Can you solve the wizard standoff riddle? - Dan Finkel

[@TEDEd]

Sign up to be emailed the solution to the bonus riddle: brilliant.org/tededpoisonapples/! Also, the first 833 of you who sign up for a PREMIUM subscription will get 20% off the annual fee. Riddle on, riddlers!

[@rachelletann]

TED-Ed tom riddle

[@dr.sheetaltelge5434]

Hi TED-Ed video was awsm as always

[@nishvaze2666]

We need more quizzes

[@likithvelagala4403]

TED-Ed red Apples

[@katynotperry027]

The odds are the same the chance are 70% to succes

[@fabianglathe6131]

There’s just one problem: after those two genius strategists misfire on purpose, the enchantress realizes she’s been setup from the beginning. She looks at your weapon. Instead of the peaceful option that just teleports you, you chose a wand that strangles people to death with vines. Considering her options, enchantress decides that becoming a cat definitely better than death and about 100 times better than becoming a fish, so cat is the best outcome for her, and also misses on purpose. Y‘all are cats now.

[@carloscaro9121]

It says they are in it to make the decision that gives them the greatest chance for success. In other words, they're in it to win.

[@tisajokt7676]

@@carloscaro9121 If these poor wizards have been conditioned to mindlessly prioritize victory in a duel over their condition for the rest of their lives, I feel like they might as well have also been conditioned to not consider the option of misfiring in the first place, wouldn't you say?

[@alisenaqalandar5522]

@@tisajokt7676 severing an arm to save the body is among the most common tactics in the world and would be in the arsenal of any strategist. if the enchantress misses she is absolutely sure to lose, if she casts she has a 10% chance of being useless which is still better than 100%. if she hits, she still has a 40% chance to get another cast. with all that in mind she would never forfeit.

[@tisajokt7676]

@@alisenaqalandar5522 I think your severing-the-arm analogy fits closer with accepting defeat as a cat than misfiring the weapon

[@alisenaqalandar5522]

@@tisajokt7676 severing an arm or misfiring a spell in this case is the equivalent of throwing a battle to win the war. To be turned into a cat would be to lose the war.

[@fieryskipper226]

I would pick the Noether 5000 because I could just banish myself to the top of a mountain and survive the duel.

[@riggdan]

That was exactly what I thought as well!

[@riggdan]

You may even cast it on yourself again just to teleport somewhere else

[@pressingfile9340]

@@riggdan no cuz its the nearest mountain

[@adamshoneck8590]

My strategy exactly

[@philliprobertson1347]

Yeah, thought that too. Though I'd lose, I'm more of a winner because I'm more likely to survive.

[@unclesam7299]

The rules state the winner is the last wizard “standing.” Therefore , standing on a cold mountain after casting the 100% spell on yourself is the most forcing move given the rules of the game.

[@Karajorma]

Or you could just sit down after your go. Sure you lost, but the other guy got fried.

[@fabianglathe6131]

The problem is, they never specified if there are time limits to a round. If you hit yourself with the noether, the other 2 wizards could just wait until you freeze to Death

[@shavedata5436]

Yeah this puzzle is actually a lot less complicated than it is made to be here. If I wrap vines around someone, are they still standing? Can I cast the wand on myself? If so, is my objective to win, or to survive (not stated)? Also, there is no reason to allow missing on purpose as the logic is pretty much the same without the "gotcha" solution.

[@punkwrestle]

Also the beginning says it’s to the death yet none of the wands cast deadly spells.

[@iatewoodchipsforlunch]

Harvard wants to *know your location*

[@calumrobertson594]

“Rules stipulate casting with a wand, but say nothing about beating a man to death and then casting.” ~Sun Tzu, probably

[@dominionjay6332]

bestie you are so right

[@pi_man3]

Doesn’t say anything about bringing a gun either.

[@chelseachang8155]

@@pi_man3 *A M E R I C A*

[@hdt8710]

@@chelseachang8155 FR lol.

[@romanscum5678]

​@pi_man3 "bu-but this is a wizard duel! You have to use a wand" "I am. There were just no rules that it had to be magic"

[@artemisia770]

“There’s still a 3% chance that you’ll all be turned into cats.” I’m okay with that.

[@IAGBJSD]

Not until they bathe you.

[@1Peasant]

Becoming a cat turned out to be the winning strategy

[@lupusjoe]

I was wondering why that would be a punishment

[@rhiannontaylor8283]

I would want to be a cat tbh and all my friends know that to😅

[@joemorsi5655]

Solucky, these are my thoughts exactly

[@joncierge7169]

Disappointed that the answer involves “missing on purpose” when that wasn’t offered as a solution. Stabbing the other wizards with a wand would also work, even though it wasn’t listed as an option.

[@Red-vl5bl]

Sounds like Someone missed by accident

[@Ed-1749]

Granted, the 60% wand was correct anyway, even if you dont miss. It's just twice as correct if you can gurantee it.

[@forastero54321]

It was kinda obvious to be perfectly honest (at least for me-someone who is a gamer). You going first makes you the obvious target if you come out strong since the surviving enemy has a pretty good chance to strike you down at the end.

[@mindassassin]

Would stabbing be counted as casting? If not then they wouldn't be allowed to cast until after you do. Then it just turns into a pointy stick fight instead of magic fight.

[@jasonlu9562]

@@mindassassin I cast dual pistols. Now it's a gun fight

[@hz8nd]

I picked the 60% wand using rules of probability and assuming that the other wizards will attack whoever is the most dangerous existing wizard. My concern with this puzzle is that it is not stated in the rules that you can miss on purpose.

[@londonmason6129]

That’s if they know you missed on purpose also they said you couldn’t ether

[@HappyBuddhaBoyd]

....that is the wrong answer in any case. With the weakest wand, you have the least chance of success. The video's probability is not taking into consideration the assumption that the players will not cast differently than expected.

[@dgendm2736]

@@HappyBuddhaBoyd You are wrong - look at the 3 probabilities of winning on the do not miss on purpose lines - Noether 3000 - 30%, Gaussian 32.3%, Bannekar 38.1%. The right pick is ALWAYS the weakest wand, even without the idea of missing on purpose.

[@cklay1084]

@@dgendm2736 ... How are you calculating that? I simulated the game before knowing you could choose to miss and found the odds were: Noether 3000 - 30%, Gaussian 20.48%, Bannekar 12.75%. This is assuming the other wizards target the strongest living wizard besides themselves, and comparing both targets by the player.

[@lifeunderthestarstv]

thank you! hate riddles that create "rules" you are allowed to break... thats not the point of a riddle xd

[@ToastyRaviolii]

Take the middle wand, pretend to fire a spell and pretend it doesn't hit, second wizard assumes it's his turn and tries to hit the third wizard because she's most dangerous, she gets turned into a fish and he gets disqualified because he fired out of turn. Bam, solved 😎

[@gametender1]

even if you pretend to fire and pretend it misses that still would of counted as a pass on your turn

[@aegerman6317]

@@gametender1 Why would it count as a pass lol you haven’t casted. The “pass” in the riddle still involves casting. What you should have pointed out is that the video makes it seem like the cast is visible whether it is a miss or a hit

[@randomchipfat937]

Best use of the word" BAM "award Good work

[@amberwerwolfschool8927]

They say that but the second one will also miss on purpouse then the most dangerous one will hit you bc ur more dangerous than the other one

[@zircon8158]

This is the best solution imo

[@Michaelr696]

Rules say that you only have to be left standing. If you get turned into a statue, are you not standing forever, outliving the surviving wizard and thus winning the contest?

[@e5858]

As long as it’s a standing statue, and that would be the same for everything else but the fish

[@VioletNKisHere]

Perhaps they meant standing alive.

[@bardock2525]

"I've won. But at what cost?"

[@Aostrele]

@@VioletNKisHere r/youknowwhatimnotgonnasayrslashwooooshbcuzimnice

[@janesharp2895]

@@VioletNKisHere r/woooosh

[@plethoras9913]

Me: gets the Noether 9000 and banishes the referee Freeplay mode has been activated

[@markimbing8018]

😂

[@professionalcommentstealer5271]

Well referees aren't really competent at their jobs these days so it'd make little difference

[@sollyoutube_19]

🤣🤣🤣

[@sollyoutube_19]

🤣🤣

[@kk_cats6072]

Lmao

[@WillRennar]

Arrive at the duel with cold weather gear and provisions. Take the 100% wand, use it on yourself to poof right out of that mess. Climb down mountain or become mountain hermit at your discretion. "Not a statue or fish" is win enough for me, thanks.

[@pinnacleexpress420]

This is lowkey the best answer and needs more upvotes.

[@Espartanica]

That’s what I was gonna say!

[@cerulean22b69]

this is the real answer! lol!

[@HypaSnypa12]

I literally thought that this was actually the answer because at the end of the round everyone in the circle would've been turned to cats and you'd be in the mountain safe. The people at Ted obviously don't play D&D. LOL

[@legionofelites2547]

You could also call in a plane before so your prepared for the cold and have a flight home

[@kamelo2219]

Keep in mind how there wasnt a rule stating i couldnt just dodge

[@ManlyKirby]

and there isnt a rule stating i cannot use my revolver

[@silversamurai0267]

Why do I hear Megolovania music coming from your direction?

[@Upstart051]

That’s Piccolo talking, there

[@kamelo2219]

@@Upstart051 DODGE!!!

[@prim16]

Exactly. That's the fault in this riddle. Allow one trick answer, and you allow all of them. Your "dodge" solution is just as valid as the "correct" answer, as such.

[@ricksimon9867]

Well, it has been pointed out a million times, but once more: You did not say that missing on purpose was an option.

[@milliedavis2987]

Hahahaha

[@ryanwilliams9025]

I got it right by thinking of it as hoping I would miss due to the 40% chance to not hit and got the same answer so it didn't really need to be stated

[@lottery7461]

@@jsmith-u5i He didn't say punching the other wizards wasn't an option either

[@magnusfolke8091]

@@heretic3334 you cant swap wands i would think

[@woogie6785]

@@ryanwilliams9025 actually you would have only had 38.1% since you were banking on it not working rather than intentionally missing

[@TheYouOzi]

With these strict rules, there's no way Griffindor can win. Dumbledore: However...

