What is Show and Tell in Timeless?

Timeless Show and Tell is a combo deck that utilizes its namesake card to cheat in Omniscience as early as turn 2, which then allows you to sift through the deck to find a wish tutor and cast Approach of the Second Sun twice to win on that same turn. This deck is largely proactive in nature and most of the time you will be calling the shots and making your opponent have answers to your cards. 

This deck is one of the main decks that gives timeless its identity and is sometimes described as the scourge of the format for its fast wins and streamlined gameplay that gives fair deck a run for their money.

Why Play show and tell?

•  Consistent Gameplay – While you play this deck alot of your games will be similar to each other as in most matchups you will just be trying to goldfish your opponent and kill them as fast as possible. This means that as you play the deck you will be able to practice certain lines with the deck which will make you better at the deck faster.

•  Great Matchups Across the Board – Show and Tell has brilliant matchups against the most popular deck/s in the format, Mardu and Boros Energy and 4c Colour beans. As they are creature based decks with no stack interaction they will have a very tough time dealing with our combo as we can just ignore everything they do and combo them out. 
•  Fast Games – This deck is amazing for grinding ladder as the games are fast as this deck generally wins on turn 2 or 3.

•  You like Slamming Big Permanents Early –  Who doesn’t like putting an Atraxa into play turn 3?

Important Main Deck Card Choices:

•  Veil of Summer

Veil of Summer is a great main deck tool that allows us to force Show and Tell through a Counterspell game 1 or can protect our hand against discard effects that would otherwise take a key spell and set us back a turn. Additionally, Veil can negate vexing bauble as it makes your spells uncounterable.

This is probably the second-best card in the deck as it gives us huge game against decks such as Jeskai Control and Dimir Tempo and single-handedly can save game 1 against scam decks such as 4C Reanimator

•  Borne Upon a Wind

Borne Upon a Wind is another amazing main deck that gives us a way to win in the face of a Leyline Binding or Static Prison being put into play off of our show and tell, targeting in our omniscience where we can cast borne for free in top of the binding/prison trigger to cast our spells at flash speed.

This is the best card in the deck by far and has insane utility in almost all matchups we will face in the ranked ladder.

•  Assemble The Team and Demonic Tutor

Assemble the team is the digging spell that holds the whole deck together as it’s just our 2-5th copy of Demonic Tutor. This is probably the best turn 2 play in the deck as it almost always finds Show and Tell and if it doesn’t just find another digging spell so you can go again next turn.

•  Fae of Wishes/Masterminds Acquisition 

Aside from Show and Tell, these are the cards that make the combo work as they allow us to go into the sideboard to fetch Approach of the Second Sun, our main wincon.

The Fae/Masterminds Split is essentially just for added surgical extraction resilience + you can go into the sideboard to get sideboard cards game one safely without having to worry about having to mystic sanctuary it back. Additionally, Fae of Wishes can be deployed as a blocker if needed.

Sideboard Card Choices:

•  Defence Grid

Defence Grid is both a great tool against Control/Tempo decks, as it basically shuts off all counterspells from the opposing side, and also is great in the mirror match where we can cast it either on their end step with borne to protect our turn or just play it on our turn when we have the combo ready (DISCLAIMER: do not cast this in the mirror match before you can combo off as you will just give your opponent a free win. Additionally, do not do the end step defense grid borne line if your opponent has 5 mana up as it opens you up to getting borne + show and told on their end step as your defense grid is in play) 

• ThoughtSeize

Thoughtseize is brought in against Control/Tempo decks or in the mirror match to take away specific hate pieces or counterspells to clear the way for our combo.

•  Leyline of Sanctity

This is our “I win, you lose” card to sideboard against scam decks. Get this down turn 1 and you’re almost guaranteed to win as they generally cannot get rid of the leyline and are hard-pressed for interaction against you outside of discard, such a Grief or Thoughtseize

•  Force of Vigor/Abrupt Decay

These are our premiere answers to various Enchantment and Artifact based hate such as deafening silence and disruptor flute.

•  Krosan Grip 

Krosan Grip is the best card in our sideboard for the mirror match as it allows us to destroy our opponent’s omniscience before they can respond and then execute our combo without having to worry about borne/dig through time stack battles

• Surgical Extraction

Surgical Extraction is a great general-purpose spell that allows us to take key pieces from our opponent or stop the opponent from reanimating a troll.

Additionally, in the mirror match or the shift and tell matchup it can be used to get rid of our opponent’s omniscience to guarantee a win

Matchups:

Mardu Energy

Matchup Notes:

• Game one we want to win as fast as possible, so just ignore everything they do and try and get to the combo as fast as possible, if you have the time for it you can also tutor for a borne for a guaranteed win.
• Game two we still want to goldfish for the combo, but we also want to find an abrupt decay or force to get rid of their static prisons or whatever permanent hate pieces they throw at you.

Boros Energy

Matchup Notes:

• It is pretty much the same as Mardu/Boros energy except you need to be wary of Blood Moon
   

Birthing Ritual Value

Matchup Notes:

•  It is pretty much the same as Boros/Mardu Energy except you need to be wary of Juggernaught Peddler

Show and Tell

Matchup Notes:

• Game one, we want to sit around and tutor for things that let us win the stack war, or even use one of our wishes to find a Krosan grip. Generally, you don’t want to be the person to cast Show and Tell first as then your opponent has to cast one of their spells first and you gain a slight advantage in the stack war (because your opponent has to have two borne upon a winds to win vs your one)

• In games two/three, we want to tutor aggressively for both Krosan Grip and Omni. If we have Krosan grip in hand we want to be the first to cast show and tell as we get priority first to cast Krosan grip which will secure the win (most of the time).

Dimir Tempo

Matchup Notes:

• In this matchup, you generally want to wait until you have veil backup for your Show and Tell. In game one they don’t pack 1 mana stack interaction, so if they have three mana up and you have a veil + Show and Tell you can go for it, as they generally won’t have two counters in that situation.

Shift and Tell

Matchup Notes:

• Game one you want to Show and Tell as quickly as possible before your opponent can use shifting woodland to copy omniscience as they do not play Borne Upon a Wind in the main deck
• In game two, you want to slow it down a lot and tutor for answers to shifting woodland (surgical extraction, force of vigor)
• You also need to be wary of test of talents, as most shift decks run three or more in the sideboard at the moment, so if your opponent has two untapped blue mana don’t rush to the combo and find a veil of summer, just in case you get blown out by test of talents.

Jeskai Control

Matchup Notes:

• Post-board be wary of Teferi, Time Raveler as there is no way to beat it plus witch enchanter unless it gets removed by an abrupt decay.
• Similarly to Dimir Tempo Game 1 they don’t pack 1 mana stack interaction, so if they have 3 mana up and you have a veil + Show and Tell you can go for it, as they won’t have 2 counters in that situation.
  

Beans

Matchup Notes:

• Pretty easy matchup, just goldfish them and make sure you have a way to dig for Borne Upon a Wind

Esper Rescamimator

Matchup Notes:

• In game one, just hope to find a veil to protect from the scam, and in game two try and mull to Leyline of Sanctity, pretty much the entire matchup revolves around Leyline coming down on turn zero.

Golgari Belcher

Matchup Notes:

• Game one you want to outspeed them, there isn’t much else to it, just two ships passing in the night
• In game two the plan is the same as the first, just try and outspeed them. You generally don’t want to mull to leyline too hard but it is very nice to have.