Once In A While You Get Shown The Light

I made mythic yesterday and posted it on Twitter. I then got some folks who were looking for a sideboard guide, which makes sense because my last one was from a month ago. The deck is mostly the same since then, but a couple of things have changed, and more importantly, the decks you'll be facing have changed. Today I want to go over how to sideboard but also go into detail about how to play the matches. Here's the Jund list currently for reference.

Jund Sacrifice

-3 Bonecrusher Giant, -2 Valki, -2 Esika's Chariot, -1 Vraska

+3 Grafdigger's Cage, +2 Eliminate, +1 Abrade, +2 Shivan Fire

Taking out Bonecrusher and bringing in Shivan Fire might look a little strange, but you can't really rely on Stomp resolving. The difference between a one mana removal spell and two is pretty huge, as is the ability to hit a Mayhem Devil in the late game. Esika's Chariot comes out because they don't have to attack you at all to win the game.

Playing against Jund Sacrifice is simple in theory but difficult in practice. If you can break up the Cat/Oven combo, then you definitely should. Maelstrom Pulse or a Vraska -3 on an Oven is often the right thing to do. Outside of that, try to make sure Mayhem Devil stays off the battlefield as much as possible, as does Priest of Forgotten Gods. In sideboarded games, I like to mulligan semi-aggressively to find Grafdigger's Cage or Scavenging Ooze. A five card hand of Cage and some removal is often enough to win the game if they don't find an Abrade.

What to take with Thoughtseize is pretty context dependent, but if you have a Sarulf then protect it at all costs. If not, then the best thing you can do is nab a Collected Company, of course, but also Midnight Reaper. Chevill and Ooze are great in this matchup as well, but not lights out like Sarulf is if it lives. 

Gruul 

-4 Thoughtseize, -2 Valki

+3 Shivan Fire, +2 Eliminate, +1 Abrade

You're going to find that I'm not bringing in Grafdigger's Cage against a lot of the Collected Company decks because it's pretty awful when you draw the Cage but your opponent doesn't have Company. Some Company decks play Company and another card that Cage shuts off, like Jund Sacrifice and Elves. The goal with our sideboard plan is to make sure we don't get run over by their fastest draws. The card advantage of stuff like Esika's Chariot, Chevill, Jegantha will eventually get us to the win if we can get to the late game.

Timing your removal spells matters a lot. Against, say, a Pelt Collector, the best time to cast an instant-speed removal spell is after their first main phase but before attackers. You never know if they have a juicier target, like a Robber of the Rich, and also it could change their decisions on Riot creatures. Also remember that Embercleave needs six total mana plus attackers to be cast, so you can play around your opponent casting it sometimes by destroying a creature before attackers. Other times, depending on what creatures they have, you may want to bait them into using the Embercleave and destroy the creature after it's been targeted. I try not to use Maelstrom Pulse or Abrade to destroy Embercleave directly, because having one in play makes future Embercleaves dead draws. It's usually a better plan to just destroy every creature they play.

Chevill is phenomenal in this matchup, like if you have one in your opener you will win the game upwards of 90% of the time. A hand that would otherwise be sketchy like Chevill, Shivan Fire, and five lands is actually a fine keep here. Sometimes your opponent will tank and attack with a Burning Tree Emissary into your Chevill. Don't block unless you have another Chevill in hand, because if you just untap with the Chevill you'll almost certainly win the game. Ooze is good too, but you really want to not expose it as a 2/2 and leave it susceptible to opposing Bonecrusher Giants. Prioritize getting green mana into play so that you can cast an Ooze and immediately turn it into a 4/4 or 5/5 in the midgame. 

Feel free to slam Esika's Chariot on turn four if you get the chance, and trade off the vehicle in combat if given the opporunity. If they don't attack into the chariot, then you can immediately get aggressive if you want to. Also I like to make it a point to get Jegantha into my hand, since a 5/5 just happens to be an effective blocker against their deck.

