Unlocking the Vault #21: Sideboarding in Classic

I wanted to take a break from the series of primers that I’ve recently done to focus on one of the subtleties of Classic. One of the most difficult endeavors in Magic is sideboarding. While I don’t consider myself an expert on the matter, I do think that it is something that every player can stand to improve on, so I’m taking the time to share my thoughts on the best sideboard cards in Classic and some general principles on sideboarding.

One of the most difficult aspects of sideboarding is understanding and predicting the metagame. This is considerably harder in wide-open formats or those that have many top tier decks. Standard is perhaps the hardest to sideboard for, as so many rogue decks can crop up over a given season. Additionally, the limited card pool can also make it harder to deal with certain cards, as you may be limited to one or two choices (if there are any reasonable options to begin with).

Ironically, despite having the largest card pool, Classic is perhaps one of the easier formats to sideboard for (note, I did not say the easiest). Due to the overpowered cards present in Classic, the format has a pretty defined top tier metagame. In any given tournament in Classic, you can expect to see Dredge, Oath, Workshop, Fish (and other variations like Delver), Hate Bears, Storm, Affinity, and Blue Control decks. There are some oddball decks that might crop up from time to time such as Red Deck Wins or Dark Depths, but for the most part, you should expect to see the aforementioned decks.

Why do you need a sideboard?

This sounds like such a simple question, but it’s often overlooked when we actually take the time to sit down and choose those 15 cards to fill out our 75 card decks. Naturally, the sideboard is used as a means to shore up those matches where our maindeck is weak (ignoring transformational sideboards for the moment). Yet we don’t always take the time to create ideal sideboards. I’m guilty of this as much as anyone. Another factor is deciding what cards to side-out when it comes time to play Games 2 and 3. There’s no sense in having 8 sideboard cards to bring in if you don’t have 8 cards worth taking out.

With that in mind, it’s understandable why people focus on sideboard strategies for their decks. Knowing exactly which cards to bring in and which cards to take out in any given match can both save time and increase your effectiveness. There is nothing more frustrating than agonizing during sideboarding, trying to decide what to do. Ideally, this should be done during the deck building process, though there are certainly exceptions, such as when your opponent uses a “rogue” card.

What I mean by a sideboard strategy is that you lay out which X cards to bring and which X cards to take out in advance. Each archetype should have its own defined strategy, but the strategy will be individualized for each deck.

Deck Strengths

Generally speaking, each deck will have its own strengths and weaknesses in a metagame. Here is my view on how each deck plays against the expected decks in Classic.

Oath
Strong against: Generally any deck with creatures
Neutral against: Blue Control
Weak against: Dredge, Storm

Workshop
Strong: Blue Control Decks, Dredge, Storm
Neutral:
Weak: Oath, Fish and Hate Bears (can be draw-dependent in these three matchups), and Affinity

Storm
Strong: Oath, Fish, Hate Bears
Neutral: Dredge, Affinity, Blue Control
Weak: Workshop

Fish
Strong: Hate Bears, Workshop
Neutral: Affinity, Blue Control
Weak: Dredge, Oath, Storm

Hate Bears
Strong: Workshop
Neutral: Oath, Blue Control
Weak: Fish, Affinity, Storm, Dredge

Blue Control
Strong: Oath, Affinity
Neutral: Storm, Fish, Hate Bears
Weak: Workshop, Dredge

Affinity
Strong: Workshop, Fish, Hate Bears
Neutral: Blue Control, Dredge, Storm
Weak: Oath

Dredge
Strong: Preboard, non-Workshop decks
Neutral: Post-board, non-Workshop decks
Weak: Workshop

Card Choices

With all that being said, here is a lengthy list of card choices to consider when compiling your 15-card sideboard.

Creature Spot Removal

Swords to Plowshares (STP) is still the king of targeted removal. In control decks, if you aren’t packing Swords in the maindeck, it’s an excellent spot removal card out of the board. The life gain is nigh irrelevant since, once your opponent’s threats have been cleared, control decks’ card advantage should take over the game.

