Hello everybody and welcome to the second edition of Mind Twists! First off, I’d like to thank everybody who emailed in an answer—in the past week, I received a whopping 836 submissions! Of those submissions, our winners are Charles Barrett ("Caged") and Charles McEachern ("That’s a Pretty Big Fireball"). Check your inboxes!

Here are the solutions to last week’s puzzles:

Caged

There were several possible solutions to this puzzle, and Charles’ solution was pretty straightforward:

• End of turn pay BBBUUU and use Dark Imposter to exile Vorstclaw (Dark Imposter becomes a 4/4).
• Untap, then during upkeep pay UU for Fettergeist.
• Draw the Swamp, play the Swamp, and then play Human Frailty for B destroying Geist Trappers.
• Pay BBBUUU for Dark Imposter’s ability on the Gloomwidow, making Dark imposter a 5/5.
• Attack with everything for 13.

There was also a pretty nifty solution involving Homicidal Seclusion:

• End of turn pay BBBUUU to use Dark Imposter’s ability on itself.
• Untap, then during upkeep don’t pay Fettergeist’s cost and sacrifice it.
• Draw the Swamp, play it, and then cast Homicidal Seclusion for BUUUU.
• Attack with the lone Soulcage Fiend, dropping the opponent to 2 and going up to 11 from lifelink.
• Play Barter in Blood, sacrificing Soulcage Fiend, draining the opponent to -1 and yourself to 8.

Congratulations Charles Barrett; you will receive a signed Barter in Blood!

That’s a Pretty Big Fireball

To my knowledge, there was only one solution to this puzzle: dealing exactsies between the Fireball and Riku’s attack for two. Here’s the solution:

• Tap 3 Forests for Heartbeat of Spring.
• Tap the untapped Forest and Yavimaya Coast for GGUU (paying one life), then cast Harrow, sacrificing the Yavimaya Coast to get Forest + Mountain, floating U.
• Tap the Forest and Mountain for a total of URRGG, then cast Early Harvest (targeting yourself), floating UR.
• Tap all 5 untapped Forests and the Mountain to cast Praetor’s Counsel, paying RU for Riku to copy it (floating GGRR).
• The copy of Praetor’s Counsel resolves, returning Vivid Grove, Forest, Harrow, and Early Harvest.
• Cast Harrow, sacrificing a Forest to get Forest + Island, still floating R.
• Tap the Forest and Island to have a total of UURGG to cast Early Harvest (targeting yourself again), paying RU for Riku to copy it.
• The copy of Early Harvest resolves, and all of your lands untap. There should be 5 Forests, an Island, and a Mountain.
• Tap all lands, floating 10x G, 2x U, and 2x R.
• The original Early Harvest resolves, then tap all lands again, floating 20x G, 4x U, and 4x R.
• The original Praetor’s Counsel resolves, returning Forest, Harrow, and Early Harvest.
• Play the sixth Forest and tap it, floating 22x G, 4x U, and 4x R
• Cast Harrow by sacrificing a Forest, then copy it for GGGUR (mana pool is 19x G, 3x U, 3x R), getting four Forests for a total of nine Forests, an Island, and a Mountain.
• Tap the four untapped Forests for a mana pool of 27x G, 3x U, 3x R
• Cast Early Harvest and copy it for GGGUR; mana pool is 24x G, 2x U, 2x R.
• The copy of Early Harvest resolves, then tap all lands for a mana pool of 42x G, 4x U, 4x R.
• Early Harvest resolves, tap all lands for a mana pool of 60x G, 6x U, 6x R.
• Cast Fireball targeting opponent with X=69, copying it with Riku’s ability. Opponent takes 138 damage, dropping to 2.
• Attack with Riku.

Congratulations to Charles McEachern; you will receive a signed Early Harvest!

Before we delve into this week’s puzzles, I’m going to make some modifications to the submission procedure. Due to the sheer number of submissions I received, I ask that the email subject line be exactly the name of the puzzle and only one puzzle submission per email. You can still submit solutions to both puzzles, but please send them in different emails. This will just make it that much easier for me to sort through my emails and pick a winner each week.

Also, the "graded system" where solutions submitted on Wednesday would receive more raffle entries will no longer be in effect. Of the 800+ solutions I received about 75% were submitted on Wednesday, making it seem silly to offer an incentive for turning in a solution earlier. Any correct solution submitted between Wednesday and Sunday will have an equal chance to win the raffle.

The puzzles!

Puzzle 1: Vapor Slip

It’s the StarCityGames.com Invitational this weekend, and you are sitting down to play round 1 of Standard. You don’t catch your first opponent’s name, but he introduced himself by saying, "You’ve probably heard of me," and he is wearing a shirt that has "I <3 Caw-Blade" on it in big letters. He wins game 1 by flipping his Delver of Secrets on turn 2, but you crush him in game 2 with your sweet Treacherous Pit-Dwellers leading the way for your Anti-Delver deck.

