Am I The Bolas? - Pointing Out a Combo

At my old local game store, I sat down in a pod and our fourth was a new player. I don't remember if they didn't own a deck or they bought a pre-con that they didn't like, but they asked to borrow one of ours. The other players and I offered our decks and they chose to play my Ghave, Guru of Spores deck. I let them know before the game that the deck had plenty of synergies and combos.

 

We began playing and after about 90-120 minutes, I was taking stock of the board: we were locked in a stalemate where no one could swing without retaliation. I noticed that the new player was looking upset and not having fun. I looked at their board and realized that on it was an infinite combo that could only be used at sorcery speed.

 

After their turn ended, I decided to speak up. "Hey, don't forget that my deck is made to be a machine. The parts should all work together, take your time during our turns to see what you can do."

 

It only took a few seconds before they saw the combo to which the next player (right before me) started yelling at me for handing them the win. I told them that I waited until now to say anything because this way we have a whole rotation to deal with it. I tried to tell them that if we work together we have a chance to stop it, but instead they decided to cast Overrun and take me out. After that I showed them that I had a card to take out one of the two redundant pieces of the combo and instead they left it all up to the third player. I told them that if we all attacked the new player (especially with the Overrun) we could have stopped it.

 

The third player drew and revealed that they drew into a card that could have taken out the second redundant piece, but since I was already out that the combo would simply go off next turn. I came last and the mad player and player three were taken out by the combo, letting the new player win. 

 

 

Thanks,

Ashrimpinatophat

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HOWDY, ASHRIMPINATOPHAT!

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.

This is a masterclass on how to let salt ruin it for yourself. Professor Salty decided to cash in an Overrun because you pointed out to a player unfamiliar with your deck that there are combos in it. Wow. 

First of all, if somebody is playing a deck they aren't familiar with and it belongs to you, they might not know all the cards well and might not spot a combo, much like in this story. I think it's totally fair to point it out entirely, even! To just nudge the player, encouraging them to find it on their own, was a nice move. It'd been 90 minutes to two hours and there's a combo that wins on the board. Letting the table know so they can all do something about it is also pretty generous!

Basically, Prof. Salty was out of bounds on this one taking this to mean you're giving the game away when really you're offering a situation in which you might be able to team up to prevent the new player from winning. Moreover, if the combo is already on the table and they just didn't see it before passing the turn, personally, I'd call it a win for them anyway. Sure, it's a learning experience, but dear god, they had it! They just didn't see it because it's not their deck! Plus, the new player walks away with three things: a moment where they were the one to figure out the game-winning combo, the tension of being the imminent archenemy threat with a whole turn's worth of opponents' actions, and a new and hopefully deepened appreciation for Commander. Merry Christmas, buddy, this move was a GIFT!

It just also feels pretty wild to me to spend 90 minutes on a game with a new player and then not knee-jerk into looking over and offering to point some things out. Or even just politicking by mentioning the important pieces, if they are game-ending. Also, Salty, the new player has a combo out and you don't see it, didn't say anything either? No suggestion to the others that the new one might be a threat? We didn't get the whole story, of course, but from what I gathered here, the attitude is a bummer. 

Do you remember when you got into Magic? Do you remember a play that happened that blew your mind and stuck with you? Welcome to being part of that with a new player. You're now indelibly part of that player's story of the time they realized some decks are grindy engines and that that can be fun! I'm not saying all new players should be handled with kid gloves, but come on, have a little perspective here!