Hi folks! Been grinding Ur Prison at my locals to awesome results! Highly suggest this deck to anyone who is new and questioning picking up the cards. Price aside, the deck is so functional and fun to play; the plethora of tutor effects offers redundancy and each powerful card offers a way to hold it's own against the top modern decks.
I have also been working on a Primer of my own using Google .docs; I would just like to contribute to the thread in any way I can. I will continuously update it as I can (working and general life duties prevent a diligent upkeep). Hopefully some of you can suggest modifications or any interesting things to put in the Primer and it would be greatly appreciated by me and most likely anyone who aims to utilize the information.
Here is the link to the Primer. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uk4ovMIetvFnK8C-ROuttAkH8GmtVyf_9HcAuLlQjKs/edit#heading=h.4nl84694m7ql
I will also be posting a Spreadsheet of matchup sideboarding for easy access. I am pretty meticulous so any nitpicking wouldn't go without thanks.
Edit: this is my celebratory 69th post... so yay
Is gaddock teeg worth a slot in the side for control matchups with all their walkers and wraths, or against scapeshift, or to stop karn and ugin and walking ballista and chalice out of etron?
Gaddock can't stop ballista (non creature). It does stop your shoals though and tamiyo. As a 1 of it's quite difficult to have it in the right moment.
This seems correct. Stopping Walking ballista was an oversight haha. My focus was to have a dedicated answer to supreme verdict decks, but I think Boros Charm is where we would want to be at that point.
Is gaddock teeg worth a slot in the side for control matchups with all their walkers and wraths, or against scapeshift, or to stop karn and ugin and walking ballista and chalice out of etron?
Against Affinity, I've been trying out a configuration like this:
Out:
-4 Wild Nacatl
-2 Spell Pierce
-1 Thought Scour
-2 Mana Leak
In:
+1 Snapcaster Mage
+2 Huntmaster of the Fells
+2 Engineered Explosives
+1 Pithing Needle
+1 Ancient Grudge
+2 Pyroclasm
I've felt like disrupting shoal has been a great card to break up their synergies, I'm just not dogmatic about it's inclusion post board. It feels right to take out nacatl, but on paper I feel like chart a course isn't reliably turned on in this matchup with a lack of offense. Also, in my opinion, staying ahead of affinity in CA is integral to winning the matchup so the inclusion of chart a course and taking a controlling role seems correct, but I wanted to clarify. Anyways, my problems with this matchup include etched champions, man-lands and certain sideboard cards. Maybe I'm getting unlucky, who knows, but I feel like "rest in peace" is a common sideboard card due to the prevalence of storm now and it inherently attacks a large portion of our decks gameplan. In addition, removal in the form of dispatch can be quite annoying. I've found engineered explosives to either be an all star removal spell/sweeper or too slow and have been wanting a second copy of AG occasionally. If humans takes a step back, can you foresee a transition back to 2 copies?
UW Control is very tough for us to beat. UB is a lot easier; Fatal Push is kind of annoying but not nearly as bad as Trials/Verdict, and it's hard for UB to ever deal with Mandrills. Gotta keep Scour vs Storm btw or you will never resolve Mandrills. Cut two Goyfs on the draw and two Sleights on the play (OTP you will have a window to resolve Goyf before you need to represent mana).
Is UWR any better since it usually doesn't run verdict and Gideon in exchange for queller, etc.?
As for storm, that makes a lot of sense actually. Didn't even think about it. I remember you replying to somebody stating that sleight of hand was taken out in 0 of our matchups, but that might have been before storm was a thing and also might have been before the probe banning. But I am not 100% sure lol. Taking out goyf seems strange because he is just so efficient, but it makes sense when the opponent can untap and murder you.
Against UB control, would keeping in countermagic be ill-advised? Keep in mind that I've seen ub control decks start to transiting towards the spreading seas/FoR package with a plethora of planeswalkers for value. Does the theoretical presence of liliana make permission too much of a liability?
