The Hardened Scales
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Sideboard Guide/DeepDive v1.1
🕑 Added 2023-12-29 09:29:11 +0000 UTCRhinos:
In: 1 Void Mirror, 2 Chalice of the Void, 2 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping,
Out: 1 Hangarback Walker, 1 Zabaz, the Glimmer Wasp, 1 Ancient Stirrings, 1 Agatha’s Soul Cauldron, 1 Pithing Needle
Gameplay:
Game 1: Your best cards are Patchwork Automaton and Urza’s Saga. Try do get big constructs and go wide. Usually, they can’t handle your stuff. Be careful of Tishana's Tidebinder – if you expect them to have it. Make you constructs Main phase (if you are on the play) or in responds to their fetches or cascade spells (on the draw). If they have no mana open and you can go for the kill game 1 go for it because they usually have no answers.
Game 2-3: Mostly the same approach as game 1 with the difference of the hate piece is your deck. Keep hands with at least a Patchwork Automaton, Urza’s Saga + Safekeeping (cause of FOV) or hate piece. Always keep in mind which cards they can have to remove your artefacts. Usually they play 1-3 Boseiju, who Endures, 2 Flame of Anor, 2-3 Force of Vigor – everything is covered by Welding Jar and Safekeeping (also don’t fear graping Welding Jar of Saga)
Scam:
In: 2 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping, 2 Dismember
Out: 1 Hangarback Walker, 1 Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp, 1 Ancient Stirrings, 1 Agatha’s Soul Cauldron
Gameplay:
Game 1: Like against Rhinos your best cards are Patchwork Automaton and Urza’s Saga. Try do get big constructs and go wide. Usually they cant handle the value of Urza’s Saga Game 1. Also trade against Ragavan early on if they attack you. You don’t want to accelerate their mana. Make you constructs end of their turn. If they scam you and you are low on resources, try to make constructs and grap your Shadoswspear to get some life back.
Game 2/3: Sideboard games can get messy. They could have Leyline of the Void, Dauthi Voidwalker or the Grief scam – so try to play the same strategy like in game 1 with the difference of graping of Pithing Needle instead of Shadowspear and always name EE (if your life total is still on a healthy level). If they already have the EE in play and your 3rd Urza’s Saga chapter resolves don’t make a token and don’t float mana – wait for the response, if they crack it make a construct afterwards and if they don’t just get the Pithing Needle. Dismember also helps a lot against our worst enemy Dauthi Voidwalker. Try to kill it when they have no mana open to play around an undying spell. Also keep in mind if you kill it on their turn they can still activate Dauthi’s ability and cast/play something they exiled (Saga etc.).
Grinding Breach Combo:
In: 2 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping, 2 Dismember, 2 Natural State, 1 Haywire Mite, 1 Pithing Needle,
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
Out: 4 Hangarback Walker, 1 Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp, 2 Ancient Stirrings, 1 Shadowspear,
1 Welding Jar
Gameplay:
Game 1: The preboard game should be in our favor. Their major threats are Emry, Lurker in the Loch (it makes so much value with bauble or Aether spellbomb loops and it’s also one of their combo pieces), The One Ring and their combo kill. We have all the tools in the mainboard to stop them. Agatha’s Soul Cauldron is the perfect answer for Emry. Just exile their target in responds and its also fine to just exile any other cards to keep their graveyard as small as possible to deny a kill or value with Underworld Breach. Like against every deck with a lot of interaction and Ragavans - Patchwork is the best card to drop turn 2. Needle Targets for are The One Ring, Emry, Grinding Station. Pretty hard to give you a ranking on which card to Needle first because it always depends on the board state. Use Boseiju, Who Endures to kill their Breaches in reponds to them casting their first spell or just kill a Urza’s Saga to deny them resources.
Game 2/3: Sideboard games can get messy. The board in a lot of hate like Engineered Explosives, Wear/Tear, Prismatic Ending and Alpine Moon. So, their new game plan it to play as a control deck until they can combo you. Just keep in mind to deal with Emry cause the Engineered Explosives loops are game changing. Needle targets are the same like in game 1 with the addition of Engineered Explosives. Our game plan stays the same as in game one – use our interaction to slow them down, protect our hate pieces and try to kill them asap.
