[Article] Reflection's STD (Show n' Tell Day)

[Methuselahn]

"At the academy, 'show and tell' often becomes 'run and hide.'"

Team Reflection has been working on a deck as of late and we feel that it is ready to be revealed in it's current state.  So I get the pleasure of showing you our latest monstrosity.  Matt originally took the initiative here with Darksteel Colossus and Show and Tell and created several starting lists which we have tested, refined, and reshaped to the list currently presented.  I'll try to cover some debates our team has encountered, limited matchup analysis, card choices, and other various things.

Show n' Tell Day. aka "STD"

Maindeck

        4 [card]Darksteel Colossus[/card]

        4 [card]Show and Tell[/card]
        2 [card]Future Sight[/card]
        1 [card]Tinker[/card]
        1 [card]Time Walk[/card]
        1 [card]Yawgmoths Will[/card]

        4 [card]Force of Will[/card]
        4 [card]Duress[/card]
        1 [card]Damping Matrix[/card]
        1 [card]Mind Twist[/card]
        2 [card]Cunning Wish[/card]

        4 [card]Brainstorm[/card]
        2 [card]Impulse[/card]
        1 [card]Ancestral Recall[/card]
        1 [card]Demonic Tutor[/card]
        1 [card]Vampiric Tutor[/card]
        1 [card]Mystical Tutor[/card]

        7 SoLoMoxen
        1 [card]Mana Crypt[/card]
        1 [card]Mana Vault[/card]
        4 [card]Underground Sea[/card]
        5 [card]Island[/card]
        1 [card]Swamp[/card]
        4 [card]Polluted Delta[/card]
        2 [card]Flooded Strand[/card]

Sideboard

        3 [card]Chalice of the Void[/card]
        2 [card]Damping Matrix[/card]
        3 [card]Hurkyls Recall[/card]
        1 [card]Stifle[/card]
        1 [card]Fact or Fiction[/card]
        1 [card]Echoing Truth[/card]
        2 [card]Skeletal Scrying[/card]
        1 [card]Demonic Consultation[/card]
        1 [card]Echoing Decay[/card][/list:u]
Relevant discussions:

STD vs Masknought This is an obvious debate.  I believe Matt explains it best, so I have taken a quote from our notes:
"1. It's immune to artifact kill and combat damage. I recall being able to kill a Naught with Madness on multiple occasions. Had that been a DC, the game would not have even been close.
2. DC can be used with more than one card in the entire game, and those cards can be used with more than DC. Show and Tell works with any high-cc permanent. Mask only works with Naught. Imagine if you could run 4 Masks, and four more Masks against aggro. This gives it a high consistency, without needing resorting to:
3. Running Spoils of the Vault, which can randomly lose you the game.
4. 4x Force of Will is better than 4x Unmask by a wide margin.
5. It's not a lost cause against control by any means. This deck runs as much draw power and counters (Duress as a counter) as control decks do, and plenty of board-control too. You win the same way Tog wins versus Keeper - outdraw, outcounter, buy a turn or two, and capitalize on that."

Re: Green  Early on the deck utilized green spells.  Green gives us Pernicious Deed, Oath of Druids (which is marginally useful), Regrowth/Reclaim, Naturalize/Oxidize, Xantid Swarm, Sylvan Safekeeper,  Steely Resolve (which turned out to not work), and Berserk among other things.   With the addition of green, you are much more open to color screw and land hate.  However, green makes the sideboard toolbox oh so much stronger.  All in all, the color just didn't make the cut in the end.  The deck certainly has room to evolve and include green, but that is not the path we chose to take with the deck.

Re: Oath of Druids This card has sparked quite a bit of debate among us.  Oath is great vs aggro.  This deck isn't necessarily worried about aggro though.  The aggro decks it has the most problems with seems to be TNT and FCG.  TNT has the deadly welders and FCG can just combo out on you like nothing.  Oftentimes, the time and resources the deck needs to cast Oath gives FCG enough time to set up and kill you.  There are stronger options available to fight TNT than the painfully symmetrical Oath of Druids.  Oath of Druids also puts artifacts into your graveyard for annoying Welders to ruin your day with.

1 Damping Matrix  yes, just 1.  There is a truckload of search in the deck.  One is the perfect amount.  It just solves so many problems and gives many decks a serious hassle while not affecting any of it's own cards.

Nevinyrral's Disk  There is obvious synergy with Colossus.  A big factor in deciding to use this card is vs. Goblin Welder.  Disk can remove pesky Welders, but if you have no artifacts in your grave, then it is not needed.  If they have a Welder and you have an artifact in your graveyard, then Disk is essentially dead.  Therefore, Disk is too situational and not optimal.

Re:Cunning Wish/Mana Drain  Cunning wish is a double edged sword, so it seems.  Sometimes you just need an answer to the unforeseen weakness in a given matchup.  Wish looks like the best answer to any such problem.  Unfortunately, the Wish system is quite costly in this deck, especially without Mana Drain.  So why not run Drains?  Short answer: they are cumbersome.  Mana Drains are just too reactive.  This deck would rather poop out a Colossus right now than claim board position first.  Mana Drains were originally used in conjunction with Nevinyrral's Disk but were dumped for Future Sight and other elements to just push through the opponents board, similar to what Psychatog does.

Impulse vs. Lim Dul's Vault  This is another issue that has been debated since the beginning of it's conception back at the end of January.  The Moxen in the deck make Impulse a virtual 1cc spell without losing any card advantage.  LDV might slow the combo down a little bit but the tempo gained from getting a Colossus out generally negates any tempo or card loss.  Impulse is slightly better vs. control for finding answers, whereas LDV is superior at setting up awesome topdecks.  It's a tough call.

Accumulated Knowledge + Intuition  Not a bad engine at all here.  AK would probably work well with Mana Drain in the deck, but Brainstorm has been chosen in this build.  Brainstorm is often the better choice because of the lack of Drains and synergy with Future Sight.  AK is great with Lim Dul's Vault and has merits as well.

In this particular build, the slots that are most open to change are the Wishes.  With that, the 2 slots of Impulse/LDV/Consultation.  This is probably where the most change and innovation could happen.

Matchups

TOG: STD 'smash' Hulk.  Generally, Showing out a Future Sight over a Colossus is the safer play if your opponent is expecting your deck and is prepared.  Once the Future Sight gets rolling, getting a Colossus out every turn is not even difficult.  Often you can play on the fact that the opponent doesn't know that you run Future Sight.  The Tog player may allow Show and Tell to resolve, expecting DC because he gets to put out his Tog/Deed thinking he can Wish for StP or bounce.  With FS instead, you just simply have more trump cards.  Gro decks play out very similar, but are generally easier due to the higher number of creatures.  If you think they are not prepared, drop an indestructible and counter any bounce/rfg.

FISH:  The mana denial coupled with the counters can be devastating.  Spiketail Hatchlings, Stifle, and Strip effects go along way to slowing you down.  It all comes down to the counter war as their dudes are generally harmless to you and pale in size.  If you get Colossus out, they generally gotta scoop.

LANDSTILL:  Similar to fishy decks as far as mana hate goes, it may give you more problems if they are also running white for Swords to Plowshares.  Disk can be annoying, but doesn't kill 11/11 indestructibles, of course.  The fact that STD is 2 colors helps vs. all their Wastes.

KEEPER:  When has combo ever had an easy time vs this deck?  The best advice we can give is to force thru an early Show and Tell if you can.  Keeper has Wish, StP, Humility, sometimes Edicts and a whole bunch of counter and draw.  Do your thing and don't let them capitalize on drawing.  Play the card advantage game in every way possible, since it's very difficult to simply combo them out. More card-drawing comes in after boarding in the form of Skeletal Scrying.  A tough matchup.

EBA:  Initial testing shows that this matchup is not pretty.  EBA has Force of Will, Mana Drain, Duress, Vindicate, Swords to Plowshares, Mind Twist, and Meddling Mage. It's a combo nightmare.  

