O'Cédar & Bêêêfêlemouton present: The Shazamm Quiz!

Quiz mechanism This quiz is made of 10 questions. For each of these questions, 5 possible answers are given. Any good answer is worth 1 point regardless of its difficulty. Keep track of your score for it is not automatic! Good luck!

Question 1: ● Your Mana (Red): 31, Spells: « Larceny », « Winner Loses », « Double Dose » ● His Mana (Green): 9, Spells: « Larceny », « Enough! » ● What must you play? A) It doesn't matter, the game is already sealed B) 1+Larceny+WL C) 5+Larceny+DD D) 9 E) 10

Answer: A) It doesn't matter Indeed, Red's advantage in mana and his remaining powerful spells will prove useless unless Green makes a dreadful mistake. By playing “Larceny” and “Enough!” at the same time, Green ensures that his “Enough!” takes place because of the 2 “Larcenies” cancelling each other out. The round ending, and mages being repositioned 3 steps from the flame thus ends the game with Red consumed by the flames. The priority order of the spells renders thus effectively useless Red's 2 other spells, he should have reacted before, probably spending a lot more mana points.

Question 2: ● 4th round: Victory in this round is necessary but not sufficient. ● Your last spells: « Winner Loses » and « Inferno » ● His last spell: « Clone » ● How to best use your last spells ? A) « Inferno » first, « WL » later on B) « WL » first, « Inferno » later on C) Both at the same time in a lethal combo

Answer: A) « Inferno » first Playing both spells at the same time gives the opponent an easy shot for a clone on the next round. He will with an average bet, be able to clone the spell of his choice thus gaining 2 steps or only one but by using less mana. By playing « WL » first, you will then be forced to bet low for fear of being cloned on the next turn, and this can be used by the opponent to his advantage by betting medium high and keeping his clone in stock for the « Inferno ». Whereas by playing « Inferno » first, the opponent does not dare clone with a high bet for fear of being taken aback by a deadly « WL ». Forced to keep his clone for the final « WL », it will be easy to counter.

Question 3: ● In your hand (Red): « Enough! » ● In his hand (Green): « Reset », « Recycle », « Miser » ● Estimate your victory chances (good players) ? A) 0% B) 15% C) 50% D) 85% E) 100%

Answer: E) 100% It is just needed to push the flame one step forward in Green's direction so that the “Enough!” card ends the game in Red's favour. By betting directly 49, Red takes no risks, if the flame goes forward, he wins with the “Enough!” on the next turn. If Green bets 49 or 50, the round will end in the next couple of turns with the flame still at the same place but with one flagstone less on either side. Thus Red will be able to play “Enough!” directly in the start of this new round. Green's spells are completely useless in this situation.

Question 4: ● In your hand (Red): « Winner Loses » ● In his hand (Green): « Enough! », « Resistance » and « Reserve boost » ● Estimate your victory chances (good players) ? A) 0% B) 20% C) 50% D) 80% E) 100%

Answer: B) 20% Green clearly has the upper hand because he has only a slight territorial advantage but has kept more powerful spells. However, Red can still win by playing with the fear caused by the “WL” card on Green. Green fears it and thus can be hesitating to bet high as long as it has not been used. Red must try to put the pressure on Green as soon as possible, by keeping the flame on his side, when he will be more than reluctant to play “Enough!” (either ending in a suicide or in a terrible waste of this card). The outcome will probably be determined by the moment where the “WL” is played and the damage it has caused to Green. This game is not a lost cause. See game 7665 on (game won by Red)

Question 5: ● Your mana stock (Red): 19 and 1 spell in hand ● His mana (Green): 30 and « Recycle » ● Which spell is more useful in this situation ? A) Larceny B) Enough! C) Resistance D) Miser E) Suction

Answer: E) Suction Even if all these spells would come in handy at this time of the game, only one ensures the win. “Miser” associated to a high bet would be very useful but remember : if both bets are equal, the spell does not function and the mana is indeed spent. It is already a possibility with a high bet (probably between 13 and 19 to ensure the win) but seeing that the opponent still has “Recycle” in his hand, it is much more likely that he will be able to modify his bet so as to equal your own one. Whereas by playing “Suction” + 19, the outcome is certain, if Green bets 19, then the flame will now be 2 steps away from him but with a mana advantage for Red (a 100% sure victory).

