Nicol's Corner
Nicol's Corner
Five points of planechase,
or "It's Planechase, not planchase!"
If someone asked me
why judges play EDH (and they do, frequently) I'd say the reasons are
threefold:
Smashing face, puzzling stuff out, and laughing with friends.
If you'd like to map those to any particular set of psychographic
profiles, feel free, but really they're just a good description of what
happens in EDH games. Two ways to reinforce that fun are Pentagram games
and the addition of Planechase.
Pentagram is my preferred way to play EDH socially, for a few reasons.
First of all, I think it's the most social form of multiplayer magic.
Each person has preordained allies they want to protect, and from whom
they can expect a little help. This means no one is left alone in the
cold, and the new players in a social circle have an inherent
introduction. It also simplifies the politics drastically, while still
leaving some collaborative and competitive elements. In short, the
social conflict is downplayed while the strategic problems are
clarified:
There's two guys over there who need killing.
By mixing things up regularly, Planechase puts more emphasis on reactive
(i.e.: interactive) game play and less on singular plans of attack.
[Bolas's Note: Not that there's anything wrong with a good doomsday
plan] Planeswalking can give you time to think, and to build up, or take
that time away in a hurry. The planes are well designed in this sense:
they don't catastrophically change the game but rather shake it up
significantly. And the probabilities are such that you usually have some
idea of what's in store.
I say usually because sometimes strange things happen... like the game I
played at GP Paris. We were using a "shared planar deck" of 43 cards,
and I'd brought my "Armies of the Redeemed" deck with Rhys at the helm.
[Unfortunately, I don't remember the names or generals of all the
players in this game, and my initial write-up was lost in Rome :/ If you
were involved in this game, please email me]
Around midgame, we ended up on the Eloren Wilds (Flare+Silence) which is
always interesting. Doran, to my left, dropped some huge dudes and then
hit our shared opponent (Adam CetNathoswki) with the Chaos ability. I
deployed redeployed Rhys for five, and kept some mana up for the Avoid
Fate in my hand (Surprise!). I figured it would be a turn or two before
we left (especially with multiple people trying), and in the meantime I
could just use my mana to make elves.
32 rolls later, they finally got out of that mana-flooded prison :) The
odds of being stuck there for so long were about 1000:1, but I wasn't
complaining. As planned, I got hit by the Chaos Lockdown fairly quickly
but built up an army of elves and I'd been sandbagging a mass-pump spell
in hand.
The pump spell was key to my plan at this point, because our extended
stay in the Wilds gave Doran plenty of time to smash my other ally
(Martin Widmer with Oona, I think) out of the game. The clock was
ticking. I needed to return the favor, quickly, before he could go to
work on Nath (in the middle). Then it would be a matter of which one
killed the remaining, shared, opponent to determine the winner.
(This was a great example of the lack of politics in Pentagram... the
task at hand was clear).
Of course, our plans came crashing down when Nath cast Damnation, giving
himself and his remaining ally time to breathe. We then traveled through
the Goat Meadow, but I didn't have time to rebuild my forces before we
moved on to visit Memnarch at the Panopticon. I still had a full grip of
cards though, including that pump spell ... if only I could get the
creatures to go with it. My kingdom for some goats!
I dug through my library a bit and made a few rolls hoping to land
somewhere like Sokendzan or Tazeem, so that my creatures could attack
unmolested when they arrived. Unfortunately, I drew my Stormherd just a
few seconds after my opponent hid himself in Agrym. How Galling! Here I
was, all this damage in my hand... and I couldn't attack!
I knew that if I cast it, no one would 'walk anywhere until my Pegasus
Herd was wiped out. So I kept both in hand and rolled that planar die
for all I was worth, chump blocking a couple of times until I, too, was
safe within the confines of the Azorious' palace.
Finally, 4 agonizing turns later, we left those cursed halls. Nath was
already down to eight life though, so the time for beatings was nigh. I
deployed 21 pegasi to go with my half a dozen remaining elves, and hoped
for the best. Between them my forces still weren't enough to kill both
opponents simultaneously, so they felt safe... and I was _dying_ in my
chair, trying not to give it away. Doran couldn't kill Nath on his turn,
and only a handful of my dorks were slain before I untapped. I girded my
poker face, swung at each opponent with ten small men... and windmill
slammed that spell which had been in my hand for 14 turns. Charge Across
the Araba!!! For 6!
Take 150, evil-doers!
Like all good EDH wins, it was thoroughly enjoyable for everyone
involved and there was much rejoicing. Together, pentagram and
Planechase had given us a highly interactive, involving, dynamic game...
a classic example of why in which it's always good to come equipped,
flexible, and ready to enjoy the story as it plays out. Because those
stories can be AWESOME.
Next time, I'll talk about two alternate ways to use Planechase for
those who like a little more predictability to their Elder Dragon
Explorations.
Recollection of events that transpired in Disneyland Paris: Gavin.