SLAVER:  It has welders AND counters.  This can be another difficult matchup.  Control Slaver is by far more difficult than Workshop Slaver here.  Damping Matrix is good here because it shuts off their stuff, obviously.  Normally, Slaver would just lay down the fat vs Matrix and run you over, but you have Colossus.  Matrix is better hate in this deck than it is in other decks because of this.  Game 1 is in your favor.  After sideboarding, they can bring in REB, Shaman, and often Trinisphere.  You side in extra Damping Matrix, but their odds increase overall.

DRAGON: If they don't have anything besides Laquatus maindeck, the odds are in favor of STD. Otherwise, dragon is usually faster, but since Colossus shuffles it turns their 1 turn clock into a 3-4 turn clock. If Damping Matrix comes in, all of their non-Verdant ways to win are shut off. Considering Colossus is bigger than Verdant, that's a good thing.  Not much to board in here.

FCG:  It's a race.  Food Chain Goblins splits pretty evenly.  As noted above, casting an Oath is really just giving FCG time to set up.  Suggested sideboarding right now is to take the Damping Matrix and Future Sights out for Echoing Truth, Echoing Decay, and Demonic Consultation.  This weakens Cunning Wish, but Future Sight is often quite dead vs FCG.

TNT:  This can be one of the more difficult matchups, it depends on the build.  On one hand, you have Survival/Welder which can kill DC if you have an artifact in your grave for welding.  Showing can be problematic, you don't want to see your opponent Show out a Duplicant or Platinum Angel.  Cunning Wish shines here by fetching Skeletal Scrying, Echoing Decay, and Hurkyl's Recall.  Trinispheres make life difficult.  You have the faster deck, combo out and force them into the control position.

MADNESS/STOMPY:  Limited testing has shown that STD is favored.  Waterfront Bouncers and Root Maze give you large headaches though.  These style of aggro decks don't hate this combo deck nearly as efficiently as they do other decks.  Luck of the draw (getting more brokenness) is probably the determining factor here.  You have the faster deck, be the beatdown.

In general, use common sense and magic experience to tell you how the deck will fare in a given area.  It's a combo deck at heart, so blue cards will likely give you the most trouble.  One of the real strengths of this deck is it's surprise value.  I took this to a full proxy tournament here in Minnesota and no one knew what to expect, much less how to SB against. So, if you are somewhat sadistic like me when it comes to magic, and you like combo decks that smash people hard with enormous, 11/11, trampling, indestructibles then this might be the deck for you.

For those interested, a report of a first place finish in Minnesota.

This is where I get to name names for all the great work!
Hyperion, Matt, Methuselahn, Rico Suave, Vegeta2711, and Wu.

[Nantuko Rice]

hmmm seams like an interesting new deck

also, with a 2-2-0 record, you manage top 4? this was also a tournament for a mox? wow....

how many tournaments has this deck played in? the first tournament could've been luck.

echoing decay is a nice touch though. takes out piledrivers and many a fish. could it be a new alternate to fire/ice?

the only problem is... eventually people are going to know about the surprise value and start countering the Show and Tells. If you counter back and drop a colossus, they'll probably end up swordsing it.

[jpmeyer]

Am I missing something in the way the Tog matchup is played out with this deck?  From the looks of it, it seems that both decks are more or less trying to do the same thing, except that this has "dead" cards where Tog has counters and search over draw.  Is this deck played in some like completely unorthodox way that's just going way over my head?

[Methuselahn]

Am I missing something in the way the Tog matchup is played out with this deck?  From the looks of it, it seems that both decks are more or less trying to do the same thing, except that this has "dead" cards where Tog has counters and search over draw.  Is this deck played in some like completely unorthodox way that's just going way over my head?

The difference is that the decks are not really trying to win in the same way.  This deck attempts to drop the Metal Elvis (or Sight) and say "deal with this incredibly resilient 2 turn clock" whereas Tog wins more through inevitability.  (which it can most certainly do against it)  I'm not sure where you see "dead" cards.  The deck drops bomb after bomb in the form of disruption, draw, and many ways to get Colossus out.  I suppose Cunning Wish is somewhat unorthodox because one of it's strongest plays is Wishing for Consult to find a combo piece or Force instead of a silver bullet.

how many tournaments has this deck played in? the first tournament could've been luck.

