Typical Sideboarding

[dahcmai]

I am curious what people normally sideboard in for certain decks. Like most of us here, I don't own every single card to build every single deck. I have never even thought about picking up Merfolk or Dredge so I have no clue what they board in for certain match ups.

I'd like this thread to have a running set up of what people board in against what. You play your deck way more than I do obviously so you would know what's boarded without thinking about it.

I am curious mainly because I have no idea what is hiding in some of these boards and I don't like being surprised. I like to know what people will always have there and what is the speculative spots that can be changed up.

If we have a list of these items, people would be able to see what the standard stuff is that might accidentally hate on your deck or you may see a pattern of nothing being useful against another. It's nice to know what comes out also. I board out some odd things occasionally.

I play Lands so I'll start with that and people can post what they do in their matches. So here's what you can expect from most people who play it regularly.

Lands:

4 Chalice Of The Void
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Zuran Orb
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Extirpate
1 Ray Of Revelation
2 Krosan Grip
3 Pithing Needle

My odd board compared to some others is due to Ensnaring bridge and a Tormod's Crypt being main. Most people like to board those, but they have saved me too much with all the reanimator we have around here.

The Grips, Ancient Grudge, Ray, Chalices, Z orb, and Crypt are standard fare. Needles are one of my touches. You won't see those much. I have heard of people putting in Hexmages, Volrath's Stronghold, Urborg, and Dark Depths lately, so I guess you might see that. If they have Black, they will more than likely have Dark Confidants in the board on top of that.

Smokestack is another standard one, though I'm not a fan. It's good, but only in drawn out games and I never mind dragging it out.

Against Zoo:

Chalice of the Void +4, Z-Orb +1
Crypt -1, Ports -4

I almost always will bring in Chalice of the Void for the burn and if I get lucky I can shut down all the 1cc critters right off the bat also. I tend to try and get an Exploration or Manabond and then dump it at 1. Once I have a definite advantage in mana and a couple of the better hate lands in hand or in play, I dump the next one at 2. Yes, I shut off my own Loams. Price is bad though, and I'm not letting one slip in. Zuran Orb or Chasm lock early might allow me to not do that, but I play a main Crucible to let me get away with it.

Not much else comes in aside from the Z Orb and Chalices. Typically Crypt is -1, Rishadan Port -4. Crypt is obvious, Ports is mainly because they have instant speed burn anyway and I tend to spend more time going after lock out peices than trying to mana screw them.



Storm combo (the nightmare match)

Chalice of the Void +4, Extirpate +2, Z Orb +1
Maze of Ith -4, -1 Tabernacle unless I saw Red mana, -? Ports

I haven't actually lost to storm yet, but people say it's a nightmare match up. I don't understand how I keep pulling out of it, but it happens. It's a simple enough plan. Chalice at 0, then 1 after you search up another with Tolaria west. If I get enough turns, I will dump another @2. Drop Z orb if you have it. Hold open black mana for Extirpate and hit them anytime they stack the deck in some useful fashion (SDT with tutor on top or some such). Mishra's go to town when you have any open mana not being used for that turn. Simple enough plan.


Merfolk

Krosan Grip +2, Ray of Revelation +1.
-1 Crypt and I pick 2 of something else depending on the build I saw. Standard would be Crucible and Chasm (I'm not a fan of Chasm)

I fully expect to see Back to Basics. It's entirely too common of hate to come out of that deck.

I sit and wait for it while doing the usual land thing. Merfolk isn't too bad if you get early hate so it's not real bad to be able to sit back a little. Grips are really there to hit a vial when you have a standstill out. I'll wait until you have a full hand, then grip the vial at end of turn. I will get it and you will discard down. Not the greatest plan, but it's better than giving up 3 cards on my turn.


New Horizons (I've barely had a chance to play against this)

Pithing Needle +3


I can't say too much about this one since it's new and have barely played against it other than fun games and hardly ever boarded. All I really have to watch out for is inconveniently timed wastelands in game 1 and it seems heavily weighted in my favor. From looking at the board, I would expect those Crypts to come in against me, so hence the Needles.


Control decks w CB and such.

Pithing Needle +3, Extirpate +2. Chalice if I see enough 1cc spells or something. Grips if it's mono-U and so on. Varies quite a bit.

Pithing Needle is almost exclusively in the board for this. Jace 2 is scary. Very Scary. Lands can't fight him worth a crap. I've seen people adding black to cover for this so they can use Hexmage. I hated the black splash so I went the Needle route. I figured at the worst I can put it back with an Academy ruins if I have to. They probably won't be boarding much anti-artifact hate anyway.

Extirpate is an odd one, but I like to be able to screw up Counterbalance activations when I need to shove something through. It's not really for grave hate, just an odd way to make someone shuffle. If I can hit a win con or Forces, sure, but normally, I save it to mess up CB.

Mirror -

I've never actually ran into the Mirror and no one around here has this deck. It's not something you see often. Lands is actually quite a rare deck as it's cost is prohibitive. I think I would just board in my Extirpates and Chalices and Chalice @2 and rely on the fact that I can win without loams. I run Meloku / Volrath's Stronghold main along with a Crucible. I think that would probably shock them some. That's just a first guess on how to fight the mirror, but It's what I would do without having played it.



Well, that's a decent idea of what I would board in a few matches. I'd love to hear what the Merfolk players and Zoo players board against other decks as I am not sold on the idea of playing Lands in Columbus despite it being my best deck. (Too much hate for my taste)

[anonymos]

I'm a long time Enchantress player.

My current board looks something like this:

Going to change now that ANT is looking weak.

1 Lignify
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Choke
2 Carpet of Flowers
1 Solitary Confinement
1 Humility
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 CoP: Red
2 Runed Halo
2 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Replenish
1 Karmic Justice

Zoo:

Out: 1 Sigil of the Empty Throne, 1 Mirri's Guile, 1 Seal of Primordium, 1 Blood Moon
In: 1 Solitary Confinement, 1 Humility, 1 Oblivion Ring, 1 Lignify

My goal is to chop a win condition and things that generally aren't as useful for some more anti-creature stuff and more overall surviability.

Merfolk:

Out: 2 Wild Growth, 1 Blood Moon
In: 2 Carpet of Flowers, 1 Choke

I'll probably also grab something to get the 3rd Replenish into the deck, but what I grab there depends mostly on mood than a definite plan. If they show a splash color it will also change my plans slightly.

Lands:

Out: 2 Solitary Confinement, 1 Lignify, 1 Moat
In: 2 Wheel of Sun and Moon, 1 Seal of Cleansing, 1 Karmic Justice

This match is all about them getting one very specific land on board in significant numbers. They want their Ports online. If you can stop that, you win. It's really that simple. They can't waste you out. Wheel makes their plan useless, and I run a main deck blood moon. I'll also swap Wild Growth and Carpet of flowers if they are in the blue splash.

Countertop:

Out: 2 Wild Growth, 1 Lignify, 1 Solitary Confinement, 1 Elephant Grass
In: 2 Carpet of Flowers, 1 Choke, 1 Seal of Cleansing, 1 Replenish

It really depends on what build they are playing on how you want this to work. If they're creature heavy with the Progenitus plan, you keep your E. Grass and bring in Runed Halo. If they are on a thopter plan, you want more removal like Seal of Cleansing and their ilk.

New Horizons

Out: 1 Wild Growth, 1 Seal of Primordium, 1 Serra's Sanctum
In: 2 Runed Halo (maybe), 2 Carpet of Flowers, 1 Choke, 1 Replenish (maybe)

Blood Moon is your friend. They are going to have dead draws (more or less) in the form of Wasteland. I actually drop one of their big targets in favor of something else that makes mass mana that they can't wasteland. The Choke is there to complement my Blood Moon since they really only run one land that doesn't fall to them. Runed Halo is mostly because they have 3 real threats in their deck. It can neuter them rather easily. Wheel of Sun and Moon is also an option.

Mirror Match

Out: 1 Lignify, 1 Blood Moon, 1 Sigil of the Empty Throne, 1 Moat, 2 Elephant Grass
In: 2 Wheel of Sun and Moon, 1 Replenish, 1 Seal of Cleansing, 1 Oblivion Ring, 1 Karmic Justice

Run and hide because it's the end of the world. My goal is to have more removal game 2 and hopefully winning game 1. Honestly, expect game 1 to come close to time unless someone gets blown out by something crazy. My plan basically becomes Wheel myself then hide behind a Confinement. Destroy opposing Sterling Groves when you can.