Question 6: ● In your hand (Red): « Clone », « Enough!» ● In his hand (Green): « Enough!», « Reset », « Recycle », « Resistance » and « Inferno » ● Estimate your victory chances (good players) ? A) 0% B) 25% C) 50% D) 75% E) 100%

Answer: E) 100% If the round was to be played to its end, Green would surely come out on top for he has kept a lot more spells. Red can hope to win the game by playing straight away his “Enough!”. However, Green can still hope to counter it by playing his at the same round, and then take advantage of the rest of the game with his powerful spells. But if Red plays “Enough!” + 49 so as to be sure that the flame will not come in his direction, he will be able to win the game in the next turn (if Green had cancelled the End Round by playing his own at the same time) by cloning Green's previous “Enough!” card and thus ending the game.

Question 7: ● Silence in play! The round MUST imperatively be completely (all way through) won because Green still has a lot of spells to ensure a victory in the next rounds. ● What is the « higher » configuration for which Red will necessarily win the game ? A) Red mana Green Mana B) C) D) E) 16-14

Answer: B) To keep an advantage in Silence mode, it is vital not to bet too high so as to lose this advantage for the end (when one point represents one step) but at the same time, not let the other threaten you. Here, we have the 2 point advantage necessary to gain the extra 2 steps at the end of the round, however in order to preserve them, it is important never to waste mana. A bet of 2 is the highest “secure bet” (no waste possible this way). This functions only when the opponent does not have enough mana to bet 3 all the way long. At 12-14, Green can hope to win 3-2 most of the time and go a for a 1-3 at one time, thus gaining back one step which will prove sufficient to survive! At (and below), Red can bet 2 all along, Green will not be able to resist.

Question 8: ● Silence in play! ● Your Mana (Red): 11 ● His Mana (Green): 7 ● Estimate your victory chances (good players) ? A) 0% B) 25% C) 50% D) 75% E) 100%

Answer: C) 50% Albeit a slight territorial and mana advantage, Red is now in an “all or nothing” situation, the odds are 50-50, he should have reacted beforehand ! A 7-1, and it is over (4-6, the opponent will regain the 2 steps at the end of the round with secure betting), and any other bet leaves an opening for Green to bet all he has left! A 3-1 would leave enough mana to ensure the victory after this bet so Red has the choice between 3 and 7. For Green, the choice is clear: 1 or 7, in his position he can afford nothing else.

Question 9: ● Your Mana (Red): 26, His Mana (Green): 42 ● Spells in hand: « Larceny », « Double Dose », « Inferno » (Still to come: « Clone », « Enough! », « Suction ») ● Possible spells for Green: « Clone », « Reset », « Recycle », « Boost Attack », « WL », « Resistance », « Reserve boost » ● Estimate your victory chances (good players) ? A) 0% B) 25% C) 50% D) 75% E) 100%

Answer: E) 100% Even if the positions seem quite equal, Green's early use of his major spells (Silence and Larceny) will cause his outdoing. From now on, he has no control over his opponent's moves. If Red plays 25 + « Larceny » + « Double Dose » + « Inferno », the round is won for sure. On the next turn, Green finds himself exposed to the « Enough! » fatality... he may hope to break it by using his « Clone » spell to pick up the « Larceny » card, however, Red still has his « Clone » as well and should play it alongisde his « Enough! » so that both « Clone » spells cancel each other out and the « Enough! » takes place!

Question 10: ● Your Mana (Red): 9, your last spell « Clone » ● His Mana (Green): 4, his last spell « Reserve boost » ● What should you bet this turn ? A) Whatever, the game is already sealed B) 1 C) 2 D) 3 E) 4

Answer: E) 4 The 9-4 mana advantage would be more than sufficient to ensure Red's victory in a Muteness round since the flame only needs to be in the center or on Green's side, so that he perishes as soon as the round ends. However, Green still possesses « Reserve boost ». He hasn't played it thus far to avoid Red cloning it. For that, he needs to play it at the 'last but one' turn and force the flame next to Red in the same move. Fortunately for Red, he has enough mana to keep the flame from coming in his direction this turn. By betting 4 (5 is a good solution as well), Red is sure to survive long enough so as to clone the « Reserve boost » in the short period where Green has more mana. And then his mana advantage will be sufficient to control the end of the game!

Final Count From 0 to 2 points: Just a dabbler in magic, you need to launch more and more games in order to improve! From 3 to 5 points: Still learning, master wizards see you as an easy prey! Put to good use what you learnt here and come play some tournaments on your level will soar quickly! From 6 to 9 points: A fine warlock, you just need to concentrate on a few subtleties to reach the top ! All good: Master Wizard from the « Burning Sheep Order » !