[Deck] Sneak and Show

[GoblinZ]

I know D&T is looking at the new equipment Godsend but I can't see how SoFaI isn't better. Other decks are surely looking at it as well but in general I would say this set offered slim pickings

Actually, I doubt that equipment is good enough even for standard...


And a question, do we really need play 4 emrakul in the maindeck ? I find more often we need just Griselbrand and it is really annoying that sometimes I draw too many fatties and cannot find a way to shuffle them away.

[Unassigned]

Anybody going to Cinci this weekend? I'll be playing in the 4 PM Grinder on Saturday as I'm skipping the Standard Open. I'll be running this, as I expect a heavy Miracles and BUG meta, as both have been running hot lately.

1 Mountain
3 Misty Rainforest
2 City of Traitors
3 Ancient Tomb
3 Island
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Volcanic Island
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Griselbrand
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Lotus Petal
4 Sneak Attack
1 Misdirection
1 Intuition
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
2 Gitaxian Probe
2 Spell Pierce
2 Flusterstorm
4 Ponder
4 Show and Tell

SB:
2 Blood Moon
2 Through the Breach
2 Swan Song
2 Pyroclasm
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Pyroblast
1 Echoing Truth
1 Flusterstorm
2 OTHER

For the final 2 SB slots, I've been considering Divert, another Jace, another Grafdigger's Cage, Wipe Away/Echoing Truth, Boseiju, or even V Clique.

Any suggestions?

[JPA]

I would definitely play 2 Cliques. They are really good vs Miracles and even better in the mirror, where they can help you win the game without ever trying to resolve Sneak/Show/Breach.

You could also think about adding 1-2 Tops (maybe cutting 1 Flusterstorm or the Intuition). They are very useful in long games Vs Miracles and help a lot against BUG Delver's discard.

Anyways, good luck in Cinci, Adam!

[GoblinZ]

Another top 8 at Scg open, he plays 2 copies of Blightstell Colossus, which seems interesting.

[JPA]

Went 5-1 for a revised U-Sea and 1 Bye for BoM 10 at the side event yesterday. Will post list and short report when I'm home tonight.

[JPA]

4 Griselbrand
2 Island
3 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Volcanic Island
4 Lotus Petal
4 Sneak Attack
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
1 Misdirection
3 Spell Pierce
4 Ponder
4 Show and Tell
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Mountain
3 Gitaxian Probe
1 Intuition
1 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand

SB: 2 Through the Breach
SB: 2 Pyroclasm
SB: 2 Grafdigger's Cage
SB: 1 Pyroblast
SB: 1 Flusterstorm
SB: 2 Ashen Rider
SB: 2 Blood Moon
SB: 1 Vendilion Clique
SB: 2 Boseiju, Who Shelters All

Here is what I remember of the BoM 10 trial (66 players).

Rd. 1 Death and Taxes

Game 1 I FoW a T1 Aether Vial, he follows up with T2 Thalia, who hits me a few times while I cantrip/land drop/cast Petals for 1. After Gitaxian Probe shows me the coast is clear I go for Show into Sneak into win.

Game 2 he gets an early Thalia online again. When he casts a Flickerwhisp to increase his clock to 2 turns, I have to go for the Show and Tell Emrakul, while he has a Vial on 2 and two cards in hand. He responds to the Show and Tell by vialing Revoker into play, naming Sneak Attack, and the last card in his hand is Karakas, obviously. The Pyroclasm I find on the following turn doesn't save me, because he can just bounce Thalia and vial her back into play to deal lethal.

Game 3 I keep a hand that allows me to go for T3 Through the Breach Emrakul. He casts a turn 1 Pithing Needle, naming Sneak Attack and follows it up with a Stoneforge Mystic. I annihilate him on the next turn and he doesn't come back.

