an intelligent human.

May 31, 2023 12:38 p.m.

Crow_Umbra says... #4

ChatGPT generated deck primers don't read well at all. They remind me a bit of reading students' papers that were written at the last minute, or are meandering to meet a page length requirement.

If you are going to use AI to write your deck primers (please don't), I'd say make your own edits afterwards to add more detail to the description, and clean up the more nuanced details that ChatGPT can't get right on its own.

Deck primers are helpful to newer players and players who are new to specific archetypes, so having that knowledge and nuance is necessary to help them out. As a writing exercise ask yourself "What do people need to know about my deck to pilot it and understand how it works?"

May 31, 2023 1:35 p.m.

legendofa says... #5

I'm always interested to see what an AI can output, but it's entirely imitative. AI programs have developed the ability to do some things that people do, but don't understand why people do those things, or whether it's appropriate to do those things. It matches style, but falls short on substance, and is unable to make judgements on context or quality.

Still, it's a fun toy to play with, and writing deck descriptions should be a fairly harmless use. I just wouldn't expect AI to capture all the nuances, or trust it with anything meaningful in general.

May 31, 2023 3:03 p.m.

TypicalTimmy says... #6

I disagree.

The description clearly outlines the goal(s) of the deck and cited examples of cards that achieve or work with those goals.

Ultimately this is a "power matters" deck, and the deck description makes that clear by showing how and why having a high power is beneficial. It also goes on to mention how you have graveyard tricks and removal, in order to explain how you can return your lost creatures, or deal with problems and threats.

Overall, it feels like how most people write their deck descriptions:

  • Here is my goal
  • This is how I achieve my goal
  • This is how I assess problems

So I don't see the issue, other then being nitpicky.


Having said that, just write your own description. You know your goals better then a piece of software.

May 31, 2023 3:05 p.m.

DreadKhan says... #7

The problem is that a non-AI writer would be able to say the same thing in one sentence, there is an ungodly amount of filler in what could be summed up with something like 'Go Tall synergy with token generation', and a Magic player could play the deck mostly correct, instead we have a mini-essay that just repeats what the deck list already tells us while offering completely insufficient info for a true neophyte to play the deck. I already know that you're using Sol Ring for ramp, maybe I'm psychic? I'd like to know why the non-staple cards are in there, the ones that aren't as intuitive, yet all I get is a list of staple cards and the most superficial description of what that card does, there is very little about how the deck synergizes as a whole other than the painfully obvious.

It also has zero personality, even if I'm not writing up a Vorthos deck I usually try to slip something that suggests it might have been written by a messy human, and not a perfectly clean (and perfectly vapid) AI.

May 31, 2023 3:20 p.m.

legendofa says... #8

To address this primer specifically:

"This is my Commander deck with a focus on utilizing the high power of the Commander to trigger effects that scale with a creature's power. The deck strategy revolves around four main themes:"

  • This is a good capture. The first sentence is a little unwieldy, but that's a style point rather than a content point.

Token Generation: The deck includes cards that can generate tokens based on the power of a creature. Examples include Fungal Sprouting and Ghoulcaller Gisa.

  • I count five cards that create tokens, and one of them doesn't create scaling tokens. In my opinion, four cards isn't a "main theme."

Card Draw: There are cards that allow the player to draw cards equal to a creature's power, such as Disciple of Bolas and Momentous Fall.

  • This is an okay comment. While it ties into the power scaling, the act of drawing isn't a main theme. It's card advantage, but it doesn't rely on drawing the way Queza, Augur of Agonies does.

Power/Toughness Manipulation: Some cards create creatures whose power and/or toughness are based on the power of another creature. For example, Miming Slime creates an ooze token with power and toughness equal to the power of the creature with the greatest power among creatures you control.

  • This comment is somewhat inaccurate. It gets the closest to the core "power matters" theme, but P/T manipulation as I interpret it isn't present. P/T isn't being manipulated, just tracked. The rest of this point is redundant with the first "main theme."

Life Gain/Loss: Some cards in the deck, such as Essence Harvest and Rite of Consumption, can cause a player to gain or lose life equal to a creature's power.

  • This is a fine capture, if somewhat underdeveloped.

This deck also has a good amount of recursion and removal cards, along with cheap ramp to ensure that the commander can come out as early as turn 4. For instance, Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord and Hell's Caretaker can bring creatures back from the graveyard, and Beast Within and Sever the Bloodline can deal with problematic permanents on the opponent's side of the field. For ramp, the deck includes staples like Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, and a suite of mana dorks (Elvish Mystic, Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves) and land fetch cards (Sakura-Tribe Elder, Wayfarer's Bauble).

  • The formatting in this section is good, but Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord's ability is misinterpreted. Again, the substance is kind of missing, basically saying "These are cards that are in this deck" without describing how or when to use them. What is a "problematic permanent" for this deck? What creatures would you want to recur?
May 31, 2023 3:32 p.m.

metalflame says... #9

Thank you everyone for the responses. This was also a first run of the description. Given reprompting, refining, and rewording smaller parts I suspect it will do much better than I by myself.

May 31, 2023 7:14 p.m.

Niko9 says... #10

To be completely honest, as somebody who writes and publishes fiction for fun, this makes me feel awesome about AI : ) It's not that it's bad or anything, and I absolutely understand an application like this where you might just brew a deck for yourself and just want an effective description available for it.

I don't know, I guess I just see this kind of thing as a tool and the more I see of it is like, yeah it has it's uses, but it also absolutely has it's limits. It reminds me of those things you see that are like "75 tools in one", because sure that's useful, and maybe it's just me being old-school, but I'll always probably be lugging around those 75 individual tools : )

June 7, 2023 8:26 p.m.

BrianPetro says... #11

Using to generate a description of the deck is reasonable because it is very smart and accurate, giving very good description suggestions.

November 9, 2023 4:20 a.m.

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