Having friends opened me to depths of life I never knew could exist. Finding those two on the beach allowed me to enter a world I quickly became allured to. The beauty within the palm of my hands. The crisp thrill of opening an endless possibilities of what-ifs within seconds of cracking a pack open. The depths of a world that transcends even the deepest of oceans. Through those two I became aware of how I lacked in loving life through sheltered eyes.
And yet, in a way, I hate them for introducing me to such a world. I feel that they baby me, humoring me with the least amount of respect while they treat each other relentlessly with their game play. I still remember his words. The way he spoke to me. Even his expression of passion of wanting to teach me all about the world those two enjoyed. I still learned from them, enjoying all of the times the three of us hung out to learn. To be human in a way I never expected.
And yet, here I am, shuffling a deck I made without their input. Well, not their direct input of course. I paid attention to their discussions. Learning from the internet what I didn't understand and getting practice at random shops on days that they did not go normally. When I wanted to face them, no, face him in an actual game, I wanted it to be on my terms. When I felt like I could be his equal.
So why do I feel so guilty staring at him as he saw me like this?
-Chapter 1: My Equal-
"Dude, what's on your mind this time?" A sigh escaped him as he sat up in the chair he occupied. He glanced at his friend, Noah, who paused his game (Persona 5 was it?) to stare back at him. His curious brown eyes spoke volumes Noah's few words left out. Both knew what was on Cody's mind, though neither wanted to say it. Noah quietly turned off his console and focused all on him. The intensity of his friend's right eyebrow bending into a curl was too much for his little heart.
"I just, man, things just feel off between us and Bridgette ya know?" Cody felt himself go limp in the chair. His energy just disappearing with how small he felt. "Like, haven't you noticed that she hasn't been as chatty with us when we hang at your place?"
"Well maybe she doesn't like my humble abode. My man cave. My bachelor pad of awesome. Am I hitting the nail hard enough yet?" Noah waved his hand in the air with a flare of dramatics only he could produce. A flare that got Cody to smile at his antics. "Dude, don't you think that maybe she just isn't happy chilling here because it's a personal space instead of a neutral spot like the beach shack we were working at?"
"Maybe." Cody sat up, glancing around the room. His eyes stopped at his backpack. His treasure trove of current Commander decks he played. His eyes widened as a thought popped up in his head. "Hey, you know how Bridgette has been getting better with learning the foundations of Magic?"
"You mean how she has decimated that baby format known as sixty count of slacking?" Cody gave him a look. "I mean, I would have just taught her straight up Commander but I get it. Gotta start small for someone who isn't a total nerd of the night like us right?"
"Ha, yeah, but that isn't my point. I was thinking that we could buy her a precon. Something with blue of course. Maybe green or white too-"
"You do remember that you gave her your Jenara, Asura of War right? Why not just help her build off it and be done?"
"Dude," Cody shook his head, "It might not be her choice when we buy her a precon, but it would serve as a building block for her instead of going full scratch custom. Plus the transition from sixty count max spread to one hundred singleton is a huge shift in play style." A small nod was all he got from his friend before he stepped in the bathroom. A small jingle of keys was his only warning that his friend was getting ready to leave. Following suit, Cody grabbed the few things he brought with, most importantly his phone and backpack, and waited to leave with Noah.
"So how do we want to do this?" Noah began as they went to the door, slipping their shoes on before leaving his apartment. "Do we want to buy her a precon or we split the bill on three new ones so we play on an even playing field?" That gave Cody a small pause for thought. Precons weren't expensive per say, but he was picky when it came to buying one. He was more into buying one for fun than for value, but what was still out these days? Not to mention was there even one that he thought Bridgette would be interested in playing on her own? He didn't want her to feel obligated to play something she would not enjoy.
"What is even out anyway?"
"Well there is the new D&D crossover-"
"No way, too complicated mechanic wise."
"Yeah, dice and dungeons to a noob would be too much all at once. What about that discount Ravnica Harry Potter spinoff?"
"You mean Strixhaven? Dude we've been over this. That set would have completely been compared to Ranica if they had ten colleges all of which were of those guild colors!" Loading up into Noah's DeLorean DMC-12, the two continued their conversation for a few minutes. Over the past two years the game both of them enjoyed had taken an extreme interest in the Commander format, creating more decks and booster sets dedicated to said format. It certainly made buying singles or cracking packs more exciting for them. Though, if Cody had to be honest with himself, it was more fun to see Bridgette crack packs. The pure confusion or appreciation she wore whenever she came across a card she didn't understand or something she wanted to keep for her own collection (small but ever growing) always made his day.
There he went, thinking about Bridgette and how happy she made him feel. Hanging out with Noah was always awesome, but hanging out with the two of them made things even better. A new way of enjoying life he didn't realize he needed. Having more friends. No, having better quality friends than what he thought he had on the island with the other contestants. Not to mention how awesome and chill Bridgette is. She is super cool! Hopefully she would be happy with the surprise they were working on. It was, to him, the next logical step for them to play as equals rather than teach her the basics. Mind you, it's only been a few months since they met up on the beach, but with scheduling differences and with them building custom decks for Bridgette to get a feel for what kind of play style would suit her for a sixty count, time wasn't normally on their side.
