Am I the Bolas? - Delete

August 12, 2026

Hello, and welcome to Am I the Bolas? This week, beep boop beep boop, robot noises!

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.

I'm Mike Carrozza: it's finally happening!

The Unluckiest Planeswalker

It's the Cursed guy!!!

(Post edited for brevity, clarity, and then some.)

SUBMISSION

Hi Mike,

I got a haircut on the weekend, and considered getting/becoming a Bolcut. I didn't do it, but I considered it.

When is player removal OK? I mostly play in the "Bracket 2/3" space where very few Game Changers hit the table and people build up decently big boards of stuff. I have a Rocco, Street ChefRocco, Street Chef deck which people often get greedy against and give lots of triggers, then realize "oh, no!" and everyone teams up to player remove me. It's always fun when it plays out, even though I'm the one getting player removed, so from my perspective it can be fine to get player removed, in the right context. My question is about a more sudden removal.

Archenemy's Charm

I was playing The Council of FourThe Council of Four and had built up seven 2/2 Knight tokens. Two opponents were ticking along and had boards, but one playing Riku of Two ReflectionsRiku of Two Reflections hadn't hit any ramp and had just played some instant card draw for the last couple turns. They had no creatures in play and were down to 28 life. On my turn, I drew Obelisk of UrdObelisk of Urd, which would turn my 2/2s into 4/4s and give me exact lethal on the Riku. I barely even stopped to consider, dropping the Obelisk and swinging into the Riku player. I figured if they got to sit around eventually there would be some board wipes and/or copy spell shenanigans, so if I could eliminate them it would preserve my strong board state and improve my chances of winning. Which I eventually did. Am I the Bolas for deleting the Riku player before they got to do a whole lot in the game?

It's fun for me when my deck goes off and I get player removed in retaliation, but probably not so much if I got removed before doing anything. But it irks me to consider combo decks/players who might build greedy decks that seemingly don't do much before they pop off and win, who rely on the mercy of others to give them a window. I don't know if that's what this Riku deck was, and I've played with the pilot a decent amount and don't think they're the sneaky type to play/build like that. But to me, they were open and eliminating them was the correct play (except that they were the only one with ForestForests so my SubmergeSubmerge cost mana after they were gone. Yuck)

Best regards,

Willie the Postman

Willie Lumpkin, Postman

VERDICT

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.

I understand why you'd feel like the Bolas in this situation. While it's the best strategic play to get rid of a player you feel like would give you a hard time down the line, it doesn't suck any less to cut someone short of their good time. If they haven't been able to get up to much all game, it's definitely a bummer. This is one where I could lean either way. You're the Bolas for killing a player before they got to do anything meaningful. You're not the Bolas because you were playing to win and it made sense for you to get rid of this particular opponent while you really had an unexpected opportunity to do so. It's just the way it goes sometimes. If I was playing a game and I couldn't draw into anything, I'd be bummed already. If I get taken out, maybe I'll get to give this deck a do-over since the game's probably almost done with me gone. I wouldn't mind dying since it already wasn't going well, so it is what it is.

I think it all comes down to the vibe. Are we playing to win in a more relaxed pod? Or are we looking to make sure everybody gets to do the thing? Are we doing both? Ideally, we're doing both! The best case scenario for a Commander pod is everybody gets to have a moment and everybody's playing to their outs for a competitive and satisfying game. That said, if someone's bringing up the rear something awful and barely gets to kickstart their game, how long do you have to go before you cut the caboose weighing down the train that can also be setting up a come-from-behind win? I've been in this position before and I'll say I much prefer getting taken out of the game if there's no sign of hope than if I have a slow plan that hasn't been easy to get going but shows a little promise. That said, you don't always get to have that and that's the nature of the game. I would prefer getting killed at the table than be bled dry by the player who needs combat damage triggers. Don't get me wrong, I've had to protect some opponents when playing a theft deck or my Teysa, Opulent OligarchTeysa, Opulent Oligarch, but it feels really bad to keep someone around who's not been able to get any action in as a blood bag.

Teysa, Opulent Oligarch

Lazav, Wearer of Faces

The Master, Transcendent

I don't have a definitive answer to this one. Ultimately, if you feel a type of way when you do something at the table, have a conversation about it with the person it affects and explain your reasoning. It's also fine to explain your reasoning before pulling the trigger on this kind of attack; maybe you'll see if there isn't a way to work out a deal with this opponent. However, in a game sense, if you're doing this, I'm assuming you have the other player pretty well managed and eliminating any sort of wildcard element to your plan is a good move. Riku could be one card away from a Blasphemous ActBlasphemous Act, and then who knows!

I can't call you the Bolas here because I understand where you're coming from and it does make sense, but if you feel a tightness about this move, it's easy to understand why: you cut someone down before they could do the fun part of the hang. Get it over with and shuffle up for another, I say. That's me, though. Make sure you check in with your friends/opponents about things that happen in game to make sure there aren't any hard feelings and whether there was another way about this.

Thanks again for writing in!

Choice of Damnations

Mike Carrozza

Mike Carrozza is a stand-up comedian from Montreal who’s done a lot of cool things like put out an album called Cherubic and worked with Tig Notaro, Kyle Kinane, and more people to brag about. He’s also been an avid EDH player who loves making silly stuff happen. @mikecarrozza on platforms.

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