“It’s the Unabridged Cube we just drafted,” you tell him. “It supposedly contains one of each card ever printed. A few months ago it started manifesting cards from expansions that hadn’t released yet.”

“Ah. So they’re all here to see if Eternal Masters is going to show up?”

“Probably.”

“Should we tell them about your Nimble Mongoose, then?”

“Probably not.”

“Ah.”

You and Kip are playing Backdraft, a booster draft-style format where you don’t choose your own cards. Instead, a different player makes those picks, then passes the resulting card pool to you for deck-building. Needless to say, this results in players making some really bad card choices for their unlucky recipients.

You ended up with a R/G weenie rush deck, mostly because your mysterious benefactor gave you a card pool full of small creatures. Unfortunately, it turns out Kip pulled a Juntu Stakes from the draft, which he dropped on turn four to paralyze almost your entire offense. Your being severely mana-flooded doesn’t help, and neither does the fact you can’t seem to get your Icefall to stick — it’s run into two of his counterspells so far.

The good news, however, is things are looking up. Your Lowland Basilisk — which you drew after the Stakes were raised — has been able to hold off Kip’s entire ground force so far. Kip has therefore had to depend on his Tolarian Drake for damage, and it’s only able to attack every two turns. Finally, you’ve also managed to get seven cards into your graveyard, which means that your Mongoose is now a 3/3 and can untap as normal each turn.

But that was just before Kip cast an Ukud Cobra and decided to attack with his Broodbirth Viper last turn. Owing to a momentary lapse of reason, you made the bad decision to let the Viper through for three damage. Kip drew his card off the Viper’s ability, smiled, and then locked down your Basilisk with a Mystic Restraints!

“I shouldn’t have done that,” you say.

“I was expecting you to block the Viper, really.”

You shake your head as you untap your lands, hoping for a draw that will save you from a whole mess of damage next turn. Your card is a Shuko — which is especially bad, considering a single +1/+0 bonus doesn’t improve your situation at this point.

“So what’ll it be, old sport?” Kip asks.

You stare at the board for a while, trying to fill the unforgiving minutes with as much thought as you can. Eventually you look back at Kip, who’s been patiently waiting all this time.

“I think . . .  we can come to an arrangement,” you say, as you start tapping your lands.

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

You are at 5 life, with the following cards in play:

• Raging Goblin (tapped due to Juntu Stakes)
• Nimble Mongoose
• Pendelhaven Elder (with your Fists of Ironwood attached)
• Sylvan Hierophant (tapped due to Juntu Stakes)
• Lowland Basilisk (tapped, with Kip’s Mystic Restraints attached)
• Raid Bombardment
• 7 mountains
• 6 forests

You have the following cards in your hand:

• Shuko (drawn during your draw step this turn)
• Volcanic Spray
• Barrage of Boulders

You have not yet played a land this turn. You do not know the identities of any of the next cards in your library.

You have the following cards in your graveyard:

• Icefall
• Vithian Stinger
• Battering Krasis
• Flaming Gambit
• Monstrous Growth
• Keeper of the Flame
• Sprouting Vines

Kip is at 10 life and has no cards in his hand. He has the following cards in play:

• Wormfang Newt (exiling one of Kip’s Islands)
• Tolarian Drake (tapped, currently phased out)
• Serpent Warrior
• Ukud Cobra
• Crypt Cobra (with Kip’s Defensive Stance attached)
• Broodbirth Viper (tapped)
• Juntu Stakes
• 4 islands (all tapped)
• 5 swamps (four tapped)

If you think you’ve got a great solution in mind, don’t put it in the comments! Instead, send it to puzzles@gatheringmagic.com with the subject line “Puzzle — Rikki Tikki Tavi” by 11:59 P.M. on Sunday, June 5, 2016. We’ll include the best ones in next week’s article along with the next puzzle!

Last Week’s Puzzle:

Last week’s puzzle turned out to be a tough one! Correct solutions were received from Russell Jones, Ryou Niji, Dominic Chan, Miko Losantas, Aaron Golas, Kriz Lee, Andrew Muravskyi, and Hyman Rosen.

The basic plan is oddly simple on its own. “It seems like the ‘only’ way (at least for me) to win,” Dominic Chan writes, “is to attack with a Stormbound Geist that has a +1/+1 counter, and have Knight of Infamy present to get a +1/+1 Exalted boost.”

The problem is you have multiple obstacles in the way. Aside from the fact Stormbound Geist is sitting in your graveyard, Aelwynn’s Æther Flash will kill your creatures as you play them, and her Frozen Æther will cause them to enter play tapped if they somehow survive.

