Attacking Airini isn’t much of a solution: Your creatures are smaller than hers, and a blocking Chancellor of the Dross will likely result in her gaining more life in the end. You do have a win condition on the table, but there’s a catch: Airini currently controls it.
- Tap four islands to add (one used as generic mana) to your mana pool.
- Spend to cast Alchemist’s Apprentice.
- When Alchemist’s Apprentice enters the battlefield, Simic Manipulator’s Evolve ability triggers, putting a +1/+1 counter on the Manipulator. Simic Manipulator is now a 1/2 creature.
- Tap Alchemist’s Apprentice and Neurok Transmuter to activate Crookclaw Elder’s second ability. Choose to give Airini’s Laboratory Maniac flying until end of turn. Because Laboratory Maniac now has flying, it gets -1/-0 because of your One-Eyed Scarecrow. Laboratory Maniac is now a 1/2 creature.
- Tap Simic Manipulator and remove a +1/+1 counter from it to activate its ability. Choose to gain control of Airini’s Laboratory Maniac. Simic Manipulator is now a 0/1 creature. Laboratory Maniac is now a 2/2 creature once more.
- Sacrifice your Alchemist’s Apprentice to activate its ability. You draw Artful Dodge. (You now have 20 cards remaining in your library.)
- Spend to cast Artful Dodge, targeting your Kukemssa Pirates. Kukemssa Pirates are unblockable until end of turn.
- Spend to cast Artful Dodge from your graveyard for its Flashback cost, exiling it and targeting your Arcbound Slith. Arcbound Slith is unblockable until end of turn.
- Declare the start of your combat phase, assigning your Kukemssa Pirates and Arcbound Slith to attack. Airini is unable to block either of your attacking creatures; both the Pirates and the Slith deal combat damage to Airini as a result.
- When Kukemssa Pirates would deal combat damage, choose to gain control of Airini’s Altar of Dementia instead. Airini may choose to sacrifice any of her creatures to the Altar in response, in which case this is not relevant to the rest of the solution.
- Arcbound Slith deals 1 damage to Airini. Airini is now at 11 life.
- When Arcbound Slith deals combat damage, its ability triggers, putting a +1/+1 counter on the Slith. Arcbound Slith is now a 2/2 creature.
- At the beginning of your second main phase, tap an island and your Halimar Depths to add (both used as generic mana) to your mana pool.
- Spend to activate Mindshrieker’s ability. Choose to put the top card of your library (Infiltrator il-Kor) into your graveyard. Mindshrieker gets +5/+5 until end of turn, and is now a 6/6 creature. (You now have 19 cards remaining in your library.)
- Sacrifice Arcbound Slith to activate Altar of Dementia’s ability. Choose to put the top two cards of your library into your graveyard. (You now have 17 cards remaining in your library.)
- When Arcbound Slith dies, its Modular ability triggers. Choose to put two +1/+1 counters on your One-Eyed Scarecrow. One-Eyed Scarecrow is now a 4/5 creature.
- Sacrifice Neurok Transmuter to activate Altar of Dementia’s ability. Choose to put the top two cards of your library into your graveyard. (You now have 15 cards remaining in your library.)
- Sacrifice One-Eyed Scarecrow to activate Altar of Dementia’s ability. Choose to put the top four cards of your library into your graveyard. (You now have 11 cards remaining in your library.)
- Sacrifice Kukemssa Pirates to activate Altar of Dementia’s ability. Choose to put the top two cards of your library into your graveyard. (You now have 9 cards remaining in your library.)
- Tap Crookclaw Elder and Mindshrieker to activate Crookclaw Elder’s first ability.
- Before Crookclaw Elder’s ability resolves, sacrifice Mindshrieker to activate Altar of Dementia’s ability. Choose to put the top six cards of your library into your graveyard. (You now have 3 cards remaining in your library.)
- Before Crookclaw Elder’s ability resolves, sacrifice Crookclaw Elder to activate Altar of Dementia’s ability. Choose to put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard. You now have zero cards remaining in your library.
- Resolve Crookclaw Elder’s ability, attempting to draw a card when your library has no cards in it. Laboratory Maniac’s ability triggers, and you win the game.
Error: The laboratory maniac is a 2/3 when it gats flying due to the glen eledna liege!
VERY nice catch. I was wondering if I did something wrong somewhere.
The Glen Elendra Liege was a last-minute addition; it was intended to be a red herring. I’ll need to adjust the original puzzle in order to make the correction.
It was the reason I could not solve it… I was really frustrated, wondering where I could get an extra 3 power 🙁
Doesn’t Airini completely spoil this by sacrifing Maniac to her Altar before you can gain control of it, then regaining access to it with Feldon’s Cane? She could also sacrifice a couple other creatures as a buffer, making the game’s winner nondeterministic (you can’t mill her out after she’s shuffled by stealing Altar, so you have to steal Witchbane Orb instead, and then your mana limits how many times you can mill with Mindshrieker).
She could also sacrifice Waterfront Bouncer after you’ve drawn Artful Dodge, milling you past Infiltrator il-Kor and forcing Mindshrieker to flip unknown cards where it can’t guarantee it’ll get a big enough boost.
That’s true, I suppose. I’ll have to give this a bit of thought.