[@AngelA-ym2jz]

*Gryffindor

[@keanureeveslusciousweave]

HAHA YES I WAS WONDERING WHEN I WOULD STUMBLE UPON A HARRY POTTER PUN IN THIS COMMENT SECTION 😂😂

[@amazingango9103]

@Anish Golikere It sounds rather like the Triwizard Tournament

[@prinshiahirwar5698]

Dumbledore : *"1000000 points to Harry Potter!"*

[@MagyarGaben]

Dumbledore: I'm about to do what's called a pro gamer move

[@michaelthomas8077]

The toughest riddles around! The ones that leave out information!

[@CSmyth-]

What information is missing?

[@jepperspeppers5900]

It doesn’t explicitly say you can miss on purpose

[@jj3665]

While, yes, it is marginally annoying that they didn't explicitly provide you with the option to intentionally miss, you can still arrive at the correct answer without that information. Check out the odds of winning at the end; your best chance still lies with the 60% wand (at around 38%).

[@yunogasai5416]

@@CSmyth- kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpmmoYOiebJjiLM

[@worm489]

@@jj3665 have to side with the op on this.. if you want to pose the surprise info that missing a shot is valid, then you must also concede that the vine spell doesnt incapacitate your target that remains standing, alive and not transformed. Congratulations, you will either lose to probability, or lose to being a cat as your opponent will never be "not standing"

[@LaCafedora]

Reminder: this is a deadly duel. To be eliminated, there can be only one wizard left alive. Simply being transported or transmogrified is insufficient to eliminate a player. After the shapeshifting, we must presume that a player walks over to the helpless wizard and beats them to death. Gruesome but logically following given the rules. Therefor I banish Wizard number 2 to a mountaintop. Now wizard number 3 must wait until wizard number 2 either dies or takes his turn. Determining either of these conditions is not going to be easy, seeing as the other wizard is far away, and unobserved by anyone. If they cast before he acts, then they are disqualified, at which point I just need to wait until the missing wizard dies of hypothermia. To take their turn, Wizard 3 must go find Wizard 2. They both die from hypothermia and I win.

[@chalmerskidstv4305]

If someone loses then the next person goes

[@aaronhutchinson8911]

Ok, I guess, but it feels like your reaching.

[@legohexman2858]

You assume that the wizards are limited purely by their choice of wand. Remember these are wizards, not just strategicians with wands. It would not be a stretch to assume that a true practitioner of the mystical natural arts would figure out how to concentrate enough energy, even in the mountain tops, to provide warmth for themselves. An argument against this is that it is against the rules to use any other magic in the duel, but unless they have remote observation powers of the mountain, he could easily buy new clothes and lie about where the wand actually took him, suggesting a malfunction. This of course is not a 100% solution for the teleported wizard but it still does change the numbers.

[@FREEDOM80085]

Wow, you're soo smart 🤓🤓🤓🤓

[@rashminlilamani1744]

Ok.... But how is no one talking about the Hamilton reference Where my Hamilfans at

[@sarahtwitt]

This is just like the "What's green and has wheels" "Grass i lied about the wheels" It has an aspect that isn't specified

[@aaronavidad]

Thats from perrys secret joke book right

[@leothesquid4099]

No because they never said you couldn't miss. Your example explicity states it has wheels, completely different

[@woosh5102]

Right, this example is lying about a rule. The other is not mentioning a rule but still not denying it

[@eve_the_eevee_rh]

A green car

[@samlee5549]

I remember a movie with a quote which this reminds me of. Puzzler: What has 4 legs at morning, two legs at noon, and three legs at night? Protagonist: Simple, Man. Now, answer my riddle. What's green, can fly, and is nailed to a wall? Puzzler: Uh, I don't know. Protagonist. Then Let me pass. Later, when Protagonist is exiting. Puzzler: Wait, what was the answer? Protagonist: A Red Herring! You can paint it green, put it on an aeroplane, and nail it to a wall with a nail!

[@77madman]

As I'm watching the video, this is my idea: Use the 100% wand on the 2nd Wizard. If he is bound then the 3rd Wizard must cast, but would be disqualified because she's casting out of turn and the rules did not offer that detail saying that a wizard turn is skipped if they are unable to cast.

[@perfumefemur]

Good point

[@markfrye5358]

That’s exactly what I was thinking all along! 100% chance of winning.

[@thecodwa8427]

the true genius

[@KronusToketsu]

except the 100% wand doesnt bind, it banishes. the 60% wand binds

[@QuokkaWaka]

@@KronusToketsu True, so he'll just fire wildly and the 3rd wizard won't be casting out of turn

[@cjortiz]

After your masterful strategy to 'miss 1st', the Newt-Niz sorcerer (also with mastery of strategy) also misses on purpose to maximize his chance of success. The Lieb-Ton enchantress (also with mastery of strategy) recognizes and accepts her position in this prisoner's trilemma, and condemns everyone to the Nash Equilibrium by also intentionally missing her shot.

[@colmecolwag]

But the Entrantess would still have a Greater Than Zero chance of winning if she zapped the sorcerer and tried to luck out against your wood wand, giving her a 37%ish chance to win compared to her going "how about we all lose" which has a 0% chance of winning

[@ideecay2190]

@@colmecolwag Thats the joke I think.

[@mostafaabdelmalik8434]

@@colmecolwag a guaranteed draw for me is better than going 40% versus 60% in the blue wizard's advantage, I would miss on purpose too

[@colmecolwag]

@@mostafaabdelmalik8434 i mean its not a guaranteed draw, its an Everybody Loses. Its not even "If i dont win, nobody wins" since you still got decent odds, even if theyre stacked against you. Its just throwing the duel out of spite.

[@mostafaabdelmalik8434]

@@colmecolwag true

[@zachzytnick7066]

For the bonus riddle, the odds of surviving the duel are the same regardless of which bowl you pick. Consider the first bowl, where three apples are poisonous, and two are not, and you must eat two. The only way you lose is if you eat two poisonous apples in a row. The odds of that happening are 60%*50%, or 30%. Once you eat one poisonous apple, 2 are left, and 2 are nonpoisonous, hence the 50% chance on the second one. In the second case, where only 2 apples are poisonous, but you have to eat 3 apples, there are 3 ways you can lose: you eat 2 poisonous apples in a row immediately; you eat one poisonous apple, one regular, and then another poisonous apple; or you eat one regular apple and then two nonpoisonous apples. Interestingly, the probability of any individual losing scenario occurring is 10%. Since there are 3 DIFFERENT ways you can lose that are mutually exclusive and happen 10% of the time, you have a 30% chance to lose this way as well. :)

[@clarkalarcon4057]

Thank you so much, I would have never thought of the problem like that😅

[@HelloThere.....]

You are wrong at the end, losing is death, it requires 2 poisonous apples to lose, so 2 normal and 1 poison is okay. Unless it was a typo?

[@freddieban-murray9848]

Thats to much maths for me, i just wrote out the 60 combinations for green and the 20 for red and counted

[@57thorns]

Another way to look at it is to consider the apples not eaten in the case of two poisioned/eat three. You want to avoid two nonpoisoned apples leftover. But there are three nonposioned apples, so if you change the posion status of the apples, you are in the situation that there are three apples you want to avoid, and you have to pick two. This makes the situations exactly the same.

[@noeldavis618]

Your logic is right on, but you're calling the red bowl the "first bowl" but it was actually the second bowl that was discussed in the riddle.

[@solar_panei7086]

“You have been chosen as a champion” *and that, my friends, is where it all went wrong*

[@jnull7655]

(me dies of heart attak)

[@ToeJoe123]

Gaussian and you miss on purpose be like:

[@cozyflurry]

Mhm

[@cozyflurry]

@@ToeJoe123 ;-; yep

[@fortello7219]

I didn't realize you could choose to miss, but my answer was the 60% and "hope" you miss. After all, going first in this is pretty much the worst position.

[@sevenbrokenbricks]

Fortello that was my answer too, maybe it’s all the d&d but the idea of being able to intentionally miss with the spells presented makes little sense.

[@AkshayAradhya]

Same. Very bad problem statement

[@edgycunt6358]

The riddle stated that we take turns casting spells and that after 1 round the game is over. So the riddle is flawed since a spell is casted wether it lands on an oponent or not.

[@Lagspike99]

same here

[@perfectlyimperfect423]

Fortello Same. I wanted to target the 90% and hope that it doesn't work.

[@THUND3RCOW]

Take the 100% wand and use it on the judge/referee. NO RULES. WIZARD ANARCHY

[@damiennewman1992]

And then you're seen as the biggest threat and are simultaneously attacked by both the 90% and 70% wands. Even if you respond quicker than they can interpret what happened (since it would be a surprise), you are only going to be able to take out one of them before the other responds. Best case scenario you have a 70% chance to lose assuming you take out the wizard with the 90% wand.

[@limilach3214]

@@damiennewman1992 still a 30% chance of survival, I'll take it.

[@damiennewman1992]

@@limilach3214 The suggestion in the video is above 50% chance of surviving and you'll go with the 30% chance?

[@reeree6048]

@@limilach3214 its like a 5 percent chance because they are both higher then 50 % almost 100 % chance of death

[@limilach3214]

@@reeree6048 still I'll take it.

[@budkbob550]

I know this is an older video and I'm probably not going to get an answer, but in the breakdown at 4:06, how does "Noether 9000 and you miss on purpose" have a non-0 win rate? You are the main target with that wand, so the only possible options if you choose to miss would be turning into a fish, statue, or cat.

[@canterburyegg2062]

Pretty sure you're right. Can't think of a situation where your opponents change their strategy from "miss on purpose" or "target you." I'll let you know if I have an epiphany, but it should be a clean 0%

[@AwesomeDomi1]

You you’re correct, also the Gaussian should have a lower chance of winning than 30% because if you fail then you’re guaranteed to lose since the sorcerer would pass his turn, but if you succeed not only do you need to survive the 30% chance, you also need another 80% chance to turn him

[@abucket14]

I mean if you can just miss on purpose, you can target yourself with the noether and live. Just keep casting it on yourself till you land on a mountain that is able to be climbed down. such as Olympus, a very climbable mountain, even with substandard or no equipment. where the gods for one of the most powerful ancient nations lived, and they didn't even bother to look. (This got away from me really bad) ((Like literally rolled down the mountain on me))

[@HZAres]

​​@@abucket14I agree, but I don't think the flavor of wand matters, this is just a flawed math problem.

