<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hashaton, Scarab&#039;s Fist" href="#" target="_blank">Hashaton, Scarab&#039;s Fist</a> Illustrated by <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3A%E2%80%9CWisnu+Tan%E2%80%9D&amp;unique=art" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wisnu Tan</a>
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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 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?
<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" />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@AmITheBolcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">THIS PODCAST!</a>
I'm Mike Carrozza, aka Mark Carbonza, and I hope everybody had fun in Vegas!
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I hope this guy didn't win as much as you!
This week, activated vs triggered.
(Post edited for brevity, clarity, and then some.)
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<h2>SUBMISSION</h2>
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Hello Mike! 
Long time reader, short time listener to the podcast, and I think I have a situation that qualifies. I can't tell if I'm the Bolas for saying anything, or for NOT speaking up more!
I mostly play with the same group, and have been playing since ~2000 or so. While the friend group has fallen in and out of play, I have more or less stuck with it. That makes me more knowledgeable about the game rules, new cards, etc.
I'm something of a reformed tactician, too - it took some reflection, but it is not my job to suggest the "best" tactical course of action, just because I've stuck with the game!
I have, however, started playing at a local meetup. With that background, I am specifically not trying to be rules lawyer-ey. If minor misplays occur, I don't bring them up, and I am always down for reasonable take backs. This new group has a bunch of new players, and I'm happy to share rules knowledge and/or steer them to rules answers when they ask! There are a couple of established players, though, and this is where the Bolas conversation comes in.
I have played a few games with one of the established players, and already had a distaste for him. He's not a bad guy, but his decks are consistently more powerful and more expensive than the rest of the pod, and frequently don't match the rest of the pod in terms of scope. After one of our games, we were talking about decks we were building and we both had recently built <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hashaton, Scarab&#039;s Fist" href="#" target="_blank">Hashaton, Scarab&#039;s Fist</a>.
I am well aware of how busted Hashaton is on its own, and have tried to build a (relatively) tame Bracket 3 list. As I'm going through his list, though, I see some things that flag my rules-addled brain: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Training Grounds" href="#" target="_blank">Training Grounds</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heartstone" href="#" target="_blank">Heartstone</a>, and other activated ability cost reducers.
I mention that I don't think those work with Hashaton - I'm not a judge, but my understanding is that Hashaton has a triggered ability and not an activated one! This guy immediately gets defensive, telling me he plays with judges and that he "would know" if a card in his deck doesn't work. I also get defensive, only because I built the same deck and specifically did not include those cards for the reasons I outline above. The conversation got a little heated, and I even looked it up and offered to show him discussions that concur with my understanding.
At this point, one of my friends gives me the "let it go" look and I back down.
Magic is a complicated game, but that felt like angle shooting to me. Hashaton is already busted, and doesn't need any extra help to get there! There are so many new players here, and I hate to leave them in a position where their ignorance is taken advantage of. I also don't want to be the guy who constantly "um actually"s the table.
Am I the Bolas for starting this argument? Am I the Bolas for letting it go?
-Kyzin
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<h2>VERDICT</h2>
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.
Let's start with the fact that you are correct. Hashaton's ability is a trigger. An activated ability will always have a colon (:) in it separating the cost and the effect. Yes, this is a challenge to all the judges out there who know of a weird card that doesn't follow this, but I'll continue the response here knowing that that would be an exception to a rule upheld by 99.99% of Magic cards with activated abilities.
Knowing this, it's an open and shut case - you're absolutely correct. Those cards do not work with Hashaton.
I think what you did was exactly what I've been talking about on this column for a long time: speak up. You're not out here to play the game wrong! Talk to the person getting the rules wrong and let them know.
I know <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/am-i-the-bolas-do-we-have-to-do-this" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I mentioned this last week</a>, but if somebody's telling you about the rules and they think you're playing incorrectly, listen and have a discussion. If you clash, then get a judge involved IRL or online judge chat. You're at an LGS, speak to an authority of some sort. If you can keep it civil, get to the bottom of it. Either way, somebody walks away learning something.
That did not happen here. The clash ended with you backing down from the correct position despite this player being someone who reportedly plays with players of two different ends of the spectrum. There are the new players who either don't know the rules well enough or are too shy/afraid to ruffle the feathers of someone who's been around for a while. Then there's the judges who "would know."
I think letting it go is the right move. Let them be a fool at another table. You're not about to be sitting down with them now, so letting it go means it'll come up later at their judge friend's game. Or maybe between your discussion and the next time, they'll have looked it up to be certain! That'd be nice. Let it simmer, fine.
The angle shooting element is interesting and the best you could do at the moment was done. Have the ruling ready the next time you sit down and they play a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Training Grounds" href="#" target="_blank">Training Grounds</a> and try to copy an <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Agent of Treachery" href="#" target="_blank">Agent of Treachery</a> off a trigger for one mana and have the chat then. It'll be somebody sometime, but when everybody's wrapping up the night and you're being nonverbally asked to let it go, I'd say you're fine to let it go.
You're not the Bolas for not keeping up the discussion. It's not pressing at the moment and the seed is planted. I have to hope this person decided to look up the rules afterwards.
It would suck to be a new player getting rolled because someone who's supposed to know better doesn't know how their card works, but hopefully it's not for long.
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