Dredge
In: 2 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping, 1 Haywire Mite, 1 Grafdigger’s Cage,
Out: 1 Hangarback Walker, 1 Zabaz, the Glimmerswasp, 1 Ancient Stirrings, 1 Pithing Needle
Gameplay:
Game 1: in my opinion the first game is a coin flip cause you don’t know you are up against Dredge and they just put 10 power into play on turn 2 or 3 which is usually tough to deal. Their Narcomoeba prevents you from killing them with infect. So our game plan is to get a big creature (contruct, Patchwork Automaton, Arcbound Ravager) with lifelink and race or combo kill them. Don’t forget Agatha’s Soul Cauldron to exile their dredger, Conflagrate or an Ox of Agonas.
Game 2-3: Postboard games should be easier – you have Cage as a hate pierce and a lot of protection with 3 Jars and 2 Safekeepings. I like to board one Haywire Mite do deal with their Portable Holes. Don’t be scared to mull to get a fast hand or for hate pieces. Like always – Saga is one your best friends in this mu.
Amulet Titan:
In: 2 Damping Sphere, 3 Natural State, 2 Dismember, 1 Haywire Mite
Out: 4 Hangarback Walker, 2 Ancient Stirrings, 1 Shadowspear, 1 Agatha’s Soul Cauldron
Gameplay:
Game 1: One of the worst matchups for Scales right now. They are usually one or two turns faster than we are and their interaction with boseiju, who endures (normally, they are on 2-3 copies in the mainboard) is searchable of the Titan etb. The only ways we usually win this matchup game 1 is by combo killing them turn 3/4 or killing their sagas/amulets (Haywire Mite/Boseiju, Who Endures) to slow them down. Also remember that you can kill their bounce land in responds to the untap trigger with Boseiju, Who Endures – so they don’t get mana and still must bounce a land.
Game 2-3: Don’t be afraid to mull for your sideboard cards – you need at least a Natural State/Haywire mite to deal with their Saga/amulet or Damping Sphere to slow them down. After you slowed them down pressure/kill them because we wont win the long game against titan – they have The One Rings and are able to kill us in one single turn. Needle target are pretty situational – The One Ring -> Boseiju, Who Endures/EE -> Tolaria West/Slayers Stronghold
UR Murktide:
In: 2 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping, 2 Dismember
Out: 1 Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp, 2 Ancient Stirrings, 1 Hangarback Walker
Gameplay:
Game 1: Like in the Rhinos Mu your best cards are Patchwork Automaton and Urza’s Saga. Try do get big constructs and go wide. Usually, they can’t handle your stuff. Be careful of Tishana's Tidebinder– if you expect them to have it. Make you constructs Main phase (if you are on the play) or in responds to their fetches or plays Consider/Preordain (on the draw). If they have no mana open or arent delirious with just one red source left (and you can play around 2 or 3 dmg with welding jar or modular) you can go for the kill because they usually have no zero-mana answer.
Game 2-3: Mostly the same approach as game 1 with the difference to try to play around their cheap counter – usually the only way you lose is that they out tempo you with Ragavan, Counter, Counter into Murktide. Dismember is for Ragavan, Shredder and DRC cause most of the time you can’t kill the Murktide. Use your Pithing Needle almost always to name Engineered Explosives and don’t be scared to grab a Welding Jar of the 3rdchapter of Urzas Saga.
Tron:
In: 2 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping, 1 Pithing Needle, 2 Damping Sphere, 1 Haywire Mite
Out: 4 Hangarback Walker, 1 Shadowspear, 1 Welding
Gameplay:
Game 1: Try to kill them turn 3 or 4 with the Arcbound Ravager, Walking Ballista/Inkmoth Nexus, Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp, The Ozolth/ Hardened Scales and any other Artefact combo kill (you lose the long game). So, this means you mull aggressively – even to 5 if your hand isn’t fast enough. Boseiju, Who Endures is also pretty good in this mu. It kills their land for 2 mana (with Zabaz out for 1 mana) and delays their Tron mana. Pithing Needle targets game 1: K4rn, Oblivion Stone, Expedition Map or The One Ring.
Game 2-3: You have a great tool with Damping Sphere to play longer games. It shuts down their Tron and they must play the fair game. Protect your key cards with Safekeeping -> the Arcbound Ravager, Walking Ballista/Inkmoth Nexus, Pithing Needle or Damping Sphere
Yawgmoth
In: 2 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping, 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Grafdigger’s Cage, 2 Dismember
Out: 4 Hangarback Walker, 1 Zabaz, the Glimmerswasp, 1 Ancient Stirrings
Gameplay:
Game 1: In my opinion a matchup depending on the skill of both payers. Most important card is Pithing Needle if you can’t handle their board with a big Walking Ballista or kill them fast. Always name Yawgmoth, Thran Physician. You don’t lose the game if you able to deal with Yawgmoth, Thran Physician because their midrange plan isn’t that good anymore after dropping most copies of Strangleroot Geist.
Game 2-3: You get all the tools to win post sb games. Cage is amazing because they can’t search their library for creatures anymore and the 2nd Pithing Needle makes it hard for them to activate Yawgmoth, Thran Physician. Keep mana open to protect your hate pieces and try to win with a big contruct or Patchwork Automaton with Shadowspear or your modular counter movement.
5C Omnath Control:
In: 2 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping, 2 Dismember, 1 Needle, 1 Haywire Mite
Out: 1 Ancient Stirrings, 1 Shadowspear, 1 Zabaz, the Glimmerswasp, 1 Agatha’s Soul Cauldron, 1 Hangarback Walker, 1 Welding Jar
Gameplay:
Game 1: As you already know your best cards in these contollish matchups are Patchwork Automaton and Urza’s Saga. Try do make constructs and use all of you ressources to make sure you can keep up with their Omnath/The One Ring Engine. Use Pithing Needle to Name Wrenn and Six or The one Ring pre sideboard (TOR>W6) - answer The One Ring or you are going to lose because of their card advantage. If you go for the kill, be carefull cause of Solitude – watch their play pattern and try to read them if the have it. Also remember you Haywire Mite to exile their Leyline Bindings to get your stuff back or do it in responds to the trigger so it won’t be exiled.
Game 2-3: Mostly the same approach as game 1 with the difference of the hate piece is your deck. Keep hands with at least a Patchwork Automaton, Urza’s Saga + Safekeeping (cause of FOV). Always keep in mind which cards they can have to remove your artefacts. Usually they play 1-2 Boseiju, who Endures and 2-3 Force of Vigor in addition to their mainboard stuff – everything is covered by Welding Jar (except for Solitude and Leyline Binding) and Safekeeping (also don’t fear graping Welding Jar of Saga)
Living End:
In: 1 Void Mirror, 2 Chalice of the Void, 2 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping,
Out: 4 Patchwork Automaton, 1 Pithing Needle
Gameplay:
Game 1: Arcbound Ravager is an absolute all-star in this matchup, and if you know you’re playing against Living End game 1, you should mulligan to either a Ravager or an Agatha’s Soul Cauldron.
Ravager lets you sacrifice all your creatures with living end on the stack, to then return them with the Living End. If you have a large amount of counters to throw around, you can leave a Zabaz, Ravager, or Hangarback on the battlefield, and you will get your modular or thopter trigger after the creatures return from the graveyard.
Game 2-3: Postboard prioritise getting a chalice/Void Mirror on the battlefield, and ideally a way to protect it in Safekeeping or Welding Jar. When exiling creatures with Agatha’s Soul Cauldron, Oliphaunt should always be the first target, as the trample often presents a lethal attack in one turn. Don’t be disheartened after a Living End resolves, as you can often win after surviving a single attack through their very limited interactions.