[@abucket14]

@HZAres I'd argue that the scenarios designed around the flawed mathematics are just as important. Sadly, both are flawed here, but you are correct. Math be wack.

[@kekohokko7213]

Call me pedantic, but I read "take turns casting spells to eliminate each other" as a stipulation to always aim at a contestant. With that in mind, I would have taken the 60% wand, aimed at the enchantress and hoped for a misfire.

[@kangar1797]

oh my god THANK YOU i though i was crazy

[@kampfkanguru1951]

@k I personally think after making the math that the 60% wand is the best choice and it's chance to win is certainly higher than 24%. In 60% of the times you eliminate one wizard and have a 30% chance to win. In 40% of the time you miss, and then it's important what happens next. In 3% of that 40% both wizards miss and everyone loses. In the remaining 97% of the 40% one of them is eliminated and you have a 60% chance of eliminating the other one. So your chance of winning with this strategy is about 40%, not 24%. If I made a mistake there, please let me know. Edit: I just watched the end and they showed the odds of winning without missing on purpose, it's 38%.

[@PlatformingCyndaquil]

Gets hit by spell…Hey Luz.😭

[@Haunted2077]

If it did hit, and work, they would still be in the contest, or duel. The riddle says "whoever is left standing will win." The first and third wand would definitely leave those that it hits still standing.

[@PlatformingCyndaquil]

@@Haunted2077 I think they mean standing and able to do something while still in the circle, so no.

[@doddermodd]

"You'll all be turned into cats" is a very questionable choice for a punishment

[@ugneiljinaite4369]

Actually I would like to be turned into a cat

[@main3240]

@@ugneiljinaite4369 Furry

[@jodyceslok1913]

@Andrew Ford I agree too. Any other way, you'd die. If you were a fish, you'd suffocate. Turned to stone, all of your organs would also be turned to stone, meaning you'd die. I wouldn't even mind being a cat, since you'd still retain your original knowledge. If i was the enchantress and everyone else skipped, it would actually be the logical thing to do, or else you would be targeted by lethal spells. Also, cats get to sleep a lot, be cuddly, and not really have to do work. Why? Because they're cats.

[@kaylakaty132]

I WANT TO BE A CAT

[@Halleretta]

@@jodyceslok1913 Turning into a cat woulds seriously hurt you... Cat's bone structures,Organ sizes,Muscle tissues etc...Are all diffrent to us so turning into a cat could seriously injure our Physcial body and Maybe kill us

[@redzoro92]

The answer to this is just dodge the other wizard’s attack.

[@croassung3721]

...

[@zeycus]

Yeah, I think that is a flaw in the solution. Even if you are not allowed to miss on purpose, the best wand is still the 60%. And you still realize you would be lucky if you miss the first spell. So the problem is still beautiful and has a beautiful solution, just not the one proposed in the video.

[@xxMilakasiaxx]

@@zeycus are you sure? what is the probability to win with the 60% wand without missing on purpose? cant figure it out myself.

[@jackgooding5808]

xxMilakasiaxx 38.1%. The table of solutions is at 4:07

[@joshmariotti2844]

They can't dodge, their AC is 1

[@Santaxe]

Consider these two direct quotes: 1.) "You are chosen to cast the first spell, the Newt-niz magician will go second, and the Leib-ton enchantress third" 2.) "Anyone who casts out of order immediately forfeits the duel" - if you go first, using your 100% accuracy wand to eliminate the Newt-niz magician. Then, the only remaining wizard, the Leib-ton enchantress, will go second (though she is expected to go third) and she will immediately forfeit the duel for casting out of order. You win.

[@meltinor7917]

This might be better than the “correct” answer

[@MCart1215]

Lmfao dude this is actually genius hahaha

[@olaf-chan-728]

they are banished to a moutain, the Newt-niz knows the rules and will wait until the enchantress comes back

[@eon7744]

You genius! Take your like good sir.

[@SomeGuy-lr7ms]

Host: alright no missing on purpose Me: YEARS OF ACADEMY TRAINING WASTED

[@theprocess2357]

Some Guy you still have the best chances of winning with 60% wand even if there is no missing on purpose

[@shavedata5436]

It's the same even if you can't miss.

[@fireblaster8916]

Then I barely miss so everyone thinks I have bad aim

[@luketownsend5048]

The apples are a 70% survival either way. Unless you miss your mouth on purpose.

[@monticha3274]

Luke Townsend why did this make me laugh so hard lmaoooo

[@hulem98]

yup that how wizards work lol

[@nitroptics]

Lmao 😂👌

[@rusozawr4969]

Hahahahahahah love it

[@skullcrusherm7425]

Nailed it

[@luxurious0346]

The best way to win is to miss on purpose *_wait, that's illegal_*

[@pirmund9191]

damn, 1k likes but not a single comment.

[@polyspheremusic3417]

Second!

[@FedorFan101]

dont know why i laughed so hard

[@PaulineS813]

@khurshed Ul Haq. khan lol

[@Nylspider]

Exactly I was like, you aren't allowed to bent the rules like that

[@sorenlily2280]

The thing is, even if missing on purpose were not an option, the logic is almost exactly the same, and the optimal strategy would still be to pick the Bannekar and then target the enchantress. You still gain a huge advantage if you miss on your first round while also being the weakest target. This is because if you miss, neither the sorcerer nor the enchantress will target you on their turn because you're weak, so if either of them hit, you always get to go first in the ensuing 1v1. However, it does become more of a mathematical exercise than a logical one to prove that the Bannekar is actually the best. The percentages are tight so you can't do a quick estimate. But if you work it out, the Noether 9000 (100% wand) gives a 30% chance of winning, the Gaussian gives a 32.34% chance of winning, and the Bannekar gives a 38.11% chance of winning. This is actually a really interesting math problem if you ban missing on purpose and start generalizing to different percentages and more people. The problem gets really complicated really fast with more people because it has recursive properties. Not a good logic puzzle though.

[@theeraphatsunthornwit6266]

Since you seem to be quite good at this. Let me ask you something. in the video, how come choosing noether 9000 and miss on purpose has 1.6% chance of winning... if you pass, orange will pass too, then yellow will try to kill you, if she succeed you die, if she fail, everyone turn into cat... which you 100% lose anyway.

[@Muhahahahaz]

Actually, no. The problem with their solution is that you now have a 64.6% chance of winning. This means both wizards will actually target you, because they are “Masters of Strategy” and can therefore calculate your optimal strategy (Of course, this ultimately lowers your odds, and makes the puzzle a lot more complicated… With everyone reacting to each other’s optimal strategy until an equilibrium is reached. Which is why missing on purpose is such nonsense, unless they’re ready to introduce game theory in a 5 minute video lol)

[@sorenlily2280]

@@Muhahahahaz I'm not sure what you're talking about. The players want to maximize their own chances of winning not minimize your chances of winning, so your chance of winning is irrelevant to their strategy. If your opponents start colluding, then the equation might change, but we're not considering collusion. So, the video does in fact describe the optimal strategy for each player. If you think it doesn't, then please explain how any player could do better than what is described.

[@KaRma20.10]

How you calculated that chance of winning is 64,6%?

[@CptCelestialCarnage]

My logic was to take the 100% staff to send the 70% dude to the mountain, thus being unable to cast. This should however automatically disqualify the 90% lady since she woud be casting out of order. That was in the rules.

[@TopOfLobby]

Kaupo This could work however the banished wizard could still go leaving it to be the other wizards turn. Now what’s the probability that he does go.... yeah I don’t care enough lol

[@AnonYmous-mc5zx]

@Jason Achilles That makes it an even more valid plan to cast the banish spell on yourself. "Welp I guess I'm no longer part of the duel, now to just use my EXPANSIVE KNOWLEDGE OF MAGIC to get off this mountain."

[@medexamtoolscom]

How about this plan. Bring a machine gun to the fight and shoot them all.

[@dannyt7456]

But the wizard would be removed therefore she wouldn't be casting oit of order

[@subbaiahkasi6310]

medexamtoolsdotcom Yes and then get turned in a chicken by the judges, while they heal themselves...

[@Candlelighter]

Take the 100%. Cast it on yourself. Youre still standing, just on a mountain

[@wenceslay543]

Exactly what i thought lol

[@Sybaification]

I thought the same thing. Lol

[@2010RSHACKS]

Forfeiture doesn’t win the game

[@RamdomView]

Then the rest of your wizarding club beats you up for shaming them in front of public eyes.

[@thetinykid4169]

@@2010RSHACKS he doesnt forfeit. It was a battle to the death. He is still alive.

[@megaultralegomaster]

Since you can make up new rules, here are a few fun solutions to win the duel. Since the rules state the duel ends when only one is standing, you can sit down to temporarily eliminate yourself. The rules do not state you cannot return to the duel after being eliminated. Option 1: I cast Fireball, targeting the ground near the two of them, eliminating both without targeting either. Neither of them are allowed to cast counterspell since that would be casting out of turn. There is no rule against it, therefore is an option. Option 2: I use the 100% wand to eliminate one of my enemies, and then sit down. I am no longer standing meaning the third person cannot target me. I stand up during my turn at round 2 (see rule 5 stating "end of first round" not start of second) and eliminate the third person. There is no rule against it, therefore is an option. Option 3: I teleport to the mountain on my turn, sit down and then run back for my next and end the third person. The rules state you do not eliminate yourself by casting the wand on yourself, only an opponent. There is no rule against it, therefore is an option. Option 4: Shoot one of the competitors before the duel starts. There is no rule against it, therefore is an option. Option 5: Break both of their knees with the baseball bat 9000 wand. Neither of them are standing, meaning you win. But seriously, missing being allowed should be stated within the rules of a LOGIC puzzle. Rules as written, missing isn't allowed since you are not casting a spell at an opponent to eliminate them.

[@edschramm6757]

I see what you're saying, but I'll just Cast Disintegrate, and with my 3 level dip in Sorcerer, use Twinned Spell. Technically, it's one spell that is being aimed at both. Assuming they are both full spellcasters, then have low enough health for that to kill both before they get a turn. They never said you have to use the spells embedded in the wand

[@jamesbaker2092]

I'm going to bonus action hex, then I'm going to use action surge and cast an Eldritch blast at both of them. If either survives, I'll take the dodge action and cast mind spike each time it's my turn.

