[DTB] Sneak Attack

[apple713]

Now you are just required to play smarter.

People who have never played this deck think it's easy to play and requires no skill. While an inexperienced player can do well with it an experienced player can decimate all.

[blindspotxxx]

I'd rather have it die than have my opponent be able to attack first with Emrakul, at which point having my own is 100% useless. At least the way it works currently doesn't actually make the person putting SnT down lose as soon as they pass the turn. Yes, I realize it's possible to work around it and such, but it's just stupid the way it works in the new rules.

I board out show and tell in the mirror. It's just bad to play the card in the mirror. The changes benefit us a bit in the form of Phantasmal Image killing our legends. I'd say this is an advantage to our archetype.

[JPA]

Another advantage is that you can now play another Show and Tell into Griselbrand after you already played one, to get a blocker Griselbrand after attacking.

[pavlaugh]

Another advantage is that you can now play another Show and Tell into Griselbrand after you already played one, to get a blocker Griselbrand after attacking.

Yep, pretty sweet. There will be situations when we can draw an additional 7+ cards against aggro/tempo decks, counting on the life we will gain from blocking.

[ankharlyn]

Hm, I suppose that's true. No more clone kills is good, and being able to lay down a second Griselbrand seems nice.

I'm not running Karakas in my list (just for budget reasons at the moment), but I'm curious what you guys would do against it now with the new rules?

[Koby]

I'm not running Karakas in my list (just for budget reasons at the moment), but I'm curious what you guys would do against it now with the new rules?

Ignore it like we have been for the last year?
Continue to play Pithing Needle?
Continue to play Blood Moon-effects?

[jarvisyu]

Ignore it like we have been for the last year?
Continue to play Pithing Needle?
Continue to play Blood Moon-effects?

Not of this World obviously

[phazonmutant]

Is it right out to splash black for Thoughtseize, dropping Misdirection or 2 Pierces? I toyed with the black splash for UR Omniscience and was reasonably happy with it. The Petals go a long way for easing mana requirements but you'd still probably only run 4 sol lands in a 3color deck.

[Koby]

Is it right out to splash black for Thoughtseize, dropping Misdirection or 2 Pierces? I toyed with the black splash for UR Omniscience and was reasonably happy with it. The Petals go a long way for easing mana requirements but you'd still probably only run 4 sol lands in a 3color deck.

I tried this in Europe at Bazaar of Moxen. It worked well enough, but I still lost to Maverick and Death & Taxes; and in those matchups the deck does not need the black splash to begin with.

[phazonmutant]

I tried this in Europe at Bazaar of Moxen. It worked well enough, but I still lost to Maverick and Death & Taxes; and in those matchups the deck does not need the black splash to begin with.

Wouldn't you want Thoughtseize exactly for those matchups? Seems like Mangara, Canonist, Angel of Despair, Oblivion Ring, etc are all things you'd want to preemptively strip from their hands and they definitely run those cards.

[pavlaugh]

It has been done with reasonably good results. http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...p?DeckID=55030

[Koby]

Wouldn't you want Thoughtseize exactly for those matchups? Seems like Mangara, Canonist, Angel of Despair, Oblivion Ring, etc are all things you'd want to preemptively strip from their hands and they definitely run those cards.

In theory, yes. In practice, you end up weakening your mana base to Wasteland.

My match against D&T resulted in the following:
Early Thalia + triple Port + Wasteland = can't cast spells. Game 1 was Aether Vial + infinite dudes that stop S&T plan.

[ankharlyn]

Not of this World obviously

Oh, that's pretty neat. I think I might try it in place of Stifle due to cost reasons. Can it hit all types of abilities (activated/triggered at least)? It doesn't specify on the card so I'd imagine yes, but not sure.

Could you use it to counter an Oblivion Ring targeting Emrakul off of a Show and Tell? What about, say, Gilded Drake?

Edit: Seems like it would hit those.

[blindspotxxx]

Oh, that's pretty neat. I think I might try it in place of Stifle due to cost reasons. Can it hit all types of abilities (activated/triggered at least)? It doesn't specify on the card so I'd imagine yes, but not sure.

Could you use it to counter an Oblivion Ring targeting Emrakul off of a Show and Tell? What about, say, Gilded Drake?

Edit: Seems like it would hit those.

Yes it definitely would, but stifle has more uses but it's not free. I'm not sure if you can use that card on your sacrifice effect of sneak attack though. Karakas wi definitely be harder because if the gw player is smart he can leave a karakas and a Knight of the Reliquary untapped which will nullify a 2 red mana Sneak activation which buys them a turn depending on the number of karakas remaining in their libraries.

[Barbed Blightning]

Yes it definitely would, but stifle has more uses but it's not free. I'm not sure if you can use that card on your sacrifice effect of sneak attack though. Karakas wi definitely be harder because if the gw player is smart he can leave a karakas and a Knight of the Reliquary untapped which will nullify a 2 red mana Sneak activation which buys them a turn depending on the number of karakas remaining in their libraries.

