[09] Alena, Livio & Zirda: The Triumvirate (EDH / Commander)

Power lvl: 5,5/10
Complexity: 8/10
Salt lvl: Low
Infinite combos: Yes
Tutor quality: Low
Webcam-unfriendly cards: Mimic Vat

I always wanted to build a Sneak Attack deck. But I also love to make things more difficult for myself. It doesn't get much more difficult than a RW Zirda, the Dawnbreaker Sneak Attack deck.

The primary game plan is simple:
1) If you don't have Sneak Attack or Purphoros, the Bronze-Blooded , tutor for them using Enlightened Tutor etc.;
2) Activate a Sneak Attack ability and put a threat onto the battlefield; and
3) Flicker the threat with a flicker spell/ability (Eldrazi Displacer, Livio, Oathsworn Sentinel or Cosmic Intervention), or reanimate it from the graveyard using Goblin Welder, Nim Deathmantle, Mimic Vat or Feldon of the Third Path.

The deck is also often able to cast the threat for the full cost, mainly via Alena, Kessig Trapper, Jeska's Will and the various mana rocks. You also have access to infinite mana thanks to Zirda, the Dawnbreaker + Basalt Monolith, Alena, Kessig Trapper + Staff of Domination or Jeska's Will + Reiterate.

If the Sneak Attack route or the infinite mana aren't working, you can always tutor up the good ol' Heliod, Sun-Crowned + Walking Ballista combo; the Walking Ballista acts as an infinite mana outlet as well.

In order to execute your gameplan, you should lay low for the initial turns until you have your hand set up. The deck has very limited options for drawing cards, so protect your draw engines and try to keep up Reiterate and Reverberate for any potential big blue draw spells your opponents cast.

Tips:
1) Use Boros Garrison to return land MDFCs (Shatterskull Smashing // Shatterskull, the Hammer Pass) to reuse them in later turns.
2) Always try to cast Alena, Kessig Trapper early, she leads to broken plays and gives you access to infinite combos.
3) Never overextend! Plan for explosive turns; the first 5 turns are for setup only.
4) Deflecting Swat, Reverberate & Reiterate are the most versatile spells in the arsenal, so save them as long as possible.
5) Use Livio, Oathsworn Sentinel as a political tool to survive the early turns.
6) Field of Ruin, Boros Garrison, Winds of Abandon and Path to Exile are ways to turn on Weathered Wayfarer's ability.
7) Fetch snow basics (and Alpine Meadow) first for Field of the Dead.
8) Cosmic Intervention bring back fetchlands, thus functioning as a pseudo-ramp card.
9) You can profitably sacrifice Flagstones of Trokair to Lorehold Command.
10) High Market is the only repeatable sac outlet in the deck, but it can be tutored easily.
11) Sevinne's Reclamation is considered a ramp spell in this deck due to its ability to return a fetchland. A well-timed Sevinne's Reclamation can also recur a destroyed Zirda, the Dawnwaker, allowing you to combo off right away.
12) The deck includes 3 Foretell cards (Delayed Blast Fireball, Doomskar, Cosmic Intervention), allowing you to keep some amount of hidden information even when using this deck regularly. Unfortunately, none of the other available Foretell cards could make the cut.