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Well, whatever is going on in your life, I get it. We all get it. So I decided to help you out! I created a few scenarios and challenges that are meant to played solo. It’s you against, well, you.
Now I wrote these myself, and I did a little play-testing with them, and made a few adjustments to most of them to make them a little harder (or easier, in the case of the last of these, the Nicol Bolas challenge).
These are designed to be fun takes on Magic that will go to different places and challenge your deck-building and Magic playing skills.
Are you ready? Let’s begin with a harder one, to get us started.
One quick caveat though. In most of the scenarios, you are going to be asked to make a deck with Legacy legal cards that are obviously broken or degenerate. This is solitaire, so you know what, no one is going to notice if you break it. I have this powerful Pox deck I run in Legacy with Liliana of the Veil, Smallpox, Sinkhole, Hymn to Tourach and more. Any deck you’d talk to a tournament in Legacy is likely to be degenerate. But it’s not like I’m losing sleep by playing it, so if you want to, no one is going to call you out. You are on your own honor. (Oh, and unless it says otherwise, you always go first! Oh, and you cannot destroy or target special cards that are in play for the scenario)
With that caveat, let’s begin with the Siege! You have a Keep here on Kamigawa is about to face a serious threat!
YOU ARE UNDER SIEGE! OH NOES!
Under Siege
In order to play this scenario, you must do the following:
- Build a 42 card creature deck, without any lands, that runs 6 creatures, of your choice, of each converted mana cost 1 through 7. They can be any color. This will be the sieging army deck. If you like, feel free to give your deck a theme. Ideally, make 2 of the 6 7-drops Siege Dragon. If you can, choose powerful, big-bodied non-hasted creatures, and hopefully 6 different creatures at each casting cost.
- Choose one of the five Siege rare enchantments from Fate Reforged, such as Citadel Siege.
- For yourself, build a 60 card Magic deck, using Legacy legal sets but without any broken degenerate stuff with a theme of being a castle or keep. Feel encouraged to stock it with cards like Castle, Parapet, Standing Troops, Keep Watch, and such. You may not play Planeswalkers for this scenario.
You will play first. Then on your foe’s first turn, reveal cards until you reveal a 1-drop. Play it, and resolve any creatures in the worst possible way. All opposing creatures have haste, and swing every turn. On your foe’s 2nd turn, play the first revealed 2-drop, and so forth through turn seven. Starting on turn eight, you reveal the top two creature and play them regardless of casting cost. Then do three on turn nine, and finally 4 on turn one 10.
You cannot attack. The besieging army has no life. You win if you survive the onslaught that will come on your foe’s turn 10. To make the game a little harder, can you stay alive and survive all 42 creatures coming at you and not dying?
To Build is Human
That was close! Well you barely managed to survive the Siege, so now you have to rebuild back up what was destroyed. But something, dark and eldritch has been let loose during the Siege and the very walls of the fortress you expected to protect you seem a little . . . off.
- Build a 60 card Magic deck, using Legacy legal sets, and with a combo that requires at least 6 pieces to win with. You may not include any card that either searches your library for anything (not Cultivate, not Terramorphic Expanse, not Demonic Tutor, not Liliana Vess) nor any card that reveals cards or lets you sort your library (so no Sensei's Divining Top, no Impulse, no Elemental Augury, and no scry from cards like Magma Jet). You may not play any creatures with defender.
- Build a 30 card Wall deck from your foe. Any creatures with defender may be used. Nothing other than Walls or other creatures with defender can be included. Make sure to include cheaper and aggressive choices like Sunweb, Wall of Swords, Wall of Razors and such.
- Grab a Rolling Stones enchantment.
In order to win, you must assemble your fancy 6 card combo and then “go off” and win that turn. You may not attack your foe, or otherwise do anything to them prior to you comboing out. Assume your foe has 20 life and 60 cards in their deck for purposes of combos.
Starting on the 1st turn, flip over a card from the Wall Deck, and cast it for free. Staring on turn 6, cast two Walls. On turn 11, three.
At the beginning of turn four, place the Rolling Stones in play. Creatures with defender may now attack you! They can now attack you. Each turn, any Walls or other defenders that can attack you will. Do you really want to lose to the Wall deck before you combo off? Come on now, build your defenses, and take out whatever was animating these walls . . .
Return of the Spirit War
During the Siege, and the subsequent fall of the structure, you find a former object of veneration and worship that has been forgotten and abused with neglect. This is the Gohei of a local Kami Lord. It looks like it was the Kami that are behind the Siege and the animation of the Walls. Something bad has riled them up again, and the Spirit War appears to have been renewed! You have to defeat a local Spirit lord that led the assault and then animated the walls.
- Build a 60 card Magic deck, using Legacy legal sets, and with a combo that requires at least 6 pieces to win with. You may not include any card that is either a Spirit or Arcane. You will need to include at least one copy of a card that, by name, blesses, cleans, or purifies something. A card like Blessing, Purify, and such will all work.
- Build a 40(ish) card Spirit Deck for your foe. Only creatures that are Spirits or spells with Arcane are allowed. Separate them into two piles, one for each type. Make sure you are making this deck good, and include creatures with the trigger of “whenever you play a Spirit or Arcane spell do X” stuff as well. Cards like Thief of Hope or Teller of Tales are great choices. Always choice options for stuff that are the worst for you. (Otherwise use randomly)
- Select a copy of Long-Forgotten Gohei as well as Clash of Realities.
