Oh man, I love these puzzles.
Hrm. Thinking about it for a couple hours, here’s what I can come up with. It feels . . . partial. But it’s what I got.
Tech: Vortoss Emblem x2
Upkeep:
- Prynn fades (now 3 time runes)
Main:
- Collect 12 gold (14)
- Ebbflow Archon {7 runes}, draw 1 card (6)
- Remove Archon rune {6} => bounce Overeager Cadet into my hand
- Play Overeager Cadet, draw 1 card (6)
- Remove Archon rune {5} => bounce Overeager Cadet into my hand
- Play Overeager Cadet, draw 1 card (6)
- Remove Archon rune {4} => bounce Overeager Cadet into my hand
- Play Overeager Cadet, draw 1 card (6)
- Remove Archon rune {3} => bounce Overeager Cadet into my hand
- Play Overeager Cadet, draw 1 card (6)
- Remove Archon rune {2} => bounce Overeager Cadet into my hand
- Play Overeager Cadet, draw 1 card (6)
(I have now drawn 6 cards, my hand includes the entire deck) - Prynn casts Rewind, all units except the Archon bounce back into our hands (2)
- Nullcraft (0)
- Play Overeager Cadet, reshuffle, draw the Vortoss Emblem (0)
- Prynn casts Vortoss Emblem on Overeager Cadet (0)
- Play the other Overeager Cadet, draw the other Vortoss Emblem (0)
- Prynn casts the other Vortoss Emblem on the other Overeager Cadet (0)
- Midori attacks tech 3 for 4
- Prynn destroys tech 3 => his base at 16, Prynn gains a rune (now 4)
- Discard 8, curse the reshuffle rule, draw none.
Patrol -
SQL: Ebbflow Archon (10/10 + A) {2 runes}
Elite: Nullcraft (2/1)
Scav:
Tecn: Overeager Cadet (4/3) + Vortoss Emblem
Lookout: Overeager Cadet (4/3) + Vortoss Emblem
So . . this feels pretty safe. And it almost is. But it’s not completely. Hence why I marked the solution incomplete.
By herself, Jaina can do a max of 2 damage to my base. Either a flame arrow to kill one cadet and ember sparks to target the other and 2 to the base, or two ember sparks – same effect.
The problem is, I know he’s got two lobbers, a faerie dragon, and a mimic in his hand. I’m facing a hasted flying mimic. The nullcraft is there to stop it hitting the base. The Archon is there to stop the other random hasty stuff from walking in and killing a Cadet for Jaina. But the nullcraft won’t stop the mimic from killing one of the Cadets.
That’s probably okay, though. Lobber + dragon + mimic + Jaina + two Ember Sparks . . . that’s an 18 gold plan. I can’t see his worker count, but I feel pretty comfortable betting it isn’t 18.
I killed the tech 3 to prevent a T-rex clearing the way for Jaina. Which would have been a lucky/expensive plan but not so incredibly improbably so. Seemed worth preventing.
I’m not so sure I feel good about the future here, though. Odds seem good that everything I bounced is coming back. I can swing with the archon next turn, or I can have Prynn trash it and suicide, and then do the deck drawing trick again (I’m unclear on whether that would technically work, but I think it would?). I’m starting with no cards, though, and the whole situation just seems . . . dicey.
Which is why I say it feels like a partial solution. I don’t see a way to do better – I think I need two Vortoss Emblems to survive the implied Jaina threat. Is there a deadlier payload I could load the tech with? It’d have to be something cheap. And it’d have to be a way to win. If there’s something that fits that bill, I don’t see what it is.
Moment’s Peace is a bad idea. I need patrollers or those Vortoss Emblems won’t thwart Jaina. Final Showdown is a tempting payload in place of Rewind, but I can’t get enough damage out of it to win, and I’ve got to win if I don’t get the emblems.
I’m missing something.