Rakdos Arcanist

-2 Bonecrusher, -2 Sarulf, -2 Thoughtseize

+3 Grafdigger's Cage, +2 Eliminate, +1 Abrade

Bonecrusher again loses a little bit of value because you can't rely on it resolving if your opponent has Village Rites in their hand. Sarulf is a little too slow and not that effective. I also trim Thoughtseize because your life total matters, often times all they have are cards that want to be in the graveyard anyways, and because it's a midrange mirror, where you want to optimize your topdecks.

What's nice is that in any matchup where your opponent shows you Lurrus, be it Arcanist, either variety of Auras, or Lurrus Rock decks, your ideal hand is going to have either Chevill or Scavenging Ooze and some removal. However, we can't really depend on our creatures surviving because our opponent is going to have their own removal, so you just have to take your medicine.

Clearly we want to keep Kroxa off the battlefield, which is easier said than done. Unlike Uro decks, Kroxa can usually just be cast three straight turns if you just try to use removal spells on it. Try not to cast Ooze without open green mana. You want to use every green mana possible, so you should do things like London Mulligan away non-green lands, plan on using your Pathways as green, and manually tap your lands leaving up as much green as possible. Also, try to prioritize bringing back Ooze from your graveyard with Inscription of Ruin and leave yourself lots of green mana available when you do it.

If I have an opening hand of Grafdigger's Cage and Thoughtseize, in this matchup I would cast the Cage on my first turn, and vice versa against Jund Sacrifice. That's because it's likely that your opponent will Thoughtseize away that Cage on their first turn when you're playing against Arcanist, but against Sacrifice the cards in your hand are usually safe.

Auras

-2 Esika's Chariot, -1 Forest, -2 Vraska

+3 Shivan Fire, +2 Eliminate

I've been experimenting with different sideboard plans here, but I think the key is to just make sure you keep your mana curve low. You want to fill your deck with as much interaction as possible, which includes Ooze because it can stop Lurrus, and Valki because it can steal Spiritdancers and Srams.

Clearly the best thing you can Thoughtseize is Kor Spiritdancer and Sram. A hand without Spiritdancer or Sram is a hand where the opponent is hoping to draw one, so your best hits are Blue Cartouche and Angelic Gift. If you're playing against the black version, Hateful Eidolon is important to keep off the table, and you'll want to watch out for Claim/Fame and Agadeem's Awakening.

"Keep Spiritdancer off the table" is a more difficult plan than it might seem, but there's not much else you need to do.

UW Control

-2 Scavenging Ooze, -1 Eliminate, -2 Sarulf

+3 Davriel, +2 The Eldest Reborn

Ooze and Sarulf have a hard time doing much outside of just attacking and blocking. Boarding out extra removal is an idea and leaving creatures to pressure their planeswalkers doesn't quite work as well as we'd hope, since they open you up to getting Wrathed. Targeting a Teferi with Bloodchief's Thirst is usually a two for one in the opponent's favor, but so is getting two Scavenging Oozes killed by a Wrath, and then we have no defense for the Teferi when it comes down.

Given the chance, take Search for Azcanta with your discard spells. After that is Shark Typhoon, then Teferi. Narset is also pretty good if you don't have a way to stop her. After sideboard though, if it looks like you can resolve Davriel, just take whatever you can to get it into play, and also try and nab Sharks so they can't attack it down.

Ideally your hand will have a way to effectively contain Narset. This doesn't mean Maelstrom Pulse or Eliminate, but something like Chevill or Bonecrusher Giant or a cheap creature that can attack her. You basically get a card out of their hand by removing two loyalty off of her. Always put your Chevill counters on Narset because you won't be drawing any cards until she's off the table.

The best plan of action is to have just a single creature on the table if possible. You can handle Teferi if you have a board presence, but without one you're getting two for one'd and spending your mana on removal when you need to try and get ahead. More than one creature, though, and you're getting Wrathed, which isn't great either. If given the chance, save your Maelstrom Pulses for hardcast Shark Typhoons, Search for Azcantas, and sometimes double Baffling Ends. Use Castle Locthwain and Gnottvold Slumbermound aggressively. 