Path to Exile is not quite as good as STP because decks that do play basic lands will benefit too much from the extra land.

Lightning Bolt will hit most creatures in the format, and can double as a kill condition. Just about the only creatures that Bolt can’t kill are Wurmcoil Engine, Steel Hellkite, Tarmogoyf (if there are at least two different non-instant card types in the graveyard already), Tinker-bots, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite.

Diabolic Edict is the best option against Oath’ed up creatures like Emrakul and Blightsteel Colossus. Geths Verdict is almost certainly strictly worse in most decks, but costs about 1/10 of the price.

Dismember is a standard staple. Dismember is also a decent sideboard option for decks that don’t have the luxury of playing with colored mana. Workshop and Affinity decks are best suited to the luxury of this Phyrexian mana removal spell.

Soul Snare is a card that I’ve not seen anyone use yet. It’s found only in the Commander preconstructed decks, so perhaps that’s a factor. But, as a 1-mana (or 2-mana, depending on when it will be used) land mine against Oath decks, it would seem that Hate Bears and perhaps Fish decks could use this in conjunction with STP. If Emrakul is attacking, the annihilation goes on the stack before this can exile him, though.

Darkblast is Yixlid Jailer‘s mortal enemy, best utilized by Dredge decks.

Firestorm is another option for Dredge decks. Its secondary ability of discarding cards stands to benefit Dredge decks the best.

Triskelion is a great option for Workshop decks to help fight off the numerous little critters in the format. When combined with Goblin Welder, Trike can do some serious damage. Compared to Dismember, I would personally choose the instant, so long as I had access to lifelink creatures such as Wurmcoil Engine and/or Batterskull.

Sower of Temptation, Seasinger, Preacher, and Old Man of the Sea are all creatures that can steal your opponents’ creatures, but they have subtle differences between them. Sower is best utilized against decks like Oath where the only creature your opponent has in play is a large, game-changing fatty. Seasinger is also a good fit against Oath decks as they likely have an island in play. Preacher is similar to Sower for decks that don’t have access to blue mana (Hate Bears). Old Man is a good option in fending off creature decks like Hate Bears and Fish, though he is a little mana intensive at a colorless and 2 blue mana to cast.

Duplicant. Workshop decks can use Duplicant as removal for problematic creatures. While best used for large fatties like Oath and Tinker-bots, I’ve certainly used it to take out Hate Bears and other small creatures.

Razormane Masticore – Similar to Duplicant for Workshop decks, but more effective against small creatures. Razormane is slow, and its drawback can be difficult for Workshop decks to manage. First strike is relevant, though, as it can take out many creatures in the format, and is especially adept at taking out Lodestone Golems in the mirror match and against Affinity.

Creature and Board Sweepers

While spot removal of creatures is important, access to board sweepers for many control decks is perhaps more important. Blue decks that can access multiple colors of mana have even more choices:

Firespout – As with Bolt, very few creature will survive the 3 damage that Spout does. A little mana-intensive at 3 mana, and really only effective as a true sweeper when you have access to both green and red mana, it is still one of the best sweepers available for Blue decks.

Pyroclasm – Not as strong as Spout, but more mana efficient and hits both flying and non-flying creatures for only 2 mana.

Massacre – Against Bears decks, Massacre is… well let’s just say it lives up to its name. The one downside is that while it can be free to cast, sometimes meeting the criteria can be a problem. If a Bears player suspects you have Massacre, they could decide to sandbag their Savannahs to prevent it from being cast for free. They could also Wasteland all your swamps (read: Underground Seas) to also keep you from casting it. Being sorcery speed doesn’t help either.

Perish – Fish decks that load up on green creatures are especially vulnerable to Perish. Not quite effective against Bears decks, as most of their creatures are in fact white (Leonin Relic Warder, Leonin Arbiter, Ethersworn Canonist, etc.), but there are some green cards there as well (‘Goyf, Gaddock Teeg, Qasali Pridemage).

