I can Never Look at Kindergarten the Same Way Again

Hello Everyone!

This past weekend I traded for a Show and Tell, which completed my personal set. Seeing how I basically have all my current decks unproxied (when I get a set of LEDs, I will have 3 more decks unproxied...) I decided to take a look and see what kinds of decks I can build with this brutally overpowered sorcery. There are 5 different  decks that I found that couple something to go alongside the Show and Tell to provide 2 axis for victory. They are:

1: Shoal and Tell
2: Sneak and Show
3: Hive Mind
4: Dream Halls
5: Eureka Show

I want to touch upon each of the archetypes quickly and then decide the 2 or 3 I will pursue building.

Shoal and Tell

This deck has 2 lines for victory: Show and Tell out a Progenitus and then attack for 10 a turn, or use a Blazing Shoal on a Blighted Agent using Progenitus for fodder to hit the opponent for 11 poison counters. Using Chrome Mox and Daze, this deck tries to just 1-shot the opponent right out of the game. The problems with the deck are that Blighted Agent doesn't have any protection for itself, unlike Invisible Stalker, so even Darkblast can ruin your day. Both halves of the deck are built around Progenitus, so it is the most important card to have in your hand.

Sneak and Show

While Sneak and Show decks that I have seen before were running Progenitus as the other non-Emrakul fatty, I like this list because it plays Woodfall Primus, which affects the board when it comes into play. Also nice is how Sneak Attack says the creature is sacrificed at end of turn, but Woodfall Primus has Persist so it will still be around. Primus doesn't hit as hard, but double Stone Raining the opponent does put you wicked far ahead! While Primus does slightly shore up this problem, I feel that sometimes Sneak Attack is just a burn spell, and I have won games before after taking an Emrakul to the face and losing all my permanents before I was able to amass a victory while he didn't draw another fatty to swing in with for several turns.

Hive Mind

Hive Mind became popular because it was the first deck that would win the same turn you cast your Show and Tell, which wouldn't give the opponent the 1-turn window they would normally receive when you drop in an Emrakul and say go. That being said, I feel this deck has too many cards dedicated to the Hive Mind plan. There are 10 pacts in the deck, which feels like way too much. Also of note is the Grim Monoliths. You can get a turn 2 Hive Mind with a turn 1 Ancient Tomb through 2 different routs now. Turn 1 Tomb -> Monolith, turn 2 Island is exactly 5U needed for a hard cast Hive Mind. One other note about the Hive Mind plan is that sometimes your opponent can just pay for the Pact and not lose. If the opponent provides enough disruption, they can just get enough lands in play to pay for at least 1 Pact.


Dream Halls

This deck is very similar to Hive Mind in that it is designed to be able to win the turn it casts Show and Tell. In Dream Halls though, the process is quite different. With Dream Halls out, you chain Confluxes to draw a ton of specific cards including Force of Wills before Beacon of Immortality + False Cure kill. Obviously this deck compares very closely to Hive Mind, so let's break down the numbers:

                                       Hive Mind   Dream Halls
Show and Tells:                     4                   4
Namesake Enchantment        4                   4
Fatties                                   3                  4
Combo Specific Cards         10*             6**
Other non-action cards        3***              0

*Includes 4 Pact of Negation, which does not require Hive Mind to be useful
**Does not include 4 Progenitus, which are also fatties
***Grim Monolith

Because of those numbers, I like Dream Halls over Hive Mind. You have more fatties to drop in, so you don't have to rely on your enchantment so much, You have fewer cards that are specific to the combo, which means we have more space in our deck for ponder type cards, which makes us more consistent, and we don't have any fat that is neither land nor useful. While Progenitus may not be as awesome as Emrakul, it still kills in 2 swings. Also of note: Dream Halls only costs 5 to Hive Mind's 6, so it can be cast with just lands easier.

Eureka Show

This deck is basically 8 Show and Tells.dec. Eureka is the original Hypergenesis, and it allows the player to put several unbeatable cards into play, not just one! It is pretty cool to look at and see happening, however there is a major barrier of entry for this deck: Eureka costs $80 a piece! So even though this deck is really cool, and I kinda want to try it out, I cannot realistically do so with any expectation of me ever playing the deck for real. Playing Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker in Legacy does make you a champion though!

So all in all, my 2 favorite Show and Tell decks are Shoal and Tell and Dream Halls. While it did not affect my decision, there are some nice overlaps between the decks. In addition to needing 4 Show and Tells, the decks both share 4x Progenitus, and they both use Progenitus as a tool outside of the fact that he turns sideways. Shoal and Tell is also really cool because it is SO different from most Legacy decks that it's very enjoyable to see the opponent squirm in their seat watching themselves getting blasted as early as turn 2 for lethal poison!

That's all I have for today! Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack