[Archive] Challenge Set 1

[Systral]

Just to add to the choir, I beat this challenge using aww1979's Tinker deck with a few modifications. I replaced the Plumeveils with Show and Tell, to give the deck a more comboish feeling and due to the fact that the AI handles the card very bad (never counters it and only puts crap into play). I also added the Vault/Key package and a Magister's Sphinx to speed it up and made the manabase a little more stable for round 9 (Mana Vault instead of Chrome Mox and Islands instead of LoA and Strip).

Round 9 isn't all that bad, either you bounce Titania's Song with Echoing Truth and go off or you slowplay it a bit and Show and Tell an Angel into play. Round 10 is where you really need to cross your fingers and mull into a fast hand, here's how I beat it

T1: Island, Lotus, Sleight of hand into Mox Jet, Double Echoing truth on the green and black hondens.
T2: Island, Personal Tutor for Tinker.
T3: Tinker into Nevinyrral's Disk
T4 :

[Cheetah]

Just to show another angle on the challenge:
I used this

.1902 4 Oath of Druids
.1308 2 Platinum Angel
.248 1 Time Vault
.1550 4 Voltaic Key
.1882 1 Magister Sphinx
.10 1 Balance
.349 4 Enlightened Tutor
.726 1 Moat
.240 4 Swords to Plowshares
.588 4 Path to Exile
.1897 4 Land Grant
.1899 3 Living Wish
.202 1 Regrowth
.1967 1 Life from the Loam
.17 1 Black Lotus
.251 4 Tranquility
.166 1 Mox Jet
.167 1 Mox Pearl
.168 1 Mox Ruby
.165 1 Mox Emerald
.169 1 Mox Sapphire
.212 4 Savannah
.188 5 Plains
.91 6 Forest

Apart from being just another Oath deck it's actually mostly build to save time (ie less crashes). Magister Sphinx is great against the 50 life opponents and lets you finish r3 before he starts nuking your angels. The Keeper combo is mainly in there to manage the Turbofog deck which would otherwhise be nearly unbeatable.
I played tranquility over tempest of light because ToL is an instant, thus triggering the response option which is just annoying especially when youre in keeper mode. LtfL is just there to save me from randomly dying when misclicking at the Oath prompt.
The deck races through the challenge pretty quickly (r6 is a little longer usually) if you mullingan aggressively (a 3 card hand with second turn oath is obv still better than 7 useless cards), unfortunately i had to face the last round 8! times, because he started 3 of the 4 times i had a winning hand -.-

[Drudger]

Been playing with the keeper builds listed above but game usually crashes at some point since keeper takes so long to finish. Just conceded the first match after I used Jester's Cap and found the AI deck had no lands in it's entire deck, 5 fewer than I needed it to get into play.

[somacat]

I guess this challenge didn't get much better after it changed from 10:1 to 5:1. I never had any real crashes though except the last two rounds (especially the last).

I can certainly sympathise with you guys...

[Txorix]

Hi. I beat challenge 4 in the third attempt with an oath deck

;white oath
;
;J.B.
;User E-Mail
;26/10/2009
;1
;4th Edition
;

.62 1 Demonic Tutor
.333 1 Vampiric Tutor
.349 4 Enlightened Tutor
.10 1 Balance
.1902 4 Oath of Druids
.249 1 Time Walk
.457 3 Mox Diamond
.165 1 Mox Emerald
.166 1 Mox Jet
.167 1 Mox Pearl
.168 1 Mox Ruby
.169 1 Mox Sapphire
.17 1 Black Lotus
.1897 4 Land Grant
.1893 4 Forbidden Orchard
.252 2 Tropical Island
.12 2 Bayou
.317 1 Tolarian Academy
.212 4 Savannah
.1474 3 Wooded Foothills
.331 1 Imperial Seal
.120 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
.1198 1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
.1663 4 Ancestor's Chosen
.78 2 Felidar Sovereign
.1314 4 Magus of the Moat
.1308 1 Platinum Angel
.287 1 Winter Orb
.1975 1 Propaganda
.1814 2 Wall of Reverence
.829 1 Underworld Dreams

[240sxforever]

Has anyone tried using a Pitch long style deck for the challenges over standard tendrils?

I have not had much time, with tests and all, but it seems solid enough.

