Keen-Eyed CuratorKeen-Eyed Curator | Art by PINDURSKI
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I don't understand anything in this class, but I'm trying real hard.
(Post edited for brevity, clarity, and then some.)
SUBMISSION
Hello,
I'm sorry to say I have never read your column, but I told this story to a friend and he told me I should send it in as he thought it was interesting. Names have been changed for privacy.
I had a weird interaction while playing Commander at my LGS the other day. It was a five-player game with some friends I play with regularly. l will explain the seat order as it does come up later. My friend Nathan was in seat one playing their Tinybones, the PickpocketTinybones, the Pickpocket good stuff deck. My friend Cody was in seat two playing their Queen MarchesaQueen Marchesa punisher deck. I was in seat three, playing my Tymna the WeaverTymna the Weaver//Kamahl, Heart of KrosaKamahl, Heart of Krosa hate bears deck. My friend Michael was in seat four playing their The Wise MothmanThe Wise Mothman deck, and my friend Niki was in seat five playing their Alela, Cunning ConquerorAlela, Cunning Conqueror control deck.
The early game started off normal, no one really getting ahead or falling behind. Nathan played a Mesmeric OrbMesmeric Orb leading to us all mill a whole lot of cards. I know Nathan has a few reanimation effects in his deck, so I used my Keen-Eyed CuratorKeen-Eyed Curator to keep their graveyard clear as much as possible. They then play a Syr Konrad, the GrimSyr Konrad, the Grim and it reduces all life totals except Niki's. It goes back and forth until we get to the late game. It gets to Nathan's turn and they decide to cast a Living DeathLiving Death with nothing in their graveyard, but there are enough creatures on board to kill me and everyone else with Syr Konrad death triggers but leave Niki alive, with a new board of creatures that they had milled over earlier.
A discussion starts with the Living DeathLiving Death on the stack. Niki had been signalling they had a CounterspellCounterspell for a while now and had the mana up. I asked them if they would be willing to use it, but they say that they think they have a good shot of winning if they let it go through as they would get back enough power to end the game on their next turn. I still had my Keen-Eyed CuratorKeen-Eyed Curator out and enough mana to exile almost all of the creatures from Niki’s graveyard. Priority gets passed to me and I told to Niki “if you don’t counter Living DeathLiving Death, I'm going to exile all the good creatures in your graveyard so that you have almost no board.” It’s sort of a bluff on my part, as I essentially have to guess if they have a CounterspellCounterspell or not due to the priority order. They had a bit of a go at me, talking about how that's kingmaking. I ended up not exiling anything, opting not to cause any drama. Niki ended up countering the Living DeathLiving Death anyway after I point out that Nathan would be able to draw almost half their library with a Spymaster's VaultSpymaster's Vault activation. Nathan then activated Syr Konrad, the GrimSyr Konrad, the Grim a few times, getting me and the rest of the table low enough so that he can then cast a Toxic DelugeToxic Deluge, keeping some of his board alive while killing everyone (except Niki) with Syr Konrad triggers.
Niki and I talked it out after and we are all good but my question is: would I have been the Bolas for exiling Niki’s graveyard? Is it a Bolas move to essentially force someone into doing something they don’t want to so that I can try to live for another turn? Would I be a Bolas for trying to force my opponent to use a CounterspellCounterspell they might not have?
Thanks,
"Jordan"
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.
To answer your question, I guess it all depends on how sweaty the pod can get. Is it kingmaking if you're still trying to win? I'm not going to lie, the Keen-Eyed CuratorKeen-Eyed Curator goading the CounterspellCounterspell is pretty bad ass. In the face of a player attempting to knock out three of their opponents, you were playing to your outs to keep yourself in the game. If your pod is in it to win it every time, I feel like this would be a respected move.
I don't see it. I don't think you're the Bolas at all. Even if Niki was bluffing their CounterspellCounterspell, it behooves you to try to get them to use it if it means you're going for the win. Plus this is so exciting! It's clearly getting to the end of the game and everybody's gotta make a move: Syr Konrad's about to take down the table. I can understand that Niki thinks they're in a good spot, but I can tell you from experience, that if you see a reanimator player put a Living DeathLiving Death on the stack with an empty graveyard, they've got a plan and they're going in for the kill. I know Niki had the CounterspellCounterspell to deal with Nathan's next spell, but the Spymaster's VaultSpymaster's Vault with Syr Konrad, the GrimSyr Konrad, the Grim in play is curtains without casting another spell if they connive enough cards.
If Niki didn't actually have a CounterspellCounterspell, then I guess maybe it would be kingmaking. That said, who's the one who made the decision to imply they had a CounterspellCounterspell in hand? If you decide to bluff, and you do so successfully, you have to remember that your opponents will treat you like you have what you're threatening them with. Politics in EDH are a pretty big part of our format. It's definitely a polarizing feature of the multiplayer format, but for the most part, I think folks dig politics in Commander. It's hard not to dislike it when it's being used against you or if the same players collude, but for the most part, it's what allows folks to articulate strategy and it gives you a bit of an idea where people are at. It's a great wrinkle to this game, but sometimes table talk can get you in a little bit of trouble.
I like this story and I think that's a cool move. Not the Bolas.
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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