You can prevent the sacrifice because it is a delayed trigger.

[Sunday Funday]

Came in 1st place this past weekend. 38 players so 6 rounds. Only lost 1 game in whole tournament. My list is the same as my last tournament report except the sideboard: +2 echoing truth -2 wipe away & -2 pyroclasm + 2 pithing needle. Wipe away requires UU which can be hard to get and echoing truth can bounce empty warren tokens (which I've been finding a lot of my meta is playing ANT/TES lately). Board sweepers like pyroclasm I don't really care for cuz creature decks are generally fair decks which I should be able to crush anyways. Pithing needle for karakas, jace, top, liliana, just seemed like a better option. A quick report:

Round 1 Junk (2-0)

G1: He plays a turn one deathrite shaman off a fetch and follows up with a turn 2 liliana which I force of willed. I show and tell'd an emrakul next turn and then he scooped.

G2: He mulls to 6. I begin the game with a leyline sanctity. My hand was pretty nuts. It had ancient tomb, petal, show and tell, sneak attack and lands but no fatty. He plays a turn one deathrite. I drew a griselbrand for the turn and finished him off by drawing a ton.

1-0

Round 2 ANT (2-0)

G1: He opened with a tropical island into sensei top. I have no idea what he's on. I'm thinking bant, supreme blue, RUG countertop etc. Since he's on blue, I figure I should sculpt a little with counter backup before I pull the trigger. I show and tell'd emrakul early with force backup and he lets it resolve. He only has a top and blue duals in play. He decides to infernal tutor getting cabal ritual which I force'd and then he scooped. I would've just scooped there cuz now he gave away that he's on ANT.

G2: I open with a leyline sanctity. We play land go for a little bit. I show and tell'd a fatty and finished him off. He said he didn't have an answer to leyline and couldn't possibly win that game (I'm sure he has empty warrens which I am readily expecting with echoing truths).

2-0

Round 3 TES (2-1)

G1: I show and tell'd a griselbrand turn 3. He tried to go off and I drew a ton and casted force of willed on something important and he scooped.

G2: I show and tell'd about turn 3 or 4 putting a griselbrand and he puts in a xantid swarm. I don't like that. I do have echoing truths which I have to dig. My hand is loaded with counters but needed a way to deal with swarm. I dug 7 deep off griselbrand going to 12. Still no echoing truth, just a bunch of useless counters. I decided to not dig another 7 because going to a precarious 5 would only require tendrils storm three to kill me. He attacks with swarm and allows the trigger to resolve, then before blocks, he chain of vapors my griselbrand (I tanked 3 minutes thinking about whether to draw 7 and go to 5 life). He has a lot of cards in his hand so I decided to make him earn that storm six to kill me. He didn't go off. We play draw go for a little bit and he cabal therapies me at one point naming show and tell. I drew more counters and eventually he swung with xantid swarm and storms six to kill me. I die with counter spells in hand.

G3: My six cards were: show and tell, ancient tomb, lotus petal, flusterstorm, echoing truth, and force of will. He cabal therapy's me and I reluctantly force of will pitching a flusterstorm. Since he named show and tell last game, I figure that's the card he fears most and will probably name it here which I oh so dearly need. I pitch flusterstorm cuz in case show and tell meets a xantid swarm again I really need that echoing truth to bounce it. I rip an emrakul off the top and show and tell'd it into play; he unsurprisingly puts his xantid swarm into play. He was forced to go off and couldn't.

3-0

Round 4 Sneak Attack with black (2-0)

G1: I find patience is key in this matchup. He casted some timely duresses on me and I just drew really well. He played a karakas at one point which kind of surprised me. I landed a sneak attack few turns later followed by an end of turn sneak in emrakul and killed him later.

G2: I keep a one lander with force of will and sneak attack and other business. Being on the draw I figure it should be alright. I have a tendency of keeping these hands which I should probably snap mull. I like to gamble and normally just hate starting the game short of 7 cards. I was stuck on that island for a long time while he was flooded. I pithing needle naming karakas. I finally cast my sneak attack to which a counter war ensued. I had to use my only red source namely lotus petal to cast it though. I had a sneak attack in play, a hand of griselbrand and emrakul and couldn't find a red source in the next 5 turns or so. Luckily he was drawing a ton of lands. I finally find an intuition which I casted searching 3 volcanic islands (kind of funny I know) and then killed him later.

4-0

Round 5 WUR Miracles RIP (2-0)

G1: I thought I was in a good position to double draw but my good friends advise me to play this one out and draw the next one so I trusted them. He landed an early RIP so I have to be wary of saving counters to either protect me and win on the spot or for his helm. He countered my first two attempts in going off, then my third attempt resolved a sneak attack then finished him off.

