We Try to Solve Expert Level Magic the Gathering Puzzles

We searched the web for three of the hardest Magic the Gathering puzzles. Even Jamin, our smartest friend, will need all of his brain juice, to solve them all!
Timecodes:
0:26 Puzzle #1
5:31 Puzzle #2
12:57 Puzzle #3
Puzzle 1: mtgpuzzles.com...
Puzzle 2: mtgpuzzles.com...
Puzzle 3: / this_is_my_custom_puzz...
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[@panjoloco125]

“The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell,” Carl stealing Jamin’s glasses and Carl hiding behind Jamin after disappearing all had me laugh out loud. God I love this channel.

[@miyomiyo1050]

Threw in a quick like immediately after the mitochondria

[@Crunchatize_Me_Senpai]

Well damn I was just about to comment on how funny I thought all 3 of these things are. And then I saw this at the top of the comments 😂 at least I know I’m among friends here lol

[@yoshimitsu5537]

These guys are geniuses of goofy comedy and I love it!

[@GraemeGunn]

Yeah they do such a good job

[@HighLanderPonyYT]

Nerd. - Nerd

[@1997Awesomedude]

Man why does Arena not have a set of challenges like this, that would be such a good way to teach new players about thinking through different lines

[@oafkad]

The Duels of the Planeswalker games did iirc. I recall playing stuff like that and having a great time.

[@cheesi]

I was just thinking lately I'd love to see more single player content in Arena and this is just the thing! Other digital card games have sets of challenges/puzzles and they do a good job at teaching stuff like complicsted rules interactions and new mechanics, I really think Arena is missing out by not having any real story content with its vast lore OR any little puzzles.

[@Bennerz]

didn't they have that at one point? I remember that being a thing in the colour challenges...

[@Varooooooom]

It’s crazy because YuGiOh World Championship video games have challenges like this and they actually helped me a TON for strategizing and prioritizing. I’m kind of a noob at MTG (only been playing for 2 or so years), but my (tweaked) Urza, Chief Artificer commander deck has been holding its own very strongly because of my past YuGiOh practice.

[@kylecote7261]

Not sure why we ever dropped the challenges. Even the 360 had them.

[@firestar5810]

Watching Yamin work his way through the puzzles and trying to figure them out for myself was really entertaining! I hope I see more with people like Thoralf and Andrea!

[@CardmarketMagic]

I'd assume Jamin is better at these puzzles that Thoralf & Andrea :) they require a specific skill set that conventional pro players don't have

[@mcbescheiden725]

​@@CardmarketMagicI wanna See IT anyway

[@firestar5810]

It honestly would just be fun to see them try. But regardless, I'm all for more puzzles with Yamin too

[@asdfghjkl3669]

​@@CardmarketMagicwhat?! pro players have to look for lines of play all the time. If you miss the turn that gives you the win it gives your opponent the chance to run away with the game.

[@AwkwardDreamer]

They used to include them on the Duels of the Planeswalker games and to an extent some of the tutorials include these but think they did away with them

[@Mikhanius]

At 12:20 you could pump one of the dread shades, letting it survive Ashling's ability and dealing 3 additional damage, at the cost of just 1 damage less on the demon. So the puzzle was beatable even with 2 more life.

[@Kettwiesel25]

Not convinced it is. If Carl took the same line, then yes, but he could have taken 1 less damage here tapping one of his cascade bluffs for RR instead of C before.

[@BRboi777]

Man this would be so awesome on MtG Arena. Could you imagine if there was a puzzle box event where you had to complete board states and try to figure out the best way to win. I don’t even care what prizes they give, this would be such an awesome idea 😍

[@sysmonitor]

There are puzzles, it's called color challenges. Before you say they aren't puzzles, both decks are pre-stacked and the "AI" you play against will always react the same way to the same play, i.e. there are set solutions to them.

[@BRboi777]

@@sysmonitor yes intended for beginners but they are indeed puzzles. However, I was thinking more of the lines of puzzles for intermediate or advanced players like how they have puzzles for hearthstone and like this. Yours are puzzles, but some of us skip through those and try something more difficult.

[@Lightning_Lance]

@@BRboi777 the duels of the planeswalkers games had puzzles exactly like this

[@LootLust]

This was my favorite thing with the Xbox 360 MTG game. This would be great to see as a series continued!

[@dwpetrak]

It was my favorite part of the PS3 games as well. I smiled soo big when I saw this video's title!

[@sleprvrru6y-lin-92]

mtg2013! good ass game

[@2LettersSho]

Alright, that last one took me two watches to completely get, that is so sweet! Spoiler: I wish this was expressed in the video but the Dralnu effect being a replacement effect, Obliterator is a triggered ability and Sower is a conditional effect, the "order" of everything during simultaneous damage is so interesting and so well executed in this example!