The matchup is not especially bad as far as winning percentage goes, but it's a long, grueling fight with lots of important decision points you can mess up. Knowing when to be aggressive at their life total and when to hold back is just up to your own judgment most of the time.

Angels

On the play

    -2 Esika's Chariot, -2 Thoughtseize, -4 Scavenging Ooze

    +2 Eliminate, +1 Abrade, +3 Shivan Fire, +2 The Eldest Reborn

On the draw

    -2 Esika's Chariot, -4 Scavenging Ooze

    +2 Eliminate, +1 Abrade, +3 Shivan Fire

This matchup is sort of like the Gruul matchup, except that their creatures are sort of just better and they have Skyclave Apparition to deal with Chevill. They also have flying, so it's pretty much impossible to depend on blocking, hence why Ooze and Chariot hit the bench. We want all the removal we can get. On the draw, I like just having extra Thoughtseizes to one-for-one them as much as possible and stop Company and Skyclave. On the play, you can keep pace with them better and easier set up a big Eldest Reborn.

The most important card to take with Thoughtseize is pretty obviously Collected Company. I'll usually take Company even if their hand only has two lands. Their next best card is Righteous Valkyrie, unless you have Chevill in your hand, in which case it's Skyclave. The other best thing you can do is try and set up a big Maelstrom Pulse if they have any doubles in their hand, since they don't have a ton of play other than just jam their creatures. If their hand is something like Valkyrie, Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, maybe take the Angel if you have Pulse in your hand. You can set this up with Glasspool Mimics as well.

Try to pressure their life total if at all possible. Their deck gets a lot less scary when they are at 15 life or so, since they can't randomly get up to 27 and kill you out of nowhere. This is easier said than done, since Soul Warden will keep their life total high and you can't waste your best removal spells on it, since Valkyries and Angels are so powerful. Also, you'll always want to put your Chevill counters on Linvala.

Goblins

-4 Scavenging Ooze, -1 Thoughtseize, -1 Forest, -2 Vraska

+2 Eliminate, +1 Abrade, +3 Shivan Fire, +2 Grafdigger's Cage

Cage is not the ultimate knockout blow against them, because they can just win by attacking if their draw works out that way, and they have Goblin Trashmaster after sideboard that they can tutor for. I've also seen Masked Vandals out of a green splash. I'm honestly getting to the point where I'm thinking I should just not bring Cage in for this matchup anymore. If your opponent has black mana producing lands (other than Phyrexian Tower of course) then I'd consider leaving in some Oozes, or at least prioritizing bringing in Cage, since they could have Call the Death-Dweller or other reanimation spells.

Of course the most important thing to Thoughtseize away is Muxus, then after that Goblin Matron. Sometimes, though, your hand doesn't afford this to you, since you can't otherwise beat their Goblin Chieftains and Krenkos and stuff, which are dangerous themselves. Try to get an idea of how you're going to line up your removal with their threats.

Chevill and Sarulf are gold here of course. Getting either of them to stick should lead to some wins. Try and save your removal for Krenko and do whatever you can to keep the haste creatures off of the battlefield so they can't activate Krenko the turn they play it.

If your opponent does resolve a Muxus, it's not the end of the world sometimes. Ideally you can save an instant speed removal spell and hit a haste creature before they have the chance to attack you. With a Chevill or Sarulf, you can actually turn around a post-Muxus game pretty nicely. Always set an upkeep stop when you have Sarulf in play so you can respond to its trigger and kill off more things if needed, adding to its counters and allowing you to Eat Realm more.

~

Those are the majority of the matchups you'll face on the ladder, but all matchups can basically be categorized into two groups: you're either bringing in the removal, or you're bringing in the Davriels and Eldest Reborns. If you've got any questions, feel free to ask in the comments or message me on twitter, @griffinzoth. Thanks for reading.