This past Saturday was the Preliminary Pro-tour Qaulifier for Pro-Tour Milwaukee. Team Rogue T3ch came out in full force with hopes of taking down the tournament and sending one of us to the regional PTQ, giving them a shot at qualifying for the Pro-tour. We've been regulars at these events for some time, with several members getting numerous top eight finishes and Josh Kreiter taking home a win last season. We wanted another win and not just a top eight. So, we came prepped, tested, and with a plan. Round five had all members occupying seats at the top tables and when the swiss ended, three of the four Rogue T3ch members that came were cut into the top 8 and the fourth (Myself) occupying 9th place due to poor tie-breaks. In our eyes, we had succeeded.
Preparation
We knew trying to tune a "Team deck" and all of us piloting it was a wasted effort. All the members who attended the event had different play-styles and color/archetype preferences. So with that in mind, we aimed to test several decks and tune them to the best versions we could. We hoped to attack the expected meta game from all sides. Being a small event we knew that most active competitive players would be on an abzan variant, most likely aggro or the newcomer to the Abzan family: Abzan Mega Morph. We expected Deathmist Raptor/Den Protector to show up and be a fighting force and we weren't far off. With Atarka red dominating the PPTQ the previous weekend we expected it to have large target on it's back and to see people sleeving up cards to beat it as Atarka Red is an absolute powerhouse that can't be ignored. So we prepared our gauntlet. The Tuesday prior to the event we could be found at the Wizard Den grinding games against both Atarka Red and every flavor of Abzan. We tested different decks, matchups and sideboard options for all reasonable Tier 1 and Tier 1.5 decks we thought had a fighting chance against the big three of standard. Atarka Red, Abzan.dek, and Esper Dragons/control. Compiling all the data we came to the following decks:
Matthew Petro:
"The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe"
Designed by: Matthew Petro
1st Place, PPTQ Milwaukee
Creatures:
Spells:
Lands:
2 Plains
2 Forest
Sideboard:
Ariel Adamson:
"Dragon Wub"
Designed by Ariel Adamson
3rd-4th Place, PPTQ Milwaukee
Creatures:
Spells:
Lands:
3 Island
2 Swamp
1 Plains
Sideboard:
Brent Ferro:
"Mono-Black Aggro" (Atarka Red)
Designed by: Christian"Rathmussen"
7th-8th Place, PPTQ Wilwaukee
Creatures:
Spells:
Lands:
10 Mountain
1 Forest
Sideboard:
Christian Rasmussen
"Black by Popular Demand"
Designed by Conley Woods
9th Place, PPTQ Milwaukee
Creatures:
Spells:
Lands:
13 Swamp
Sideboard:
We wanted to attack the Meta from all sides. That way, if we called if wrong, one of us should be well positioned and we can do our best to push them into the top 8. I can tell you, we called it pretty well. Abzan of every variant seemed to be half the room and that's what we came prepared for. Brent Ferro and Myself were supposed to go under and around the Rhino's. Getting enough damage in by turn four, so when the rhino's start dropping, we could squeeze through the last points of damage and close out the game before they could catch back up. Ariel was planning to "Contain" the Abzan decks. Cheap removal for the early aggression, Counterspells and Crux of fate for the mid game. Then when they are running low on gas, jam Dragonlord Ojutai to start closing out the game. Petro was on the "Beat the Mirror" plan. With wingmate roc's and Sorin for life gain to catch back up from an early damage race. They also provide evasive damage to finish the game if the ground get's too gummed up with early threats, such as; Fleecemane Lion, Rakshasa Deathdealer, Anafenza, etc.
It's important to note that our decks weren't just prepared to battle multiple copies of Siege Rhino, They were chosen as they have strong game plans against the other decks in our gauntlet or player proficiency with the archetype made up for it not being the strongest choice. These decks also had fulled-tuned and tested sideboards. This is incredibly important. One common problem, a lot of us have openly admit to having, is "I'm not confident when I sideboard." This is a very common problem among new and experienced magic players.
We aimed to solve our problem...
The Game Plan
The Motto this weekend was, "Don't sideboard 'cards'. Sideboard a Plan." When developing a sideboard it's good to keep a few key factors in mind:
How versatile are these cards"
You're only given 15 slots. Having your cards be versatile is very important to full utilize the minimal space you have to work with. Having 8 cards to beat control is great... when you're playing control. What do you do when you don't get paired against control? It's important to make sure your sideboard cards can be used against other decks. 8 cards only good against control means you only have 7 cards available to help you beat the numerous midrange and aggressive decks seeing play in the format. That's not a lot of help. Maximize those slots in the sideboard as best you can and take advantage of those cards as much as you can.
What problem is this card fixing?
You're sideboard cards are there to help with things your mainboard isn't equipped to handle or improve match-ups that are otherwise unfavorable. I.E. Taking out dead removal spells and bringing in useful threats and hand disruption against control. Life gain and early game action against aggro or card draw and late game trumps against slower/attrition based midrange decks. Knowing your deck's weaknesses is important. You can't fix a problem if you don't know what it is.
What's the plan?
"I have Duress in my 'board for control." Isn't a plan. Your sideboard cards are tools. Without a plan you can't use them optimally. Imagine hiring a contractor to build a shed and he says "I have a hammer and some nails." You would respond. "Okay, but how long will it take/what's the cost of materials/will it withstand a windstorm/can it fit the remains of all my victims before I can dispose of the bodies?" "I have a hammer" doesn't answer these questions the same as "I have duress" doesn't tell me how you're going to beat control.
