<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Master of Keys" href="#" target="_blank">The Master of Keys</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 and a lot of music I like came out recently.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kefka, Dancing Mad"></div></div>
Here's what I look like listening to the new The Callous Daoboys record!
This week, teaching and tanking.
(Post edited for brevity, clarity, and then some.)
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<h2>HELLO, MIKE</h2>
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First off, I have been enjoying your articles for the better part of a year. I love reading about navigating difficult situations. Hope you get to continue writing these articles for a long time to come.
I was in a situation at my LGS the other day that although I felt fine about how I navigated the situation, I was left asking myself was there a better way to go about it. The crux of the situation was I was playing a game with two players just learning the game and a third player that is an established player, but wanted to test a new deck. I was able to build up a commanding position which I used to take out the established player and proceeded to purposely take myself out of the game in order to let a newer player have a chance to win.
To give the full picture of the story, I have been playing Magic since 2011 and Commander since 2018. The established player happens to be one of the store owners' children so I have played against him a few times and I would say we are friendly to each other each time. I will refer to him as J.
Prior to starting this game, I was actually helping J find some cards for the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zur the Enchanter" href="#" target="_blank">Zur the Enchanter</a> deck he had just put together, particularly a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ghostly Prison" href="#" target="_blank">Ghostly Prison</a> from a stack of Champions of Kamigawa they had just gotten in. I love anything to do with Kamigawa so I was more than happy to look through cards. Shortly after we finished failing to find a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ghostly Prison" href="#" target="_blank">Ghostly Prison</a>, some people came into the store asking to play a game and if we would be up for helping some of their friends learn to play. We both said sure.
One thing I really love about my LGS is that they keep about a dozen or so precons that they will let people freely play with. The two new players grabbed from these the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bello, Bard of the Brambles" href="#" target="_blank">Bello, Bard of the Brambles</a> deck and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yuma, Proud Protector" href="#" target="_blank">Yuma, Proud Protector</a> deck. I followed suit to keep it fair picking up the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aminatou, Veil Piercer" href="#" target="_blank">Aminatou, Veil Piercer</a>. J was excited to try his new Zur deck.
Once we got started, I expressed that if the new players wanted help, all they had to do was ask. The new players also had a friend sitting out the game to help them along. The early game went on at a typical pace. We all had a few creatures in play and I had <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aminatou, Veil Piercer" href="#" target="_blank">Aminatou, Veil Piercer</a> out and J removed. her. I joked about coming for him also since he certainly seemed to have the strongest deck at the table. J tutored a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a> out from a Zur trigger which kinda validated my feelings about his deck's power. The new player with the Bello deck had removal and I convinced him to take care of the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a>. I pointed out to J "hey, that's a game changer, a card so strong that it puts his deck at minimum in bracket three." I could tell J wanted to see his deck really do its thing, but that I was trying to keep him from going off. I told myself this was to let new players get to have some fun, but hey it is also a good strategy.
The next phase of the game is where I created a crazy dominating board state. I achieved this with the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Demon of Fate&#039;s Design" href="#" target="_blank">Demon of Fate&#039;s Design</a> I had on board, the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Redress Fate" href="#" target="_blank">Redress Fate</a> I had from my opening hand and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Master of Keys" href="#" target="_blank">The Master of Keys</a>, which I had just top decked. After thinking about how the Demon of Fate lets me pay life into the X value of The Master of Keys I thought you know what let's show some new players a crazy play. I paid 23 life to cast <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Master of Keys" href="#" target="_blank">The Master of Keys</a> and milled 40 cards. Then I cast <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Redress Fate" href="#" target="_blank">Redress Fate</a>, bringing back all the enchantments and artifacts from the graveyard to play. Needless to say this was a board state where cards are fighting for space on the playmat and there is almost no hope to catch every trigger. I passed the turn and once it got back to me, I took out J and brought the new players life totals low.
