[DTB] Sneak Attack

Sneak Show

http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers...5594&type=cardhttp://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers...5697&type=cardhttp://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers...3452&type=cardhttp://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers...9092&type=card


Overview

"Sneak Attack with Show and Tell," or "Sneak Show," or whatever you want to call it, is a combo-control deck that primarily operates by trying to resolve one of the aforementioned spells as early as possible and choosing creature cards such as Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Progenitus, Blightsteel Colossus, Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur and Woodfall Primus to crush the opponent quickly.

I consider the deck to be a strong choice because it has the speed to keep up with aggro strategies, the control to hold back other combo strategies, and the ability to consistently shape a hand and ram through one key spell against other control oriented strategies. It's other major advantage is that it's tremendously easy to pilot and, unlike other combo decks, it's much less susceptible to typical forms of combo hate. The simple goal is to resolve a Sneak Attack or a Show and Tell, turn monsters sideways and pray that you've won.

There are legitimate reasons and advantages to splashing in each of the other three colors. Most of the information and analysis covered here deals with U/R lists.


Introduction

Special thanks to JPAnghelescu for his assistance and insight in organizing this primer!

Sneak Show is a U/R/x combo control deck. Its game-plan is to resolve either a Show and Tell or Sneak and attack as soon as possible while protecting this combo with a strong countersuit. With one of these spells it cheats in an unfair creature like Emrakul, the Aeons Torn or Progenitus that usually ends the game by itself.

The deck exists since mid-2010, when the release of Emrakul, the Aeons Torn made cards like Show and Tell, Eureka and Sneak Attack rise drastically in price.
At GP Columbus, Korey Age piloted a list with 4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and 4 Woodfall Primus to a Top 8 finish which made the deck more popular.

The next half-year Sneak Show was a present contender in the Survival-metagame. At that time, lists with Black and White splashes for Extirpate vs. Survival of the fittest and Enlightened Tutor for consistency were the ones with the greatest success.

When Mental Misstep joined the Legacy metagame in May 2011, Sneak Show's position increased since its cards were unaffected by the little counterspell, while its addition to the deck helped it to fight against popular cards like Thoughtsieze and Stifle which can hinder the strategy.

Two very similar lists played by Rodrigo Togores and Johannes Gutbrod made Top 16 at the Bazaar of Moxen that year. While Mental Misstep continued to alter the format, after Grand Prix Providence, Hive Mind became extremely popular, arguably THE Deck to Beat in Legacy. For the next few months, Sneak Show hid behind the other popular Show and Tell strategy, since the Sneak Show/Hive Mind matchup was 40-60 for Sneaky Tell, mainly because Hive Mind + Pact wins on the spot, while an Emrakul or Progenitus needs 2 attack steps.

With Mental Misstep banned, the format sped up slightly to the advantage of Sneak Show.

While only 1 Hive Mind appeared in the Top 16 of Grand Prix Amsterdam, double the amount of Sneak Show decks did. They were piloted by Dutch natives Jan van der Vegt (15th) and Erwin "Sneak" Sneek (16th) who played the exact same maindeck and had worked on the deck together. Their creature configuration of 4 Emrakul 3 Progenitus is considered standard by many players.

Since the misstep banning, Sneak Show's position in the metagame has continued to improve the more popular decks like Maverick and Stoneblade variants have become, and the less popular Merfolk has become. In early 2012, there was almost always a Sneak Show deck in the Top 16 of the SCG Open or any other big tournament.

Recently, Hive Mind and Dream Halls have regained some popularity, but with Griselbrand on the near horizon, some speculate that Sneak Show will become Tier 1, along with Maverick, Stoneblade and RUG Delver.

Historical Decklists

Korey Age's GP Columbus Top 8 list 2010


4 Sneak Attack
4 Show and Tell

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder

4 Daze
4 Force of Will
2 Spell Pierce

1 Wipe Away
1 Echoing Truth

4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Woodfall Primus

3 Lotus Petal
3 Seething Song

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

Sideboard:

1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Tormod's Crypt
3 Blood Moon
4 Pyroblast
2 Ravenous Trap
2 Spell Pierce
2 Firespout


Yuuki Ookubo's Top 4 Japan Eternal Festival 4c Sneak Show 2010


4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
3 Progenitus
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind

4 Brainstorm
2 Ponder
1 Personal Tutor
2 Enlightened Tutor
4 Intuition

1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast
2 Daze
4 Force of Will

1 Echoing Truth

4 Show and Tell
4 Sneak Attack

2 Lotus Petal

3 Island
1 Mountain
4 Volcanic Island
2 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors


Sideboard

3 Meddling Mage
2 Spell Pierce
2 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroclasm
1 Pithing Needle
3 Extirpate
2 Perish


7th Place Bazaar of Moxen May 2011 by Rodrigo Togores


3 Lotus Petal
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Progenitus
4 Sneak Attack
4 Brainstorm
2 Echoing Truth
4 Force of Will
3 Intuition
3 Misdirection
2 Seething Song
4 Ponder
4 Show and Tell

4 Ancient Tomb
3 Island
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
2 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Volcanic Island


Sideboard

3 Trinisphere
3 Blood Moon
2 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast
3 Volcanic Fallout
2 Wipe Away


Chris Cornwell-Shiel's 5th place SCG Open August 2011


4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Progenitus
3 Woodfall Primus

4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
3 Intuition
4 Lotus Petal
4 Ponder
2 Seething Song
4 Show and Tell
4 Sneak Attack

4 Ancient Tomb
3 Flooded Strand
2 Island
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Volcanic Island


Sideboard

4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Massacre Wurm
2 Propaganda
3 Red Elemental Blast
3 Stifle


Erwin Sneek GP Amsterdam 16th October 2011


4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
3 Progenitus

4 Brainstorm
3 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Intuition
4 Lotus Petal
3 Misdirection
4 Ponder
4 Show and Tell
4 Sneak Attack

4 Ancient Tomb
1 Flooded Strand
3 Island
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
2 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Volcanic Island