That wasn't to say that he didn't value the time spent on her of course! She was precious to him in a way he didn't-
"So small note," Noah's interruption broke Cody from what could have been a dangerous train of thought. "Apparently all of our normal shops are out of precons."
"What?!"
"Yeah, so while you were drooling about Bridgette," Cody couldn't hold back a scoff, which made Noah snicker back, "I called some of our not so normal hits and found one. How do you feel about going to Crisis Corner?"
"Isn't that the shop that doesn't know how to sell singles because they sell for twice as high as market value instead of the more respectable ten to fifteen percent increase?"
"Don't remind me. But it's either that or we go buy from Walmart and, while we do not disapprove on those that buy from big chains-"
"We always try to support local game stores first. Yeah yeah dude. I remember our code. So how far are we from there?" Another snicker told Cody that he was set up for something. "What?" His friend simply gestured with his right hand to his left.
"We're already here." With widened eyes Cody turned to look past his friend. A fair sized brick building with a large, blazing red sign with their name in bold neon green. Posters of various games littered half of the windows, making it difficult to see the inside of the store. Parking surrounded the sides and back of the shop, though that wasn't the odd thing about the store. To him, the oddest thing about the store was the amount of angry looking people leaving the store with what looked to be Commander deck boxes in their hands. By the time Noah pulled into an empty space, four guys were about to load into the car next to them. Grumblings of unfair plays and unexpected responses made him curious about what happened.
"Yo salty players. What has you guys so fried?" Cody could not stop himself from smacking his forehead. Oh how blunt Noah could be at the worst possible times. Out of the four guys, three of them shook their heads or flipped the bird before loading up in the car. The fourth person, the driver, stared at them as they left their car.
"Some girl is kicking everyone's ass in one on one Commander. Using a mono blue general so unused that I don't know how she makes it work!" That got him curious.
"So you were cocky and got defeated bad. Big whoop. Anything else to note about your salt levels?" The guy shook his head with a glare.
"Get bent and find out yourself scrub lord." With that the group left, leaving Cody to stare at his friend with a confused look. After a moment Noah realized that he was expected to respond and shrugged.
"What? They just sound so salty about being taken for fools."
"Tact dude. It is all about the tact."
"And I was using tact. Blunt tact." Noah slammed the door to his car. Smiling at the loudness of his action. "See, like that? Blunt force equals loud sound. Anyway, that player isn't our problem today. Today is the day we get some precons and hit up Bridgette for the next day we can all hang." Reminded of their mission, Cody nodded and walked with his friend into the building. Upon reaching the front of the building, it seemed lacking to him. Like a patch of grass in a field with nothing but minor weeds to make it stand out. With a deep breath he opened the door, his eyes immediately landing on the familiar yet surprising site of a blonde girl with an equally surprised expression. Outside of the long, navy blue jeans she wore instead of her shorts, the most shocking fact was the blue Commander deck box, decorated with small dolphin and coral stickers, held in her hands. She was sitting at a table directly facing them with players surrounding the table. None who dared to sit across from her.
"Bridgette?" She looked down at her deck. Face in shock yet shifting into shame as she clutched the deck box in her hands. Was she trying to hide it? "Are you playing Commander?"
"Oh, Hi Cody!" Her words seemed unexpected. Forced with happiness that did not suit her. "Uhh yeah," she looked over to the side. "I built a Commander to play with you and Noah."
"That's awesome! Awesome and funny actually." Cody let out a laugh as he smiled at her. The world certainly worked in weird ways didn't it? This was so awesome! He knew he just said it, but he really meant it! "Me and Noah were actually going to buy a precon for you and start teaching you how to play-"
"Wait wait wait!" The glare she sent his way was unexpected. What was wrong? Did he say something to offend her? What did he do wrong? "What gave you the right to decide when I was or was not able to learn how to play the same way you did?"
"Woah Malibu! Just chill." Noah's words called out from behind Cody. A small reminder that his friend was with him. "We were just going to surprise you by picking out one for each of us. That way we could play at the same power level and have a fun time. Playing against a custom with a precon doesn't normally work well for the one using the precon."
"Let me decide that for myself!" Brigette responded with a hand to her chest. Her words cut through his feelings deeper than a new kitchen knife. "You guys have been babying me with learning how to play. I've been wanting to learn Commander for several weeks. Even bringing up the idea of building a deck with you guys! Yet you never saw me as an equal." Bridgette opened her deck box, pulling out an all familiar card before slapping it on the table. A card that depicts an angel preparing for war that called out to both him and Noah.
Jenara, Asura of War. Cody's lucky card. A card he gave her as a fresh start into the world of Magic the Gathering. A card he focused on to help her build a deck just for her.
Yet there she was, giving the card back to him in anger.
"When we built this deck at the lifeguard hut in a hurry using your cards. Mostly with your play style in mind and very little input from me. I've been ignored about wanting to improve it on my own, and I can't take it anymore. So here, take back your Commander. Take it back and face me head on with a deck of my own creation!"
Cody was silent. An eerie silent he had no words for. He never realized how hurt his and Noah's actions made Bridgette. He completely forgot that he made Bridgette a Commander deck months ago, only for them to hit the foundations of the game hard by using sixty count decks with her instead. Like a meteor shower, glittering memories of shame rained in his head of those 'little moments' of unhappiness or unusual stiffness Bridgette had when it came to them hanging out. Of her trying to ask a question, only to be pushed aside for something either he or Noah wanted to focus on instead.
He felt terrible about ignoring his friend. Ignoring her needs and desires about a game he loved so much. Despite all of this shame and terrible guilt, he felt pride in her. Pride in her determination to learn the game so much that she made her own deck that kicked hard on the table. To be her own player instead of being a mimic and playing someone else's style. It took courage to be so blunt, especially when you see it from Noah all the time. A kind of courage that Cody knew he lacked.
Without a word he opened his backpack, rummaging through until he found his red leather deck box and pulled it out. "Alright," he began as he sealed his backpack. "I'll face you not as a friend learning the game. I'll face you as an equal. You're using mono blue right?" Cody focused on Bridgette's face, watching as her expression changed from guilt to shock before nodding her head. "Good, I'll use mono red and see how you stack in a mono color battle." Her expression quickly took an angry shift as he sat down across from her.
"I know you have multi colored decks though!"
"Yeah, but this one is my new pet favorite. Every Commander player goes through a phase where they build a new deck and want to use it more often to see how it plays. Luckily for me I have just the perfect opportunity to test it against another mono colored deck!" Shuffling his deck, Cody watched as she quickly began to do the same.
"Dude, you want to settle an argument about hurt, respect issues, and injured trust on one another with a game of Magic. What are you, a Yu-Gi-Oh character?" Noah hissed in his ear.
"She wants to be seen as an equal. So I'm doing just that. Facing her with a deck of my own creation against her own on an even playing field." A loud 'clack' caught his attention. Making him look down to see a black leather bag with a sinister red eye looking back at him.
"Forgot the dice Yugi Boy."
"Shut up Kaiba." Once done shuffling, he placed his deck down, glancing at his Commander before focusing back to Bridgette. "You wanna go first? I'm interested to see how the undefeated mono blue player does." A look of confusion was his reply before she shrugged back.
"Sure." Drawing their seven cards, making their life total forty with dice provided by the shop, and making sure to mulligan if needed, it was finally time. "I'll start by playing an Island and pass."
"I draw, tap my Mountain for one mana, and play the Artifact called Pyxis of Pandemonium. Your turn."
Pyxis of Pandemonium
Mana:1
Artifact Tap: Each player exiles the top card of his or her library face down.
7, Tap: Sacrifice Pyxis of Pandemonium: Each player turns face up all cards he or she owns exiled with Pyxis of Pandemonium, then puts all permanent cards among them onto the battlefield.
"Can I see that card?" Nodding, Bridgette took the card and quickly read it over. Confusion was all he saw over her face before she gave him the card back. "My turn. I'll draw, play an Island, and pass."
"I'll untap my Mountain and draw." A look down at his hand made him worried. He hadn't drawn a third land yet. He had a second Mountain from his opening hand, but he did not want to be screwed on his land drops. "I'll play a Mountain and pass."
"At the end of your turn I'll tap my two Island and play Brineborn Cutthroat."
Brineborn Cutthroat
Mana:2
Creature: Merfolk Pirate
Flash
Whenever you cast a spell during an opponent's turn, put a +1/+1 counter on Brineborn Cutthroat.
2/1
'So she is a Flash matters deck?'
"I'll untap my lands, draw, play an Island, and go into combat. I'll swing my Brineborn at you for two."
"I'm forced to take it."
Cody: 38
Bridgette: 40
"With that it's your turn Cody."
"Thanks," Cody drew his next card. Thankfully he drew a Mountain from the top, but he needed to get ahead on his mana. He had a card that would help a bit, but not what he would prefer. "I'll play a Mountain and tap all three lands to bring out Commander's Sphere. That'll be it for me."
Commander's Sphere
Mana:3
Artifact
Tap: Add one mana of any color in your Commander's color identity.
Sacrifice Commander's Sphere: Draw a card.
"Looks like you are coming across some land trouble Cody. Think you can keep up with me?"
"Throwing down some smack talk already Bridgette?" Cody replied with a raised brow. "It is a bit too early in the game to be tossing some smack like that."
"We'll see. My turn." Drawing her new card, Bridgette's expression made Cody wonder why she looked so amused. "I'll tap my three Islands to play Compulsive Research. This lets me pick a target player, being me, to draw three cards. Following that..." Bridgette drew her three cards, looking over her hand before placing two to the side. "I have to either discard two cards or discard a single land card. I'll choose to discard Sleep of the Dead and Solve the Equation instead."
Compulsive Research
Mana:3
Sorcery
Target player draws three cards. Then that player discards two cards unless they discard a land card.
"I'll play an Island for turn and swing my Brineborn at you once more."
Cody: 36
Bridgette: 40
"Then its your turn."
