The Beamtown BulliesThe Beamtown Bullies Illustrated by Tyler Jacobson

Hello, and welcome to Am I the Bolas? 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 [email protected] 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?

THIS PODCAST!

I'm Mike Carrozza, and what the heck is a Moogle?

Humanoid kitty cat guys? I thought that was Y'shtola RhulY'shtola Rhul???

This week: when is it okay to break a deal?

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

HELLO, MIKE

HOWDY, JBM!

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 [email protected] and I'll get to it here.

I'll give to ya straight, bud. You stepped in it. It happens, it's a bit of a rite of passage, in a sense. The way you did it is pretty well like an "all of it at once" approach and I think this is a great submission.

Let's start with the choice of commander. The Beamtown BulliesThe Beamtown Bullies is a real groaner. It's one of those cards that comes with an expectation that you're going to be playing that kind of The Beamtown BulliesThe Beamtown Bullies deck. And it's exactly what you described with Boldwyr HeavyweightsBoldwyr Heavyweights, Hunted WumpusHunted Wumpus, and Eater of DaysEater of Days being very popular cards in the deck. I know you recognize that your choice in commander is a little on the mean side and I'll give it to you. It's a salt inducing card like Grand Arbiter Augustin IVGrand Arbiter Augustin IV and Jon Irenicus, Shattered OneJon Irenicus, Shattered One. This is the kind of deck you bring up in the rule zero convo and propose it rather than declare it. It's one of those that some players just don't want to play against. If the Bullies having haste isn't enough of an indication that it's a creature people want to get off the board quickly, I don't know what is.

I think Ben choosing not to play more games with you is fair. He didn't enjoy politics, doesn't like the commander you picked, your preferred play style, etc. I say it all the time on the podcast and in this column: if you don't feel like playing with someone, nobody is going to force you to. You can express that it's not of interest to you and find another pod.

Next, the concept of politics in Commander games isn't everybody's cup of tea. Another thing that can come up in the rule zero convo is whether players are into politicking in the game and striking deals. The Beamtown BulliesThe Beamtown Bullies is a deck that encourages politics in the gameplay which, at many tables, is welcome. That said, some pilots present the deck as a political deck but use their commander as a bit of a "gun on the table" - you're bullying your opponents with whatever your leverage is. An Eater of DaysEater of Days can be in your graveyard and flashed to the whole table with a "who wants to play ball?" Some tables might not enjoy that kind of play style to begin with. Let alone...

When you asked about whether you'd broken a [sort of unspoken] "code of conduct," you hit the nail on the head. When you're politicking and making deals at a table with Commander players, you're expected to keep your word. There are very few instances where you can go back on a deal and frankly, in some circles, even saying that much is pushing it. You're all trying to win in some way and if you make a deal, it's a momentary truce wherein the involved parties are meant to benefit. The thing is, you hit a few markers for loopholes. For example, you promised you wouldn't target Ben on his turn with your commander's ability and you technically kept your word; but you did kill him. You didn't lie, you just didn't engage in a move that is in the spirit of the bargain given that this strategy is only possible if Ben hadn't kept up his end of it.

Some people say that if there's an opening for a win that you should take it even if you've made a deal. In this case though, given the fact that Ben allowed you to keep the thing that took the game for you, I think it's in poor taste. Even though, if you had had the Bullies destroyed, your Go for the ThroatGo for the Throat could have still ended the game for him and you'd potentially get another turn from the attacking player, who's to say that they wouldn't have just come your way if Ben had made that play? Also, if Ben teased a MurderMurder that he didn't use, did he also tap out so he couldn't destroy any of the attacking creatures? This would be a bad play if a deal hadn't been struck and I guess he thought he had just enough to not die this turn cycle...right?

I think Ben's play here is questionable, if I'm being honest. If the whole game, nobody's indulged in politicking, why start now? Why not wait to crack the MurderMurder as you're ending your turn to ensure the Bullies can't do anything to him? The downside of only getting one side of the story!

Either way, breaking a deal is a thing you do when you're new to the game whether on purpose or by accident. Apologize and try your best to keep it from happening again. I think your question tells me you don't want to be a Bolas, but in this case you unfortunately are. I think it's temporary though. *wink* ding sound effect.