“The second step, then,” Aaron Golas writes, “is putting this combo together while navigating Frozen Æther and Æther Flash. You need Æther Flash to kill the front half of Stormbound Geist for +1/+1, but you can't let it kill Knight of Infamy. Meanwhile, you eventually need to get rid of Frozen Æther, primarily so Stormbound Geist can enter the battlefield untapped and ready to attack. Fortunately, you have the tools necessary to send Frozen Æther to the graveyard by way of Aelwynn's hand and library, in the process concealing Æther Flash just long enough for you to sneak Knight of Infamy into play!”

Aaron’s solution follows below:

• Tap two Swamps to cast Golgari Thug. When it enters the battlefield, Æther Flash deals 2 damage to it and it dies, triggering itself and Grim Haruspex.

• Put Golgari Thug's ability on the stack first targeting Stormbound Geist, then Grim Haruspex's ability. You draw Knight of Infamy, then put Stormbound Geist on top of your library.

Tap three Swamps to cast Sedraxis Alchemist. When it enters the battlefield, it triggers itself (you control a Blue permanent in Stormbound Geist) and Æther Flash.

• Sedraxis Alchemist's ability goes on the stack first; have it target Frozen Æther.
• Æther Flash's ability then goes on the stack. Allow this to resolve, killing Sedraxis Alchemist. Grim Haruspex triggers; draw Stormbound Geist.
• Allow Sedraxis Alchemist’s ability to resolve. You still control a Blue permanent (Merrow Witsniper), so Frozen Æther is returned to Aelwynn's hand.

Sacrifice Cabal Trainee to give any creature -2/-0. Grim Haruspex triggers; draw Merrow Witsniper. Sadistic Augermage is now on top of your library and on the battlefield.

Tap Disciple of Tevesh Szat to give Sadistic Augermage -1/-1, killing it.

• Put Sadistic Augermage's ability on the stack, then Grim Haruspex's.
• In response, tap the Swamp now on top of your library for.
• Resolve Grim Haruspex's ability, drawing Swamp.
• Resolve Sadistic Augermage's ability; Aelwynn puts Frozen Æther on top of her library (obscuring Æther Flash), and you put Svyelunite Temple on top of your library.

Tap your Island and spend your floating to cast Knight of Infamy. (It enters the battlefield tapped, but without Æther Flash, it gets to live!)

Tap and sacrifice Svyelunite Temple for, then tap your newly exposed Island to cast Merrow Witsniper. When Merrow Witsniper enters the battlefield, have Aelwynn put Frozen Æther into her graveyard, revealing Æther Flash.

Play Swamp (which enters the battlefield untapped, now that Frozen Æther is gone).

Tap Swamp and spend your floating to cast Stormbound Geist.

• Æther Flash triggers, dealing 2 damage to kill Stormbound Geist. Both Stormbound Geist and Grim Haruspex trigger.
• Undying returns Stormbound Geist to the battlefield as a 3/3. Again, Æther Flash triggers, but this time 2 damage isn't enough to kill the 3/3 Stormbound Geist.
• Draw Island from the Grim Haruspex trigger, apparently exposing a basic land (as long as it doesn't interfere with your attack, the identity of the card doesn't matter).

Attack with Stormbound Geist. The Exalted trigger from Knight of Infamy pumps the Geist to a 4/4. Aelwynn has no way to deal with your flyer and takes exactly lethal damage.

You need to be particularly careful with Sedraxis Alchemist, as it will check for a Blue permanent twice: It will first check to see if you control a Blue permanent in order for its ability to trigger, and then it will check to see if you still control a Blue permanent when it resolves. Grim Haruspex’s trigger can easily play havoc with the Alchemist’s ability in this way.

One alternative approach involves reusing Golgari Thug and requires you to go a bit deeper into your library. Instead of casting Knight of Infamy, Miko Losantas writes:

Ultimately, it was the Unhinged card that rocked more than a few worlds in this case. “With Yet Another Æther Vortex in play,” Ryou Niji writes, “the game just isn't the same, and it isn't just because of the rules confusion: Even if we can see clearly how things should resolve, there are suddenly so many ways things can end up on the battlefield, and we have to adjust our thinking around it. It's not a surprise that such a card has to be silver-bordered.”

“I was a little disappointed by MaRo's decision to get rid of Æ,” Andrew Muravskyi remarks, “because this ligature is very charming and somewhat unique to Magic. But after going through Yet Another Æther Vortex, I've made up my mind. Goodbye, Æ, see you in the afterlife!”