Burn:
In: 2 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping, 1 Haywire Mite
Out: 2 Ancient Stirrings, 1 Pithing Needle
Gameplay:
Game 1: Make sure you can play to the board reasonably early, a patchwork or hangarback on turn 2 is important here, as the way you most commonly lose to burn is an unchecked Goblin Guide or Monastery Swiftspear.
Game 2-3: Postboard they will have 2-4 smash to smithereens, possibly some copies of Wear//Tear, Path to exile, and Deflecting Palm. Smash to Smithereens gets blown out hard by casting Safekeeping on your own permanent, as this nets you 5 life in the exchange. The Urza’s Saga plan works very well, as do quicker combo kills as their interaction is very telegraphed. Burn is the best matchup scales can hope for, and it’s very favoured.
Hammer:
In: 3 Natural State, 1 Pithing Needle, 2 Dismember, 1 Haywire Mite
Out: 4 Patchwork Automaton, 3 Welding Jar
Gameplay:
Game 1: Hammer’s scariest starts are where they come out of the gate quickly with an attacking hammer on turn 2 or 3. Anything else can often be beat with your superior Urza’s Saga tokens, Walking Ballista, Haywire Mite, or just an inkmoth kill of your own. Getting Haywire Mite under Soul Cauldron is also a nearly guaranteed win, as without Hammer or Saga, they can’t get a creature above 2 power.
Game 2-3: Postboard getting into slow games is highly advantageous to you, as Hammer plays significantly more dead cards. Their Ornithopters, Springleaf Drums, and Esper Sentinels become significantly worse if both decks slow down and add interaction. Watch out for Cursed Totem, as this and a creature with Hammer can be very rough to beat. Prioritise hands that can present an early Ballista with some counters, or an Urza’s Saga to fetch a Mite or Pithing Needle. Lots of interaction postboard is also good, as your topdecks outdo theirs.
Mono Black Coffers:
In: 2 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping, 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Haywire Mite
Out: 1 Ancient Stirrings, 1 Shadowspear, 1 Zabaz, the Glimmerswasp, 1 Agatha’s Soul Cauldron,
Gameplay:
Game 1: As always in these matchups your best cards are Patchwork Automaton and Urza’s Saga. Slow role your Urza’s Saga so they don’t kill it with their Field of Ruins. Don’t overbuild your board cause of Damnation. Play Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp on the 1st turn so you can dodge the Edict on your Patchwork. Also deal with Karn, the great Creator - Needle it and EE, The One Ring or Field of Ruin. Sacrifice Inkmoth Nexus in repsonds to their Field effects so they don’t get a land of it.
Game 2-3: Postboard usually play out the same way with the difference that your are able to fizzle their Field effects with Tamiyo’s Safekeeping. Use the 2nd Needle like mentioned above.
Twiddle Storm
In: 2 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping, 2 Damping Sphere, 1 Grafdigger’s Cage, 1 Natural State
Out: 1 Ancient Stirrings, 1 Shadowspear, 4 Hangarback Walker
Gameplay:
Game 1: It's a pretty uninteractive and fast matchup game 1. Try to kill him turn 3 or 4 with your combo kill. If your opponent finds a The One Ring you can shut it down with Pithing Needle or Haywire mite.
Game 2-3: Usually you have to deal with cards like Engineered Explosives, Flame Slash and Brotherhood's End after sideboarding. Like in game 1, try to put pressure on him and kill him quickly. Additional Needle target is Engineered Explosives (TOR > EE). Damping Sphere and Cage slow the opponent down and stop their combo so try to protect these key cards. Also remember if they cast Underworld Breach and cast their first spell from graveyard you can respond with Natural State/Haywire Mite and kill the Underworld Breach.
