Your Best Worst Misplays
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Feb. 3, 2016, 8:16 a.m. by Sloanan
So it happens to all of us. You're there with what you think is a game-winning play and start the whole process, then realize shortly afterwards as you lose the game that you made a terrible mistake. I know there was a thread about it a while back in general, but I'm a little more interested in Commander misplays. Soooo, I'm just curious what catastrophic brain farts you fellas & fellettes have had in EDH games that make you lose sleep at night (or at least make you laugh in retrospect).
For instance, I was playing a three-way match the other night between a Deretti deck, an Omnath, and my own Mizzix of the Izmagnus deck. I had 5 experience counters and thus was able to buyback Reiterate for lotsa fun spells. At one point, I Reiterate my Seething Song & go infinite with my mana, which I use to cast Tempt with Vengeance for like a million, expecting an easy win. The Deretti deck scoops instantly, knowing the end is near. My brother, using Omnath, just sits and smiles. It's about when he happily agrees to put his own million tokens out to double mine that I remembered he had Warstorm Surge out on the field. Sure enough, I died from my own combo.
I suppose I could argue that he had the enchantment weirdly hidden on the battlefield (very small table, huge board state for all), but even so, that loss still sticks with me. To the end of my days.
So what about you, noble reader? What screw-ups have you made in EDH that haunt you or at least mildly embarrass you?
AngryKitten says... #4
Getting a little off topic here but if you miss the Pact of Negation upkeep trigger, don't you also miss the lose the game clause since it's part of the trigger? It is in your opponent's best interest for the trigger to happen because otherwise you pay no mana and don't lose the game.
February 3, 2016 9:06 a.m.
lemmingllama says... #5
@AngryKitten The default mode on Pacts are not paying for it and losing. So if they don't pay for it, the game assumes you didn't pay for it and lose instead.
"If the trigger has an instruction that specifies a default action associated with a choice made by the controller of the trigger (usually "If you don't ... " or "... unless") resolve the default action immediately without using the stack."
February 3, 2016 9:39 a.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #6
I once played an Omniscience into Enter the Infinite, and only after realized I had no way to access infinite mana to deck my opponents, as they had already exiled Palinchron, Amulet of Vigor, and basically every piece I needed to win (since I run very little creatures and can't win by combat damage). I got decked two turns later.
February 3, 2016 10 a.m.
i had Illusionist's Bracers and Leyline of Anticipation in play with Fatestitcher in hand and at 2 life...totally forgot the fact that it makes infinite mana which would win me the game. im glad there were no children in the shop when i realized that after i pasted turn
February 3, 2016 10:06 a.m.
Deckologist says... #8
Recently I was testing out this monster of an oloro deck I have been working on. Extremely controlling. The game involved goblin tribal with wort, damia control, and my girlfriend's dragon lord dromoka. I was focusing the goblin and damia player because I knew that those decks get out of hand really quickly. I had taken a few hits from everyone but finally got rid of all the players except the dromoka player. She played novablast wurm gave it haste and swung blowing up everything on field which I didn't care about. Next turn I draw into cyclonic rift and I'm set. Next turn she plays dromoka and in response I cyclonic rift. She recasts her boots and swings with dromoka. I take the damage and she gets up and starts celebrating. I had totally forgot she had lethal general damage on me. My hand had 2 different combos in it that I was going to cast next turn...
February 3, 2016 10:15 a.m.
swkelly89 I don't think it's infinite anyway. It says "another target permanent" so it can't target itself
February 3, 2016 10:22 a.m.
Yeah, you'd need something like Kiora's Follower to do that (in addition to the original one so they can untap each other) :)
Anyways I made the mistake of passing the turn against a Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon while he had no mana up and I had a Hero's Downfall in hand. Needless to say, he just regenerated :)
February 3, 2016 10:41 a.m.
A short while ago, I was playing a Braids, Conjurer Adept deck. I had to discard a couple cards, one of which was Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre.
The problem? My old nemeses (nemesi?) (aka impulsiveness and forgetfulness) came back as I completely forgot about Ulamog's shuffle trigger, and it took me a couple turns to realize it. Yeah, I lost that game due not to anyone else, but to myself. Pretty bizarre way to go out, I think.
February 3, 2016 10:46 a.m.
Karns_Pyromancer says... #12
I once Flashfires against an Avacyn Angel tribal and a Boros fatties, idiotically thinking the Boros player wouldn't mind the loss of a few lands to help him knock out the angelic host. I was wrong and lost before my next turn.
February 3, 2016 10:46 a.m.
It wasn't my loss, but in a four player commander game I was playing a Sultai combo elf shell with Damia at the helm. I went to resolve a Tooth and Nail entwined on turn 4 to go grab infinite mana and just go off. Well, the Angus Mackenzie player was the only player with a response so he slammed the Pact of Negation. He went and untapped before he realized that I went first and he hadn't ramped at all and therefore had three mana to his name :)
As for my own dumb mistakes, I pitched a game at a win-a-box last week pretty hard... I was playing the B/X Eldrazi mirror and wound up with three of my opponents Ghost Quarters via a popped Relic of Progenitus and Oblivion Sower. It had been a long, long round and I forgot they nuke lands. Turns out not hitting your opponent's Eye of Ugin and two Eldrazi Temples means he can activate said Eye for an Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and nuke your board the turn before you win :D
February 3, 2016 1:42 p.m.
PepsiAddicted says... #15
the only way to still be able to win the game was to get darksteel forge into play asap. so i protect my Kuldotha Forgemaster from spot removal, top deck a third artifact, play it, activate forgemaster and start searching for the forge. and its not there. i look again. and again. and then i realize i had it in my hand all the time but after casting the third artifact i cant pay for the forge anymore. gg
February 3, 2016 2:59 p.m.
Dredge4life says... #16
I attacked a Zedruu the Greathearted player for 35 with Ezuri, Renegade Leader and four elves. Totally forgot about the Delaying Shield in play...
February 3, 2016 6:21 p.m.
So I was playing with a Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran token deck. I had a bunch of creatures and a Mother of Runes. I attacked with all of my creatures except Mother. I was one damage away from lethal. I died on the crack back.
February 4, 2016 4:27 a.m.
chandralover1234 says... #18
This isn't my mess up, but it made me pretty happy, my opponents were an oloro and a mono red artifact. Oloro had telepathy out. The red deck played the card that turned all permanents into artifacts and passed turn. I had vadalblast in hand. He saw after he passed
AngryKitten says... #2
Well, this happened recently. Playing 2-headed giant EDH and my team was getting swarmed. We needed a board-wipe. My ally has a Cyclonic Rift in hand but sees that he has only 6 mana on the field so he Demonic Tutored to find Toxic Deluge and cast it. At this point we remembered that I had Angel of Jubilation on the field, forcing him to pay 0 life, making the card do nothing.
It was at this point that I actually looked over and counted his mana....and he had 7. He forgot that his commander was enchanted with Song of the Dryads. Teamwork is important....
To make matters worse - I had Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite in hand, my oppenant had Dictate of Erebos and a creature with toughness less than 2 so I could have killed it and sacrificed my Angel of Jubilation. The facepalm of the century from both of us. Fun times.
February 3, 2016 8:43 a.m.