So I have a few qustions and toughts about the sideboard that I wish to get answered being the casual player I am. I can start out by saying that I have never played with a real sideboard so I am a real beginner at this. I hope you can bare with me :) Anyways, here we go!

1. Is there alot of "skill" involved when playing with a sideboard?

My personal tought about it is that the sideboard is only a "lame" way to put in anticards (cards that are good only versus very few decks). And how hard is it to know that you should add in your Krosan Grips (example) against certain decks (Stax just to take an example)? Perhaps it's a bit more tricky to know what to exhange for those Grips but after a while you probably know that aswell, or? Please tell me if you think I am completely out of my mind here :P

2. How exactly does the sideboard work in tournaments? I mean, if I am correct, you play the first game without changing the deck in any ways and then after that (when g1 as ended) you get to board in cards that you want versus the deck you're facing? But how hard is it to know what deck you're going to face in a tournament? I mean, if you know that, you can just sideboard in the ubercards even before g1? This is especially true when playing casual. If I know i'm facing my friends Stax deck, can't I just add in the Grips right away or is this "forbidden" lol?

Help me out on this will ya!