Smuggler's Surprise has completely disappeared from the radar of the Standard format for many months now. The card has not been played at all since the rotation. The strength of aggressive decks like Mono Red or Boros Aggro has definitely contributed to pushing this archetype out of the metagame.
Today, however, we are not talking about Standard but about Alchemy and the reasons are many:
- In the format the card pool is small compared to the standard one and strategies of this type (almost comparable to an otk) could benefit greatly from this;
- Recently the format has seen nerfs/bans against very aggressive archetypes;
- The format is not too fast at the moment;
- Such a strategy has (at least at the moment) few obstacles in the format.
What’s the deck plan?
The deck strategy is very similar to a classic ramp deck. In fact, the primary goal of the deck is precisely to ramp into giant threats. Unlike the classic ramp strategies, however, the purpose of the deck is not to win the game through value creation. The deck, with the right combination of cards, can generate more than 20 damage in a single turn.
The ramp package
I don't think there's much to say about Llanowar Elves as it is simply the best one-drop in Alchemy (and even standard) when it comes to ramping some mana. Thanks to it, our turns two can be very strong: we have the chance of casting Overlord of the Hauntwoods already on turn two if our beloved elves remain unchallenged.
Glimpse the Core is perhaps the least useful card of the deck if I'm being honest. It's still a handy tool for ramp. Since there are no Caves in the deck, we can use this spell only to ramp some mana. The cost of 2 mana is certainly affordable and in no way prohibitive. Additionally, if cast on turn 2, it also gives us the chance to cast our red Overlord already the following turn for its Impending cost.
Overlord of the Hauntwoods is not only a great way to ramp mana but also a threat in later stages of the game. We will often find ourselves paying its Impending cost and the reasons are multiple:
- If cast on turn 2 thanks to Llanowar Elves, it gives us the chance to play our 5 mana drop already on turn 3;
- If cast on turn 3 after already playing Up the Beanstalk, it will both ramp and draw us a card;
- Generally fills a 3 turn that is an absent mana slot for this deck (there are no 3 mana and 4 mana drops if we don’t consider Impending costs within the deck).
The list could go on for a while but I think we have all had time to play this card and understand how strong it is to play it for its Impending cost.
The Creatures
I think it is necessary to start the analysis from Calamity, Galloping Inferno as it is the key card (alternatively to Smuggler's Surprise) to get a one-turn kill. This card fits both Terror of the Peaks and Overlord of the Boilerbilges very well.
To generate more than 20 damage in a turn, it will be enough to saddle our horse with one of the two creatures and attack:
- In the first case (so with Terror of the Peaks), two dragons would be created, generating a total of 15 damage (5x3) when they enter the battlefield and another 14 damage (4+5+5) thanks to the attack of the 3 creatures for a total of 29 damage. The damage goes up to 33 if we put onto the battlefield Calamity, Galloping Inferno after having previously played Terror of the Peaks;
- In the second case, we would have two Overlord of the Boilerbilges generated and attacking. When they enter the battlefield, the damage would be 8 (4+4) plus another 8 when they attack, that added to the 14 onto the battlefield would bring us to a total of 30 damage.
When it comes to Vaultborn Tyrant, the situation is slightly different. In fact, by saddling him, we will guarantee a decent number of cards and several life points if our horse should succeed in attacking.
If on one side we have two creatures that provide us (with a high probability) to kill our opponent in one turn, on the other side we have a creature that allows us to stay alive and generate many resources.
Being able to decide which one among the two paths to follow is obviously a luxury that we often can't afford, also because of the single copy of Vaultborn Tyrant available.
Playing a single copy of this card might seem reductive, but in reality the difference between a 5 mana drop to a 7 mana drop is very relevant in several spots. We can cast our 5 mana creatures often without problems and without having to resort to Smuggler's Surprise. This is not so true for a 7 mana creature.
Conclusions
Obviously, being able to play one of these creatures first, keep it alive on the field for a turn, proceed to play Calamity, Galloping Inferno and then attack with them turns out to be quite utopian as a scenario.
That's where the force of Smuggler's Surprise comes into play: with 7 mana it gives us the opportunity to bring two creatures onto the battlefield and give them both indestructible and hexproof.
In an ideal scenario, this deck is able to generate a one-turn kill already during turn 4 and this kind of interaction, potentially really fast, should never go underhand, especially in a format with such a small pool of cards.
In all honesty, I think the deck is good even if it’s probably not an undisputed tier 1 of the format.
I think it should be tried and maybe improved considering that aggro decks are now less present in the format.
Of course, the deck is not super cheap but I can guarantee it’s super fun to play.