2-1
1-0

Rd. 2 Elves

Game 1 I go for Gitaxian Probe on turn 2, showing me a Glimpse, NO, and Craterhoof. Even though I have the Show and Tell Griselbrand I decide to wait 1 turn to leave Spell Pierce up for his Glimpse. I go for it on turn 3 and find a FoW for his Natural Order with Griselbrand's Bargain.

Game 2 he starts with Thoughtseize showing him Island, Lotus Petal, Sneak Attack, Show and Tell, Force of Will, Ponder, Emrakul. He decides to take the Ponder, forcing me to draw myself out of it. Naturally, I topdeck Ancient Tomb one turn later after he mini-comboed Turn 2, dumping his whole hand except 1 card onto the board. I go for the Show and Tell, struggling with the decision whether to put Emrakul or Sneak Attack into play (he has more than 6 permanents in play at this point). I decide to put it Emrakul, with the thought process that I would need to topdeck a second creature and a red source for Sneak Attack (remember I only have Island, Lotus Petal and Ancient Tomb as mana sources in play) and would just autolose to a Pithing Needle in his hand.
His last card is Progenitus, which races my Emrakul, accompanied by a horde of Elves.

Game 3 he mulls to 5 and dies to T2 FoW protected Emrakul.

2-1
2-0

Rd. 3 Dredge

Game 1 I FoW his Putrid Imp and Spell Pierce the following Careful Study. He still gets to start dredging at some point and correctly names Show and Tell with Cabal Therapy on turn 3, where my hand is Emrakul, Griselbrand, Show and Tell, Land. I don't draw myself back into the game.

Game 2 I keep a controllish hand without combo pieces. I counter everything he does and drop a Cage at some point, while he hardcasts Narcomoeba. After some Moeba-beats I eventually find the combo pieces and end the game.

Game 3 he mulls to 5 while I keep a risky hand of Lotus Petal, Ponder, Brainstorm, Griselbrand, Force of Will, Spell Pierce, Sneak Attack. I FoW (pitching Brainstorm) his T1 enabler and don't find a land in the Ponder. My turn 4 Sneak Attack is too late to stop his Zombie army (he dredged 4 Bridges, 1 Moeba, 1 Ichorid, 1 Dread Return in 12 cards).

1-2
2-1

Rd. 4 BG Depths

Game 1 I Probe into Show and Tell Grisel, who races his Tarmogoyf, Dark Confidant, Deathrite Shaman team easily.

Game 2 I go for a late Show and Tell Griselbrand again and lose to Diabolic Edict into lethal attack.

Game 3 I land t1 Top to protect me from his heavy discard plan and sneak ftw a couple of turns later.

2-1
3-1

Rd. 5 my opponent didn't show up :(

Rd. 6 Grixis Delver

Game 1 I go for Island Petal Petal Show and Tell on the play, putting Griselbrand against his Tombstalker. He drops U-Sea and Ponders, shuffles, and concedes.

I put him on BUG Delver, which leads to me boarding a little bit wrong for game 2 (should have left the Blood Moons in the board and brought in Boseiju and Pyroclasm instead).

Game 2 he has a very controllish hand and eventually lands a Tombstalker that kills me in 3 hits, while countering my 2 attempts to go off and landing a Pithing Needle on Sneak Attack.

I side correctly for game 3, also boarding the Through the Breaches in against his Pithing Needle.

Game 3 I get an early SDT, which helps me fight through his Liliana and Force of Will to resolve Sneak Attack into Griselbrand, and finding me the match-winning Emrakul 2 turns later.

2-1
5-1

[Unassigned]

I would definitely play 2 Cliques. They are really good vs Miracles and even better in the mirror, where they can help you win the game without ever trying to resolve Sneak/Show/Breach.

You could also think about adding 1-2 Tops (maybe cutting 1 Flusterstorm or the Intuition). They are very useful in long games Vs Miracles and help a lot against BUG Delver's discard.

Anyways, good luck in Cinci, Adam!

Thanks!

I had a great showing at the Grinder on Saturday, but completely got "hosed" at the Open on Sunday.