Sideboard


3 Echoing Truth
3 Magus of the Moon
3 Spell Pierce
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Trinisphere


Fujimoto Tumoya Worlds 1st Place December 2011


4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Progenitus

4 Brainstorm
3 Daze
4 Force of Will
2 Intuition
2 Lotus Petal
4 Ponder
4 Show and Tell
4 Sneak Attack
3 Spell Pierce

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


Sideboard


3 Blood Moon
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Vendilion Clique


David McDarby Top 4 SCG Open February 2012


4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
3 Progenitus

4 Brainstorm
3 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Intuition
3 Lotus Petal
2 Misdirection
4 Ponder
1 Preordain
4 Show and Tell
4 Sneak Attack
2 Spell Pierce

4 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
2 Island
1 Mountain
4 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Volcanic Island


Sideboard


3 Blood Moon
4 Grafdigger's Cage
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Pyroblast
2 Shattering Spree


Ways to build the deck

The deck consists of 5 different parts that comprise the maindeck:

1. The Cheaters!!!

4 Sneak Attack: One half of the name-sake, no card in the history of magic more effectively cheats creatures into play for such value…again and again.

4 Show and Tell: The other half of the equation, Show and Tell enables all the broken spells at the cost of 2U.

0-4 Through the Breach: Functioning as a one-shot Sneak Attack, Through the Breach can work as a supplement providing further redundancy to the creature cheating strategy or can replace Sneak Attack and abuse Boseiju, Who Shelters All to protect the combo.

2. The Cheater Creatures

The standard configuration is Emrakul and Progenitus, in a 4/3 split. They work very well together, Emrakul being more vulnerable, but generally winning games in blowouts if he sticks; while Progenitus is immune to Emrakul-haters like Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Karakas, Sower of Temptation, Angel of despair, etc. The mix ensures that even those few cards that are effective against Sneak Show are dead about half the time. The main disadvantage of Progenitus is he is only marginally effective with Sneak Attack. He deals 10 damage and doesn’t affect the board or game-state unless the 10 damage is relevant or lethal. Still, the consistency and staying power with Show and Tell make him one of the safest choices.

Other creatures that can be played are:

Woodfall Primus: He works very well with Sneak Attack, but is vulnerable to Removal and can rarely finish the game by himself.

Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur: Similar to Woodfall Primus in that he is vulnerable to removal and unlikely to finish a game by his lonesome, he loads up our hand up to combo off again, can hinder the opponent (especially ANT/TES/High Tide), and pitches to Force and Misdirection.

Rune-Scarred Demon: Especially strong with Sneak Attack, he enables you to play a Tutor-package of creatures that can fit each situation, or, more likely, just tutors up Emrakul. With Show and Tell he can secure the piece of the combo you're missing if you already have one half, allowing you to go off again next turn, but he's poor if you Show and Tell him into play and don't have another combo part or an Intuition in your hand.

Blightsteel Colossus: All about the timing with him. He's vulnerable to Swords to Plowshares and, unless you have multiples, is effectively dead if he attacks via Sneak Attack and the opponent has at least 2 toughness available to block.

3. The Search Engine

4 Brainstorm: In case you haven't heard, this card turns out to be quite strong in strategies with access to Blue mana and fetch lands.

3-4 Ponder: Next best after Brainstorm, Ponder is preferable to Preordain in this strategy because it digs a card deeper and the deck craves the pieces of its 2 card combo.

2-4 Intuition: Provides versatility within the maindeck and sideboard. Most often it grabs the most effective combo piece or creature for a given situation, though other times it grabs counter-magic or a specific sideboard piece. Intuition gets blown out by Surgical Extraction.

0-2 Preordain: Offers more redundancy.

0-2 Sensei's Divining Top: Another effective card filtering option, Top is especially effective in the mid-game.

4. Protection

To be able to protect the combo against control decks and discard, and to counter opposing cards that would stop the creatures from attacking like Peacekeeper, Moat, Humility, Blazing Archon, and Ensnaring Bridge, Sneak Show utilizes a strong counter-suite that consists of:

4 Force of Will: Nothing to argue about here; we play a blue deck that needs protection so we play a playset of Forces.

0-3 Misdirection: It makes our bad matchups better, while being dead against things like Maverick (where it can only be a Force pitch or change the target of a swords if you’re running creatures other than Emmy or Proggy). But the fact that it is so strong against discard, which hurts us a lot, and that it acts as a Force of Will against a counterspell makes it necessary to test in your environment.

0-4 Daze: Seen by some as controversial in Sneak Show. While it is nice for countering a turn 2 Knight of the Reliquary, it does set us one turn back if it’s not used while going off. Especially when it has to counter an opposing Careful Study or an Aether Vial, Spell Pierce is often more effective (that is, if you didn't ponder turn 1). Daze can be very strong in game 1 and many lists play 3 Daze main and 3 Spell pierce to replace them post-board if needed.

0-3 Spell Pierce: Many players opt for Spell Pierce over Daze in the maindeck. Most that don't run them main include some number in the board. (See sideboard section.)

0-3 Flusterstorm: Some prefer Flusterstorm over Spell Pierce because it's more effective against counters/discard/storm strategies/everything that matters against us in the current meta outside of Liliana of the Veil and Jace, the Mind Sculptor.

0-3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor: Serves a variety of functions, including protection, and is popular with some players. Proponents argue that he a) draws out counters, further ensuring successful resolution of the combo; b) buys time by digging or bouncing while preparing to go off, in effect gaining life while solidifying the combo; c) opens up the option of bouncing Emrakul after a Sneak Attack assault; d) provides protection when putting creatures in off of Show and Tell, marginalizing any creature that they choose; e) and is an out to opposing Jaces. Opponents argue that he is too often a 4 mana sorcery speed brainstorm or [cards]echoing truth[cards] that gains 3-4 life, and that his slots are better filled by more counters or acceleration. Uniquely, Sneak Show offers a consistent turn 3 Jace. Ultimately, it comes down to play-style preference. Lists running Jace tend to combo out (slightly) more slowly, but gain some versatility and interactivity that the strategy otherwise lacks.