[@edschramm6757]

@@jsmith-u5i "at an opponent to eliminate them". If you fire with intent to miss, it is not directed at an opportunity with intent to eliminate them. Thusly, it's not a valid selection

[@aldar8240]

for option 2, it does say that the last person standing wins the duel, meaning that if you sat down the other person would instantly win

[@FluffyDragonDrawing]

1. You targeted 2 people. Not 1; which is against the rules. 2. If you can do that so can they... so one of them sits down right after their turn and gets back up. 3.The wand is specified to eliminate oponents by that method; aka that method eliminates you. Even if it didn't what's to stop the other wizards from pulling a similar trick. 4.it asks for your strategy of winning the duel. Actions taken before aren't a part of your strategy; and who's to say there won't be a replacement. 5.why would they let you do that. I imagine they'd fight back. This ISNT a logic puzzle; its a RIDDLE. There are differences. One is that your meant to think creatively.the other is a case of math and deduction. You are still casting a spell that would eliminate them if it hit. You simply did not aim.

[@17thstellation]

There are a couple of problems with this one, honestly. As others are pointing out, it was never stated that you could miss on purpose, and it really feels more like the kind of answer you'd hear as a joke. Also, it wasn't clear that your opponents being perfectly rational just meant they'd target the person with the most powerful wand. I kept on thinking about how they'd just get stuck trying to predict and out-metagame each other, and it quickly became obvious that this scenario doesn't allow for any line of thinking to be consistently optimal.

[@DWN037]

Not to mention that it's not a perfect strategy anyway - there's _still_ a 3% chance it ends in a draw, and a 60% chance to win at the second round isn't as sure-fire as it sounds.

[@kriojn]

Considering the thing is 3 players and would pretty well end before a third round, the decisions that can be made by any one player is miss or target the most powerful player. Like sure you try mind games by idk pointing the wand at yourself, missing purposefully (presuming you can hide that it was on purpose), playing it off that you are sad that it missed and having the others not target you- but like imagine if that was the solution to this probably riddle… the comments would be even more enraged

[@timm8998]

They do what gives them the best odds of winning, that is the rational thought. I think it was pretty obvious. It is not a problem with the riddle, this is how they work.

[@lenoncerqueira8308]

I actually wrote down a rigorous mathematical solution for a version of this problem in which you cannot miss on purpose. In short, it can be demonstrated that, for your opponents, targeting the person with the most powerful wand is, indeed, optimal (in that it maximizes their probabilities of ultimately winning) in all cases. And the final answer is, still, that you should pick the 60% wand (and target the third wizard in your first move). You're thinking the game gets really complicated down the line, but it really doesn't. The reason it stays simple is that, within one round, either someone wins, or everyone loses, or the duel becomes a one versus one, which is determined by pure chance since the two remaining wizards make no further choices (they only have one opponent to target, and remember, they can't miss on purpose). Therefore, any "strategy" they could come up with goes no further than one round. I was also frustrated by that "miss on purpose" solution (especially after I spent some time solving a different riddle). I'm sure I could adapt my solution to this possibility, making it rigorous, but I don't think it is worthy of such treatment.

[@MasterlyRex8789]

No missing on purpose is how you are supposed to “think outside the box”. This is supposed to be a riddle. Not a math question. The real issue with this riddle is not eliminating the infinite nonsense answers.

[@BradleyWhistance]

Could be a good riddle, but the telling of it needs to be improved. It isn't clear that deliberate missing is allowed.

[@neve6759]

Perhaps guessing that you can purposefully miss was part of the riddle itself?

[@neve6759]

McKenzie Cooley I like the kittens too! So cute!

[@Valientee16]

That doesn't make sense. They try to convince you to pick the 100% with the kitty line. Because otherwise every wizard has a chance to miss. This is a badly told puzzle, on purpose.

[@KuroroSama42]

It doesn't matter. If you consider that the deliberate miss isn't allowed, your best bet is still with the 60% wand. Just look at the probabilities at 4:10 ... their odds are a bit off, but all in the same way, which leaves them at the same rankings.

[@ryanhaining4004]

They could just allow you to "pass" and it'd be very easy to explain

[@worker-wf2em]

So the solution relies on a condition that wasn’t stated in the setup, namely that you can miss on purpose. In the spirit of this absurdity, I propose a better solution is for all three wizards to sit down and deliberately miss, and given none are left standing then none would be turned into cats and everyone survives.

[@Grivian]

Genius

[@MiiNiPaa]

Main problem is that this video takes classc Martin Gardner's "Three way duel" problem and replaces guns and no-perfect-gunslingers (where common sense dictates that you can miss and miss on purpose is extremely hard to discern from honest miss) with magic and wands which just sometimes doesn't work (where common sense does not work, because magic)

[@mikeluit3027]

I was just thinking the same thing before unpausing the video. The best strategy (to quote "Wargames") "is not to play".

[@xwingknight]

Now you’re thinking with portals!

[@derekhandson351]

but if all 3 miss, they're all still standing

[@BalgaBear]

What I was expecting: logic and strategy. What I got: J.K. Rowling

[@samsunguser3148]

*EXPLIARMUS!* ✨

[@canaDavid1]

@@samsunguser3148 *expelliarmus

[@samsunguser3148]

@@canaDavid1 lol thanks

[@deviantsemicolon618]

Virck and Hamilton

[@imm1nentdeath]

*avada kedavra*

[@zephalverilion5393]

I like how they tell you that you can miss on purpose after you are supposed to answer

[@21Kikoshi]

lol yeah that needed to be in the rules, but thats how they make is difficult to solve if they dnt tell you all the rules

[@danielgehring7437]

Run. Use deadly, never-miss wand on police. Begin lifelong career in magical crime.

[@BlazeTaleo]

Daniel Gehring but they don’t even die, they could get back and eventually you’d be overrun

[@scroonkgun-7875]

How tf they gonna get back from like 100000000000000 miles high mountains

[@somespacepizza1757]

They'd probably have a magic barrier, which is why you can miss a shot without being disqualified for endangering the audience...

[@TheAllMightyGodofCod]

Better yet, use the 100% accurate Noether on yourself and then climb down the mountain. Oh, don't forget to take your best coat or fire wand to the tournment-

[@net_lag]

No miku. ! Just no

[@jarrodvullo5698]

Narrator: "The rules of magic duels are strict" Also Narrator: "So cheese the rules to win the magic duel"

[@Lettucem3n]

Loopholes, my friend

[@justin9202]

@@Lettucem3n there's a difference between loopholes and breaking rules. Purposefully missing means you are breaking a rule as it never says that is allowed. However as long as a wizard isn't standing after first round your fine, so just sit down, or lay down. You are not standing as per rule subset so it fits in the rules

[@bdogpimpsause]

@@justin9202 we had no way of knowing if you could miss on purpose with a magic wand. Are the wands line of sight, or do you just have to think of your target to hit them? Do the judges know using magic whether or not you intentionally missed? Because if they knew, you would be in violation of the rules and disqualified since you didn’t try to eliminate one of the wizards

[@fehoobar]

@@justin9202 Then you should obviously pick the 100% wand, DISGUISE IT as the 60% wand, miss on purpose and then if everyone is a logical actor and also hasn't BS'd their way here you have 100% chance of winning. Or better yet, BRING BOTH WANDS, this was you have 100% chance of taking out the 90% wizard and 80% chance of taking out the 70% wizard. Adding rules is BS in riddles like this and that only means you can keep on adding more rules and loopholes.

[@justin9202]

@@fehoobar yes

[@zacharyrotunno6859]

Step 1: Confirm you have green eyes Step 2: Ask to leave the duel

[@Kizaco]

Knew I would see a joke about this

[@lovelyrookie3368]

@@Kizaco Same. I was searching this type of comment and here it is. This kind of green eyes jokes are on every video.

[@VioletNKisHere]

Yep on every Ted Ed riddle video

[@christophervandehey2614]

3. STOP USING THIS JOKE

[@VioletNKisHere]

Step 1: make a joke about another riddle Step 2: there is no step 2

[@oneoranota]

Here is the solution for the basket of apples : take the red one then miss your mouth on purpose on one or two of the bites. And voilà, you didn't eat two full apples so you won't die !

[@PostKillSandwich]

Take the 100% chance wand, cast on red wizard. Since red wizard's gone, yellow is up next. Since yellow was supposed to go 3rd but now is forced to go 2nd, she must cast out of order, disqualifying her. Boom, you win.

[@maxentirunos]

Another possibility if the others don't know your success rate and spell effect. Take the 100% wand, miss the first shot, second WILL take on the greater threat (being turn stone 90%) and try casting at him. He did it good, then it's your turn to blast him on a mountain, he failed, the other WILL retaliate and may turn him to stone. he did? Blast him on a mountain. Neither did it? repeat the turn. If the first condition isn't respected, then your solution is good.

[@foomples]

But that wasn't in the rules. She wouldn't be going out of order, this would pertain to "skipping a turn" whether it be willing or not.

[@AI-hl5xl]

i agree with maxentirunos, if others don't know your success rate and spell effect, the other will try to eliminate the greatest threat for them, in this case, 70% will try to eliminate 90% and vice versa, if they know ours, eliminate the 90% first for me, the rest is up to rng god

[@CallieSqueakz]

Pray to RNGsus.

[@shahsadsaadu5817]

PiepowderYamen Dango that is what I thought

[@Mohit-jl8kl]

The master strategy is Don't participate in such a dangerous game

[@chesthoIe]

But what if it's the only game in town?

Take the 60% wand. Miss on purpose. Cast out of turn after the second wizard tried, get disqualified, survive. Take the 100% wand. Find the one who made the rules. Blast them.

[@izzy-artmusicvlogs1234]

Sean -Chesthole- Osman You still don’t have to play it.

[@ouch9841]

You Wouldn't Gain Fame Then.

[@rebeccavecchio4275]

I agree lol

[@brandonsalinas4888]

There is no stated time limit for turns, so what if you choose the 100% wand and just stand there without casting? The others can't take their turn until after you cast, so just wait hours until one concedes or loses patience and casts out of order. You then send the last opponent to the mountain and win. Since you know this is your strategy going in, you either bring food and water if thats allowed or eat a big meal beforehand and drink plenty of water.

