Locations
You’re playing casual Zendikar Block Constructed against Jonathan’s Ally mill deck. You’ve been beating down with your Geyser Glider and Bladetusk Boar, and you know you can win this turn. Never one to do a little damage when a lot is possible, though, you begin to wonder . . . how much damage can you actually deal?
In play, you have three Arbor Elf; Bladetusk Boar; Geyser Glider; Grappling Hook; Greenweaver Druid; Lotus Cobra; Omnath, Locus of Mana; five Forests; and four Mountains. You have eighteen Green mana in your mana pool; your hand contains Comet Storm, Strength of the Tajuru, and a Forest. You’re at 16 life.
Jonathan controls two Halimar Excavators, a Hedron Crab, a Sky Ruin Drake, and a Stonework Puma equipped with Spidersilk Net. He has nothing in hand, 4 life, and a Trapfinder's Trick in the graveyard.
Click here for the board state for the challenge.
Challenge
It’s the beginning of your main phase. Deal as much damage to Jonathan as you can this turn.
Assumptions
Jonathan will block so as to minimize the damage dealt to him. He knows the contents of your hand (other than the Forest) due to playing Trapfinder's Trick last turn, so he will play around your Strength of the Tajuru and Comet Storm.
Difficulty Levels
Level 1 (Easy): Deal 50 damage or more.
Level 2 (Moderate): Deal 70 damage or more.
Level 2 (Hard): Deal 85 damage or more.
Send your solutions to nex342+puzzle@gmail.com with the subject line “Puzzle – Combat Math Is Hard” and I’ll include the best ones in next week’s article, along with the next puzzle!
Good luck!
Solutions to Last Week’s Puzzle
I got a lot of great solutions to last week’s puzzle. Alas, I can’t include them all, but I’ll certainly show the highlights. This first solution is by Jacob Maynard, and is the simplest solution I received (several other people sent me essentially the same solution, but Jacob was first):
| Play | Mana | Cards in Hand | Turn 1 |  |
8 |
|---|---|---|
| Ancient Ziggurat |  |
7 |
| Noble Hierarch | |
6 | Turn 2 | |
7 |
| Island |  |
6 |
| Sacellum Godspeaker | |
5 | Turn 3 | |
6 |
| Activate Sacellum Godspeaker, revealing five creatures | |
1 + 5 creatures |
| Kaleidostone | |
1 + 5 |
| Cycle Esper Sojourners targeting Sacellum Godspeaker | |
1 + 5 |
| Activate Sacellum Godspeaker | |
1 + 5 |
| Kaleidostone | |
1 + 5 |
| Cycle Esper Sojourners targeting Sacellum Godspeaker | |
1 + 5 |
| Activate Sacellum Godspeaker | |
1 + 5 |
| Activate Kaleidostone |    |
1 + 5 |
| Cycle Esper Sojourners targeting Sacellum Godspeaker | |
1 + 5 |
| Activate Sacellum Godspeaker | |
1 + 5 |
| Activate Kaleidostone | |
1 + 5 |
| Progenitus | |
1 + 4 |
This next solution comes from Jen Wong, and was the first correct solution I received, as well as being the only solution to take advantage of Etherium Sculptor’s interactions with the Obelisks and Enigma Sphinx:
| Play | Mana | Cards in Hand | Turn 1 | |
8 |
|---|---|---|
| Forest | |
7 |
| Noble Hierarch | |
6 | Turn 2 | |
7 |
| Etherium Sculptor | |
6 |
| Island | |
5 |
| Etherium Sculptor | |
4 | Turn 3 | |
5 |
| Etherium Sculptor | |
4 |
| Obelisk of Bant | |
3 |
| Swamp | |
2 |
| Enigma Sphinx, cascading into Ad Nauseam which reveals three Obelisk of Bant, three Obelisk of Esper, and Might of Alara, losing 19 life | |
8 |
| All Obelisks | |
2 |
| Might of Alara targeting Enigma Sphinx | |
1 |
| Enigma Sphinx, cascading into Soul's Majesty targeting the pumped Enigma Sphinx | |
8 |
| Obelisk of Esper, four Obelisk of Grixis, two Obelisk of Jund | |
1 |
| Enigma Sphinx, cascading into Soul's Majesty targeting the pumped Enigma Sphinx | |
8 |
| Two Obelisk of Jund, four Obelisk of Naya | |
2 |
| Progenitus | |
1 |
Finally, AJ Prax sent me this solution, which is reasonably close to my own solution, using Brilliant Ultimatum to get free spells all over the place:
