Beating the Challenges - Tutorial
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Re: Beating the Challenges - Tutorial
by Wronskian » 05 Feb 2011, 21:07
And what about using some real kills like Novablast Wurm, Goblin Charbelcher, Dragonmaster Outcast or Luminarch Ascension ?
Re: Beating the Challenges - Tutorial
by aww1979 » 05 Feb 2011, 22:49
In the Wall challenge, you can use 4 cards that aren't walls, so you could use one of the cards you mention above. What I did was to use four Ring of Ma'Ruf and just get whatever seemed appropriate for that particular game to win. Often I'd find myself using the first one to get a defensive card like Moat or a circle of protection, and then use the second one to get something to actually win with, like a fatass creature or whatever. (Akroma, Angel of Wrath was one I took a lot, as my deck was white/green for that challenge, but I had dual lands for the other colours too)
Re: Beating the Challenges - Tutorial
by aww1979 » 10 Feb 2011, 05:39
Set #2
Challenge #3: That's Big!
This challenge is actually quite easy. All your spells must cost 4 mana or more. However, keep in mind that many 'cheaper' spells actually have a higher casting cost. For example, nobody actually spends 4 mana to cast Frogmite, Force of Will is rarely hardcast, Tombstalker generally costs less than 8 mana, and so on. You can also use lands like Mishra's Workshop or Ancient Tomb to get your spells out faster.
You will face random decks in the gauntlet, including the possibility of a mirror match.
I expect to win it on the first attempt, maybe two or three if I have bad luck. I built a mostly artifact deck to abuse Mishra's Workshop and affinity, and included some blue for affinity cards.
Run #1: (loss) I got my ass kicked on round 1, but at least it was against my own deck in the mirror! It drew way more land than I did.
Run #2: (win) Had no real problems during this run. The elf deck gave me a bit of a run for my money, and the fog deck stalled me for a few turns, but Lodestone Golem x3 kept it from wrathing my army away.
I didn't get much chance to refine the decklist, but based on performance, the Tolaria West was a complete waste; I never transmuted it once. Use Ancient Tomb or Island or something else instead. Also, I have no idea if Lux Cannon is useful in this list, as the only time I drew one in ten games was the very last turn of the very last game :p However, it seems like a pretty useful card, if a bit slow, and I would keep it if I had to make a third run at this challenge.
http://uploading.com/files/d9amda56/thatsbig.avi/
Challenge #3: That's Big!
This challenge is actually quite easy. All your spells must cost 4 mana or more. However, keep in mind that many 'cheaper' spells actually have a higher casting cost. For example, nobody actually spends 4 mana to cast Frogmite, Force of Will is rarely hardcast, Tombstalker generally costs less than 8 mana, and so on. You can also use lands like Mishra's Workshop or Ancient Tomb to get your spells out faster.
You will face random decks in the gauntlet, including the possibility of a mirror match.
I expect to win it on the first attempt, maybe two or three if I have bad luck. I built a mostly artifact deck to abuse Mishra's Workshop and affinity, and included some blue for affinity cards.
- Blue/artifact affinity deck, all cc>=4 | Open
Run #1: (loss) I got my ass kicked on round 1, but at least it was against my own deck in the mirror! It drew way more land than I did.
Run #2: (win) Had no real problems during this run. The elf deck gave me a bit of a run for my money, and the fog deck stalled me for a few turns, but Lodestone Golem x3 kept it from wrathing my army away.
I didn't get much chance to refine the decklist, but based on performance, the Tolaria West was a complete waste; I never transmuted it once. Use Ancient Tomb or Island or something else instead. Also, I have no idea if Lux Cannon is useful in this list, as the only time I drew one in ten games was the very last turn of the very last game :p However, it seems like a pretty useful card, if a bit slow, and I would keep it if I had to make a third run at this challenge.
http://uploading.com/files/d9amda56/thatsbig.avi/
Last edited by aww1979 on 10 Feb 2011, 08:21, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Beating the Challenges - Tutorial
by Salbei » 10 Feb 2011, 06:21
Here are a couple decks from other users for that challenge.Collected those around August 2k9 for my homepage.They can all be found somewhere in this forum.
I´m not a huge fan of Lux Cannon in the list you´ve posted above.The card is just bad.
I would prolly build something like this:
Well mainly because i want to test some new cards
I´m not a huge fan of Lux Cannon in the list you´ve posted above.The card is just bad.
- Aww1979 | Open
- somacat | Open
- meesterhans | Open
I would prolly build something like this:
- Salbei | Open
Well mainly because i want to test some new cards
Retired a long time ago. I will not reply.
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Re: Beating the Challenges - Tutorial
by aww1979 » 10 Feb 2011, 08:28
Set #2
Challenge #4: Epic
In this challenge, you can only cast one spell all game. This, by its very nature, eliminates almost all possible archetypes. You need that 'one big spell' that can win the game on its own. You are also effectively prevented from using moxes or removal. Even dredge will struggle here, though it could still make it if it only casts one Dread Return. I strongly recommend an Oath of Druids deck, probably one of the few that can actually do this challenge, though it does it extremely well. However, it will need some modifications to survive this challenge's restrictions.
I am not sure how cascade will be affected by this challenge, so I am using a strange mix of Oath of Druids, Sneak Attack, Eureka, Hypergenesis, and Violent Outburst, along with some fatties and a LOT of land, many of which are manlands or do other useful things. If violent outburst doesn't work in this challenge, I'll replace it with land or some more fatties or something.
Run #1: (win) Most games were won effortlessly. Usually the win was by casting Oath. Once I won casting Eureka, and once by casting Violent Outburst into Oath of Druids. (cascade did resolve as usual even under the epic challenge restriction)
http://uploading.com/files/ca6aa772/epic.avi/
Challenge #4: Epic
In this challenge, you can only cast one spell all game. This, by its very nature, eliminates almost all possible archetypes. You need that 'one big spell' that can win the game on its own. You are also effectively prevented from using moxes or removal. Even dredge will struggle here, though it could still make it if it only casts one Dread Return. I strongly recommend an Oath of Druids deck, probably one of the few that can actually do this challenge, though it does it extremely well. However, it will need some modifications to survive this challenge's restrictions.
I am not sure how cascade will be affected by this challenge, so I am using a strange mix of Oath of Druids, Sneak Attack, Eureka, Hypergenesis, and Violent Outburst, along with some fatties and a LOT of land, many of which are manlands or do other useful things. If violent outburst doesn't work in this challenge, I'll replace it with land or some more fatties or something.
Run #1: (win) Most games were won effortlessly. Usually the win was by casting Oath. Once I won casting Eureka, and once by casting Violent Outburst into Oath of Druids. (cascade did resolve as usual even under the epic challenge restriction)
http://uploading.com/files/ca6aa772/epic.avi/
Re: Beating the Challenges - Tutorial
by Wronskian » 10 Feb 2011, 10:31
Set #2
Challenge #4: Epic
Dread Return does not count as a spell : I have beaten this challenge with a Dredge deck with Crop Rotation or Breakthrough for the unic spell.
However, one unic cast of Dread Return is sufficient to win with a Dredge Deck.
My list for Set #2
Challenge #3: That's Big!
thanks to meesterHans
I have no Tolarian Academy because I have no artifact lands
Challenge #4: Epic
Dread Return does not count as a spell : I have beaten this challenge with a Dredge deck with Crop Rotation or Breakthrough for the unic spell.
