Am I The Bolas? - If I'm Going Down, I'm Taking You With Me
Stunning Reversal Illustrated by Zoltan Boros
Hello, and welcome to Am I the Bolas?
This column is for all of you out there who have ever played some Magic and wondered if you were the bad guy. I'm here to take in your story with all of its nuances so I can bring some clarity to all those asking, "Am I the Bolas?"
I'm ready to hear you out and offer advice. All you have to do is email amithebolas@gmail.com! You might see your story in the column. You might even hear it on the podcast. Which podcast?
I'm Mike Carrozza, aka Mark Carbonza, and I want to say thank you for starting your new year with me!
OH, GOD! TAKE IT EASY!
This week, one of the stranger requests I've gotten. But before that...
I'm coming to Chicago! I've been selected to be a featured creator at MagicCon Chicago!
If you get your badges for the Con here, you'd be helping me out!
That means that next month I will be at MagicCon Chicago hanging out and playing games. I'm there to meet anybody and everybody who wants to meet me and sling some cardboard. I don't know what decks I'll be bringing, but if there are any you'd like me to bring, I'm open to suggestions! I'll also be in Chicago early and a little later than the Con so I can perform stand-up comedy at various spots around town. Chicago is an incredible comedy city. It's my favorite place to perform. Come out to a show, come hang at the Con; I can't wait to meet all of you.
Anyway, let's get back to what you're really here for.
INTERIOR: COURTROOM - DAY
(Post edited for brevity, clarity, and then some.)
Hello, Mr. Wasowsk... I mean Carrozza!
Recently, I played a game of Commander. I went first, and I was on Rhoda, Geist Avenger/Timin, Youthful Geist, Player 2 (let's call him Miles) was on Risona, Asari Commander, Player 3 (let's call her Maya) was on Ellivere of the Wild Court, and Player 4 (let's call him Manfred) was on Gut, True Soul Zealot/Agent of the Iron Throne.
I keep a hand with three lands and two mana rocks, and I start off play. Turn six, Miles destroys both mana rocks, which is fine, I guess. I did get to play both of my commanders at least. Turn eight, I finally draw a fourth land, and I start actually being able to make plays.
Eventually, I manage to pull ahead, and I am threatening lethal on both of the remaining players. Maya is at four and is being attacked for that same amount, unable to block. Meanwhile, my now 27/27 unblockable commander is coming at Manfred.
Manfred doesn't see a way to save himself, but instead chooses to make my attack on Maya not lethal with Lethal Exploit. I get a little upset, and call out how that's not even helping him, but he sticks by his decision to save Maya, going down. I die on Maya's backswing.
Here's the question: Am I the Bolas for getting upset at Manfred for saving Maya, despite him knowing that he'll go down? It's important to note that I didn't get heated, just a "Hey, why are you doing this? It's not helping you!" before I got visibly dejected when he gave a non response of "I'm going to cast Lethal Exploit to make the attack not lethal."
I feel like the fact that the mana rocks being blown up isn't that important to the story when I'm looking back on it, just a way of showing that I was the Archenemy right out of the gate.
I have a tendency to either build decks that durdle and don't really have a plan for finishing the game, or they wind up some of the more powerful decks at the table. I had not yet gotten to play this deck, so I can see why Miles chose to blow up my mana rocks.
An example of one of my decks that does a lot but can't turn that into a win is my Eruth, Tormented Prophet "Storm" deck that somewhat frequently fails to find anything to take advantage of how much I'm storming off. It does a lot, but that doesn't translate to a win.
After the game, I tried telling them why that specific game action was upsetting to me, but the entire pod was not very receptive to that conversation, so I haven't played with them since that incident.
Best regards,
Furnix Wright.
P.S.: I would like to add that I've been reading your articles for the better part of a year, and I greatly enjoy reading them. Also all of the fake names are references to the Phoenix Wright series. I'm not sure if it's possible for you to make the article sound like a court case, but it would be funny. I'm just not sure how you would go about doing that.
OBJECTION, FURNIX!
Thank you for writing in and asking me to weigh in on your story. As I mention every week, if folks don't write to me, there's no column, so if you, the reader, want to send me a story, whether it's your own or one from Reddit or a friend's, please send it to amithebolas@gmail.com and I'll get to it here.
I'm going to be very real with you and say this is the strangest request I've gotten for the column. I have absolutely no idea how to pull off making this out to be like a court case. I'll try here and there, but I'll be real, I'm not optimistic I can make it happen.
I have no witnesses to cross-examine, I have no evidence to introduce, I am ultimately the judge after all, and I guess the column already does a whole thing where I talk through the points that lead me to the judgement. Has this been a court room drama this whole time?
Anyway, it's fun that you asked me that and I'm sorry to let you down, but I'm happy to provide the AITB treatment you've come to appreciate!
This is familiar territory for us Bolers (...I'm trying it out). We've seen people make spite plays on the way out. We've seen people "kingmake", as it were. We've also gotten a few uses out of the phrase "jury management" from my Big Brother watching days. I think that's where we are again with this entry.
Let's examine the facts: you build high-powered durdly decks that either go off hard or fizzle, you were the self-described Archenemy threatening lethal on two remaining players, and then Manfred saved Maya with a Lethal Exploit.
An Archenemy emerging in the pod has this negative connotation: this extremely powerful being is able to handle us all! There's a knee-jerk teaming up that happens among the other player and so it begins to feel like the goal is no longer to win but rather to see the Archenemy defeated. While Manfred had a removal spell to destroy one of your creatures, maybe the one going at him could not be targeted and he was hoping for the other to be coming his way. Alas, the removal was always meant for your board and whether it was done before or after combat does not change the fact that going down swinging is part of the game.
Discussing this with the group is important, but I can also see where they're coming from given the breakdown I just did. It's also important to note that you were off to a strong start and it left a sour taste in your opponents' mouths. While Maya clenched the victory, it was not without the help of a friend, something you did not have at the table this game.
Am I the Bolas for getting upset at Manfred for saving Maya, despite him knowing that he'll go down? Yes! Quite literally, you were the table's Archenemy and saving Maya is much like Gideon's Sacrifice to keep Liliana alive in War of the Spark.
If this happens a lot, it would behoove you to examine your deckbuilding and ensure that either you power up or power down your decks. Durdle decks that either do nothing or explode are a tough place to play. It's interesting and satisfying but as high as that ceiling goes, the lows are that they don't work much if at all. Not to mention, the ceiling is overpowering the table and becoming the Archenemy again. By powering down your decks, you'll begin to present less of a threat to the pod and eventually this will be noticed. There's going to be a growth period where it becomes apparent that you aren't necessarily always the thread. Powering up the decks means leaning in and perhaps approaching equally powerful pods for games.
All said, Bolas. Sorry!
