Category: Epic Puzzles

Greylag, 1st Place: 15 VP

Congratulations to Greylag for winning the Loyalty X Puzzle with a perfect 15 VP! Greylag has won the Epic Deck Box and chose the WWG Games Fair Play Mat.

Greylag’s Week 1 Anwers

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19N23HfHZgPJtwKRM-FL7Prhj9rJrz2KGPg3_O-wQWf4/pubhtml

Greylag’s Week 2 Answers

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gZ_QFN5N_9J8EP4zl7SMvMCWtnTpfQotMKRLDlWzYd4/pubhtml

Nathan Overbay, 2nd Place: 11 RP

Congratulations to Nathan Overbay for his 2nd place finish. He has chosen one of the Raging T-Rex Promos.

Nathan Overbay’s Week 1 Answers

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-c7SVoWGcre9xSzmXgPEZZi6FRP22YkrTqILEglpsxE/edit?usp=sharing

Thomas Dixon, 3rd Place: 8 RP

Congratulations to Thomas Dixon for his 3rd place finish. He has chosen one of the Blue Dragon Promos.

Thomas Dixon’s Week 1 Answers

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_gnzInl2WwTbFBZtzGPX-bWLHUUYKg0iqbkQCEjGlTo/edit?usp=sharing

Benjamin Hebert, 4th Place: 2 RP

Congratulations to Benjamin Hebert for his 4th place finish. He has chosen one of the Blue Dragon Promos.

Benjamin Hebert’s Week 1 Answers

https://docs.google.com/document/d/15pel3eARuPT7SKpdm_NGwI79DQHVq0LXenG8NZGCGRA/edit?usp=sharing

Conclusion

Thank you to all participants and all readers who followed along during the puzzle contest. I have plans for another puzzle contest for some time in the future. So, if you didn’t get the chance to enter this one, be sure to watch out for the next one. (I’m interested to see how the formatting changes will be received.)

The first week of the Epic Loyalty X puzzle has concluded with Greylag as the winner with all 11 VP! Greylag will get first choice of the Epic Deck Box or any promo card.

Week 1 Results

1) Greylag-59, Nathan Overvay-59, Thomas Dixon-58, Benjamin Hebert-58 [all Velden]

2) 56 Greylag [Scarros], Thomas Dixon-55 [Zannos], Nathan Overbay-55 [Scarros]

3) 56 Greylag [Zannos], Nathan Overbay-23 [Zannos], Thomas Dixon-17 [Scarros]

4) 53 Greylag, Nathan Overbay-16, Thomas Dixon-14 [all Kark]

5) 224 Greylag, Nathan Overbay-153, Thomas Dixon-144, Benjamin Hebert-58

Scores and Links to Solutions

Greylag: 11 VP
Nathan Overbay: 0 VP, 11 RP
Thomas Dixon: 0 VP, 8 RP
Benjamin Hebert: 0 VP, 2 RP

Nathan Overbay, Thomas Dixon, and Benjamin Hebert are currently all receiving at least a promo, unless they are overtaken in week 2.

Week 2 Puzzle Extension

In order to encourage more participation to claim the remaining 6 promo cards, I am adding an additional, related challenge.

How many cards can you reveal for each Loyalty X champion in a single turn (with restrictions)?
a) Zannos, Corpse Lord
b) Chamberlain Kark
c) Velden, Frost Titan
d) Scarros, Hound of Draka

• Each solution takes place over a single turn (just your turn, not including an opponent’s turn)
  • Start with a 5 card hand
  • Start with at most 9 cards in your discard pile
  • Start with no champions in play
  • Start with a legal deck containing no more than 3 copies of any card
• Each physical card may only be played or put into play once (no infinite looping of Frantic Digging, Teleport, etc.). In other words, you may only play a card/put a card into play a maximum of 3 times, once using each physical copy of it in your deck
• Every card is legal
• Each card can only be used in one of the 4 solutions (1 Ancient Chant in Kark? You can’t run any in the other 3 solutions. 3 Inspiration in Zannos? You can’t run any in the other 3 solutions)
• Your opponent can do nothing
  • They have no cards in hand
  • They have no cards in discard pile
  • Anytime they may do something, they choose not to
  • No cards appearing in any of your solutions may appear in their deck (probably won’t matter)
• Both you and your opponent have infinite health
• Week 2 solutions are entirely separate from week 1 solutions. For example, if you used Ancient Chant in week 1, you may use it again in week 2.