However, one unic cast of Dread Return is sufficient to win with a Dredge Deck.
My list for Set #2
Challenge #3: That's Big!
- | Open
thanks to meesterHans
I have no Tolarian Academy because I have no artifact lands
Re: Beating the Challenges - Tutorial
by aww1979 » 10 Feb 2011, 10:50
Set #2
Challenge #5: There Can Only Be One!
For this challenge, all cards (not sure about basic lands, but that shouldn't be an issue unless you want to play 1-2 colours) are restricted to 1 per copy in your deck. You also are required to use a 100 card deck. This is a very easy challenge, and unlocks a card that is quite useful in other challenges (because of the manaless cycling) so I strongly recommend that this is one of the first ones you do.
It's also a fun challenge, because there are so many decks you could use to do this one, so that it never gets old. When I beat it initially, I built a controllish 5-colour deck that I threw in all the tutors, planeswalkers, hondens, and removal that I could, and a few creatures to win with, and it won in one or two tries, if memory serves.
You will face the usual challenge mode decks. There is also the possibility of a mirror match.
Extrapolating my usual 23/60 land count to a 100 card deck is 38 lands. (I recommend 40 or so due to the larger deck size and likely use of a 3-5 colour deck)
I don't have any recommendations for a specific archetype, but I do recommend that you use LOTS of tutors and that you consider your lands very carefully, particularly if you are using most/all of the colours. I'm going to build a controllish deck in the style I mentioned above.
The following deck is rather silly, but it should be a lot of fun. It has all colours except red, has lots of planeswalkers (I think all except Nissa Revane) and has only legends for creatures :p As recommended, I included several tutors and lots of removal, as well as the usual broken suspects like moxen. I also added some equipment for more fun :p
Since the AI has no advantages, this deck should win within a few attempts.
Run #1: (lockup) During game 2, things kept getting slower and slower and slowwwwwerrrrrr... then I animated an artifact with Tezzeret, Slave of Bolas, and activated Ajani Goldmane to pump it... the game didn't seem to like that, and it hung :p
Run #2: (loss) I put up a valiant fight, but I was manascrewed and on the defensive the entire time. Lost on round 1 to the black/green Spiritmonger deck. (Spiritmonger is almost as bad as Baneslayer Angel :p)
Run #3: (loss) Lost on round 6 against the soldier deck. I thought I'd stabilized, but Field Marshal came out of nowhere and completely wrecked my board. +1/+1 and first strike to all soldiers is good :p
Changing my deck to something more serious, I made a monoblue control deck. I had to use lots of dual and fetchlands because island is also restricted, but otherwise it's nothing too unusual, though I did sneak in a few combos, like vault/key and grindstone/painter's servant.
Run #4: (loss) Got all the way to round 10, and lost to the white weenie shadow deck. I'd kept a hand with Library of Alexandria and Gargoyle Castle, but no blue land. AI dropped Black Lotus turn 2 and had 9 power worth of attackers hit me on turn 3. It was not fun...
Run #5: (loss) Lost on round 2 to the elf deck. Had a slow start and could not recover.
Went back to the spoiler thread and looked at the original deck I beat this challenge with here: viewtopic.php?f=57&t=1577#p19688 and decided to model a deck after that. I cut it down to 3 colours, white/black/blue, and kept the controllish feel. I also made sure to keep lots of fun cards like planeswalkers Playing monoblue meant that the mana base was difficult to do properly without basic islands, so I recommend at least 2 colours here.
Run #6: (loss) Lost on round 2 to the countersliver deck, which played very well. It countered two creatures with Force of Will and Daze that really, really hurt. Then I had no black mana and got owned.
(removed Stirring Wildwood before beginning run 7; no idea why it was in the deck :p Deck is now 101 cards)
Run #7: (loss) Lost on round 1 to the countersliver deck. I used Balance to wipe out a sliver army while at 2 life, and next turn played Isochron Scepter imprinted with Path to Exile. I had killed two Crystalline Sliver amongst others with Balance and guess what the first sliver AI topdecks is? A third Crystalline Sliver. GG.
Run #8: (loss) Lost on round 2 to the goblin deck. It was a turn 4 kill. Turn 1 Goblin Lackey, I play swamp, Vampiric Tutor for Balance. Turn 2 AI plays Goblin Piledriver, swings for 1, and plays Goblin Chieftain for free; I draw Balance and play a tapped Glacial Forress. Turn 3 AI plays wasteland on the fortress and swings for 10, getting Goblin King for free. I failed to draw white land and conceded.
Run #9: (loss to bugs) Lost on round 2 to faeries. I had several bugs occur during this game. One was when I attacked with Phyrexian Crusader into Wydwen, the Biting Gale, the crusder's wither processed late and so it took 3 damage from wydwen instead of the 1 it should have taken after dealing first strike wither damage. The other was with Sangromancer. For several turns I'd been keeping alive by blocking one out of a horde of faeries and killing one token a turn, gaining 3 life with Sangromancer. Then when I cast Thrummingbird and blocked two attacking tokens, I didn't get ANY life when the two tokens were killed, and so I died at -2 life because it didn't give me 6 life for that.
Run #10: (loss) Got raped by Black Vises on round 2. Time to change the deck...
Changing things around a bit to make the deck have a lower mana curve and more removal:
Run #11: (win) Lowering the mana curve and adding more cheap removal helped me win this time, though it still was not easy. Game 9 in particular should have been a loss or very near it, but the AI played terrible.
http://uploading.com/files/cdcf91ff/the ... beone.avi/
I am quite surprised that this challenge took as long as it did for me; even with a silly deck to start with I expected it to be a breeze. I did have some bad luck in some games, but even so, I was surprised.
Challenge #5: There Can Only Be One!
For this challenge, all cards (not sure about basic lands, but that shouldn't be an issue unless you want to play 1-2 colours) are restricted to 1 per copy in your deck. You also are required to use a 100 card deck. This is a very easy challenge, and unlocks a card that is quite useful in other challenges (because of the manaless cycling) so I strongly recommend that this is one of the first ones you do.
It's also a fun challenge, because there are so many decks you could use to do this one, so that it never gets old. When I beat it initially, I built a controllish 5-colour deck that I threw in all the tutors, planeswalkers, hondens, and removal that I could, and a few creatures to win with, and it won in one or two tries, if memory serves.
You will face the usual challenge mode decks. There is also the possibility of a mirror match.
Extrapolating my usual 23/60 land count to a 100 card deck is 38 lands. (I recommend 40 or so due to the larger deck size and likely use of a 3-5 colour deck)
I don't have any recommendations for a specific archetype, but I do recommend that you use LOTS of tutors and that you consider your lands very carefully, particularly if you are using most/all of the colours. I'm going to build a controllish deck in the style I mentioned above.
The following deck is rather silly, but it should be a lot of fun. It has all colours except red, has lots of planeswalkers (I think all except Nissa Revane) and has only legends for creatures :p As recommended, I included several tutors and lots of removal, as well as the usual broken suspects like moxen. I also added some equipment for more fun :p
- Very silly highlander deck for this challenge | Open
Since the AI has no advantages, this deck should win within a few attempts.
