This is a puzzle that was created by our playgroup, and the creator suggested that I post it on here. So here it is:
I like number challenges, like crunching numbers to do this and that, so I came up with a few.
So anyway, the challenge is this:
You have a 100 card deck, with 97 basic lands and 3 other cards. Your goal is to do 1 million points of combat damage.
So at first I thought of this cool combo where I would deal 1 million points of damage by turn 17, and then I went back and realized I could free a Bloom Tenderfrom the Real, and then Untame her Might and deal a million points of damage by turn 3... or I can Splinter Twin an Exarch for infinite damage on turn 5... or I can Bear Umbra a Hellkite Charger and do infinite damage on turn 7... So I modified the rule.
Your goal is to do 1 million points of damage... however, if you can use the same cards and the same number of turns to do a BILLION points of damage, then you lose. So that takes care of all the infinite stuff.
So yeah... that's it. Oh, a few more rules. You start the game with the 3 cards in hand, and you draw a card each turn except the first... you can choose the order of which basic lands you get, but if you were to say, cast Red Sun's Zenith and shuffle it back into your library, you cannot guarantee that it will be the next card that you draw.
So I have my Turn 17 strategy, that will do a million points of damage. I tried monored (no artifacts, no hybrid), and as a worst case scenario I have Turn 47... I tried colorless, and as a worst case scenario I have Turn 35. I tried Monogreen and I got Turn 20. Note that with Monogreen, you can't do the Sasaya, Orochi Ascendant + Gelatinous Genesis Wave because of how the 3 nonland cards start in your hand... otherwise, that would be a turn 8/9 win. I haven't tried Black/Blue/White yet, but as of right now I can't think of anything... so maybe this can be our challenge. Likewise, you can try to beat my Turn 17, or my specific color Turn 47/35/20/etc...
So, long story short:
-1 million combat damage, without going infinite. It doesn't have to be all in one turn; it can be spread out over many turns.
-You only have three cards that aren't basic lands. Your deck is 100 cards.
How many turns does it take?
An ability exists on the stack independently of its source. Removal of the source after that time won't affect the ability. Some abilities cause a source to do something rather than the ability. Any activated or triggered ability that references information about the source checks that information when the ability is put onto the stack. Otherwise, it will check that information when it resolves. If the source is no longer in the zone it's expected to be in, its last known information is used.
Wins turn 10, also remarkable for actually reaching over a million tokens (a tad over 4.1 millions, actually) during that turn. A fourth card for this (Orochi Leafcaller) would make it explode much faster, resulting in a massive turn 7 win.
Rapacious One deck above wins on turn 11.
Thanks. Mind telling me a quick way to calculate out turn wins?
Turn 3 Mana Flare
Turn 4 Mana Reflection
Turn 5 Spawnsire of Ulamog
Turn 6 drop a number of Eldrazi you own outside the game with a total power equal to 1,000,000 or more.
Turn 7 win.
Is that cheating? Technically they're not in the deck, and it's not infinite, and if you only own 1,000,000 damage worth of Eldrazi you can't do a billion.
Mycoloth hits turn 8 for 32425917317067571204 (4+225*2^57). oh and the token + Mycon together make around 9 damage during the game. And its even "monocolored".
problem: not infinit and over 1 million, but it breakes the 1 billion
Edit: next turn would be 4+32425917317067571201*2^8106479329266892802
> 32425917317067571201*10^2026619832316723200
> 32425917317067571201*googol^9*10^20
uhm... has anyone a calcutator, that accepts such high numbers?
(and the turn after that, he would have more counter then the univers has atoms)
Edit 2 because i got nothing better to do right now:
t1: Utopia Mycon
t3: evolution vat
t4: activate vat on Mycon and attack with it... because i can. Make a sapo
t5: Mycoloth, devor the sapo.
t6: upkeep-trigger on the stack -> tap vat -> 3 sapos. sac a sapo to double (6 counter)
t7: upkeep-trigger on the stack -> tap vat -> tap out + 1 sapo to double -> 2 token + 14 new -> sac all sapos to double 4 times -> 224 counter
t8: get 224 sapos. attack with mycoloth then activate vat (225) sac 224 sapos + 4 mana from lands to double 57 times = a 32425917317067571204/32425917317067571204 Mycoloth
Wow... both of these solutions are awesome. I suppose this is valid as it's not infinite... seems like we need a new "upper bound".