Week 2 Rewards

1 VP will be awarded for the winning solution for each champion. Unlike week 1, the highest Zannos solution will win a VP, the highest Kark solution will win a VP, the highest Velden solution will win a VP, and the highest Scarros solution will win a VP. RP will also be awarded for each Week 2 Puzzle Extension question.

VP can also be earned by improving Week 1 solutions.

When submitting an answer be sure to denote whether it is for week 1 or week 2.

On 2/11/17 at precisely 8pm GMT, submissions will be closed. (At my discretion, I may allow small, apparent typos/mistakes to be corrected, as long as the integrity of the solution is apparent.)

Solution Submission Form

The best way to submit a solution is to put your worked out answer(s) in a Google Doc. Then, send me a link to the google doc that I can either edit or comment on in the field below.

Foreword

This article is my second puzzle contest with prize support (previous puzzle, original test puzzle). The goal is to discover the greatest possible Loyalty X reveals for each Loyalty X champion (Zannos Corpse Lord, Chamberlain Kark, Velden Frost Titan, and Scarros Hound of Draka). Each solution may use 2 turns, requires a different 60 card deck, and can’t use its gold on the same cards.

The leader at the end of the first week will receive an Epic Deck Box. The leader at the end of the second week will receive their choice of 4 Epic/WWG playmats. In addition, the top 9 participants (not including the winner(s) of the deck box and/or playmat) will receive a Kickstarter exclusive Elder God/Elder Goddess card, a Kickstarter exclusive Demigoddess/Demigod card, or an alt art promo card.

At the end of the first week, I may add another part to the puzzle depending on answers received.

Challenge

Over 2 turns (an opponent’s turn and your turn in either order), what is the greatest number of cards that can be revealed when you play:
1) Zannos, Corpse Lord
2) Chamberlain Kark
3) Velden, Frost Titan
4) Zannos, Corpse Lord
5) What is the combined total cards revealed in all 4 answers?

Conditions

1. Each solution must have a different, 2-player-constructed-legal, exactly 60 card deck, only 3 copies of each 1-cost card may be used in all 4 decks combined, each 0-cost card may only be included in 1 deck, and most promos are legal. Inspiration is not legal for this contest
   • Decks must contain exactly 60 cards, with no more than three copies of each card.
   • For each 0-cost card of an alignment, the deck must contain at least two 1-cost cards of the same alignment. (For example, a deck with seven 0-cost Sage cards must have at least fourteen 1-cost Sage cards.) Therefore, a maximum of 20 0-cost cards may be included.
   • Across all 4 decks, only 3 of each card may be used. For example,
     • 1 deck could have all 3 Erases while the other 3 decks have none
     • 3 decks could have 1 Erase while the 4th deck has none
     • 1 deck could have 2 Erases, a second deck deck could have 1, and the other decks could have none
   • Each 1-cost card may only be played in one of the 4 answers. For example, if I played Lesson Learned in my Velden answer, I could not play Lesson Learned in my Zannos, Kark, or Scarros answers. Also, if I play Erase in my Velden answer, I could not play Lesson Learned targeting Erase in my Zannos, Kark, or Scarros answers because that would involve playing Erase in 2+ answers.
   • Each 0-cost card may only be included in a single deck. For example, if you include 1, 2, or 3 Word of Summonings in a deck, you may not include any copies of it in any other deck.
   • If you only specifically use X cards in your 60 card deck, you can just list those X cards and say “60-X irrelevant 1-cost cards.” For example, 3 Angel of Death, 3 Apocalypse, 2 Corpsetaker and 52 irrelevant 1-cost cards.
   • Inspiration is not legal for this contest, but all other Kickstarter and Year 1 Promos are legal for this puzzle (Dark Prince, Hill Giant, Hunting Pterosaur, Kalnor’s Blessing, Knight of Dawn, Necromancer Apprentice, New Dawn, Ritual Sacrifice, Scrap Golem, Searing Blast, Spite, Aftershock, Time Master, Warrior Angel, Owl Familiar, Cleansing Light, Forbidden Research, Elder Greatwurm, Teleport, Keira Wolf Caller). See below for pictures.
2. The turn you start on (either your turn or your opponent’s turn) you may have
   • Any number of cards from your legal deck in your discard pile
   • 7 cards from your legal deck in your hand
   • No champions in play
   • If you start on your opponent’s turn, since you do not discard at the end of your opponent’s turn, you should start the next turn (“your turn”) with more than 7 cards in hand
3. Draw a card at the start of your turn
4. Your opponent can do nothing
   • They have no cards in their discard pile
   • No cards in hand
   • No champions in play
   • Any time they may do something, they choose not to
5. Both you and your opponent have infinite health

Rules for Entering

• To Enter, post a comment below with just the name of each Loyalty X champion, the number of cards revealed for each, and overall cards revealed count (example below). Then, send me the solutions through the contact field at the bottom of this post. Include the decklist for each solution. I will respond to the comment within 48 hours to verify if it is valid. If it is not valid, I will respond to the email address provided to explain why it is invalid. (If not already in some form of Google Doc/Sheets or other sharable online document, I will also add it to an unique Google Doc to make it easier to track future, improved answers.)
  1. When posting a new submission, create a new comment, do not reply to your original comment.
  2. Feel free to post general questions, cheer on participants, etc.
• The contest starts now at 8pm GMT on 1/28/17
• A week after the contest starts, at 8pm GMT on 2/4/17, the highest verified solution will win an Epic Deck Box. I will also reply to each participants’ highest submission in the comments with their solutions at that time.
• New submissions (with just the Loyalty X champions, number of cards revealed for each, and overall cards revealed count) may still be posted until 2/11/17 at 8pm GMT (sending me the solution through the contact field/updating Google Doc and telling me). On 2/11/17 at precisely 8pm GMT, submissions will be closed. (At my discretion, I may allow small, apparent typos/mistakes to be corrected, as long as the integrity of the solution is apparent.)
• After I finish reviewing any last minute entries, the participant with the current highest verified solution will win their choice of playmat. The top 9 participants to win neither the deck box nor playmat will then be given their choice of prize in order. (This will probably take some time to fully resolve.)
• Playmat and deckbox will be shipped at the conclusion of the contest (in case 1 person wins both).

Scoring

Instead of assigning points based on who has the highest score for each Loyalty X card by name, I will be assigning points based on each player’s 1st highest answer, 2nd highest answer, 3rd highest answer, 4th highest answer, and total revealed card.

Implications

If you lead in at least 1 category at the end of at least 1 week, you are guaranteed a prize (because you are guaranteed a Victory Point as explained above).

In addition, if you can’t think of a way to get the top score, but you can think of a way to get your worst score better than everyone else, you win a prize.

Prizes

Primary Prize (Playmat)

The first person to submit the overall winning answer receives their choice of playmat pictured below.

**Unfortunately there is very slight creasing in both of the Kickstarter playmats (more visible in the Angel of Death playmat picture). These are pictures of the actual playmats that will be sent out.**

To my unofficial/unaffiliated, nonbinding, unconfirmed knowledge:

• Kickstarter playmats can only be purchased through WWG kickstarters (maybe conventions?). I believe only 500 of each were made?
• White Wizard Games Fair 2016 could only be purchased at that game fair?
• Sea Hydra playmat has been available as a top 8 prize at tournaments, possibly purchasable at conventions too?

Basically, I’m seeing these on neither WWG’s store page, nor Legion Supplies WWG page. A quick search on ebay turned up these sales:

• http://www.ebay.com/itm/Epic-Card-Game-Playmat-Sea-Titan-White-Wizard-Games-/172469976004?hash=item282802fbc4:g:PVoAAOSwopRYaqZE
• http://www.ebay.com/itm/Epic-Card-Game-Promo-1x-New-Dawn-3x-Necromancer-apprentice-Playmat-/131863242083?hash=item1eb3a96563:g:5uoAAOSwYmZXM4A0
• http://www.ebay.com/itm/Epic-Card-Game-Angel-Play-Mat-VERY-Rare-KickStarter-Edition-/122087741982?hash=item1c6cff1a1e:g:piAAAOSwgZ1Xsyel

Secondary Prize (Deck Box)

The first person to submit the winning answer in the first week receives an Epic Deck Box. **Card sleeves not included**

Link to Legion Supplies product page

Tertiary Prizes (Kickstarter Exclusives or Promos)

The 9 participants with the top scores, who win neither the deck box nor the playmat, will receive a promo pictured below. The eligible participant with the best answer gets first choice on down to the 9th play finisher (not including the winner of each week).

• The top 2 finishers may choose between an Elder God/Elder Goddess card, a Demigod/Demigoddess card, or a promo
• The 3rd and 4th place finishers may choose a Demigod/Demigoddess card or a promo
• The 5th-9th finishers may choose a promo
• Exactly 2 Elder God/Elder Goddess cards, 2 Demigoddess/Demigod cards, and 5 promos will be awarded
  • Therefore, if a higher reward tier participant does not choose an Elder God/Elder Goddess, a lower reward tier participant will.
  • Similarly, if a higher reward tier participant chooses a lower reward tier item, that choice will count towards the prize distribution. For example, if 1st and 2nd place both choose a Demigoddess/Demigod, the 3rd and 4th place finishers may only choose from Elder God/Elder Goddess and promos.
  • If anyone from top 1-9 decline the reward, I will give the chance to the next eligible participant (if any)

The sleeved promo card will be sent via a standard envelope. I take no responsibility if they are damaged in transit.

Basic Example

 

While I tried to preemptively answer any question that might come up, I know the combined intellect of the community can think of questions I didn’t answer. Therefore, if you have any questions, or want me to explain anything better, let me know in the comments.

Announcement

This article is to announce my second puzzle contest with prize support (previous puzzle, original test puzzle). The puzzle will be posted at 8pm GMT on 1/28/17. I will post a puzzle with multiple parts.

Whoever has the greatest amount of points by the end of the first week (2/4/17 at 8pm GMT), will win an Epic Deck Box. Whoever has the greatest amount of points at the end of the second week (2/11/17 at 8pm GMT) will receive their choice of 4 Epic/WWG playmats. In addition, the top 9 participants (not including the winner(s) of the deck box or playmat) will receive an alt art promo card, a Kickstarter exclusive Elder God/Elder Goddess card, or a Kickstarter exclusive Demigoddess/Demigod card.

At the end of the first week, I may add another part to the puzzle depending on answers received.

Non-Puzzle-Specific Rules

Below are the non-puzzle-specific rules for this specific contest. If anything is unclear please leave a comment asking for clarification, preferably before 1/28/17.

Conditions:

1. The solution is based off of a player using a constructed Epic deck, with a few exceptions outlined below.
2. Your deck must be a 2-player-constructed-legal, exactly 60 card deck although most promos are legal. Inspiration is not legal for this contest
   • Decks must contain exactly 60 cards, with no more than three copies of each card.
   • For each 0-cost card of an alignment, the deck must contain at least two 1-cost cards of the same alignment. (For example, a deck with seven 0-cost sage cards must have at least fourteen 1-cost sage cards.) Therefore, a maximum of 20 0-cost cards may be included.
   • If you only specifically use X cards in your 60 card deck, you can just list those X cards and say “60-X irrelevant 1-cost cards.” For example, 3 Angel of Death, 3 Apocalypse, 2 Corpsetaker and 52 irrelevant 1-cost cards.
   • Inspiration is not legal for this contest, but all other Kickstarter and Year 1 Promos are legal for this puzzle (Dark Prince, Hill Giant, Hunting Pterosaur, Kalnor’s Blessing, Knight of Dawn, Necromancer Apprentice, New Dawn, Ritual Sacrifice, Scrap Golem, Searing Blast, Spite, Aftershock, Time Master, Warrior Angel, Owl Familiar, Cleansing Light, Forbidden Research, Elder Greatwurm, Teleport, **Edit** Forgot to add Keira Wolf Caller**). See below for pictures.
3. You may begin your first turn with:
   • Any number of cards from your legal deck in your discard pile
   • Up to 7 cards from your legal deck in your hand
   • No champions in play
4. Draw a card at the start of your turn
5. Your opponent can do nothing
   • They have no cards in their discard pile
   • No cards in hand
   • No champions in play
   • Any time they may do something, they choose not to
6. Both you and your opponent have infinite health