5. Acceleration and lands

The land configuration looks like this:

6-8 Fetch-lands including 4 Scalding Tarn (others should be blue)
3-6 Sol lands including 2-4 Ancient Tomb and 0-2 City of Traitors
2-4 Volcanic Island
2-3 Island
1 Mountain

Due to our vulnerability to Wasteland, Sneak Show lists do not commonly run a full set of Volcanic Islands. Fetching up a Volcanic Island occurs in specific situations. Otherwise, players prefer to fetch up a basic if possible and would much rather have an Island or a Fetchland in their starting 7. To fetch out basic islands is also important post-board when the deck has access to Blood Moon / Magus of the Moon.
The exact amount of lands varies with the amount of Petals you want to play or amount of lands you are comfortable with.

Acceleration:

2-4 Lotus Petal: Excellent with both Sneak Attack and Show and Tell, Lotus Petal allows this strategy its potentially explosive starts.

0-3 Simian Spirit Guide: Similar in function to Lotus Petal, but its advantage is its surprise. It can unexpectedly counter a Daze in a key situation and, in rare circumstances, it can serve as a beater after Emrakul has cleared a path. However, because it doesn't produce Blue mana, its major drawback is that it denies the possibility of the "God Hand." Where Sol Land, Lotus Petal, Show and Tell, Force/Misdirection, blue card, x, creature likely leads to a first turn scoop from your opponent, that same hand with a Simian Spirit Guide is a mulligan.

0-3 Seething Song: Incredibly strong with Sneak Attack, it adds speed to the deck at the expense of consistency. As it's dead in the overwhelming majority of circumstances where you don't have a Sneak Attack, most players choose to cut the accelerator in favor of additional counter-magic.

6. The Sideboard

0-4 Leyline of Sanctity: Very strong against the decks Sneak Show has problems with: heavy discard ones, heavy control decks with only Jace ultimate as win condition. It's also not bad that it turns the Burn-matchup from 60-40 in game 1 to 70-30 games 2 and 3.

2-3 Blood Moon or 2-3 Magus of the Moon: Against a variety of opponents a resolved Moon effect is a devastation. It can turn a negative matchup like BUG Control (or something with a similarly greedy manabase) into a positive one and can win games by itself. There are a few schools of thought regarding which Moon effect is the more effective option for Sneak Show players. Some argue that Magus avoids Spell Pierce post-board, gets in for key damage, and is unlikely to die to creature removal which has likely been boarded out, while enchantment removal has been boarded in. Those who favor Blood Moon argue that many U/W/x strategies where Moons are effective will keep in a couple copies of swords to plowshares with the hope of winning a race against Progenitus, that some opponents board in edict effects and can float mana and take out Magus, and that floating mana for enchantment removal outside of Nature's Claim is unlikely to be an issue once Blood Moon resolves.

1-4 Red Elemental Blast: Strong in protecting the combo and getting rid of things like Jace, the Mind Sculptor.

0-3 Spell Pierce or 0-3 Flusterstorm: Spell Pierce or Flusterstorm appears in the 75 of the vast majority of Sneak Show lists these days.

2-4 Grafdigger's Cage or Surgical Extraction or Tormod's Crypt: Reanimator and Dredge are poor matchups for Sneak Show. Some kind of grave-hate is important in order to improve these matchups.

0-3 Echoing Truth and 0-1 Wipe Away: Not useful in most matchups, but in those rare situations where you run into Humility, Peacekeeper, Blazing Archon, or Ensnaring Bridge you'll be happy to have packed some bounce. Echoing Truth is also strong in the dredge matchup.

0-3 Chaos Warp: It's an alternative to Echoing Truth that removes problem permanents. In corner-cases it can give us a fattie by casting it on something like an non-basic that would otherwise be wastelanded. It's also strong against things like Karakas.

0-3 Trinisphere: If you expect storm combo or a lot of burn at your tournament and don't have 4 slots available for Leyline of Sanctity, Trinisphere is a possibility.

0-3 Firespout, 0-3 Volcanic Fallout, 0-3 Pyroclasm: In an aggro field, it never hurts to be able to wrath an opponent playing a creature deck like Goblins, Merfolk, Elves, Affinity, Zoo, or Maverick. Volcanic Fallout tends to be stronger against Merfolk and RUG Delver, while Firespout is more broadly useful, especially considering the prevalence of Maverick and Zoo.

0- 2 Shattering Spree: If you fear stuff like Ensnaring Bridge or want to improve your affinity matchup, Shattering Spree will do a perfect job!

Why play Sneak Show over Hive Mind or Dream Halls?

All Show and Tell decks play out similarly. Your main plan is to resolve a Show and Tell and win by abusing it in the manner of your choosing.
Let's start by comparing the backup plans of the 3 big Show and Tell tactics:

Hive Mind: Show and Tell/Hardcasting Hive Mind + Pact(s), Show and Tell into Emrakul(Progenitus)

Dream Halls: Show and Tell/Hardcasting Dream Halls, Show and Tell into Progenitus

Sneak Show: Sneak Attack into Creature(s), Show and Tell into Creature, Show and Tell into Sneak Attack into Creature(s)

So, here you have the first strength of Sneak Show over Hive and Halls. All of the Sneak Show player's combo plans can work together: you can Show and Tell an Emrakul, but you can also Sneak Attack it into play and you can Show and Tell a Sneak Attack into play in order to attack with Emrakul immediately.

On the other hand, you can't do anything with an Emrakul and a Hive Mind in your hand, or Dream Halls + Progenitus, if you can't hardcast the Dream Halls and can find a colored spell.

Moreover, Sneak Show plays more counters than Hive Mind and far more than Dream Halls. That is because it has less dead cards like Pacts or Conflux and therefore more room for counter spells. Additional counter-magic leads to Sneak Show resolving its combo more consistently.