Engineered Explosives – Again, access to multiple colors makes this card shine. It can even be fetched up with Trinket mage and Tezzeret the Seeker, which makes it even more flexible, even as just a singleton in out of the sideboard.

Pernicious Deed – Similar to Explosives, but is more effective as a sweeper, as it clears everything with casting cost less than or equal to the cost paid. Deed is probably only an option for some Tinker decks, as most other decks will not want to blow up any of their own permanents, though I suppose a case could be made for Jacerator decks as well.

Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite – As a sideboard card out of Oath and Dredge, Elesh Norn can be an absolute beating against creature decks, especially Hate Bears and Dredge. With Elesh Norn on the table, every threat from Dredge is neutralized, considering that it would be impossible to pay the alternate cost of Dread Return without any creatures on the board. In the Dredge mirror, Elesh Norn is the ultimate trump. For Oath decks, Elesh Norn will shut down most creature-based decks.

General Artifact and Enchantment Removal

Nature’s Claim – The ultimate artifact and enchantment spot removal card. About the only strike against this card is that it’s vulnerable to Mental Misstep. There is a long list of critical targets for Claim such as Sphere effects, Oath of Druids, Workshop creatures, Leyline of the Void, Grafdiggers Cage, equipment, and much more.

Ancient Grudge – A two-for-one artifact removal card. Aside from Grafdiggers Cage, this is the best artifact spot removal available. Other spot artifact removal cards worth considering include Rack and Ruin, Smash to Smithereens, Oxidize, and Shattering Spree.

Naturalize and Disenchant are both flexible, targeting both artifacts and enchantments. Their best common attribute, though, is that it dodges Misstep (though it is a target for Spell Snare).

Serenity is an efficient, albeit slow, sweeper for artifacts and enchantments. Perhaps only Blightsteel is impervious to Serenity. Compared to Kataki, this is a much better choice against Affinity if you have access to white mana.

Wispmare is basically only effective as a solution to Leyline of the Void for Dredge decks. It can also be useful in fighting off Oath.

Workshop and Affinity Hate

Kataki, Wars Wage – While not as potent against Affinity decks, Kataki is a beating against Workshop decks since restriction-free mana is hard to come by for that deck.

Kill Switch – A colorless option to deal with artifact-heavy decks. It’s a little mana-intensive, but it gets the job done, and can even tie up a Blightsteel. Affinity just folds to Kill Switch. Workshop decks that don’t have Mishra’s Factory are also dead in the water.

Annul and Steel Sabotage – If preventing artifacts and enchantments from hitting the battlefield is your style, these two cards may suit your fancy. Annul has the flexibility to take out both artifacts and enchantments but is a terrible topdeck if the threat is already on the table. Sabotage, on the other hand, can be a decent topdeck, especially against Tinker Decks, to bounce Tinker-bots back to their owners’ hands. In metagames filled with Oath, Annul is the better choice, while Sabotage is better against Workshop and Tinker metagames.

Hurkyl’s Recall and Rebuild – These two artifact bounce spells are great options against Workshop and Affinity decks. Rebuild is slightly better for Storm decks to help bounce your own Lotus Petals and/or Lion’s Eye Diamonds to help build storm counts. For all other purposes, Hurkyls is much a much better option. It costs less and performs the same task. Both can also double as Tinker-bot protection.

Trygon Predator – Predator is a great sideboard card for Blue decks to fight off Oath and Workshop decks. Affinity decks are also vulnerable to Predator, so long as they don’t have an Ornithopter on the board. Often, against Workshop and Oath, if Predator hits the table before any of their threats, it’s game over.

Energy Flux – Similar to Kataki, but for decks without access to white mana. If given the choice, I would probably prefer to use a spell like Hurkyl’s Recall, which is flexible and can work against decks like Affinity which is nearly immune to Flux as they would likely just load up on Arcbound Ravager and gladly pay the 2 mana.

Ingot Chewer – Similar to Wispmare, Chewer is really only an option for Dredge decks to fight off things like Spheres, Cages, and Golems.