Rules for Entering

• To Enter, post a comment below with just the *answer*, not the solution. Then, send me the solution through the contact field at the bottom of the puzzle contest post. I will respond to the comment within 48 hours to verify if it is valid. If it is not valid, I will respond to the email address provided to explain why it is invalid. (If not already in some form of Google Doc/Sheets or other sharable online document, I will also add it to an unique Google Doc to make it easier to track future, improved answers.)
  1. When posting a new submission, create a new comment, do not reply to your original comment.
  2. Feel free to post general questions, cheer on participants, etc.
• The contest starts at 8pm GMT on 1/28/17
• A week after the contest starts, at 8pm GMT on 2/4/17, the highest verified solution will win an Epic Deck Box. I will also reply to each participants’ highest submission in the comments with their solutions at that time.
• New submissions (with just the *answer*, not the solution) may still be posted until 2/11/17 at 8pm GMT (sending me the solution through the contact field/updating Google Doc and telling me). On 2/11/17 at precisely 8pm GMT, submissions will be closed. After I finish reviewing any last minute entries, the participant with the current highest verified solution will win their choice of playmat. The top 9 participants to win neither the deck box nor playmat will then be given their choice of prize in order. (This will probably take some time to fully resolve.)
• Playmat, deckbox, and cards will be shipped at the conclusion of the contest (in case 1 person wins both playmat and deckbox to reduce shipping costs).

Prizes

Primary Prize (Playmat)

The person with the most points at the end of the 2-week period will receive their choice of playmat pictured below. (Points are awarded to the first person to submit an answer if two participants submit the same result.)

**Edit** The winner of the mat may opt for a card instead, if desired. If they do, the mat would be available first for the week 1 winner, then down the line of 1-9 place finishers. If the 1st week winner doesn’t want the deck box, the overall winner may receive the deck box if desired. **Edit**

**Unfortunately there is very slight creasing in both of the Kickstarter playmats (more visible in the Angel of Death playmat picture). These are pictures of the actual playmats that will be sent out.**

To my unofficial/unaffiliated, nonbinding, unconfirmed knowledge:

• Kickstarter playmats can only be purchased through WWG kickstarters (maybe conventions?). I believe only 500 of each were made?
• White Wizard Games Fair 2016 could only be purchased at that game fair?
• Sea Hydra playmat has been available as a top 8 prize at tournaments, possibly purchasable at conventions too?

Basically, I’m seeing these on neither WWG’s store page, nor Legion Supplies WWG page. A quick search on ebay turned up these sales:

• http://www.ebay.com/itm/Epic-Card-Game-Playmat-Sea-Titan-White-Wizard-Games-/172469976004?hash=item282802fbc4:g:PVoAAOSwopRYaqZE
• http://www.ebay.com/itm/Epic-Card-Game-Promo-1x-New-Dawn-3x-Necromancer-apprentice-Playmat-/131863242083?hash=item1eb3a96563:g:5uoAAOSwYmZXM4A0
• http://www.ebay.com/itm/Epic-Card-Game-Angel-Play-Mat-VERY-Rare-KickStarter-Edition-/122087741982?hash=item1c6cff1a1e:g:piAAAOSwgZ1Xsyel

Secondary Prize (Deck Box)

The person with the most points at the end of the first week will receive an Epic Deck Box. **Card sleeves not included** (Points are awarded to the first person to submit an answer if two participants submit the same result.)

