DMH: Trick or Treat

Casual BG (Golgari)

floofynewf

Creature (12)

• 1x Baron Sengir
• 1x Dauthi Ghoul
• 1x Dungeon Shade
• 1x Elves of Deep Shadow
• 1x Lord of the Pit
• 1x Mindless Automaton
• 1x Scathe Zombies
• 1x Spike Cannibal
• 1x Spike Colony
• 1x Spike Rogue
• 1x Workhorse
• 1x Zombie Master

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Dark Privilege
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Recurring Nightmare

Artifact (1)

• 1x Heartstone

Land (8)

• 4x Forest
• 4x Swamp

Sorcery (1)

• 1x All Hallow's Eve

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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. They can be found here.

This puzzle is from the November 1998 issue. It includes my solution, but I haven't found a copy of the next issue to be able to include the official solution. And, honestly, my solution is so simple I'm convinced I've missed something...

Setup

Copied from the original article: https://archive.org/details/IQ.Gamer.Partial.Collection/inquest.043.%281998-11%29/page/n87/mode/2up

You Can't Win

Eugene T. Dudley, the world's worst Magic player, is feeling festive. It goes without saying that he has absolutely no chance of beating his opponent, Brandon "Bullhorn" Howard. With only three life remaining, it's only a matter of time before Brandon blasts him away, even though Eugene's All Hallow's Eve is about to go off. But Eugene's been more interested in munching his Halloween candy and spreadying +1/+1 candy corns around the table. Eugene's ultimate goal is to reward each of his creatures with a treat. No way he's gonna be able to do it without your help though, so your goal is to hand out treats by having at least one +1/+1 counter on every creature you control at the end of your turn. Oh, and be careful not to make the same mistake Eugene did - absentmindendly eating counters off your creatures.

Keep in Mind the Following:

• It is the beginning of Eugene's turn. He currently has three life. Eugene promised Brandon a Snickers if he didn't interfere this turn, so for once Bullhorn is keeping his trap shut.
• The candy corns represent +1/+1 counters.
• All Hallow's Eve is set to go off this turn' Eugene hasn't managed to get any of Brandon's creatures into the graveyard. When All Hallow's Eve resolves, you get to choose which order your creatures come into play.
• You mus have at least one +1/+1 counter on every creature you control at the end of your turn.
• With Necropotence in play, Eugene won't be drawing any cards during his draw phase.
• Brachs candy corns suck. So do the brown ones. A good candy corn mut be squishable into a flat, sugary pancake. The little orange pumpkins are good too.

Cards in Play

• All Hallow's Eve
• Dauthi Ghoul
• Dungeon Shade
• Elves of Deep Shadow
• Mindless Automaton
• Necropotence
• Recurring Nightmare
• Scathe Zombies
• Spike Colony
• Zombie Master

Lands

• Swamp x4
• Forest x4

Graveyard

• Baron Sengir
• Spike Cannibal
• Spike Rogue

Hand

• Dark Privilege
• Heartstone
• Lord of the Pit
• Workhorse

Hints

Hint 1

You only need to cast one card. (You need to activate an ability multiple times though.)

Hint 2

Focus on getting rid of creatures without +1/+1 counters rather than spreading around +1/+1 counters.

Red Herrings

You really only need one card to solve the puzzle so basically everything is a red herring...

• All cards but one are irrelevant to the solution.
• You do not need to worry about the order creatures come into play from All Hallow's Eve.
• Not drawing cards from Necropotence doesn't matter.

Solution

I haven't found the next issue for the answer, but I would love to know what it is. I have an answer but it just seems way too simple to be correct. I must have missed something.

How I Did It

1. During your upkeep remove a scream counter from All Hallow's Eve and return Baron Sengir, Spike Colony, and Spike Cannibal to the battlefield. The order they enter doesn't matter.
2. Move all +1/+1 counters onto Spike Cannibal.
3. Tap two Swamps and cast Dark Privilege on Spike Cannibal. (you could also put it on Spike Colony if it entered the battlefield after the cannibal.)
4. Use Dark Privilege to sacrifice all creatures without a +1/+1 counter on it.
5. You now have either one or two creatures with a +1/+1 counter, but that' all creatures you control.
6. End your turn.

Ok, there's no way it's this simple... Having a puzzle where "all your creatures must have X" and the solution is to get rid of all creatures without X is perfectly Dead Man's Hand. However, playing one card to sacrifice them all is not nearly convoluted enough.

Date added	11 months
Last updated	11 months
Legality	This deck is Casual legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 0 Rares 5 - 0 Uncommons 4 - 0 Commons
Cards	25
Avg. CMC	3.76
Folders	InQuest Dead Man's Hand Puzzles, Other Peoples decks to use for ideas