Oath Hate

Spawning Pit – Here is an interesting card that started to see more play during the Classic Winter Celebration, coming out of the board of Workshop decks to fight off Oath decks and their Spirit tokens from Forbidden Orchard.

Culling Dais – Here’s another card along the lines of Spawning Pit, but which can’t quite handle multiple Orchards. Instead of placing creatures on the battlefield, Dias lets you draw cards, but ultimately Spawning Pit is a better choice since you can sacrifice it at the end of your opponent’s turn and fill your battlefield with a bunch of creatures to swing in on your following turn.

Grafdiggers Cage – The new kid on the block, Cage is a great catch-all for many “fair” decks to fend off the “unfair” decks. Not quite the boogieman that many people would like to think, but it is certainly a great option for creature-based decks like Fish and Hate Bears.

Trygon Predator – See above.

Storm Hate

Flusterstorm and Mindbreak Trap – Both of these cards are highly effective against Storm decks. Besides their effectiveness against Storm, both are great at winning counter wars against other blue-based control decks. Any deck that has access to blue mana will probably prefer Flusterstorm. Decks without access to blue mana, like Hate Bears, will benefit from Trap’s alternative casting cost.

Ethersworn Canonist – Canonist is Hate Bears’ only creature-based option to fight Storm. It is mildly annoying against other decks but best suited for fighting Storm decks.

Stifle – While not a typical sideboard card, it is highly effective at stopping the Storm trigger and can also stop a fetch land or Strip Mine activation in a pinch.

Countermagic

Blue decks may wish to pack more countermagic in their sideboards to help win counter wars against other blue decks. As a pilot of such a deck, if you expect to play a lot of mirror matches, extra countermagic in the sideboard can mean the difference between landing your trump (like Tinker) or not.

Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast – These two spells are best for fighting in counter wars. Their single-red-mana casting cost is easily accounted for with just a single Volcanic Island in the mainboard, and each can double as a 1-mana Vindicate for Delver of Secrets, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and many other problematic blue permanents. Between the two, there is a subtle difference. Basically, Red Blast can only be cast if there is already a blue spell or permanent on the stack or the battlefield, respectively, for it to target, whereas Pyroblast can be cast regardless of the color of the target, but will have no effect unless the spell of permanent is blue. This is only important when factoring in strange cards like Wild Ricochet, as Red Blast cannot be redirected (by Wild Ricochet) to target Wild Ricochet because it is not blue. Note that Misdirection can, on the other hand, ‘counter’ Red Blast because Misdirection can redirect the Red Blast to counter Misdirection itself, which is blue. (While a spell can never target itself, Misdirection’s “with a single target” clause doesn’t actually represent something that the Misdirection itself targets, but rather a target for the spell that Misdirection targets. This allows a spell like Misdirection to effectively ‘counter’ a counterspell.) Strictly speaking, Pyroblast may be slightly better for this somewhat silly reason. However, if you are playing one of the blasts in the sideboard of your Storm deck, it might be preferable to use Pyroblast since, on the off chance that there are no blue permanents or spells available to target, you can still use it to increase your storm count by targeting a land. All in all, these cards are so close to being functionally identical that in most cases, you might as well consider them to be so.

Flusterstorm and Mindbreak Trap – Please see note above.

Spell Snare – Great at countering the plethora of 2-drop creatures in the format: ‘Goyf, Dark Confidant, Snapcaster Mage, all the Hate Bears, etc. It’s also adept at countering Mana Drain, Demonic Tutor, and Time Vault, some of the most common cards in Blue decks.

Spell Pierce – Pierce is another high-quality spell against blue-based control decks to help win counter wars and counter Planeswalkers. While Pierce is easy to play around, just having it as a threat can buy you 1-2 turns.