"I'll untap my lands and draw for turn." The card he drew would not help him this turn, which sucked. He did not want to do what he was about to do, but it would force Bridgette into a more aggressive position than she would naturally want to be in. "I'll tap my three Mountains for three mana and enchant your Brinborn Cutthroat with Shiny Impetus. Then I'll pass."
Shiny Impetus
Mana:3
Enchantment-Aura
Enchant Creature
Enchanted Creature gets +2/+2 and is goaded.
Whenever enchanted creature attacks, you create a Treasure Token.
"Are you that desperate for mana that you would make my creature stronger?"
"Oh don't worry about me Bridgette. I have things all under control."
"I hope so." Cody heard Noah mutter under his breath.
"I'll start my turn by playing an Island for turn. Next, I'll play Strider Harness for three, tap another Island to equip it to my Brineborn, and swing at you for five damage."
Strider Harness
Mana:3
Artifact-Equipment
Equipped Creature gets +1/+1 and has haste.
Equip:1
"Due to your attack, my enchantment triggers, giving me a Treasure Token."
Cody: 31, 1 Treasure Token
Bridgette: 40
Cody knew that his board wasn't looking too hot in comparison to what Bridgette had going on. He hoped that his deck would start burning in his favor. If he was to lose, he wanted the loss to be devastating with a tit for tat battle. Not something one sided and not fun.
"Is that all?" With a nod Cody untapped his lands and drew for turn. "I'll start by tapping three Mountains to play my Commander, Laelia, the Blade Reforged!"
Laelia, the Blade Reforged
Mana:3
Legendary Creature: Spirit Warrior
Haste
Whenever Laelia, the Blade Reforged attacks, exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn.
Whenever you exile one or more cards from your library and/or graveyard, put a +1/+1 counter on Laelia.
2/2
"By attacking with my Commander, I get to exile the top card of my library and have the possibility of playing it this turn. Upon the exile, my Commander gets a +1/+1 counter, making her automatically a 3/3 upon attack.
Cody: 31, 1 Treasure Token
Bridgette: 37, 3 Commander Damage
"At least you managed to damage me so far. It took you, what, four or five turns?"
"Oh ha, ha, ha!" Cody laughed with a smile. "It will get better from here. By tapping my Commander's Sphere and sacrificing my Treasure for a mana, I can play Thrill of Possibility from exile. So, by discarding a card from my hand, I can draw two from the library. I'll choose to discard Crash Through." Drawing his two new cards, Cody did his best to hold back the shock he knew wanted to announce itself to the world. This game could get really spicy if he was able to play these two cards properly. But would the blue player let him?
Thrill of Possibility
Mana:2
Instant
As an additional cost to cast this card, discard a card.
Draw two cards.
"I'll play a Crystal Vein as my land for turn and pass."
Crystal Vein
Land
Tap: Add 1 mana to your mana pool.
Tap, Sacrifice Crystal Vein: Add 2 mana to your mana pool.
Cody watched as Bridgette untapped her land and drew her card for turn. Her eyebrows tightened. Was it a bad draw? She had five mana open to her, which wasn't bad, but she wasn't playing much either.
"I'll start by tapping two Island to play Flood of Recollection. This lets me return an instant or sorcery card from my graveyard back to my hand, but I have to exile Flood of Recollection afterwards. I'll be targeting Solve the Equation and my remaining lands to play it."
Flood of Recollection
Mana:2
Sorcery
Return target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand. Exile Flood of Recollection.
Solve the Equation
Mana:3
Sorcery
Search your library for an instant or sorcery card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
"In response," Cody tapped Pyxis of Pandemonium, "I'm activating Pyxis of Pandemonium. We each exile the top card of our libraries face down. So keep it separate from your Flood of Recollection. This exile effect will trigger Laelia, giving her another +1/+1 counter."
"Well I'll still swing with my Brineborn at you." Bridgette revealed the card she searched for, Code of Constraint, before adding it to her hand.
"Which I have to take, but will get a Treasure token in exchange."
Cody: 26, 1 Treasure Token
Bridgette: 37, 3 Commander Damage
"Your almost half to your life Cody. You might want to take this deck back to the drawing board."
"Oh I would not be so sure about that Bridgette. Your deck is running a little clunky though." Untapping his board and drawing his card, Cody had to ponder his options. Bridgette was tapped out, which might be the only time he could get one of his combo pieces out, but would it be worth it despite the exile effect of his Commander? If the top card of his deck wasn't a land, then it would be wasted if he did not cast it.
"Thinking about how to dig yourself out of this mess there?"
"Nope," Cody replied, "I figured it out. I'll start things off by tapping my Crystal Vein, Commander's Sphere, and sacrificing my Treasure Token to play Basalt Monolith."
Basalt Monolith
Mana:3
Artifact
Basalt Monolith doesn't untap during your untap step.
Tap: Add 3 mana
3: Untap Basalt Monolith
"I'll tap it for three colorless mana, and use two of it for a Prismatic Lens."
Prismatic Lens
Mana:2
Artifact
Tap: Add 1 mana
1, Tap: Add one mana of any color.
