Challenge 4-2 : Pit Fighting

[Salbei]

Pit Fighting
Challenge: 4-1
Unlocks: (Will make other Challenge Games easier)
Description: Dive into the pit and battle a seasoned pit fighter. Watch out for the scorpions!
NavigationChallenge Index - Archive for Set 4


Please discuss this Challenge here!

[Salbei]

Here is the list "meesterhans" used at the Archive to beat this. Might be outdated by now.

.55 4 Dark Ritual
.1734 4 Cabal Ritual
.1730 4 Rite of Flame
.1423 4 Seething Song
.1904 4 Simian Spirit Guide
.1897 4 Land Grant
.12 1 Bayou
.241 1 Taiga
.1696 4 Manamorphose
.1510 4 Night's Whisper
.1886 1 Burning Wish
.1890 1 Demonic Consultation
.62 1 Demonic Tutor
.282 1 Wheel of Fortune
.1894 4 Goblin Charbelcher
.1866 4 Empty the Warrens
.1910 1 Yawgmoth's Will*
.17 1 Black Lotus
.165 1 Mox Emerald
.166 1 Mox Jet
.167 1 Mox Pearl
.168 1 Mox Ruby
.169 1 Mox Sapphire
.894 1 Mana Crypt
.157 1 Mana Vault
.1718 2 Chrome Mox
.230 1 Sol Ring
.1424 1 Lotus Petal
.1898 1 Lion's Eye Diamond

[neon1300]

Here is the list "meesterhans" used at the Archive to beat this. Might be outdated by now.

Yer, this build is outdated. Blood Moon makes this deck very hard to play , I am now thinking of using an elf deck...

[Dave]

Just recently beat this challenge with Aww's deck. Here's the list.

.17 1 Black Lotus
.1898 1 Lion's Eye Diamond
.1424 1 Lotus Petal
.894 1 Mana Crypt
.157 1 Mana Vault
.457 1 Mox Diamond
.165 1 Mox Emerald
.166 1 Mox Jet
.167 1 Mox Pearl
.168 1 Mox Ruby
.169 1 Mox Sapphire
.230 1 Sol Ring
.1892 4 Elvish Spirit Guide
.1910 1 Yawgmoth's Will*
.1 1 Ancestral Recall
.1734 4 Cabal Ritual
.55 4 Dark Ritual
.62 1 Demonic Tutor
.327 4 Grim Tutor
.1848 1 Tendrils of Agony
.648 1 Mind's Desire*
.250 1 Timetwister
.309 1 Windfall
.282 1 Wheel of Fortune
.202 1 Regrowth
.1696 4 Manamorphose
.1904 4 Simian Spirit Guide
.587 4 Meditate
.239 3 Swamp
.126 3 Island
.712 4 Street Wraith
.10 1 Balance

I never needed Balance. But it could be a lifesaver, i guess.
Beware for the deck's with Force of Will, when you cast Tendrils.
I usually had some mana in reserve in case it got countered, but it never did.

I thought the challenge was over 20 rounds, but after 9 round's it got unlocked.
After that the ABC-challenge was a lot easier

[neon1300]

Just beat it too
Its pretty easy with this elf deck (with some modifications of cause)

viewtopic.php?f=57&t=2254

BTW, try not to put too many Priest of Titania on the battlefield. They cause huge cpu usage.

[RanDomino]

aaaaaah, this challenge ate my 3-day weekend. I really wanted to beat it with a Puresteel Paladin + Stoneforge Mystic deck but I just couldn't pull it off (Batterskull, lots of Swords, Balance and lots of ways to find it, and oddly a first turn Abu Ja'far of all things makes beating the early challenges trivial).

I finally beat it after not getting any bad draws with this:

8 Island
14 Swamp
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
4 Careful Study
4 Personal Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Brainstorm
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Exhume
1 Imperial Seal
4 Reanimate
1 Buried Alive
4 Entomb
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Diamond
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire

Basic reanimator, with targets like Sphinx against most decks, Akroma against Visara, Elesh Norn against the last three challenges (although it's great against most of them, especially Merfolk, Soldiers, and Elves- cold to Kobolds, ironically). It's not auto-pilot; every opening hand is a little puzzle to make sure you can drop the appropriate creature into play on the second turn.

