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"So..." Alice holds up a card. "Does my crasher resolve~?"

Rose pretends to think, as if she isn't out of blue mana. "... Yes."

"Alright, go to attacks-"

"I cast Dismember on your Ahn-Crop Crasher."

"Agh, if only I had a-" They reveal a card "-Undying Evil~"

Rose sighs and scoops up her cards. "Well played. Your refusal to play your important spells on curve was INCREDIBLY frustrating."

"Sorry, but you can only hold up counterspell mana so many times before I start catching on."

Compass walks in, holding a deck. "Oh, perfect, you guys already have your cards out! I just finished fixing my deck, can I play against one of you?"

"Sure! Hang on a sec..." Alice reaches into their bag for a different deck; Compass is a good player, but being more used to board games, their deckbuilding skills are... bad. Their first deck was less of a deck and more just a pile of random strong-looking cards with no synergy. Then they decided to make a lifegain deck, but they figured that having a theme was the same as having synergy, and just put a bunch of lifegain-related cards together without a plan. The best way to have fun with a bad deck is to play it against another bad deck, so Alice grabs their werewolf deck-

"Actually, I was hoping to try it against your aggro deck. I did some testing, and this deck is really strong!"

"... Well, if you say so!"

The game lasted longer than usual, thanks to Compass's life total being constantly pushed up out of reach of Alice's aggressive attacks. But then, just as Alice's hand ran empty, Compass started their turn 6 with three cards in hand... and passed.

Alice, having learned from Rose to fear cards like Settle the Wreckage, made a safer, low-commitment attack to whittle down Compass's life total. Compass let it through, and started their next turn with only 5 life left. They play a land, and pay 6 mana to play a big flashy Nykthos Paragon!.. then sigh and pass the turn, knowing they've already lost.

"... Huh. Okay, yeah, attack with everything for lethal. GG, that was a lot better than last time."

"Thanks. If I just had one more turn, I would've been able to survive..."

"Speaking of, what was left in your hand?"

"Well..." Compass reveals their last 2 cards: 2 more copies of Nykthos Paragon.

"Oof, that's unlucky."

"Yeah. It would've won me the game, but your deck is just too fast... Wait, that's it! Rose, let me play against your control deck!"

During the next game, Compass sets up their creatures to prepare their plan, but removal and counterspells from Rose hinders them and stalls out the game. But on turn 6, Compass plays their Nykthos Paragon!

Then Rose Murders it on the very next turn.

The rest of the game is a slow grind as Rose sets her plan into motion, until eventually she has 5 cards in hand while Compass has none, and they concede.

"I just don't get it, my deck did so well in testing. Why didn't it finally work..?"

"Here, let me take a look," Rose says.

Then, with Compass's deck spread out on the table before them, Alice and Rose exchange a glance before turning toward Compass. "You're too optimistic."

"What?"

Alice points to the 8 high-cost cards the deck runs. "These right here. These cards work really well with your lifegain plan, but they're too slow, and running so many copies of them clogs up your hand. That's why you ran out of steam against my aggro deck. Well, that plus the fact that you don't have any removal to defend yourself. You need more blockers and removal, or else your opponent can just kill you before you get going."

"But then why couldn't I beat Rose's deck?"

"Because of your protection spells and backup plan," Rose says.

"I... don't have either of those?"

"Exactly. Your deck relies entirely on these big spells to make everything work. If the opponent, for example, casts a removal spell on one, the plan falls apart. You need to make sure your strategy is robust, by either protecting your key cards or having backup plans. Some card draw or other value-generating cards would also help you keep up the pressure in the late game. You were testing alone, right?"

"Yeah..."

"That's why your deck worked so well in testing. There was no opponent interfering with your plan, and you didn't have to defend yourself against your opponent's plan."

"So I need to counter my opponent... But, protection and card draw wouldn't help against Alice's aggro deck. And blockers wouldn't help against your control deck. It seems like I'll always have some of my cards be useless if I build my deck like that..."