"I'll tap Pyxis, making us exile another card from the top face down. This will make Laelia into a 5/5 before I attack with her, triggering her ability." Bridgette gasped as she looked down at his Commander.
"So with this next exile, she will be a 6/6!"
"And luckily for me, the card I just exiled was a Mountain, which I'll play after this attack goes through."
Cody: 26
Bridgette: 31, 9 Commander Damage
Placing the land from exile on his board, Cody smiled at the five available mana he had at the moment. He just needed one more card, technically, then his set up would be complete. But for now, he would settle with what he had in hand.
"I'll tap three lands to play Rings of Brighthearth and my last land and Prismatic Lens to play Runaway Steam-Kin. With that, I'll end my turn." Cody heard the mutterings from people watching their game upon him playing his last two cards. His hand size was low now, only to three cards, but he believed that the pay off would be worth it.
Rings of Brighthearth
Mana:3
Artifact
Whenever you activate an ability, if it isn't a mana ability, you may pay 2. If you do, copy that ability. You may choose new targets for the copy.
Runaway Steam-kin
Mana:2
Creature: Elemental
Whenever you cast a red spell, if Runaway Steam-Kin has fewer than three +1/+1 counters on it, put a +1/+1 counter on runaway Steam-Kin.
Remove three +1/+1 counters from Runaway Steam-Kin: Add 3 Red mana.
1/1
Untapping her board, Bridgette drew her card and glanced at her hand. 'At least I know one of her cards in hand right now.' Was what echoed through his head.
"I'll start things off by playing Temple of the False God as my land for turn. So I can tap it for two mana. I'll enchant your Commander with Paralyzing Grasp, ensuring it doesn't untap during your untap step."
Temple of the False God
Land
Tap: add 2 colorless mana to your mana pool. Activate this ability only if you control five or more lands.
Paralyzing Grasp
Mana: 3
Enchantment-Aura
Enchant Creature
Enchanted creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step.
"Oh crap." Noah spoke what Cody stopped himself from saying. Yes, he had an answer for that, but it would still be difficult to get his Commander back up to speed.
"Next, I'll go into combat and swing my Brineborn at you for five."
"No blocks, but thanks for the Treasure Token."
Cody: 21, 1 Treasure Token
Bridgette, 31, 9 Commander Damage
"With that it is your turn." Cody untapped everything except for his Commander and Basalt Monolith. He eyed the four available mana Bridgette had. Her Code of Constraint, which was an instant, cost three mana, which meant she could play it during his turn.
"I'll start things off by tapping my Commander's Sphere, Prismatic Lens, and Crystal Vein to untap my Basalt Monolith by its own ability. In response to this ability, I'll tap two Mountains to activate my Rings of Brighthearth to copy the untap ability."
"Copy the untap ability?"
"So what I'm doing is I'm copying the ability to untap the Basalt Monolith. So before the original trigger goes off the stack, I get to tap it for three more mana, then it untaps itself. Upon tapping it for three more mana, I can use two out of the first three to trigger Rings of Brighthearth again, while using the other three to activate Basalt Monolith once again. In short, no matter how often I do this loop, I'll be gaining one colorless mana per loop. Granting me infinite colorless mana." As the crowd cheered, Bridgette looked at the interaction between the two artifacts on his board. Her stare hardened before she focused on him with a sigh escaping her lips. A small smile graced him a moment after he did not expect.
"So you are taking me seriously after all." Cody smiled back at her.
"Of course I am Bridgette. I'm giving you my all as if you were another player."
"Good. Then give me your best shot!" Cody could not stop the chuckle that left his mouth.
"You aren't going to be happy that you said that then. I'll start things off by using a colorless from my infinite pool and a red from sacrificing a Treasure to play Dark-Dweller Oracle."
Dark-Dweller Oracle
Mana:2
Creature: Goblin Shaman
1: Sacrifice a creature: Exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn.
2/2
"I'll use a colorless mana to sacrifice my Commander to exile and play from the top of my library. I'll choose to put her in the Command Zone."
"Which means that my aura will go into the graveyard."
"But that isn't all that happens on my board. Because Dark-Dweller Oracle is a red spell, I get to place a +1/+1 counter on my Runaway Steam-Kin, making it a 2/2. Next, by using three from my infinite pool and my last two Mountains, I'll play Mana Geyser from my hand, adding a second counter to Runaway Steam-Kin, making it a 3/3."
Mana Geyser
Mana:5
Sorcery
Add red mana for each tapped land your opponents control.
"So you'll be getting three red mana from me is that right?"
"But wait, there is more. By using infinite colorless mana, I can use five from it and two red mana from Geyser to recast my Commander!"
"But she is just a 2/2, potentially a 4/4 if you use your Pyxis and swing with her this turn."
"Normally that would be true, but that is where you are wrong. First, I'll cast from exile Armory of Iroas and equip it to Laelia right away."
Armory of Iroas
Mana:2
Artifact-Equipment
Whenever equipped creature attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
Equip:2
"Then I'll cast Maelstrom Colossus from my hand. Due to it being a colorless artifact creature, I can use colorless mana to cast it. Upon cast, its Cascade triggers."
"Cascade? What is that?" Bridgette asked.