After beating the challenge, I made it to about round 16 when I got a bad opening hand and couldn't mulligan into a better one.

[Althuna]

Can anyone please help me beat this challenge? I have tried all of these decks and keep losing to bad luck.

The only one that worked well was the last one (the reanimator deck), but it's just too unreliable. I play through several rounds winning easily, but then the one that gets me is the one where the huge 8/5 green creature appears. Often he wins the roll so plays first and it has haste.. so before I've even played, I'm down to 12 health. So unless you get a perfect draw immediately on your first turn, there is nothing you can do.

I'm sure I would win if I played it enough times, but after about 15 games I've still had no luck.

[Dawwy]

Try again
in this round you need Sphinx or akroma.

[Althuna]

I still can't win. I got as far as round 9, but that round where you get 5 of those scorpions... If you don't get a good draw you die on round 2.

I must have tried this 50 times now. Getting a good draw for 9 rounds in a go is a lot harder than it seems.

[Althuna]

I give up, round 8 and then bad hand after 4 mulls. If anyone knows a reliable deck for this please let me know.

[HornofAmmon]

I still can't win. I got as far as round 9, but that round where you get 5 of those scorpions... If you don't get a good draw you die on round 2.

I must have tried this 50 times now. Getting a good draw for 9 rounds in a go is a lot harder than it seems.

I sympathize! I have certainly played this more than 50 times without winning! I've gotten to the last round a few times, but failed. I am also using a reanimator/Show and Tell deck, which easily beat several other challenges. Maybe someone can tell me how to improve it:


.1308 1 Platinum Angel
.872 2 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
.351 4 Entomb
.1722 4 Reanimate
.1960 4 Exhume
.1440 4 Careful Study
.1 1 Ancestral Recall
.239 11 Swamp
.126 10 Island
.166 1 Mox Jet
.169 1 Mox Sapphire
.17 1 Black Lotus
.1198 1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
.1758 4 Show and Tell
.312 1 Ponder
.62 1 Demonic Tutor
.1891 4 Echoing Truth
.1718 1 Chrome Mox
.930 2 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
.120 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
.333 1 Vampiric Tutor

[Althuna]

Yeah that's what I used too. It worked well but after god knows how many tries (probably way more than 50), it still hadn't won. It only takes one bad draw against a deck with an 8/5 creature and you are dead two turns later. I actually could have won a couple of times, I got to the last stage and then made a stupid mistake. But that's what happens after playing it ~100 times, you get stuck in autopilot

Anyway I gave up on that, and just beat 2 other challenges in no time.

[HornofAmmon]

I want to know how to change that elf deck so it can beat this. I think it would do fine on most rounds except for the Visara one, since Visara will kill your early mana-producers and prevent you from growing.

[HornofAmmon]

AFTER 100+ TRIES.....

I FINALLY BEAT THIS!
GOD EXISTS!

I used a modified version of the reanimator deck I posted above. I call it Reanimator with Teeth. I substituted out the blue in exchange for sacrifice-removal and Damnations, so I could have a shot at knocking out the comp's hero in the first turn or two. It works like a charm if the computer doesn't spawn a pit scorpion or an early drop - I can often Innocent Blood on turn 1 and get rid of the pit fighter, and sometime even reanimate next turn on my side! Add to this all the cheap black tutor spells available, and I got deep into the levels much more often than I did with my UB reanimator deck. Finally, I managed to get out a Elesh Norn on turn two of the last round, killing all the godforsaken scorpions and ending my eternal quest with a cakewalk.

I think this deck is nearly as optimized as I could make it, given that I've tinkered with it so long after so many tries. Do give my deck a try if you haven't been able to beat this!


.872 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
.351 4 Entomb
.1722 4 Reanimate
.1960 4 Exhume
.239 21 Swamp
.166 1 Mox Jet
.17 1 Black Lotus
.1198 1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
.62 1 Demonic Tutor
.120 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
.1772 4 Innocent Blood
.70 4 Geth's Verdict
.1275 4 Damnation
.331 1 Imperial Seal
.333 1 Vampiric Tutor
.55 4 Dark Ritual
.1308 1 Platinum Angel
.1890 1 Demonic Consultation
.930 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

[Althuna]

Thanks for sharing! And congrats

I will check it out soon. It looks perfect.