I mull'd to 4 three times in the first four games. Ended up 5-4 after completely punting the last round, not once, but three times. Opponent was playing mind games and they worked. Pretty disappointed in myself that particular round.

A pair of Boseiju was what I decided to go with in Cinci and they did not disappoint at all. They won me two rounds, one against Miracles and the other was against Esper. I noticed the Blightsteel's in the list that made top 8, and maybe I'll check them out. Seems strange, but it's worth investigating.

Congrats on the U Sea, JPA!

[Juice11]

Another top 8 at Scg open, he plays 2 copies of Blightstell Colossus, which seems interesting.

I've actually been thinking about 2 blightsteel colossus' in the sideboard for combo matchups. Winning the turn you get a guy in play can be a big deal. I wouldn't go main though, emrakul seems way better in every other situation.

[DavidHernandez]

I've actually been thinking about 2 blightsteel colossus' in the sideboard for combo matchups. Winning the turn you get a guy in play can be a big deal. I wouldn't go main though, emrakul seems way better in every other situation.

Back in earlier days Blightsteel was run in the main with Progenitus. Griselbrand was not in the main at all, even in some later lists.

http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...-Attack/page21

He's interesting. I posted the link above for historical reference. If Blightsteel somehow becomes good in the current meta, then maybe some of the other, older, deck tech could become relevant now.

Dave

[Technicolor Mage]

The problem with blightsteel is swords to plowshares is it not and doesn't Blightsteel suffer the way Progenitus does, not good with Sneak Attack?

[snurly]

Blightsteel is weak to STP, but is a legit one hit kill and immune to Karakas. Not sure how it or Progenitus is not good with Sneak Attack?

Edit: Also, Blightsteel is slightly more hard-castable than Emrakul and 100% more than Griselbrand :)

[StoneColdEffy]

Hey Guys!

So I made this Eternal Top 8 Playoff thing at my LGS. As far as I know, the other 7 players are all on Miracles, BUG or Omni-Tell which makes me believe this deck might be the best positioned. I've tried to come up with a list to kind of prey on these three decks while still having game against anything else. I'm 100% sure there will be no Death and Taxes and RUG Delver.
4 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
4 Volcanic Island
3 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
3 Island

4 Griselbrand
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

4 Show and Tell
4 Sneak Attack

4 Spell Pierce
4 Force of Will

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
3 Gitaxian Probe

4 Lotus Petal

1 Intuition
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Sideboard:
3 Pyroblast
3 Pyroclasm
3 Blood Moon
2 Swan Song
2 Through the Breach
1 Echoing Truth
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor


So would like thoughts on the deck! It's a bit unique cause I'm trying to prey specifically on these three decks. Also any tips on SBing would be much appreciated. One of the things I'm most unsure about is the 4th Volcanic Island or 3 Volc/1 Mountain, and the Intuition/Jace slots. Also maybe Top is good? I think I need the Probes for training wheels :P

PS I came up with the decklist by looking through a bunch of old lists and came up with this sort of template:
7 Blue Fetchlands (4 Tarns if playing basic Mountain)
4 Volcanic Island or 3 Volcanic Island/1 Mountain
3 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
3 Island

4 Griselbrand
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

4 Show and Tell
4 Sneak Attack

4 Spell Pierce
4 Force of Will

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
3 Gitaxian Probe

4 Lotus Petal

2 Other Slots (Daze, 4th Probe, Jace, Intuition, Misdirection, Preordain, Top)

Sideboard:
2 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Blood Moon
1 Echoing Truth
2 Pyroblast
2 Swan Song
2 Through the Breach
3 Pyroclasm

Other SB options:
1 Boesiju, Who Shelters All
1 Echoing Truth
1 Wipe Away
1/2 Ashen Rider
Jace SB
2/3 Defense Grid
Flusterstorm
Divert

[JPA]

Your list looks pretty good for the meta you described. However, what do you need 3 Pyroclasm for against those decks? I would rather play more Through the Breaches or add Wipe Away(s).

