Spider-Man NoirSpider-Man Noir | Art by Xabi Gaztelua
Hello, and welcome to Am I the Bolas? This week, a stranger takes back!
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?
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I'm Mike Carrozza - hey, look at this fist!
Is this the biggest a fist has been illustrated on a Magic card?
(Post edited for brevity, clarity, and then some.)
SUBMISSION
Hey, Mike. Hope you're doing well. I might have a Bolas query for you, one that I'm rather unsure about.
I just had this game in a Bracket 2 pod online. I was playing Tivash, Gloom SummonerTivash, Gloom Summoner, making beefier Demons as turns went on. One of my opponents was on Spider-Man NoirSpider-Man Noir with a clear goal to Voltron the table. The game is nice, everyone is doing more or less their thing.
It's turn nine. I had already taken some damage from Spidey the turn prior. He plays Altar of the GoyfAltar of the Goyf, counts the value of the buff, then attacks me with his unblockable commander, and another player with another creature, which he then sacs to add counters to Spider-Man NoirSpider-Man Noir.
We go on to tally the damage and I point out that his Altar of the GoyfAltar of the Goyf does not in fact provide any buff, since he attacked with two creatures, whereas the Altar triggers only when you attack alone. He wants to go back to the declare attacks steps, arguing that his plan was to kill me all along, that he didn't need to actually attack with the other creature. I show reluctance at this, and he doesn't understand why he can't go back, since this is "only a Bracket 2 game".
Now, I'm the first one to go easy on the rules, but in this scenario, that would have killed me, plain and simple. So I politely insisted that he played the card, he had the chance to play it right, and that he'll probably be able to do it on his next turn anyway (which he did), but I'd rather not die because of a gameplay mistake he made.
My question is: am I the Bolas for not allowing him to have his way, even at the cost of losing the game?
And as always, thanks for your fantastic work, yours is one of the articles I read each and every week.
Cheers,
Blinko the Dear
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.
Before moving forward, I should note that Blinko the Dear and I exchanged some messages and they amended the following information:
"It's not an established pod at all. I was playing against three random players found on [a Discord server]. And there was no particular Rule 0 talk about that prior to the game."
What an excellent example of how important the Rule 0 conversation is and how the Bracket System is not at all a replacement for it. Your opponent's use of it being "only a Bracket 2 game" isn't fully out of pocket, though. Here's what WotC has to say about Bracket 2 directly from their site:
"Players expect:
- Decks to be unoptimized and straightforward, with some cards chosen to maximize creativity and/or entertainment
- Win conditions to be incremental, telegraphed on the board, and disruptable
- Gameplay to be low pressure with an emphasis on social interaction
- Gameplay to be proactive and considerate, letting each deck showcase its plan
Generally, you should expect to be able to play at least eight turns before you win or lose."
While gameplay is expected to be low pressure, there's nothing in here that suggests that permissiveness. Some players look at Bracket 2 as a playground to use underserved commanders and strategies, pushing them to their natural limits and really going for the win. Bracket 2 players I know want to be able to build decks that can hang with similarly powered decks so they can play some pet cards that aren't cracking a top EDHREC ranking any time soon. They also want to be able to play these decks to the best of their ability and that means that take-backs aren't always implicitly welcome.
Having a conversation about take-backs can happen so naturally once a take-back arises. The etiquette around take-backs is to check with the table and go with majority rule. Your opponents get to have their say and you abide. However, in my experience, once the decision on take-backs is made, it's often the rule for the game whether they're more or less accepted. There are many reasons not to accept a take-back: massive changes in information, a player abusing the take-back leniency, or, most relevantly, whether a player or key piece is eliminated. Determining where the line is for the group is something that comes up pretty naturally and should be discussed when a take-back comes up. Maintaining consistency with these rules helps strengthen understandings with regular playgroups, but when it comes to playing with strangers online, ensure that take-backs are discussed every time so that you're making sure everybody is still having a good time within the spirit of Bracket 2. We put a lot of pressure on Rule 0 conversation and not everything can fit, but if you feel pretty strongly about take-backs, start making it part of your Rule 0 checklist.
Not the Bolas. We should all be ready to play by the rules as stated if it comes to it. Your opponent did the right thing and conceded in this take-back argument and ultimately showed it didn't fully matter in the end. Thanks for sharing!
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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