[@CardmarketMagic]

Yes we should have gone through the exact details more thoroughly, but what you don't see is how long it took us to solve the puzzle 😅 we were exhausted by then

[@cooperriehl944]

Thanks for clarifying! I was also confused until I realized Dralnu is a replacement effect, not a triggered ability.

[@IBenin16I]

Thanks for clearing this up! I was confused trying to apply APNAP and was thinking that they were wrong but I totally missed that Dralnu was a replacement effect!

[@jaydenzanner9173]

​@IBenin16I What does APNAP stand for?

[@cooperriehl944]

@@jaydenzanner9173 Active Player, Non-Active Player. It's used to remember the order of priority - the player who is taking their turn (Active Player) gets priority first, then passes to the non-active player.

[@peeporiot9948]

You guys put out some of the best, most original content. Love puzzles like this, would love to see Thoralf try it!

[@BenziTrain]

I was just about to post something similar!

[@wbbigdave]

They said expert level, they aren't onto the Thoralf level yet

[@Maecii]

I just love Carls attitude. He is always happy and wholesome.

[@tokugero]

I love the chess-puzzle idea applied to magic, I feel educated with every solution and love the presentation here. Keep these coming!

[@jfmatt8067]

In the second match, can't Carl activate all three Cascade Bluffs while paying just a single life by cascading them into each other? He needs to pay one to a Shivan Reef to get it started, but then he can tap all his lands before spending any mana to get 3 red and 3 colorless...

[@pntrq]

I think the correct answer includes pumping a Shade once, it would make it a 4/4 with a -1/-1 counter and 2 damage taken, allowing to deal 3 damage for a total attack for 8

[@Psycchan]

J: scar ashling C: pay 1 life, float all 6 mana, activate ashling once J: pass to combat this puts the impetus on carl to activate ashling more, letting jamin react favorably and save his creatures, or waste the mana and die in combat

[@tyronewilson6463]

I think if he does then Jamin can force the mana to be spent that phase which should allow a kill. If Jamin baits with the scar in main phase and Carl activates once and lets the stack resolve, then Jamin can pass priority to go to beginning of combat step which should force a response from Carl. Once Carl puts a third activation on the stack, then Jamin can peel 1 counter off of Carnifex Demon to make the Ashling just kill itself and save the two dread shades. Stack 1: Scar, Ashling Activation floating 4 red Resolves, Ashling is a 2/2 Resolves, ashling is a 1/1 Jamin passes to go to combat Carl needs to respond so he doesn't lose in combat Stack 2: Ashling Activation, 2 red floating Resolves, Ashling is a 2/2 Jamin passes to go to combat Carl needs to respond so he doesn't lose in combat Stack 3: Ashling Activation, Carnifex Demon Activation Resolves, carnifex is a 5/5, Shades are 2/2s, Ashling is a 1/1 Resolves, ashling deals 1 to all, Carl to 8, Jamin to 2, Ashling dies as it is a 1/1, all of Jamin's creatures live as 5/5s and 2/2s

[@opensocietyenjoyer]

jamin would go to combat, forcing carl to spend all that mana to try to blow the board up, but jamin can then respond by putting just one -1/-1 counter on it and then attack for lethal

[@FrayeFraye]

No matter what Carl does then there is a way to get lethal damage through a combination of: if he pumps thrice for 1 life, you just -1/-1 once and sometimes pump your shade to make it survive the blast if he pumps twice for 1 life, you just ignore it and attack for lethal (shade pumping is a lethal threat) if he pumps once for 1 life, you counteract it with a -1/-1 and go to next step to force him to spend more life if he wants to pump more always initiating lethal threat by casting -1/-1 or pumping the carnifex once to force him to react or lose the game

[@Psycchan]

that second puzzle encapsulated so much of what i love about magic. so much decision making and interactivity from both sides, controlling the stack, it was just glorious to figure out

[@brningpyre]

I was laughing so hard at the intro. Jamin's delivery was perfect.

[@cr0wmatic]

Love these puzzles! Would love to see a way to see all the cards with a pause screen for us to try to figure it out on our own before watching further :) It was hard to read the cards in hand that were off screen. Yes more please!

[@CardmarketMagic]

That's a good idea! :)

[@outputcoupler7819]

Took me a second to figure out why Carl had to take two off the pain lands in puzzle number 2. I was thinking you can just take 1, then tap all the Cascade Bluffs to get all the red you need. But if you do that then Jamin can just move to combat to force you to fire off the ability immediately, then he responds and wins even harder. Neat!