In order to let the new players have fun, I used the several effects that let me pay life to cast spells to bring my own life total down to one. The Yuma player had been bringing a Desert that pings for one damage in and out of his graveyard the last couple turns so like I was hoping he took me out and won the game. I was able to talk to J after and told him I was so close, but lost to a land coming in.
Afterwards, I thought it is hard to make a nice game for new players, but also let someone with a deck they are excited to try out when it is a bit stronger than the other decks. Having known J for a while, I knew he wouldn't hold back any big plays even against new players, but then I went and did a really big play and justified that it was to protect the game experience for new players. Then I hoped the new players wouldn't see/feel that I kind of threw the game in hopes they could win.
So was I the Bolas for targeting J and popping off hard against new players? Or was I the Bolas for purposely losing the game?
Best, 
Pop-Off Precon
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<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Zur the Enchanter"></div></div>
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<h2>HOWDY, POP-OFF PRECON!</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.
Readers of the column will recognize elements of this submission from previous entries. Lots of folks have disagreed with me before when I said I think it's fine to sandbag some plays to make sure new players get to experience the fun of Magic by letting them have moments. We've all fallen in love with this game at some point and, while some people contend that it's possible to love the game by losing to something really impressive and cool, I think if people get the chance to actually pull off the cool thing, they'll be hooked. Appreciating the cool stuff that happens when you lose can still be true and can come with time. That's coming from me, the guy who loves to lose to a bunch of stuff he's never seen before.
This story has the added wrinkle of a precon game having an outlier in a newly tuned <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zur the Enchanter" href="#" target="_blank">Zur the Enchanter</a> deck. Immediately at Bracket 3 thanks to <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a>, Zur is a big bad of old times. I remember getting into Commander and Zur being one of the biggest groaners that a player could flip up in the command zone. Add to that the fact that J doesn't pull punches and OP wants to make sure the newbies enjoy the game, we've got a story!
I think that keeping all of this to yourself was the move. If you're hoping to pull something like this off, you don't want the new players to feel like you're a lioness playing with their cub pretending to be scared. Conversely, you don't want the experienced player to feel like you're only taking them out because of the new players. By focusing on J, objectively playing the most powerful of the decks, the rationale holds water.
The big play with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Master of Keys" href="#" target="_blank">The Master of Keys</a> was cool as heck, especially since you're showing off how even an entry level product can go off in this awesome game. Bringing yourself to low enough to be killed is fine and playing up being overwhelmed by your board to miss the Desert play might have solidified a fun memory for the new players. I don't think you did anything wrong. Could you have not gone so hard and still shown off how cool things are? Absolutely.
I think the real issue is that the pregame discussion didn't seem to be much beyond picking your decks and offering to help. I understand that J was eager to try out his new deck, but personally, I'd have shelved that plan in favor of grabbing a precon of my own for this game. You're telling me that your family owns the LGS and you play a bunch, but you can't just wait for an appropriate pod to throw down Zur? Come on, buddy! You'll play it soon!
Anyway, lots of people have already expressed that they disagree with me about letting new players win or have their moments by sandbagging plays. Lots of people have also agreed with me on it. Either way, while that's what's being asked about here, I think the bigger deal is the decision to pick Zur for this match.
Not the Bolas for Pop-Off Precon, but J, buddy, come on!
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Demon of Fate&#039;s Design"></div></div>