[@EliteSpark-tf7kw]

Yeah but when one casts out of order they are gonna go for you because you have the best wand this strategy would probably work with the worst wand

[@fenixmeaney6170]

Depends on several things The 70 and 90 percentages Reaction time Punishment for disqualification

[@Caughtin32K]

Lmao just pull a Sans in the middle of battle

[@joksizantos7520]

So its like a MrBeast stay in a circle challenge to win a hundred bucks or something

[@ransomexe]

But if you are like sans just don't go to sleep

[@gama5942]

I have a foolproof method: dash behind the enchantress, hold her up to be turned into a fish, throw the fish at the other wizard to discombobulate him, then spam my m1 until my chance works; what if the genius strategists already predicted their opponents' next moves? They're geniuses, after all.

[@lifedeather]

discombobulate

[@Fluffers355]

This comment doesn’t get enough attention

[@SoraRaida]

Discombobulate

[@coryman125]

Isn't intentionally missing essentially the same as going out of turn though? It's basically just saying "No thanks, I don't wanna go first"

[@Hello-qg4yk]

coryman125 yeah

[@KuroroSama42]

Could they prove that you missed on purpose? Your wand has a pretty high chance of automatically missing. Either way, the answer would be the same. Use the 60% wand and hope to miss instead of missing on purpose.

[@chlorine4567]

@@KuroroSama42 They didn't say it had a chance of missing, but a chance of just not working

[@shavedata5436]

@@KuroroSama42 It isn't stated that the spells fail because they miss. It seems likely that they could always hit their target but have a chance to be ineffective.

[@borisandrews3867]

the difference between not going first and deliberately missing mathematically tho comes from the rules about all being turned into cats if no one gets a hit in the first round, in that if this weren't the case we would have an infinite decision space leading to silly solutions such as everybody repeatedly missing on purpose - so deliberately missing is slightly different cause now there's only 2 goes before the cat transformation as opposed to the full 3 if u just hadn't gone first

[@maggielu3927]

“you’ll all be turned into cats” *bold for you to assume i don’t want that*

[@omori3703]

*bold of you to assume I’m not a cat*

[@Milkcake00]

I am a cat

[@strawber3seal_77]

*Warriors (Warrior Cats) intensifies*

[@Milkcake00]

A cat

[@Milkcake00]

I AM A CAT!!!!!!!

[@thebelovedlion2208]

Well if we can bend the rules like this, then you can just bundle up, Get the Noether 9000, use it on yourself, grab your Elytra, use your Fire Flower to propel yourself away from the mountain and back to the stadium, and then you see the outcome! Then use the Master Sword to strike down the other opponents, and you win!

[@timerboom3207]

He speaks the language of gods!

[@riverr9881]

@@timerboom3207 Gods!

[@khodibritton8368]

Hey, Archen.

[@khodibritton8368]

Ya hear that?

[@khodibritton8368]

*woooosh*

[@kartorrent7496]

4:46 I, too, am challenged by my nonexistent friends to eat potentially poisonous things that will most certainly kill me.

[@medexamtoolscom]

Anyone else notice that the other 2 wizard schools, the "newt-niz" and "leib-ton", are just newton and leibniz with their syllables switched?

[@FriendlyTheSoup]

nope!

[@kfirarthegamer798]

Just noticed that and was looking if anybody else did

[@andrewcallier9107]

wow cool

[@andrewcallier9107]

monsta pix thx for honesty

[@amishra7292]

Are we geeks for noticing it?

[@welcometohell3002]

Take the noether, and use it on yourself. Chop down some nearby trees, and build a house. Use the extra for firewood. Encounter a herd of wild mountain goats, and take up the life of a goat herder. Discover a nearby village, and trek down there every day to trade goat milk, and converse with the villagers. Find a village girl, and settle down with a family. Give up magic, and have a simple, but happy life.

[@emperorampora8771]

i like your profile pic and your name.

[@dylanrobson3802]

So wholesome :)

[@GeeGe.]

I really like this.

[@euttdsiggh2783]

arsenicKatnip that was beautiful i have tears in my eyes

[@davysmith1934]

that's....genius.

[@ThatAnArchyDude]

Or pick the Noether 9000 & banish the sorcerer. If the enchantress DOES take the next turn, they'll be casting out of order...which is against the first rule. Therefore, they'd be forfeiting the match. There's a 90% chance you'll be turned into stone, but a 100% chance you'll still win the duel by default. Winning was the point, yes? 1:48

[@zackd6472]

Pretty sure the creator assumed that the viewer would know that once someone is eliminated from the duel the turn order passes on. Like playing a board game and stopping because someone who is already out doesn't take their turn

[@doriancarter964]

@@zackd6472 yes but being sent to a mountain doesn’t meet the stipulations of being eliminated (that being “not left standing”

[@ericdillingham6858]

Honestly, a 10% chance of winning isn't too bad.

[@ice2163]

This is literally me back when I played basketball during my high school gym class. The gym teacher would have the entire class warm up by shooting and passing wi5 each other and during that time she would be watching as to who was really good at the sport and those who are not. When the games begin she would balance the teams with good and bad players. Having experienced the exact same thing in my grade school I purposefully missed shots and acted like a student who doesn’t care about the sport. The strategy worked. The gym teacher later paired me up with two other student who are in the high school basketball team. We basically crushed the other teams on 3v3. I had my fair share of getting the ball at the corner of the court and doing a Kobe spin shot for a 3 pointer. This video reminded me of that memory.

[@cisselah1996]

Obviously, the most humane solution is to find out who my opponents are before the duel, then integrate myself with one of them. I become a friend, a companion, a listening ear and sympathetic shoulder to cry on. Slowly, I start to learn their secrets, their fears, their habits down to the shoesizes. I start to fit into their lives, a steady presence that stays with them even when their other friends betray them and leave (possibly with some help). I touch them softly, speak to them patiently. Slowly, they fall in love. One day, when I'm sure I have them, I ask them out. They agree. I take them to a fancy restaurant, or a movie, or something else I know they like. We start dating. I bring them flowers, presents... I tell them they are the most beautiful thing in the universe to me, the most magical thing I have ever seen. I tell them how my heart skips a beat when I see them, how their embrace comforts me and I feel safe in their arms. How I want to build a life with them. They agree. I start making plans. I buy them a ring. I propose. We have a wedding, a perfect dream wedding, all according to their wishes. Afterwards, we get a mortage and a house. We settle down in a quiet neighbourhood. We wake up i the same bed in the morning, facing each other with smiles. WE eat breakfast and drink coffee sitting at the same table, our hands brusing as we reach for the toast at the same time. When we go to work we say goodbye to a kiss and a 'love you'. Time passes. We start talking about children. We're not sure we want them, but we're thinking about it. After months and months of consideration, we finally agree we want babies, and not long thereafter, we welcome our first child. And our second. And third. Things start to get rough. Changing diapers and working and doing household chores aren't easy, especially with three kids climbing the walls. We start to drift apart. Work keeps us seperate in the days, the kids in the evenings. We have fights. We scream at each other when we think the kids can't hear, and we go to bed facing the walls, a line of pillows between us. I start drinking, they start going out, reconnecting with their friends. They go to bars, to nightclubs. There, they meet someone. Let's call them Robin. Robin is perfect. They're nice and kind and polite, and everything I was but now aren't. They start hanging out. They exchange numbers. It's innocent, just a friendship between two adults, both capable of friendships. One day, Robin kisses them. They suddenly realize what's going on. They tear themselves from Robin, apologizing and explaining they are married, they can't do that. They don't wait for an answer. They take a cab home and sneak inside the house right after midnight. They go straight up to the kids' room, looking at them from the doorframe, letting the guilt of almost ruining our perfect life brew inside of them. A hand lands on their shoulder. It is me. I've been waiting for them to come home, and now I'm looking at them softly and lovingly, almost like the old me used to be. They break down, admitting to their wrongdoing. It's okay though, I forgive them. I tell them I love them. It's fine. We'll get couple therapy. We get couple therapy. The years passes. The kids grow. Suddenly, we are seeing our oldest off to college. Then the second. We start preparing for retirement. A vacation would be nice, we decide, to Greece maybe, or Italy. Maybe Egypt if we decide we wanna see the pyramids. Our third kid starts approaching college age, and soon, they too leave. We are left alone, in a house full of memories, rings on our fingers, grey in our hair. We smile at each other, and we go to sleep in the same bed, facing each other with tender eyes. Then one day, a message arrives for my spouse. It's a reminder for the Duel that is coming up in a few days, and my spouse looks at me with conflicted eyes. They tell me they have something to do, and they'll have to go away for a few days, but they'll be back soon, and then maybe we can go to Mallorca, or Spain? I smile and agree, Three days later, we face each other in the ring. I'm holding the 100% wand, my hands are clammy. I have the first go, so I point my wand at the stranger third party and banish them to a mountiantop. They vanish. Now it's my spouse's turn. They are trembling. They can't believe this is happening. It's just them or me now, and one of us has to go, but they can't bear to hurt me, our children's parent. In a fit of desperation, they turn the wand on themselves, finding this the most merciful solution. The spell misfires. They look up, relief at not dying/being turned into a fish/statue. They smile at me, and I smile back, just as I have every morning for all our years. I point my 100% wand at them, and banish them to a lonely mountain top. Problem solved.

[@matt_kirby]

Beautiful solution.

[@Tomis1101]

I'm crying right now, such a beautiful story with such a sad ending, Shakespeare eat your heart out.

[@caiden2242]

Wow. That was beautiful.

[@Bigzthegreat]

reminds me of the dude that spent months becoming someone's friend just to send them a virus for an extra 50 bucks

[@infiniti2011]

@@Bigzthegreat send link

[@marcvanleeuwen5986]

With 3 participants, it is not a duel.

[@collinbeal]

Marc van Leeuwen It's a trial B)

[@brucetucker4847]

There are two kinds of people in this world, my friend... those who know how to win a 3-way duel, and those who dig. You dig.

[@mackharris5356]

You my friend solved the true riddle

[@OneNidim]

Marc van Leeuwen it’s a duel not a Dual

[@madhavsingh1661]

Marc van Leeuwen Only two at a time sirr.. Thatswhy it's a duel

[@juliannorton100]

The notion of missing on purpose was never hinted at and really disqualifies this as a riddle. For that matter why not take the 100% chance wand and miss, too, befuddling the opponents and mistaking you for a half wit and disregard you as a threat?

[@tadhgshiels9322]

How is it possible to miss a wand that striles 100% of the time

[@juke2782]

Missing on purpose was the first thing I thought of, but with the %100 effectiveness one. Didn't even think that the other wizards knew lt effectiveness though, so I would probably be a stone fish. Riddles are about thinking outside the box and cheating is encouraged.

[@epsilon1563]

@@tadhgshiels9322 it works 100% of the time. It is not shot accuracy.

[@simplefolk8991]

I think there's an unwritten rule you and the other two wizards know the effectiveness of your wands anyway. And it isn't cheating, the rules never said you cannot miss on purpose, just that if everyone is still standing they all get turned to cats and lose.

[@matrixphijr]

@@epsilon1563 Clearly that's not true if you can intentionally miss with either of the other wands.

[@IIswagdelicious]

Oh. Wow I was off. I picked the tree wand on the basis that the other two might actually be useless. Just because someone is bound up my vines doesn't mean they can't cast a spell, and nothing says that spells are limited by range, making the wand that sends someone to a distant mountaintop useless as long as they know your location, which they would, since they were just there. The only wand that actually guarantees the person struck by its spell cannot cast THEIR spell (granted the spell works) is the one that turns them into a tree. Can't cast a spell if you can't move, hold your wand and have no brain.

[@Luffy-su1ho]

My thought process was that I could send myself to the mountain top (since using a spell on yourself is not prohibited by the rules) and since I'm technically standing at the mountain top, I can simply wait out the other two. Alternatively, I could send myself back and push the remaining wizard onto his back (physical force to make him "not stand" is also not prohibited)

[@ajg92]

Wrong. Use the 100% to send 2 to mountain. If 3 tries to attack you, they lose because they attack out of turn. It said still standing, not standing there. If you teleport 2 to a mountain, they are still in the duel, but cant attack because they dont know where they are. Assuming wizard 3 assumes it killed him or something, wizard 3 attacks you, technically attacking out of turn , causing them to automatically forfeit

[@jochedev]

Thought of the same thing (with slightly different logic though). Didn't know why no one stated it before.

[@W._Langman]

Exactly what I thought.

[@Xomeal.]

@@nathalie5683 That was never stated.

[@gkaskavelis]

That's a better answer for me as well. Thank you!

[@mysterysecret6815]

Not exactly. Your win rate is still not 100% as 3 can also just stand there and wait.

[@brandonharper6508]

See, a vital part of the riddle was left out where you can miss on purpose. As well as your opponents being able to know which wand you took (As if an accomplished wizard wouldn't just make their wand look like something else.) It takes away from having two hands, two wands. If they were staffs, I'd let that go. But those are clearly no-incantation sparkle-flingers, where you can have one in each hand. The biggest problem is that you could just teleport around the world with the Noether 9000 until you got close enough to wherever you wanted to be. No chances. only true survival. In a duel to the death, surviving is victory.

[@SantiagoRodriguez-zi3gv]

I agree with the first point, but since we know the effects and exact probability of success of the other two (strategy masters) wizards, I'd say it's safe to assume they would know your wand as well

[@RustCole01]

Uhhh so I am not sure what constitutes a "round" in this game but in my world, a round would be after everyone has taken a turn. Missing on purpose is just a failed attempt and by that logic, you are increasing the likelihood that everyone loses. I honestly thought that the best answer would be to take the noether 9000 wand and use it on yourself. Remove yourself to a mountain top and no one can cast any spells on you. This riddle sucks. It's just a poorly written math problem that hasn't adequately explained all the variables and options.

[@PtylerBeats]

@@SantiagoRodriguez-zi3gv we should be assuming anything in logic puzzle. That defeats the purpose of it being a puzzle

[@bigblue207]

To the first point that’s thinking outside the box which is a big part of logic problems so that’s not so valid

[@henhicktaimon]

@@PtylerBeats you don't need to assume, it's part of the riddle that they would know the effectiveness of your wand

[@sharkbrother6596]

I pull out a glock and perform the most powerful spell of all.

[@TDestro9]

Your neutral B

[@donttrustnoone3921]

Avada Kegunshot

[@seraphim9219]

@@TDestro9 most underrated comment i have ever seen

[@elijahkauffman]

Death

[@williamg7123]

America has entered the chat

[@RafaelMunizYT]

step 1: choose the best wand step 2: cast a spell on the witch step 3: before the wizard casts his spell on you, confirm he has green eyes step 4: he's asked to leave the tournament

[@egon3705]

"To prevent draws, a draw is declared if no hits are scored in the first round"

[@kr4qqen127]

and they are turned into cats.. they'd rather win than become a cat

[@TheNeilBlack]

Also, the rules explicitly say they repeat casting in order until only one is left, but then suddenly only one round happens and everyone is cats after that.

[@placeholdername3907]

@@kr4qqen127 id rather become a cat

[@kr4qqen127]

@@placeholdername3907 out of being a sorcerer, dead, or a cat? are you sure?

[@placeholdername3907]

@@kr4qqen127 with cat i dont have to worry about bills while also enjoying the pleasures of life.

[@0SC2]

Missing on purpose violates the first rule, because it's a spell cast explicitly without the intention of eliminating another person from the duel.

[@hannalowercase5928]

but it does eliminate, not immediately but later on (if you win)

[@FluffyDragonDrawing]

"Each has an (x) percent chance to successfully eliminate an opponent you _aim_ and cast at." Aiming and casting are two separate things. Thus you did not aim with the intent to eliminate them immediately; but you did cast it

[@pmurali325]

Well acutally no

[@markmckittrick2596]

Not quite. The first rule says no casting out of order. You are casting, and you are in order, so it is allowed.

[@josephford2226]

@@markmckittrick2596 He's not talking about the first rule within the plot. He's talking the first rule on the "pause here" screen. It says: "Starting with you, you'll take turns casting spells to eliminate each other until only one wizard is left standing." The argument here is that casting a spell with the intention of missing is not following this first rule. If you don't intend to hit with the spell, then you're not casting a spell to eliminate an opponent. Which is what the first rule says you must do.

[@janAlekantuwa]

With the apple baskets, both are equally deadly at a 30% chance. The green basket has three ways to die (poison apples are denoted by P and safe apples by S) PPS: 2/5 * 1/4 * 3/3 = 1/10 PSP: 2/5 * 3/4 * 1/3 = 1/10 SPP: 3/5 * 2/4 * 1/3 = 1/10 Since one can die with any of these, one should add up the probabilities to get 3/10 probability of dying. The red basket only has one way to die: PP: 3/5 * 2/4 = 3/10 Both probabilities of dying are 3/10 (30%), so basket choice should only be made based on what your favorite color is

[@Atomsk359]

I calculated the chances of surviving the green basket and got 7/10 your ways looks less convuluted than my scratch paper

[@panoodlethenoodle4008]

Well in my head I did the math For both baskets if you eat one poison one you’ll be fine and if you have to chose 2 from the red basket it lowers the chance of you dying because if you have to choose 3 from the green basket there is a better chance of you getting 2-3 poison apples Get me?

[@Aidenhilger]

I would say with the apples take the red ones because all you need is one good apple to survive. So if you get a good apple off the draw, you have a 100% chance survival. But if you get a bad apple you would have a 50% chance of survival. See what I am saying?

[@Atomsk359]

@@Aidenhilger nope

[@Aidenhilger]

@Christopher Short - if you if you took out an apple and ate it, then there would be 4 left to choose from, thus if it were a poison apple that you drew right away, then you would have a 50% chance to get a safe apple.

[@ilove2eatnsleep]

The table at the end can't be accurate. For instance, if you take the Noether, and miss on purpose, you should have 0% chance of winning instead of 1.6%.. Turn 1: You miss on purpose Turn 2: Wizard #2 has 3 options. 2a: Miss on Purpose 2b: Attack You 2c: Attack Wizard #3 2a Gives W#2 > 64% chance to Win 2b Gives W#2 < 37% chance to Win 2c Gives W#2 < 30% chance to Win So they choose 2a. Turn 3: Wizard #3 has 3 options. 3a: Miss on Purpose 3b: Attack You 3c: Attack Wizard #2 3a Gives W#3 0% chance to Win 3b Gives W#3 < 36% to Win 3c Gives W#3 0% chance to Win So they choose 3b. This means they have 90% to knock you out, or 10% to turn you all into cats. 100% You Lose. The only way to win is to knock someone out in the first round, or have one of the other wizards knock the other out. With a 100% successful wand in your hand, you are a MUST target, so they will never target each other. So that 1.6% is incorrect.

[@aon02b]

Unless one of the others accidentally fires out of turn and eliminates themselves. But then that would also mean the other 0% option shouldn't be 0%

[@missm8067]

“You’ll all be turned into cats.” Did Professor McGonagall make that rule?

[@keanureeveslusciousweave]

HAHA MOST LIKELY 😂😂

[@carissanieves6452]

XD 🤣🤣😂😂😂

[@jyotisrivastava1122]

100% It's Professor McGonagall

[@GDPlainA]

Also McGonagall: transfiguration to students is illegal as a punishment

[@kalaivanikumar7493]

Ha finally, found some fellow potterheads

[@zigzaghyena]

By the logic of the video, i.e "They never said I couldn't do that", I take the weakest wand for the first round, hide the strongest wand in my pocket, and when the 90% wizard kills the other guy I take out the strongest wand and zap her. Simple, see?

[@FluffyDragonDrawing]

And what's stopping the other wizards from doing the same?

[@zigzaghyena]

​@@FluffyDragonDrawing That is exactly my point. They added variables that broke the logic of the puzzle. These problems are so supposed to be solved with what is explicitly known and present, the exclusion of all other options is supposed to be a given.

[@FluffyDragonDrawing]

@@zigzaghyena no..... no thats not how riddles work. Riddles are designed to make you think outside the box. You are thinking of a logic puzzle, not a riddle. Riddles, and general puzzles, are meant for you to be creative, to come up with something that still fulfills the conditions of the rules. Usually there is only one, but if you can find an alternate one then good for you. If you exclude options not given then that's YOUR fault, not the riddle. You shouldn't have assumed. I didn't figure out the answer either; stop being salty that you didn't think of the answer, or assumed incorrectly that it wasn't applicable when it was. And my point is that your option wouldnt result in you getting a victory; becaus the other wizards would have done the same thing as you; chosen a weaker wand to start and then pulled out a higher grade wand later

[@zigzaghyena]

@@FluffyDragonDrawing It IS a logic puzzle, they presented as one, and they maintained it that way to the very end. It is not even slightly a riddle in structure despite the title's claim otherwise.

