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Programmer's Delight
Challenge: 4-8
Unlocks: (Leatherback Baloth)
Description: You can only use cards that didn't require coding. These are creatures with no abilities except Flying, First Strike, Banding, Reach, Landwalk, Trample, and Shroud. Any lands from Beta are allowed.
NavigationChallenge Index - Archive for Set 4


Please discuss this Challenge here!

I just want to say this is a beautiful challenge that has me both infuriated and captivated.

My approach was initially a deck with a lot of first strike and fliers. That deck made it to the mirror match roughly 35% the time. But it was essentially impossible to win the last round.

Now I'm running a GW deck with one forestwalker and one flier, and many of my creatures have greater power than toughness to offset Glorious Anthem in round 9. Problem is, it only rarely makes it through the gauntlet to the last match, which in theory is in the player's advantage. So which deck to run? The one that gets to the last round and has no chance, or the one that rarely gets through but can win the mirror?

hmm...

Here's the final list. Took roughly 30 gauntlets to win.


4 Elite Vanguard
4 Savannah Lions
4 Mistral Charger
4 Pikemen
4 Longbow Archer
2 Tundra Wolves
4 Garruk's Companion
4 Rushwood Dryad
4 Timber Wolves
2 Spined Wurm
4 Watchwolf

8 Plains
8 Forest
4 Savannah


The last round is not too hard provided you draw your Longbow Archer to counter Mistral Charger, and play Rushwood Dryad before the AI does.


The key to this challenge is manipulating the combat to take out opposing lords on the attack. You are cold dead to Soldiers, nearly dead to Kithkin. Relentless Rats is very tricky, but if you can take out one rat per attack phase, you're okay. Slivers is not too hard if you're careful. You'll win a lot of games at 1 or 2 life. Faeries can be very tough as well. Vampires and Kobolds (lol) are quite deadly too. The odds of getting through ten rounds without getting god-drawn one time are not so good.

Banding attacks to provoke the AI into a race are strong, and it will occasionally make terrible attacks into your banding defense. Having the Pit Scorpion is almost mandatory.

A different strategy is to play more tundra wolves, more fliers, and more first strikers. You will make it to the mirror much more often, but are stone dead to anything but a land flood or mana screw by the AI.

And finally, I strongly suggest playing Leatherback Baloth...