"When Cascade triggers, I get to exile the top of my deck until I find a spell that costs less than my Colossus."
"So seven or less?"
"But the exile effect gives Laelia a counter, so no matter what she will get a +1/+1 trigger from this card." A nod was all he was given before he starting flipping the top of his library. Mountain, Mountain, Meteoric Mace.
Oh, that would do nicely.
"Due to Maelstrom Colossus's Cascade, I get to cast Meteoric Mace, which also has Cascade." Flipping the next card of his library over revealed Volcanic Torrent, and the smile on Cody's face grew at the sight. "Well look at what I see. Another card with Cascade!"
"My lord." The card he found from Volcanic Torrent was an Introduction to Prophecy. Now came the hard part. Stacking everything together.
"So, first thing first, my Commander will see everything going on and, through three instances of exile, will gain three +1/+1 triggers. Next, I'll use Introduction of Prophecy, allowing me to Scry 2 then draw a card." Looking at the top two of his deck, he placed one on the bottom and took the Mountain he saw as his free draw.
Introduction to Prophecy
Mana:3
Sorcery-Lesson
Scry 2, then draw a card.
"My Volcanic Torrent will go next, and will see that I've cast my Introduction To Prophecy, Volcanic Torrent, Meteoric Mace, Maelstrom Colossus, Armory of Iroas, Dark-Dweller Oracle, and my Commander this turn. This means that it will deal seven damage to your creature."
"To my creature directly! That will kill my Brineborn Cutthroat!"
Cody: 21 Bridgette: 24, 9 Commander Damage
Volcanic Torrent
Mana:5
Sorcery
Cascade
Volcanic Torrent deals X damage to each creature and planeswalker your opponents control, where X is the number of spells you've cast this turn.
"My Meteoric Mace will hit the battlefield, which I'll equip to Laelia. This will not only pump her power by +4, but will give her Trample too."
Meteoric Mace
Mana:6
Artifact-Equipment
Equipped creature gets +4/+0 and has trample.
Equip:4
Cascade
"I'll play the Mountain I got from my Scry, and go into my combat phase."
"Wait, before you enter combat, in response I will tap two Islands and use Downpour to tap your Commander down!"
Downpour
Mana:2
Instant
Tap up to three target creatures.
"Okay. At that I'll use an infinite mana to sacrifice my Commander to the Dark-Dweller Oracle to exile the top of my library. Using my last two red mana plus infinite, I'll recast my Commander and equip her equipment back again. Which-"
"Since this all happened before the combat step, I've effectively only removed the three counters from Laelia." She looked between him and the board state. Looking at his Commander before looking at her life total. "You are going to be swinging aren't you?"
"Of course. Upon entering combat I'll tap Pyxis of Pandemonium, exiling our top of library. This will trigger Laelia and net her a counter. Next Laelia's attack trigger will go, exiling another card and getting another counter. Finally, upon attack Armory of Iroas will trigger, netting a third counter. So Laelia will be swinging for a hard nine damage."
Cody: 21
Bridgette: 15, 18 Commander Damage
"With that, I'll cast from exile Dragon's Claw since it is colorless before handing the turn to you Bridgette."
Dragon's Claw
Mana:2
Artifact
Whenever a player plays a red spell, you may gain 1 life.
"I'll untap and draw. I'll start things off by playing an Island from my hand. Next, I'll tap my Temple of the False God for two colorless mana and play Sky Diamond tapped. Then I'll pass the turn."
Sky Diamond
Mana:2
Artifact Sky Diamond enters the battlefield tapped.
Tap: add blue mana.
'What kind of trap is she setting?' Seven untapped mana at her disposal. Did she somehow acquire a Cyclonic Rift in her spare time? Such a hard, expensive card to find, let alone to buy. Was she preparing a barrage of counterspells? Cody found himself swallowing a gulp before untapping his board. "I'm about to do my loop between the Basalt Monolith and Rings of Brighthearth using Commander's Sphere and Prismatic Lens to help fire it off. Is that fine?"
"Go on ahead Cody."
So far so good. Cody played the Mountain he drew for turn. His hand was pitiful with the single card that was held. "I'm going to use a colorless and sacrifice my Maelstrom Colossus to my Dark-Dweller Oracle to exile the top card of my deck. This will place a counter on Laelia, bumping her counters to four. Next, by using two colorless and a Mountain, I'll cast the Furious Rise I just exiled."
Furious Rise
Mana:3
Enchantment
At the beginning of your end step, if you control a creature with power 4 or greater, exile the top card from your library. You may play that card until you exile another card with Furious Rise.
"Since this is a red spell, my Dragon's Claw will trigger, bumping me back to twenty two life."
Cody: 22
Bridgette: 15, 18 Commander Damage
"I'm going to enter combat, swinging my Commander at you. This will trigger both my Laelia's attack trigger and the Armory of Iroas, placing two more +1/+1 triggers on her."
"In response I'll tap six Islands and cast Snow Day! I'll target your Runaway Steam-Kin and your Commander!"
Snow Day
Mana:6
Instant
Tap up to two target creatures. Those creatures don't untap during their controller's next untap step.