Its disadvantage is the smaller chance of actually winning the game after you resolved a Show and Tell. While a Hive Mind on the table is a 99% win and Dream Halls about 95%, an Emrakul or Progenitus can be outraced in some instances, held in check with Humility or Ensnaring Bridge, sacrificed to an opposing Liliana or edict effect, and Emrakul can be stolen with a Sower of Temptation or Gilded Drake and bounced by Jace or Karakas.

Thus, Sneak Show's advantage is that its component parts work together more effectively and it can more consistently assemble and protect its combo. It's disadvantage is that it is less effective at winning once the combo resolves.

In the end, it is a matter of personal choice. Sneak Show is more consistent and more linear than Hive Mind and Dream Halls. Some players might find the redundancy of the strategy boring after a time, while Hive Mind/Dream Halls occasionally face different scenarios that require more various lines of play.

Totals by card type

Ultimately most lists settle on these totals, which are useful as guidelines as you construct:

4 Sneak Attack
4 Show and Tell

Creatures: 6-10
Planeswalkers: 0-3
Draw/Search effects: 10-14
Counter-magic: 7-13
Bounce: 0-2
Lands: 18-21
Acceleration: 2-6

Sneak Show

Match-up Analysis

Zoo

Zoo is easily one of the most common and most consistent decks in the format today. Sneak and Tell does have a favorable Zoo match-up, but if you can’t resolve a Sneak Attack or a Show and Tell by turn 3, then Zoo can and will outrace you. The key creature in this match-up in Emrakul, the Aeons Torn: the Annihilator trigger buys you the time you need to win. Also a well timed Force of Will can save you 4 to 5 life in the end, which is not insignificant in this race. Big Zoo builds maindecking Gaddok Teeg, Knight of the Reliquary, and Karakas are more of a challenge because Show and Tell into Emrakul becomes marginalized. You risk punting the match. Sneak Attack is strong against these builds (just be careful not to leave it on the table without activating it or it may become lunch for a Qasali Pridemage).

After sideboarding, Firespout can buy you 2 to 3 extra turns of breathing room which is usually more than enough (and Blood Moon isn't bad in this matchup either).

OVERALL: FAVORABLE (60/40).


Merfolk

Another tier 1 deck with the brutal combination of speed and consistency, Merfolk is a particular challenge for Sneak Show because it puts on a fast clock while countering spells. Game 1 is especially tough. The key to winning this match-up is A) playing around Daze (and Spell Pierce post-board) and B) being able to cast Sneak Attack or Show and Tell holding counter back-up.

After sideboarding, Firespout and Pyroblast help to keep you alive a few more turns and provide additional counter back-up support.

OVERALL: UNFAVORABLE (40/60)


Goblins

Most Goblin builds these days splash black for Warren Weirding which is a painful threat if going the Show and Tell route. Similar to Zoo, Goblins consistently puts on a fast clock so if you haven’t resolved a Sneak Attack or Show and Tell by turn 3, it’s probably good game. However, Sneak Attack and Emrakul shine in this match-up and the Annihilator trigger can steal some games that you would otherwise have no business winning. If you try to win off of SnT, it’s important to save your countermagic for the Warren Weirding.

Post board, as in most aggro match-ups, Firespout will often buy you the time you need to win the race.

OVERALL: FAVORABLE (60/40)


The Gate

The Gate might be the worst match-up for Sneak and Tell in the format today. Show and Tell is only marginal at best because of maindeck Innocent Blood and Gatekeeper of Malakir. The relentless discard package of Duress, Cabal Therapy, and Hymn to Tourach is often crippling, especially when you consider that the deck also applies time pressure with cards like Bitter Blossom, Vampire Nighthawk, and Abyssal Persecutor. Sneak Attack is crucial in this match-up. Pound one out as soon as you can so it doesn’t get discarded even if you can’t activate it right away. If your lucky enough to have a Brainstorm, try to hold one so you can cast it in response to a discard spell allowing you to hide your key cards.

The sideboard doesn’t offer much relief. Echoing Truth might buy you a couple of turns by clearing away Bitter Blossom tokens or sending a Persecutor back to its owners fist as soon as he hits the table, but it definitely leaves something to be desired.

OVERALL: VERY UNFAVORABLE (35/65)


White Stax

This match-up is good for Sneak and Tell. The key is to get things moving as quickly as possible before they get a chance to lock you out. Hold on to the countermagic for spells like Armageddon and Oblivion Ring. Ghostly Prison can be annoying, but 1 is manageable. Trinisphere isn’t much of an issue considering both SnT and Sneak Attack already cost 3 and 4 respectively. If they open with chalice on 1 and you kept a hand with cantrips but no clear win condition you’re asking for trouble. However, if you get rolling by turn 2 or 3 you’ll make quick work of this deck.

After game 1, resolving a Blood Moon will help to slow the Stax player down quite a bit.

OVERALL: VERY FAVORABLE (65/35)


43 Lands

This is an awfully good match-up for us. Of course you don’t want to give your lands opponent the time to build up, but thankfully the path is clear to cast you Sneak Attacks and Show and Tells as soon as you can. If they’re lucky enough to get an Ensnaring Bridge online quickly, Woodfall Primus becomes the ideal Intuition target. Be sure to play around Wasteland game 1 especially. Maze of Ith really isn’t that big a deal here because Emrkul’s Annihilator trigger still goes on the stack and Progen can’t be touched.

Post-board, it gets really ugly for the other guy. Bring in your Crypt’s and Blood Moons and watch him squirm.

OVERALL: VERY FAVORABLE (65/35)


Thopter-Sword Combo

This is a tricky and grueling match-up. With a vast counter package, Enlightened Tutors, and devastating cards like Humility, Ensnaring Bridge, Moat, and Oblivion Ring we risk getting shut out completely. This deck is one reason that Woodfall Primus has become such a popular choice and he is key in this match-up. It’s also important to be able to generate some counter back-up to ensure you resolve a Sneak Attack or Show and Tell. Luckily, this deck gives you all kinds of time which helps you get to the cards you need. The biggest fear is that they get Counterbalance-Top online early effectively keeping you off everything but Sneak Attack.