In game 3, you are able to halt his Geist of Saint Traft with a Treacherous Pit-Dweller, but he uses Phantasmal Image to copy your Geralf’s Messenger and put the pressure back on. On his next turn, he topdecks the Celestial Purge he was looking for to exile your Treacherous Pit-Dweller and swings for what should be lethal. Instead of a handshake, you give your opponent a smirk as you consider the trio of one-mana instants in your hand.

• It is currently your opponent’s declare attackers step, and he is attacking with a Geist of Saint Traft, a 4/4 Angel token, and a Phantasmal Image (copying Geralf’s Messenger).
• The opponent has no cards in hand and no flashback cards in his graveyard. His lands are 2 Seachrome Coast (tapped) and one untapped Island.
• You have:

• You are at 8 life, and your opponent is at 12.
• How can you both survive this attack and win this game on your next turn?

Winner will receive a signed Vapor Snag!

Puzzle 2: Let Me Introduce You to My Little Friend…

It’s Commander night in your playgroup, and on a whim somebody suggests a tournament. You quickly dispatch Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir / Knowledge Pool and Hazezon Tamar / Warp World decks with Animar, Soul of Elements and find yourself playing for the title against a Jhoira of the Ghitu deck. Your opponent gets off to a quick start, playing Sol Ring and Whispersilk Cloak in the first two turns, but you fight back by casting Animar on turn 3.

After you pass the turn, your opponent casts Show and Tell. While your opponent is bringing an Eldrazi to class in Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, all you have to put in play is Wild Pair. Your opponent equips Whispersilk Cloak to Ulamog and passes the turn. You draw a Trinket Mage, nod, and begin to scoop up your cards, but then you wonder…

How insane is Wild Pair? There’s no harm in finding out…

• Your opponent has Island, Mountain, Mountain, Sol Ring on the battlefield, all tapped. He also has an Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre equipped with Whispersilk Cloak, untapped. Your opponent does not have any responses during your turn and is at 40 life.
• After untapping, you have Forest, Mountain, Island, Wild Pair, and Animar, Soul of Elements in play, all untapped. You are at 40 life. Your hand is Trinket Mage, Fierce Empath, Primal Surge, Forest, Island. Here is your decklist:

Animar, Soul of Elements

Dayv Doberne

Test deck on 06-17-2012

Commander

Creatures (52)

• 1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
• 1 Llanowar Elves
• 1 Birds of Paradise
• 1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
• 1 Man-o'-War
• 1 Wood Elves
• 1 Anger
• 1 Eternal Witness
• 1 Viridian Shaman
• 1 Trinket Mage
• 1 Fierce Empath
• 1 Veteran Explorer
• 1 Peregrine Drake
• 1 Krosan Wayfarer
• 1 Civic Wayfinder
• 1 Nullstone Gargoyle
• 1 Indrik Stomphowler
• 1 Tidespout Tyrant
• 1 Deadwood Treefolk
• 1 Aethersnipe
• 1 Ingot Chewer
• 1 Farhaven Elf
• 1 Acidic Slime
• 1 Borderland Ranger
• 1 Lotus Cobra
• 1 Cunning Sparkmage
• 1 Terastodon
• 1 Artisan of Kozilek
• 1 Ondu Giant
• 1 Fauna Shaman
• 1 Frost Titan
• 1 Inferno Titan
• 1 Primeval Titan
• 1 Sylvan Ranger
• 1 Memnite
• 1 Steel Hellkite
• 1 Blightsteel Colossus
• 1 Treasure Mage
• 1 Urabrask the Hidden
• 1 Phyrexian Metamorph
• 1 Brutalizer Exarch
• 1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
• 1 Deceiver Exarch
• 1 Moltensteel Dragon
• 1 Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
• 1 Immolating Souleater
• 1 Animar, Soul of Elements
• 1 Avatar of Slaughter
• 1 Primordial Hydra
• 1 Phantasmal Image
• 1 Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1 Champion of Lambholt

Lands (39)

• 14 Forest
• 10 Mountain
• 10 Island
• 1 Tree of Tales
• 1 Seat of the Synod
• 1 Great Furnace
• 1 Soaring Seacliff
• 1 Smoldering Spires

Spells (9)

• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Gruul Signet
• 1 Izzet Signet
• 1 Simic Signet
• 1 Wild Pair
• 1 Expedition Map
• 1 Basilisk Collar
• 1 Argentum Armor
• 1 Primal Surge

• Swing for lethal (21 general damage or 40 total damage) this turn.

Winner will receive a signed Wild Pair!

If you have any ideas for future puzzles, I’d love to hear from you! Just send me an email at [email protected], and I’ll check it out. That’s all for this week, so have fun with these and I’ll see you next Wednesday!

–Dayv Doberne

@Sunyveil on Twitter