Sideboard Guide
Stompy:
+2 2 Standard Bearer, +1 Circle of Protection: Green, -3 Palace Sentinels
Stompy plays enough 2-toughness creatures that Electrickery isn’t very good. Standard Bearer makes blocking their 2/2s more bearable by shutting off pump spells, and while the Circle of Protection is mana-hungry, it’s invaluable in the late game. Palace Sentinels is an easy cut in this matchup, as the extra card draw is a bit extraneous and they have a good chance of stealing the crown.
Boros Monarch:
+2 Gorilla Shaman, +2 Electrickery, -3 Journey to Nowhere, -1 Lightning Bolt
Gorilla Shaman destroys artifact lands and Clue tokens, which merits boarding it in. Electrickery helps you win the Battle Screech fight, which lets you get through blockers. As most of your spells gain the card advantage the mirror revolves around, some of the one-for-one removal has to go. Every creature they run has 4 toughness or less, and Journey to Nowhere doesn’t finish off your opponent, so it’s sent to the sideboard. Lightning Bolt is the smallest burn spell, as Firebolt will eventually do 4, so it gets cut.
Tron:
+3 Pyroblast, +2Relic of Progenitus, -1 Firebolt, -4 Lightning Bolt
In this format, Tron is mainly blue, making Pyroblast an easy card to board in. As the deck plays flashback cards, Mnemonic Walls, and Pulse of Murasa, Relics are a no-brainer. Journeys stay in over the weaker burn spells, since many of their creatures have 4+ toughness and Ulamog’s Crusher is a real concern. Firebolt represents more points of burn to the face and can kill a 4-toughness creature or two Mulldrifters, so it gets the nod over Lightning Bolt.
Izzet Blitz:
+1 Circle of Protection: Red, +3 Pyroblast, +2 2 Standard Bearer, -3 Palace Sentinels, -3 Thraben Inspector
Circle of Protection: Red is amazing against them past the early game, and Pyroblast counters their disruption and card advantage while stopping Nivix Cyclops. Standard Bearer keeps Mutagenic Growth, Artful Dodge, and Temur Battle Rage at bay while saving your more important creatures, and your life total, from burn. Palace Sentinels is, once again, clunky, and a liability against random Augur beats that you’d otherwise want to take. Thraben Inspector isn’t too hot either in the face of a 20-power trampler, and it’s not great at attacking.
Delver:
+3 Pyroblast, +2 Electrickery, -4 Thraben Inspector, -1 Lightning Bolt
Pyroblast is a no-brainer to board in, but if another card will do the trick, use it instead. The unconditional effect is something worth holding onto, just in case the top of their deck holds a nasty surprise. Electrickery kills every Faerie in the deck as well as unflipped Delvers, making it a superior choice to Lightning Bolt, and Thraben Inspector is the worst attacker of the bunch and doesn’t have flying for blocking. Note that sideboarding is the same against both the mono-blue version and the version splashing red for Lightning Bolt and Skred.
Burn:
+2 Lone Missionary, +1 Circle of Protection: Red, -2 Battle Screech, -1 Firebolt
Lone Missionary counters a burn spell and can be recurred with Kor Skyfisher. The Circle is to seal the deal once they start topdecking and to counteract the effects of Curse of the Pierced Heart. Firebolt doesn’t kill Thermo-Alchemist or Keldon Marauders, and it’s trivial to keep your crown so Palace Sentinels stays in over Battle Screech as your clunky four-drop of choice.
Bogles:
+2 2 Standard Bearer, +1 Circle of Protection: Green, +2 Lone Missionary, +1Electrickery, -3 Palace Sentinels, -3 Journey to Nowhere
Since you don’t have much meaningful interaction, this match is a race. Standard Bearers discourage your opponent from playing Auras, and the Circle fogs huge attacks. Lone Missionary is at least a body and some lifegain for stalling, and Electrickery can shoot down an unprotected hexproof creature or a chump-blocker made by Khalni Garden or Cartouche of Solidarity, making them better than Journey to Nowhere. The Sentinels are a liability in the face of giant trampling idiots.
Affinity:
+2 Gorilla Shaman, +1 Circle of Protection: Red +2 Standard Bearer, -2 Battle Screech, -3 Palace Sentinels
Gorilla Shaman attacks their artifact-based mana and incidentally kills off Flayer Husks while your removal deals with their brute squad. Since one of the ways you can lose is an Atog-Fling combo out of nowhere, Circle and Standard Bearer come in to hedge against that particularly disheartening way to lose. Battle Screech isn’t great at blocking and Affinity doesn’t go as wide as the format’s other aggressive decks, so it gets the boot, and Palace Sentinels is an easy cut against aggro decks.
Elves:
+2 Electrickery, +1 Circle of Protection: Green, -3 Palace Sentinels
This is the matchup Electrickery is for. If you can, play around cards like Wrap in Vigor and Magnify by casting it when they’re tapped out. Palace Sentinels comes out as in most aggressive matchups, and the Circle of Protection: Green isn’t fantastic but at least answers Timberwatch Elf and stalls out the game. Pyroblast only hits Distant Melody so it stays on the bench for this matchup.
UB Control:
+3 Pyroblast, +2 Relic of Progenitus, -1 Firebolt, -4 Lightning Bolt
Pyroblast against blue decks isn’t rocket science, and Relic of Progenitus can keep Gurmag Angler, Archaeomancer, and flashback spells at bay. The main use for Pyroblast is to make sure Palace Sentinels resolves, as they have very few ways of stealing the crown. Journey to Nowheree answers Gurmag Angler and Stormbound Geist, so they stay in over Lightning Bolt . Note that the sideboarding is the same for the Mystical Teachings and the Ghostly Flicker versions.