Dredge Hate

Generally, 6-7 hate cards are the norm against Dredge. Some decks like Workshop have a natural advantage over Dredge as Spheres can prevent a Dredge player from casting any spell. Nonetheless, Dredge is fast, and has little overlap with other decks’ strategies, and therefore good sideboard cards are usually narrow in scope. When building my sideboards, I generally start with 4 Leyline and 3-4 other cards to help deal with Dredge decks. Lately, I’ve been using Cages, but I don’t know if that’s where every deck wants to go right now. Anyway, here are the options for fighting Dredge:

Leyline of the Void – The ultimate hate card for Dredge. Leyline coming down on Turn 0 is public enemy #1. There is a reason this card is not only the most common sideboard card in all of Classic but in fact consistently the highest played card in the entire format.

Grafdiggers Cage – Cage’s flexibility is what separates it from all the other Dredge hate options. Stopping Dread Return, Narcomoeba, Ichorid and Bloodghast, it can hammer Dredge decks lacking answers to it.

Yixlid Jailer – Jailer, in the absence of Cage, used to be the #2 hate card against Dredge decks for any deck with access to black mana. Since the printing of Cage, Jailer has taken a back seat, but that’s not to say that we should simply ignore it going forward. If Dredge decks cannot only adapt but even thrive in the format, Jailer should be the next card looked at when trying to fight the good fight against Dredge.

Ravenous Trap – Trap’s best attribute is catching the Dredge pilot off guard. Every other Dredge hate card (besides Surgical Extraction) has to enter the battlefield before it can be used. In terms of usability though, this card is outclassed by Leyline and Cage since it can really only be useful against Dredge decks, with the exception of disrupting a Snapcaster or shrinking a ‘Goyf.

Tormods Crypt – The original, and still the best of the artifact graveyard removal tools. Its 0-mana casting cost and 0-mana activation cost make this card the most reasonable choice for artifact-based graveyard removal.

Nihil Spellbomb – Similar to Crypt, but costing 1 mana to cast. It also has the upside of being able to draw a cand for an additional one mana.

Relic of Progenitus – Relic is slightly more flexible than Spellbomb and Crypt in that it can disrupt Oath decks and their reshuffling triggers from Blightsteel and Emrakul while also disrupting Snapcaster and shrinking ‘Goyfs in a pinch.

Wheel of Sun and Moon – Hate Bears decks can choose to play Wheel in absence to Leyline if they are afraid of drawing a dead card. In the end, I still prefer the upside of a Turn 0 Leyline instead of waiting until Turn 2 (or hoping for a Elvish Spirit Guide).

Surgical Extraction – With the increase of Snapcaster Decks, Extraction is a popular option, as it can be cast for free with its Phyrexian mana cost. It’s best to view Extraction as a scalpel, rather than a long-term solution to fight off Dredge.

Scavenging Ooze – A popular option for Legacy, Ooze isn’t nearly as popular in Classic, though its effectiveness is nearly the same when it actually hits the board. While Ooze is somewhat slow, it’s one of the few creatures that can (eventually) fight ‘Goyf. For Fish decks, Ooze is probably a decent maindeck option, but could be useful out of the board.

Pithing Needle – Needle has lost its place in the Classic metagame, but that doesn’t mean we should forget about it. It can shut down Bazaar of Baghdad, Jace, and a whole host of other cards with activation costs.

Transformational Sideboards

Some decks can benefit from transformational sideboards. Transformational sideboards eschew specific card choices in order to completely change the scope of the deck to counter any sideboard strategy the opponent might employ. One such example is converting an Oath deck into a Storm deck (and visa versa).

Wrap-up

I hope this will serve as a compendium of sorts for people looking to fill out their sideboards in Classic. I spent a lot of time compiling this list, but there are undoubtedly a few cards I left out that should be on this list. Feel free to let me know what cards I might have missed out on in the comment section below.

One final note: On Saturday March 31^st, Clan Lotus Farmers has scheduled a PRE Open for any people interested in playing in a large Classic event. Details of the event can be found here. Just note that decklists are due in by 8pm EDT on Friday March 30^th.

Enderfall
Clan Magic Eternal
Follow me on Twitter: @enderfall