Heliod Combo:
In: 2 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping, 2 Dismember, 1 Grafdigger’s Cage, 1 Haywire Mite, 1 Pithing Needle
Out: 2 Ancient Stirrings, 4 Hangarback Walker, 1 Zabaz, the Glimmerswasp,
Gameplay:
Game 1: Like Yawgmoth, this matchup is very tricky to play. Your opponent can kill you very quickly with his combo. You usually win all fair games. But you have very good answers in your mainboard - Pithing Needle to call Walking Ballista or Spike Feeder to turn on one of the two combos. Haywire mite is also a great card as it can exile Heliod, Sun-Crowned and Agatha's Soul Cauldron. Also, not to be forgotten is the possibility to win through your opponent's infinite life combo with Inkmoth Nexus.
Game 2-3: Usually these decks play Force of Vigor, Boseiju, who Endures, Haywire mite and Skyclave Apperation which are their only interaction cards after sideboarding. Just like in game 1, shut down their combo with your hate cards and try to protect them with Welding Jar and Tamiyo's Safekeeping.
Affinity:
In: 3 Natural State, 1 Pithing Needle, 2 Dismember, 1 Haywire Mite
Out: 4 Patchwork Automaton, 3 Welding Jar
Gameplay:
Game 1: The game against Affinity is a race. Their strongest cards in game 1 are Urza's Saga, Cranial Plating and Shadowspear. Most of the times their constructs are much stronger than yours since even your opponent's lands are artifacts. The best way to win the game is with a very large Walking Ballista (ping their creatures or them to death) or with Inkmoth Nexus. Good interactive cards are Boseiju, who Endures, Haywire mite and Pithing Needle (kill/exile/shut down their key cards).
Game 2-3: After sideboarding, the game plan doesn't change much. Keep his key cards in check and try to kill him as quickly as possible.
Creativity:
In: 2 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping, 1 Haywire Mite, 1 Pithing Needle
Out: 1 Zabaz, the Glimmerswasp, 3 Ancient Stirrings,
Gameplay:
Game 1: Creativity is one of the decks where early pressure is so crucial. With their draws it is possible to put two Archons of Cruelty into play on turn 4. Use Pithing Needle to take out Wrenn and Six. Exile their Fable of the Mirror breaker/Leyline Binding with Haywire mite. Patchwork is strong to pressure them and Hangarback Walker is the perfect sacrifice target for the Archons' trigger. Don’t try play the long game against them. A niche trick to fizzle the Indomitable Creativity is to remove/regenerate the chosen target – for example with a Walking Ballista ping or using Welding Jar’s ability to regenerate their clue/treasure token.
Game 2-3: The post sideboard games play out pretty much the same way as game 1 with the exception that you both have more hate cards. Like I already mentioned pressure is key.
UB shadow
In: 2 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping,
Out: 1 Ancient Stirrings, 1 Zabza, the Glimmewasp
Gameplay:
Game 1: This matchup usually plays out like UR Murktide. Your best cards are Patchwork Automaton and Urza’s Saga. Try do get big constructs and go wide. Usually, they can’t handle your stuff. Be careful of Tishana's Tidebinder– if you expect them to have it. Make you constructs Main phase (if you are on the play) or in responds to their fetches or plays Consider/Preordain (on the draw). Pressure carefully all his life total because of the creature Death's Shadow. Let him do the damage first with the fetchlands and afterwards try to swing with one lethal attack.
Game 2-3: Mostly the same approach as game 1 with the difference to try to play around their cheap counter – usually the only way you lose is that they out tempo you with Thougtseize, counter, counter into Murktide or Death’s Shadow. Use your Pithing Needle almost always to name Engineered Explosives and don’t be scared to grab a Welding Jar of the 3rd chapter of Urzas Saga. Don’t rely too much on contruct token in post board games because of Dress Down – it can be a real blow out if they kill your 2 contructs and counter a Arcbound Ravager with it.
Domain Zoo:
In: 2 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping, 2 Dismember
Out: 1 Ancient stirrings, 1 Agatha´s soul cauldron, 1 Zabaz, 1 Hangarback Walker
Gameplay:
Game 1: This matchup plays a lot like burn as your life total is actually in danger. They usually play 4 bolts, 4 tribal flames, so any time your life total is at 10 you should be careful. Still, their deck is fairly clunky and sometimes they cannot double flame you because they don´t have double red. Always double check the status of their lands, since their manabase is their weakest point. Playing fairly defensive is fine here, since they have a hard time beating big enough constructs, patchworks with shadowspear and even an army of thopter tokens. Sometimes, just like versus burn, you will need to race. Other times you can just defend and kill them on one shot. The main trick under their sleeve is Scion of Draco´s ability to give trample, first strike or lifelink to other creatures, so keep and eye out for that!