Am I The Bolas? - Tanking for New Players

Adapting Your Decks to the Exhibition Bracket (1)

(<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Delina, Wild Mage|AFR|138" href="#" target="_blank">Delina, Wild Mage</a> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/wisnutan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wisnu Tan</a>)
Friendly greetings and welcome to Bracketeering, the series about sideboards for Commander Brackets. With two announcements on April 22nd, 2025, Wizards of the Coast updated the Commander <a href="https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/commander-bans-and-restrictions-april-22-2025" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ban List</a> and <a href="https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/commander-brackets-beta-update-april-22-2025" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Game Changers List</a>. Basically, the Bracket system is still a beta test, and there are no major system changes at this time. A total of twenty-three cards joined the Game Changers list, including five previously banned cards. This is our first Bracketeering article in the updated environment, and I'm excited to put my money where my mouth is.
This week I'm bracketeering my very own <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Delina, Wild Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Delina, Wild Mage</a> deck, and I'll show a picture of the cards and sleeves to prove it. This deck is my happy place, my touchstone for a fun Commander game. If I'm playing two games of Commander in a session, then one of those games will be with Delina. I want to make sure I have the tools to match this deck with as many pods as possible.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Delina, Wild Mage|AFR|317"></div></div>
<h2>Roll the Dice</h2>
Since the advent of Commander Brackets, I've listed my Delina deck as Core (2). Technically this deck fits the criteria for Upgraded (3) since <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gamble|SPG|24" href="#" target="_blank">Gamble</a> joined the Game Changer list. Gamble is in the deck because I have one, and it matches the flavor of Delina leaving things to chance.
Here's my deck list:
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Delina" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Delina, Wild Mage
[/Commander]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Cloak of the Bat
*1 Coldsteel Heart
*1 Cursed Mirror
*1 Dolmen Gate
*1 Ebony Fly
*1 Fire Diamond
*1 Glittering Stockpile
*1 Key to the City
*1 Liquimetal Torque
*1 Manifold Key
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Ruby Medallion
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Sonic Screwdriver
*1 Vexing Puzzlebox
[/Artifacts]
[Sorceries]
*1 Anzrag&#039;s Rampage
*1 Cosmotronic Wave
*1 Gamble
*1 Hazardous Blast
*1 Ignite the Future
*1 Light Up the Stage
*1 Mizzium Mortars
*1 Reckless Impulse
*1 Seize the Spotlight
*1 Vandalblast
*1 Wrenn&#039;s Resolve
[/Sorceries]
[Creatures]
*1 Ardent Elementalist
*1 Breya&#039;s Apprentice
*1 Caves of Chaos Adventurer
*1 Charming Scoundrel
*1 Dire Fleet Daredevil
*1 Ganax, Astral Hunter
*1 Ghirapur Gearcrafter
*1 Goblin Welder
*1 Harmonic Prodigy
*1 Imperial Recruiter
*1 Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar
*1 Krenko&#039;s Buzzcrusher
*1 Myr Battlesphere
*1 Patron of the Arts
*1 Pia Nalaar
*1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
*1 Plundering Barbarian
*1 Professional Face-Breaker
*1 Siege-Gang Commander
*1 Swashbuckler Extraordinaire
*1 Thopter Engineer
*1 Trumpeting Carnosaur
*1 Wily Goblin
*1 Wyll, Blade of Frontiers
[/Creatures]
[Enchantments]
*1 Barbarian Class
*1 Echoing Assault
*1 Frenzied Fugue
*1 Goblin Bombardment
*1 War Cadence
[/Enchantments]
[Instants]
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Invoke Calamity
*1 Lightning Bolt
*1 Wild Magic Surge
*1 You Find Some Prisoners
*1 Zoyowa&#039;s Justice
[/Instants]
[Lands]
*1 Access Tunnel
*1 Arena of Glory
*1 Barbarian Ring
*1 Castle Embereth
*1 Demolition Field
*1 Den of the Bugbear
*1 Dwarven Mine
*1 Forgotten Cave
*1 Great Furnace
*1 Maze of Ith
*27 Mountain
*1 Rogue&#039;s Passage
*1 Shivan Gorge
*1 Terrain Generator
[/Lands]"></div>
While this version of the deck might technically be an Upgraded (3), I can assure you it rarely performs at that level. There's a wild range of variance baked into this dice-rolling legend.
Delina's attack trigger and lack of evasion require effort to get the game plan up and running. To be honest, playing Delina is an uphill battle, even at Core (2) tables where disposable blockers are plentiful. Although the challenge and variance are part of the fun for me, I do want to play this deck more often in more places. Making a sideboard will help me do that.
By the time my new sideboard is complete, my main deck will be firmly Core (2) and I'll have a tool box for playing comfortably in any pod from Exhibition (1) to Upgraded (3).
<h2>Improving the Odds</h2>
I know from experience that it'll take more than a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gamble" href="#" target="_blank">Gamble</a> to give this deck a fighting chance in Upgraded (3) games. Delina needs to attack more frequently and be unblockable to punch at a higher weight class. I like cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Manifold Key" href="#" target="_blank">Manifold Key</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sonic Screwdriver" href="#" target="_blank">Sonic Screwdriver</a>, but paying mana every turn for those activated abilities is less efficient than one-time investments in quality Equipment. Cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brotherhood Regalia" href="#" target="_blank">Brotherhood Regalia</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Prowler&#039;s Helm" href="#" target="_blank">Prowler&#039;s Helm</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Trailblazer&#039;s Boots" href="#" target="_blank">Trailblazer&#039;s Boots</a> can help keep Delina alive in combat.
Red is the color of extra combat, and I already own copies of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Seize the Day|ODY|220" href="#" target="_blank">Seize the Day</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aggravated Assault|WOT|39" href="#" target="_blank">Aggravated Assault</a>. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Port Razer" href="#" target="_blank">Port Razer</a> is in 59% of Delina decks, because any copies she makes have a chance to chain multiple combat steps together.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Port Razer"></div></div>