Your foe will always attack you with what they have, so long as it’s free and clear, otherwise they won’t attack. For example, the Kami Lord will attack you with creatures they control if, and only if, they can get through and aren’t left open to a counter attack. Things like leaving their board open or leaving a non-flying defender up against a flying offense, for example. They’ll always leave enough creatures to block any attackers on the ground.
The Clash of Realities starts in play. Until you have cleansed the Gohei, it only works to give Spirits the ability to smash non-Spirits.
You have 20 life. You have to survive long enough to take out the Kami Lord. Shuffle decks and turn them over. At beginning of your opponent’s turn, reveal a card from the Spirit creature deck. Cast that creature. Starting on turn five, your foe gets both a random creature, and a random Arcane spell as well.
Bigger than That!
After you have taken out the Spirit Lord, the area calms down for a bit, but of course, it’s just a bit. The riling up of the Spirits cannot be simply blamed on the Long-Forgotten Gohei. It’s a lot more serious than that.
Soon, out of a portal comes a creature that Kamigawa has never heard nor seen of before. And your camp is directly in its path. And this creature? It is bigger and more powerful than anything you have seen before! Nothing has prepared you for this . . . Not even myths or legends . . .
Luckily, your ancestors built this keep in a great place for defense, and nothing, not even this thing, is immune. You can see it coming, and you’ll have plenty of time to hit it and prepare before it arrives.
- In this game, your foe is none other than the Big Furry Monster, only improved a little. If you have both halves, then drop them into play just to show off what you’ll have to take out. The Bigger Furry Monster™ is 100/100 and unblockable. And it just costs 12 mana and has haste.
- Build a 60 card Magic deck, using Legacy legal sets, and without any targeted removal. You may run burn, and creatures, but that’s it — not Terminate or anything else. Ditto sacrificing stuff like Diabolic Edict. And damage prevention, like Fog, or Maze of Ith can’t be run either.
The Bigger Furry Monster™ is Coming!
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On turn 12, the B.F.M (Big Furry Monster) will arrive and attack! Oh noes! And you won’t be able to block it and save yourself, so you have to take it out first. You play your turn first, and you may both attack the Bigger Furry Monster™ and burn it. Keep track of its damage with dice. A lot of dice. If you kill it anytime from turn one through turn 12, before it takes its turn 12, then you win! Otherwise . . . uh oh.
From the Shadows
Well, you managed to take it out, and that was nice. But that was incredibly difficult. Your position is a charred ruin of what once passed as a Keep. Only memories and ruins remain as a testament of what once was.
That night you get no rest, as no one is in a sleeping mood. You are all alert for the next surprise. You surmounted a powerful defense against a Siege, magicked walls, a Spirit war and a creature bigger than anything Kamigawa knows. What will come next? Because you are not yet delusional enough to believe that it will just end.
And you are right. It happens that night. This time, by stealth. Where might and magic failed, maybe stealth will prevail.
- Choose 18 creatures that represent your guards. They will begin the game on the battlefield. Do not choose any creatures that have innate protecting abilities, such as indestructible, regeneration or protection. Choose creatures that are fun and flavorful! For this, there is no difference between the value of Standing Troops and Avacyn Archangel, so you might as well go with fun stuff like Honor Guard or even better yet, Midnight Guard.
- Create a 30 card “Kill Now” deck for your foes. Every card and spell must have the ability to kill a creature, like Nekrataal, Murder, Terminate, and such.
- Make a 10 card “Answer” deck. This deck must be a highlander deck, with not more than one of each card.
Draw a hand of 2 answers.
On each turn, your foe will flip a card, play it, and target one of your Guards to kill. You can play an answer, for free, if you want. If you do, flip over a second card and they will play immediately. Resolve, turn ends. After you play an answer, draw another from the deck. The Math is, they have 30 – 18 creatures. (I originally did this with 20 and it was too easy to win). You have just 10 answers, so if each answer counters one threat, then you lose. So you have to have multiple answers for multiple threats. Examples of answers include Akroma's Blessing, Make a Stand, Regenerate, and such.
(This is still on the easier side, but it requires the right planning ahead of time. It’s designed more as a relief after the more difficult ones earlier)
Dropping the Bolas
Now that you have survived the night, what will happen next? Well, the one behind the recent troubles cannot believe how your group has survived, so he decides to put in a personal appearance to deal with you once and for all!
- You are going to need a copy of Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
- Build a 40 card Magic deck, using Legacy legal sets, and without any targeted removal that would destroy a Planeswalker, like Hero's Demise or burn.
Start with a copy of Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker in play. You go first, then followed by Nicol. Each round, your Nicol will destroy a non-creature if there is no creature, and tick Nicol up, or steal a creature instead, and tick him down. Nicol is not above destroying your lands either. Always choose the worst possible result.
How do you win?
Kill Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
Think you have what it takes to stop Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker? I guess you have to find out!
I hope that you enjoyed today’s little solitaire madness. Don’t forget that we often may have to change up some of the details of the scenarios if you are having it too easy or too hard. Everybody is going to have access to different card pools and build different decks. And that’s okay! I want you to! Have fun with it!
When you are looking for a Magic challenge and interested in getting your solitaire on, why not see if you can survive the siege and deal with Nicol Bolas. Are you ready?