[@Generic42]

Was wondering that too, makes sense

[@Licw-Luxus]

Biggest miss of the video, had to stop watching after that, invalidates the whole concept of the video...

[@templarknight7]

@@Licw-Luxus how is that a miss? the comment just said he realized it wasn't a miss.

[@TrulySilentLie]

But he had to use the ability immediately, because of the Scar on the stack, if Carl didn't activate all the activations at once there, then the shades would always survive. Ergo, the extra damage taken from tapping wrongly was a mistake, and the real solution here would have been to save one of the shades by buffing them

[@templarknight7]

@@TrulySilentLie saving a shade by buffing it is useless because that implies taking 3 damage to your life points when you only have 3.

[@cantfeelmyfacehelp7375]

There is an old one for you guys. It caused some helluva fights between judges back then. Players A and B are playing against each other during a MTG tournament. Player A has zealous conscript and 4 basic mountains in play, 1 card in hand, at 20 life and has no cards in library or graveyard. He plays splinter twin from his hand, and creates a one million of zealout's copies. After that, every copy attacks player B. Player B has 20 life, 1 card in hand, 6 untapped forests in play, 2 cards in library and no cards in graveyard. Player B casts Summoning Trap from his hand, finds Tyrant of Discord and puts it into play. Who would lose the game and why?

[@MTG_Scribe]

I love this video. I used to really enjoy the Magic puzzles in Scry and InQuest, and I can't believe that isn't a thing that just exists as a game all its own now!

[@Baex21]

I think The Duelist also had puzzles. Written by Mark Rosewater if I remember correctly. Sadly don´t own those anymore or could have send the boys a few old school puzzles.

[@ScottofOakland]

PLEASE do more of these advanced level videos! This is the kind of help I need in playing the game.

[@Smitty5Zeros1]

You guys should definitely do this again but maybe this time you guys race each other on the same puzzles at the same time

[@daph1364]

This was fantastic. I love the puzzles episodes, whether it's rules interactions or gameplay. This channel is always a blast. Everyone seems to be genuinely happy and wholesome.

[@moshimeshowu747]

These puzzles are SO COOL! Would love to see more of this :D

[@glitchwolf1384]

Huh, that's an interesting solution to the final puzzle! I somehow got a different one that I think also works. Legardemain to exchange the lich for the obliterator, and go into attacks. Attack with the obliterator, naturally the only blocker will be the razorgrass (to minimize permanents sacrificed) In response to the obliterator's ability triggering, use Fever Charm to deal 3 damage to the lich (which now belongs to the opponent) Now that you're at 0 mana, let the stack resolve. The lich takes 3 damage, which forces your opponent to sacrifice 3 permanents. The lich itself, the razorgrass, and the voran are the natural choices, though it doesn't matter Because next the obliterator's ability resolves, and the opponent must sacrifice 2 permanents, no matter what they chose, they will only have 2 permanents remaining, and therefore the Lich's Mastery must be sacrificed and the opponent loses on the spot.

[@chaosjuggler]

The Obliterator has summoning sickness!

[@BaronSengir1008]

How can you be a master of illusions if you don't have your fancy hat?

[@CardmarketMagic]

It's coming soon 😎 I only wear my hat for the most important business reasons

[@BaronSengir1008]

@@CardmarketMagic And solving Magic problems isn't important business?

[@revenantjb575]

These remind me so much of the old MTG magazines back from 2008/09, in which were very similar puzzles, loved it!

[@origaminosferatu3357]

This was so sick. Weird rules interactions is the magic I live for.

[@Loki-]

7:57 It's like Braid! Which is like puzzle solving mario except you can fast forward or rewind!

[@jacobdavis6604]

As someone a little newer to magic, that was a lot of fun to watch

[@hndrxmn]

Best magic channel on KZbin - this video was too fun! Definitely want to see more puzzles; that last one in particular was really fun to watch resolve 👌

[@Aurelius2142]

I didn't ask for it, but I'm so glad _someone_ did. I love MTG puzzles! The more complex/weird interactions they have, the better! The last one in this video in particular was super great XD Thanks for listening to your audience guys, it means so, so much more than you can know

[@CardmarketMagic]

I'm happy you enjoyed it :) it was a lot of fun! Don't hesitate to suggest anything else you'd like to see

[@Varler_]

That was a great video! I'd love to see more like this. The puzzles were neat and it was fun solving alongside you guys.

[@DNA-DNB]

puzzles are great. Maybe longer ones like a mini game in 4 turns or so :)

[@Varooooooom]

It’s crazy because YuGiOh World Championship video games have challenges like this and they actually helped me a TON for strategizing and prioritizing. I’m kind of a noob at MTG (only been playing for 2 or so years), but my (tweaked) Urza, Chief Artificer commander deck has been holding its own very strongly because of my past YuGiOh practice.