Draw two cards, then discard a card.
"Upon targeting my Commander I'll do what I did last time. Sacrifice it to exile another card."
"Yeah I know," Brigette began as she drew her two cards and sent one to the graveyard. "But at least I don't die through Commander damage this turn."
"True that! I'll change things up a bit by removing the three +1/+1 counters from Runaway Steam-Kin to get three red mana. I'll use two of them and a colorless to replay my Commander. This will trigger my Dragon's Claw, gaining me another life. I'll then proceed to cast the Sanctuary Blade and Environmental Sciences from exile."
Cody: 24
Bridgette: 15, 18 Commander Damage
Sanctuary Blade
Mana:2
Artifact-Equipment
As Sanctuary Blade becomes attached to a creature, choose a color.
Equipped creature gets +2/+0 and has protection from the last chosen color.
Equip:3
Environmental Sciences
Mana:2
Sorcery-Lesson
Search your library for a basic land card, reveal it put it into your hand, then shuffle. You gain two life.
"As I end my turn, My Furious Rise will trigger to exile the top of my library. I may play the card until the end of my next turn, which will place a +1/+1 counter on my commander."
"You know Cody, I think this has served to be a real eye opener for me." Bridgette looked at him with a smile. An eye opener for what? "I still have so much to learn about this game. Your deck has so much more synergy than mine, which has me wonder if the other players I faced just had bad decks, or simply bad hands. Its been fun playing with you!"
"I've been having a blast with you too Bridgette!"
"Yeah, but I think you made a mistake as you've ended your turn." Cody looked down at his board, looking around at his cards. What did he miss?
"What did I do?" She raised her right hand, untapping her board before proceeding to draw her card and, with it face down, used it to point at his Commander.
"You played her, played Sanctuary Blade, yet never stated that you equipped anything to her. So your Commander is simply a 3/3 with no protection." Cody, with widened eyes, looked over at his Commander and replayed the last few minutes in his head. Upon hearing a hard smack to someone's forehead (most like Noah's), Cody moved Laelia away from the stack of equipment he had on his board.
"That was a big mistake on my part."
"One that will cost you. I'll tap my Temple of the False God for two colorless mana, five Islands, and cast my Commander Tromokratis!"
Tromokratis
Mana:7
Legendary Creature: Kraken
Tromokratis has hexproof unless it's attacking or blocking.
Tromokratis can't be blocked unless all creatures defending player controls block it.
8/8
"I'll tap an Island to equip my Strider Harness to Tromokratis, giving it not just a +1/+1 counter, but Haste too! I'll go into combat and swing him!"
"I'll block with-"
"You can't block him Cody." Bridgette's words made him look at the board once more. He had a tapped creature, but he still had two creatures that could block it. So why? "Unless all creatures defending player controls blocks it. Since your Runaway Steam-Kin is tapped, it can't block. So guess who is swinging hard at you?" Cody knew that he could sacrifice it to his Dark-Dweller Oracle to get an extra exile, pump his Commander, and still block hers. It was probably the best move he could make. But he did not want to give up the value it provided.
"Alright, I'll take the blow."
Cody: 15, 9 Commander Damage
Bridgette: 15, 18 Commander Damage
"With that I pass it over to you Cody."
"At the end of your turn I'm going to do my infinite mana loop to generate seven colorless mana, tap, and sacrifice my Pyxis of Pandemonium. So we turn up our exiled cards and any permanents from among them will enter our battlefields. So lets see what we got shall we?" Bridgette flipped her face down pile and had an amazing, yet frightening grin.
"I got an Island, Memorial to Genius, Nebelghast Herald, and Isochron Scepter. Upon the stack of entering the battlefield triggers, I'll Imprint the Negate from my hand onto my Iscochron Scepter!"
Memorial to Genius
Land
Memorial to Genius enters the battlefield tapped.
Tap: Add blue mana.
4B, Tap: Sacrifice Memorial to Genius: Draw two cards.
Nebelgast Herald
Mana:3
Creature: Spirit
Flash
Flying
Whenever Nebelghast or another Spirit enters the battlefield under your control, tap target creature an opponent controls.
Isochron Scepter
Mana:2
Imprint-When Isochron Scepter comes into play, you may remove an instant card with converted mana cost 2 or less in your hand from the game.
2, Tap: You may copy the imprinted instant card and play the copy without paying its converted mana cost.
A permanent Negate and a potentially repeatable tap ability were certainly frightening. Bridgette's battle plan was coming together swiftly now that her Commander was in play. Cody was impressed. Impressed but sweating for the possible loss. His Runaway Steam-Kin would still be tapped, so she would be able to swing at him next turn unless he got rid of her Tromokratis during his next turn. Cody flipped his four cards and, while not as good as Bridgette's lot, he was happy with the result.
"I got two Mountains and a Planeswalker. Say hello to Chandra, Fire Artisan!"
Chandra, Fire Artisan
Legendary Planeswalker-Chandra
Whenever one or more loyalty counters are removed from Chandra, Fire Artisan, she deals that much damage to target opponent or planeswalker.
