<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Expressive Iteration" href="#" target="_blank">Expressive Iteration</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/nastasja" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Anastasia Ovchinnikova</a></em></p>
<p>It always starts with some kind of ritual spell. It might look different in every deck. Maybe It's a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dark Ritual" href="#" target="_blank">Dark Ritual</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Prosper, Tome-Bound" href="#" target="_blank">Prosper, Tome-Bound</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck or a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mana Geyser" href="#" target="_blank">Mana Geyser</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Magnus the Red" href="#" target="_blank">Magnus the Red</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck.</p>
<p>My most common spell to start off a non-deterministic long turn is a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vision Skeins" href="#" target="_blank">Vision Skeins</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in my <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heliod, the Radiant Dawn" href="#" target="_blank">Heliod, the Radiant Dawn</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck. It puts two cards in my hand and reduces all my spells by six for that turn. Between what's in my hand and what I draw, I have to try to win or I've blown the best card in my deck.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Heliod, the Radiant Dawn"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vision Skeins"></div></div>
<p>My partner <em>hates</em> my Heliod deck. I mean, he will audibly groan and beg me not to play it. My <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Prosper, Tome-Bound" href="#" target="_blank">Prosper, Tome-Bound</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck also takes long non-deterministic turns; a lot of players hate that deck as well. This<em> way</em> of play is not well liked.</p>
<p>As a player who sort of seeks out this line of play, I became pretty fascinated with this concept and decided to dig a little into it. Is something <em>wrong</em> with this playstyle?</p>
<h2>Non-Deterministic or Combo Strategies</h2>
<p>There is one distinction I'd like to clear up before we get into whether you're a stinky person for playing a non-deterministic deck: the difference between non-deterministic decks and combo decks.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thrumming Stone" href="#" target="_blank">Thrumming Stone</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> with 24-30 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rat Colony" href="#" target="_blank">Rat Colony</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>s is enough to hit your goal. This is more of a line than what I would consider non-deterministic even though it <em>feels</em> a bit non-deterministic. The line I want to draw in the sand here is likelihood. The more it's digging and looking and hoping and praying to see the thing you want the more it's non-deterministic and less combo.</p>
<p>The line is a little blurry because Commander is a singleton format with 99 cards in the deck. Unless you draw your tutors in your opening hand, you're running on luck, which can feel like hoping and praying in that non-deterministic way. I'm not trying to boil the ocean about the language about combo and non-deterministic; I just want to make one distinction about combo.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thrumming Stone"></div></div>
<p>Combo decks are looking for specific cards that lead to other specific cards - tutors that lead into specific pieces that lead into specific lines. There are many avenues to the same things. Redundancies. Easier roads than others, but backup plans for interaction. This is a little different from non-deterministic decks that might be looking for an uncertain way to <em>maybe</em> win if they can figure something out.</p>
<p>It's less calculated creativity and more strategic. Less Jackson Pollock and more Chess.</p>
<p>Last bit about this: the non-deterministic turn player doesn't necessarily have win in sight. It is looking for a win. It is digging into it's deck for a possibility for a win. Decks that surround this mechanic usually need to amass value through digging. It's <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Light Up the Stage" href="#" target="_blank">Light Up the Stage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for it's Spectacle cost for a Prosper deck to see a couple more cards; make some treasures along the way, ping with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reckless Fireweaver" href="#" target="_blank">Reckless Fireweaver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>; exile a card with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin" href="#" target="_blank">Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and maybe cast something there for a treasure to dig a bit more.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Light Up the Stage"></div></div>
<p>It's the "maybe something" that makes it non-deterministic. It might just end your turn. It might keep going. It might win.</p>
<h2>Decks Versus Turns</h2>
<p>Another thing I want to clear up is having a non-deterministic turn is a little different from having a non-deterministic turn deck. I think if any player is building an efficient deck they want card draw and mana acceleration. You wrap those two things together and you get more of those two things. More game actions will happen, and if it's a pretty synergistic deck, more game actions means more ramp and more card draw.</p>
<p>Do you see what I'm getting at? It makes for a fairly long, non-deterministic turn, looking for a way to close it out. With enough cards in hand and enough mana, you <em>must</em> find a way to win. At least that's the thinking as you cast spells, draw cards, and try to figure it out.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin"></div></div>
<p>Big explosive turns without endless tutors - less combo-y decks - are going to have this effect: the non-deterministic and long effect. So, I hesitate to demonize these game actions. If we all might have to do it to win with enough mana and cards in hand, at some point in our player history, what's the harm? At least that's my reasoning.</p>
<p>If you take a long turn and don't win, at least you went for it. It's a little different if your deck is trying to do it every turn, or it's the conceit of the deck. Being unable to win unless you do have a non-deterministic turn is a little different from the perfect storm - no pun intended - leading to a turn like that.</p>
<p>I think there is an argument here to say that long non-deterministic turn decks might be harmful if a singular long non-deterministic turn occasionally in a deck is fine.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Reckless Fireweaver"></div></div>
<h2>The Glory of a Long Non-Deterministic Turn</h2>
<p>I know, I'm biased, but I want you to understand it my way first. Before we tear it apart, I want you to know what I love so much about these long non-deterministic strategies.</p>
<p>When I first started playing <em>Magic: The Gathering</em>, I hated combat. I didn't know <em>when</em> to attack. It was complicated because it left you open to crack back most times. I didn't learn until much later how bad attacking really is. (I promise this has something to do with non-deterministic turns.) Blocking is so much better. You get more decisions on how damage is distributed. What is lost or taken is your decisions when you block.</p>
<p>Evasion became something I was obsessed with. I played things with skulk, shadow, and flying. Dragons and Angels. Lots of flying. I got to choose when the damage happened because I could avoid blocking all together. Imagine my surprise when I learned about <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/burn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Burn</a> strategies. I was obsessed for months. I built <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Solphim, Mayhem Dominus" href="#" target="_blank">Solphim, Mayhem Dominus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Auntie Blyte, Bad Influence" href="#" target="_blank">Auntie Blyte, Bad Influence</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Firesong and Sunspeaker" href="#" target="_blank">Firesong and Sunspeaker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Auntie Blyte, Bad Influence"></div></div>
<p>My <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Prosper, Tome-Bound" href="#" target="_blank">Prosper, Tome-Bound</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck is a <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/spellslinger">Spellslinger</a>, <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/treasure">Treasures</a>, and <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/pingers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ping Damage</a> deck. It's the direct damage that I'd wanted from <em>Magic</em> all along. I wanted to avoid all the nuance of combat and get to the source: life totals. I will tell you that building up enough damage to deal 40 to each player with Treasures - in Rakdos with zero tutors - is about a lot of creativity.</p>
<p>I have to sequence carefully. I have to think about how each of my triggers work together. It was and still is beautiful. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reckless Impulse" href="#" target="_blank">Reckless Impulse</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>-ing into a land and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wrenn&#039;s Resolve" href="#" target="_blank">Wrenn&#039;s Resolve</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>-ing into more mana and more cards is so fun. The storm count is up. And I run <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aetherflux Reservoir" href="#" target="_blank">Aetherflux Reservoir</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. If I have a couple more spells with Aetherflux out I could eliminate a player. With a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bolas&#039;s Citadel" href="#" target="_blank">Bolas&#039;s Citadel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, it could be a wrap.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aetherflux Reservoir"></div></div>
<p>It's about being creative and playing every card in your deck. It's the thrill of seeing what else you can do to keep pushing your deck to give you more. It's sort of like a puzzle that you get to wrangle in real time, with interaction from everyone else. It's like you're fighting your deck <em>and</em> your opponents.</p>
<p><em>Not</em> knowing what will happen is part of what I love about it. It's like gambling on your deckbuilding technique, your luck, and your strategy.</p>
<p>What else can I say other than, it can be really, really fun?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bolas&#039;s Citadel"></div></div>
<h2>The <em>Big</em> Drawbacks of Long Non-Deterministic Turns</h2>
