Two-Face is an unusual mainstream super villain. Like many characters created during the Golden Age of comic books, he has a campy hook: whenever he needs to make an important decision he flips a coin. If it lands on heads, he goes one way (usually choosing the more positive alternative between the two he’s considering). If it lands on tails, then bad things happen.

Despite this nonsensical shtick, the character has endured. I think it’s because there’s something irresistible about chance. There’s something wild and attractive about the unpredictable. Magic players feel a Two-Face-like thrill when they buy new packs of randomized cards. Who knows what could be in there? The perfect card for the deck you’re building? A mythic rare? A Planeswalker? A Masterpiece?!

Yet, Magic is a game that often works against chance, especially in competitive formats. The best decks are predictable. If you’re in a competition with a well-built deck, then you have a game plan. You want to cast the same cards on the same turns in every game. You can even mulligan a couple of times to increase your chances of getting an opening hand with the exact cards you want to see.

I’m not a terribly competitive player. I like to win as much as the next guy, but I’m more interested in seeing crazy things happen on the battlefield — including coin flips. This is why I was so excited to see Boompile, a new board-wiping artifact, from Commander 2016.

For the rest of this article we’re going to examine Boompile. How can we make it work with various cards? How can we build around it? Is it possible to make it more efficient? Can cards that rely on chance really be effective Magic cards?

Boompile, the Artifact

The first thing to note about Boompile is that it’s an artifact. It will naturally become a better card to cast when running it with other artifact-loving cards. Aeronaut Tinkerer, Embraal Bruiser, Inventor's Apprentice, and other similar cards are inexpensive choices. You can find cards that love artifacts in nearly every set, but look at either of the Mirrodin blocks, the Kaledesh block, and the old Antiquities expansion for the most artifact-loving cards in one place.

Another board-wiping artifact, Nevinyrral's Disk, is often used as a stall tactic. After it is cast, players let it sit on the battlefield to intimidate their opponents for a turn or two, before they actually activate it.

Boompile can be played the same way. And since it’s also an artifact, it will make other cards more efficient while it’s on the battlefield. You’ll get greater value out of any card with abilities like affinity (for artifacts), improvise, and metalcraft as long as Boompile is on the table. Commons like Stoic Rebuttal and Thoughtcast are great pairings with Boompile. You can counter threats, draw cards, and keep a lit match near Boompile’s fuse while you set up the board the way you like it.

And speaking of setting things up, there are multiple ways you can tutor Boompile out of your library. The most popular artifact tutors are probably Tinker, Enlightened Tutor, and Fabricate. If these cards are out of your price range, check out Inventors' Fair, Sphinx Summoner, or Diabolic Tutor.

Boompile, the Board-Wiper

Now it’s time to quit playing the safe game. The moment has come to stop using Boompile as a stall tactic and actually blow stuff up. Here are some things to consider before you wipe the board clean.

A fan-favorite is Goblin Bookie. This 1-drop common from Unglued lets you re-light the fuse on Boompile by giving you an extra coin flip for one Red mana. It’s best to use this one in decks with other coin-flipping cards. It’s probably best to make sure your group is okay with cards from Un-sets before running Goblin Bookie. Un-set cards are not technically legal in any format outside of Un-set block games, though most casual and Commander players I know are fine with them as long as they don’t get too stupid. (I’m looking at you, Hurloon Wrangler.)

Krark's Thumb is also a must-have for decks featuring coin-flipping cards. By giving you an extra coin to flip, this festering appendage is the definition of efficiency.

Boompile is not a win condition. You can destroy permanents all day long, but unless you bring your opponent’s life total to zero, give her 10 poison counters, or win with an alternate win condition (Felidar Sovereign and the like), the game will continue on. However, I think it is possible to make Boompile a key component to a winning deck.

The secret: Boompile does not destroy land cards. So if you opt to run “manlands” — or land cards that double as creature cards — you’ll have an advantage over your opponents after the board is wiped clean. Everyone has their own favorite creature lands, but Faerie Conclave, Celestial Colonnade, Mutavault, and Inkmoth Nexus may be the most deadly. If you can afford them, a playset of the classic Mishra's Factory are time-tested bruisers as well. Just make sure that whatever you use includes the line “It’s still a land” within the rules text. This is what makes creature lands impervious to Boompile’s destruction. An inexpensive combo I’m looking forward to experimenting with is: (1) play lots of Swamps (2) resolve Boompile and then (3) cast Kormus Bell.

