Archenemy's cohort

[HornofAmmon]

The new 4-8 challenge. What is it? What are the rules? Any suggestions for decks? Thanks!

[stassy]

* "Enter the Dragon" Challenge is now "Archenemy's Cohort" : beat the 8 powerful, legendary allies of the Archenemy and then the Archenemy itself ! Your reward : the Archenemy AVATAR, courtesy of Jatill.
The deck-building rules are similar to the previous, but with a main difference : your deck must be at least 100 cards and every card is restricted to one, except for basic lands.

It's the same challenge as the old one in EDH format except I suppose at the end the boss Archenemy is doing to you nasty things

[HornofAmmon]

I beat this challenge with a Bant deck, after a hundred tries. The only way to beat the Archenemy, I found, was to Tinker for a Blightsteel Colossus - which I luckily managed to do in my winning run, followed by a Time Walk to make sure the Archenemy couldn't remove it

;Archenemy UGW
;
;User
;User E-Mail
;23/02/2012
;1
;4th Edition
;

.10826 1 Blightsteel Colossus
.10971 1 Batterskull
.166 1 Mox Jet
.165 1 Mox Emerald
.167 1 Mox Pearl
.168 1 Mox Ruby
.169 1 Mox Sapphire
.1207 1 Solemn Simulacrum
.10943 1 Sword of Feast and Famine
.6746 1 Sword of Fire and Ice
.7363 1 Umezawa's Jitte
.10820 1 Wurmcoil Engine
.1351 1 Tinker
.249 1 Time Walk
.1 1 Ancestral Recall
.1528 1 Mystical Tutor
.11183 1 Delver of Secrets
.3716 1 Fog Bank
.11674 1 Phantasmal Image
.11337 1 Snapcaster Mage
.8893 1 Sower of Temptation
.10776 1 Steel Hellkite
.6919 1 Trinket Mage
.9081 1 Vendilion Clique
.17 1 Black Lotus
.230 1 Sol Ring
.985 1 Bribery
.44 1 Control Magic
.10296 1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
.11327 1 Silent Departure
.11112 1 Vapor Snag
.1341 1 Treachery
.1488 1 Flooded Strand
.438 1 Library of Alexandria
.1487 1 Polluted Delta
.1216 1 Seat of the Synod
.10128 1 Misty Rainforest
.1474 1 Wooded Foothills
.126 3 Island
.377 1 Maze of Ith
.1192 1 Worship
.290 1 Wrath of God
.1560 1 Path to Exile
.240 1 Swords to Plowshares
.10043 1 Day of Judgment
.9584 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
.10090 1 Journey to Nowhere
.8859 1 Oblivion Ring
.11002 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
.10865 1 Hero of Bladehold
.10887 1 Mirran Crusader
.3966 1 Mother of Runes
.11395 1 Baneslayer Angel
.10357 1 Stoneforge Mystic
.12110 1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest
.9921 1 Jenara, Asura of War
.9791 1 Knight of the Reliquary
.1368 1 Loxodon Hierarch
.9960 1 Qasali Pridemage
.9810 1 Noble Hierarch
.9816 1 Progenitus
.2894 1 Natural Order
.15 1 Birds of Paradise
.8667 1 Tarmogoyf
.1219 1 Ancient Den
.1217 1 Tree of Tales
.10012 1 Arid Mesa
.1716 1 Breeding Pool
.11243 1 Hinterland Harbor
.8574 1 Horizon Canopy
.11288 1 Moorland Haunt
.740 1 Pendelhaven
.212 1 Savannah
.10170 1 Scalding Tarn
.11484 1 Sunpetal Grove
.1499 1 Temple Garden
.1473 1 Windswept Heath
.254 1 Tundra
.252 1 Tropical Island
.10256 1 Celestial Colonnade
.1205 1 Seaside Citadel
.10354 1 Stirring Wildwood
.188 2 Plains
.91 2 Forest
.10763 1 Seachrome Coast
.10973 1 Birthing Pod
.10 1 Balance
.22 1 Blue Elemental Blast
.3021 1 Gemstone Mine
.694 1 Karakas
.11427 1 Glacial Fortress
.1714 1 Hallowed Fountain
.10752 1 Razorverge Thicket
.9363 1 Archon of Justice
.260 1 Unsummon
.4035 1 Academy Rector

[HarlequinCasts]

Dear lord. After dozens of tries and finally getting to the last match this seems almost impossible. The final match was such a violent beating of Archenemy cards (I start with 4 cards, he gets dragons and golems etc). It really feels like this comes down to just RNG luck after countless tries...