[@Cluis.]

On Puzzle two both player made mistakes ... the Izzet Player only ever needs to pay 1 life for the lands... the Mono B player would still win then by pumping one Shade to a 4/4 with a minus 1 counter on it and 2 damage, instead of the last counter removed from the demon.

[@CardmarketMagic]

You can take your time to walk through the puzzle again ;) it doesn't show it in the video but we literally spent hours on that puzzle 😅

[@seandun7083]

The black player can pass to combat to allow mana to drain.

[@ebbj800]

This was a super fun episode! I think the puzzles were explained very well. The stack can get complicated and you guys presented it well without dragging on too long

[@BaronSengir1008]

Magic problems require Magic solutions!

[@BruderSeth]

This is hands down one of the best formats and you should do LOTS more!

[@seth9350]

What refined gentlemen

[@DismemberTheAlamo]

I dont remember if it was InQuest or SCRY but they used to have puzzles like this at the end of the mag. You could submit the solution and be entered into a drawing every month to win stuff. They were pretty fun. (also if you want to definitively say the "solver" loses if they cant solve, just say they have no library. 90% of the time in the puzzles they lose during the next draw and the "puzzle" doesnt have to do anything to the board state but pass.)

[@adamantlotus]

I really loved this video. My brain ached trying to come up with a solution for that last one, and it was such a great solution. I want to see more of this type of content in the future.

[@Crash32378]

This is extremely helpful for those wanting to start or those who have just started playing MTG. It demonstrates that you should probably find an easier, calmer and less frustrating game to play. Maybe run for President?

[@ardynamberglow3124]

This is not only great entertainment, but its also great at learning about triggers on the stack, and interaction of the board state.

[@davidtikwa423]

this episode was amazing i love that i would love more interactions like this and also moresecret tech tips and tech moves that might catch a player off guard

[@redfally6030]

Really good video. Should make it a series. Gets the audience involved on top of being entertaining. 3 puzzles seems to be a good number as well as they get progressively more difficult and since there are like 25k+ magic cards in game, this series would never go away.

[@alexiswigginton452]

I LOVE CARD PUZZLES, AS A KID THE YUGIOH GAMES ALWAYS HAD CHALLENGES LIKE THIS AND I WOULD SPEND SO MUCH TIME ON THEM

[@Grimlock1979]

When I played paper Magic (many years ago), I sometimes bought a magazine called Inquest that had these kinds of puzzles. I loved those.

[@Aaackermann]

Please give us the joy of the full song you play at the end of your videos! It is really such a banger and should be listened to in its full length!

[@CardmarketMagic]

Please Enjoy :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHy4ZIqchcyXhLc

[@aeolus7762]

Another way to solve #1 is to cast the Wheelsmith, Chaos Charm an illusion, tap the guildmage to ping another creature, then crew the Garrison with the Wheelsmith, shutting off the other blocker. Then, as attacks are declared, you stack the Garrison ability to resolve first, which untaps the Guildmage or Wheelsmith, so the Paladin sees 3 untapped creatures as it attacks, meaning that you are swinging for exactly 8

[@andreabonato1432]

For the third puzzle, I think there's an easier solution: sower of tempation takes phyrexian obliterator, which gets haste with fever charm. If Jamin attacks only with obliterator, Carl is forced to block it at least with the wall (it needs to block each combat), but then he remains with only 3 permanents and he has to sacrifice 2 to the obliterator effect, so either lich or nine lives leaves the battlefield

[@andreaparisi2246]

I think it does not work because he can sacrifice everything except lich's mastery and even if nine lives leaves the Battlefield, he can't lose the game because of lich mastery itself ("you cant lose the game" clause)

[@FoldingScreenMonkey]

There was a second option at the end of the second puzzle: activate the shade so it gets +1 and survives, then swing for lethal. These puzzles are a lot of fun tho, I was close with the first one but the others I never would have gotten

[@carinem8544]

I love MTG puzzles, really fun to see you work them out!