Boompile also combos well with indestructible creatures. You could pair it with any of Magic’s big indestructible angels like Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Deathless Angel and their friends. It also pairs well with any of the Darksteel creatures like Darksteel Juggernaut, Darksteel Colossus, etc. The gods from Theros block or Amonkhet block are indestructible. And some Planeswalkers have the ability to become indestructible creatures like various versions of Gideon as well as Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker. (Remember to make your Planeswalker into an indestructible creature before activating Boompile!) Or use any of the other indestructible creatures in the game. Take look on Gatherer, there are loads. (My goal is to combo it someday with Elusive Tormentor / Insidious Mist, just because it would be funny.)

Another gratifying combo with Boompile are instant-speed combat tricks — spells and abilities that grant indestructibility to other creatures. These cards are easier to come by as they are often common or uncommon and less expensive than some of the bombs I just mentioned. I’m talking about creature cards like Wily Bandar and Ulrich's Kindred, and instant spells like Mortal's Resolve and Renegade's Getaway. (How humiliating would it be to lose to a Wily Bandar / Boompile deck? A “cat monkey”? Really?)

After it’s been destroyed there are plenty of ways to get your Boompile back from the graveyard. There are classic cards like Reconstruction, as well as more recent cards like Fortuitous Find and Treasury Thrull. Cards also range from pricey (Argivian Archaeologist) to inexpensive (a personal favorite, Razor Hippogriff). You could go all-out on flavor with an Argivian / Boompile deck using Argivian Find, Argivian Restoration, and Argivian Archaeologist. But the most on-flavor image might be the goblin illustration on Mine Excavation!

When Things Don’t Go Boom

But what if your Boompile doesn’t boom? What if the odds aren’t in your favor and you lose the coin flip? What if Goblin Bookie and Krark's Thumb let you down?

There are plenty of ways to untap a target artifact so you can try again. Some options include: Voltaic Key, Aphetto Alchemist, Galvanic Key, Filigree Sages, and the classic card Twiddle. There’s also the trifecta of (almost) functional reprints: Infuse, Twitch, and Jolt. These Blue instants have been around the game for ages and it’s easy to overlook them as they languish in the 10 cent bin. However, the extra card they draw for you makes them stronger than you might think.

If you can afford him, Tezzeret the Seeker is an incredible card to use with Boompile. Yes, he’s subject to destruction if you win the coin flip, but something tells me that Tezzeret is just crazy enough not to be bothered by that.

If You Ain’tFlippin’, You Be Trippin’

I’ve been working on building a casual-competitive deck with coin-flipping cards. I’m not interested in building a tournament-level competitive deck, but a deck that will be competitive among casual games played with friends.

One way to do this is to build around Chance Encounter. It provides an alternate win condition. If you can’t bring your opponent’s life total down to zero, perhaps you can win enough coin flips to get 10 luck counters and end the game. (Volt Charge and other cards with proliferate are auto-includes with Chance Encounter.) But Boompile destroys Chance Encounter, so we’ve got to think of something new . . . 

When Things Go Boom ? Casual | Andy Rogers

• Creatures (18)
• 2 Darksteel Sentinel
• 2 Goblin Archaeologist
• 3 Darksteel Juggernaut
• 3 Mogg Assassin
• 4 Goblin Bookie
• 4 Wily Bandar

• Instants (6)
• 2 Heroic Intervention
• 4 Mortal's Resolve

• Sorceries (3)
• 3 Winter Sky

• Artifacts (9)
• 1 Darksteel Axe
• 1 Sorcerer's Strongbox
• 3 Krark's Thumb
• 4 Boompile

• Lands (24)
• 4 Forest
• 7 Mountain
• 2 Inventors' Fair
• 3 Raging Ravine
• 4 Ghitu Encampment
• 4 Treetop Village

Buy This Deck

I haven’t played this deck yet, so I can’t report on how it runs. This brew is based on the ideas presented here. With time and money, it could be even more efficient. (A playset of Dryad Arbor instead of those Forests, for example.) How would you improve this deck?

End Step

Coin-flipping Magic cards aren’t for everyone. Not everybody likes the Two-Face approach to decision making, and that’s perfectly fine. But with a new Un-set on the horizon, I think the time is right to keep tinkering with coin-flipping decks. The future is Unstable after all. You may just need the wisdom of Harvey Dent in order to win a game.