<p>I was playing my <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heliod, the Radiant Dawn" href="#" target="_blank">Heliod, the Radiant Dawn</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck and my partner tapped me on the shoulder midway through a sequencing hellscape and said that he hadn't taken a turn in 40 minutes. This is not an exaggeration. I'd accidentally given another player two extra turns. I'd meant to give to myself, but thanks a lot <em>Avatar: The Last Airbender</em> for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Redirect Lightning" href="#" target="_blank">Redirect Lightning</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>I'd discounted spells by drawing the table collectively 100 cards and I hadn't found the win yet. I thought an extra two turns might give me two more lands and two more draws. Anyway, it didn't work out.</p>
<h3>Time</h3>
<p>I won that game, but it took a lot digging and getting creative. That took a lot of time. A lot of <em>me</em> time. Commander is a game that should allow everyone to get an opportunity to play. Taking up a large portion of the game can be agonizing, especially when you typically have to wait for three players to take their turn for you to get one.</p>
<p>Think time for players is relevant when talking about how much time non-deterministic turns take up. Not every moment will be taking the precise game action. You'll be "in the tank" (coming from the term "thinktank" meaning to think about what game action to take) for a while for complicated, nuanced, and important sequencing. Sometimes time is taken up too by resolving triggers: shuffling, looking, reading, and drawing.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Heliod, the Radiant Dawn"></div></div>
<p>And you just have to watch. You can't be on your phone or something. What you if you have an interaction point? What if you have disruption and you're waiting for your nuanced moment to do something? It can and will be mind numbing. And then they, the long turn player, might just whiff. All that work and they might not even win? Some would say that is even more frustrating.</p>
<p>This is a sentiment I don't really understand entirely. Are we supposed to be more upset that they spent all that time and didn't win? I still have an opportunity to win. Shouldn't I be glad that all that time led to a lack of win and an overextending of resources? Should we want them to win because they durdled with their deck more?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sink into Stupor"></div></div>
<p>They wasted my time, yes, but I can still win; isn't that good? It seems confusing to me, but part of me gets it. Maybe we want some closure to all the time sitting and waiting. We want it to mean something, be worth all the time invested. I didn't want them to waste our time <em>and</em> lose.</p>
<h3>Sunk Cost</h3>
<p>Piggy backing off of the potentiality of not finding the win is the overinvestment. Long non-deterministic turns are usually prolonged by somewhat reckless overextending of resources: sac'ing Treasures or lands, discarding or exiling cards, and even sac'ing creatures to cost. You keep pushing so much that if you don't find it, you're just completely out of the game if you have to pass.</p>
<p>You've given away all of your advantage looking and digging that you can't recover.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Last March of the Ents"></div></div>
<p>This sunken cost fallacy pressures players with these kinds of decks to be all-in, which can make for very chaotic play experiences. Knowing when to risk it and go all-in is a finnicky thing. A lot of it is luck in a format of 99 singleton cards. Pushing can just mean you do nothing for the rest of the game. I wonder if that kind of play pattern is even really worth it, or particularly fun if it fails.</p>
<p>Also, I question if this is much different from any other strategy that fails spectacularly. What if someone <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sink into Stupor" href="#" target="_blank">Sink into Stupor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>s your <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Last March of the Ents" href="#" target="_blank">Last March of the Ents</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fog" href="#" target="_blank">Fog</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>s your <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Craterhoof Behemoth" href="#" target="_blank">Craterhoof Behemoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? Is it much different? I guess it would depend on how deep a hole the non-deterministic player is willing to dig for a win.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fog"></div></div>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>I wanted to write this article to understand if I'm the villain. I like playing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heliod, the Radiant Dawn" href="#" target="_blank">Heliod, the Radiant Dawn</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Prosper, Tome-Bound" href="#" target="_blank">Prosper, Tome-Bound</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of my beloved decks. I do find these decks tend to make for unfun play patterns for more players. I am one player who enjoys a long turn, but there are three other players who have to sit through it. I have one friend who likes to wizard duel my long turn decks to mess up my sequencing, but I think he's an outlier.</p>
<p>I don't know if I'd say you shouldn't play this strategy, though. Like most playstyles, it depends on your group. You need to find people who enjoy or can at least tolerate the types of decks you enjoy playing.</p>
