"Okay, now you've got a 2/5 hexproof thing with lifelink and deathtouch."

"Yeah, that's right," CJ says. "So next, I'll tap four lands and cast my Eon Frolicker."

"Let me see that."

CJ slides the card to you. "What that means is that I've got protection from you until my next turn," he says. "You can't damage me or target me with any of your stuff."

"What about creatures? Can I target your creatures?"

CJ has a look at the Frolicker again. "I don't see why not," he says. "I think the protection ability only extends to me."

"It also says that you give me an additional turn," you add.

"It does? Oh wait, yes it does."

"That's quite a cross to bear, but I guess I can take it."

"I suppose so," CJ says. "But I get a 5/5 flyer."

You glance at your cards. If your 2/3 Thoughtbound Primoc already wasn't looking too good against CJ's Wall of Air, it's looking downright dismal against his Frolicker.

"And now, to round off my turn," CJ says, "I'll cast Impending Doom on your Coalition Honor Guard."

You raise an eyebrow. "So you'll make it a 5/7 that has to attack each turn if able," you say.

"That's right."

"And if I'm reading this correctly, what you're expecting to happen is that I'll be forced to attack with the Coalition Honor Guard into your deathtouch-ed Humongulus next turn, causing them both to die and dealing three damage to me."

"That's right."

"And the Eon Frolicker is there just in case I have something to stop the deathtouch damage from happening, in which case you just choose not to block and let the protection ability do its work."

"Cool, huh?" CJ says. "I planned it all out."

"I might have missed something somewhere," you say, "but in that case, why didn't you just attach the Basilisk Collar to your Anaba Shaman, then activate it to ping the Coalition Honor Guard?"

CJ pauses and stares at the board. "Oh wow," he says. "I should have done that instead."

You sigh. "No takebacks," you say.

"It's not fair to deny me..."

"Still no takebacks, sorry."

CJ leans back. "But hang on," he says. "I've still got an untapped Mountain. I can ping your Wily Goblin, or your Kor Line-Slinger, or your..."

"Um, Coalition Honor Guard? You're forced to target it."

"Oh wait. That's why I set up the Impending Doom play to begin with..."

You shake your head. "Anyway, let's just play this one out. The table's complicated enough as it is already."

"Fine, you're the boss."

"More like the person who needs to clean up the mess you left," you say, shaking your head and starting to untap your permanents.

"Does the Thoughtbound Primoc trigger?" CJ asks.

"No, I've still got three wizards to your two. I'll discard a Mountain to your Coral Net, though."

You take a deep breath and go for the top card of your deck. Fortunately, it's a good draw: You add a Faith Unbroken to the suite of removal spells in your hand.

You glance back at the table. You've learned all too often that there's a risk to flashy plays and overly complicated plans, especially when it's CJ at their helm. Quite a few of your wins, in fact, have come off the flaws in those plans. So if there's any purpose to CJ's play, it's probably here to remind you of that.

It is the start of your first main phase. Defeat CJ before the beginning of his next combat phase.

Note that CJ cast an Eon Frolicker during his turn, so you are taking two consecutive turns before CJ's next turn begins. (That is: You complete this extra turn, then you complete your normal turn, then CJ's turn takes place.)

You are at 7 life, with the following cards in play:

• Dega Disciple
• Kor Line-Slinger (with CJ's Coral Net attached)
• Wily Goblin
• Thoughtbound Primoc
• Tethmos High Priest
• Wojek Embermage
• Kitsune Mystic
• Coalition Honor Guard (with CJ's Impending Doom attached)
• 3 Mountains
• 5 Plains
• Dwarven Ruins

You have the following cards in your hand:

• Geistflame
• Fire Whip
• Faith Unbroken

You have not yet played a land this turn. You still have a substantial number of cards remaining in your library, but you know neither the identities nor the order of those cards.

You currently have no relevant cards in your graveyard.

CJ is at 14 life and has no cards in his hand. He has the following cards in play:

• Flamekin Brawler
• Raptor Hatchling
• Goblin Electromancer
• Wall of Air
• Trinket Mage
• Anaba Shaman
• Lava Hounds
• Eon Frolicker
• Humongulus (with CJ's Basilisk Collar attached)
• Nyxborn Cyclops
• 5 Islands (all tapped)
• 5 Mountains (four tapped)

If you've got a solution in mind, don't put it in the comments! Help keep this puzzle a mystery to other readers!

Instead, if you think you've got a great solution, you can send your solution to puzzles@gatheringmagic.com with the subject line "Puzzle - You Otter Know" by 11:59 P.M. EST on Monday, May 18, 2020. We'll include the best ones in next week's article along with the next puzzle!

Last Week's Puzzle

Correct solutions to last week's puzzle were received from Sean Patrick Keatley, Jonah Comstock, Russell Jones, Michael Feldman, David Arnold, and Hyman Rosen.

"Ah, a nice 3-in-1," Michael Feldman remarks, "depending on the opponent's move. It's fun to sort out what gets used in just one scenario, what gets used in all of them, and what the total red herrings are."

"This is a neat little puzzle," Jonah Comstock adds. "I spent a long time trying to figure out a way to get more cards out of the graveyard so we could have more control over the choice we give Mari when we cast Dredge the Mire - much like we did the last time we saw Dawn Evangel in a puzzle. But that's not the game we're playing this week.

"This week, we are letting Mari play a game of Choose Your Own Adventure. Our job is just to make sure all three adventures end in her losing 6 life:

"As Yogi Berra is reputed to have said," Hyman Rosen points out, "'When you come to a fork in the road, take it.'"