[@zaiyu6962]

More of these!!! This was everything I wanted and more. Keep the format and use some more odd rulings and whatnot! The old duels of the planeswalker Gamez used to have things like this and I missed them dearly! I

[@DoublePhilip]

Unless I'm missing something solution for the 2nd one might be a bit simpler. Attack with everything He blocks one shade Activate shade once Now there are 2 options for opponent. 1. He lets the shade activation resolve and now the shade is a 4/4 and can't die from ashling so you pump to a 6/6 and a 4/4 for 10 dmg 2. He's forced to activate ashling 3 times to kill the shade but then you in response to the third activation pump twice. Now you have 5/5 with 3 dmg on it last pump resolves and it's now a 6/6 with 3 dmg and you are still atacking with a 4/4 for 10 dmg

[@alexiswigginton452]

Every episode that come out has more and more of all of your guyses energy and personalities show, its really nice

[@MatijaReby]

Carl can play differently in the Ashling game though, if after the first Ashling activation Carl uses another Cascade Bluffs to turn the remaining red into 2 red he doesnt need to take 1 extra damage from the second Shivan Reef. Really fun video though :)

[@antonit4575]

Yeah I noticed that too, but i think Jamin could have just activated one of the dread shades to get more damage in before the ashling trigger resolved

[@MatijaReby]

@@antonit4575 Oh you're right cause he doesnt have to actually activate the demon the second time. Slightly different outcome but xlose enough.

[@vb_blokeboi7251]

This is a brilliant idea for a series. This, do you know Magic? and best decks of each format are great. Would love to see Thoralf and Andrea give this a go.

[@Hanz_Haze]

Oh, i love this! Only CM gang hast these weird and whacky and most of all FUN mtg videos like this one. Great job! What a creative idea!

[@timsim83]

very fun! I appreciate that the care was taken to make game context ensure the "opponent" had only one logical response with each effect change. just as in real life, it is all about the stack!

[@aetherling9162]

This is great. Loved the "judge" series too. I'm amazed at how quickly Jamin got the last one, considering how many options there were to consider.

[@CardmarketMagic]

We cut out about 10-15 minutes of thinking for that one. That puzzle was incredibly difficult :)

[@confidentinterval3603]

In the second puzzle, there is another way. Player 2 only has to take one damage off of the mana base to be able to activate the ability three times. This leaves the carnifax demon with not enough damage to kill. I believe the explanatory sequence looks like this: Start by casting scar Player 2 responds by activating shivan reef, filtering through cascade bluffs and using an additional colorless from shivan reef to activate ashling, 1 red floating Let the ability resolve, scar still on the stack. Player 2 then activates ashling again, filtering the red through bluffs, and using another colorless from the third shivan reef, 1 red floating Respond by activating carnifax demon Player 2 responds with the third ashling activation, using all remaining mana At this point, player 2 is at 9 and we should let a few things resolve. Ashling gets a counter, then it is removed by the carnifax demon activation, as well as letting the shades get the counters. Then with the third ashling trigger on the stack (and scar as well), use your third swamp to pump one shade. Then ashling receives a counter and the counters are removed and the damage is dealt. The shade that was given +1/+1 lives because it receives 2 damage and one -1/-1 counter. Then you can attack for 8 (a 5/5 demon and a 3/3 (-1/-1 counter and +1/+1 effect)) , leaving you at 1 life. Player 2 will of course have taken 1 from lands and 2 from ashling. When I followed the link to the puzzle, it appears that they have you start at 2 life, not 3. I don't see the win in this situation, because if you try to pass into combat after attempting scar, player 2 will simply revert to the situation above and any option other than using carnifax demon twice kills you, but unfortunately the carnifax response also kills ashling before the ability resolves leaving player 2 at 9, and player 1 with only 8 power (the 6/6 demon and two 1/1 shades).

[@alilhard]

1:45 (first one) : cast wheelsmith, keep 2 mountains, crew with wheelsmith "removing" an illusion; go to attacks with paladin and vehicle, stack with paladin resolving last, untap wheelsmith, paladin gets +2; before blocks crew again with wheelsmith "removing" another token then charm the last one and ghildmage face for lethal. 7:49 (second one) : if 3 life : easy. go to combat, after blocks pump a shade twice then in response to ashling's third activation scar it. Basically you just want ashling to not be able to get more than 2 counters. if 2 life : Carnifex once, go to combat, after blocks pump a shade once then in response to ashling third activation scar it 15:00 or something (third) : Honestly can't see a way to do it below 6 mana. Had an inkling the solution had something to do with controllers and whatnot but really didn't think of that. Great content anyway, always fun to see those kind of stuff

[@frontendmakers]

You need to give a raise to the intern who did the special effects 🎉 quality is top notch! Waiting for next puzzle!

[@CardmarketMagic]

Hahaha we are not large enough of a company for that 😅 but thank you :) this video was fun to make

[@giantrobotz]

YES!!! More puzzles please! This was fun to pause and see if I could figure it out (I couldn't). I love magic for the complexity of the rules, and this video was amazing to watch! Y'all are so fun! More like this please! :)

[@Skeezicking]

Awesome!!! Bring a judge next time if you can to explain the exact interactions and rules. I really like videos like these!

[@faceoctopus4571]

Would be cute if the judge was offscreen until the players get to a complex interaction and the person who is being on the losing end of the weird interaction yells "Judge!"