Run #1: (lockup) During game 2, things kept getting slower and slower and slowwwwwerrrrrr... then I animated an artifact with Tezzeret, Slave of Bolas, and activated Ajani Goldmane to pump it... the game didn't seem to like that, and it hung :p
Run #2: (loss) I put up a valiant fight, but I was manascrewed and on the defensive the entire time. Lost on round 1 to the black/green Spiritmonger deck. (Spiritmonger is almost as bad as Baneslayer Angel :p)
Run #3: (loss) Lost on round 6 against the soldier deck. I thought I'd stabilized, but Field Marshal came out of nowhere and completely wrecked my board. +1/+1 and first strike to all soldiers is good :p
Changing my deck to something more serious, I made a monoblue control deck. I had to use lots of dual and fetchlands because island is also restricted, but otherwise it's nothing too unusual, though I did sneak in a few combos, like vault/key and grindstone/painter's servant.
- monoblue highlander control | Open
Run #4: (loss) Got all the way to round 10, and lost to the white weenie shadow deck. I'd kept a hand with Library of Alexandria and Gargoyle Castle, but no blue land. AI dropped Black Lotus turn 2 and had 9 power worth of attackers hit me on turn 3. It was not fun...
Run #5: (loss) Lost on round 2 to the elf deck. Had a slow start and could not recover.
Went back to the spoiler thread and looked at the original deck I beat this challenge with here: viewtopic.php?f=57&t=1577#p19688 and decided to model a deck after that. I cut it down to 3 colours, white/black/blue, and kept the controllish feel. I also made sure to keep lots of fun cards like planeswalkers
Playing monoblue meant that the mana base was difficult to do properly without basic islands, so I recommend at least 2 colours here.- black/blue/white control highlander | Open
Run #6: (loss) Lost on round 2 to the countersliver deck, which played very well. It countered two creatures with Force of Will and Daze that really, really hurt. Then I had no black mana and got owned.
(removed Stirring Wildwood before beginning run 7; no idea why it was in the deck :p Deck is now 101 cards)
Run #7: (loss) Lost on round 1 to the countersliver deck. I used Balance to wipe out a sliver army while at 2 life, and next turn played Isochron Scepter imprinted with Path to Exile. I had killed two Crystalline Sliver amongst others with Balance and guess what the first sliver AI topdecks is? A third Crystalline Sliver. GG.
Run #8: (loss) Lost on round 2 to the goblin deck. It was a turn 4 kill. Turn 1 Goblin Lackey, I play swamp, Vampiric Tutor for Balance. Turn 2 AI plays Goblin Piledriver, swings for 1, and plays Goblin Chieftain for free; I draw Balance and play a tapped Glacial Forress. Turn 3 AI plays wasteland on the fortress and swings for 10, getting Goblin King for free. I failed to draw white land and conceded.
Run #9: (loss to bugs) Lost on round 2 to faeries. I had several bugs occur during this game. One was when I attacked with Phyrexian Crusader into Wydwen, the Biting Gale, the crusder's wither processed late and so it took 3 damage from wydwen instead of the 1 it should have taken after dealing first strike wither damage. The other was with Sangromancer. For several turns I'd been keeping alive by blocking one out of a horde of faeries and killing one token a turn, gaining 3 life with Sangromancer. Then when I cast Thrummingbird and blocked two attacking tokens, I didn't get ANY life when the two tokens were killed, and so I died at -2 life because it didn't give me 6 life for that.
Run #10: (loss) Got raped by Black Vises on round 2. Time to change the deck...
Changing things around a bit to make the deck have a lower mana curve and more removal:
- black/blue/white control highlander revamped | Open
Run #11: (win) Lowering the mana curve and adding more cheap removal helped me win this time, though it still was not easy. Game 9 in particular should have been a loss or very near it, but the AI played terrible.
http://uploading.com/files/cdcf91ff/the ... beone.avi/
I am quite surprised that this challenge took as long as it did for me; even with a silly deck to start with I expected it to be a breeze. I did have some bad luck in some games, but even so, I was surprised.
Re: Beating the Challenges - Tutorial
by aww1979 » 11 Feb 2011, 15:27
Set #2
Challenge #6: March of the Machines
Can you say 'affinity'? Say it with me now...
For this challenge, you can ONLY use artifacts. This also means you cannot use land, unless it is artifact land. Despite that, it is a fairly easy challenge, and I expect to win it in one try. (this is in stark contrast to march of the machines 2 in challenge set #3 where you can only use NONcreature artifacts; that is MUCH harder)
I took the deck I used here viewtopic.php?f=57&t=1577#p19649 and modified it with some newer cards. I have only 16 'real' mana sources, though I also have 4x Silver Myr. This is quite low, but the mana curve is also fairly low. I think it will still work.
Run #1: (loss) Got to round 8 and lost to slivers. I had mulliganed to 4 cards and it had 9 power worth of creatures on turn 2 thanks to two moxes in its opening hand.
After finding out that Contagion Clasp does not proliferate properly on cards that don't normally have counters (i.e. when modular moves counters onto something like Silver Myr, or Steel Overseer pumps stuff) I decided to take all the clasps out and add in 4x Vault of Whispers to increase the mana. (using Vault over other artifact lands for the off chance it might be useful for Cranial Plating)
Run #2: (win) Piece of cake. All the games were quick and decisive. Even the one I had to mulligan down to 4 cards, all of which were mana, was a clear win.
http://uploading.com/files/2ecd18e2/motm.avi/
The one change I would recommend (and it may seem odd) is to remove Mox Opal! It's surprising, given that the deck is 60 artifacts, but Mox Opal was just bad in the opening hand. Every mulligan I took in both runs, I think had an unusable Mox Opal in it, and they would have all been playable had it been something like an artifact land instead. I would recommend ditching the opal for something like Mana Crypt or Mana Vault or just another artifact land.
Challenge #6: March of the Machines
Can you say 'affinity'? Say it with me now...
For this challenge, you can ONLY use artifacts. This also means you cannot use land, unless it is artifact land. Despite that, it is a fairly easy challenge, and I expect to win it in one try. (this is in stark contrast to march of the machines 2 in challenge set #3 where you can only use NONcreature artifacts; that is MUCH harder)
- Artifact Affinity | Open
I took the deck I used here viewtopic.php?f=57&t=1577#p19649 and modified it with some newer cards. I have only 16 'real' mana sources, though I also have 4x Silver Myr. This is quite low, but the mana curve is also fairly low. I think it will still work.
Run #1: (loss) Got to round 8 and lost to slivers. I had mulliganed to 4 cards and it had 9 power worth of creatures on turn 2 thanks to two moxes in its opening hand.
After finding out that Contagion Clasp does not proliferate properly on cards that don't normally have counters (i.e. when modular moves counters onto something like Silver Myr, or Steel Overseer pumps stuff) I decided to take all the clasps out and add in 4x Vault of Whispers to increase the mana. (using Vault over other artifact lands for the off chance it might be useful for Cranial Plating)
Run #2: (win) Piece of cake. All the games were quick and decisive. Even the one I had to mulligan down to 4 cards, all of which were mana, was a clear win.
http://uploading.com/files/2ecd18e2/motm.avi/
The one change I would recommend (and it may seem odd) is to remove Mox Opal! It's surprising, given that the deck is 60 artifacts, but Mox Opal was just bad in the opening hand. Every mulligan I took in both runs, I think had an unusable Mox Opal in it, and they would have all been playable had it been something like an artifact land instead. I would recommend ditching the opal for something like Mana Crypt or Mana Vault or just another artifact land.
