Sorin or Ob Nixilis in my sideboard?
Standard Deck Help forum
Posted on Dec. 10, 2015, 2:45 a.m. by UpperDeckerTaco
So I have this pretty solid Abzan Red standard deck, A Red Rhino's Doom, that is very flexible as in it can play the aggressor, controller, or just flat out throw heavy hitters. Most of my sideboard I'm content with. There lies one question...which planeswalker is better in the sideboard for my particular build of the deck, Sorin, Solemn Visitor or Ob Nixilis Reignited? I'm a huge fan of both but I'd ultimately like to somehow either fit both as 1 of's in the board or if not, just one of them. I like the Sorin's +1 and basically that's all I like. His ultimate can be good in certain situations, but with all the Crackling Dooms running around, I find Sorin's -2 a little lack luster (speaking as if he's on an empty board). Now his +1 is quite amazing when ahead on board. And can be a game ender. But do I really need it in my deck??? Now Ob Nixilis Reignited has all great modes. He can either be essentially another Murderous Cut with his -2 or he can be a simple Phyrexian Arena on an empty board. And we all know how good the Arena is. His ultimate is ok if it should ever reach that point but I can only see his ultimate being viable (like Sorin's) against control decks. So I'm basically trying to decide which +1 or -2 abilities would work better in my build of Abzan...help? Thoughts? Suggestions? Thanks!
ComputerizedMTG says... #3
I think this would depend on your meta and what matchup is tougher for you. I want to say control might have an easier time throwing wrenches in your gears, and in which case Ob Nixilis might help more against grindier match to help keep your hand full. Against control I feel like Sorin does not shine too much.
On the other hand, Sorin does synergives decently with Gideon and does curve out well, as EmblemMan mentioned, so if aggro is an issue then Sorin is definately the tool to help stabilize and push damage through. At the same time as you mentioned with how rampant removal is in almost every deck it's gonna feel bad having a Sorin in hand with an empty board.
When you compare the the two in a worse case scenario, which for you would be an empty board, I feel that destroying a creature or drawing a card offers more than putting out a 2/2, unless you are facing lethal damage.
Sorry for the aweful wording, nearing the end of a 12 hour shift and my brain is fried :p
December 10, 2015 8:27 a.m. Edited.
UpperDeckerTaco says... #4
EmblemMan I appreciate your input. I really like Ob Nix-easy. He doesn't get the credit he deserves. The best thing most planeswalkers do is generate advantage either on the board or by cards in hand and he does just that. I am thinking of squeezing both in my sideboard.
The_Riddlebox It's all good. I just appreciate you responding to a lot of my posts. I see a various of decks. Dark Jeskai is now a control deck in the meta thanks to Todd Anderson (damn you Todd Anderson) and Esper Dragons and Esper control are very prevalent in my meta. And aggro as well is very prevalent of at least 3-4 atarka red variances a week. So about 3ish control decks each week, 3-4 aggro decks each week, usually 2 home brews each week, and random decks here and there. It's quite annoying but my deck has been doing very well against this meta and control is always a tough one due to their countermagic and draw ability. So I want to really focus on beating Aggro and Control and then not even care about midrange because Abzan is the best midrange deck in my opinion, and I think I am well suited maindeck for the mirror, which no one is playing Abzan in my meta other than me. I was thinking of removing 1 Duress, going to 2 Duress in sideboard and inputting 1 Ob Nix-easy. So I can have both. Side into Ob Nix during grindier control/midrange match ups, and side into Sorin during aggro/midrange match ups. So basically they are both good against midrange but they differ from each other further than that.
EmblemMan says... #2
Sorin definitely your deck is built around constantly curving out an dhaving board presence and sorin is much better with pushing your advantage. Ob nix just doesnt really fit and when they are both one ofs youre more likely to play sorin on a non empty board which is his better situation.
December 10, 2015 3:09 a.m.