After Game 1 you should bring in Blood Moons and Pyroblasts, but expect to see some Pithing Needles with Sneak Attack in mind. All things considered this is not a match-up you want to see to much of.

OVERALL: UNFAVORABLE (40/60)


New Horizons

This match-up really comes down to the opponents build. One question is important above all else: are they running Karakas? If yes, this is automatically an unfavorable match-up as Show and Tell into Emrakul risks handing them the game. Knight of the Reliquary is a powerful threat if they have Karakas. Progenitus becomes the creature of choice if Show and Tell is your only option. Sneak Attack is definitely the spell of choice here. Game 1 make sure to play around Daze and if you’ve got counter backup you’re in business. If they don’t play Karakas, you’re the favorite and bringing Emrakul to Show and Tell is the ideal play. And of course be prepared to play around Wasteland/Stilfe.

Games 2 and 3 you pick up Blood Moon which utterly devastates New Horizons. You also get Pyroblast for extra counter protection, but be prepared to play around Spell Pierce this time.

OVERALL: SLIGHTLY FAVORABLE (55/45)


STORM COMBO

Storm Combo can be a really rough ride. It’s just faster than we are and most of the sideboard that would be good against this match-up (I’m thinking about Trinisphere and Chalice of the Void) has terrible synergy with cards like Brainstorm, Ponder, and Lotus Petal. (That said, don't rule out Trinisphere as a sb option if you expect lots of storm.) If they don’t see Duress or Orim’s Chant your chances are wildly improved as you can sit back and wait to Force the Burning Wish or Infernal Tutor. If they do, Agony is imminent. Your strategy is to throw monsters at them as quickly as possible and hope that 1 Force of Will is enough to stop him in his tracks. It should be noted that Spell Pierce is good in this matchup, though occasionally they can fight through it because of instant speed mana acceleration like Dark Ritual. If they have a nasty starting hand it’s bad news, but if they don’t you can get there. Progenitus is pretty weak here, but Blightsteel and especially Jin-Qitaxias are bosses against storm.

OVERALL: SLIGHTLY UNFAVORABLE (45/55)

Landstill

It depends on the build, but let’s start with UBG Landstill. It’s a bad matchup. Really really bad. Maindeck Innocent Blood marginalizes Show and Tell and the healthy hard-counter package plus Counter-Top makes this a nightmare. Vedndilion Clique is also no treat and once Jace comes out to play you might as well scoop.

Hitting your boarded-in Blood Moons and Pyroblasts early in games 2 and 3 is your best shot. Expect to lose this match up all day if you can’t resolve a Blood Moon. Also expect to see Pithing Needle in from their SB.

UWG Landstill is slightly better but not by much. At least Show and Tell is still relevant. However you now have to contend with Enlightened Tutors, Oblivion Ring, and the dreaded Humility (ooooo it sends chills down my spine just writing it, but I’m probably just a puss). If you can ram a SnT or Sneak Attack down their throat early and with counter backup, you have a good shot. If not, as soon as Counter-Top gets online it’s bad news bears.

Post-board is the same deal. Blood Moon is key, Pyroblast is Clutch, and expect to see a Needle with your name-sake on the tip.

OVERALL: UBG VERY UNFAVORABLE (35/65), UWG UNFAVORABLE (40/60)


*Matches are based on a scale of favorability as follows:

Very Unfavorable (35/65)
Unfavorable (40/60)
Slightly Unfavorable (45/55)
Even (50/50)
Slightly Favorable (55/45)
Favorable (60/40)
Very Favorable (65/35)

I feel like enough has been said to kick this thread off. It's one of the easiest decks to play period as far as I can tell: you cast Sneak Attack or Show and Tell and you choose enormous monsters to beat the other guy to death.

Gratz on the finish and nice report.

One question; Daze seems pretty okay in this deck. Korey Age ran it, but you didn't. I assume (as was recently said in the DreadStill forum, among other places) that Daze is iffy when you're trying to resolve expensive spells, but it seems good to have more free counters the turn you're trying to resolve S&T or Sneak Attack to make sure it resolves (as opposed to your maindeck Spell Pierce). Would you mind talking about your decision to cut Daze? Was it a metagame call or was there a more generally applicable reason?

Daze is definitely perfectly okay for this deck. It's a free counterspell in a deck that effectively sits there and twiddles its thumbs if it can't resolve a Sneak Attack or Show and Tell. Daze also allows you to be a little more aggressive against Merfolk in particular.

Ultimately, Spell Pierce was a Meta call. I expected a lot of blue and got it. Anticipating control I wasn't worried about waiting that extra turn so Spell Pierce could shine.

Also, space in this deck is tighter than it might seem. I was having some consistency problems with Korey's 18 land mana-base and I've become a believer in the value of Progenitus in this deck.

However, in the finals I got absolutely crushed by Merfolk, which is ubiquitous in the current environment. If i'd had even 1 Daze I might have stolen a game.

Daze should absolutely be a consideration if you're interested in building a deck along these lines. As I tweak and test, if I can make 3 more maindeck holes, they will all become Daze.

A thread for this deck already exists and your list ist quite simular to mine ;) but gratz to the finish and your effort to improve the deck!

Perhaps you should include this into the old Sneak Attack thread.

I'ml not playing woodfall primus so how well where they for u so far? I just don't like them as the deck is completely StP proof without them. What i like is that they can get rid of cards like Karakas which are a pain in the ass for Emrakul but in this case the Progenitus does the job as well.

For Cards like Humilty, Ensaring Bridge i play two Echoing Truth maindeck so i have solutions in the pre-board games also. After boarding i can side in the 3rd Echoing Truth which is tutorable with the Intuitions.

Hey PaRa,

Yeah there is a thread for Sneak Attack post ROE generally in the New and Developmental Forum and I posted much of the same content there as well. However, unless I'm drastically mistaken this is the first thread of its kind in the Established Decks Forum. Due to the power level of this deck and because of its recent success in tournament play I made decision that Sneak Attack with Show and Tell deserved more exposure.

As for Woodfall Primus, I fully understand your hesitation. He definitely leaves something to be desired off of Show and Tell and the fact that he gets hit by Swords and Path is a drawback. However, even if he gets hit by Swords he still sends Humility or Ensnaring Bridge to the graveyard rather than to the hand where they come down again next turn to ruin your day all over again. Also, most players will side out their Swords and Paths after game 1 because they are effectively dead cards against us.

I'm just not sure that Echoing Truth is good enough as your only Artifact and Enchantment removal, although it does have other applications. You need to be able to get rid of nasty artifacts and enchantments permanently. Even after boarding more bounce spells you're leaving yourself way to vulnerable to Humility and Ensnaring Bridge--making them go away for one turn is almost irrelevant because remember we almost always need 2 attack steps to win. Also against many decks that are running Humility and Bridge you have to worry about countermagic. I don't think you want to waste your counters protecting Echoing Truth for temporary relief when you could save your counters to help resolve a Sneak Attack or Show and Tell and simply choose an un-counterable Woodfall Primus to blow the problem up.

It took me awhile to come around to him, but as you continue testing and tinkering I think you too might embrace the Primus.

Cheers,
Pat

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JustPAT4

I don't think you want to waste your counters protecting Echoing Truth for temporary relief when you could save your counters to help resolve a Sneak Attack or Show and Tell and simply choose an un-counterable Woodfall Primus to blow the problem up.

It took me awhile to come around to him, but as you continue testing and tinkering I think you too might embrace the Primus.

Cheers,
Pat

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Primus can only nab Humility if both are revealed off the same SnT, otherwise Humility rapes anything the deck does.

Hey Pat,

you are right about the thread issue, i didn't think about that :)

I going to test the Woodfal Primus and i think a split of three Woodfall Primus and 3 Progenitus is the right way to go.

Another question, how is the Seething Song for you? Is it really needed?

This is the list im going to test now:

4 Sneak Attack
4 Show and Tell

4 Brainstorm
2 Ponder
3 Intuition
2 Echoing Truth
4 Force of Will
3 Daze

4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
3 Progenitus
3 Woodfall Primus

3 Lotus Petal
3 Sensei’s Divining Top

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

Sideboard:

2 Pyroblast
3 Blood Moon
3 Firespout
1 Echoing Truth
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Spell Pierce

Yeah man I like that list,

Clearly the drawback to Seething Song if that it has no synergy with anything in the deck except Sneak Attack. I tried playing around with the mana-base, stepping up to 22 lands with x4 City of Traitors, and running a pair of Mox Diamonds, but I eventually moved back to the Songs.

My reasoning is that in the vast majority of situations you want to be able to cast a Sneak Attack with an activation as soon as it resolves and you still have priority. Seething Song means for 3 mana, even if the other guy has a Daze, you're gunna get there (unless he counters the Song, which is unlikely).

It's marginal really and risks being a dead card in certain situations, but it's also come up big for me. In a deck that relies incredibly heavily on just two spells, it has remarkable synergy with one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by menace13

Primus can only nab Humility if both are revealed off the same SnT, otherwise Humility rapes anything the deck does.

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Hideously enough that is correct:

"611.3c
Continuous effects that modify characteristics of permanents do so simultaneously with the permanent entering the battlefield. They don’t wait until the permanent is on the battlefield and then change it. Because such effects apply as the permanent enters the battlefield, they are applied before determining whether the permanent will cause an ability to trigger when it enters the battlefield."

For the record though you might as well take your best shot at getting away with it, what have you got to lose? The game? Hahaha that already happened when they resolved Humility. I've seen judges flub this rule to my benefit. --Jk Don't cheat folks...unless you really really want to win. :tongue:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JustPAT4

Hideously enough that is correct:

"611.3c
Continuous effects that modify characteristics of permanents do so simultaneously with the permanent entering the battlefield. They don’t wait until the permanent is on the battlefield and then change it. Because such effects apply as the permanent enters the battlefield, they are applied before determining whether the permanent will cause an ability to trigger when it enters the battlefield."

For the record though you might as well take your best shot at getting away with it, what have you got to lose? I've seen judges flub this rule to my benefit.

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Encouraging cheating sounds like a great plan. If you want to get DQed anyway. Might want to ask Charles Gindy how that work out.

:confused: Kidding buddy, slow your roll. Nobody ever has and ever will get DQed for not knowing how Humility interacts with ETB triggers. Let's comment on the deck, not jokes in poor taste.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JustPAT4

:confused: Kidding buddy, slow your roll. Nobody ever has and ever will get DQed for not knowing how Humility interacts with ETB triggers. Let's comment on the deck, not jokes in poor taste.

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http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazin...qualifications

Quote:

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Round 6 here at Worlds saw the disqualification of Charles Gindy. This disqualification highlights the DCI position on clear play, and has a direct impact on the team competition at Worlds, so we caught up with Head Judge Sheldon Menery to get all the details of what happened.

At the end of the match, Gindy asked why his opponent had not assigned damage to kill one of Gindy’s Wolf tokens when Master of the Wild Hunt’s ability resolved. This made it clear that Gindy knew that one of his Wolf tokens should have been assigned damage, but had chosen not to say anything at the appropriate time.

It is mandatory that the ability of Master of the Wild Hunt be completed in full, and by intentionally allowing the card to be misplayed, Gindy committed fraud as defined in the Infraction Procedure Guide. With Master of the Wild Hunt, a clear assignment of damage must be made for the ability to have fully resolved. It is not an option to see an opponent making a play outside the rules and allow it to happen.

Communication is one of the areas of the rules that is occasionally unclear in how it works, even to top players of the game. In this instance there was no ambiguity. It is the responsibility of both players to maintain the game state, and when they see that there is a problem, they must communicate it to their opponent.

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http://www.wizards.com/dci/downloads..._1Jul10_EN.pdf

Quote:

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6.2. Cheating — Fraud
Penalty: Disqualification

A person intentionally and knowingly violates or misrepresents rules, procedures, personal information, or any other relevant tournament information. Note that Fraud, like most cheating, is determined by an investigation and will often appear on the surface as a Game Play Error or Tournament Error.

A player must be aware that he or she has committed an error in representation in order for the infraction to be Fraud. For example, a player targeting a black creature with Terror has not committed Fraud if he or she forgot that Terror can not target black creatures, even though the action (playing Terror) was intentional and illegal. It is Fraud if a judge believes he or she was aware and hoping that his or her opponent would miss it.

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Your "solution" to Humility is Fraud. Maybe you should have a better answer to Humility than that.

Quote:

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Your "solution" to Humility is Fraud. Maybe you should have a better answer to Humility than that.

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Hahaha I'm working on it. Not a "solution" friend. A joke. Maybe you should have a better way of occupying your time (like helping me find a solution to Humility). :laugh:

Hey guys a short report from my last small tournament. I went 4:1 (9:5)

The list is 99% of the list i posted earlier i only had to switch one Ancient Tomb for a third Island which was "ok" but in some situations i wanted the Tomb instead...

The games:

Round 1 vs DDFT (NQN)

Game 1: He has to mulligan once and i keep my first 7 with a slow hand (3rd turn Sneak) but FoW. As he has no gas i resolve the Sneak in Round 3and go for the kill with a Woodfall Primus and an Emrakul in Round 4. He Chant's with Kicker but i have the FoW for it. (1:0)

Game 2: I keep a hand which i should not have kept and get destroyed in round 3 or 4 (1:1)

Game 3: I guess the same as Game 2..I Daze three spells from him in the first three rounds to stop him from going off but in round 4 he has what he needs and gets there easily even with back up for one FoW from me.(Which i didn't even have...) (1:2)

0:1 / 1:2

Round 2 vs Naya Zoo.

Game 1: I have a first turn Emrakul via Show and Tell (1:0)

Game 2: This game takes a little longer, i Firespout his Critter leaving him only with 2 Birds of Paradise. After that i resolve a Show and Tell on Progenitus with him putting another Bird into play. His attempt to Wrath my Progenitus gets forced and its game after that. (2:0)

1:1 / 3:2

Round 3 vs Domain Zoo

Game 1: I have a turn 2 Emrakul again...hell jeah...(1:0)

Game 2: I have to slow role a bit to find my relevant cards and he gets a Knight of the Reliquary and a Tarmogoyf online. I Intuition for Progenitus and put him into play via Show and Tell . I was scared of a boarded Karakas therefore went for Progenitus which was the wrong play..He attacks with the Knight and the Goyf which drops me to 5. He than shows me the top decked Volcanis Island and his Tribal Flames to deal me the missing 5 damage. I unfortunately didn't have a counter for it...Emrakul would have won the game as he didn't have a Karakas...(1:1)

Game 3: I resolve a fast Emrakul or Progenitus and win soon after (2:1)

2:1 (5:3)

Round 4 vs 4c Dreadstill without Standstill.

Game 1: I have a good hand and i expect him not to make quick pressure so i go for first turn Ancient Tomb into Sensei's Diving Top with a mana open as Daze backup. Well it resolved and i can use the mana already to see nuts on the top. Emrakul and Show and Tell. So in my 2nd turn i flip the top to cast Show and Tell with Emrakul in Hand. I have a Lotus Petal in play as Daze backup but he has the Spell Pierce...but didn't i say i had a good hand? So i had the FoW for it! Show and Tell resolves and after short thinking he scoops so we go on to game 2 (1:0)

Game 2: I keep a hand with Top, Ponder, Brainstorm Emrakul, Land, Intuition and Sneak Attack. I think this was a mulligan....I'm not able to find another land in Ponder, and about 10 Sensei's D.Top activations I discarded a Progenitus and a Emrakul to shuffle my library two times but it didn't help. When i found my 2nd land he already had 1 Goyf and 2 Dark Confidants with a Sensei's D. Top in play already so we go on to game3...(1:1)

Game 3: He should have won this game...I start of with a Sensei's D Top in round 2 and he tries to Daze it bouncing his Island. Unfortunately he forgot to tap it for a mana so i Daze his Daze....I soon after find a Show and Tell for Progenitus which he Daze's tapping his 2 mana....I Daze his Daze....He tries to FoW i FoW back... he FoW again so Show and Tell doesn't resolve but he is now out of counter magic. My next turn Show and Tell resolves so its game after that. He could have won this easily by bouncing a land for the Daze instead of casting it. In this case he would have had the 2nd FoW for my 2nd Show and Tell...but lucky me...(2:1)

3:1 (7:4)

Round 5 vs Lands

Game 1: I win fast via Progenitus (1:0)

Game 2: I have a decent hand but his Wastelands and Rishadan Port's keep me from resolving the game winning Show and Tell. He also Spell Pierces (!!!) my Blood Moon which i tried early in the game with a Lotus Petal and 2 Lands. (1:1)

Game 3: This is by far the most thrilling game. I'm able to FoW a early Crop Rotation and soon after i'm able to resolve a Show and Tell on Emrakul. i was really scared that he finds a Karakas but after the game he told me that he didn't play it. (2:1)

4:1 (9:5)

I didn't use the 2 Echoing Truth maindeck at all so i'm thinking about cutting them for a try on Seething Song's but im really not sure if i need these. And i haven't got space to squeeze the Echoing Truth into the board...so i still have to think about this...

Hey PaRa,

My 2 cents: Give the Songs a try and let me know what you think. Cut Spell Pierce x3 from the board to make room for Echoing Truth +2 and +1 Pyroblast.

Also I'd consider cutting out the City of Traitors. You really never want 2 lands that produce only colorless mana at one time. 3 seems like the right number of Ancient Tombs and you can use the open slot for the 4th Daze I think.