Game 2-3: Dismember their Kavu´s on sight. The main weapon they have post board is wear and tear, so if they leave a suspicious white mana up, consider delaying your saga. This matchup gets better the more experience you get at playing it, since it is not so linear as others, and you need to read the situation in order to make the best choices.
Hardened Scales
In: 3 Natural State, 1 Pithing needle, 2 Dismembers
Out: 4 Patchwork automaton, 2 Welding jar
Gameplay:
Game 1: This matchup is hard. Whoever gets a Scales, cauldron or saga down first usually has the upper hand so if you know you are playing it, don´t be afraid to mulligan. Ballista wars are generally lost by whoevers moves first, so plan accordingly. Try to the best of your ability to keep track of how your opponent might kill you and prevent it if possible. One neat trick is that you can welding jar your opponent´s Zabaz activation.
Game 2-3: Games are decided by the same factor but now we have back breaking interaction. Natural Stating their saga´s/scales or their loaded Ozolith is a great way to win. Some play Force of Vigor in their sideboard and I think that is really bad, but if they do Force you don´t despair. They most likely had to pitch a very important spell to do so. Needle can be tricky to use, but if you name your opponents ballista, you can sacrifice the needle to ravager when you go for your own ballista kill. Cauldron and mite are an easy way to win, if you can get that going before your opponent.
Merfolk
In: 2 dismembers, 3 Natural State, 2 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping,
Out: 3 Welding jars, 3 ancient stirrings, 1 Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp,
Gameplay:
Game 1: This matchup is sort of a race. They have a lot of answers to Urza´s saga, but if they don´t answer it they have a hard time beating it. Ballista obviously shines and kills can come from flying threads, since fish don´t fly or through a large ballista. Patchwork and shadowspear also do the trick a lot of the time. You don´t have infinite time in this matchup since they will eventually find a lord and an Tideshaper to give islandwalk to all their attackers. Tishana´s tidebinder is annoying but also 3 mana, so it can be played around. Game 1 if they are not casting their spells on their turn and they leave 3 mana up, expect Tidebinder.
Game 2-3: They form into a sort of control deck. They will have some amount of countermagic like Stern Scolding or ceremonious rejection, probably 4 dismembers, subtely and even spreading seas. Thus, they will lack threads to kill you fast. In this case they key is to not play into their countermagic. If they don´t have vial, then basically won´t be casting their spells if they hold their mana up, and they only run 20 lands. If you can at some point play saga, protect it for a turn with tamiyo and start making karnstrucks, you should be able to win. On the contrary if they get to counter your threads, then a single Svylelum and a lord can get them there. In short: patience. State target vial on sight, and also Deeproot pilgrimage and cursed totem.
Jund Saga
In: 2 Natural State, 2 Tamiyo´s safekeeping,
Out: 1 Zabaz, 1 Shadowspear, 1 Ancient Stirrings, 1 Agatha´s soul cauldron
Gameplay:
Game 1: This matchup should be easy but there are a couple of ways to lose it. First one is beat down by tarmogoyf backed with removal, second it boseiju loops, third is wrenn and six looping sagas after you are both hellbent. This matchup you are the aggressor since all their cards are trying to trade and if you constantly trade you will lose. They take a lot of damage from lands and have no fliers, so inkmoth nexus is a powerful tool. It is important to put max pressure without going all in, but sometimes if the situation is dire you might as well all in because if you give them time, they will find answers anyway.
Game 2-3: Postboard they bring some more artifact hate. Be aware that if they don´t present Jegantha they might be on Force of Vigor. For the most part, targeting their sagas is a good way to win. A big hangarback is also very hard for them to beat, but be aware of tear asunder.