Went to a 1k this Saturday and had a decent record overall (3-2). Didn't manage to make T8 due to a few mistakes and what I feel was either not understanding the matchup or just being paired against decks that inherently attack our decks weaknesses. Interestingly, I had the opportunity to disrupting shoal a 4 mana Gideon while tapped out and it completely went over my head. Shortly after resolving, it took over the game due to my lack of board presence. I wasn't quite sure if it was correct to leave in shoal against UWR, but I figured I'd have enough targets in lightning bolt and path to exile that it would be worth it. Was pointed out to me by a judge shortly after the game and I beat myself up for it. We live and learn I guess.
I faced 2 UWx control decks one of which was more creature oriented with flash spells, 2 Grixis Shadow, and UB control with spreading seas and field of ruin. I felt that the shadow matchup is easily understood and likely in our favour since we can overwhelm them with paths and goyfs, however, UW and UB control (not the geist version) seem to be problematic in my experience. Even during testing on cockatrice I have had trouble keeping up with a resolved Gideon of the trials followed by verdict. All that in addition to their LD package seems like an inevitable loss for us. I've been experimenting with surgical extraction and engineered explosives against the Gideon versions to blow up potential d spheres and Gideon and surgical to rid them of verdict.
The UB control deck seems like a worse version where you can keep counter magic in to stop damnation from resolving and pretty much win from there.
Is this thread dead rn?
@AshtonDaGod
Alright! Questionnaire #2 Here we go.
In what match-ups does Hooting Mandrills get shaved from the 60 and why? More specifically, is Hooting Mandrills considered to be too slow against combo decks due to the non-interactivity of the archetype
Is Disrupting Shoal a decent or even necessary card in any mid-range match-ups? If so, which ones?
How would you describe Disrupting Shoal's role in this deck? When side-boarding, what goes through your mind when deciding to keep it or not? Does it primarily protect creatures from removal or 'disrupt' an opponents proactive game plan (ex. counter Vial, Noble, Amulet, Bogle, Springleaf Drum, etc.)
Does bolt ever come out in the completely non-interactive match-ups or is it uncommon to side out our reach?
What are the main draws to Surgical Extraction? Without discard it doesn't exactly fill the same role it would in a deck full of disruption. Is it (specifically) to interact with different cards that utilize the graveyard like: Prized Amalgam, Kolaghan's Command, Snapcaster Mage, Eternal Witness, Kitchen Finks or Renegade Rallier, etc.?
On a side note, I have thought of a particular instance wherein Surgical might be beneficial outside of the aforementioned cases. In the UW or UWx control match-ups, would it ever be brought in to extract Supreme Verdict after they inevitably cast one to remove the burden of worrying about over-committing or is that too narrow of an application? This is a niche use of the card and I'm sure there are more that have merit for discussion. cont'd
Would Surgical Extraction ever target the card "Living End"?
Does Chart a Course ever seem too slow in certain 'quicker' matchups like: Burn, Affinity, Goryo's or Bogles?
Against Bloomless Titan we would only want access to Ancient Grudge and not EE, right?
It seems like Snapcaster is a highly useful card and seems to fit into any 60 post board. Are there any match-ups where you would only keep in 1 or even none at all?
I have a few questions regarding certain macthups that I have found troublesome over the past few weeks. I was hoping I could get some good feedback.
vs. UR Storm:
Do we side in Pyroclasm or EE specifically for EtW post-board
Is Snapcaster Mage worth siding in when his typical lowest mana cost is 3 (and Storm traditionally plays Remand)? Does he ever serve an Ambush Viper role?
Does Surgical have a designated target most of the time? If so, what is it? If not, what are the main targets?
vs. Titan Breach
Do we keep Path to Exile in post-board for Titan and potentially Obstinate Baloth despite it ramping them further towards their goal?
Is Spreading Seas good enough to side in to shut off a mountain or double green? {I find it has been, just wanted to check}
Do we focus on countering the ramp spells in this match-up (using Mana Leak aggressively) or should we save it for a inevitable Titan or TtB?