Here's how I made my game plan for the weekend expecting Abzan, Atarka Red, G/W collected company and a few fringe copies of control to be the Meta:
3 Duress: I have 4 mainboard thoughtseize, but, postboard I have to dodge drown in sorrow against multiple decks. I bring in 1-2 against black midrange decks to try and keep the steady hand disruption and to look for the drown before it blows me out. It also replaces thoughtseize against Atarka red and allows me to grab hordeling outburst/dragon fodder to keep a clean board while I push through damage as fast as possible. Also allows me to take good sideboard cards like arc lightning and scouring sands. Versatile. Fixes numerous problems and gives me a disruptive game plan against many post-board decks.
2 Dark Betrayal: Black aggro revolves around early aggression and huge pushes of damage via Mogis's Marauder giving my team intimidate. Early black creatures such as Anafenza, Siege Rhino, Rakshasa deathdealer, etc. Hinder my mid game push. I needed a removal spell cheap enough to be cast along side a marauder and got the black blockers out of the way. It is narrow, but, severely necessary inorder to execute my game plan against these decks. Game plan includes putting 4-5 power in play and using cheap hand disruption(Thoughtseize) to keep large threats out of play and Betrayal as a fail safe in the mid game. Not versatile, solves a huge issue, has a plan. Makes the cut as a two of.
4 Self-Inflicted Wound: Taking four spots says a lot about the card. Early aggressive creatures like Fleecemane Lion, Deathdealer, and Anafenza all get dealt with by this card as well as early blockers/accelerators I.E. Sylvan Caryatid, Courser of Kruphix, Nyx-fleece ram, and Elvish mystics/satyr wayfinder. It makes up for the 2 mana cost by pushing two life-loss to make up for the lack of board advancement. It's also a great tool to kill siege rhino and recover some of the lost damage from it's life gain. It fixes a huge problem for the deck while staying true to the aggro plan. Versatile? Slightly. Fixes a problem? Absolutely! Game plan? Used as a counter to my opponents sideboard tools and allows me to move forward with my attack plan.
1 Bile Blight: Finishes out the playset in the maindeck. Needed for decks such as Jeskai Tokens, Atarka red, Abzan aggro and the mirror. Versatile? Used against multiple archetypes, so yes. Fixes a problem? Improves my match against agressive/style mirrors which my lack of removal can cause me to fall behind in the race, so, yes. Game plan? Use along side cards like self-inflicted wound to removal early blockers and continue to push damage in the early game. Kills goblin tokens and rabblemaster at instant speed against red decks to allow me to gain an advantage in a damage race and to turn off cards like stoke the flames. Also a tool to allow me to shrink large threats to force trades in combat and put them on the backfoot while pushing damage.
4 Pharika's Cure: In the Agressive mirror I am lacking reach against the red decks. They can trade early in the game and push damage with burn. Removing threats from the table and small life gain is crucial to gain an edge. Versatile? Not very. Fix a problem? Allows me to keep up with burn spells from other aggressive decks while removing blocks, so, yes. Game Plan? Recoup lost life from the damage race. Remove cheap threats at instant speed, IE Rabblemaster, Lightning Beserker, and Zurgo while recouping life in a damage race. Replaces cards like thoughtseize to allow board disruption without losing crucial life points.
1 Virulent Plague: Very Narrow. Used against Hordeling outburst/dragon fodder red decks and Jeskai tokens to hinder their gameplan and make a large portion of their deck "Dead" as any token maker drawn afterwards does nothing. Versatile? Not to a large degree. Fix a problem? Not necessarily but gives an incredible edge against certain archetypes that can't be ignored. Game Plan? Board in against the mentioned decks. It's not required to win but gives a card I can draw in the midgame that can destroy an opponent's boardstate and turn off a huge portion of their draw steps hindering cards "dead". Used as a "Trump".
That's how I came to my choice of sideboard cards. Next time you build your own, think of these elements and ask yourself these questions before dedicating spots in the 15. It can help you cut unnecessary cards and give you an idea of how many copies of something you need depending on how important it is to your game plan and how many copies you need to see in a game to execute that game plan. Plan first, Cards second.
Execution and Performance
I can only speak to my own matches as I was unable to watch my teammate's games during the tournament. I Sideboarded according to plan every match. I Managed to beat Sidisi Whip 2-0 even after they resolved Whip of Erebos. Kill an abzan aggro player on turn four after removing early blocks and them playing a tapped land on turn four and failing to slam a rhino. Self-Inflicted Wound killed numerous Warden of the first tree and Fleecemane Lion. Only two losses came from falling behind in against Naya Heroic and losing the race to become immense both games and Abzan casting Turn 3 Drown in sorrow followed by: Turn 4 Siege Rhino, Turn 5 Siege Rhino then Turn 6 Whip of Erebos to seal the deal in game 3, creating an unbeatable boardstate VS my single Bile Blight in hand and 4 power in play. I can say that coming in 9th is a bummer, but, that's how the tie-breaks work out sometimes. Seeing my teammates take 3/8 slots in the top 8 is awesome and I lived Vicariously through them all the way to the end where Matt Petro took the match over Higher Seed Evan Nelson playing the pro-touring winning powerhouse, Atarka Red. Matt played tight. Made very few mistakes and kept his game plan in his head when sideboarding. He contributes his victory to sticking with a strong sideboard plan that resulted in a $200 check, an invite to the regional PTQ, and that overwhelming sense of accomplishment that only comes from victory.
Matthew Petro
PPTQ Milwaukee Champion
Congratulations Matthew Petro. You're a true People's Champion.
Special thanks to Phoenix Fire Meridian for hosting the PPTQ and everybody who came out and supported the event. It was awesome hanging out with you guys and we can't wait to do it again!
"AAAAAGGGHHHHHH!!!!@@"
-Text I sent to Nick Crabbs when I saw I finished 9th after winning the final round of swiss.
Until next time,
-Christian
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