Anyone else have any pointers?

[MarkyMark]

For the final boss, I used a Time Vault with Voltaic Key combo. The combo is not too hard to assemble and works against the final boss because he doesn't get another turn to use his Archenemy cards. The rest of the deck I used was an Esper deck splashing green for Oath of Druids. If you're interested, I'd be happy to supply the list!

[stassy]

Sure, please supply us

[MarkyMark]

Alright, so here is the list. It features a lot of spot removal for the generals, and general powerful effects, such as planeswalkers. There is an Oath of Druids package in here that helps tremendously against creature decks. The advantage of the Oath of Druids package is that your tutors can either find the full Voltaic Key plus Time Vault combo, or just tutor for Oath of Druids, which is good enough against most of the field. One reason to opt out of the Oath of Druids is because it ensures that you can't reasonably run value creatures such as Stoneforge Mystic or Trinket Mage, which might otherwise be really good in this deck. Another card of note are the Gifts Ungiven and Intuition, which combo with big creatures and Unburial Rites to get a good creature into play for cheap.
What really helps in this challenge by the way, is clearing the '95 challenge first so that you get an automatic Unsummon in your opening hand.

.248 1 Time Vault
.249 1 Time Walk
.250 1 Timetwister
.1627 1 Voltaic Key
.240 1 Swords to Plowshares
.1341 1 Treachery
.230 1 Sol Ring
.1527 1 Mystical Tutor
.9230 1 Oblivion Ring
.1518 1 Imperial Seal
.3177 1 Intuition
.7216 1 Gifts Ungiven
.10933 1 Gideon Jura
.11595 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
.9955 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
.10780 1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
.11592 1 Dismember
.1 1 Ancestral Recall
.1609 1 Angel of Despair
.1206 1 Arcane Sanctum
.10496 1 Arid Mesa
.1514 1 Fabricate
.4996 1 Fact or Fiction
.258 1 Underground Sea
.12110 1 Unburial Rites
.11413 1 Wurmcoil Engine
.3964 1 Yawgmoth's Will
.1559 1 Path to Exile
.726 1 Moat
.10 1 Balance
.10386 1 Baneslayer Angel
.1519 1 Vampiric Tutor
.1275 1 Damnation
.62 1 Demonic Tutor
.290 1 Wrath of God
.5584 1 Innocent Blood
.5789 1 Chainer's Edict
.1547 1 Brainstorm
.11160 1 Preordain
.1511 1 Ponder
.17 1 Black Lotus
.169 1 Mox Sapphire
.168 1 Mox Ruby
.167 1 Mox Pearl
.166 1 Mox Jet
.165 1 Mox Emerald
.1351 1 Tinker
.44 1 Control Magic
.1488 1 Bloodstained Mire
.10740 1 Celestial Colonnade
.10747 1 Creeping Tar Pit
.11235 1 Darkslick Shores
.10411 1 Drowned Catacomb
.1487 1 Flooded Strand
.10419 1 Glacial Fortress
.1711 1 Godless Shrine
.1713 1 Hallowed Fountain
.126 1 Island
.11463 1 Inkmoth Nexus
.11995 1 Isolated Chapel
.694 1 Karakas
.438 1 Library of Alexandria
.10606 1 Marsh Flats
.10612 1 Misty Rainforest
.188 1 Plains
.1486 1 Polluted Delta
.3244 1 Reflecting Pool
.216 1 Scrubland
.10654 1 Scalding Tarn
.11356 1 Seachrome Coast
.528 1 Strip Mine
.239 1 Swamp
.254 1 Tundra
.10706 1 Verdant Catacombs
.1472 1 Windswept Heath
.1709 1 Watery Grave
.2722 1 Impulse
.11451 1 Go for the Throat
.1308 1 Platinum Angel
.11677 1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
.10527 1 Day of Judgment
.1525 1 Enlightened Tutor
.6632 1 Chrome Mox
.11419 1 Blightsteel Colossus
.1520 1 Personal Tutor
.1423 1 Lotus Petal
.157 1 Mana Vault
.894 1 Mana Crypt
.1543 1 Sensei's Divining Top
.3522 1 Oath of Druids
.252 1 Tropical Island
.12 1 Bayou
.212 1 Savannah
.537 1 Transmute Artifact
.7210 1 Forbidden Orchard
.91 1 Forest
.202 1 Regrowth
.12757 1 Jace, Architect of Thought
.10084 1 Tezzeret the Seeker
.1545 1 Thirst for Knowledge