G2: He counters my first few attempts like game one then finally my sneak attack resolved pretty late game. He had more than six lands to sac at this point and had a helm in play. I snuck in my emrakul and declared attack, he said before attacks activate helm for 1 and mills my griselbrand off the top, omg. He steals my griselbrand, I attack with emrakul, no blocks, and he sacs close to all his lands and survives the attack. His turn, he attacks me with griselbrand draws 7 then blue blasts my sneak attack. My hand is just emrakul and he's at 2. I draw an echoing truth, play it on griselbrand and find a show and tell to put emrakul into play and he scooped.

5-0

[B] Round 6: Dredge ID

Top 8:

Quarterfinals: WUR Miracles RIP (2-0)

G1: I played a sneak attack with force backup and that was enough. The dynamic duo came in for the win.

G2: He played RIP and Sensei Top early and I played a defense grid early which he tried to counter but I pierced it. I echoing truth'ed his RIP during my main phase twice because he was topping a lot and I figured if he cast the helm and activate I just die because defense grid stops my counters. I casted sneak attack at one point and he force'd tapping 3 lands. I find another sneak attack shortly but I only have 4 mana. I can't run the risk of tapping out for sneak attack in fear of detention sphere, disenchant and the like. I finally find a mana source and casted sneak attack snuck in emrakul the same turn.

6-0

Top 4 split.

Afterthoughts: I side out misdirections every game. Even against Hymn decks, I just bring in Leyline sanctity. I want to cut them for Gitaxian Probes. So many times I'm gun shy and probes allow me to know if I can fire that turn.
One flusterstorm, and one preordain are still the flex slots.

High Points

Going undefeated whole tournament and losing only 1 game (12-1).
Knowing I have already beaten 5/8 top 8 players in the swiss, boosting my confidence for top 8 playoffs.
Mulling only twice whole tournament
Steve for the ride as usual.

Low Points

Defeating a friend round 1 by turn 2 both games and seeing him tilt and rage.
Losing most die rolls as usual.
Having my friends wait for me as most did poorly and wanted to leave

Funny Times

Played intuition searching triple volcanic island.
My opponent duressing me, sees sneak attack and show and tell and says he'll take the sneak and show.

Sneak and Show is undoubtedly the most powerful and resilient combo deck I have ever played. Game 1 is in your favor against most decks. Answers to hate cards come in post board. Combo decks weakness are evidently decks packing counter magic and discard. Your deck has as much countermagic to fight opposing ones. With misdirection and leyline postboard, the deck can easily decimate the entire field in the hands of a competent player.

[Michael Keller]

Won the Mythic Games Legacy Invitational in New York yesterday with Sneak and Show.

Look for a report!

[Kryptor]

Hi,

i could need some help. I really like the List that JPAnghelescu posted before. (with very little changes)

3 Island
1 Mountain
2 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Volcanic Island

4 Lotus Petal

2 Misdirection
3 Spell Pierce
4 Force of Will

4 Brainstorm
1 Intuition
4 Ponder
3 Gitaxian Probe

4 Sneak Attack
4 Show and Tell
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Griselbrand

But i would play a slightly diffrent sb like:

2 Echoing
2 TtB
1 Stifle
1 Extraction
1 Relic
2 Pyroclasm
2 Bloodmoon
1 Flusterstorm
3 Defense Grid

But my Question is now, how to board against some matchups: I would board something like that:

Mirror:
+2 TtB
+1 Stifle
+1 Fluster
-2 Misdirection
-1 SnT
-1 Petal

RUG:
+3 Grid
+2 Moon
-1 Emrakul
-1 Pierce
-1 Intuition
-1 Misdirection
-1 Probe

BUG:
+2 Moon
+2 Pyroclasm
-1 Intuition
-2 Petal
-1 Probe

U/W Control / Miracle:
+3 Grid
+2 TtB
+2 ETruth
-2 Misdirection
-4 Petal
-1 Intuition

Goblins:
+2 Pyroclasm
+1 Stifle
+2 TtB
+2 ETruth
-3 Pierce
-2 Misdirection
-1 Intuition
-1 Don´t Know ?

TES/ANT:
+1 Fluster
+2 Moon
+1 Extraction
+1 Relic
-2 Misdirection
-1 Intuition
-2 Petal

Maverick:
+2 Moon
+2 Pyroclasm
+1 Stifle
+1 Echoing Truth
-2 Misdirection
-1 Intuition
-4 Petal

Meervolk:
+3 Grid
-2 Petal
-1 Misdirection

Elves:
+2 Pyroclasm
+2 Echoing Truth
-2 Misdirection
-1 Petal
-1 Intuition

What do you think about this boarding plans ? Does anyone makes absolutly no sense ?

tanks for your help.

[Kryptor]

...

If I were you, I would start from a list you like (60 maindeck cards and 15 sideboard cards) and write down how you would sideboard against common matchups, both the cards you want to sideboard in and what cards you want to sideboard out and see what other people think about your sideboard strategy. It seems like a much more useful exercise, as always taking out the same cards in every matchup is not the right way to go.

semms like you are wrong...

[blindspotxxx]

SCG Open 2 Sneak Shows in the top 8 :)

Lost to Esper Deathblade in the finals though