3. sasaya
4. attack for 2, Animist
5. play a land, wheel, flip, attack, double twice for 8
6. attack double 8 times for 512
7. attack double 12 times for 8192
8. attack double 16 times for 131072
9. double 21 times, attack with the 4194304/1 creature
that does it without going over, gotta be a better mana sink tho
and the shapesharer doesnt work. you need the last counter removed fo him to be sacced, but he will never have the counters
Edit2:
t4: (3 forests 1 Island) Simic Ragworm
t5: Predatory urge on ragewurn
t6: Vigor, Ragewurm duells himself -> 6x +1/+1 counters
t7: tap ragewurm 5 times to duell himself = 9* 3^5 = 2187/2187 wurm
t8: tap ragewurm 6 times -> 1594323 (why must Vigor need 3 green mana...)
t9: swing for the win.
blue:
t3: Echo Mage
t4: echo lvl 2
t5: echo lvl 4
t6: Sharding Sphinx
t7: attack with shading, 1 thopter
t8: attack 2 new thopter
t9: attack 4 new thopter
t10: attack 8 new thopter
t11: kicked rite of replication on Shinx. copy with echo = 15 new Sphinxes. attack with shinx and 15 thopters, getting 16*16 = 256 new thopters
t12: attack with 16(sphinx) + 271(thopter) artefacts, getting 4592 new token.
t13: attack with 16 + 4863, getting 78064 token
t14: attack with 16 + 82927, getting 1327088 token
t15: swing for the win, while haveing a lvl 46 Echo mage
Very nice. Great solutions.
(BTW, for the monocolored challenges, no multicolor is allowed.) is not allowed for these.)
Deals just shy of two billion on turn 9. Would have won turn 8, if not for the fact that doubling season also doubles the amount of -1/-1 counters you place on druid to untap.
Doubling season does not have any effect on the cost of abilites only their costs Devoted Druid will still only get 1 counter when untapping same as planeswalkers don't get more counters when activating their + abilities.
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All Religion, my friend is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination and poetry.
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T1: Island, Training Grounds T2: Mountain T3: Forest, Feral Animist T4: Forest, Channel, draw 19 mana from life and tap Island, Mountain to activate Animist 21 times. Swing for 2097152
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<Limited Clan>
bat, you forgot, that the animalist has 2 power at the start not 1. so its the double amount of damage. So its... uhm... an evil version for the old setting.
nah he did 2^21=2097152 but 2^2 isn't 2 doubled twice so he should have done 2^2=24194304
Monored:
T3: Aggravated Assault
T6: Rapacious One
T7: Swing
R+Token for Bravado
Swing 3 more times, saccing 3 tokens for each attack.
T8:Swing, repeat 4 times.
T9:Swing, repeat 4 times (saving 1 Token on the first swing)
T10:Swing, repeat 5 times
Damage=1745769 (+/-1000: I think I may have added or subtracted a couple tokens erroneously halfway through. Shouldn't affect the turn outcome.)
Monored:
T3: Aggravated Assault
T6: Rapacious One
T7: Swing
R+Token for Bravado
Swing 3 more times, saccing 3 tokens for each attack.
T8:Swing, repeat 4 times.
T9:Swing, repeat 4 times (saving 1 Token on the first swing)
T10:Swing, repeat 5 times
Damage=1745769 (+/-1000: I think I may have added or subtracted a couple tokens erroneously halfway through. Shouldn't affect the turn outcome.)
Doesn't replacing Bravado with Coat Of Arms make this just strictly better?
T1: Island, Training Grounds T2: Mountain T3: Forest, Feral Animist T4: Forest, Channel, draw 19 mana from life and tap Island, Mountain to activate Animist 21 times. Swing for 2097152
For some reason I didn't see this when I looked through. This just wins the thread. And the internets.
So, long story short:
-1 million combat damage, without going infinite. It doesn't have to be all in one turn; it can be spread out over many turns.
-You only have three cards that aren't basic lands. Your deck is 100 cards.
How many turns does it take?
My best strategy:
- Paradox Haze
- Coat of Arms
- Mirror-Sigil Sergeant
This results in a turn 12 win.(The person who posed the problem later came up with a Turn-9 win, but I don't know the solution to that.)
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Gilder Bairn
Solarion
Aura of Dominion
Edit: May be faster if you use Pili-Pala instead of gilder Bairn
Yeah I think it's turn 10
T5: Brood Sliver
T6: Sliver Legion
T7: Fury Sliver
Edit: I got Turn 11 for Pili Pala/Solarion. Still the combo to beat though.
Edit2: Borrowing from both of you I got T8.
T4: Black Lotus
T4: 2/2 Solarion
T5: Freed from the Reel
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Rapacious One turn 6
Coat of Arms turn 7
Not sure about the exact calculations on this one, but it should reach 1,000,000 quickly.
sig by DarkNightCavalier
Avatar by perv90210.