**Edit** The winner of the deck box may opt for a card instead, if desired. If they do, the deck box would be available first for the overall winner (if they do not want the playmat), then down the line of 1-9 place finishers. **Edit**

Link to Legion Supplies product page

Tertiary Prizes (Kickstarter Exclusives or Promos)

The 9 participants with the top scores at the end of the 2-week period, who win neither the deck box nor the playmat, will receive a promo pictured below. The eligible participant with the best answer gets first choice on down to the 9th place finisher (not including the winner of each week).

• The top 2 finishers may choose between an Elder God/Elder Goddess card, a Demigoddess/Demigod card, or a promo
• The 3rd and 4th place finishers may choose a Demigoddess/Demigod card or a promo
• The 5th-9th place finishers may choose a promo
• Exactly 2 Elder God/Elder Goddess cards, 2 Demigoddess/Demigod cards, and 5 promos will be awarded
  • Therefore, if a higher reward tier participant does not choose an Elder God/Elder Goddess, a lower reward tier participant will.
  • Similarly, if a higher reward tier participant chooses a lower reward tier item, that choice will count towards the prize distribution. For example, if 1st and 2nd place both choose a Demigoddess/Demigod card, the 3rd and 4th place finishers may only choose from Elder God/Elder Goddess and promos.
  • If anyone from top 1-9 decline the reward, I will give the chance to the next eligible participant (if any remain)

The sleeved promo card will be sent via a standard envelope. I take no responsibility if they are damaged in transit.

Foreword

This article is a contest to discover the optimal answers for 3 related Epic questions. The person to score the most points, by providing the best answers the earliest, will win the Sea Hydra playmat pictured below.

Challenge

**Updated to include more clarifications**

If you start with

• 5 cards in hand
• a deck containing no more than 3 copies of a card
• an opponent with infinite health
• promos are legal
• no cards in play for either player
• no cards in discard pile for either player
• do not draw on your turn

what are the best solutions to the questions below. (Essentially you are taking the first turn of a standard constructed game, but your opponent has infinite health.)

1) How many total champions can you get into play, under your control, during your turn?

• A champion does not need to survive until the end of the turn to be counted. (This is only for this first question.)
• Token champions count.
• Your opponent may neither play cards nor put cards into play.

2) How much total offense can you have in play at once on your turn?

• Offense is the sword stat on a champion.
• Champions must be in play to be counted, but they may be expended and/or deploying.
• Token champions count.
• Buffed champions count: Dark Leader expended would give 4 offense from Dark Leader and 2 offense from the human token he created.
• Your opponent may neither play cards nor put cards into play.

3) How much total defense can you have in play at once on your turn?

• Defense is the shield stat on a champion.
• Champions must be in play to be counted, but they may be expended and/or deploying.
• Token champions count.
• Buffed champions count: a wolf token after Battle Cry is played would give 5 defense.
• Your opponent may neither play cards nor put cards into play.

Additional Rules

1. Each solution may, and probably will, be different.
2. To Enter, post a comment below with just the numbers (example below). Then, send me the solution through the contact field at the bottom of this post. I will respond to the comment within 24 hours to verify if it is valid. If it is not valid, I will respond to the email address provided why it is invalid.
   1. When posting a new submission, create a new comment, do not reply to your original comment.
   2. Feel free to post general questions, cheer on participants, etc.
3. After a week, on 7/25/16 at 7pm CDT, 1 point will be awarded for the first, highest verified solution for each question. I will also reply to each submission in the comments with their solutions at that time.
4. New submissions (with just the numbers) may still be posted until 8/1/16 at 7pm (sending me the solution through the contact field). On 8/1/16 at 7pm CDT, .5 points will be awarded to the new highest verified solution for each question (if any).
5. The person with the highest point total will win the playmat.
6. In the unlikely situation of a tie, the person with the most winning solutions on 8/1/16 will win the tie. For example, Anne submits winning solutions for questions 1 and 2 by 7/25/16. Bob submits a winning solution for question 3 by 7/25/16. Anne has 2 points and Bob has 1 point. Then, Bob improves Anne’s answers for questions 1 and 2 by 8/1/16, and Carl improves Bob’s answers for question 3 by 8/1/16. Anne has 2 points, Bob has 2 points, Carl has .5 points, and Bob wins the tiebreak.
7. Playmat will either be delivered in person at Gen Con or shipped. This can be worked out once the winner is determined.
8. Anyone that enters is welcome to send me a picture to post on the blog, or to take a picture with me at Gen Con and have it posted to the blog.