[@FluffyDragonDrawing]

@@zigzaghyena it's called a riddle in the tittle, and the answer ended up involving riddle-like elements. Sure it also has logic puzzle elements; but it is, at its core, a riddle.

[@abhimanyugarg2450]

It would't be a duel with three combatants. It would be a truel.

[@greatpower6063]

With four would it be a fuel?

[@edwardoapc]

A Mexican Standoff, or maybe a Magixican Standoff...

[@OneWeirdDude]

*truel

[@soleil6485]

Great Power y e s

[@ronin6158]

@@greatpower6063 magixican quel

[@emberdragon3436]

I thought that if you used the 100% Noether 5000 on the second wizard, then they’d technically still have to do their turn, because turn order has to stay in order. So the enchantress couldn’t go until he does, and he can’t go, so technically you win

[@aegerman6317]

The detail of what the wands do doesn’t matter at all. Banishing them to the mountain top is eliminating them all the same as turning them into a tree

[@KeyMan137]

WRONG! Take the Noether 9000, cast upon yourself to be 100% "banished" to a distant mountaintop, and escape from this foolish duel. Keep casting upon yourself until you are on a suitable mountain and cast upon anyone who means to do harm to you to send them somewhere else. As a wizard who was chosen as a champion, surely you have enough magical abilities to survive even if you attempt to escape to somewhere more comfortable. You could eventually make a very profitable business of using the incredibly rare wand to teleport "targets" to lavish mountaintop resorts. If you figure out exactly how the Noether 9000 works, massive supply chains among distant mountaintops could be used to end world hunger and bring supplies to those in need. Think of the possibilities!

[@cylixdemas]

Spencer Key This is the best answer yet!

[@reyariass]

I like your thinking!

[@alexandrabuss7948]

Is it a duel if there is 3 people????

[@darkmax4872]

It clearly states that it counts as an elimination. I thought of something like this too but it’s illogical

[@DDman1999]

It's not illogical. The point is to be eliminated, or at least to get out of the duel without dying.

[@keanureeveslusciousweave]

me (hears the words "wizards," and "deadly duel against 2 rival schools") : *this is the Triwizard tournament all over again*

[@keanureeveslusciousweave]

@@doof339 Yes, but I was referring to the duel in this video, it contains 3 people, just like the one in Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire

[@sankitty1235]

@@doof339 also, it was just a joke

[@Thehomieibrahim]

@@doof339 joke alert

[@jackel6674]

NOOOO CEDRIC

[@nightmode95]

Namjoooon

[@jeffreyser]

Take the 100% wand and point it at whoever's going to turn us all into cats.

[@Halosty45]

Best solution, really.

[@KuroroSama42]

Then you immediately lose to one of your opponents... and you also miss out on the chance to just maybe get to be a cat.

[@greekfire7980]

Kuroro Why be a cat when you can be a carrot.

[@timmygreat1230]

Manolis 7733 You umderstand

[@mladen7641]

And nobody is gonna care? Yeah, sure, that makes total sense

[@LeTtRrZ]

The real strat is to choose the 100% wand and tell your opponents you will cast at the one who does not forfeit first. Each of the other opponents will get scared that they will be the target if the other immediately forfeits, so each will immediately forfeit. If neither forfeits, lay down, take a nap, and settle in for the long haul.

[@reagoreplaysgames]

Take the 100% Attack the 70% The 70% is on a mountain but it is still his turn 90% can’t cast because it’s not their turn 90% will have to forfeit

[@mftripz8445]

But he got affected by the spell, making him lose smart guy

[@michaelmullen4155]

no not really because if one is gone, it goes to the next available wizard

[@FlyingDominion]

By the same logic, you will have to forfeit.

[@ryand8338]

Nice! I thought of this too. I think this is the true correct answer and an oversight by the riddle makers.

[@michaelmullen4155]

@@ryand8338 wouldn't work because if they are on the mountain, they are technically out so it wouldn't work

[@ManosTheOne]

It wasn't clear missing on purpose was an option. Riddles like these made me hate riddles. Use straightforward rules and let logic do its job, instead of making riddle-solvers trying to come up with the "trick". "Uh.. The solution is run away because no says in rules can't run away and I survive. YeS I slove it!"

[@KuroroSama42]

Manos missing on purpose is an understated option. It's pretty straightforward really. What you mentioned after - running away - is an option too... but you lose when you run, so that's a 0% chance at success. The riddle isn't about maximizing your odds of being unscathed, it's about maximizing your success in the fight.

[@joshuabonesteel2303]

Could use the 100% cast an invisibility spell on yourself and then wait for your chance to shoot the remaining wizard.

[@pala1742]

Totally seconding this. The whole rule-set and riddle setup imply that its question of strategy and propabillity. "miss on purpose" makes sense in a realistic environment but in the way this riddle is presented you should have only a 40% chance of missing if you take the weakest want.

[@rohead972]

I came up with the idea to teleport myself to the mountain and just chill.

[@joeyad2626]

Manos way to spoil it

[@MinorLG]

Casting on self isn't prohibited. Therefore, the 100% wand cast on yourself, would keep you alive, but out of targeting range of the other two. As such, your free

[@papercalculator216]

Minor League Gaming that’s exactly what I was thinking

[@Foxzig]

this was my answer. i think its silly they turned this into a math thing

[@ConstantChaos1]

Exactly, and if at the end of the turn you're returned you would then have 1 opponent and would win

[@MinorLG]

technically, you would be eliminating yourself from the duel, so you shouldn't have to worry about that...

[@Xxaridan]

This is exactly what I was thinking, too 😊

[@Posiadam.]

Well, if missing on purpose is the “correct” option then from the 1st player perspective the best way of winning is just to sit down and wait for the natural death. You have 100% of winning that way, because nobody else would have a chance to cast any spell before you and the round is still going, so the judge can’t do anything.

[@LadyIrrigator]

Take the Noether 9000, and before the duel, slap it on your hand repeatly while shouting "Why won't it work!?". Cast it on a rock before the duel, and say it only works 50% of the time. Miss on purpose until one wizard loses. Then "BAM!" instant win.

[@mysterysecret6815]

audrey griffin This doesn’t work. If you are given information of their wand, then it’s only natural that they have information on your wand.

[@LadyIrrigator]

@@mysterysecret6815 But it not working is an unpredictable malfunction.

[@mysterysecret6815]

audrey griffin If it malfunctions then it’s not going to randomly get reduced to 50%. If it malfunctions then it won’t work at all. They will know that the wand is work all the time and might be suspicious when it “randomly” gets reduced to 50%. Also they are supposedly very smart and will use the tactic that will give them the highest chance of winning. It’s possible that they will see through such a trap and immediately target you.

[@zoruamaster2495]

audrey griffin roll for a deception check

[@Kaleii08]

@@mysterysecret6815 But i have speech 100?

[@tmoaao1536]

Since we can do things that aren’t explicitly stated..... Before starting the duel, I equip the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal, as well as daedric armor enchanted with maximum magic resistance and enter a crouching position, concealing myself completely due to my high stealth. I’ll also be using a daedric shield with magic resistance and instead of choosing a wand, I’ll be wielding the legendary daedric staff Wabbajack. I’ll start off by firing Wabbajack at the stone enchantress, hoping to turn her into swiss cheese (literally). Even if the fish mage gets lucky and manages to hit me with his spell despite my invisibility, I’ll absorb the attack with my shield or armor. I’ll then target him with Wabbajack once it’s my turn again, hoping to turn him into a sweetroll. Afterwards, I’ll have a feast of sweetroll and cheese, celebrating my victory in the duel.

[@DGneoseeker1]

This seems unnecessarily complex considering my weapons in Skyrim can kill dragons in one hit.

[@tmoaao1536]

DGneoseeker1 Yes, but I’ll be hungry after the duel, and only Wabbajack can turn people into food...sometimes.

[@DGneoseeker1]

I could just eat a dragon.

[@tmoaao1536]

DGneoseeker1 Then you will get NONE of my sweetrolls and cheese.

[@roon6425]

Okay this is epic

[@HarleyAMV]

Ever played a video game where an item has a 90%, 80%, 70%, or 60% chance of succeeding? No matter what, it will only work 2% of the time. *Best strategy would be to pick the 100% wand and pray to RNGsus that the 70% mage misses!*

[@shuumo453]

Focus Blast.

[@notbulger]

If it's not 95% or above it's not even 10%

[@Yaponnk]

I thought the same lmao

[@russoformoso]

Yes, Pokémon Showdown

[@greilthelegendaryhero252]

Then get continually hit buy enemies with 50% chance to hit and die. Fire emblem

[@johnlowkey359]

Convince everyone not to cast a spell and accept the life of a cat over the other hellish outcomes.

[@Caitlin_TheGreat]

If you can choose to miss, can't you also attempt to dodge? And if you can purposefully miss, can you also rush your opponent, jamming the wand into their eye socket (100%) and use the corpse as a shield for when you rush the other wizard? I mean, as long as we're bending the rules as intended why not really go for it?

[@felixacb8895]

Shawn Wesley you wouldn’t even need to use his corpse as a shield because if the other one would cast a spell before you did he would be disqualified

[@felixacb8895]

Shawn Wesley but out of all the solutions I really like yours the most

[@felixacb8895]

Gavin Rosine lol same

[@mavendeo]

Um... Think more _Harry Potter_ and less _Game of Thrones_ next time...

[@ahjh1695]

The simple unwritten rules, you wouldn't punch your opponent in chess or eat your pawns would you? Probably not but there is no rules against it, but common sense and the other players would disapprove and you'd probably get banned from doing it competitively, and in a wizard duel where you could be turned into cats, the moment you try to pull that you'd probably be zapped or thrown out. Also if you say that missing is bending the rules you can sacrifice to win, and dodging would be counted as going out of order.

[@LeakyBellows]

Oh, is that how we're going to play? The answer is an option we didn't even know we had? In that case, I'll do you one better: Take the Noether 9000 and zap both of your opponents' wands away. I mean, as long as you're targeting the wands and not your opponents themselves, you can cast more than once without breaking the rules, and it is openly stated that the Noether 9000 transports your *target* to a mountain. Then, after both wands are gone, cast a third time to actually eliminate an opponent. The remaining opponent has no wand and forfeits their turn. You then eliminate them on your next turn. There you go, you've got a 100% chance of winning and it stays within the rules set by the riddle.