Re: Beating the Challenges - Tutorial
by aww1979 » 11 Feb 2011, 15:29
Set #2
Challenge #7: Land Ho!
As of the Feb.8 patch, get Exploration for free on your side at the beginning of each game. That makes this challenge MUCH easier.
You will face random challenge mode decks, including the possibility of a mirror match. (AI should never win a mirror match against you in this challenge, when you have Exploration and it plays dumb)
Here is the deck I will use:
Run #1: (win!!!) Holy shit!!! With Exploration to start, this challenge isn't too bad! The only hard round was the 9th one against soldiers, where I just barely won with 5 life. Every other game I had absolutely no trouble, though the affinity deck on round 10 took awhile. (yes, it even beat affinity!) I never even took any mulligans! I spent MONTHS doing this challenge before Exploration :p
Given that I didn't get to revise the deck, here is what you should change:
-Library of Alexandria: I never used this once. It was way better in the old land ho challenge, because you couldn't get UNDER a 7 card hand unless you used Bazaar of Baghdad. (which also used to be good in old land ho, but now sucks) The only way you could use it is if it were in your opening hand and you drew first. (or stalled yourself to use it)
-Barbarian Ring: I never used this either, except as red mana for Raging Ravine.
-Dark Depths: I did win one game using this, though I probably would've won without it. Usually it was the last land I played.
Cut the library and barbarian rings for sure. Add in two more Quicksand, which was a decent card here. Maybe add a second Pendelhaven for the other slot?
Video http://uploading.com/files/4ac9e1e9/landho.zip/
Challenge #7: Land Ho!
As of the Feb.8 patch, get Exploration for free on your side at the beginning of each game. That makes this challenge MUCH easier.
You will face random challenge mode decks, including the possibility of a mirror match. (AI should never win a mirror match against you in this challenge, when you have Exploration and it plays dumb)
Here is the deck I will use:
- 60 lands! | Open
Run #1: (win!!!) Holy shit!!! With Exploration to start, this challenge isn't too bad! The only hard round was the 9th one against soldiers, where I just barely won with 5 life. Every other game I had absolutely no trouble, though the affinity deck on round 10 took awhile. (yes, it even beat affinity!) I never even took any mulligans! I spent MONTHS doing this challenge before Exploration :p
Given that I didn't get to revise the deck, here is what you should change:
-Library of Alexandria: I never used this once. It was way better in the old land ho challenge, because you couldn't get UNDER a 7 card hand unless you used Bazaar of Baghdad. (which also used to be good in old land ho, but now sucks) The only way you could use it is if it were in your opening hand and you drew first. (or stalled yourself to use it)
-Barbarian Ring: I never used this either, except as red mana for Raging Ravine.
-Dark Depths: I did win one game using this, though I probably would've won without it. Usually it was the last land I played.
Cut the library and barbarian rings for sure. Add in two more Quicksand, which was a decent card here. Maybe add a second Pendelhaven for the other slot?
Video http://uploading.com/files/4ac9e1e9/landho.zip/
Last edited by aww1979 on 12 Feb 2011, 09:57, edited 4 times in total.
Re: Beating the Challenges - Tutorial
by aww1979 » 11 Feb 2011, 15:57
Set #2
Challenge #8: Dude!
In this challenge, you can use only creatures. This means that, as of today (feb. 11/11) the only direct mana sources are Dryad Arbor, Elvish Spirit Guide, and Simian Spirit Guide. All the rest of your mana will have to come from things you cast with those, like Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves, Priest of Titania, etc. This means that there is a VERY narrow field of decks for which you can conceivably play this challenge.
The deck I originally beat this challenge with is here:
viewtopic.php?f=57&t=1577&start=15#p19816
I have removed Platinum Angel, (7 casting cost is brutal here) Imperious Perfect, and Birds of Paradise, and replaced them with Vine Dryad, Magus of the Vineyard, and Noble Hierarch. I don't think any of those were coded at the time (or else I was a retard for not using them!)
Also note that if you are using the Feb.8 or later patch, you will get a free City of Brass in play on your side at the beginning of each game in this challenge. This makes things quite a bit easier than they used to be, and opens up your deckbuilding possibilities to be more imaginative. (like splashing another colour, most likely red if you were to do that, due to Simian Spirit Guide) I'll still go with the deck I was originally planning to use, which is given below.
The deck I will use is:
My first two runs locked up very early and the game slowed down worse than I have ever seen before freezing. I'm not sure if it's one of the cards in the deck or not, so I'm going to see if I can figure out why.
Feb16/2011: Tried once more with the elf deck, but it froze on the first game again once I got about 8 elves.
Trying something completely different, I will exploit the fact that City of Brass is now given for free in play.
A weenie list that is designed around having only one land, hence lots of exalted and life gain.
Run #4: (win)
Games 1-3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfcceR8OpsE
Games 4-10: (forgot to stop after 15 min for youtube's limit, so kept going) http://uploading.com/files/6fcfd925/cha ... 4to10.zip/
Didn't have too much trouble in most games. Went against goblins twice, but AI didn't use Wasteland on City of Brass. It did use them on Dryad Arbor, though, so be aware it will do that.
I think I was only able to cast Death's Shadow once, which gives you an idea of how I did. You can probably replace it with any other weenie. I only ever got Signal Pest once or maybe twice, but I remember it being quite good when I did get it.
Challenge #8: Dude!
In this challenge, you can use only creatures. This means that, as of today (feb. 11/11) the only direct mana sources are Dryad Arbor, Elvish Spirit Guide, and Simian Spirit Guide. All the rest of your mana will have to come from things you cast with those, like Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves, Priest of Titania, etc. This means that there is a VERY narrow field of decks for which you can conceivably play this challenge.
The deck I originally beat this challenge with is here:
viewtopic.php?f=57&t=1577&start=15#p19816
I have removed Platinum Angel, (7 casting cost is brutal here) Imperious Perfect, and Birds of Paradise, and replaced them with Vine Dryad, Magus of the Vineyard, and Noble Hierarch. I don't think any of those were coded at the time (or else I was a retard for not using them!)
Also note that if you are using the Feb.8 or later patch, you will get a free City of Brass in play on your side at the beginning of each game in this challenge. This makes things quite a bit easier than they used to be, and opens up your deckbuilding possibilities to be more imaginative. (like splashing another colour, most likely red if you were to do that, due to Simian Spirit Guide) I'll still go with the deck I was originally planning to use, which is given below.
The deck I will use is:
- Landless Elf Dudes | Open
My first two runs locked up very early and the game slowed down worse than I have ever seen before freezing. I'm not sure if it's one of the cards in the deck or not, so I'm going to see if I can figure out why.
Feb16/2011: Tried once more with the elf deck, but it froze on the first game again once I got about 8 elves.
Trying something completely different, I will exploit the fact that City of Brass is now given for free in play.
- 4 colour weenie | Open
A weenie list that is designed around having only one land, hence lots of exalted and life gain.
Run #4: (win)
Games 1-3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfcceR8OpsE
Games 4-10: (forgot to stop after 15 min for youtube's limit, so kept going) http://uploading.com/files/6fcfd925/cha ... 4to10.zip/
Didn't have too much trouble in most games. Went against goblins twice, but AI didn't use Wasteland on City of Brass. It did use them on Dryad Arbor, though, so be aware it will do that.