Non-Optimal Example

 

The first Epic Puzzle (Epic Puzzle: Turn 1 Drinker) was a success, congratulations to Greylag (2 winning submissions), Ydnad (1 winning solution), and everyone else who entered (Vjjft and Josiah Fiscus). All of the answers submitted were significantly higher than I was expecting.

Due to the success and reception of the puzzle, I will be posting a 2nd puzzle on Monday 7/18 at 7pm CDT (starting time open to adjustment). There will be a few changes to the format that I will discuss at that time. (For example, sending me the solution privately when the numbers are posted so I can verify.)

The overall winner of that puzzle will receive the Sea Hydra play mat pictured below. Feel free to comment below with a time change request and/or questions. I will try to accommodate the most people possible for the start time.

Foreword

I recently posted an absurd Epic recycling scenario in my Epic Recycle Interactions article. This then led to a reader posting another crazy scenario which was awesome. So, based on vjjft’s recommendation, I am going to be posting more puzzle challenges on the blog going forward. Depending on participation, I might put up a Sea Hydra play mat as a reward.

The Challenge

On the first turn of a 2-player standard game, you must put Drinker of Blood into play. Assuming your opponent plays nothing:

1. What is the max amount of damage you can do in one turn?
2. What is the max amount of health you can gain in one turn?
3. What is the biggest health difference that can be achieved in one turn?

 

Since this is the first turn of the game, you start with 5 cards in hand and neither player has any cards in their discard piles. It is unlikely that all 3 questions will have the same solution.

Comment below with just the numbers you reached. I’ll wait to say my numbers until Saturday night, 6/25/16. In one week, on 6/30/16, everyone should post their comment with their answers.

 

Winners

Greylag (2 winning solutions), Ydnad (1 winning solution)

– Ydnad’s 71 damage submitted on June 29, 6:18pm was the first submission of the highest damage, result confirmed

– Greylag’s 43(45) health submitted on June 30, 5:01pm(July 1, 11:56am) was the highest health gain, result confirmed

– Greylag’s 98 difference submitted on June 30, 4:55pm was the greatest difference, result confirmed (you forgot to attack with the second pegasus in the difference calculation you posted, hence 98 not 94)

– No solution was posted for Josiah Fiscus’s 77 damage solution, but it was posted on June 27, 1:18pm

– Vjjft’s solutions involved a misuse of Faithful Pegasus, but even deducting that damage, the damage solution was only 6 below the winning solution

The next puzzle will be posted on Monday 7/18. The plan is to post it at 7pm CDT, but I am open to a time adjustment. There will be a few changes to the format that I will discuss at that time. Overall winner of that puzzle will receive the Sea Hydra play mat. (article updated with this information)

**Update** Derek Best Answers

My spam filter caught Derek’s answers, and I didn’t see them until today. They were submitted after the deadline (not including the spam delay) so Greylag and Ydnad are still technically the winners, but…

– Derek’s 83 damage submitted on July 1, 6:05pm was the highest damage submitted, result confirmed

– Derek’s 55 health submitted on July 1, 6:05pm was the highest health gain submitted, result confirmed

– Derke’s 119 difference submitted on July 1, 6:05pm was the greatest difference submitted, result confirmed

New Dawn put Derek over the edge without actually breaking any of the puzzle rules. I will have to specifically mention whether or not I’ll allow that in the next puzzle if applicable. (I probably will allow it.)