 

Our matchup analysis was hardly based on this one tournament, rather, countless testing within our team where surprise was nowhere near a factor.  Also, Echoing Spells are really meant for removal of things that will stop your Colossus from being on the board or attacking.  Moreso Goblin Welders and Bouncer randomness than little blue speedbumps.  I'll admit, the FCG matchup warrants bringing Echoes to the MD because of it's own blinding speed.

[kirdape3]

The thing is, Show and Tell requires you to have Force so that Tog doesn't win on their next turn with that three mana.  If you get it to resolve, good game.  If you don't, then well pack it in.  I don't see how a proper Tog build lets this deck do all that much against it unless the player's bad.

[jpmeyer]

Alright, that must be the part that was confusing.  Tog actually doesn't have inevitablity in Type 1.

Also, since it seeemed like you were beating Tog because it was going for inevitability, it seemed more likely that you'd have better results against Keeper since that is a deck that should be relying more on inevitability.

[Methuselahn]

Alright, that must be the part that was confusing.  Tog actually doesn't have inevitablity in Type 1.

Also, since it seeemed like you were beating Tog because it was going for inevitability, it seemed more likely that you'd have better results against Keeper since that is a deck that should be relying more on inevitability.

Well, I really like the way Smmenen describes how Type 1 Tog has inevitability in the following article.  

During our testing, we didn't accommodate our matchup analysis by intentionally playing the control role in the now classic "Who's the Beatdown" theories.  STD has a lower curve, packs a lot of protection for a combo deck and is incredibly resilient to hate.  All this goes a long way into forcing Tog into the control mode and keeping it in the control mode long enough to kill.  Hulk takes more wins out of the control role than STD does, obviously.  This is more along the lines of my meaning.

Keeper is considered to be a harder matchup, definitely.

[SpencerForHire]

I like the idea of [card]Show and Tell[/card] over what alot of people are running in my area... [card]Proteus Staff[/card]  I just laugh when they run such cards.
Did you originally test Proteus Staff to any extent?  Also, have you thought about a MD or SB [card]Serra Avatar[/card], although it is indeed not untargetable/indestructable it will kill at least a turn faster thanks to it's superior power.  The downside is that there isn't a chance in hell your going to be able to hardcast this lady in your deck.

[Rico Suave]

No, we never tested Proteus Staff.  Half the point of this deck is being immune to hate, and Staff is not that.  It also requires a lot of creatures in a deck that doesn't want many.

Serra Avatar is weak because you want a consistent threat off Show and Tell.  Avatar against fast aggro will be very small, not to mention it doesn't trample.  

The thing is, Show and Tell requires you to have Force so that Tog doesn't win on their next turn with that three mana. If you get it to resolve, good game. If you don't, then well pack it in. I don't see how a proper Tog build lets this deck do all that much against it unless the player's bad.

Firstly, the Tog player will not have Mana Drain every game.  Secondly, there is more than just Force, since the deck can Duress away counters.  Thirdly, if playing first you can drop Show and Tell with a Mox before the Tog player gets UU up.  Finally, having Show and Tell countered is not automatically game, since many times Tog will dump the mana into card-draw and give you a window where they're tapped out and you can drop a bomb.

To answer your question jp, the deciding reason this deck does so well against Tog is because it's faster.  It's basically on par with FCG in terms of speed, which last I knew outraced Tog too, except this also has disruption to slow the Tog player down.  

To be honest, Tog was really one of the most lopsided matches we played.  Maybe you could play it out and tell us what's going on here.

[jpmeyer]

I was more confused by the fact that Tog was a good matchup and Keeper was a poor one, since everything that you listed as being reasons why the matchup against Tog was good would seem like they would also hold true to Keeper (or even more so, in that Keeper has fewer counters, for instance or doesn't have the potential to kill on turn 4.)  It just seemed weird to me that the addition of 2 StP into the conrol deck would completely make up for the the fact that Keeper has lack of draw, fewer counters, less acceleration, and a slower clock.