;Pitch Long

.17 1 Black Lotus
.1424 1 Lotus Petal
.894 1 Mana Crypt
.157 1 Mana Vault
.1900 1 Memory Jar
.165 1 Mox Emerald
.166 1 Mox Jet
.167 1 Mox Pearl
.168 1 Mox Ruby
.169 1 Mox Sapphire
.230 1 Sol Ring
.1705 1 Necropotence
.1704 1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
.1 1 Ancestral Recall
.499 1 Brainstorm
.312 1 Ponder
.1666 1 Thoughtcast
.1734 4 Cabal Ritual
.55 4 Dark Ritual
.1717 4 Force of Will
.352 1 Mystical Tutor
.502 1 Hurkyl's Recall
.333 1 Vampiric Tutor
.62 1 Demonic Tutor
.327 3 Grim Tutor
.331 1 Imperial Seal
.1502 1 Infernal Contract
.1848 2 Tendrils of Agony
.249 1 Time Walk
.250 1 Timetwister
.1351 1 Tinker
.1910 1 Yawgmoth's Will*
.126 2 Island
.239 1 Swamp
.1488 1 Flooded Strand
.1487 4 Polluted Delta
.258 3 Underground Sea
.317 1 Tolarian Academy
.1440 4 Careful Study

[grinnin]

I just found Manalink after playing the original Microprose version for years- and I have to say its fantastic! I've been debating getting back into Magic for a while, but the prospect of spending hundreds of dollars learning new cards has put me off (and I still wouldn't be able to afford to play T1; has Force of Will really gone from 2 bucks to 25 in the last ten years!?)

Anyway, I'm having a blast trying my hand at these challenges and I just completed the first. The difficult is awesome- its like when you first play a really good tournament player- their game makes yours better.

Here's my deck- I took a page from Salbal's oath deck but found I could take advantage of the AI by throwing forbidden orchardlings at him- with the tabernacle they'd always tap out keeping the little 1/1's up. Combined with Propaganda you could lock up the AI, esp. with the new mana burn rules.

;Oathlock
;
;
;rogercosseboom@gmail
;15/08/2009
;1
;4th Edition
;

.806 4 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
.1975 4 Propaganda
.1902 4 Oath of Druids
.1308 3 Platinum Angel
.249 1 Time Walk
.1351 1 Tinker
.1 1 Ancestral Recall
.499 1 Brainstorm
.17 1 Black Lotus
.457 2 Mox Diamond
.165 1 Mox Emerald
.166 1 Mox Jet
.167 1 Mox Pearl
.168 1 Mox Ruby
.169 1 Mox Sapphire
.254 4 Tundra
.252 4 Tropical Island
.258 2 Underground Sea
.62 1 Demonic Tutor
.333 1 Vampiric Tutor
.390 4 Crop Rotation
.349 3 Enlightened Tutor
.1893 4 Forbidden Orchard
.212 4 Savannah
.1779 2 Lightning Greaves
.331 1 Imperial Seal
.1718 1 Chrome Mox
.1291 1 Iridescent Angel
.250 1 Timetwister

[aww1979]

(and I still wouldn't be able to afford to play T1; has Force of Will really gone from 2 bucks to 25 in the last ten years!?)

Yeah, I had the same reaction :p And moxes... I remember complaining when the darned things cost $150. And dual lands at $6... ARGH.

[grinnin]

Man I've been trying this challenge for about a week now. I've been able to get it so that I can make it to Reaper about 75% of the time but I have yet to even come close to beating him. Jatill's hint makes some sense but I can't seem to find a card even close to his description other than Blood Moon- which usually gets Qasali Pridgemage'd away

Any thoughts? Too bad Primal Order isn't coded for this...

[grinnin]

Noticed an odd thing while practicing Chaos Orb vs. Reaper decks- about 1 in 3 games i'm required to discard below 7 cards- sometimes as low as 3 or 2, and often times every discard phase will require me to discard one card more than the last- is this a vanguard affect?

[aww1979]

No, it's a consequence of certain cards with bugs, like Genesis or Grim Lavamancer.

[240sxforever]

I just beat the challenge with this:

.1382 4 Crystalline Sliver
.1233 4 Deft Duelist
.1553 3 Autumn Willow*
.1606 4 Pincher Beetles
.1683 4 Nimble Mongoose
.411 4 Drop of Honey
.1262 4 Porphyry Nodes
.588 4 Path to Exile
.240 3 Swords to Plowshares
.212 4 Savannah
.252 4 Tropical Island
.254 4 Tundra
.1473 4 Windswept Heath
.1488 4 Flooded Strand
.1474 3 Wooded Foothills
.349 4 Enlightened Tutor

Apparently in this game Drop of honey targets. it will look for the lowest power that does not have shroud.

Also, in the blue deck, there is a 3/3 island-walker. I just wished for ensnaring bridge and beat for 3 until reaper king was dead.

His only removal for it was Qasali pridemage, and bridge is apparently not high in the list of targets.

The only real problem cards are other Crystalline Slivers and Spectral precession.

[Stroggoii]

Momir is easy, all you need is the Inkwell (cause he WILL have an island and wont attack if you leave all the rest to stop him).
Only time he was hard was when we both got Platinum Angel, it lasted for hours untill he casted Lord of The Pit and had to sacrifice his angel.

On the other hand, I still cannot beat the damned thing, always loose when given the Orb deck

[240sxforever]

Against the orb deck, ensnaring bridge was my hero. Also land walkers.

I had the blue deck and the match was one of the easiest in the set.

I wish for bridge on turn 3 and put out better targets for the pridemages. The 3/3 island walker beat him to death with no problems.

[Fracturedorb]

I don't understand how this challenge is supposed to work. What exactly am I supposed to do?