If I'm sideboarding for an upgraded game, some of my pet cards will have to side-out. For example, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Invoke Calamity|NEO|147" href="#" target="_blank">Invoke Calamity</a> is dead-in-hand too often for Upgarded (3) gameplay. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Manifold Key|TSR|398" href="#" target="_blank">Manifold Key</a> can be exchanged for any of those Equipment I mentioned. Sadly, I rarely reach the seven mana to cast <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Myr Battlesphere|DDU|57" href="#" target="_blank">Myr Battlesphere</a>. The rest of the swaps will require some hard choices, but some likely candidates will be four-mana creatures competing to be cast on the same turn as Delina.
<h2>Digging a Hole</h2>
<a href="https://youtu.be/ytWz0qVvBZ0?si=_ijXrHLVYh-bGVjS" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brothers of the mine, rejoice!</a> A playset of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Seven Dwarves" href="#" target="_blank">Seven Dwarves</a> has been living rent free in my head and card collection since 2019. I had these cards in very early drafts of my Delina deck, but I cut them for token producers. If I'm being completely honest, I love the flavor of the card, but deep down I know bulk common bears need more upside to dig in for the win in Commander.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Seven Dwarves"></div></div>
Recently, <a href="https://cardgamer.com/author/stevenseiter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steven Seiter</a> of EDHREC sister site Card Gamer mentioned the card <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Spy Kit" href="#" target="_blank">Spy Kit</a>, and I realized it's a pseudo-anthem for Seven Dwarves. Then I remembered <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Psychic Paper" href="#" target="_blank">Psychic Paper</a> from Universes Beyond: Doctor Who also manipulates card names. It all happened so fast; one moment I was casually conversing on Discord, and the next I was adding cards to my <a href="http://www.cardsphere.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cardsphere</a> wants. One thing led to anther and I sleeved up my playset of Seven Dwarves for a Bracketeering sideboard.
<div id="attachment_149923" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/20250429_155256-scaled.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-149923" class="wp-image-149923 size-large" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/20250429_155256-1024x551.jpg" alt="A sleeved deck with Delina, Wild Mage in the Command Zone, and a Seven Dwarves sideboard displayed face up." width="1024" height="551" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/20250429_155256-1024x551.jpg 1024w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/20250429_155256-300x161.jpg 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/20250429_155256-768x413.jpg 768w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/20250429_155256-1536x826.jpg 1536w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/20250429_155256-2048x1102.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>These bad boys will be looking for games on Spelltable soon.</div>
I'm not ready to put down the shovel yet. If I'm going to sideboard for an Exhibition (1) game, I need to know what stays in the deck and what I'm siding out. The bracket guidelines call for few tutors in the lower brackets. In the Exhibition (1) bracket specifically, I believe tutors should narrowly support the theme of the deck. My <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gamble" href="#" target="_blank">Gamble</a> will stay in the sideboard, because it's a Game Changer and because it's too broad. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Imperial Recruiter|MH2|281" href="#" target="_blank">Imperial Recruiter</a> is in the main deck and it can stay there, because the power limitation narrowly includes my Seven Dwarves. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dwarven Recruiter|ODY|186" href="#" target="_blank">Dwarven Recruiter</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pattern Matcher" href="#" target="_blank">Pattern Matcher</a> are siding in.
In total, I need to side out 11 cards from the main deck. Conveniently, I have seven creature cards in the main deck that produce creature tokens. Those seven will swap right out for the Seven Dwarves. Of the remaining four swaps, one of these should be <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Krenko&#039;s Buzzcrusher|MKM|136" href="#" target="_blank">Krenko&#039;s Buzzcrusher</a>; it's not true Mass Land Denial, but it's MLD-adjacent. I'm also siding out <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Frenzied Fugue|C16|18" href="#" target="_blank">Frenzied Fugue</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar|CMR|188" href="#" target="_blank">Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dire Fleet Daredevil|RIX|99" href="#" target="_blank">Dire Fleet Daredevil</a>.
<h2>LFG</h2>
This sideboard is only 18 cards. Eleven of them are specifically for the Exhibition (1) Seven Dwarves theme. There's only seven cards specifically included for Upgraded (3) games. Playtesting will tell if that's enough.
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Bracketeering Delina Sideboard" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Creatures]
*1 Dwarven Recruiter
*1 Pattern Matcher
*1 Port Razer
*7 Seven Dwarves
[/Creatures]
[Artifacts]
*1 Brotherhood Regalia
*1 Prowler&#039;s Helm
*1 Psychic Paper
*1 Spy Kit
*1 Trailblazer&#039;s Boots
[/Artifacts]
[Sorceries]
*1 Gamble
*1 Seize the Day
[/Sorceries]
[Enchantments]
*1 Aggravated Assault
[/Enchantments]"></div>
I'm more excited than ever to play this deck. There's room to grow, and I'm hoping to eventually fill the Sideboard out to 25 cards.
Bracketeering will be back later this month with a sideboard for a recent precon. If you have suggestions for my Delina Sideboard, or a deck you'd like to see in this series, then tell us in the comments below.

commander brackets

Am I The Bolas? - Tanking for New Players

Adapting Your Decks to the Exhibition Bracket (1)

Building Delina, Wild Mage for Multiple Commander Brackets

Adapting Your Decks to the Optimized Bracket 4

Adapting Your Decks to Core Bracket 2