[defector]

Did you do any testing against rector trix/tendrils?
Also:
"The Tog player may allow Show and Tell to resolve, expecting DC because he gets to put out his Tog/Deed thinking he can Wish for StP or bounce"
Coudl you explain thsi to me?  I play tog, but not with white/bounce at all.
What's your back up to show and tell not getting through?
defector

[Methuselahn]

To answer some of your questions:

Yes, we did test vs Tendrils decks.  We actually cut out the tendrils matchup from the above article.  Chalice comes in vs Tendrils decks, Future Sight, Matrix and Wishes prove to be too slow.  STD is a slightly slower combo deck that relies on attacking, but has a lot of disruption.  Mulligan aggressively and pray too.  

Honestly, we didn't test Rector decks.  It's not a deck we expect to face alot.  The deck gets hated out pretty much everywhere.  If for some reason, the deck becomes a regularly played deck again, we'd change our sideboard up or choose a different deck to play.

"stp and bounce" must have been a typo.       Change it to Edict/Artifact Mutation or the other options Tog has available.

I guess Future Sight is the backup plan to Show and Tell, but that just results in getting a Colossus out one way or the other.  I don't see a reason to run another 'win condition' as such as it dilutes the reason we chose Metal Elvis in the first place.  All or none, no exceptions.

[Ric_Flair]

Okay, I might be retarded, but how does this deck deal with Swords to Plowshares on Darksteel Colossus?  Or Meddling Mage naming Show and Tell?  Especially when the deck only runs four counterspells (Forces to be precise).

Just wondering.

EDIT: Corrected retardo mistake.

[Hyperion]

If they play Meddling Mage naming Show and Tell (which I think is what you meant), you can

1) Tinker it into play instead. With Tinker and as many ways to find Tinker as the number of Show and Tells, this is not out of the question.
2) Cunning Wish for Echoing Truth/Decay to get rid of it.

some of our builds also ran Nevinyrall's Disk, though this one obviously doesn't.

As for StP, well...I guess you'd have to find another Colossus . Also, don't forget about Duress either.

[Kowal]

The biggest problem I have with this concept is that you've only got 4x Duress and 4x Force, but you expect to outdraw and outcounter other control decks.  According to Dr. Sylvan's tables, Hulk not only packs more draw than you, but also the 8 counters IN ADDITION to 3-4 Duresses and in 13/15 cases a Mind Twist.

Also, your slaver matchup must be somewhat weak...

SLAVER: It has welders AND counters. This can be another difficult matchup. Control Slaver is by far more difficult than Workshop Slaver here. Damping Matrix is good here because it shuts off their stuff, obviously. Normally, Slaver would just lay down the fat vs Matrix and run you over, but you have Colossus. Matrix is better hate in this deck than it is in other decks because of this. Game 1 is in your favor. After sideboarding, they can bring in REB, Shaman, and often Trinisphere. You side in extra Damping Matrix, but their odds increase overall.

You're allowing them to put their massive crap in to play without paying for it, making activating Slaver or Memnarch extremely easy.  They've got the removal that'll remove your man, more/better draw, and chalice, in addition to Memnarch which is just gross against you, and the ability to slave you just so you'll show and tell a mox.

I see the deck being decent in a less competitive metagame, with little Hulk or Slaver presence.  But somewhere like Waterbury, Hadley, or Columbus, I foresee many problems in your future.

[Dr. Sylvan]

According to Dr. Sylvan's tables, Hulk not only packs more draw than you, but also the 8 counters IN ADDITION to 3-4 Duresses and in 13/15 cases a Mind Twist.

Since these are unpublished tables, I'll chime in to elaborate on the information and clarify Kowal's small [card]memory lapse[/card] giving the number for Duress instead of Mind Twist. I've got my breakdown of the fifteen available Hulk builds that have made my monthly reports, and these are the counts for their discard component and the draw slots that aren't automatic (Bstorm, AK, Ancestral are auto), but are maindeck:

14/15 - 1 Library of Alexandria
13/15 - 2 Duress
12/15 - 3rd Duress
10/15 - 1 Mind Twist
7/15 - 1 Gush
5/15 - 1 Deep Analysis
4/15 - 2nd Deep Analysis
3/15 - 4th Duress
1/15 - 1 Fact or Fiction

Hopefully that clarifies it a bit.