I think I was only able to cast Death's Shadow once, which gives you an idea of how I did. You can probably replace it with any other weenie. I only ever got Signal Pest once or maybe twice, but I remember it being quite good when I did get it.
Last edited by aww1979 on 16 Feb 2011, 11:10, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Beating the Challenges - Tutorial
by aww1979 » 12 Feb 2011, 06:23
Set #1
Challenge #7: Planeswalker Decimation
Enemy decks are chosen at random from the usual challenge list.
In all rounds, AI always gets Leyline of the Void and Presence of the Master in play to start. It also gets one or more planeswalkers, depending on what round you are on. Thus, you should design your deck based on this knowledge. (i.e. a card like Regrowth or any enchantment is useless unless you can destroy those cards)
This challenge appears out of order in the list because it was not created until Feb. 2011. It replaced the old 5:1 challenge, and still unlocks Serum Powder. If you have already beaten 5:1, I don't think you need to redo this one.
As a result, this is the first challenge in the tutorial that I will be doing without having already beaten it and knowing the best ways to tackle it. I built a white weenie deck that is a variation of one that I used as a 'testing the waters' sort of deck for many of the other challenges when they were new. In particular, I wanted to make a deck using Mirran Crusader, because that thing is effing overpowered :p
So, here is my first deck design for planeswalker decimation, knowing nothing about it except the name:
Emeria and windbrisk heights might be better served by using just plains instead, but I thought emeria might come in handy against turbofog or other late-game decks, and windbrisk heights is just fun, and should be relatively easy to meet the condition with so many creatures, as well as spectral procession. I would have preferred to include a third Ajani, but I could not justify cutting to 22 lands with some of the high casting cost cards here, and I liked all the other cards too much to cut one for it.
Run #1: (loss) I was winning the game, but the decimation killed me on turn 8 before I could seal the deal. This means that a very fast, consistent deck will be required. Thus, I don't think that control has a hope in hell of doing this challenge, unless maybe someone codes Leeches :p The match was short enough that I will upload it to youtube once my internet connection stops cutting out every 2 minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL7JWNTInHo
Run #2: (loss) I got to round 4 with an affinity deck that included the Painter's Servant/Grindstone combo. Turns out it doesn't work :p On round 4, I mulliganed a hand that had nothing but land and the combo, and then kept getting no-land hands, and got slaughtered as a result. I think I ended up keeping a 3 card hand...
This deck would've done better if the combo worked. I will now remove the combo and replace it with 4x Ornithopter and 4x Memnite.
Run #3: (loss) Lost on round 3. I had one mox and lots of cheap spells in my opening hand and I kept it. I never saw another mana all game, and AI just sat on a Tarmogoyf and waited, while my memnites and frogmites could do nothing.
Run #4: (win) Got all the way through it, but many rounds would have been lost if the AI had actually used its damn planeswalkers.
Had the AI been using its planeswalkers, I should have lost rounds 6,8,9, and 10 for sure, and 4,5, and 7 would have been iffy.
edit: Sorry, video seems to be corrupted, so no upload. It wouldn't be that informative, anyway; mostly it's me laughing at the AI not using its planeswalkers. I also got a good laugh when the AI cast Naturalize on a mox while I was attacking with three artifact creatures, one of which was an 8/8 Master of Etherium.
Personal Rating:
Attempts = 1 (this will be much higher once planeswalker AI is improved)
Difficulty = 6 (this will be 9-10 once planeswalker AI is improved)
Luck Factor = 8 (this is high because the deck you face might mesh really well with the planeswalkers on that particular round. For instance, on one round the AI had Garruk Wildspeaker in play and had Winter Orb in its deck. Thank goodness it never used garruk except to make beasts!)
Frustration Factor: 8 (this was fairly low for me, but again, once planeswalker AI is improved, this will be very high, because some of the rounds, particularly 6 and later, will be extremely difficult, so I will rate it on what it would be if the planeswalkers had been used on more than 10% of the turns)
Challenge #7: Planeswalker Decimation
Enemy decks are chosen at random from the usual challenge list.
In all rounds, AI always gets Leyline of the Void and Presence of the Master in play to start. It also gets one or more planeswalkers, depending on what round you are on. Thus, you should design your deck based on this knowledge. (i.e. a card like Regrowth or any enchantment is useless unless you can destroy those cards)
- The 10 rounds and what you will encounter | Open
This challenge appears out of order in the list because it was not created until Feb. 2011. It replaced the old 5:1 challenge, and still unlocks Serum Powder. If you have already beaten 5:1, I don't think you need to redo this one.
As a result, this is the first challenge in the tutorial that I will be doing without having already beaten it and knowing the best ways to tackle it. I built a white weenie deck that is a variation of one that I used as a 'testing the waters' sort of deck for many of the other challenges when they were new. In particular, I wanted to make a deck using Mirran Crusader, because that thing is effing overpowered :p
So, here is my first deck design for planeswalker decimation, knowing nothing about it except the name:
- White weenie, starring Mirran Crusader! | Open
Emeria and windbrisk heights might be better served by using just plains instead, but I thought emeria might come in handy against turbofog or other late-game decks, and windbrisk heights is just fun, and should be relatively easy to meet the condition with so many creatures, as well as spectral procession. I would have preferred to include a third Ajani, but I could not justify cutting to 22 lands with some of the high casting cost cards here, and I liked all the other cards too much to cut one for it.
- First Attempt Observations | Open
Run #1: (loss) I was winning the game, but the decimation killed me on turn 8 before I could seal the deal. This means that a very fast, consistent deck will be required. Thus, I don't think that control has a hope in hell of doing this challenge, unless maybe someone codes Leeches :p The match was short enough that I will upload it to youtube once my internet connection stops cutting out every 2 minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL7JWNTInHo
Run #2: (loss) I got to round 4 with an affinity deck that included the Painter's Servant/Grindstone combo. Turns out it doesn't work :p On round 4, I mulliganed a hand that had nothing but land and the combo, and then kept getting no-land hands, and got slaughtered as a result. I think I ended up keeping a 3 card hand...
- Affinity with painter's servant/grindstone | Open
This deck would've done better if the combo worked. I will now remove the combo and replace it with 4x Ornithopter and 4x Memnite.
- Affinity comboless now | Open
Run #3: (loss) Lost on round 3. I had one mox and lots of cheap spells in my opening hand and I kept it. I never saw another mana all game, and AI just sat on a Tarmogoyf and waited, while my memnites and frogmites could do nothing.
Run #4: (win) Got all the way through it, but many rounds would have been lost if the AI had actually used its damn planeswalkers.
Had the AI been using its planeswalkers, I should have lost rounds 6,8,9, and 10 for sure, and 4,5, and 7 would have been iffy.
edit: Sorry, video seems to be corrupted, so no upload. It wouldn't be that informative, anyway; mostly it's me laughing at the AI not using its planeswalkers. I also got a good laugh when the AI cast Naturalize on a mox while I was attacking with three artifact creatures, one of which was an 8/8 Master of Etherium.
Personal Rating:
Attempts = 1 (this will be much higher once planeswalker AI is improved)
Difficulty = 6 (this will be 9-10 once planeswalker AI is improved)
Luck Factor = 8 (this is high because the deck you face might mesh really well with the planeswalkers on that particular round. For instance, on one round the AI had Garruk Wildspeaker in play and had Winter Orb in its deck. Thank goodness it never used garruk except to make beasts!)