Does Ancient Grudge or EE have a home in the 60 post-board to catch early Relics or Chalices? I've found that having Relic allows them to dismiss Tarmogoyf entirely and sometimes kill it with either Anger or Bolt.
Does Shoal come out or stay in for the potential countering of their Relics, Bolts, Tribe-Elder, or Chalices?
vs. Living End
Disrupting Shoal becomes counterspell against "LE"; that would lead me to believe the matchup can be decent. I can only assume from what I've heard that it is bad because of cards like Shriekmaw and Fulminator Mage and Living End just being a board wipe against us. What has your experience been?
Do we try and keep our fetchlands uncracked until we have a key play to avoid Fulminator Mage?
Are Path to Exiles useful or should we just try and stop Living End from resolving entirely?
Does Pithing Needle have a purpose in stopping Faerie Macabre or Fulminator Mage?
It seems like Ricochet Trap is wicked against a "counter your combo" plan. Is there any way to play around it or avoid it?
Taking out all permission against GBx decks leaves us soft to Liliana doesn't it?
Opposite. Lili will shred your hand if you can't play it out proactively.
Against LotV decks, I can't help but conclude that a resolved Lili is lights out. Is there any merit to keeping in permission at all? Not even spell pierce? I'll admit that when Lili does resolve (albeit, past a Spell Pierce or Mana Leak) they do have much more control when you can't cast your useless permission that they discard from your hand over and over. Shouldn't we try to reactively answer Lili with permission to stop the assault from ever flourishing?
Also, does the way we play our threats against midrangey decks change based on our hand or do we have a specific angle of attack? ie. play out all threats at once, or try to overload their removal (which seems difficult) by playing threats consistently early. I find that with the latter approach, they just come out ahead with plays like push, push, lili or push, goyf, push, lili.
Do we want access to Engineered Explosives and Pithing Needle out of the board. Needle efficiently and proactively answers Lili and EE seems like a good way to get rid of a board of Goyfs and Scoozes... not quite sure though. This matchup seems all over the place with what they could end up doing.
When playing a tempo oriented role, what to focus on.
This was a stupid way to phrase what I was trying to ask. This question just encapsulates all the different options we have with our entire deck at all times and is almost impossible to answer without context.
Absolutely been loving Counter Cat! I have read just about everything you've posted about the deck and enjoy every bit of it. The latest iteration of CC with the most recent change being the Engineered Explosives over the Ancient Grudge is such a fantastic list.
I have been working on a project similar to what Riku_the_Wizard was doing a while back with the Bedlam/Traverse/Delver Temur deck that got banished along with Gitaxian Probe. It's a sideboard notebook that takes after your thoughts behind the way you treat sideboarding (Aggressive, Midrange and Tempo Transitions). I find that really clears up a lot of what I have been having trouble with in Magic in general.
I want to take this deck to a large event and do well because I truly believe it has potential. Every card, every matchup, every card they play, every state in the game, every moment! It's all a wonderful part of Magic and I feel like this deck really encapsulates what I want to be doing in Magic; piloting an aggro-control deck. Being able to switch gears post board and take over the game against a wide variety of decks, have a late game or an early game if you see fit! It's ecstasy!
I have been looking for some sound advice from the Creator/Innovator himself. I have a couple questions and I was wondering if I could ask for some help with the notebook. I'd greatly appreciate it.
I've had some trouble in testing with certain matchups. Specifically Midrange style, removal-dense decks like Jund and Uw Control style decks. I've wanted to clear up some issues with this help sheet and write some particular, helpful notes about certain matchups like:
Which spells to focus all of our permission onto. (ie. Against Junk, Mana Leak tries to play Seige Rhino duty only)
Does Snapcaster only want to Flashback certain spells? (ie. Permission against combo or removal against creature decks)
Playing land drops - are land drops over 2-4 necessary or should we bluff cards or use them as discard fodder?