[@bum170]

Your opponent's turn isn't over until they fired, and if they don't have their wand they can't fire so you just stand there until one of you leaves.

[@Sludgling]

Whutup Ribs thanks for the paragraph I’m to lazy to read.

[@michaelkosulin5687]

No, you can’t do that. If one of the wizards isn’t gone in the first turn, everyone’s turned into cats. So, what you do is you hit 1 person, then you fire your wand at the other persons wand. Ez pz you win

[@ViperoK]

he said take their wands eliminate 2 then 3 forfeits

[@Astro-jd3ou]

r/woooosh YOURE ALBERT EINSTEIN BRO

[@wolfnation100]

Cast the mountain one on yourself, and you're out of the duel. You're not a statue or a fish, and you've already casted in your own turn. 100% chance of getting out of the duel on the first cast.

[@MydasNeomagie]

It is specified, you can only cast @ opponents.

[@iglidor]

If so then how come you can intentionaly miss if you are allowed to target only oponents.

[@corneliusmcmuffin3256]

thats what i said.

[@jaredsmith1998]

you weren't targeting yourself, you just missed

[@soleil6485]

Mydas Neomagie what if we purposely but perfectly angularly missed when casting a spell at the opponent (the cat people will probably think you just need glasses-) but since there’s a magic barrier (im assuming so none of the audience will die) I’m sure the spell will bounce off of it and then hit us and then we teleport to the mountain?

[@glowingskydog181]

You: misses on purpose Random person in the crowd: gets tangled in vines You: 👁️👄👁️

[@quillquickcard8824]

Without mentioning that a vital component of the solution, missing, was an allowable option, this is not a matter of problem-solving but a childish game of not telling all the rules. In fact, rule 1 explicitly implies this intentional missing strategy is not permitted because it defines the objective as "take turns casting spells to eliminate each other from the duel." Missing is not only a cheap answer for being an unknown option, but also because you can make a completely legitimate claim that missing on purpose is failing to "casting spells to eliminate each other from the duel."

[@jacobsmart4186]

Either explicitly or implicitly not explicitly imply. 100% agree but it was implicitly stated

[@FluffyDragonDrawing]

"Each wand has an (x) percent chance to successfully eliminate an opponent you aim AND cast at." That to me says aiming is a fundamental part of whether or not you'll hit. Why include the line that you have to aim at a target in order to hit them if you can't aim not too

[@ekimmak]

When you just take riddles straight from a fantasy book, it lacks the context of "The people telling the riddle really want you to fail"

[@lennoo5682]

Rule 2 makes it very clear that you can miss on purpose. It doesn‘t say you have to target a single person per turn. It also specifically asks for your strategy not just who you should cast at. This riddle really wasn‘t that hard

[@acetraineraster5171]

Nice little Hamilton reference there at the end. Wow, you really couldn't pass that one up, could you?

[@awe483]

I AM NOT THROWING AWAY MY SHOT

[@oisinryan150]

@@awe483 This wizard guy did though

[@kaunokansala494]

That wizard is Aaron Burr!

[@azilliey]

I broke into song at that part.

[@IDK_Brachydios]

Emely Abreu ay yo I’m just like my country young scrappy and hungry

[@jeremyscottgraham]

This is the most ridiculous "riddle" I've ever seen. You can't just make up new rules. In which case, my answer is I sneak a live lion into the arena which I have been training for 4 years prior.

[@henhicktaimon]

they didn't make up new rules. missing on purpose fits in the rules as they are given and is clearly the most effective strategy. sorry you couldn't figure it out on your own champ, maybe next time

[@screem_]

@@henhicktaimon Riddles are meant to be tricky and confusing. People don't listen to the rules properly and then complain.

[@0ffaI]

Why are you guys equating something you can do with the tools you have available to bringing a gun/lion to the arena? This is more like if you decided to kick the opponent in the nuts mid duel.

[@aftonallen2864]

@@henhicktaimon Did you figure it out on your own?

[@henhicktaimon]

@@aftonallen2864 i knew the answer but to be fair i've heard this riddle a lot before in different forms so it probably doesn't count as figuring it out. i'm sure when i was a kid the first time i heard it i didn't get it

[@p.brooke]

Before I heard the answer, I went with the Gaussian. My thought was that, because the rules are so strict, it was going to take the rule about no one being left standing _literally_ and they cannot be physically standing at the end of the round. The wand with the vines (Bannekar) would still leave your opponent upright and on their feet, just wrapped in plants. The teleportation wand (Noether 9000) would leave your opponent in the same position (standing), just in a different place. The tree wand (Gaussian) would turn your opponent into a tree, so it would be a tree standing there, not the wizard.

[@Lord_Sunday]

Okay let me just say, never is it said that you can miss on purpose. The answer lies outside of the defined scope of the riddle.

[@Prodigial]

The answer is still the same; you want to miss ideally. If the wizards are forced to shoot at someone, then you still would ideally like to miss. As such, you would pick the lowest accuracy wand.

[@ondank]

That is the case for 90% of god damn riddles.

[@henhicktaimon]

this is like saying well you didn't tell me the answer so how was i supposed to know. try thinking outside the box a little my guy, that's the fun of a riddle

[@antianti5390]

@@henhicktaimon No, this guy is right. Rules also didn't state that I don't have gun and I can't shoot other wizards. Is that also correct answer for you?

[@henhicktaimon]

@@antianti5390 Let's say you're right and using a gun wasn't against the rules. Considering having a gun would be essentially the same as having the 100% wand, you would have a worse chance of success than the correct answer of choosing the 60% wand and missing. So no, that's not a correct answer. Unfortunately for you though the rules actually do specifically state that you have to cast spells. So wrong on two counts. Sorry champ.

[@fantomtuba]

Rules never said you can miss on purpose, come on. \

[@tarandiamond]

Rules never said that you have to cast on somebody...

[@TheReaverOfDarkness]

To be fair, the rules never explicitly stated a lot of important things, such as: 1.) if you get turned into anything, you are eliminated 2.) being eliminated is what you're trying to avoid

[@captainkencel1557]

Rules never said you cant miss on purpose

[@Vutii]

Rules also never said you cant use a pistol. So you pull out a pistol and shoot one and cast the 100% spell on the other

[@lilcbz6788]

Captain Kencel it sort of takes away from the question making it more of a trick question tbh, why wouldn't you mention that important detail?

[@peterskrobola8753]

Wait, you never said the other wizards would know how powerful my wand was.

[@itzdjyar]

@@omikumo Still, when you have a giant convoluted set of rules, and then still manage to leave out things or leave things to assumptions, maybe it was too convoluted to start with?

[@lydiasteinebendiksen4269]

If they didn't know, they couldn't really act as perfectly rational agents, making who they target almost random, and at that point it's more a guess than a puzzle.

[@exotemp5949]

@@itzdjyar I agree, when did anyone say you can purposely miss, at that point, if the spells can be purposely missed, why not just say, "I'll just use noether 9000, then dodge the 70% wizard spell and win next turn". Also I don't see how it's possible to use Noether 9000, purposely miss, then win 1.6% of the time. The 70% wizard will miss on purpose, so that the 90% wizard has to attack you in order to not be turned into a cat, and have a 30% chance of winning if she hits you, and if she misses, you are all cats, so it should be 0% right?

[@drhoneybadger]

Yeah, really fucks the logic

[@331mty]

Was there anything about missing on purpose

[@Kazutoification]

Another way to think about this riddle... Imagine you're in a three-way stand-off with rudimentary fire-arms. Your fire-arm has a 60% success rate of firing and hitting your target (that can be due to the weapon itself or your lack of training with the fire-arm), while the two others have 70% and 90%. In this situation, there is no turn order that must strictly be followed and no peaceful solution exists. If you fire your fire-arm, you won't have much time to reload before you are fired upon, so you realistically have one shot. The best possible solution would be that you take the initiative and misfire. Assuming the 70% and the 90% are judging the situation to maximize their success, they will ignore you. Instead, they will fire upon each other because not only are you a non-threat, the other person's threat level is exacerbated. They shoot each other, and you have a 70% chance they pick each other off (maybe 63%). You then have a 30% chance of having to face against the 90% person, but since you've taken the initiative, you can simply reload quicker and finish them off.

[@zackwalker1789]

In this situation without turns existing there would be no point in misfiring as you could just wait for the others to fire at each other and then fire if there's one remaining afterwards

[@rainystorm88]

You never mentioned you could miss on purpose. But even without that option, it is still best to choose the 60% wand. Probable by probability.

[@The1Ryu]

Lateral thinking my friend.

[@ConstantChaos1]

I took the 9000 and teleported myself, you can't loose if you don't play

[@madhatten00]

no it's not it's still better to choose the 100% wand if i whack the 90% wizard i then have a 70% chance of losing but if i don't and i picked the 60% wand, im living under the assumption that the 70% and 90% one of them will definitely whack each other out of the game also if they don't then we all turn into cats... that's too much based on chance; sure it's "logical" but irl is your luck really that good? i will take my chances with a 70% chance of losing over a 90% the enchantress whacks out the 70% guy or vice versa and im stuck with a 60% chance of winning.

[@ConstantChaos1]

madhatten00 my strategy has a 100% survival rating, so I win lol

[@The1Ryu]

True XD However, I believe the goal is to win, not prevent yourself from loosing.

[@TheDictismiT]

The answer is wrong. You use the Noether 9000 on yourself, knowing this you came prepared in a winter coat stuffed with rations. You get teleported away, the other two inevitably lose and turn to cats, and you're the victor.

[@neve6759]

Dictismit how do you get back to the place of the dual?

[@ozanozenir2503]

Jasmine and Rose Huang use your legs

[@neve6759]

But it’s a “distant” mountaintop, by the time you get back you would’ve either froze or starved to death, even if you did get back, everyone would’ve got bored and left.

[@ozanozenir2503]

Jasmine and Rose Huang you are a wizard harry cold must not be a problem. And who cares if everyone leaves

[@foomples]

Seems legit

[@filipklominek3527]

I wanna maximise the chance of turning into a cat.

[@Reblwitoutacause]

Disney was right. Everyone wants to be a cat.

[@Lord_Poyo]

It's impossible as long as you cannot effect the success rate of the opposing wands.

[@asy0ulikeit]

Filip Klominek I wanna be a caaaat!

[@redify9758]

same i want to be a lazy cat