Magicians Assistant

“We've been having a bit of an issue with our magic act. Let's see if you can help...

Presentation Note: Teams were given a deck of Magic The Gathering cards with 5 letter words written on the back with a black marker. The PDF linked below contains images of each card and the associated word.

Puzzle Files

The following files are required to solve this puzzle:

Click to reveal Hint #1

For now, you're trying to figure out how to group 40 of the cards into 8 groups of 5, based on the names at the tables. As an example (and hint), the card Just Desserts was one of the five cards chosen by the Sdrawkcab Club. Once you have some of the groups determined, then you can focus on the backs of the cards.

Click to reveal Hint #2

To help you identify the groups, here is one card from each group:

1. The Henry F. Society: Expedition Raptor

2. The Baltimoreans: Death Pits of Rath

3. The Sdrawkcab Club: Regal Unicorn

4. The Card Counters (3 4 8): Arcades Sabbath

5. The Gifted Kids: Storm Elemental

6. The Eyes Only Association: Fill with Fright

7. The Perisha-bulls: Backslide

8. The Potterheads: Sorcerer's Strongbox

If you already have some groups and are stuck, note that on the back you have now five five-letter words (it will help to order the cards by card name).

Click to reveal Hint #3

If you have assembled a message that matches the enumeration on your page, you should have five cards left. Those can be ordered to make a diagonal that follows your message.

The names of those five cards hide something (per your message) that should give you a final clue that matches the final spacing on your paper.

Click to reveal the solution to this puzzle

fantasia

"Hah! Disney magic for the win! I told the magician that we knew how his trick worked and threatened to replace him with an audio-animatronic version; he couldn't come out of that trailer fast enough.

"Let's see what else you can help with..."