Am I The Bolas? - Whoopsie, You Win
Unfortunate Accident Illustrated by Josiah "Jo" Cameron
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 with your story, a pseudonym you want to use, and of course, only include details you don't mind in the column! You might see your story below one day. You might even hear it on the podcast. Which podcast?
I'm Mike Carrozza, aka Mark Carbonza, and hey, what do I call my farts that make my girlfriend laugh when she's mad at me?
This guy just keeps doing fart jokes!
This week, a fumble hurts two.
(Post edited for brevity, clarity, and then some.)
HELLO, MIKE
Hello Mark/Mr. Wazowski,
This is my first time writing to you, so I'm terribly sorry if I got the format wrong. I really love your articles, and they've shaped a huge part of my attitude and game etiquette towards Magic following a fairly long hiatus.
The situation in question is one where I feel I made a misplay, and it cost another player a win.
We were a pod of three guys and myself at the local game store on Commander night. It was immensely refreshing to play with people who weren't *that* guy, if you know what I mean. We even managed to play three games, which I really wanted to make memorable for everyone in the hopes we'd play again.
During game two, we were playing Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
Between the three of us left, the best board was controlled by the Jasmine player, while Kaalia had the best overall game position at that moment. There was a fair shot at Kaalia knocking out the Jasmine player by sending all her creatures at them. I decided to intervene and killed Drakuseth, Maw of Flames
Between my hand and board, I had all the pieces needed for a self-mill combo that would let me win the game with Laboratory Maniac
I normally would have let it go there and then, but it's been wracking me for a little over a week about how I swept the win out from under Kaalia and inadvertently handed it to Jasmine. Had I not saved Jasmine, I probably would have won (though I can't say what was in Kaalia's hand; maybe she had her own destroy creature spell).
I feel like what I did was bad table etiquette and I pulled a jerk move in the eyes of the Kaalia player. Am I the Bolas? Maybe not a War of the Spark-level Bolas (RIP Dack), but a Hour of Devastation variant?
I appreciate what you do and sorry for the long message!
- BlueKarasu
HOWDY, RAVEN!
Thank you for writing 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.
Let me tell ya, reading something like "I really love your articles, and they've shaped a huge part of my attitude and game etiquette towards Magic following a fairly long hiatus" really, really, really, really feels incredible. I appreciate that so much. That the column has resonated with you this much is really nice to read so thank you.
I think what happened this game is a silly little blunder that gives us a little insight into you. I think opting to go for the play that'll make someone not totally feel like they've been focused on all night is sweet. It's considerate of their experience. But as Jasmine has shown you, it's a weakness to exploit! Of course, you didn't know Kaalia's hand at the end, so we're not 100% certain that, if you'd just let Kaalia kill Jasmine, you'd have won. But we know your chances go up a heck of a lot when a whole other opponent and their resources are out of the equation.
I think what you did could only really be considered a mistake but one with the weight of a small accident. You did something foolish to those whose priority is the win: you gave into the emotion of the game, and honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way, really! You're on the cusp of a win, give the Jasmine player a chance to feel like they've got an ally here before you win the game. If I think something will make somebody happy and it's not hurting anybody, why not? I've talked about being happier to lose to an exciting moment than to counter it and prevent it from happening at all.
That said, this feels like the kind of play you hold onto in the back of your head. It's a new lesson that's going to have you differently evaluating your opponents in the end game every time. I think this moment has changed how you'll see the game now, and that's kind of beautiful. Threat assessment is a lesson best learned by walking right into the rake.
Kaalia has the most information: they could replay it in their head, but they chose the attack already and they know when we get to your turn, you've got the combo win. Ultimately, as far as they're concerned, I think they have to know they were beat unless they also had a kill spell. But they would know that. They could think "if that hadn't happened, I'd have lost anyway". Otherwise, it's "If Blue hadn't done that, I had Doom Blade
Jasmine probably felt like a champ winning this one. Fell the Profane
I think the most important part is this one: "We even managed to play three games".
This story is about game two and you all got to play three games together. Whatever happened didn't seem to rile anybody up enough to walk away. Getting to shuffle up and move onto the next one is a great feeling and probably a sign that it's alright. Did anybody bring it up? Did you all joke around about it? All good, game three time! I don't think you're the Bolas. I think you fumbled and I'd probably tease you a bit about it and move on.
As with many of my articles in this series, my advice is to have a conversation. Initiate a chat about this story and how it's stuck with you. See what everybody says and, unless someone has a problem with it, I'm sure it'll feel like people have let it go. If they haven't, an apology should do. Then it's onto game four.
Bit of a no biggie type of situation to me!
Thanks again for writing in!
