Control vs. Aggro help!
Deck Help forum
Posted on Aug. 25, 2011, 6:18 p.m. by rckclimber777
So I'm working on my sideboard for Planeswalker Contagion. I believe that it does very well against most decks especially other control decks, my problem comes when people are able to kill me by turn 4. Ie Goblins and tempered steel. I'm wondering what things other than Day of judgment have worked for people in the past. I have a playset of DoJ already in the MB of the deck with a couple timely reinforcements in the Sideboard, but I feel like I need more help as it seems I'm having little success against aggresive decks.
Aggro is definitely troublesome, but you're running green - put a playset of Fog in the sideboard.
Timely Reinforcements, Day of Judgment, and Gideon Jura should all help do the job, but one mana cards like Fog and Marrow Shards will definitely help you. I like Marrow Shards but I just don't feel as though it helps enough against decks that aren't Kuldotha Red - Fog should hold off your opponents long enough for you to take control of the board.
August 25, 2011 7:27 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #4
Ratchet Bomb is another alternative.
The biggest advice I can give you is to be extremely careful about how you sideboard against each deck.
There are certain red decks which are pure aggro (like K-Red), in which case you may end up dropping some of your biggest hitters to make room for low-cost removal (having 8 big creatures is useless if you can't live long enough to play them). These decks are also the ones against which I drop out counterspells, since countering one thing is only a waste of mana that would have been better spent removing everything at once.
Others focus on a more controlled burn, like one of the RDWs in my area. It's based heavily around Grim Lavamancer , Goblin Guide , and Shrine of Burning Rage .
In your case, I would likely side out the planeswalkers and Contagion Engine . Even if they're a major element in the deck, they are too slow against a pure aggro deck to barely even be played, let alone used to their potential. This way, you retain the power of your creatures while making sure you have room for lots of removal and solutions in the early game.
Depending on the decklists in your meta, you might find Mental Misstep a viable choice.
August 25, 2011 7:31 p.m.
rckclimber777 says... #5
Thanks guys, this is really helpful. I kinda want to take my deck to the Magic Weekend in Philly this weekend and so I know that aggro decks will certainly tear it up. I might play around with all of those suggestions and see which ones are most effective.
August 25, 2011 8:17 p.m.
rckclimber777 says... #6
I tried out Norn's annex and it seems to do well against K-red. Though obviously it would lose some effectiveness against Tempered steel. Thoughts?
mozerdozer says... #2
Marrow Shards . If you are against RDW, mulligan until you have at least two of them. Drop them turn 3. They should lose enough tempo then that DoJ can pick anything else off later.
August 25, 2011 6:26 p.m.