<p>At least that's what I think. Let me know what <em>you</em> think. I'm <a href="https://linktr.ee/strixhavendropout" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@strixhavendropout</a> on everything.</p>


The Philosophy of Non-Deterministic Long Turns in Commander

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Academy at Tolaria West" href="#" target="_blank">Academy at Tolaria West</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3A%E2%80%9CJames+Paick%E2%80%9D&amp;unique=art" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Paick</a></em></p>
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<p>Hello, and welcome to <em>Am I the Bolas</em>?</p>
<p>This column is for all of you out there who have ever played some <em>Magic </em>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?"</p>
<p>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?</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-25893" src="https://commandersherald.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/bolcast_logo430x430-300x300.png" alt="" width="249" height="249" /></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@AmITheBolcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">THIS PODCAST!</a></p>
<p>I'm Mike Carrozza and I'm trying out a new restaurant today!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ragost, Deft Gastronaut"></div></div>
<p><i>You're telling me a Lobster fried this rice? And then he ate it and that killed some people somehow?</i></p>
<p>This week, what if a player was more of a Commander variant than opponent?</p>
<p>(Post edited for brevity, clarity, and then some.)</p>
<hr />
<h2>SUBMISSION</h2>
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<div dir="ltr"><em>Hello Mike,</em></div>
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<p><em>Never knew about your column until you appeared on EDHREC. Thought I'd give writing you a try!</em></p>
<p><em>I am fortunate enough to have a schedule that allows me to play Commander at my LGS about twice almost every week. It has done wonders to allow me to meet new people and make new friends since I had made a big move about 300-or-so miles north about two years ago. In that regard, I've made two really solid friends that have formed a core of my usual play group. However, there is often a fourth slot open, and while I welcome just about everyone, there is one regular at the LGS we frequent I'm always silently praying doesn't come our way.</em></p>
<p><em>I'll call him Derek.</em></p>
<p><em>Now Derek, he is a totally fine guy as a person. Friendly, polite, nothing wrong there. A real Magic veteran, he's been playing since the mid-nineties, and has the impressive collection to back it up. However, I just can't stand how he behaves as a player in a pod. Nothing malicious, no salt or cheating or anything of the sort. But he has a mindset that I feel utterly warps what would be an otherwise decent game of Commander.</em></p>
<p><em>He doesn't want to win.</em></p>
<p><em>Specifically, abhorring notions like "doing combat damage," he builds and brings decks that are constructed specifically to "do a thing," often to some outlandish magnitude, and only wants to sit down and do that. Draw 70 cards in one turn and deck out? Check. Put 50+ loyalty counters on a planeswalker? Check. Make 10,000 Treasures, then give them to somebody else. Check. He builds decks like hunting obscure achievements in a game. Whatever his deck was built to do, he'll do that, and nothing else, staying in his corner like some sort of chaotic ghost...unless somebody interacts with game plan, or otherwise is about win before he can execute whatever silly thing he planned on doing. Then he'll intervene, then he'll board wipe, then he'll use removal to punish anyone for treating him like they would any other player that plays so greedily. Effectively, leave him alone, or you'll be getting all his retaliation.</em></p>
<p><em>This would be one thing if any of his decks were, like exhibition tier, but the sheer amount of tutors and high power stuff he puts in each of these decks makes him appear as a preeminent threat, every time. At least, far more than any of the rest of us, who sit comfortably in the core/upgraded precon range. And that, is effectively my problem. Whenever he happens to slot in with the rest of us, I feel like I'm left playing an entirely different game. Some three-person game with some wild Planechase effect that will either blow everything up, remove itself, or king-make, depending on a die roll. Winning is far from what I care about, but I do come with the expectation we're all playing together, and basing our decisions in the pursuit of winning. </em></p>
<p><em>I've brought up my concerns with the friends in my pod, but neither of them seem to be as annoyed by the weird slant Derek brings to the game. Not wanting to make things awkward at a game store we both frequent, I've refrained from confronting him on the matter, but I'm always left silently praying that he finds a spot in somebody else's pod.</em></p>
<p><strong>Am I the Bolas?</strong></p>
<p>Sincerely,<br />
<em>Knight of Migraine</em></p>
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<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Battle of Wits"></div></div>
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<hr />
<h2>VERDICT</h2>
<p>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.</p>
