Totally different Sideboard Strategy
Deck Help forum
Posted on May 27, 2013, 8:46 p.m. by nashbridges52
In your typical FNM matchup you play best out of 3, meaning you only have to win twice to win the round. Generally, sideboarding is done after the first match to adjust a deck so it can deal with whatever your opponent's deck is trying to do.
As you know, sideboards are 15 cards, and changing out 15 cards of a deck can COMPLETELY change the entire way a deck plays. This is the plan for this deck.
I made a deck where the mainboard looks a little like the BANT enchantment list out there. It's designed to win quickly, especially during the first matchup because no one is mainboarding much of any enchantment hate. I want to win this first round AND get my opponent to sideboard in a bunch of stuff to deal with all the enchantments they saw in round one.
Here's the twist, when they sideboard in their enchantment-hate I will sideboard out all of my enchantments for my entire 15 card sideboard.
Now, instead of an enchantment deck, I'll end up playing a totally different delver tempo build and my opponent will be left with a deckful of pseudo-useless enchantment hate.
At the moment this is just a concept, I have no idea if the current list (found here It's all about the Sideboard is the best way to go about this strategy, and so that's where you all come in.
Has anyone ever tried something like this? I think starting out with an enchantment heavy mainboard is best because it will create the biggest sideboarding response from my opponent. But what is the best direction to go from there?
I'd love any thoughts or suggestions either here or in the deck comments.
Honestly, I think that it sounds great in theory, and I find it very creative and would be awesome if it actually worked.
That being said, I don't see it working out like that. There's not much enchantment hate out there right now, and also, when people sideboard, it's just a few cards that will help when you present the enchantments. They don't completely change the idea of the deck to enchantment hate.
Overall, this is one of those ideas that sounds great in theory but probably won't work in the end.
May 27, 2013 9:56 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #4
I play a junk deck that runs 1x Unburial Rites
. It comes out in the first game, and people automatically "know" based off of colors and the rites, that its reanimator. I would not go with the sideboard strategy, but more with a color/spell choice jedi mind trick. Make a deck that your opponents will see and go "oh, hey, this guy is playing X deck. I should adjust my playstyle to combat it." when clearly your deck is not that style. Try something like that, it may work better for you.
Best example. I occasionally run a solar flare (Esper Reanimator) deck. People see the first three turns and assume its control. Then they play conservatively, but then get crushed when something huge and unavaoidable comes barreling out. Throws them off a bit.
May 27, 2013 10:21 p.m.
KrazyCaley says... #5
I've run decks that are creatureless in G1, then sideboard in a bunch of creatures in G2 or G3.
May 28, 2013 12:44 a.m.
I actually did this to someone and ticked them off. I played dimir mill, so I had some removal and mill. But my side board was counters and more kill spells. I sideboarded all my creatures beside one aberration and a wight of precinct six and put in all the kill and removal and I ended up winning the next two because they couldnt play anything nor could they do anything about killing me with no creatures lol. I agree a sideboard can change a game in a heart beat and cover up weaknesses that you may know are coming but your never really sure.
May 28, 2013 12:49 a.m.
This is called a transformational sideboard. And yes it has worked before, but it won't for your particular deck. You have the right idea, in that you want to trick the opponent in having a lot of dead cards, but it is a huge gamble in of itself. For one, enchantment hate is not really huge in alot of decks, so you ruin your own consistency for only two or three possible dead cards in your opponents deck. Second, you ruin your own chances against other deck match ups. Devoting your entire sideboard will make you lose out on having a better match up on what may be bad match ups.
In other words, in exchange for an explosive change for your second and third game, you lose out on consistency.
May 28, 2013 2:54 a.m.
The concept you're referring to is called a "Transformative Sideboard." Katsuhiro Mori and other Japanese players made this concept famous.
You can google more info, but that article summarizes it all nicely. People still do it to this day. Often you'll see Junk Rites sideboard into Junk Midrange (i.e. dropping Unburial Rites , Mulch , and Grisly Salvage for Abrupt Decay and other removal).
Before Mori, people just kinda sideboarded for their meta and decks they hated playing against. They didn't think to include alternate win conditions or even switching archetypes completely.
May 28, 2013 3:48 a.m.
nashbridges52 says... #10
Thanks everyone, really helpful stuff. I kinda figured someone had done something like this before.
May 28, 2013 7:54 a.m.
Works very well for an fnm you cannot push all 15 cards in tournament play about 8 is generally the limit for an effective tempo swap and answer board sometimes in modern you can double function cards but this can be tricky or ineffective
For an fnm it is great fun the character of the deck totally changes are they are side boarding totally wrong, problem is decks that don't care what you do ie bant aura
cartwheelnurd says... #2
It would only work if the deck was heavily hated on in sideboards. There is little enhantment hate in sideboards these days, so you end up siding everything out for just a slightly weaker deck that the opponent won't have sideboarded heavily for. I think a transformative sideboard works, but only when there's a certain deck or matchup you can't beat, then you want to be able to switch it out. In your case you are weakening the deck just to get value out of the maximum 3 or 4 cards they sideboard in. Plus, remember you don't get to have a regular sideboard if you use a transformative one.
May 27, 2013 9:07 p.m.