Sneaky Cauldron

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Amongst the most famous lines in English literature, did you know that the meaning behind them was actually a shout out to today’s deck? I didn’t think so! The inspiration behind the name lies in one of its key cards; can you guess which one? Here’s a hint: Sneaky Cauldron.

Despite that strange introduction, Sneaky Cauldron’s main source of damage is not the card I was referring to, but rather it is Sneak Attack. This is because it is easy to cast and becomes a recursive source of getting creatures into play for cheap. How is it recursive? In conjunction with numerous creatures, Karakas and Cauldron Dance, you are able to re-use Sneak Attack to hit your opponent down to 0. I assume you are now going to look at what the heck Cauldron Dance does. Allow me to save you the trouble in the next paragraph.

Cauldron Dance. I had never seen this card before doing some research for today’s deck. In short: it allows you to “Sneak Attack” a creature from your hand and/or graveyard, before placing it in your graveyard and/or hand. Lost? Ok ok, go ahead and search the card. While it is a bit costly to cast, this is mitigated via the Sol lands. Dance also works great after you’ve already used Sneak Attack, provided you don’t have a Karakas in play to return the creature to your hand.

I put in Quicksilver Amulet as a 1-of because it can get around the reliance on coloured mana and works very nicely with the Sol lands. The deck also contains 4 copies of Akroma, Angel of Wrath, whose Haste can make Amulet a conditionally better version of Sneak Attack. Despite including it however, I had considered dropping the card completely as 9 Sneak effects might be too many. I certainly recommend you try the deck with and without the card, so as to make an informed decision on your own.

Winds of Change. This is a bit of an obscure card, but I think it is one of those underused gems. Yes, it gives you card disadvantage, but it has so many uses that make it great. For example, it can help replace the unneeded cards in your hand with ones you can use. Not only that, but Winds can also be a sort of hand disruption as well. How? Ever wanted to screw over a Storm player who has spent their time sculpting a hand? This is a very neat card that I recommend you try out.

Amongst the main cards considered for the deck that didn’t make the cut was Shifty Doppelganger. The card offers a lot of potential and perhaps deserves further consideration, but I chose not to include it due to its lack of synergy with both Cauldron Dance and Karakas. I think it could be quite strong however, maybe even stronger than the current build, and I encourage everyone to try tinkering with the deck to suit their playstyle. Happy Brewing!

Sneaky Cauldron

Land

1 Mountain

1 Swamp

4 Badlands

4 Karakas

4 Ancient Tomb

3 City of Traitors

7 Fetch lands

Total: 24

Creatures

4 Nicol Bolas

4 Akroma, Angel of Wrath

Total: 8

Spells

4 Sneak Attack

4 Cauldron Dance

1 Quicksilver Amulet

4 Lotus Petal

4 Duress

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Winds of Change

1 Chain Lightning

1 Smother

1 Enlightened Tutor

Total: 28

Sideboard

4 Tormod’s Crypt

2 Red Elemental Blast

1 Pyroblast

1 Symbiotic Wurm

1 Wasteland

3 Swords to Plowshares

1 Disenchant

2 Pyroclasm