[Deck] ANT (Ad Nauseam Tendrils)

[Patrunkenphat7]

Patrunkenphat7,

I'd love to hear how you sideboard for each matchup. Would you give a brief overview of your SB card choices? Your board is a-typical and I like it.

I'll post it here so everyone else knows what im referring to:

http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...p?DeckID=57897

2 Pithing Needle
4 Xantid Swarm
1 Dread of Night
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Disfigure
1 Echoing Truth
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Tropical Island

Thanks for taking interest in my list and SB. Here are the uses of the following cards and what matchups I bring them in for:

2 Pithing Needle:
I bring these in against Jund and Shardless BUG. I usually board out 1 Therapy and 1 Probe against Shardless and 3 Therapy for the Needles and 1 Inquisition against Jund. The discard in their decks is a minor annoyance, but very easy to beat if they don't have a turn 1 Deathrite. Shutting off their Deathrite or Nihil Spellbomb (or sometimes Liliana of the Veil), makes these games much easier.

2 Disfigure:
Apart from the obvious hatebear answer, this card is really good against Deathblade. Killing Deathrite Shaman or Meddling Mage is an important play post-SB. Killing Bob can also be relevant. I board out a Therapy and a Probe for these against Deathblade. Of course I also board these in against Thalia or Teeg decks.

3 Abrupt Decay:
Everyone should be playing these. I felt like 4 was too clunky, and 3 ended up being fine. Hatebears, MUD, and Counterbalance.

1 Dread of Night:
This is additional Mav/Death and Taxes hate. I think playing 1 or 2 of these is correct. It complements the Disfigures and Decays in these matchups. I don't want to get locked out by their turn 1 Mom draw.

4 Xantid Swarm:
These are specifically for the Show and Tell matchups. The card is just nuts against S+T decks because of their reliance on a combination of Force, Flusterstorm, and Leyline of Sanctity post-SB. I think the S+T matchup is super annoying and high variance post-SB without these, simply because of Leyline of Sanctity. I also board in the 1 Echoing Truth so I can Tendrils combo though Leyline or double Leyline, although sometimes goblins is enough depending on which turn you are on. I board out Therapies first in this matchup just because of the unreliability of this card if you didn't have the Duresses in. Therapies would be bad if you relied on just Probe post-SB to give you information. You are also not always naming Force with Therapy post-SB if they don't have Leyline in play, so 3 Duress and 1 Thoughtseize is safer to leave in. I board out both of my basic Islands in this matchup, because you don't need them and don't have time to durdle around and curve on basic lands. I obviously bring in the 1 Trop, so I am netting -1 land post-SB in this matchup. The Swarms are also very good against Fish, but I am not bring them in against anything competitive other than those 2 archetypes.

1 Echoing Truth:
Playing more than 1 bounce spell wastes slots against S+T, and this card easily answers double Leyline. It's mostly for this matchup. Also bring it in against faster combo playing Empty the Warrens as a miser answer to their fast Empty hand. Bring it in against MUD.

1 Inquisition of Kozilek:
I swap it with Thoughtseize against RUG Delver or fast tempo decks. It comes in against hatebear decks as an additional discard with the maindeck Thoughtseize. It's better than Therapy against Jund or non-blue midrange discard decks. Inquisition is also better than the 2nd basic Island against other combo decks like TES or Reanimator.

My list has evolved over time after tons of testing and playing this deck. After adding the Pithing Needles, I never looked back.

I think sometimes people over-value Therapy post-SB. While it is inherently the most powerful discard spell in the deck, a lot of the time you need consistency and more information post-SB rather than higher variance raw power. It's still one of the best cards against RUG though, and I never board any out against them.

For reference, here is my current list: :)

"Storm"

4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Lotus Petal
4 Lion's Eye Diamond

4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm

4 Duress
3 Cabal Therapy
1 Thoughtseize

4 Infernal Tutor
2 Grim Tutor

1 Past in Flames
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Tendrils of Agony

2 Island
1 Swamp
2 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
4 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Bloodstained Mire

SB
1 Tropical Island
4 Xantid Swarm
1 Echoing Truth
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Disfigure
1 Dread of Night
2 Pithing Needle
1 Inquisition of Kozilek