I'm working on putting this together but I lack a good environment to test it in right now. I'm split between going the cantrip route with Ponder/Brainstorm/Preordain or the Chalice route.

Pros for cantrips
+ overall consistancy
+ quicker/more explosive turn 2's and 3's
+ blue count for FoW

Cons for cantrips
Chalice hurts against us/can't utilize it
counterbalance
less business spells/must rely of FoW/Daze to get your cards through

Pros for Chalice plan
Chalice wrecks lots of decks
Stops StP, Innocent Blood, discard, spell pierce
ups the curve=stronger against CB
can play 3sphere/isn't wrecked by it

Cons for chalice
can't effectively run cantrips

I've been running Dream Halls which is a similar concept of blue cantrips, Fow, Daze, SnT, bomb enchantment, and big stuff that needs the enablers to do anything. My experience with it: I could not control swarms easily or fight through dedicated control deck's permission so unless I was able to force something through early I couldn't keep up. Even a turn 4 Prog is often not enough against Zoo or Goblins.

So I'm thinking I want Chalice to help distrupt them/protect what I'm doing. Also if I can lock them out of playing StP/1 drops, then Ulamog looks a lot more attractive as your 2nd board affector (instead of Primus).

But that's all just thoughts in my head. If anyone had tested both versions. I see most of the lists running the cheap blue spells so I feel like that's the overall consensus, but this thread could use some more discussion.

Ooo ooo I've tested both versions!

I took a Chalice list into the top 8 in a 75 man event at the Vestal anniversary tournament this summer.

I was running something like this:

4 Sneak Attack
4 Show and Tell

4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Progenitus
2 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

3 Thirst for Knowledge
3 Intuition

3 Chalice of the Void
3 Trinisphere
3 Blood Moon

4 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Mox Diamond

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

This is definitely another legitimate direction to go with this archetype, and it has it's advantages and drawbacks. First of all, it's less consistent. Secondly, it's slightly slower on average. And thirdly, it offers no protection (outside of trinisphere) for it's key spells until you get your pyroblasts post board. However, it does offer way more relevant action spells that can be nightmares for so many lists out there today. Blood Moon, Trinisphere, and Chalice are often game changing spells that require an immediate answer. Without an answer to one of those spells on turn 1 or 2 you can cripple the opponent and effectively buy yourself quite a bit of time.
It's certainly worth entertaining depending on your Meta. You become a monster favorite against storm, improve your dredge matchup, and the maindeck Blood Moons can steal you games against New Horizons, Lands, Landstill, Rock and others.

The Chalice version seems to have a lot of raw power that is hard to match in the format. It's not a glass cannon like belcher but it can steal a lot of games by playing 1 card. But it's also not as consistant as I would like my blue decks to be.

From just goldfishing, I think Sandstone Needle is a great addition to speed things up in this version. It enables T2 SnT or Sneak Attack a larger percentage of the time with less hurt on the mana base than Crystal Vein or Traitors. There's also no T1 spells outside of Chalice and we have plenty of cards that enable that.

Do you remember what decks you crushed and which ones you had a hard time dealing with? Any specific hate that's hard to break? What was your SB like? Humility and Ensaring Bridge are my worst fears but they are kind of rare. Both are dealt with by Ulamog although that's like turn 10 or so (but decks playing those cards give us a bit of time to rack up mana).

1 piece of tech I like is Undying Flames, which gets around CB and should end the game quickly since 10/36 nonland cards cost 10 or more and the rest cost 3-4.

I got completely crushed by the Gate twice and I lost hard to ThopterSword combo. I beat up on Pro-Bant twice, TES, the Rock, and Survival Combo.

My SB was roughly:

2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Through the Breach
2 Shattering Spree
3 Echoing Truth
3 Pyroblast
3 Firespout


I've always loved Sandstone Needle in mono-red Sneak Attack builds, but I haven't tested it with Sneak and Show.
Undying Flames is cute...maybe too cute... Hit you for 10 every 3.5 turns... idk.
The nastiest stuff for this list to deal with is an online Counterbalance-Top, Ensnaring Bridge, Jace, Innocent Blood, The ever-present FoW, Oblivion Ring, and the dreaded horror of Humility.

>I've always loved Sandstone Needle in mono-red Sneak Attack builds, but I haven't tested it with Sneak and Show.

I run like 7 islands and 5 other blue lands so T2 SNT has never been easier. Sneak also craves for double red so you can activate it the turn it comes down. Needle is the only land that comes into play tapped; so far it's been good but again I haven't tested it thoroughly. I've always been a fan of the depletion lands but it probably depends how often I see wasteland for it to make a difference.

With no brainstorms I'm not running fetches since I think the lifeloss combined with Tombs gets scary against aggro. They also get shuffled back in after a creature hits the bin and stifles any deck thinning when you want to draw another threat. Not to mention Stifle is always a threat...

>Undying Flames is cute...maybe too cute... Hit you for 10 every 3.5 turns... idk.

It hits for at least 3 each turn, and 10 every 3 turns. that's 16/3 or over 5 damage a turn. Still, I think I want to play 2-3 SDT MD even though it conflicts with 3sphere and Cotv. Without the cantrips I think it might be a concession you have to make. If you can filter your library, it also sets us up to run erratic explosion or flames to get around the hate cards.

>Counterbalance-Top, Ensnaring Bridge, Jace, Innocent Blood, The ever-present FoW, Oblivion Ring, and the dreaded horror of Humility.

Except FoW and Jace, flames isn't a bad answer to those. It's a threat that doesn't rely on our fatassed creatures. If you board in Boseiju and Flames (and find them!) it's almost unbeatable by the control lists I'm used to seeing (and it's not like they will board in Leyline of Sanctity against Sneak Attack).

Against control, most decks run 4-7 hard counters max. We've got Blood Moon, Trinisphere, SnT, Sneak and then Flames for must counter cards. And if they wait long enough we might even cast Ulamog off Seething songs.

Anyways, thanks for the discussion! I'm glad somebody's still up.