I imagine many of my readers have heard of the Pauper format or even play it regularly. A popular format on Magic Online, Pauper allows only cards that have been printed with the rarity of common. Rares and even uncommons are disallowed entirely.

This puzzle isn’t about Pauper. This puzzle is about God Emperor.

God Emperor is just like Pauper, except instead of commons it allows only mythic rares.

Challenge

Win the game as quickly as possible using only mythic rare cards other than Channel, Sol Ring, and Tinker.

Assumptions

Any card with a printing as mythic rare is allowed, even in side products such as From the Vault and Duel Decks.

You have perfect luck. For example, even after you shuffle your library, it’s ordered how you want. You may not assume anything about your opponent’s hand or library except that he won’t do anything relevant.

Winning “quickly” refers to both the turn of the game and whether you’re playing or drawing first. Turn three on the draw is quicker than turn four on the play but not as quick as turn three on the play.

You may only use four copies of any individual card.

Send your solutions to nex342+puzzle at gmail dot com with the subject line “Puzzle – God Emperor”, and I’ll include the best ones in next week’s article along with the next puzzle!

Good luck!

Solution to Last Week’s Puzzle

John Paul Ho was the first to send in the correct solution to last week’s puzzle. Here it is:

• Block Craterhoof Behemoth with Nearheath Pilgrim and Devout Chaplain.
• Block Kessig Malcontents with Silverblade Paladin.
• Block Kruin Striker with Druid's Familiar.
• Before damage, tap all three Humans to destroy Bladed Bracers.
• Let first strike damage happen, killing Kessig Malcontents and Kruin Striker. Homicidal Seclusion is now active.
• Before normal damage, cast Restoration Angel, flickering Druid's Familiar and pairing it with Nearheath Pilgrim.
• The Pilgrim and the Chaplain block 5 damage, and gain you 4 life. Behemoth is an 11/9, so you lose a net 2 life, surviving at 1.