<p>This submission is great, Knight. I didn't know what to expect from the subject line and I'm really happy with this one. Something I'd like to point out before diving in fully is that it was very difficult to find an applicable card to represent the submission. I chose <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Battle of Wits" href="#" target="_blank">Battle of Wits</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> because it remains the most outlandish, but even stuff like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Test of Endurance" href="#" target="_blank">Test of Endurance</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mortal Combat" href="#" target="_blank">Mortal Combat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Helix Pinnacle" href="#" target="_blank">Helix Pinnacle</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> turn those sidequest type goals into a win condition. The way you describe these goals Derek sets for himself tells me that they never result in even a <em>possible</em> win unless he decides to do anything about it. Which he won't.</p>
<p>I'm glad you found your new LGS and you get to play so often. I think it's also great that the fourth is a rotating person at the store you all get games with. Derek being one of them makes this a little more palatable rather than being a non-rotating member of the playgroup.</p>
<p>Before I get too deep on this one, I'd like to say that I am a fan of this type of deckbuilding to an extent. I'm on record having said so on <em> Am I The Bolcast?, </em>particularly <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNzWIaj6gKI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on this episode</a>. I love a mini-game element to a deck; I love a little goal to feel like you get a "win" out of a game even if you don't beat everybody at the table. It's nice to build toward something and get to "do the thing" because in Commander, your win rate isn't likely to be super high considering all the factors of the format. I do not, however, believe this should be the sole purpose of your deck, which is where I feel your frustration.</p>
<p>I think that if Derek's whole deal is to durdle around and eventually give the game away, he should be self-aware enough to recognize that some people aren't into that. I think this is someone who should be receptive to a conversation about their play style and how it affects other players' ability to enjoy the game or make moves with a full sense of agency.</p>
<p>The fact that any interaction pointed his way results in severe enough retaliation that players opt to leave him alone would be enough for me to speak up as well. I believe that if this is how you're going to be playing the game, you should not only expect removal to be pointed at you as a means to keep you in check as the potential bomb that doesn't swing in your favor, but you should be understanding of it. Bonking down Derek's strategy has been so negatively reinforced at this point that it's almost like he isn't a player, he's an emblem.</p>
<p>I mean, if a player removes a bunch of my stuff, I will likely remove something of theirs if it makes sense to and sometimes "getting them off my back" is a good enough reason. But if your position at the table is to be left alone until you get bored enough to grant one player a wish and doom another to their end because they dared to get in the way of scary permanents on the off-chance you're actually playing to win or, worse still, they're trying to mitigate your impact when you decide it's time to grant another player 10k Treasures...I don't know, I'd roll my eyes after a while and hope to find a more straightforward experience.</p>
<p>If you're not interested in playing those games with him, you could speak up and say you'd rather wait for a different fourth. It might not feel nice, but not feeling nice for a moment versus playing a couple of games you don't enjoy for hours, which is better to you? Your friends don't mind him, but you care enough to have written in.</p>
<p>The conversation can be simple. You've noticed his play style is not compatible with what you expect and want from a game of <em>Magic</em>. While you might be interested in Planechase or Archenemy every now and then, the way you describe him makes it feel like you need to be interested in playing a game of <em>Derek</em>. Bring out the <em>Derek</em> deck with oversized cards and roll the <em>Derek</em> die to move off of this <em>Derek</em> to get to the next one. I bet you have those days, even.</p>
<p>It's perfectly fine to not want to play against someone whose idea of the game doesn't work for you. Even on basis of the Bracket system, you've pointed out that you likely play closer to Bracket 2, maybe low Bracket 3, while Derek sounds like he runs more than a few tutors which would definitely not be in line with Bracket 2 play.</p>
<p>I recommend you have the conversation with your friends again and if it becomes an issue for you some more, I would discuss with Derek the possibility of including win cons for <em>himself</em> in the deck so that it doesn't feel so lopsided and frustrating for you. If he doesn't want to, then I think it's fair to explain it the way you have - playing against him is like "some wild Planechase effect." At the same time, this can make games interesting when you're in the mood to add this extra bit of politicking to gain Derek's favor.</p>
<p>All said, I don't want to play three-player Commander. I want to sit down with three opponents, not two and an <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Unpredictable Cyclone" href="#" target="_blank">Unpredictable Cyclone</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> of a player. He's fine to play the way he wants to play, just needs to find the right fit! This doesn't seem to be it, though.</p>
<p>No Bolases here.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Happily Ever After"></div></div>


commander playstyle

The Philosophy of Non-Deterministic Long Turns in Commander

Am I The Bolas? - Sidequest, the Player