[For reference, the puzzles themselves can be found here.]
I’m glad to see people taking an interest in these puzzles. Congratulations to UndeadHavok, NickWhiz1, and kbearl for coming up with the first posted solutions to the problems. Also, good job to Rast, who came up with a better (and simpler) solution to Puzzle 3. So without further ado, here are the puzzle solutions I came up with:
Puzzle 1 Solution
Tricks:
Use the Sparksmith with the Siege-Gang’s comes-into-play ability on the stack.
Goblin Piledriver has protection from Blue.
1) Play City of Brass
2) Tap your lands for RRRR (you go down to six life).
3) Cast Siege-Gang Commander.
4) With its come into play ability on the stack, use your Sparksmith, targeting the 4/5 Myr Enforcer. It dies and you go to one life.
5) Three Goblin tokens come into play.
6) Sacrifice the Sparksmith for R, and use that to Detonate the Ornithopter.
7) Attack with all of your creatures, Piledriver gets +12/+0.
8) Before blockers are declared, sacrifice your three tokens and Goblin Warchief to the Skirk Prospector for RRRR.
9) Using the freshly-cast Siege-Gang Commander, throw the Prospector and himself at the remaining Enforcer.
10) The Piledriver goes through unblocked (protection from Blue), dealing thirteen damage to Fred.
Puzzle 2 Solution
Tricks:
You can shoot the Retriever with a Spellbomb, and return the Spellbomb to your hand.
There was also a lot of stack tricks regarding the Scale effect wearing off at end of turn.
1) Tap two Mountains and two Nexus for RR2.
2) Play the Scale of Chiss-Goria.
3) Tap the Scale to pump your Myr Moonvessel.
4) Move the Skullclamp from the Bottle Gnomes to the Moonvessel (leaving RR1).
5) Sacrifice the Gnomes to gain three life, opponent loses one from Disciple of the Vault.
6) Tap the Talisman for B and cast the Disciple.
7) Shoot the Myr Retriever with the Pyrite Spellbomb, leaving 1R. (opponent takes four)
8) Return the Spellbomb to your hand, and replay it.
9) Sacrifice the Spellbomb to hit your opponent for four (2+2).
10) End your turn.
11) The Moonvessel dies from having zero toughness, opponent takes two, and you have one in your pool.
12) With Skullclamp trigger on the stack, use your remaining mana to Shrapnel Blast your opponent for seven, sacrificing the Skullclamp.
Puzzle 3 Solution
Tricks:
Untap your own animated land to generate extra mana.
If you play the Bloom, you need to animate your opponent’s sick land in order to prevent him from blowing the Stone.
1) Tap four Forests for eight Green mana.
2) Cast Viridian Shaman targeting Damping Matrix, leaving GGGGG.
3) Animate his untapped forest using Kamahl, leaving GGGG.
4) Cast Vernal Bloom.
5) Tap your remaining Forests and your Vine Trellis for ten Green mana total.
6) Animate one of your forests using Kamahl, leaving nine Green mana.
7) Untap your animated land with a Wirewood Symbiote, returning Shaman to your hand.
8) Tap your animated land for mana (twelve total).
9) Cast Wood Elves, and put a Forest into play.
10) Tap the Forest for mana. (twelve total)
11) Untap your animated land with a Symbiote, returning Wood Elves to your hand.
12) Tap the Forest for mana. (fifteen total)
13)Activate Kamahl’s Overrun ability three times, giving all your creatures +9/+9 and trample.
14) Attack with your Birds, Kamahl, and your Symbiotes.
15) Your opponent can block Kamahl with his Duplicant, and another creature with his land.
16) After assigning all the trample damage to your opponent, he will take 39 damage.
Note: the Wellwisher can stop up to two damage. It can either gain two life when two elves are in play, or it can block, and then tap for one life.
To see Rast’s solution, please look in the Forums. If anyone is trying to create puzzles like these, here’s a tip as to what you might do to give Puzzle 3 a unique solution. One key difference is that I require three pumps with Kamahl, while Rast’s solution only required two. Therefore, if I add more creatures to the mix (for example more Birds), his solution would not deal enough damage. Every added creature in my solution would add another nine points of damage, and only six in his. Therefore, just one extra creature would have been enough to settle the difference. Then again, adding any extra element to a puzzle can change the entire thing around. It’s really as fun and challenging building these puzzles as it is solving them.
If anyone would like to help me test future puzzles, please contact me via e-mail.
Until next time.
Jeff Till
[email protected]