Lorwyn Eclipsed Spoiler season has finally begun, and Wizards of the Coast has hit the ground running. This set is looking to be extremely powerful with all kinds of new format-defining cards. With a new collection of Evoke Elementals, references to powerful cards, and all kinds of typal shenanigans on the way, Lorwyn Eclipsed looks like a shoo-in for success.
Among these, the new takes on old powerhouses already have many MTG players interested. Meek Attack, while undeniably weaker than its Sneak Attack predecessor, might be able to establish new combo decks in multiple formats.
Meek Attack MTG
For three mana, Meek Attack offers a Sneak Attack with some significant downsides. Not only does it cost more mana to cheat a creature from your hand into play, but the creatures you cheat in need to be quite small. With a limit of only five power and toughness combined, the number of relevant cards that Meek Attack can cheat in is quite slim. The trade-off is that Meek Attack is legal in newer formats.
Even though Meek Attack can only cheat in a select few creatures, there are still some powerful cards to consider. For Pioneer and beyond, Meek Attack can put a very early Agent of Treachery into play. This card has already caused problems in various formats when played early, thanks to creature cheating cards like Lukka, Coppercoat Outcast.
By stealing a permanent on entry, Agent of Treachery also encourages players to use cards that ignore Meek Attack’s final downside. The enchantment typically sacrifices creatures that it cheats in on the end step, but with blink effects, you can keep Agent of Treachery around while taking advantage of its enters triggers multiple times.
A New Standard Combo Deck
Fortunately for Standard players, Agent of Treachery is not legal in the format, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some other powerful cards for players to cheat in. Thanks to Meek Attack’s ability to cheat in Famished Worldsire, a whole new combo deck could be unlocked for the format.
Thanks to being a zero-power creature in hand, Famished Worldsire can get around the restrictions of Meek Attack, turning into a massive creature when it enters play. Couple this with Earthbender Ascension, and you can easily swing for lethal trampling damage with just six lands in play.
This may be enough to make running Famished Worldsire worth it, but there is potential to go further. Combining Worldsire’s entry ability with Spelunking or The Wandering Minstrel allows the Meek Attacked creature to double as a powerful ritual. Follow that up with Lumra, Bellow of the Woods, and any landfall trigger should be able to close the game out. Alternatively, you could use the extra mana to cheat other creatures into play. Prime Speaker Zegana, for example, can draw a ridiculous amount of cards from your deck, easily winning the game as early as turn four.
If that weren’t enough, Lorwyn Eclipsed even offers players additional consistency to make Meek Attack Combos click. Revealed during the Lorwyn Eclipsed First Look, Formidable Speaker can tutor up your Famished Worldsire in a flash. You can even follow up a turn three Meek Attack by cheating both Speaker and your tutored creature.
Finally, thanks to some relatively new developments, Standard decks also have the potential to get around Meek Attack’s sacrificial downside. This can be accomplished either by flickering your creature with Charming Prince or countering the end step ability with Spider-Sense.
Other Meek Attack Options
Past Agent of Treachery and Famished Worldsire, the options for MTG Meek Attack become a lot less interesting. That said, there are some other powerful cards that could merit trying the enchantment in both constructed and Commander.
There are a whole bunch of creatures, like Threefold Thunderhulk and Hornet Queen that could create an instant board with Meek Attack. That said, without another cheat element like Collector’s Cage, building around this payoff probably isn’t good enough outside of Commander.
Outside of cheating big, understatted creatures into play, there’s a meaningful chance that Meek Attack enables combos with lower mana value creatures. The card specifically helps out creatures that need Haste to tick, like Rona, Herald of Invasion, allowing many infinite-related strategies to avoid sorcery speed removal. Similarly, cheating in a now Standard-legal Bloom Tender allows it to tap for mana immediately.
With so many different applications, we would be surprised if MTG Meek Attack didn’t see play somewhere. The build-around potential for this enchantment is massive, providing the potential for crazy new combo lines in all kinds of formats.
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