Currently Running
Cryffyl
That's infinite. Against the rules.
Thanks. Mind telling me a quick way to calculate out turn wins?
Turn 4 Mana Reflection
Turn 5 Spawnsire of Ulamog
Turn 6 drop a number of Eldrazi you own outside the game with a total power equal to 1,000,000 or more.
Turn 7 win.
Is that cheating? Technically they're not in the deck, and it's not infinite, and if you only own 1,000,000 damage worth of Eldrazi you can't do a billion.
Wow... both of these solutions are awesome. I suppose this is valid as it's not infinite... seems like we need a new "upper bound".
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Freed from the Real
Solarion
Heartbeat of Spring
3. mana flare
4. 2/2 solarion
5. aura, double 8 times,512
6. double 11 times 1048576
7. double 12 times 4294967296 attack
dag too much damage
Sasaya, Orochi Ascendant
Feral Animist
Wheel of Fortune
3. sasaya
4. attack for 2, Animist
5. play a land, wheel, flip, attack, double twice for 8
6. attack double 8 times for 512
7. attack double 12 times for 8192
8. attack double 16 times for 131072
9. double 21 times, attack with the 4194304/1 creature
that does it without going over, gotta be a better mana sink tho
Mana Echoes
Myr Propagator
Strength of the Tajiru
Doesn't get there fast enough, not doing the first doubling until turn 5.
1 Glider Bairn
1 Aura of Dominion
1 Pemmin's Aura
1 Freed From The Real
1 Solarion
1 Pili-Pala
1 Bloom Tender
1 Utopia Mycon
1 Evolution Vat
1 Mycoloth
1 Rage Reflection
1 Spawnwrithe
1 Rapacious One
1 Doubling Season
1 Aggravated Assault
1 Orochi Leafcaller
1 Heartbeat of Spring
1 Mana Flare
1 Devoted Druid
1 Gaea's Cradle
Just start with those 21 cards and add support, draw, and search!
With Animar, Soul of Elements as commander, of course
I guess this one wins the thread, for now.
Anyways, any ideas for the monocolored solutions? (For the colored ones, cards must be monocolor; not colorless.)
Records among my playgroup:
White: Turn 11
Blue: Turn 32
Black: Turn 15
Red: Turn 10
Green: Turn 9
Colorless: Turn 10
Since the red one is similar to one already posted, I'll give that one away:
Any other new solutions for the other colors?
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That colorless solution seems quite good though.
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Turn 5: Doubling Season
Turn 7: Avenger of Zendikar
Turn 8: Play land, Attack (5/5 Avenger + 14x 2/3 plant tokens = 29 damage total)
Turn 9: Play land, Attack (5/5 Avenger + 14x 4/5 plant tokens = 59 damage, 88 damage total). Then replicate the Avenger, kicked. This gives you 10 Avenger tokens and 180 plant tokens.
Turn 10: Play land, Attack (14x 26/27 plant tokens + 180x 22/23 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 4379 damage, 4473 damage total so far)
Turn 11: Play land, Attack (14x 48/49 plant tokens + 180x 44/45 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 8647 damage, 13120 damage total so far)
Turn 12: Play land, Attack (14x 70/71 plant tokens + 180x 66/67 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 12915 damage, 26035 damage total so far)
Turn 13: Play land, Attack (14x 92/93 plant tokens + 180x 88/89 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 17183 damage, 43218 damage total so far)
Turn 14: Play land, Attack (14x 114/115 plant tokens + 180x 110/111 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 21451 damage, 64669 damage total so far)
Turn 15: Play land, Attack (14x 136/137 plant tokens + 180x 132/133 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 25719 damage, 90388 damage total so far)
Turn 16: Play land, Attack (14x 158/159 plant tokens + 180x 154/155 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 29987 damage, 120375 damage total so far)
Turn 17: Play land, Attack (14x 180/181 plant tokens + 180x 176/177 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 34255 damage, 154630 damage total so far)
Turn 18: Play land, Attack (14x 202/203 plant tokens + 180x 198/199 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 38523 damage, 193153 damage total so far)
Turn 19: Play land, Attack (14x 224/225 plant tokens + 180x 220/221 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 42791 damage, 235944 damage total so far)
Turn 20: Play land, Attack (14x 246/247 plant tokens + 180x 242/243 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 47059 damage, 283003 damage total so far)
Turn 21: Play land, Attack (14x 268/269 plant tokens + 180x 264/265 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 51327 damage, 334330 damage total so far)
Turn 22: Play land, Attack (14x 290/291 plant tokens + 180x 286/287 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 55595 damage, 389925 damage total so far)
