As I strode into the arena, I took a look around and noticed that a familiar foe was available for battle. I approached the large green skinned djinn and offered a casual greeting. He returned the gesture and we began gathering our thoughts. Once we were ready, i established a bond with an Evolving Wilds, which immediately morphed into an island while the opponent formed bonds with a forest.
I bonded with a mountain, but I was feeling a bit frustrated that I couldn’t think of anything to do with my mana for the moment. My opponent also bonded with a mountain, then cast Sylvan Scrying. As he wove his mana into the elaborate sorcery, I could feel him pulling the memory of a forgotten land into his mind. I formed bonds with a Rootbound Crag, the channeled all of my mana into summoning Hell’s Thunder. As storm clouds swirled above, the form of a dragon took shape. Lightning illuminated the inside of the storm elemental before shooting out of its mouth and striking the opponent. As quickly as they had appeared, the clouds dissipated and the elemental was gone.
My opponent formed bonds with a Hallowed Fountain, then channeled his mana into another sorcery. As he cast Lay of the Land, circular patterns of energy formed across the battlefield, then gathered together and shot into his forehead, giving him more knowledge of future mana bonds. I strengthened my bonds with my Rootbound Crag, then summoned a Smokebraider. The elemental shaman would be able to help me summon other elementals if I could just remember them.
My opponent bonded with a plains, then used all of his mana to summon a Protean Hydra. The huge beast had three long necks with three snapping maws full of razor sharp fangs. I formed bonds with a Woodland Cemetery, then attempted to use my mana to Unearth Hell’s Thunder from the graveyard for another attack, but for some reason, my Smokebraider refused to lend me her mana, so all I could do was stand there looking flabbergasted.
My opponent simply smiled as he expanded his bonds with his Hallowed Fountain, then used his mana to cast Doubling Season. As the enchantment settled over his side of the battlefield, it seemed as if a sort of double vision overtook my senses until I suddenly snapped out of it and everything returned to normal. I still had an ominous feeling about that enchantment though, which wasn’t helped by the hydra rushing in to attack me. My shaman was no match for it and got out of the way quickly as each of the three heads took a small bite out of me.
I was finally able to use my mana to unearth Hell’s Thunder, and as the storm elemental raced across the sky, I still couldn’t get over the feeling that I was losing. Sure enough, the djinn planeswalker called across the multiverse to a friend and Sarkhan Vol planeswalked to his side. The human planeswalker was young and angry and full of power, and he showed it by immediately summoning ten huge dragons. This was the power of doubling season. Seeing my imminent demise, I gracefully admitted defeat and bowed with a flourish, then planeswalked to safety as the dragons flew in to finish me off.
Hopefully things go better next time when we go big with Gruul.
