Hello! After a gap of a few years, I've come back with a new MTG puzzle. This one might be my hardest one yet, and it's pretty close to being my favorite one. I'd love to share it with fellow puzzle enthusiasts and get some feedback! It's also possible that despite my best efforts, an unintended solution remains. If so, I'd love to know about it!
If you wish to post or comment on a solution, please hide it in a "Spoiler" box so that people who are attempting the puzzle do not have to look at solutions when scrolling through the forum if they do not want to. Also, feel free to post attempted solutions (in spoiler boxes) even if you didn't quite manage to solve the puzzle.
The Story So Far:
You’re up 1-0 against your opponent, but time has run out for this game. The judge declared that only 5 more turns will be allowed in this game before it is declared a draw. Your opponent ends his turn, leaving just 3 more turns before the game is a draw. To move on to the next round of the tournament, you need to either win or draw this game. However, you have a problem – after drawing a card for the turn, you notice that there are now no more cards left in your library!
Goal:
Find a way to make sure the game does not result in you losing before the end of your next turn (i.e. before you’ve completed this turn plus your turn after that).
Instructions:
-Your solution must be valid regardless of the choices your opponent makes, such as how he declares blockers, how he attacks, and which abilities he activates when he can.
-You can assume that all remaining cards in your opponent’s library are basic Plains.
-The contents of graveyards and exile zones are irrelevant for this puzzle.
-The puzzle begins at the start of your precombat main phase with nothing having happened this turn except your usual untap step, upkeep, and draw step.
-Unless otherwise stated, all permanents are untapped at the beginning of the puzzle.
Took me a while to figure out all the red herrings. Here's my proposed solution:
1) Cast Infuse with Vitality on your Hornet Queen (2 of 13 mana spent)
2) Activate Garruk to deal 3 damage to the Hornet Queen, it comes back tapped and creates 4 more insect tokens
3) Exile Eldrazi Monument with Fractured Identity and create your own copy. (7 of 13 mana spent)
4) Exile Shali with the other Fractured Identity and make your own copy (12 of 13 mana spent)
5) Attack with everything
Due to haste from Concordant Crossroads the Shalai copy and the new insect tokens can attack. That's a total of 13 flying attackers that are all at leasat 2/2s due to the Eldrazi Monument copy against his 4 remaining flyers (ignore the Persecutor because of Runed Halo naming it), hitting for 18+ damage, winning the game.
Instead of exiling Shalai, you can also pay 1 to activate Bonds of Mortality, and after that resolves exile the Inspiring Captain. You get a copy of it and all your creatures get another +1/+1 from its trigger. Your attack of 13 flying creatures will then meet 5 blockers, and the 8 unblocked ones will deal at least 24 damage total.
Your Abyssal Persecutor doesn't die! You can't win the game even though your opponent is at 0 or less life. Meanwhile, your opponent can always choose not to block anything at all, take lethal damage, and possibly attack back at you for lethal. For example, in your first proposed solution, they can block with nothing, and swing back for 14. In your second proposed solution, they can activate Shalai twice and swing for even more damage. Even if you were planning on sacrificing your Abyssal Persecutor to Eldrazi Monument on your next upkeep, you still have to survive a lethal attack back first.
Took me a while to figure out all the red herrings. Here's my proposed solution:
1) Cast Infuse with Vitality on your Hornet Queen (2 of 13 mana spent)
2) Activate Garruk to deal 3 damage to the Hornet Queen, it comes back tapped and creates 4 more insect tokens
3) Exile Eldrazi Monument with Fractured Identity and create your own copy. (7 of 13 mana spent)
4) Exile Shali with the other Fractured Identity and make your own copy (12 of 13 mana spent)
5) Attack with everything
Due to haste from Concordant Crossroads the Shalai copy and the new insect tokens can attack. That's a total of 13 flying attackers that are all at leasat 2/2s due to the Eldrazi Monument copy against his 4 remaining flyers (ignore the Persecutor because of Runed Halo naming it), hitting for 18+ damage, winning the game.
Instead of exiling Shalai, you can also pay 1 to activate Bonds of Mortality, and after that resolves exile the Inspiring Captain. You get a copy of it and all your creatures get another +1/+1 from its trigger. Your attack of 13 flying creatures will then meet 5 blockers, and the 8 unblocked ones will deal at least 24 damage total.
Hmmm...
I actually think that you were pretty close. I think that the secret is to use your solution with the exception of using the second identity on your own persecutor post combat rather than Shalai precombat. With the monument on your side, the opppnent would have 5 flying blockers (shalai + 4 spirits) to block your golem, rafiq, 2 wolves, 8 insects, and reborn hornet queen. If they block everything except the insect tokens, they are reduced to 1 life.
After you gift your opponent with a persecutor token, you just need to end your turn and let the stab wound kill your opponent as they will not have a chance to sacrifice their evangel to their remaining sac outlet until the ability is already on the stack.
Took me a while to figure out all the red herrings. Here's my proposed solution:
1) Cast Infuse with Vitality on your Hornet Queen (2 of 13 mana spent)
2) Activate Garruk to deal 3 damage to the Hornet Queen, it comes back tapped and creates 4 more insect tokens
3) Exile Eldrazi Monument with Fractured Identity and create your own copy. (7 of 13 mana spent)
4) Exile Shali with the other Fractured Identity and make your own copy (12 of 13 mana spent)
5) Attack with everything
Due to haste from Concordant Crossroads the Shalai copy and the new insect tokens can attack. That's a total of 13 flying attackers that are all at leasat 2/2s due to the Eldrazi Monument copy against his 4 remaining flyers (ignore the Persecutor because of Runed Halo naming it), hitting for 18+ damage, winning the game.
Instead of exiling Shalai, you can also pay 1 to activate Bonds of Mortality, and after that resolves exile the Inspiring Captain. You get a copy of it and all your creatures get another +1/+1 from its trigger. Your attack of 13 flying creatures will then meet 5 blockers, and the 8 unblocked ones will deal at least 24 damage total.
Hmmm...
I actually think that you were pretty close. I think that the secret is to use your solution with the exception of using the second identity on your own persecutor post combat rather than Shalai precombat. With the monument on your side, the opppnent would have 5 flying blockers (shalai + 4 spirits) to block your golem, rafiq, 2 wolves, 8 insects, and reborn hornet queen. If they block everything except the insect tokens, they are reduced to 1 life.
After you gift your opponent with a persecutor token, you just need to end your turn and let the stab wound kill your opponent as they will not have a chance to sacrifice their evangel to their remaining sac outlet until the ability is already on the stack.
Unfortunately, the Hornet Queen cannot attack because it reenters tapped, so we are missing one attacker, leaving the oponent at 3, which Stab Wound only brings down to 1. Getting that 1 point is my dilemma now. Maybe trying to win is not the way? Maybe we should aim for a draw?
D'oh! Was looking at this problem from the wrong angle!
Step 1: Fractured Identity my own Garruk Edit: Step 1.5: Activate bond of mortality.
Step 2: Fractured Identity my enemy's Garruk
Step 3: Activate garruk to hit one of my insects.
Infinite loop based on state-based effects begins (the copy is constantly trying to flip but can't).
Game is a draw.
Edit: Nope, this doesn't work either. Forgot that bond of mortality doesn't affect planeswalkers. Don't have a way to deal with Shalai without using one of the fractured, either. Another dead end.
Thanks to Rosy Dumplings who provided the key idea.
1) Cast Infuse with Vitality on your Persecutor to give it deathtouch. (2 mana spent)
2) Use Fractured Identity #1 on your Garruk to give your opponent a token copy of it. (7 mana spent)
3) Use Fractured Identity #2 on your Iron Golem to give your opponenent a creature that has to block. (12 mana spent)
4) Attack your opponent's Garruk token with the Persecutor. Exalted and the double strike trigger from Rafiq go off and resolve
5) Your opponent's 14 creatures can prevent all damage to the Garruk token in the first combat damage step, but due to being indestructible, they stay around.
5a) If he blocks with less creatures, the trample+deathtouch combo can get 1 damage through to Garruk and assign the rest among the blockers, keeping Garruk alive with less than 3 loyalty. Your opponent has to block with the Iron Golem, so there is at least one blocker to take all the excess damage, since you can assign more than lethal damage to a creature.
5b) If he blocks with all creatures, activate Bonds of Immortality with your last mana in the declare blockers step and assign combat damage to all but one creature to kill them. The last creature then takes all but 1 damage from the second strike and the remaining damage goes to Garruk.
6) The Garruk token's state trigger now enters a mandatory loop to repeatedly try to transform, which it cannot. The loop cannot be broken so the game is a draw.
If you wish to post or comment on a solution, please hide it in a "Spoiler" box so that people who are attempting the puzzle do not have to look at solutions when scrolling through the forum if they do not want to. Also, feel free to post attempted solutions (in spoiler boxes) even if you didn't quite manage to solve the puzzle.
The Story So Far:
You’re up 1-0 against your opponent, but time has run out for this game. The judge declared that only 5 more turns will be allowed in this game before it is declared a draw. Your opponent ends his turn, leaving just 3 more turns before the game is a draw. To move on to the next round of the tournament, you need to either win or draw this game. However, you have a problem – after drawing a card for the turn, you notice that there are now no more cards left in your library!
Goal:
Find a way to make sure the game does not result in you losing before the end of your next turn (i.e. before you’ve completed this turn plus your turn after that).
Instructions:
-Your solution must be valid regardless of the choices your opponent makes, such as how he declares blockers, how he attacks, and which abilities he activates when he can.
-You can assume that all remaining cards in your opponent’s library are basic Plains.
-The contents of graveyards and exile zones are irrelevant for this puzzle.
-The puzzle begins at the start of your precombat main phase with nothing having happened this turn except your usual untap step, upkeep, and draw step.
-Unless otherwise stated, all permanents are untapped at the beginning of the puzzle.