[@SeleenShadowpaw]

With this riddle persona and his newfound love for turtle commanders, carl should henceforth be known as... _The Durdler_ "Durdle me this, batman" *Just sits there, infitely recycling combat tricks and stacks pieces while the vampire player pulls out their hair* Your callsign will be a simic value engine with no real wincon (but a lot of cool interactions!), projected into the night skies.

[@blazeitzmtg2824]

This is my first video to watch on y'all's channel and I absolutely love it! puzzle solving helps and is incredibly interesting to watch. Please make more!

[@CardmarketMagic]

I'm happy you enjoyed it :) we will definitely be doing more. It was a lot of fun to make

[@caseywellington4761]

This is awesome! I don't think I ever thought about replacement effects timing like that

[@xavierlebeuf3061]

On the second puzzle, third game, I don't think Carl played optimally. When responding to the Scar, Carl could have used 2 red mana to activate Ashling's ability, leaving 4 lands untapped, and still have the upper hand. Then, my solution is the following: Both players let Ashling's ability resolve for the first time and the Scar. Go to combat. At the beginning of combat, active the demon's ability. Carl will then activate Ashling's ability for the second time. -If Carl does so floating one red, just let things resolve and move to declare attackers, Carl will lose the floating red, and cannot activate Ashling's ability again. Carl is at 8, you swing with everything, one shade gets blocked, pump the other with the remaining black, you win. -If Carl does so with 2 lands, let things resolve and move to go to combat, and swing with everything. Carl will block one shade, pump the other with the remaining black, you win.

[@violet_broregarde]

Wow that last puzzle was absolutely bananas. Great video! I'd love to see more of this.

[@Verlisify]

Those rewinds reminded me of the Ekko cinematic where he kept rewinding for do-overs

[@onewithsin]

Is was amazing. I'd love to see a " hide and seek " game where you play multiple morph style decks rotating players throughout the game

[@justinthomas7330]

DOPE. WE NEED MORE OF THESE PUZZELS!!! PLEASE THANK YOU. GREAT JOB!! VERY UNIQUE THIS WAS. THANX.

[@tazsul1525]

This brings me way back. Back in the mid 90’s Rosewater used to make these puzzles for The Delist magazine, but way way more complicated. Always a treat to try and solve. There is a book of them published in 1996 that I wish I still had. Many of them don’t work under the current rules though. Frequently you had to go negative life and bounce back before the death check at end of turn lol.

[@CardmarketMagic]

Hahaha going to negative life 😅 I'll try to have a look for them though, it could be a really fun video with Frank Karsten specifically :) thanks for the suggestion

[@7skarma7]

These were fantastic, I'd love to see more puzzles in the future!

[@ColorwaveCraftsCo]

Omg “mitochondria” 😂 actually the whole intro was hilarious

[@sethhoward2490]

Awesome video. Please make this a series!

[@RoscoeKane]

I feel like carl did not play correctly on the second puzzle. He didn't need to take two damage from lands, only 1. Puzzle 2, attack with all creatures, one gets blocked, can probably win from there with pumps to save critters.

[@XypherFTW]

Super cool puzzles, I love when they involve not necessarily straightforward mechanics like being able to tap creatures with summoning sickness to crew a vehicle

[@jonathanklein3211]

I liked that. It showed me mtg interactions I’ve never seen before.

[@benjaminkaye5119]

It’s was great. Especially the walk through and why. Keep it up and catch y’all on the flippity !

[@przemes3]

Love puzzles, i recon why the third one was the most dificult one, i think it was the easiest one. But second one was huge nightmare to me i could not figure that out. Great video guys!

[@AAIIYAAA]

Carnifex Demon is one of my favorite cards of all time. Glad to see it used

[@asumata759]

Jamin make sure to always wear a helmet when riding your bike! Safety is most important!

[@CardmarketMagic]

He owns a helmet now :)

[@DamienSmeets]

I love puzzles like this, but it was tough to find suitable times to pause the video to try and solve them for myself. Especially the last one where there's no way to simultaneously see Jamin's cards in hand along with their text and the battlefield. And Jamin's much smarter than me so he solved the puzzles before I had a chance to figure things out. It was very entertaining anyway, though!

[@fclyra]

Awesome video! Really really fun and original. That last puzzle did get me thinking about the rulings on "control" over your opponents' creatures, though. Say Dralnu was only a vanilla 3/3, and therefore the resolution from damage step was simply the deaths of Vorine and Razorgrass, followed by Obliterator's trigger. Sower would still be around, technically granting Jamin "control" over the Vorine, but as Obliterator's trigger went on the stack and then resolved Vorine would actually be dead in Carl's graveyard. Would Jamin be the one doing the sacrificing in that scenario? PS Sorry for asking questions after what I imagine was a really tough brain workout lol, but I guess it spiked my curiosity! :)

[@CardmarketMagic]

If I understand the question, this would indeed mean that the creature having dealt damage to the obliterate would be Jamin's, even if it would be in my graveyard, as it would have been Jamin's when dealing the damage. So Jamin would have to sacrifice the permanents 👍

[@fclyra]

Thanks!

