Source: Inquest #21 (Jan 1997), pp.38-39; author: Mike Ruff

"While creatures that can attack the turn they come into play have been around forever, Mirage gives the strategy a new look.  Sure, Magic's latest set has new abilities like phasing and flanking, but it's also got lots of new cards 'unaffected by summoning sickness.'

It used to be that overly expensive creatures like Ambush Party and Balduvian War-Makers were your only option for an ambush deck.  But now, through the magic of modern medicine, summoning sickness is one step away from being cured.  Creatures like Talruum Minotaur and Volcanic Dragon are good creatures for their price.  And given the right deck to shine in, Ball Lightning and Eron the Relentless have always been prime for the spotlight.

Why is it so beneficial to attack the first turn?  Two reasons.  First, the element of surprise.  Plop your creature out after your opponent attacks and all his creatures are tapped.  A creature that normally might have been easily blocked or killed will now get through and deal its damage.  Hooray!  The surprise factor also works when your opponent has all their mana tapped.  Now you can be relatively sure to get in some creature damage before he can Lightning Bolt or Swords to Plowshare your sneaky attacker.

The second advantage is simple math.  Your creature can deal that initial damage right away and then again on the next turn, when a normal creature will only deal damage once during that same time.  Double the fun!

The biggest boon to the ambush deck is Shallow Grave, which adds the element of surprise to one of your *dead* creatures.  Sure, it only lets you have the creature for one turn, but that's all you need.  The best use of this card is with Ball Lightning, a creature that would die at the end of the turn anyway.  Return your Ball Lightning to play for six more points of trample damage.  Not many players can withstand more than a couple of singeing hits.

And Shallow Grave is an instant, so you can also use it to bring a creature as a surprise blocker.  Got an Erhnam coming your way?  Eron the Relentless fits the bill nicely.

Of course, creatures without summoning sickness have their share of drawbacks.  As with any good special creature ability, there is a trade off - in this case, it's a slightly higher casting cost.  So how do you counteract this disadvantage?  You take control of the game long enough to build up the mana to get the creatures out.

One of the most tried-and-true methods of slowing your opponent down is land destruction.  With Pillage, Stone Rain, a Strip Mine and even a Dwarven Miner for non-basic lands, red land destruction has never been more viable.  Coincidentally, red is the colour of the majority of 'ambush' creatures.  Shocking!

Toss in the Fire Diamond, Charcoal Diamond and Thawing Glaciers to further your early mana advantage and you should have a very controlling land destruction force.

With your opponent's resources depleted, you won't need much creature control other than a couple of Bolts and Kaervek's Torches.
The Torches are a nice addition since they're even tougher against permission decks.  Noew that cheesy blue player will have to leave *four* mana untapped to safely guard against a big direct damage spell.  And if the match runs long, that's when the Hammer of Bogardan can be useful - either take out creatures or do three damage to your opponent at least every other turn.

Possibly the best news of all is that Final Fortune, touted as the new Time Walk, has a prominent place in our library.  It's kill or be killed when Final Fortune comes out, but with this deck that's not a problem.  With all the creatures that can attack the first turn, plenty of direct damage and the cheap Shallow Grave, all you have to do is wait till you[r] opponent is vulnerable, either by tapping out or having no blockers, and then cast your death blow.

A white deck, heavy with Swords to Plowshares, can be a headache.  Luckily, Mirage has blessed us with a tremendous red creature, Wildfire Emissary.  With protection from white and a toughness of four, it's one of a select few creatures that can't be Plowed *or* Bolted.  Of course, its built-in pump ability doesn't suck either.

Other white spells will give this deck a headache, so come prepared with a sideboard heavy against white.  Enchantments like Kismet, C.O.P. Red and Land Tax need to be dealt with quickly, so stock your sideboard with Anarchy.  And just to make things even more difficult for the white player, slap out Reign of Chaos - it can take out a creature *and* a plains.  Even better, Reign of Chaos also works on blue; couple that with Red Elemental Blast and a blue player is stopped dead in their tracks.

For creature-heavy decks, Pyroclasms should do the trick for small pests, and the Spitting Earths will kill the larger stuff.  But should your opponent get a big creature in play, let him attack, reach into your bag of tricks and slap Delirium on it.  Not only do you thwart the offensive, but the creature attacks your nemesis instead.

Just remember, if you keep destroying your opponent's resources they'll have a nearly impossible time stopping your onslaught of damage.  And get that damage out quickly.  The element of surprise is on your side.  Oh, and in case you didn't already notice, there are no Ice Age or Fallen Empires cards in this deck, making it 'new' Type II legal.

After you play this deck for a while, try to go back to your old, diseased creatures.  You'll wish they had all discovered a cure for summoning sickness."