Frustration Factor: 8 (this was fairly low for me, but again, once planeswalker AI is improved, this will be very high, because some of the rounds, particularly 6 and later, will be extremely difficult, so I will rate it on what it would be if the planeswalkers had been used on more than 10% of the turns)
Re: Beating the Challenges - Tutorial
by discoransom » 16 Feb 2011, 07:28
40 card boring angel deck rocks for Shandalar 2.0.
I got to round ten and tinkered for Plat Angel without thinking...the AI killed it.
Tinker for Disk imo/fml
I got to round ten and tinkered for Plat Angel without thinking...the AI killed it.
Tinker for Disk imo/fml
- discoransom
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Re: Beating the Challenges - Tutorial
by aww1979 » 16 Feb 2011, 11:35
Challenge Set #2 Personal ratings:
(ratings out of 10)
1) Super Mulligan
Attempts: 21 under old 0-card hand without success, 1 attempt under 2-card hand
Difficulty: 8 (this is one of the toughest challenges there is, it was at least a 9 before the change)
Luck Factor: 8 (you need to get lucky with your initial 'hand' that gets put on top of your deck, not only in content but in the order it gets dealt to you. That, and the possibility of going against a fast weenie deck can screw you; you can be goldfished in 5 turns by some decks)
Frustration Factor: 8 (this one is fairly annoying, for the reasons listed in 'luck factor')
2) What Hand
Attempts: 11 (I am surprised it took this many)
Difficulty: 7 (Oath is probably one of the few decks you can reliably play here, though dredge and a few others could work)
Luck Factor: 9 (Luck is a HUGE factor on this one. If you have to mulligan more than once or twice, you will be screwed hard)
Frustration Factor: 8 (nothing worse than mulliganing to nothing because you can't find a playable hand under these conditions)
3) That's Big
Attempts: 2 (not surprised here, it's pretty easy)
Difficulty: 3 (you can get around the 4+ cc by using alternate casting costs or affinity or the like, plus you can use lands like Ancient Tomb or Mishra's Workshop or urza's or sac lands like Ebon Stronghold. Heck, you can even use manlands)
Luck Factor: 4 (manascrew is more likely here than in other challenges due to the more expensive spells, but by adding an extra couple lands you can mostly negate this)
Frustration Factor: 2 (this one doesn't have anything to make it really frustrating beyond the usual)
4) Epic
Attempts: 1 (I'd expect 1-4 tries or so being typical)
Difficulty: 4 (you can do well with Oath here, so it's not too hard. If you use Oath, it's almost strictly easier than What Hand, since you can draw, though you can't use moxes here)
Luck Factor: 3 (you might have to mulligan here or get stalled, but the chances of this happening are less than for What Hand due to getting your draws)
Frustration Factor: 2 (nothing really frustrating on this one)
5) There can only be one
Attempts: 11 (very surprised about this, would've expected more like 4-5)
Difficulty: 7 (the unpredictability of your deck due to size and the highlander rule is mainly what makes it tough)
Luck Factor: 7 (with a 100 card deck, your draws are more unpredictable, and you sometimes just don't get what you need)
Frustration Factor: 5 (see above for why)
6) March of the Machines
Attempts: 2 (about what I expected; note that this challenge is strictly easier than March of the Machines #2 in the next set)
Difficulty: 3 (This one's pretty easy with affinity)
Luck Factor: 3 (nothing really unusual here)
Frustration Factor: 2 (nothing really unusual here)
7) Land Ho!
Attempts: 1 (I nearly fainted when I did this, but it is a lot easier with exploration. Still, I'd expect this one to take a lot more tries, like 5-10)
Difficulty: 8 (this was a 10/10 before Exploration, it took me longer than all other challenges combined back then)
Luck Factor: 6 (at least you don't get manascrewed on this one... :p but sometimes you lack your control cards like Maze of Ith and you get overrun)
Frustration Factor: 9 (playing with just lands is annoying, and games are often slow, because you sit there using Maze of Ith and watching AI pay for Tabernacle and what not, and sometimes you have to slowly wear the AI down by cheap tricks like letting it attack into your manlands that it doesn't see for several turns before you get a window to attack back in... and then you lose and have to restart)
8: Dude
Attempts: 4 (though 3 were lockups, but even so you might need several tries, maybe 5 or so)
Difficulty: 5 (I'd have rated it about 7-8 without City of Brass)
Luck Factor: 8 (You need mana sources, and sometimes AI gets a nasty start like bolting your Dryad Arbor and it can be really hard to recover from that)
Frustration Factor: 5 (see above. this used to be higher before you had the guaranteed land to start with, but you can still get into trouble if you have expensive cards in hand)
I strongly recommend doing "There can only be one" early because Street Wraith is useful in many challenge decks, particularly dredge decks. (it sucks in Oath though, for obvious reasons) I recommend doing "That's Big" and "March of the Machines" for Goblin Charbelcher and Tangle Wire. They are good cards, and will be very valuable for you in "March of the Machines 2" in challenge 3-6.
(ratings out of 10)
1) Super Mulligan
Attempts: 21 under old 0-card hand without success, 1 attempt under 2-card hand
Difficulty: 8 (this is one of the toughest challenges there is, it was at least a 9 before the change)
Luck Factor: 8 (you need to get lucky with your initial 'hand' that gets put on top of your deck, not only in content but in the order it gets dealt to you. That, and the possibility of going against a fast weenie deck can screw you; you can be goldfished in 5 turns by some decks)
Frustration Factor: 8 (this one is fairly annoying, for the reasons listed in 'luck factor')
2) What Hand
Attempts: 11 (I am surprised it took this many)
Difficulty: 7 (Oath is probably one of the few decks you can reliably play here, though dredge and a few others could work)
Luck Factor: 9 (Luck is a HUGE factor on this one. If you have to mulligan more than once or twice, you will be screwed hard)
Frustration Factor: 8 (nothing worse than mulliganing to nothing because you can't find a playable hand under these conditions)
3) That's Big
Attempts: 2 (not surprised here, it's pretty easy)
Difficulty: 3 (you can get around the 4+ cc by using alternate casting costs or affinity or the like, plus you can use lands like Ancient Tomb or Mishra's Workshop or urza's or sac lands like Ebon Stronghold. Heck, you can even use manlands)
Luck Factor: 4 (manascrew is more likely here than in other challenges due to the more expensive spells, but by adding an extra couple lands you can mostly negate this)
Frustration Factor: 2 (this one doesn't have anything to make it really frustrating beyond the usual)
4) Epic
Attempts: 1 (I'd expect 1-4 tries or so being typical)
Difficulty: 4 (you can do well with Oath here, so it's not too hard. If you use Oath, it's almost strictly easier than What Hand, since you can draw, though you can't use moxes here)
Luck Factor: 3 (you might have to mulligan here or get stalled, but the chances of this happening are less than for What Hand due to getting your draws)
Frustration Factor: 2 (nothing really frustrating on this one)
5) There can only be one
Attempts: 11 (very surprised about this, would've expected more like 4-5)
Difficulty: 7 (the unpredictability of your deck due to size and the highlander rule is mainly what makes it tough)
Luck Factor: 7 (with a 100 card deck, your draws are more unpredictable, and you sometimes just don't get what you need)
Frustration Factor: 5 (see above for why)
6) March of the Machines
Attempts: 2 (about what I expected; note that this challenge is strictly easier than March of the Machines #2 in the next set)
Difficulty: 3 (This one's pretty easy with affinity)
Luck Factor: 3 (nothing really unusual here)
Frustration Factor: 2 (nothing really unusual here)
7) Land Ho!