+1: Exile the top card of your library. You may play it this turn.
-7: Exile the top seven cards of your library. You may play them this turn.
Loyalty:4
"After my draw, I'll play a Mountain from exile and plus Chandra by one. She is at five Loyalty and I exile another card, bumping my Commander by +1/+1. I'll tap a Mountain and play the spell I just exiled, Lightning Bolt. This will trigger my Runaway Steam-Kin and my Dragon's Claw, getting a counter and me one life."
Cody: 16
Lightning Bolt
Mana:1
Instant
Lightning Bolt deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
"I'll be bolting your Nebelghast Herald off the board." Bridgette sent the creature to her grave. There, one problem off her board. "I'll move to equip all three equipment to Laelia with mana generated through my infinite loop. Response?"
"They get attached."
"Awesome! Then I'll use a colorless mana and a Mountain the play Underworld Breach. Playing this will net me one more life and another counter on Runaway Steam-Kin."
Underworld Breach
Mana:2
Enchantment
Each nonland card in your graveyard has escape. The escape cost is equal to the card's mana cost plus exile three other cards from your graveyard.
At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice Underworld Breach.
"I'll tap my Isochron Scepter and tap my two Islands to copy Negate and counter your enchantment."
"Damn, well I'll sacrifice my Runaway Steam-Kin to my Dark-Dweller Oracle to exile the top of my library. This will get me another +1/+1 counter on Laelia. I'll cast Boarding Party from exile."
Boarding Party
Mana:6
Creature: Human Pirate
Haste
Cascade
6/3
"It has Cascade too?" Bridgette groaned as he nodded, proceeding to exile the top card from his library.
And boy was it a good one.
Soul's Fire
Mana:3
Instant Target creature you control deals damage equal to its power to any target.
"I'll have Soul's Fire target my Laelia so it will deal twelve damage to you."
"A wise move. Even though he is tapped, he is not attacking or blocking. Hence he would have hexproof without looking like it..." Brigette nodded before looking up at Cody. "Do it." A small swallow, followed by a nod, and the final words were said.
"I go into combat and swing with Laelia." The extra power no longer mattered at that point. An image of Cody's Commander, sculpted from bronze given life by pink energy slashing through Bridgette's colossal Commander from beneath the sea. Its scream of agony as his Commander used its sword to slash through it and Bridgette's body until her life went to zero.
Cody had won the game.
Much to their surprise, the crowd around them cheered for them. Not for one person winning or losing. No, for playing an awesome game of Magic the Gathering. As Cody tried to turn to see where Noah was among the crowd, a warmth suddenly appeared on his hand. He turned, looking at Bridgette as she held his right hand.
"Listen, I'm sorry." She said, clutching his hand tight. "I didn't mean to lash out the way that I did. I expected our game to go much better than a stress mess of suddenness. I should have tried to communicate better about how I wanted to play Commander instead of sixty count more. Clearly I'm lacking in some areas of deck building." Cody didn't know if what he was about to do was the right thing or not. To him, it felt like the right thing to do.
He flipped his hand around and clutched her hand back.
"I mean, I should have listened to you. It isn't as if you weren't wrong. Plus look at you! Building your own deck and kicking major butt! Though your Commander costs a huge chunk of mana to pump out, it is devastating if your set up was different."
"I know! I wish that certain cards got to me, but my draws weren't working well for me at all. Like, I'm using blue but I hardly had any draw spells!"
"Hey love birds," a voice broke their conversation. They turned to see Noah holding a big bag with the outline of Commander precons hinting at their presence within. "I know that you two are bonding and all that, but no one is here to watch your parody of a bootleg Shakespeare skit. I don't know about you two, but I want to get out of here. You wanna meet us at my place Malibu? We can see about how you want to tinker your deck. If you want to of course. We can play test it more to see where you need improvement and-"
"Noah," Bridgette interrupted with raised hands and a polite smile, "I don't mind, but I was hoping to buy some packs first."
"Oh, then get up here and pick. My treat." A smile graced Cody as he watched Bridgette place Jenara, Asura of War into her deck box before she quickly went to bicker over booster packs and some singles beneath the counter. He collected their decks, politely grabbing Bridgette's purse before he found himself joining in on the bickering. He couldn't help but to buy some boosters and other goodies before walking out as a trio.
Not divided. As equals.
Author Note
So, for a long time now I've wanted to do a sequel for The Gift From a Card Game. I thought it had a ton of potential, yet between the many booster sets and years of not focusing on the lore of Total Drama, I found myself pausing as to how to get back into writing for that story. I recently got contacted by a fan who asked as to if I would ever continue that story directly. It sparked an idea that would not leave me until I typed it. I began to brew decks in real life with their characters in mind. Brewing which took me down more ideas that I want to give life.
Life known as Lessons From a Card Game.
This sequel is a fun continuation where I would love to explore the possibilities of what-ifs of characters from Total Drama interacting with the trio and their shared hobby. I already have the mental groundwork for the next chapter planned. So all I need to do is commit time to write it out. I hope this chapter and the match was interesting for you readers. It was certainly fun for me to see how it would work out in real time.
Kazikamikaze24
