Brainstorm Illustrated by DiTerlizzi

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? 

THIS PODCAST!

I'm Mike Carrozza, aka Mark Carbonza, and I'm just trying to get to my room.

Please, just take me to my room, I can't keep going to these other places. 

This week, a color gets a bad rap. 

(Post edited for brevity, clarity, and a little somethin' extra - BLAM!)

HEY, MIKE!

Aye! So, I go weekly to my LGS Commander night. I've worked with the store owner to try and make it a very welcoming place for beginners and people of all kinds. I genuinely want everyone to enjoy playing this game! However, a couple weeks ago before we were podded up, I was talking to some newer players and one kid that's been going there for about two years now.

One of the newer people goes on a bit of a rant about how blue is the worst color. It's completely unfun and they hate it. A lot of the newbies piled on about how Counterspells are BS, etc. I let them go on for a minute before I chimed in with:

"Honestly as someone who has played for awhile, I think if you hate blue, you just have to get better at the game. Pay attention to mana, and maybe actually play it before judging a whole fifth of the game."

I basically got booed and one of them even targeted me next game for it. I'm not some evangel for the color (besides mill 🙏); it's actually the one I play the least.

To write off a whole segment of this massive game seems pretty shortsighted and I genuinely think comes from a lack of experience.

Was I too harsh? Is blue only for villains? Am I the Bolas?

Thanks, and I hope you're having a good day!

-Tyler Day / Rope Arrow

P.S. I'm the artist that does the posters and playmats and stuff at Commander Sealed, caught your set last year and it was great! Would love to get in a game if you're making it back this year!

HOWDY, SOMETIMES BLUE PLAYER!

Tyler! So glad to hear from you, an artist whose work I enjoy! Check out Tyler on Instagram and take a look at the dope art he got to make for Magic in a Secret Lair here. I've got a Rope Arrow Deafening Silence print waiting on a frame with its spot on my wall ready. 

Thank you so much for writing in. As I say every week, without folks writing in, there is no column, so if you, the reader, have a story you'd like to share or a Reddit post I should check out, send it over to amithebolas@gmail.com and I'll get to it here or maybe even the podcast!

Speaking of the podcast, we did a live episode that came out last week! Tune in next week for another non-live episode as well. You know who was at the live episode for a little bit while escaping his booth at Commander Sealed? Tyler Day aka Rope Arrow aka the player writing in today. King of segues!

Let's talk blue. 

This feels like an easy one to me because you're absolutely correct. Shutting yourself off of a color means that you lose 20% of the game. Am I guilty of this? Kind of! I don't like green much, but I'm not about to never play green ever. I just have a penchant for Rakdos or Orzhov or Dimir or even just black. I love black. Anyway, I digress. 

Cutting off a color is a totally common thing that happens when you're new to the game. When I started, I didn't get red, but back then red was struggling, so I felt fine about it. Some people, like Davy, hate the color white. Is it incorrect or messed up to hate playing or playing against a particular color? Nah. It's your life, live how you want to live. But, remember, by cutting out a piece of the color pie, you are going to miss out on some stuff and you'll likely not feel great going up against some other stuff. 

Side note: as Commander players, we all already kinda do this. We pick a commander and that usually means, like, two or three colors most often. We end up shutting out colors or not having much diversity, unless you're someone like me who has too many decks and even that doesn't save you. I did a breakdown of all my decks recently and something silly like three out of my 30 decks don't have black. Whoopsie!

I understand why some newer players don't like blue. It seems like they're coming at it from a perspective wherein they are against blue in-game. This means their lamenting Counterspell or Cyclonic Rift comes from a place of being denied the fun of their deck. Newer players will get tunnel-visioned. This is what my deck does and it has to do that thing. A good blue player realizing this and denying that deck's one plan is bound to ruffle feathers. 

Blue is often associated with control, and I want to assume that many people come to this game to let loose and go hard. Big creatures, big damage, double, triple, YAY! Blue is about tempo and control, but also has its share of big creatures and its own version of double/triple.

You're absolutely correct: as you play more and learn more about the game, you become better at anticipating the things that are bound to harm your strategy and how they will do it. Playing blue will absolutely get you to think like a blue player and those lessons port over when you're back to playing your Gruul smashy deck. 

I think targeting you for expressing your opinion is garbage, though. As someone who's been playing for a while and who knows their way around a Magic deck, you'd figure people who are new to the whole deal would have a moment to maybe take in some sound advice. 

Although, phrasing it as "you need to get better" might have added to the sting. I'm sure you were able to shake it off and I'm glad you didn't go with "oh, yeah, I'll show you! I'll build the most blue non-blue deck you've ever seen" and built an Orzhov counter spell deck with nothing but removal to prove a point. Facebook Magic groups have really pushed me to expect that from these submissions, I'll tell you what. 

Not the Bolas, and thrilled you wrote in!