Attempts: 1 (I nearly fainted when I did this, but it is a lot easier with exploration. Still, I'd expect this one to take a lot more tries, like 5-10)
Difficulty: 8 (this was a 10/10 before Exploration, it took me longer than all other challenges combined back then)
Luck Factor: 6 (at least you don't get manascrewed on this one... :p but sometimes you lack your control cards like Maze of Ith and you get overrun)
Frustration Factor: 9 (playing with just lands is annoying, and games are often slow, because you sit there using Maze of Ith and watching AI pay for Tabernacle and what not, and sometimes you have to slowly wear the AI down by cheap tricks like letting it attack into your manlands that it doesn't see for several turns before you get a window to attack back in... and then you lose and have to restart)
8: Dude
Attempts: 4 (though 3 were lockups, but even so you might need several tries, maybe 5 or so)
Difficulty: 5 (I'd have rated it about 7-8 without City of Brass)
Luck Factor: 8 (You need mana sources, and sometimes AI gets a nasty start like bolting your Dryad Arbor and it can be really hard to recover from that)
Frustration Factor: 5 (see above. this used to be higher before you had the guaranteed land to start with, but you can still get into trouble if you have expensive cards in hand)
I strongly recommend doing "There can only be one" early because Street Wraith is useful in many challenge decks, particularly dredge decks. (it sucks in Oath though, for obvious reasons) I recommend doing "That's Big" and "March of the Machines" for Goblin Charbelcher and Tangle Wire. They are good cards, and will be very valuable for you in "March of the Machines 2" in challenge 3-6.
Re: Beating the Challenges - Tutorial
by aww1979 » 16 Feb 2011, 11:50
Set #3
Challenge #1: Gather No Moss
(You may only use lands from Beta here. The reason is so that you don't abuse manlands and things like that to get around the fact that walls suck dick. I haven't tried whether you can use non-beta lands as some of your 4 wild card slots, but even if you can, I wouldn't recommend doing it)
There are only 9 rounds in this challenge, and round #9 is always a mirror match. The first 8 rounds are against random challenge mode decks.
This is a very hard and boring challenge. You can only use walls, beta lands, and then 4 cards of your choice. Good choices are 'wish' cards (flexibility), cards that can win by themselves (big creatures or things that deal lots of damage like Goblin Charbelcher), Millstone or similar cards, or instant win cards like Felidar Sovereign. (works well with Wall of Reverence) White and green seem to have the best walls, and I think everyone did those two colours whose decks were posted in other threads.
I splashed blue for Plumeveil (one of the only good walls in all of magic) and Wall of Wonder / Wall of Denial. Too bad Walking Wall isn't coded... When I did this challenge before, I think I used Wall of Brambles and Wall of Spears instead of wonder/denial, and I don't think Wall of Omens existed yet; I think I had Wall of Swords in that slot.
Anyway, I will use 4x Ring of Ma'Ruf for my 4 wild cards, so that I can get whatever will be the most useful against the particular deck I'm facing. Then, because I might want a red or black card, I use all dual lands and no basics. (basic lands suck almost as much as walls!)
Run #1: (lockup) Wow! I forgot how NOT fun this one is :p It took me over an hour just to get to round 5, and the turn before I won (with a MaRuffed for Test of Endurance and 53 life thanks to Wall of Reverence) the AI decided to lock up on its turn. I won game 1 with Jace, the Mind Sculptor, game 2 with Righteous Fury on the first Ring to survive, and Sword of Feast and Famine with the second Ring(making my Wall of Wonder invincible against the Spiritmonger deck), game 3 with a combination of Wall of Wonder and a Maruffed for Fireball, game 4 without a Ring at all, doing 20 damage with Wall of Wonder against the Mana Flare X-damage deck, and game 5 would've been won with Test of Endurance, so you can see that the rings allow quite a bit of flexibility, getting what you need against the particular deck you are facing.
I'm going to leave this challenge alone for now, because of several factors: 1) it is extremely boring, 2) Wall of Roots, the prize, is not really that great, and I doubt anyone would care if they had it or not anyway, 3) there's no real skill on this challenge anyway, it's just waiting until you either get a ring and win, or die.
Based on the deck's performance, I think it is adequate, although you might want to fit in Wall of Swords or some more flying walls. In game 2 I had to wish for mass removal because Vampire Nighthawks were kicking my ass, and all I had for flyers that game was one Wall of Reverence.
(edit june 14)
I'm finally returning to this thread, as I have today off work. Anyway, going with Gather No Moss, the best walls look like they are in white and green, so I'm going with that, and splashing blue dual lands to make casting Plumeveil easier. For my 4 wild cards I'll use Ring of Ma'Ruf and get whatever is most appropriate for the given situation. Other duals are there because they can help cast red/black/blue spells I might want to Ma'Ruf for, and because only beta lands are permitted.
Run #2 (win): Game 3 looked really bad when AI got an early Juggernaut, and looked even worse when a bug prevented my Plumeveil from blocking it. Fortunately, at the last possible turn, I topdecked Wall of Reverence, and that kept me going. Game 4 I thought I was screwed when AI had three 4/4 rats out on turn 2, but two Plumeveils combined with the AI playing nothing but land for the rest of the game gave me a lucky win there. Camstudio crashed at the end, so I don't have the final game, but I'll upload all the rest.
Win cards chosen with Ring of Ma'Ruf included Akroma, Angel of Wrath, Baneslayer Angel, Test of Endurance, Felidar Sovereign, Rolling Stones, Simic Sky Swallower. Moat was also sometimes chosen first to survive, when needed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nuGlPVCQa8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNQDwZMTuXs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ggM9O0NZAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLANORtgBtA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHkqr1ElhiY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeWsgr6hmkE
(camstudio crashed on the file for end of game 8 and game 9, but there are only 9 rounds in this one and 9 is a mirror match)
Challenge #1: Gather No Moss
(You may only use lands from Beta here. The reason is so that you don't abuse manlands and things like that to get around the fact that walls suck dick. I haven't tried whether you can use non-beta lands as some of your 4 wild card slots, but even if you can, I wouldn't recommend doing it)
There are only 9 rounds in this challenge, and round #9 is always a mirror match. The first 8 rounds are against random challenge mode decks.
This is a very hard and boring challenge. You can only use walls, beta lands, and then 4 cards of your choice. Good choices are 'wish' cards (flexibility), cards that can win by themselves (big creatures or things that deal lots of damage like Goblin Charbelcher), Millstone or similar cards, or instant win cards like Felidar Sovereign. (works well with Wall of Reverence) White and green seem to have the best walls, and I think everyone did those two colours whose decks were posted in other threads.
- W/G/U Wall of of Poop | Open
I splashed blue for Plumeveil (one of the only good walls in all of magic) and Wall of Wonder / Wall of Denial. Too bad Walking Wall isn't coded... When I did this challenge before, I think I used Wall of Brambles and Wall of Spears instead of wonder/denial, and I don't think Wall of Omens existed yet; I think I had Wall of Swords in that slot.
Anyway, I will use 4x Ring of Ma'Ruf for my 4 wild cards, so that I can get whatever will be the most useful against the particular deck I'm facing. Then, because I might want a red or black card, I use all dual lands and no basics. (basic lands suck almost as much as walls!)