Alice shrugs. "Just don't draw the cards that are bad in the matchup."

"That's... not how drawing cards works."

"Skill issue."

Rose slaps them. "Stop it, you're confusing them. But Compass, you're right, trying to counter both aggressive decks and control decks at the same time is futile. Your deck is in an awkward midpoint between fast and slow, so you should commit to being either one or the other."

"But... Hmm... Well, for now, can I borrow one of your decks again?"

The rest of the session was much more back-and-forth, with Compass's skill shining through when they wield a well-built deck. They also play their lifegain deck against the others' weaker and more gimmicky decks, either winning gloriously when their plan comes together uninterrupted, or failing miserably when their key creature gets removed or their hand gets clogged with expensive cards.

Later that day, Compass lays out their deck and the available cards. They manage to build two versions of the deck, one that can defend itself against aggression, and one that can remain robust against control, but they can't do both at the same time. If they build an aggro deck of their own, then they can just focus on countering control, and vice versa, but they like their deck's speed as it is. They read through the deckbuilding section of the rulebook, hoping to find some advice...



The next day, Alice enters the base to find Compass reading a book, waiting for them. "Hey, Thorn! I upgraded my deck again, and I want to try a proper best of 3 match against your aggro deck."

"'Proper'? What, have we been playing the game wrong the whole time?"

"Yeah!"

"Huh. Sure, alright." Alice shuffles up their deck. "So, did you settle on aggro or control?"

"Actually, I looked it up, and my deck's style is called midrange."

"Oh, you're still going with that? I though it was impossible to counter both aggro and control."

"It is!"

"... Okay..."

The first game is a tough back and forth, the closest game between their decks so far. With some decent blockers and a few cheap removal spells, Compass holds off Alice's assault... for a while. Eventually, Alice manages to make one last push past the blockers and finish Compass off.

"Wow, okay, you really almost won that time. But those cards left in your hand..."

Compass reveals their remaining cards, a Nykthos Paragon and a pair of protection spells. "Yeah, I drew some bad cards."

"Dang. You really can't counter both. Hope you can draw better cards in game 2."

Compass nods. "I will."



Rose walks in to find Alice scooping up their cards in defeat. "Oh wow. What happened here?"

"Compass made a deck that counters both aggro and control."

"Oh. And they managed to not draw the wrong cards this game?"

"Two games in a row, actually! I just lost the best of 3."

Compass nods. "I learned how to draw the right cards!"

"You... That's not how drawing cards works."

Compass giggles. "Want to play a match? I want to see if it works on control too."

"Alright, I'm curious to see if this actually works."

The game starts off badly for Rose; she drew too many lands, but at least Compass's defensive cards and blockers couldn't put much pressure on her, and she even had a counterspell for when Compass played their paragon. But on their next turn, they draw a Griffin Aerie, and the steady stream of griffins it creates gradually overwhelms Rose. Rose accepts the loss in stride, counting on better luck in the next game; Compass's deck has all those cards intended to counter aggro, after all. But as she shuffles her deck to prepare for game 2-

"Whoa whoa whoa, what are you doing Compass?" Alice asks. During their match, Alice had been too busy shuffling their deck to notice, but now they catch Compass swapping out cards from their deck with ones from a small separate pile.

"I'm sideboarding."

"What?"

"In a best of 3 match, you're allowed to swap cards from your deck with cards from a 15 card sideboard. So I'm taking out my defensive cards and putting in more protection and value."

"You mean... You learned how to draw cards better!?"

"Yup! Now I won't have any useless cards in my deck. I don't have to counter aggro and control at the same time!"

"Interesting..." Rose says. "And here I thought your devotion to following rules was a weakness."

"Rules exist for a reason. Everyone knows that."

"Alright then..." Rose grabs some cards from her deck box, not a true sideboard but just a handful of leftover cards that she had been considering for her deck. "Proper rules it is."