[HarlequinCasts]

Yeah this list seems pretty similar to a few I've been trying. Either Azorius splash black or Esper.

Things that enable Moat are all stars against many of the decks. Tinker targets based on the deck also are heavy hitters (Inkwell Leviathan vs Path to Exile, Sphinx of the Steel Wind vs any of the red/green decks, or just Blightsteel Colossus). And of course the Time Vault infinite turns combo.

Also the plethora of one drop removal or bounce spells available to Esper really keep the starting generals at bay. (Karakas is another all star in this regard).

I guess the problem with the last battle is just that after days of attempts it is just total brutal random number generator luck. Oh well I'll keep trying!

[MarkyMark]

The main difference with the last challenge is that you don't have to worry about creatures as much, so that you can more easily mulligan to a hand that has a tutor, card draw or planeswalker rather than a spot removal spell. Assembling the combo as soon as possible is much more important then.

[HarlequinCasts]

Booyah. That is a hell of a challenge if you do not get lucky I suppose. Finally completed it after maybe 10 tries at the last arch enemy fight. Managed to connect with a Blightsteel Colossus and the AI randomly managed not to interfere with that plan.

For anyone interested, here is a pretty tuned deck I've been using. It is Azorius splash black and tries to do 4 things. 1) Tinker for an appropriate game winning artifact creature, 2)Tutor up Time Vault combo pieces, 3) Control the board with Moat and Wrath of God effects,4) Kill/Exile/Bounce turn one legendary generals.

You tend to take a bunch of up front damage while taking control, so some cards might seem weird (like Timely Reinforcements) but gaining a bit of life and chump blocking is really vital sometimes.

Baneslayer Angel
Wall of Reverence
Academy Rector
Moat
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Journey to Nowhere
Oblivion Ring
Faith's Fetters
Wrath of God
Day of Judgment
Timely Reinforcements
Oust
Hallowed Burial
Swords to Plowshares
Path to Exile
Enlightened Tutor
Condemn

Trinket Mage
Sower of Temptation
Mulldrifter
Vendilion Clique
Consecrated Sphinx
Treachery
Control Magic
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Threads of Disloyalty
Tinker
Time Walk
Ponder
Preordain
Bribery
Show and Tell
Personal Tutor
Fabricate
Ancestral Recall
Brainstorm
Mystical Tutor
Cunning Wish
Unsummon
Fact or Fiction

Demonic Tutor

Plumeveil
Detention Sphere
Supreme Verdict
Azorius Charm
Sphinx's Revelation
Sphinx of the Steel Wind

Blightsteel Colossus
Inkwell Leviathan
Wurmcoil Engine
Solemn Simulacrum
Batterskull
Time Vault
Voltaic Key
Azorius Signet
Fellwar Stone
Mana Vault
Sol Ring
Mox Emerald
Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby
Mox Sapphire
Black Lotus

Plains x5
Island x8
Tolaria West
Academy Ruins
Tundra
Glacial Fortress
Seachrome Coast
Flooded Strand
Misty Rainforest
Hallowed Fountain
Seat of the Synod
Mystic Gate
Strip Mine
Wasteland
Celestial Colonnade
Maze of Ith
Marsh Flats
Arid Mesa
Scalding Tarn
Reflecting Pool
Polluted Delta
Windswept Heath
Karakas
Underground Sea
Scrubland

