Puzzle Garden #8
Natural Order
Difficulty: Moderate
Following are ten sequences for four cards, and ten 'free' cards, each one missing a group. Each of the sequences follows some rule or progression, and one of the free cards will fit next in the sequence. Watch out! Some of the free cards may potentially fit as the next card in multiple sequences, but only one combination will be correct! Determine the pattern governing each sequence, and determine which free card comes next for each sequence.
Sequence 1:
Buromil Grunt, Hsiung-nu Mercenaries, Coffee-stained Cop, The Big Boss
Sequence 2:
Path of the Fire Righteous, Righteous Fist, Fist of Shadow, Shadow Legion
Sequence 3:
Ordinal Spirit, “Hammer” Harrison, Abysmal Absorber, Thunder Gladiator
Sequence 4:
Chain Lightning, The Withering of Souls, Curse of Discord, Nerve Gas
Sequence 5:
Average Joe, Children of Sharp Knives, Abysmal Daughter, Pod Trooper
Sequence 6:
John Tower, Fire Falx, Senoritas, LaGrange Four
Sequence 7:
Purist Initiate, Purist Sorcerer, Penal Soldiers, Bad Colonel
Sequence 8:
Gardener, Yung Chang, “Monkey” Chang, Chang
Sequence 9:
Monkey vs Robot, Disco Inferno, Auspicious Thermite, Revenge on the Patent Office
Sequence 10:
The Junkyard, Wu Ta-Hsi, Solar Flare, Johann Bonengel
Free Cards:
Five Fingers of Death, Geoffrey Smythe, Jade Willow, Jigsaw Beast, Legion of the Damned, Monkey Fools the Tiger, Path of the Storm Turtle, Street Gang, Thunder Apprentice, Walker of the Purple Twilight
Unassailable Fortress
Difficulty: Hard
You have no cards in your deck, having just drawn your last card. You're one site away from victory, with a hand full of big characters and potent events. Only one problem- your opponent's site has a pile of states on it, and is currently sitting at 70 body.
You are dueling and have previously played Glimpse of the Abyss. You need one more site to win. It is the start of your main shot. Find a way to take your opponent's site before the end of your turn.
Cards in Play:
7 Power.
Column 1:
Darkness Warriors (2 Fighting), Ice Healer (1 Fighting)
Thousand Sword Mountain (7 Body)
The Shangshu Mansion (6 Body)
Column 2:
Little Grasshopper x3 (1 Fighting each)
Temple of the Angry Spirits (8 Body)
The Library of Souls (5 Body)
Column 3:
Prefect's Guards (1 Fighting)
Ancient Monument (12 Body)
Jade Palace of the Dragon King (5 Body)
Column 4:
Wailing Apparition (1 Fighting)
Heart of the Rainforest (8 Body)
Art of War, Strength of the Land
Previously Played: Glimpse of the Abyss
Your Hand: (15)
Alabaster King, Cannibal's Banquet, Combat Courtship, Demonic Plague, Evil Twin, Gao Zhang, Kong Jun She, Memory Reprocessing, Shaolin Hoedown, Soul Theft, Under the Knife x2, Underworld Coronation, Walking Corpses, Walking Corpses
Characters in Your Smoked Pile
Blue Mandarin, Ice Healer, Petal's Attendant, Thugs, Walking Corpses
Your Opponent's Cards
Gnarled Horror with Shadowy Mentor (1 Fighting)
Site with following States: Obsidian Mountain with: Chi Syphon (text of Heart of the Rainforest) Portal Nexus (+5 Body Each) Security (+6 Body Each), total 70 Body.
Events in Opponent's Smoked Pile
Echo Distortion, Fermat's Last Stand, Lodge Politics, Moonlight Raid, The Willow Bends
As always, folks, please send all responses to Daniel Griego at icediadem@yahoo.com. Include your full name and mailing address, or ninjas will come and leave footprints on your ceiling. You can't clean that mess, man.