Aziza, Mage Tower CaptainAziza, Mage Tower Captain | Art by Aurore Folny
Hello, and welcome to Am I the Bolas? This week, pressure backfires!
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!
I'm Mike Carrozza and I thought this was Littlefinger from Game of Thrones at first.
You can't tell me I'm completely wrong!
A little bit of news off the top! Unfortunately, I've decided to end the Bolcast! We've got two final episodes to record and then it's a wrap. I'd like to say thank you for listening to all the Bolcuts out there, but it's time for the Bolcast to scoot the day. Thanks for everything and here's to the next thing!
(Post edited for brevity, clarity, and then some.)
SUBMISSION
Hi Mike,
I just got back from my Friday Night LGS Shenanigans and just had an experience I would like to share. I was part of a three-person pod, I was playing Aziza, Mage Tower CaptainAziza, Mage Tower Captain, and my opponents were playing a Wilhelt, the RotcleaverWilhelt, the Rotcleaver and a Caesar, Legion's EmperorCaesar, Legion's Emperor. The game starts off with both me and the Wilhelt player having a slower start, at least compared to how fast Caesar set up their board.
The interesting bits start at turn five: I have my Aziza, a Redoubled StormsingerRedoubled Stormsinger, a Selfless SpiritSelfless Spirit, and four Goblin tokens (from a Krenko's CommandKrenko's Command I copied). Wilhelt has almost nothing, with a GravecrawlerGravecrawler, a Lost Monarch of IfnirLost Monarch of Ifnir, and a Liliana of the Dark RealmsLiliana of the Dark Realms. Caesar, on the other hand, had a Horn of GondorHorn of Gondor, Caesar, a Soul WardenSoul Warden, and an Impact TremorsImpact Tremors, and has already accumulated 12 Humans on the board, so we were in serious trouble.
I proceed to my turn six, and I cast a Surge to VictorySurge to Victory, exiling a Krenko's CommandKrenko's Command from the graveyard. I swung Redoubled StormsingerRedoubled Stormsinger and Selfless SpiritSelfless Spirit at Caesar (they had no flyers and didn't want to waste six tokens blocking my Stormsinger cause of first strike), and Aziza and my four tokens at Wilhelt, as he didn't have blockers and I needed as many to connect as I could so I can set up a future turn to deal with Caesar. This left Wilhelt with 15 life, and after gaining all the life from my tokens entering Caesar was up to 61.
Wilhelt and I did not see eye to eye on this and proceeded on their turn to use three removal pieces on my board, taking me out of even thinking of trying to win, and handing the game to Caesar. After asking him why he would do this, their response was, "I'm out of the game because you attacked me, and I might as well end the game so we can start another." He also stated that my play to attack him was stupid and questionable, and I should've attacked all my 3/1 Goblins into Caesar, because all my play accomplished was giving Caesar a bunch of life.
I feel justified in my attack because my only way to deal with Caesar was a really good top deck, and a bunch of Goblins to attack. but instead I got sabotaged from "dragging the game on".
While I don't think there is a Bolas in this situation, how do you feel about people intentionally sabotaging players so the game ends quicker?
Thanks!
Beanz@daHalfTymeShow
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'm not going to mince words here, Beanz. Wilhelt could have and should have conceded. Wilhelt choosing to play out the game explicitly to torpedo yours is bad gamesmanship and I boo them with both thumbs down. If your concern is ending the current game to get on with another, the best way is to concede so you take away a whole player's worth of turn time. Not to mention, by conceding, you remove yourself and your board as part of the consideration process and give the remaining players less to pay attention to.
I do agree that the move would have been to attack the Caesar player with a little more and pressure their life total considering the Soul WardenSoul Warden is a foil to what your game plan appears to be. If you're spamming tokens, you're handing Caesar a nice cushion against any potential crack back. I think it's fair to come at you to send a message, but a concession and discussion would get the job done without taking from your game.
All that said, this is a classic outcome for a three-player pod which I recommend folks avoid unless it's with players you know and trust. Wilhelt's decision to focus on you rather than on Caesar is a clear indication they've thrown in the towel, but the disrespect comes from essentially grabbing at your metaphorical towel and tossing it for you. Gross behavior, frankly. They should've conceded instead.
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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