Top is also really good against all 3 of them.

[DavidHernandez]

Hey Guys!

So I made this Eternal Top 8 Playoff thing at my LGS. As far as I know, the other 7 players are all on Miracles, BUG or Omni-Tell which makes me believe this deck might be the best positioned. I've tried to come up with a list to kind of prey on these three decks while still having game against anything else. I'm 100% sure there will be no Death and Taxes and RUG Delver.

Sideboard:
3 Pyroblast
3 Pyroclasm
3 Blood Moon
2 Swan Song
2 Through the Breach
1 Echoing Truth
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Sideboard:
2 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Blood Moon
1 Echoing Truth
2 Pyroblast
2 Swan Song
2 Through the Breach
3 Pyroclasm

Other SB options:
1 Boesiju, Who Shelters All
1 Echoing Truth
1 Wipe Away
1/2 Ashen Rider
Jace SB
2/3 Defense Grid
Flusterstorm
Divert

For me, one page back, I was going to run 3 Pyroclasms in the board but went with 2. In the main I put Elesh Norn. This was a huge success for me. Against Goblins and Merfolk it was the winning move. Had I run into Death & Taxes it would also have been a bomb against them, and it doesn't suck against Delver decks. If you don't want it in the main, you could try one of them in the board in place of the third Pyroclasm.

Dave

[KjU]

I'm trying to evaluate the different 1-mana counterspells based on their effectiveness against discard. The main reason is the fact that T1 - Deathrite Shaman, T2- Thoughtseize (with active DS) has become a very VERY common senario. In this particular situation both Spell Pierce and Flusterstorm are dead (inkl. Divert).
Obviously you can build up storm with Fluster, but that's very hard to do, especially if you're on the draw, and it's rarely cost efficient.
Swan Song doesn't have this problem, and is the best answer to the "deathrite problem". But then you run into another common play which is; T1- Probe into Cabal Therapy (mostly against Ant). Swan Song is basically dead here and the only way to use it effectively is to either counter the Probe (denying them a draw) or to just let everything resolve :/

What are your opinions on which 1-mana counters to use (if you're not running LoS in the SB) and why?

- KjU

[StoneColdEffy]

Your list looks pretty good for the meta you described. However, what do you need 3 Pyroclasm for against those decks? I would rather play more Through the Breaches or add Wipe Away(s).

Top is also really good against all 3 of them.

I was thinking that Blood Moon is great but doesn't stop Delver/DRS, so possibly Pyroclasm+Blood Moon would be a great way to stop the BUG decks. Fwiw, this is the meta I'm expecting:
1-2 Omni Tell
1 Deathblade
0-1 Jund
2-3 Miracles
2-3 BUG Delver

Anyway I updated my list based on recommendations:
4 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
4 Volcanic Island
3 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
3 Island

4 Griselbrand
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

4 Show and Tell
4 Sneak Attack

4 Spell Pierce
4 Force of Will

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
3 Gitaxian Probe

4 Lotus Petal
2 Sensei's Divining Top

Sideboard:
3 Pyroblast
3 Blood Moon
2 Swan Song
2 Wipe Away
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Through the Breach
1 Pyroclasm

I think 3 Through the Breach may be too much. Btw, how would you SB against those 5 decks with this list? I heard against Miracles that you take out all your Show and Tells which seems quite decent.

Cheers

PS Also I realized Defense Grid might be okay. But maybe I'm boarding into too many permanents? Swan Song may be unnecessary. Also I'm not too sure when Wipe Away is good. I know its great against cards like Ensnaring Bridge, but when do you really board it in?

[rockout]

You can board in wipe away in basically every match up but its best against decks that bring in humility or ensaring bridge. Being uncounterable makes it much better than echoing truth in most situations but truly shines when you have to bounce and win through counter magic.