Run #1: (lockup) Wow! I forgot how NOT fun this one is :p It took me over an hour just to get to round 5, and the turn before I won (with a MaRuffed for Test of Endurance and 53 life thanks to Wall of Reverence) the AI decided to lock up on its turn. I won game 1 with Jace, the Mind Sculptor, game 2 with Righteous Fury on the first Ring to survive, and Sword of Feast and Famine with the second Ring(making my Wall of Wonder invincible against the Spiritmonger deck), game 3 with a combination of Wall of Wonder and a Maruffed for Fireball, game 4 without a Ring at all, doing 20 damage with Wall of Wonder against the Mana Flare X-damage deck, and game 5 would've been won with Test of Endurance, so you can see that the rings allow quite a bit of flexibility, getting what you need against the particular deck you are facing.
I'm going to leave this challenge alone for now, because of several factors: 1) it is extremely boring, 2) Wall of Roots, the prize, is not really that great, and I doubt anyone would care if they had it or not anyway, 3) there's no real skill on this challenge anyway, it's just waiting until you either get a ring and win, or die.
Based on the deck's performance, I think it is adequate, although you might want to fit in Wall of Swords or some more flying walls. In game 2 I had to wish for mass removal because Vampire Nighthawks were kicking my ass, and all I had for flyers that game was one Wall of Reverence.
(edit june 14)
I'm finally returning to this thread, as I have today off work. Anyway, going with Gather No Moss, the best walls look like they are in white and green, so I'm going with that, and splashing blue dual lands to make casting Plumeveil easier. For my 4 wild cards I'll use Ring of Ma'Ruf and get whatever is most appropriate for the given situation. Other duals are there because they can help cast red/black/blue spells I might want to Ma'Ruf for, and because only beta lands are permitted.
- The Wall | Open
Run #2 (win): Game 3 looked really bad when AI got an early Juggernaut, and looked even worse when a bug prevented my Plumeveil from blocking it. Fortunately, at the last possible turn, I topdecked Wall of Reverence, and that kept me going. Game 4 I thought I was screwed when AI had three 4/4 rats out on turn 2, but two Plumeveils combined with the AI playing nothing but land for the rest of the game gave me a lucky win there. Camstudio crashed at the end, so I don't have the final game, but I'll upload all the rest.
Win cards chosen with Ring of Ma'Ruf included Akroma, Angel of Wrath, Baneslayer Angel, Test of Endurance, Felidar Sovereign, Rolling Stones, Simic Sky Swallower. Moat was also sometimes chosen first to survive, when needed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nuGlPVCQa8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNQDwZMTuXs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ggM9O0NZAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLANORtgBtA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHkqr1ElhiY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeWsgr6hmkE
(camstudio crashed on the file for end of game 8 and game 9, but there are only 9 rounds in this one and 9 is a mirror match)
Last edited by aww1979 on 15 Jun 2011, 01:55, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Beating the Challenges - Tutorial
by aww1979 » 17 Feb 2011, 11:08
Set #3
Challenge #2: Enchanted Evening
In this challenge you can only have enchantments and Beta-set lands. (no wild cards) There are some pretty good control enchantments, like The Abyss, Propaganda, Moat, and some win condition enchantments like Underworld Dreams, Hondens, Sigil of the Empty Throne, Centaur Glade, Dragon Roost, etc.
However, there are two cards that are your secret weapons. They are... Fertile Ground and Wild Growth. Seriously. I struggled with this challenge when it first came out, and then finally I clued in to the fact that I could use those as acceleration. It made all the difference in the world. Whatever deck you decide to use, and there are several different ones you could do, make sure you have four of both of those cards.
There are only 9 rounds in this challenge, unlike most, where there are 10. The last round is a mirror match, so be sure you have a way to win in that scenario. (i.e. don't just rely on Control Magic effects exclusively to steal creatures, for instance)
I decided to keep things simple and just use two colours.
Run #1: (loss) Lost on round 3 to the kithkin deck. It got an incredibly fast start. I managed to get 4 angels in play to handle the 4 AI creatures while at 3 life. Then AI cast Cloudgoat Ranger, and my only chance was to topdeck Moat, and I didn't get it.
Run #2: (loss) Lost on round 2 to the zombie deck, which again had a very fast start.
Run #3: (win) My recorder program crashed when I tried to save, so no video. However, I did learn that this challenge only has 9 rounds, and that the last round is a mirror match.
In all the games I played, the colour hosers were rarely used. Sanctimony never did anything, Choke helped in one game, but I think I would've won anyway, and Karma actually did win me one game on its own while I hid behind a Moat. Doubling Season proved quite useful when I got it. It doubles your Sigils and also the Luminarch Ascension, both the angels it makes and the counters it gets building up to 4. Many games were won solely by camping behind a Moat until a win condition presented itself. (the idea behind the Sanctimony was in case I went against a burn deck, I could use Sterling Grove to get it, since I had no way of dealing with burn otherwise, but I never went against one)
There are a lot more very strong enchantments since this challenge was created, and at least half of this deck did not exist at that time, so I found it considerably easier than before.
Challenge #2: Enchanted Evening
In this challenge you can only have enchantments and Beta-set lands. (no wild cards) There are some pretty good control enchantments, like The Abyss, Propaganda, Moat, and some win condition enchantments like Underworld Dreams, Hondens, Sigil of the Empty Throne, Centaur Glade, Dragon Roost, etc.
However, there are two cards that are your secret weapons. They are... Fertile Ground and Wild Growth. Seriously. I struggled with this challenge when it first came out, and then finally I clued in to the fact that I could use those as acceleration. It made all the difference in the world. Whatever deck you decide to use, and there are several different ones you could do, make sure you have four of both of those cards.
There are only 9 rounds in this challenge, unlike most, where there are 10. The last round is a mirror match, so be sure you have a way to win in that scenario. (i.e. don't just rely on Control Magic effects exclusively to steal creatures, for instance)
I decided to keep things simple and just use two colours.
- Enchantment deck | Open
Run #1: (loss) Lost on round 3 to the kithkin deck. It got an incredibly fast start. I managed to get 4 angels in play to handle the 4 AI creatures while at 3 life. Then AI cast Cloudgoat Ranger, and my only chance was to topdeck Moat, and I didn't get it.
Run #2: (loss) Lost on round 2 to the zombie deck, which again had a very fast start.
Run #3: (win) My recorder program crashed when I tried to save, so no video. However, I did learn that this challenge only has 9 rounds, and that the last round is a mirror match.
In all the games I played, the colour hosers were rarely used. Sanctimony never did anything, Choke helped in one game, but I think I would've won anyway, and Karma actually did win me one game on its own while I hid behind a Moat. Doubling Season proved quite useful when I got it. It doubles your Sigils and also the Luminarch Ascension, both the angels it makes and the counters it gets building up to 4. Many games were won solely by camping behind a Moat until a win condition presented itself. (the idea behind the Sanctimony was in case I went against a burn deck, I could use Sterling Grove to get it, since I had no way of dealing with burn otherwise, but I never went against one)
There are a lot more very strong enchantments since this challenge was created, and at least half of this deck did not exist at that time, so I found it considerably easier than before.
Last edited by aww1979 on 18 Feb 2011, 07:10, edited 1 time in total.
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