DMH: Queen for a Day

Casual

floofynewf

Creature (9)

• 1x Brine Shaman
• 1x Fyndhorn Elder
• 1x Harvest Wurm
• 1x Seeker of Skybreak
• 1x Skyshroud Vampire
• 1x Sliver Queen
• 1x Soldevi Adnate
• 1x Stronghold Assassin
• 1x Sylvan Hierophant

Land (3)

• 1x City of Shadows
• 1x Gemstone Mine
• 1x Swamp

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Eladamri's Vineyard

Instant (1)

• 1x Contagion

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Verdant Touch

Artifact (1)

• 1x Mox Diamond

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InQuest Magazine was one of the main sources for Magic information and specifically card prices back in the day. One feature they ran was an article called Dead Man's Hand. The article was a Magic puzzle centred on a game being played by Eugene T. Dudley, the worst Magic player in the world. The premise was that you couldn't win the game, so you had to help Eugene accomplish some alternate goal.

I'm hoping to add more puzzles as I find them and have time. Some I have found but haven't been able to find the solutions. If any one has links to scans of InQuest Magazines with Dead Man's Hand puzzles or solutions I don't have yet please let me know! What I have so far can be found here.

This puzzle is from the August 1998 issue. It includes my solution and the official InQuest solution.

Setup

Copied fromm the article: https://archive.org/details/inquest-40/page/n33/mode/1up

You Can't Win

Poor Eugene T. Dudley. The World's worst Magic player is in love again... But this time, it's not the lovely Lula petunia that has grabbed his heart. No, the object of Eugene's affection is... his Sliver Queen. He's eaten with her, watched television with her - even bathed with her. But since he became obsessed, the only thing he hasn't managed to do is actually put her into play during a game.

He's using a black/green reanimator deck with no success. Johnny "Big Bad" Wolf has repeatedly crushed his deck - and his spirit - with his "blow your house down" land destruction deck. But Eugene is desperate and - having ingested only half a donut and a dozen cans of Yoo-Hoo for lunch - has begun to heat the Queen calling out to him, begging him to free her, promising him untold pleasures if he succeeds. And so, with a cry of "I will cast and protect you, your royal highness of Sliverdom!" he has set about his goal. Quickly, before he goes utterly mad, help Eugene get Sliver Queen into play this turn.

Keep in Mind the Following:

It's the beginning of Eugene's main phase. He has 4 life left. Killing him would be a bad idea considering his frame of mind; he's likely to nap and run around the room, scattering Mogg Squads in his wake. It' be messy. Make sure he survives the turn. Thanks to Tormod's Crypt, Eugene's graveyard is totally empty, as is Johnny's. The reanimator half of Eugene's deck hasn't been very effective, so it look like you're going to have to find a way to cast the Sliver Queen It doesn't matter what Johnny has in play; he's already decided that Eugene is a stark raving lunatic he'd better not disturb.... any further, anyway.

Land

• City of Shadows
• Gemstone Mine
• Swamp

Cards in Play

• Brine Shaman
• Eladamri's Vineyard
• Fyndhorn Elder
• Harvest Wurm
• Seeker of Skybreak
• Skyshroud Vampire
• Stronghold Assassin
• Sylvan Hierophant

Cards in Hand

• Contagion
• Mox Diamond
• Reanimate
• Sliver Queen
• Soldevi Adnate
• Verdant Touch

Hints

Hint 1

Verdant Touch is going to do some heavy lifting.

Hint 2

You need to tap the swamp for {B} and find a way to get it back into your hand to discard for Mox Diamond.

Red Herrings

These cards are not part of the solution:

In Play

• Skyshroud Vampire

In Hand

• Contagion
• Reanimate
• Soldevi Adnate

Solution

How I Did It

1. Add {G} {G} to your mana pool from Eladamri's Vineyard. ({G} {G})
2. Tap City of Shadows to add {6} to your mana pool. ({G} {G} {6})
3. Cast Verdant Touch with buyback to turn the Swamp into a 2/2 creature. ({G} {2})
4. Tap the swamp for {B}. ({B}{G}{2})
5. Activate Stronghold Assassin, sacrificing the Swamp to destroy the Harvest Wurm. You can also sacrifice the Harvest Wurm and destroy the Swamp, the order doen't matter, they both just need to be in the graveyard. ({B}{G}{2})
6. Activate Brine Shaman and sacrifice the Sylvan Hierophant. When it hits the graveyard, remove it from the game and return the Harvest Wurm to your hand. ({B}{G}{2})
7. Cast the Harvest Wurm and return the Swamp to your hand. ({B} {1})
8. Cast Mox Diamond, discarding the Swamp. ({B} {1})
9. Tap the Fyndhorn Elder to add {G} {G} to your mana pool. ({B} {G} {G} {1})
10. Tap Mox Diamond for {U} ({R}, or {W}). ({B} {U} {G} {G} {1})
11. Tap Gemstone Mine for {R} (or one of the two colours you still need). ({B} {U} {G} {G} {R} {1})
12. Cast Verdant Touch, without buyback, on the Gemstone Mine to make it a 2/2 creature. ({B} {U} {G} {R})
13. Activate the Seeker of Skybreak to untap the Gemstone Mine. ({B} {U} {G} {R})
14. Tap Gemstone Mine to add {W} (or the final colour you need). ({B} {U} {G} {R} {W})
15. Cast Sliver Queen.

Note: My solution is basically the same as the official solution. I was just a little more cautious in using my mana sources so where they activated everything they could up front, I took a slower approach.

InQuest Solution

Copied from the September 1998 issue: https://archive.org/details/inquest-41/page/n71/mode/2up

1. Add two green mana to your mana pool from the elaramri's vineyard (tmp). Tap the City of Shadows, Swamp and Fyndhorn Elder for mana. (1 black, 4 green, 6 colorless in pool.)
2. Cast Verdant Touch and pay its buyback to turn the Swamp into a 2/2 creature. (1 black 3 green, 2 colorless.)
3. Tap the Stronghold Assassin and sacrifice the animated Swamp to destroy the Harvest Wurm.
4. Tap the Brine Shaman and sacrifice the sylvanhierophant (wth) to give one of your creatures +2/+2. When the hierophant goes to the graveyard, remove it from the game to return the Harvest Wurm to your hand.
5. Cast the Harvest Wurm, returning the Swamp to your hand when it comes into play (1 black, 2 green, 1 colorless.)
6. Cast the Mox Diamond and discard the swamp.
7. Tap the Mox Diamond for red mana. (1 black, 2 green, 1 red, 1 colorless.)
8. Tap the Gemstone Mine for blue mana. (1 black, 1 blue, 2 green, 1 red, 1 colorless.)
9. Cast Verdant Touch to make Gemstone Mine a 2/2 creature (1 black, 1 blue, 1 green, 1 red.)
10. Untap the Gemstone Mine with the Seeker of Skybreak.
11. Tap the Gemstone Mine for white mana. (1 black, 1 blue, 1 green, 1 red, 1 white.)
12. Cast the Sliver Queen. Hoorah!

Date added	11 months
Last updated	11 months
Legality	This deck is Casual legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Rares 6 - 0 Uncommons 4 - 0 Commons
Cards	17
Avg. CMC	2.50
Tokens	Sliver 1/1 C
Folders	InQuest Dead Man's Hand Puzzles