[snurly]

Blightsteel is weak to STP, but is a legit one hit kill and immune to Karakas. Not sure how it or Progenitus is not good with Sneak Attack?

Edit: Also, Blightsteel is slightly more hard-castable than Emrakul and 100% more than Griselbrand :)

Also multiple Blightsteel don't suffer from the Legendary rule.

Sent from my SM-N900W8 using Tapatalk

[Zodiac_Dragon]

Hey Guys,

playing the following list in a local tourment in Hanover (Germany) and ending 14 from 57. I except Miracles, BUG and D&T, which came up a lot but I hadn't had a matchup against.

Main Deck:
4 Griselbrand
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
2 Gitaxian Probe
3 Ponder
1 Preordain
4 Show and Tell
1 Flusterstorm
3 Spell Pierce
4 Brainstorm
1 Misdirection
4 Force of Will
4 Sneak Attack
4 Lotus Petal
2 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Misty Rainforest
3 Volcanic Island
3 Island
1 Mountain
Sideboard:
1 Pithing Needle
2 Pyroclasm
2 Pyroblast
1 Misdirection
1 Echoing Truth
2 Through the Breach
2 Blood Moon
2 Defense Grid
2 Grafdigger's Cage

The 1 Preordain instead of Ponder was for the Top's.

Round 1: 2:0 against Burn
- Show and Tell into Griselbrand - Win!
Round 2: 1:2 Mono Blue Matyr
- Game 1 he can't find a solution for Show and Tell, in the other Games he countered everything.
Round3: 1:2 Tin Fins
- Fast Win in Game 1, I saw nothing from him. The consequense: Game 2 loss because of wrong boarding (no Graveyard hate, he looked like Blade -> U Sea, Ponder). Game 3 I started with 5 cards (no land in both other hands), after that he comboing me out...
Round 4: 2:0 Patriot
He can't found the solutions for Sneak Attack.
Round 5: 2:1 All Spells
Force of Will was the Matchbreaker
Round 6: 2:0 Affinity
His list was not optimal (without Mox Opal). So he was not fast enought (but very tough matches).

I think I had a little bit bad luck with so many strange matchups. But some questions to you guys: Is a Blood Moon / Defense Grid Split useful? What is better against Discard strategies? Leylines or something like Misdirection main and Divert in the board? Sure, when you have the Leylines on your opening it's the best you can get, but otherwise they are 4 dead cards. Furthermore I am thinking about 1 Blood Moon in the Main due to the current Meta.

I am new here, so I hope posting this - not Top8- list is ok.

Cheers
Kai

[beebles]

I think I had a little bit bad luck with so many strange matchups. But some questions to you guys: Is a Blood Moon / Defense Grid Split useful? What is better against Discard strategies? Leylines or something like Misdirection main and Divert in the board? Sure, when you have the Leylines on your opening it's the best you can get, but otherwise they are 4 dead cards. Furthermore I am thinking about 1 Blood Moon in the Main due to the current Meta.

I am new here, so I hope posting this - not Top8- list is ok.

Cheers
Kai

I think these things come down to a matter of personal game play philosphy and comforts. If you think you are a super skilled player that is the best guy in the room, you may want to run Misdirections in the board over leyline since it is not dead if you draw them or whatever and it isn't as luck dependent as Leyline.

When I play this deck I run 4 Leyline out of the board. Yeah it sucks to draw into them, but they simply flat out kill Jund, Burn, Storm etc. if you get them. Plus I seem to hard cast them off petals more often then you would think.

The problem imo with running more than 5 or 6 pitch spells, is you start to draw multiples, and it is hard to accumulate enough blue cards to cast them all. Plus Misdirecting a Thoughtseize still costs you two total cards.

That is my personal opinion.

I think a blood moon/grid split is fine. If I only had space for one of those I would go with Moon since it is better in more match ups, whereas Grid only shines vs. Tempo.

Grid can be awkward in some match ups, like if you play a Grid and then can't counter your opponent's Liliana or Meddling Mage.