[@Mrmastersterruser]

This was great and fun to watch. I loved these puzzles in other card games in the past. Seeing them done in magic just feels right. There are so many options.

[@billytheframe1355]

Hey guys thats an awesome format would be cool to see that more often.

[@karrotlord]

Man. When I was a kid I got a couple Top Deck magazines for Pokemon but when you flipped it over, MTG was on the other side. It had these kinds of puzzles in there! Unfortunately, I had not idea how MTG worked at the time but wish I could go back and give them a shot now. This is great stuff.

[@Jozeevis]

Ooh that was super fun! I've always loved these kinds of puzzles and seeing you work through them is really interesting.

[@mikotagayuna8494]

I wish this was a sample Commander game. Missed opportunity to play a Will Smith followed by a Deflecting Swat

[@rezanajdi6165]

This was awesome! I'm excited to try more of these. I would have loved a little more explanation on the combat stuff in puzzle 3. Also, if the video was geared a little more to the audience figuring it out that would have been cool. Maybe a more natural stopping point to think with all cards laid out or some hints. I really loved it as it was too tho

[@OsvaldoChannel1]

Not only this Is fun to Watch and try to beat, but Magic Is so complex you could potentially keep doing this Forever. Goldmine of content.

[@jacobbrown9894]

Putting my read on each scenario before they run through it. Scenario 1: -Chaos Charm one of the Illusions (1 Mountain Tapped; 2 Illusions Remain) -Use one mountain and the two Temple Gardens to cast Renegade Wheelsmith. -Use Wheelsmith to crew Mobile Garrison and make one of the Illusions unable to block. (1 blocker remains) -Move to combat, attack with Garrison and Knotvine Paladin, have the Garrison trigger resolve first and untap Wheelsmith. Paladin trigger resolves to give it +2/+2 (4/4) -After those both resolve and when priority passes again, tap Wheelsmith to crew again and make the other Illusion unable to block. -This deals 7 combat damage and you have one mana left to use Granger to ping.

[@jacobbrown9894]

Scenario 2: Harder as I can't like actually manifest when the other dude would do his thing. Ugh gonna branch this out. -I would also try to force Scar MP 1 to make it harder to hold up mana. -Assuming similar play of respond with Ashling using his mana in a way that uses just 1 life (This is when I paused the video) -I would allow Ashling to resolve (she is a 2/2 who has resolved once and has no one counter). He passed priority so he couldn't skip straight to doing more but priority passes again before Scar resolves. Branch 1A: -Priority returns to me first and I do nothing. -He lets Scar resolve (Ashling is a 1/1 with no counters and one resolution) -Priority is reset to me again. I push his hand by moving to combat, requiring he use another filterland to add RR and activate Ashling again. Going the third can be done without life (R into first land for RR then second for RRR and a colorless) at this point. Leading to Branch 2A: -He adds all of the 1RRR and activates her twice (at which point it's actually still a 1/1). This is a weak move as I respond with a single Carnifex activation. It dies without dealing damage and I swing for 9 (5/5 Carnifex plus two 2/2 Shades). Branch 2B: -He adds 1RRR but activates her once with 1R. After passing priority back I let it resolve (She's a 2/2 with one counter and two resolutions). This makes priority totally resolve back to my main phase. I'm prob gonna move to combat again at which point -He activates her the third time as to not waste mana. I actually neglect response so she gets a second counter and removes it. All my creatures alive, she kills herself, I'm at 1, he's at 7. I swing for 10. -He can also hold up until declare blockers, throw her in front of a Shade to do this stuff. But I can still win and even hit for 8 as I have a black mana left. Oh wait I have two left I think here? Whatever. Branch 2C: -He just adds the RR and does her once with two lands open. (She is a 2/2 with two resolutions.) -i swing. He can bring himself to 8 to do her again but as it deals 2 damage which isn't lethal to anything even me he'd be at 6 and I swing for lethal still I believe (4/4 Carnifex and I still have mana up so 4/4 or 5/5 Shade assuming other got blocked). The way I see it actually if I start with Scar he HAS to do all three activations or it's game-set (though I may be wrong.) So we'll revert to -I start with Scar on Ashling (2 Black remaining) -You activate Ashling. To do it safely you let each one resolve one at a time instead of stacking so I can't snipe with Carnifex as easily. -In response to your last one (She is a 3/3 with two counters and two resolutions about to receive the last, you chained together the one Reef into the filter lands for RRRR and the Reef's for 2 more so you only use one life and are at 9) (since if you don't do it with Scar on the stack she deals 2 damage, nothing dies, I swing for lethal) -I activate Carnifex once (1 Black remaining; no responses then I have a 5/5 Carnifex and two 2/2 Shades all with one -1/-1 counter on them and Ashling is a 2/2 with one counter on it.) -I activate one of my SHades (No mana remaining; I have a 5/5 Demon; 3/3 Shade, and 2/2 Shade) -Ashling Resolves, dealing 2 to everything (I am at 1; You are at 7; I have a 5/5 and a 3/3 to swing for lethal) -Scar fails to resolve without a legal target -I go to combat -I get Ibuprofen for my headache. Again hard to actually solve when I don't have an opponent but here's...an attempt at a flowchart

