January 19, 2015Perplexing Chimera

19: Demons and Dragons

You and Gabriel are at odds over the bargain box today. It’s more a dispute over your respective approaches: Gabriel likes looking for cheap rares, while you like looking for subtle combo pieces. You decided that the best way to settle the matter was to play a game of Magic.

So now here you are, staring into the barrel of a Malfegor. Gabriel played the demon dragon on his last turn, discarding two cards and bumping off a couple of your creatures in the process. Your “charge counters” deck is working a lot worse than you expected; you haven’t seen a Lightning Coils yet, and the lone Spawning Pit you drew ended up on the receiving end of Gabriel’s Smash.

What’s worse is that you don’t have any more cards in your hand; you’ve been trying to keep up with Gabriel’s late-game rally, and now it looks like you’re going to lose: with two large flyers on the battlefield, you’re going to be lunch meat next turn. Even if you do manage to kill off the demon and the dragon (an impossible task), Gabriel only needs to draw a land to make his Ember Swallower monstrous; you’re not sure if you can survive on a reduced land count.

You untap, take your draw, and… find that’s it’s an island. Dejected, you play your basic land and are just about to throw in the towel when you see it. It’s not a flashy play, and it’s not the most obvious one, but it’s a way out.

It is the start of your first main phase. Can you win the game this turn?

Click the image for a larger version.

Gabriel is at 5 life, has no cards in hand, and has no untapped lands. He has these cards in play:

Gabriel has the following cards in his graveyard:

You are at 4 life. You have these cards in play:

You have no cards in your hand.

You have the following cards in your graveyard: