What is sneak attack? Sneak Attack is a combo deck that uses the eponymous card to inexpensively bring out powerful creatures for a swing. Once the initial 3R casting cost is paid, you can pay R to draw a creature card from your hand in a hurry to hit your opponent. However, the selected creature must be sacrificed at the end of the turn. While this may seem like an inconvenience, the creature cards selected for this deck are re-shuffled, returned to the hand, or even have buffs from being sacrificed. You can also win once a creature has successfully attacked.
Go for speed, or not go for speed: Considering that Legacy has Force of Will, combining as early as possible is a huge risk of card debuff. Rule of thumb: “Big risks come with big rewards.” If you successfully escape the correct creature early, you can discard your opponent’s hand or kill him in one turn. If you fail, then you’ve spent your hand setting an enchantment and little to no land.
If you are in the play and can make a combo, please do so by all means. Winning the game is risky enough, as Force of Will is the only commonly played response to a bull run on turn one. However, once the opponent establishes their first land, you are left open to Pithing Needle, Swords to Plowshares, or even Fog.
Delaying the sneak attack reduces the explosive power of the deck but increases stability and vice versa.
What are the basic cards to run?
Lands / Mana Accelerators:
- Ancient Tomb – The best and most stable option for two-color lands in Sneak Attack unless you run Serra Avatar.
- City of Traitors: An alternative to Ancient Tomb, which changes the stability decreased by the lack of damage repercussions.
- Crystal Vein: Versatile in the sense that if you can leave early, you will have two mana. If you can’t, then you have a stable source of colorless mana.
- Dwarf Ruins – Like Crystal Vein, except it produces R mana and enters the battlefield tapped.
- Sandstone Spire – ETBT (Enters the battlefield tapped). However, it provides two Rs of mana twice before being sacrificed.
- City of Brass – Faucets for all colors at the cost of 1 life.
- Boiling Song: Exchange 3 mana for 5 mana.
- Rite of Flame: Accelerator that improves as more copies enter the graveyard.
- Desperate Ritual: Exchange 2 mana for 3 mana.
- Simian Spirit Guide: One-time R mana at the cost of drawing this card from your hand.
- Mana Acceleration obtainable per summoner / elven spirit guide pact, as well as minor deck reduction. However, red is more vital than green.
- Tinder Wall: Blocks + provides mana for when you sneak out.
- Dark Ritual: Exchange 1 mana for 3 mana; however, it is black.
- Cabal Ritual: Exchange 2 mana for 3 mana (5 with threshold); again, although black mana.
- Pentad Prism – Speed up / fix mana, best used for 3+ color decks.
- Mox Diamond – Accelerates mana, but requires a land to go to the grave. Run it if you have a lot of lands to roll (at least 25).
- Chrome Mox – Accelerates mana at the cost of 1 color card in your hand.
- Ruby Medallion: Reduces the cost of R spells, which means your rituals produce more R, your sneak attacks cost less, and you have more mana to sneakily attack.
Color-specific utility cards
- Smother: Stops the EOT sacrifice shot on the sneak attack, keeping the creature in play.
- Trickbind – Same as Stifle except for a split second.
- Magus of the Jar – Gets more cards to use with Sneak Attack, but does the same for the opponent as well.
- Rite of Consumption: Fling for B, plus provides some cushioning with life.
- Recurring Nightmare: Trade creatures in play for creatures in the graveyard.
- Shallow Grave – Return graveyard creatures to the battlefield for another hit.
- Fling: Deal direct damage with a creature that you are going to sacrifice EOT anyway.
- Blazing Shoal: Provides that last extra push for the killing blow.
- Final Fortune: Were you unable to deal lethal damage this turn? Please try again next turn.
- Gamble: The Red Guardian, while risky, provides a way to stick to the Red Monkey in Sneak Attack.
- Across the Breach – Unique Sneak Attack.
- Strange Harvest – Look for the creatures you want to sneak around.
- Kavu’s Lair – Get a unique draw for sneaking past a powerful creature.
- Regrowth: Return a spent card to your hand.
- Berserk – Doubles the power of a creature for a fatal blow.
- Survival of the Fittest – look for creatures to escape.
- Living Wish – Allows you to run a Creature Toolbox.
- Xantid Swarm: guarantees that you will not counter a sneak attack.
- Rector of the Academy – Look for a sneak attack enchantment.
- False Prophet: Clear the creature field when this card leaves play.
- Powdered Serum – Increases your chances of getting a godly starting hand.
Creatures of bread and butter
- Magus of the Jar – Refill your hand with more accelerators and creatures.
- Hoverguard Sweepers – Bounce up to two creatures to re-enter the next turn, including himself.
- Sakashima the Imposter – Track down extended combos and use Sakashima to copy non-legendary creatures.
- Body Double: Use this to copy a spent creature, or try to copy a Phage the Untouchable in your graveyard to win.
- Dragon Tyrant: Double Hit + Fire Breath can increase this up to 20 damage.
- Hellion Crater: Clear the Creature Swarm Board
- Dragon Mage – replenish your hand and that of your opponents; considering that your hand would be spent, this gives you an advantage
- Bogardan Hellkite – Deals 5 direct damage and
- Kilnmouth Dragon – With a handful of dragons this has the potential to be a 20/20.
- Rorix Bladewing – Cheap dragon to sneak around and be thrown.
- Arc-Slogger – A backup victory condition if sneak attack attempts fail.
- Weatherseed Treefolk – Returns to hand after sneaking out.
- Genesis: Reuse creatures spent with this in your graveyard.
- Symbiotic Wyrm – Swings to deal damage and outruns saprolins.
- Gloom Wurm – Swings to deal damage, leaving behind a powerful creature.
- Elemental Thorn – Swings to deal full damage despite being locked.
- Elemental Tornado: Like Elemental Thorn, except with one less P / T and one ability to clear Airmen.
- Woodfall Primus: Destroy two non-creature permanents with a sneak attack courtesy of persisting.
- Serra Avatar – One of the pioneers of the Sneak Attack deck, pulling this out early enough kills your opponent.
- False Prophet – Clear the board once you leave the game. An alternative to Crater Hellion.
- Rector of the academy: guardians for the sneak attack or the survival of the fittest.
- Progenitus: Usually a guaranteed damage of 10.
- Nicol Bolas – Another pioneer of sneak attack, discard your opponent’s hand when he passes.
- Angel of Despair: Explode a permanent when it comes into play.
- Darksteel Colossus – 11/11 trampling dating back to your library, nothing special.
- Sundering Titan – While this may end up destroying your mountains, this will also damage your opponents land base heavily if they run the basics.
Some types of Sneak Attack decks to try:
Mono-R straight sneak attack– No cute tricks, just speeding up in Sneak Attack to take out creatures.
Monkey-R Sneaking Dragons – Amplify Kilnmouth Dragon as much as you can and take out a Dragon Tyrant if that’s not enough.
Survival breakfast – Use Survival to get a Phage the Untouchable in your graveyard, then use a Body Double to win. Academy Rector would work very well here, in addition to the control elements.
Progenital release – Sneak attack a Progenitus for 10 damage, then throw it at your opponent for an additional 10.
Reviving the sneak attack – Use revive after sneaking monsters for another round of beats.
Sneak Attack is the perfect deck for players who like to take big risks and win in the early rounds of a game.