[stassy]

Congrats, now you can use the ultimate Challenge destroyer but the puzzle challenge

Also did you see the latest OoT any%, WR, 19:15? :3

[Zyrule]

Isnt no easy task but I managed to keep creatures at bay while using my plainswalkers to do the dirty work

;archenemy #1
;
;User
;User E-Mail
;18/10/2014
;1
;4th Edition
;

.7214 1 Ghostly Prison
.3233 1 Propaganda
.726 1 Moat
.11821 1 Jace, Memory Adept
.10780 1 Jace, the Mind

Sculptor
.11137 1 Jace's Ingenuity
.13426 1 Elspeth, Sun's

Champion
.9955 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
.12004 1 Liliana of the Veil
.12265 1 Sorin, Lord of

Innistrad
.13382 1 Ashiok, Nightmare

Weaver
.12479 1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
.4966 1 Collective Restraint
.7807 1 Copy Enchantment
.12832 1 Sphere of Safety
.1 1 Ancestral Recall
.806 1 The Tabernacle at

Pendrell Vale
.290 1 Wrath of God
.1275 1 Damnation
.10527 1 Day of Judgment
.1511 1 Ponder
.11160 1 Preordain
.1547 1 Brainstorm
.10 1 Balance
.1525 1 Enlightened Tutor
.1527 1 Mystical Tutor
.62 1 Demonic Tutor
.1519 1 Vampiric Tutor
.1518 1 Imperial Seal
.1543 1 Sensei's Divining Top
.11564 1 Batterskull
.9230 1 Oblivion Ring
.240 1 Swords to Plowshares
.1559 1 Path to Exile
.11451 1 Go for the Throat
.10408 1 Doom Blade
.8187 1 Condemn
.3919 1 Stroke of Genius
.2722 1 Impulse
.25 1 Braingeyser
.12834 1 Sphinx's Revelation
.13847 1 Banishing Light
.1302 1 Vindicate
.12704 1 Detention Sphere
.254 1 Tundra
.258 1 Underground Sea
.216 1 Scrubland
.1711 1 Godless Shrine
.1709 1 Watery Grave
.1713 1 Hallowed Fountain
.1487 1 Flooded Strand
.1486 1 Polluted Delta
.10606 1 Marsh Flats
.10496 1 Arid Mesa
.10612 1 Misty Rainforest
.10654 1 Scalding Tarn
.10706 1 Verdant Catacombs
.1488 1 Bloodstained Mire
.126 1 Island
.188 1 Plains
.239 1 Swamp
.1847 1 Adarkar Wastes
.2140 1 Underground River
.5341 1 Caves of Koilos
.403 1 City of Brass
.13929 1 Mana Confluence
.13568 1 Temple of Deceit
.13819 1 Temple of

Enlightenment
.13570 1 Temple of Silence
.10411 1 Drowned Catacomb
.10419 1 Glacial Fortress
.11995 1 Isolated Chapel
.10773 1 Halimar Depths
.8984 1 Nimbus Maze
.7707 1 Oboro, Palace in the

Clouds
.13025 1 Orzhov Guildgate
.10740 1 Celestial Colonnade
.10747 1 Creeping Tar Pit
.12843 1 Supreme Verdict
.11244 1 Elspeth Tirel
.3719 1 Catastrophe
.230 1 Sol Ring
.9286 1 Thoughtseize
.10958 1 Inquisition of Kozilek
.13532 1 Read the Bones
.10465 1 Sign in Blood
.3522 1 Oath of Druids
.10920 1 Emrakul, the Aeons

Torn
.212 1 Savannah
.252 1 Tropical Island
.13569 1 Temple of Mystery
.13821 1 Temple of Plenty
.4862 1 Overburden
.3923 1 Tainted Æther
.965 1 Ensnaring Bridge
.159 1 Meekstone
.166 1 Mox Jet
.167 1 Mox Pearl
.169 1 Mox Sapphire
.17 1 Black Lotus