Belcher
In: 2 Damping sphere, 1 Tamiyo´s safekeeping,1 Pithing needle, 1 Haywire Mite, 2 Natural State
Out: 4 Hangarback walkers, 1 Shadowspear, 1 Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp, 1 Agatha´s soul cauldron
Gameplay:
Game 1: This is an unfavored match up that can be won with crafty play. For starters, boseiju destroys their lands. Preboard, their only kill is belcher so if you get needle down you should win. You can also go freely all in since their only interaction will be spikefield hazard. If they recross the path, bottom anything non boseiju and boseiju their land after they reforge the soul. They are usually pretty tight on mana and you can stop the combo this way. You always target the red mana if you can.
Game 2-3: Needle alone will not cut it because there is another kill that involves pyromancer ascension, manamorphose and bala ged recovery. After they recross the path they will stack ascension into 4 manamorphose and balaged which basically will mean they can draw their entire deck and have infinite mana and recast every card in their deck, which usually means death by spikefield hazard. That is why the States come in, they can snipe ascensions as they cast the first manamorphose. With this and a needle, you should be able to beat them down with whoever shows up. On the play Id keep t4 kills, but on the draw those are too slow.
Reanimator
In: 1 Grafdigger’s Cage, 2 Tamiyo's Safekeeping, 2 Natural state,
Out: 3 Welding jar, 1 Pithing needle 1 Shadowspear
Gameplay:
Game 1: This matchup is sort of like Scam, but they do more powerful stuff (reanimate and ephemerate Atraxa) at a cost of being less consistent. They are a solitude deck but most “combo” decks they fold if they don't assemble a winning combination. G1 Cauldron is your best card and it is important to realize that they can goryo's vengeance at instant speed so it might be best to not tap cauldron unless they tap out. Their fair plan of ephemerating solitude cannot beat our fair plan of patchwork+saga+the rest of scales so keep that in mind and be patient. And easy way to lose here is going for an all-in when a longer game was also likely a win.
Game 2-3: Postboard, the matchup does improve BUT they do play 2-3 stony silences. That is why we bring in natural states (nature's claim would be better here because it also hits leyline binding). State can also be used to destroy a Hangarback walker that gets targetted my a solitude. They have answers to graffdiggers cage but if you protect it, they can't win. They might keep awful hands with leyline of the void/stiny silences, identify those games quickly and setup a beatdown plan. It usually works because they play many bad/useless cards on their own.
Grixis/UR wizards
In: 2 Tamiyo's Safekeeping
Out: 1 Shadowspear, 1 Pithing needle
Gameplay:
Game 1: Alright people, this is a bad matchup. If you know you are facing it, G1 you should look for a patchwork+jar start into saga grind. They play tishana's tidebinder and flame of anor+snapcaster and so if they get to 5+ mana unscrathed your chances of winning go down quite a lot. You absolutely need to tey your hardest G1, as their hate gets even better postboard. The main idea is to play around counters as much as possible and force them to flame before it is a 2 or 3 for 1. Saga is great here and you should really get max value from it+fetch welding jar often to keep your karnstrucks alive. Another angle of attack is to squeeze their mana. They are usually on 20 lands+2-3 lorien revealed so they might have to preordain a bunch to hit their landdrops. If they miss landdrops I want, you to throw everything at them before they can recover. Squeeze them and have them dead if 4 cards in hand. If they are on 5 lands, consider keeping cauldron up to exile the target of a potential snapcaster mage. You can even tap cauldron at the end of their turn, this way they might snap+flame, inflicting as pain but letting you untap with their shields down...
Game 2-3: Postboard things get even harder as they might have dress down, EE, brotherhood's end, stern scolding, hurkyl's recall, cursed totem, etc. The plan above assumes they are on 0-1 EEs and charm. If they are on 2-3 ees and no charm, consider keeping the needle and siding out a zabaz. The strat post board is to try and not toovercommit to a dress down, bro end etc. And instead make landdrops, play slow and try to kill them if they tap out for no reason. Again, hard pairing so don't overly sweat it if you lose a game. Go next fast because games can take long.