[@olot100]

For the second puzzle it would much simpler to attack with everything to force him to activate the Ashling. Since he can only activate 3 times, you simply respond to each one and ultimately kill it before a single ability use can resolve.

[@tymestalker3]

This reminds of the old Magic the Puzzling in such a good way. Those puzzles were so much fun to try and figure out.

[@jacobjackson5535]

This is why I love magic! Please make more riddle videos!

[@lucaslahlum6331]

This was awesome. This is the best mtg content I have ever seen!

[@natrixnatrix]

I love this kind of puzzle and especially that you went with a sort of easy, medium, hard, setup. But don't be afraid to be even more thorough with rules explanations for the easy puzzle. For example you explained what all the cards did except for Temple Garden, why skip that? It could also have benefited from some more examples on when you are allowed to do things such as attack. So a beginner isn't stuck wondering if they are allowed to crew the vehicle, attack with the vehicle, untap the creature they crewed with, and attack with that too.

[@jaxsonbateman]

Typing as I watch. Puzzle one: * Play Wheelsmith, crew Garrison with Wheelsmith, stop one illusion from blocking. * Attack with Garrison and Knotvine. Order abilities so Garrison resolves first, untapping Wheelsmith. Knotvine gets +2/+2 (from Wheelsmith and Guildmage), going to 4/4. * Crew Garrison *again* with Wheelsmith while still in declare attackers, to stop a second illusion from blocking. * Destroy the other illusion with Chaos Charm. * Deal combat damage (no illusions left that can block). 7 damage (3 from Garrison, 4 from Knotvine). * Deal final point of damage with Guildmage directly to opponent's face (8 damage).

[@jaxsonbateman]

Second: I might be misjudging, but this one seems particularly easy. Go to combat. They block a shade. Activate Carnifex Demon. They should tap land in such a way that they lose 1 life and have 1 red floating (by tapping 2 pain lands and 1 filter land for RR). They'll activate Ashling once. Let that resolve, and let Carnifex resolve. They now still have a 1/1 Ashling with no counters, and you have an unblocked 5/5 Carnifex and 2/2 Shade. Activate the unblocked 2/2 Shade once. They'll respond by attempting to use Ashling twice (no life loss due to filtering through lands), because if the Shade gets a pump resolved it'll be too big to kill, and the second pump would be lethal. At this point - you could Scar the Ashling to obliterate another counter (after it resolves), or you could just add another Shade pump to the stack, because if it's 4/4 it also won't die to the sweep. We'd do that to get the swag of maximising damage. Ashling blows up, our blocked Shade dies, Carnifex is a 5/5 with 2 damage marked on it, other Shade ends up as a 4/4 with 2 damage marked on it, opponent is on 7 from the self-damage from Ashling, and we hit for 9. In fact, you might be able to maximise damage even further. Do the Carnifex activation before blockers. If they try to minimise life loss from lands, they'd basically be forced to try and go off at that point. In fact, this may actually be the best case scenario for them and why it's 10 health - letting all 3 activations resolve before Carnifex so that -1/-1 counter is wasted by never getting put on it. Ok, so they activate Ashling and have it resolve twice. Go to activate it a third time. With it on the stack, you Scar it to obliterate a counter, and pump a Shade. It does 2 damage to both players and all creatures. Opponent on 7 health, you on 1. Your smaller shade ends up dying, but the other ends up living as a 3/3 with 2 damage marked. Carnifex is a 5/5, so you end up doing 1 over lethal. If both players play optimally is there even a case where opponent doesn't go 1 below lethal?

[@yoshimitsu5537]

This video is so much fun! I used to love doing the puzzles in the guides that came with fat packs before modern

[@lastnamefirstname8655]

very hard but fun mtg puzzles! nice, thanks cardmarket!