Hey guys! I first saw this deck in play at an SCG Invitational and I thought to myself This deck is amazing! So I set out to create my own version of it. This is one of the most powerful decks in Legacy, in most opinions. Ive heard a few other people resent this deck and refuse to play saying its an enemy deck. Many others have announced things like BUG Delver is the best! or Death and Taxes forever! While I cannot see how someone could make a statement like that and live a normal life, that is their opinion. While I didnt write this description to create controversy and start an Internet war, I hope I can change your mind that this is a deck to be feared.
In this description, I will write about two things: how this deck works and how each card works with the rest of the deck as a whole.
BTW...I bet your thinking that Containment Priest is going to make this deck terrible, but one card cannot destroy an entire deck. Besides, I have ways around it.
When you first look at this deck, you will notice a few very large creatures, such as Griselbrand. Then as you look at the manabase, you will notice that it would be impossible to hard cast these without some kind of assistance, as you cannot pay the required mana cost. This is where the Show and Tell and Sneak Attack come into play (see what I did there?). This means you can put an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn onto the battlefield for as little as three mana! While you can activate the Sneak Attack without any fear, you should watch out what deck you play against when you go to cast Show and Tell. It is a terrible feeling playing against Death and Taxes when you play Show and Tell, slam down an Emrakul, while your opponent just laughs and puts down a Mangara of Corondor or Ashen Rider, therefore eliminating your Emrakul and wasting a spell. The best way to figure out if you can cast Show and Tell safely is to use Gitaxian Probe. If you see no threat in their hand, by all means, slam the Griselbrand. Of course, the counterspells are to slow down your opponents' tempo and the Brainstorm and Ponder is to help dig into your library to find the cards you need to win the game.
Lets see how each card works with the deck:
CREATURES:
Griselbrand This guy provides tremendous card advantage and the ability to gain you a lot of life, therefore with one attack you can basically draw seven cards for no life spent.
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn This flying behemoth can basically completely switch the tides on a game. Paired with Sneak Attack, you can pop this guy out of nowhere and completely wipe your opponents board clean.
ARTIFACTS:
Lotus Petal Provides good mana acceleration. This can help you cast your Show and Tell or Sneak Attack faster.
SORCERIES:
Gitaxian Probe Replaces itself. This lets you know what your opponent may have in store for you. As mentioned before, use with Show and Tell so you are sure it is a safe move. Under most circumstances, you will pay the two life other than the mana so you can leave mana open for other spells.
Ponder The go-to dig spell, it helps control what you draw. Of course if you dont like what you got on top of your library, you can get another chance to get what you want by shuffling.
Show and Tell One of the main components of the win condition combo, you can put a very large creature onto the battlefield very early in the game. With Ancient Tomb, Lotus Petal, this, and one of the fatties in opening hand, you can plop an Emrakul turn one! Like I said earlier, watch what your opponent is playing, as you dont want to lose your tempo.
INSTANTS:
Brainstorm Another primary dig spell. Works really well with fetchlands, as you can put back what you dont want from your hand, then fetch for a land, therefore shuffling away what you dont want.
Spell Pierce Used early in the game, this handy spell can mess up your opponents tempo, and is good when your opponent plays a spell that isnt too good to waste a Force of Will but good enough that you dont want it to happen.
Intuition Many people ask me why I run this. I just tell them this card has gotten me out of countless bad situations. Normally Ill just search for a fatty I need to activate Sneak Attack, or vice versa, to quickly end the game.
Force of Will The quintessential counterspell, this card makes the deck. Being able to counter anything while completely tapped out, exiling a useless Brainstorm you dont need, and for 1 measly little life is extremely powerful. Sometimes you even have ditch another Force of Will so you can use it.
ENCHANTMENTS:
Sneak Attack The other of the win condition combo, this card, while vulnerable, is able to wreak havoc on your opponent. Popping the fatties out of nowhere and swinging for lots of damage is awesome. It is a good feeling being able to activate twice and swinging for lethal damage with one attack.
Omniscience Although you could hard cast this, the best way to get it out is to Show and Tell it, then you can actually hard cast your fatties, especially Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, where you will get your extra turn. You could hard cast Griselbrand, but you run the risk of it getting countered, not to mention you can cast every spell in your deck for free. Plus, it escapes the evil Containment Priest
LANDS:
Ancient Tomb Provides mana acceleration. Works great in getting out Show and Tell and Sneak Attack faster, but watch how much you use it, because you take 2 when its used.
City of Traitors Provides mana acceleration. You dont take damage when its used, but you have to sacrifice it if you play a different land, so only play it if it is the last land you need for the game.
Island Provides blue mana for your Ponder, Brainstorm, and Spell Pierce. When playing against Wasteland, use your fetchlands to get these instead of Steam Vents.
Flooded Strand Helps you search for your Island and Steam Vents, but watch how much you use these, as you take damage for each one.
Polluted Delta Same rule as Flooded Strand.
Steam Vents Works great with the fetchlands, and comes into play untapped. Taps for red or blue. I ran these because I am too cheap to get Volcanic Islands.
SIDEBOARD:
Boseiju, Who Shelters All Use this against a deck full of counterspells, so you can rest easy that your Show and Tell will resolve, or you can counter something they are trying to cast without fear of your counterspell being countered.
Grafdigger's Cage Used against Reanimator or Dredge, this card will shut them down.
Pyroclasm Great against Death and Taxes, Elves, Goblins, Dredge, and all those pesky weenie decks.
Blood Moon Since not a lot of Legacy decks run a lot of basic lands, this enchantment will shut down most decks without red, such as BUG Delver or Reanimator. While this card will shut you down as well, in response crack your fetchlands and get Islands, so you can still cast blue spell, or at worse keep drawing till you find a Sneak Attack.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor Ill let Jace speak for himself.
Leyline of Sanctity Amazing against decks that target you, especially Burn and Storm. It is definitely much better to have it in your opening hand, because otherwise you will have to have 2 Lotus Petal just to cast it.
Over the course of building this deck, there are some changes I have made over time. For example, I originally made a decklist that called for one Simian Spirit Guide, but I took it out because I was using card space just to activate Sneak Attack once. Also, I have seen plenty of decklists that use Jace, the Mind Sculptor main board, but I find that I was always using it as another win condition, which in my case was not needed. Finally, I originally put 2 Omniscience in the deck, but one was taken out because it really only works well with one other card, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn.
Hopefully this guide has prepared you to delve into the realm of Sneak and Show, and I hope that this deck has got you excited. And if do not play this deck for some oddball reason, hopefully this deck has gotten you terrified to play against.
If you have any comments concerning the deck, please post them in the comments section, and a +1 always shows me you care.
Thanks everyone!