Inti Asmo
In: 3 Natural state, 1 Pithing needle, 1 Haywire mite, 2 Dismembers
Out: 1 Shadowspear, 3 Ancient stirrings, 1 Agatha´s soul cauldron, 1 Zabaz, 1 Hangarback Walker
Gameplay:
Game 1: The key to this matchup is not to get overwhelmed early. Starts of t1 asmo or t1 ragavan+inti can be hard to beat. Needle is fantastic here needling both cookbook and asmo if they have a ton of food. You can win the grindy game with saga and needle since they are an 18-land deck. They don't play much interaction so give them the pain if they tap out. No fliers except DRC so that is usually the way you win g1
Game 2-3: I like to take advantage of how bad their cards are on their own. Without cookbook the deck doesn't grind, same with you killing a saga early or dismembering an inti before it does anything. The moment you stop their engine, they are playing a lot of cards that do nothing on their own and any of your threads can get too big too soon for their 2/2s and 3/3s to handle. Mite is an absolute hero, and you might want to keep in the 3rd cauldron for another HW if you see they are on mite of their own.
Prowess
In: 2 Dismembers
Out: 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Ancient Stirrings
Gameplay:
Game 1: Your first instinct might be to approach this matchup like Burn, bringing in your nature’s claims and haywire mite to gain life. But that’s generally not how the matchup plays out. Where Burn is looking to have their Goblin guides and Swiftspears deal around 4 damage to you in a game to be happy, Prowess decks want to kill you with pretty much only creatures, backed up by the occasional Bolt or Lava dart. The deck plays 16 creatures nowadays, with the priority targets being the prowess ones, primarily their 1 drops. Removing 1-2 of their creatures at a good moment can massively reduce their clock and buy you a significant amount of time, in which a patchwork or saga construct wielding a Shadowspear should easily get you out of their reach. As with many decks relying on red spells for removal, patchwork is your best creature, although Hangarback is not to be overlooked here either, it can chump block the threats coming out of prowess decks for ages leaving you plenty of time to set up a strong enough board to swing back.
Game 2-3: Be careful of Alpine Moon out of the sideboard, as it breaks Urza’s Saga at no tempo cost, putting you on the back foot quickly. Reconsider playing your Saga’s if they would line up particularly well against a Moon. When mulliganing, look for hands that play to the board well early, an early patchwork or hangarback with a jar will greatly improve your chances. A ballista with a lot of counters is also a great way to keep the creatures under control, just make sure to ping anything with prowess on your turn as to not let them get more value out of pumping it.
Mill
In: 2 Dismember, 2 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping, 1 Haywire Mite
Out: 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Shadowspear
Gameplay:
Game 1: The boogeyman matchup for a long time, although since the addition of Cauldron it has gotten better. Mill is mainly bad because of the absolutely brutal number of cards milled by Tasha’s Hideous Laughter. On average it mills around 30 cards from our deck, leading to us being dead on turn 3 or 4 very often. Mill also plays just enough interaction to slow us down and steal the win. When playing against Mill, make sure your hand is able to kill quickly, there is no way to stall the game against them. Cauldron is excellent here, as besides Tasha’s, all their spells still put cards into your graveyard, and this often lets you access any of your creatures that you want from your deck with the Cauldron. This lets you set up quick inkmoth or ballista kills with the help of your opponent.
Game 2-3: Use dismember on the first crab they play. Haywire mite is to deal with their Ensnaring Bridge, also still works when milled if you have a Cauldron. We do overboard to 63 cards here, as the slightly higher average mana value can give us an extra turn against a particularly rough Tasha’s.
-kePs-
Comments
Joan Carrasco
good point - going to add it
Javier Castellan
As time goes on, we will see V1.2, 1.3, etc, so please include a quick note for "Changes from previous version" at the beginning.
Matteo Busi
Hi! I noticed UR murktide is missing from table of contents but actually shows up. Maybe fix in the next revision :)