Turn 23: Play land, Attack (14x 312/313 plant tokens + 180x 308/309 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 59863 damage, 449788 damage total so far)
Turn 24: Play land, Attack (14x 334/335 plant tokens + 180x 330/331 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 64131 damage, 513919 damage total so far)
Turn 25: Play land, Attack (14x 356/357 plant tokens + 180x 352/353 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 68399 damage, 582318 damage total so far)
Turn 26: Play land, Attack (14x 378/379 plant tokens + 180x 374/375 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 72667 damage, 654985 damage total so far)
Turn 27: Play land, Attack (14x 400/401 plant tokens + 180x 396/397 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 76935 damage, 731920 damage total so far)
Turn 28: Play land, Attack (14x 422/423 plant tokens + 180x 418/419 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 81203 damage, 813123 damage total so far)
Turn 29: Play land, Attack (14x 444/445 plant tokens + 180x 440/441 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 85471 damage, 898594 damage total so far)
Turn 30: Play land, Attack (14x 466/467 plant tokens + 180x 462/463 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 89739 damage, 988333 damage total so far)
Turn 31: Play land, Attack (14x 488/489 plant tokens + 180x 484/485 plant tokens + 11x 5/5 Avengers = 94007 damage, 1082340 damage total)
Shapesharer
Chronozoa
Paradox Haze
2. Shapesharer
3. haze attack for 1 d=1
4. Chronozoa attack for 1 d=2
5. attack for 4 d=6 Chronozoa=1 counters=1
6. Chronozoa splits, Shapesharer copies and splits Chronozoa=4 counters=2
7. Chronozoa=8 counters=3
8. Chronozoa=8 counters=1 attack for 24 d=30
9. Chronozoa=16 counters=2
10. Chronozoa=32 counters=3
11. Chronozoa=32 counters=1 attack for 96 d=126
12. Chronozoa=64 counters=2
13. Chronozoa=128 counters=3
14. Chronozoa=128 counters=1 attack for 384 d=510
15. Chronozoa=256 counters=2
16. Chronozoa=512 counters=3
17. Chronozoa=512 counters=1 attack for 1536 d=2046
18. Chronozoa=1024 counters=2
19. Chronozoa=2048 counters=3
20. Chronozoa=2048 counters=1 attack for 6144 d=8190
21. Chronozoa=4096 counters=2
22. Chronozoa=8192 counters=3
23. Chronozoa=8192 counters=1 attack for 24576 d=32766
24. Chronozoa=16384 counters=2
25. Chronozoa=32768 counters=3
26. Chronozoa=32768 counters=1 attack for 98304 d=131070
27. Chronozoa=65536 counters=2
28. Chronozoa=131072 counters=3
29. Chronozoa=131072 counters=1 attack for 393216 d=524286
30. Chronozoa=262144 counters=2
31. Chronozoa=524288 counters=3
32. Chronozoa=524288 counters=1 attack for 1572864 d=2097150
really seems like blue should do better, needs to be able to do an Izzet Guildmage, high tide combo
Very nice. Great solutions.
(BTW, for the monocolored challenges, no multicolor is allowed.) is not allowed for these.)
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Doubling season does not have any effect on the cost of abilites only their costs Devoted Druid will still only get 1 counter when untapping same as planeswalkers don't get more counters when activating their + abilities.
- H.L Mencken
I Became insane with long Intervals of horrible Sanity
All Religion, my friend is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination and poetry.
- Edgar Allan Poe
The Crafters' Rules Guru
Is this legal?
T1: Island, Training Grounds
T2: Mountain
T3: Forest, Feral Animist
T4: Forest, Channel, draw 19 mana from life and tap Island, Mountain to activate Animist 21 times. Swing for 2097152
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
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MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
<Limited Clan>
nah he did 2^21=2097152 but 2^2 isn't 2 doubled twice so he should have done 2^2=24194304
T3: Aggravated Assault
T6: Rapacious One
T7: Swing
R+Token for Bravado
Swing 3 more times, saccing 3 tokens for each attack.
T8:Swing, repeat 4 times.
T9:Swing, repeat 4 times (saving 1 Token on the first swing)
T10:Swing, repeat 5 times
Damage=1745769 (+/-1000: I think I may have added or subtracted a couple tokens erroneously halfway through. Shouldn't affect the turn outcome.)
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Doesn't replacing Bravado with Coat Of Arms make this just strictly better?
Strictly better, but the challenge was about mono-red, which, by the rules set up in this challenge, excludes colorless permanents (except lands).
EDIT:
For some reason I didn't see this when I looked through. This just wins the thread. And the internets.
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