The Puzzle:
Opponent’s Life: 17
Opponent’s Library: 12 Plains
Opponent’s Hand: 0
Opponent’s Field: Shalai, Voice of Plenty; 4x 1/1 white Spirit token with flying; Inspiring Captain; Reclamation Sage; 5x 1/1 white Soldier token; Evangel of Heliod (enchanted with Stab Wound, owned and controlled by you); Eldrazi Monument; Runed Halo (naming Abyssal Persecutor); Carnage Altar; 4x Forest (tapped); 8x Plains (tapped)
Your Life: 5
Your Library: 0
Your Hand: 2x Fractured Identity; Infuse with Vitality
Your Field: Hornet Queen; 4x 1/1 green Insect token with flying and deathtouch; 2x 2/2 green Wolf token; Rafiq of the Many; Iron Golem; Abyssal Persecutor; Prodigious Growth (enchanting Abyssal Persecutor); Stab Wound (enchanting opponent’s Evangel of Heliod, which was already mentioned above); Garruk Relentless (currently face-up with 3 loyalty); Bonds of Mortality; Concordant Crossroads; Prismatic Omen; 13x Forest
Visual Version (right-click and use "view image" to see it enlarged):
1) Cast Infuse with Vitality on your Hornet Queen (2 of 13 mana spent)
2) Activate Garruk to deal 3 damage to the Hornet Queen, it comes back tapped and creates 4 more insect tokens
3) Exile Eldrazi Monument with Fractured Identity and create your own copy. (7 of 13 mana spent)
4) Exile Shali with the other Fractured Identity and make your own copy (12 of 13 mana spent)
5) Attack with everything
Due to haste from Concordant Crossroads the Shalai copy and the new insect tokens can attack. That's a total of 13 flying attackers that are all at leasat 2/2s due to the Eldrazi Monument copy against his 4 remaining flyers (ignore the Persecutor because of Runed Halo naming it), hitting for 18+ damage, winning the game.
Instead of exiling Shalai, you can also pay 1 to activate Bonds of Mortality, and after that resolves exile the Inspiring Captain. You get a copy of it and all your creatures get another +1/+1 from its trigger. Your attack of 13 flying creatures will then meet 5 blockers, and the 8 unblocked ones will deal at least 24 damage total.
Former Rules Advisor
"Everything's better with pirates." - Lodge
(The Gamers: Dorkness Rising)
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
(Girl Genius - Fairy Tale Theater Break - Cinderella, end of volume 8)
Former Rules Advisor
"Everything's better with pirates." - Lodge
(The Gamers: Dorkness Rising)
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
(Girl Genius - Fairy Tale Theater Break - Cinderella, end of volume 8)
Hmmm...
After you gift your opponent with a persecutor token, you just need to end your turn and let the stab wound kill your opponent as they will not have a chance to sacrifice their evangel to their remaining sac outlet until the ability is already on the stack.
Former Rules Advisor
"Everything's better with pirates." - Lodge
(The Gamers: Dorkness Rising)
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
(Girl Genius - Fairy Tale Theater Break - Cinderella, end of volume 8)
Step 1: Fractured Identity my own Garruk
Edit: Step 1.5: Activate bond of mortality.
Step 2: Fractured Identity my enemy's Garruk
Step 3: Activate garruk to hit one of my insects.
Infinite loop based on state-based effects begins (the copy is constantly trying to flip but can't).
Game is a draw.
Edit: Nope, this doesn't work either. Forgot that bond of mortality doesn't affect planeswalkers. Don't have a way to deal with Shalai without using one of the fractured, either. Another dead end.
Thanks to Rosy Dumplings who provided the key idea.
1) Cast Infuse with Vitality on your Persecutor to give it deathtouch. (2 mana spent)
2) Use Fractured Identity #1 on your Garruk to give your opponent a token copy of it. (7 mana spent)
3) Use Fractured Identity #2 on your Iron Golem to give your opponenent a creature that has to block. (12 mana spent)
4) Attack your opponent's Garruk token with the Persecutor. Exalted and the double strike trigger from Rafiq go off and resolve
5) Your opponent's 14 creatures can prevent all damage to the Garruk token in the first combat damage step, but due to being indestructible, they stay around.
5a) If he blocks with less creatures, the trample+deathtouch combo can get 1 damage through to Garruk and assign the rest among the blockers, keeping Garruk alive with less than 3 loyalty. Your opponent has to block with the Iron Golem, so there is at least one blocker to take all the excess damage, since you can assign more than lethal damage to a creature.
5b) If he blocks with all creatures, activate Bonds of Immortality with your last mana in the declare blockers step and assign combat damage to all but one creature to kill them. The last creature then takes all but 1 damage from the second strike and the remaining damage goes to Garruk.
6) The Garruk token's state trigger now enters a mandatory loop to repeatedly try to transform, which it cannot. The loop cannot be broken so the game is a draw.
Former Rules Advisor
"Everything's better with pirates." - Lodge
(The Gamers: Dorkness Rising)
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
(Girl Genius - Fairy Tale Theater Break - Cinderella, end of volume 8)