Sideboard help please
Standard Deck Help forum
Posted on Aug. 10, 2017, 8:26 p.m. by abenz419
I've been playing this emerge deck for the last few weeks now.
Emerging Zombies
Standard
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It's a deck I played long ago and recently updated with Champion of Wits and fixed some numbers of certain cards. The two toughest matchups I have are against mono red aggro and zombies. My first 2 or 3 turns are usually spent playing things like Vessel of Nascency, Grapple with the Past, and Champion of Wits to start the graveyard value and get some card selection. This gives them 2 to 3 turns uncontested and can be the difference in the game if I can't wipe the board and stabilize in time. The zombie matchup is probably the toughest of the two because of their ability to come back from a board wipe with cards like Relentless Dead, Dread Wanderer, and their own Prized Amalgam.
What I'm looking for are some good options that I can bring in for these matchups that will give me some more interaction (so I don't get ran over just getting my deck set up) but also not hurt the synergy of the deck that it does rely on. If I take out too many graveyard enablers I never get the zombie value train going and it makes wiping the board with a Kozilek's Return more difficult. If I take out too many creatures it makes it easier to miss when I mill myself looking for something to return from my yard and subsequently harder to emerge in the large eldrazi. If I take out too many eldrazi I'm never able to trigger k-return in my graveyard which is essentially my main way to interact with my opponents board. This is why I need sideboard options that are matchup relevant but won't affect the synergy's the deck has.
Collective Brutality is a good example of the type of thing I'm looking for. I can pitch something I want in my graveyard to escalate and choosing -2/-2 and the duress-ish mode is good against both decks typically killing a creature and pulling some kind of burn or removal from their hand. It does hurt being sorcery speed a little, but the value is there.
I need more cards like this that are relevant in those matchups because the Lightning Axe needs to be replaced. The 2 red sources are simply so I can hard cast the k-return in relevant matchups, but the red almost has to exclusively be tutored for with Evolving Wilds or traverse the ullenwald making it harder to cast a Lightning Axe early on and if it's not in my opening hand I'm more likely to tutor for necessary colors than I am the one mountain in case I top deck the axe later. Also, being able to permanently answer a Relentless Dead would be the biggest thing I could do in that matchup. Any suggestions?
@Argy I've considered Magma Spray but wasn't sure how well it'd really work out. I run into the same problem of having to tutor red mana in my first couple of turns like with Lightning Axe and Metallic Mimic can sort of negate the Magma Spray. It doesn't make it useless but it's not as effective when I can't hit the things I want to with it. The deck is essentially a sultai deck that has a very small red splash (and those are typically triggered from the graveyard and not cast) so the problem with red cards in my sideboard is that I can't guarantee that I'll consistently be able to cast them when needed and I don't want to bring in cards out of the board that I can't cast.
I like the Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet idea. 4 mana is actually quite a bit in this deck, surprisingly, because I cast the eldrazi for a reduced cost and typically return my 4 drops from the graveyard for 2 mana rather than hard cast them. However he does provide a ton of value when on the board during a board wipe because even though he dies to k-return he'll see everything else leave and still create tokens. He also can eat an amalgam, haunted dead, or stitchwing and get bigger and the life gain can be relevant in those grindy matchups. I'll definitely look into that and start testing it out.
Any other ideas?
August 10, 2017 10:05 p.m.
nah, that would be impossible to cast with only 2 red sources in the whole deck and it'd be harder to cast than flashing back Kozilek's Return which does the same amount of damage. The only indestructible creature really is Hazoret the Fervent and I can tap her down with the deep-fiend as I clear the rest of the board. But that leaves me in the same position of trying not to take too much damage early so I can stabilize in the midgame.
There is one of the zombie decks that uses The Scarab God who is a big problem. He dies to the sweepers, but, he can exile creature cards from my graveyard in response to me activating them. Which makes me have to cast deep-fiend at awkward times like in my end step so I can get around The Scarab God end of turn trigger for a turn without him being able to spend the mana from the lands I'm tapping on getting rid of my recursion. It also means I don't get full value from my deep-fiends because he gets to immediately untap. I think I'm going to try replacing the 2x Lightning Axe with a Hour of Glory and a Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet and give that some testing. I really need something that can exile and Kalitas seems like a solid option the more I think about it. Being a creature I can return him from the graveyard with Grapple with the Past if he gets milled over early on and I can tutor for him with Traverse the Ulvenwald later in the game. Thanks for the help and suggestions.
August 11, 2017 12:03 a.m.
darkmatter32x says... #6
Incendiary Flow those zombies. That should take care of them.
Argy says... #2
The best answer to early recurring Creatures is Magma Spray, particularly against Relentless Dead.
You could have a think about Scavenger Grounds, but I think it would end up hurting your overall game plan too much.
I have also used Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet against Zombies coz if you kill them, he Exiles them. Plus gives you free Zombies. He can also help you hang on a bit longer by giving you life.
August 10, 2017 9:43 p.m.