Playing Chart without Raid in the grindy matchups. Is it more important to Gain CA or CQ?
Bolting the dome as opposed to creatures.
When playing a tempo oriented role, what to focus on.
Serum Visions - (an extremely skill testing card in this deck) when to use it and what to look for.
How to turn a bad matchup (ie. Dredge, Living End, Blood Moon decks, high density removal decks {in my experience these have been troublesome}) into a better one. Get lucky?
How to navigate combat, whether to attack or not.
Taking out all permission against GBx decks leaves us soft to Liliana doesn't it?
Do we ever take out our Forest?
These are vague but examples of the many issues I wanted to address.
Hm, I see your issue. I would attempt to take it slow against ETron, try to remand their TKS (and if they have Cavern, they at least won't have it turn 2) and slow them down with Exhaustion and Gigadrowse (sort of works through Chalice on 1, maybe include 2 copies in the SB so you can go up to the playset). With 4 Snapcasters you should be able to keep them off their haymakers, even if you obviously "get got" by Surgical (which can definitely lose you the game, that's Tron for ya). Both Warping Wail and Surgical are certainly rough, you can play Vendillion Clique to check their hand and if you have reasons to be really worried about Eldrazi Tron's interaction (maybe it's prevalent locally), you can go for Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir as a funky sideboard inclusion.
Eldrazi Tron is a matchup that isn't actually that hard to process. Ideally, you would want to Gigadrowse and Exhaustion them all day, but thats not always the case. With the UR version, you're playing a much more control oriented game plan where Lightning Bolt and Snapcaster Mage become key parts of your victory. Surgical is a card that can outright destroy this deck's consistency; my aim after boarding is to make that card not matter as much. Taking out Snapcaster Mage comforts me because I know I am less reliant on the graveyard and more focused on casting cheap interactive instants to disrupt my opponent and leverage my lategame advantage. Vendilion Clique serves a much better purpose in a metagame filled with combo and control decks, I wouldn't be so quick to throw it in without proper research of the metagame beforehand. Eldrazi Tron isn't exactly prevalent at my local meta, it's a tier 1 deck that takes up a large share of the meta. It is obviously going to be concerning. Teferi doesn't appeal to me at all. The point of my post was to hopefully put a dent in this less than favourable matchup with some advice on playing against them and assuredly "taking it slow" doesn't quite cover all the bases. I don't intend to insult, but hopefully some more constructive advice can flourish its way into this thread. I definitely appreciate your help One last question... I have attempted to suspend and resolve Ancestral Vision multiple times against ETron only to have chalice on 0 come out on either the following or the final turn before the last time counter goes off. When I think about keeping AV in after board I fear Chalice, but if I leave it out I fear that they might have an overwhelming amount of card quality comparatively with the assistance of Thought-Knot Seer. I also want to add that after adding in Blood Moon to the deck, this becomes a very one sided matchup if we manage to resolve it; they only play 2 Wastes and Cavern gets shut off. Chalice for 1 or 2 isn't a big deal, nor is Batterskull or Karn Liberated nor Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. Remand becomes a house, and Surgical hits only cards that aren't Blood Moon!! It usually wins us the game
Good question. If you have lots of cheap small instants and sorceries, being able to flip Thing in response to your opponent going for the kill could be extremely powerful, since your opponent can't really protect their creatures from that. On the other hand, it's terrible if your opponent can board in Twisted Image. I personally don't have enough experience with the matchup. I'd suggest doing some test matches against Infect to gauge Thing's overall usefulness.
Of course, if the opponent brings in or leaves in Twisted Image for whatever reason against us, they might get that lucky cantrip kill. I'm not going to focus on such a negligible interaction, though. My initial concern was if Thing in the Ice was any good against them due to the resiliency their cheap creatures have against the bouncing effect. I fear I might need to remind some folks that the UR version doesn't play out like the Mono Blue version and that the reason to run red is to beat aggressive strategies like Infect. Thing in the Ice is in the board for that exact reason but through several matches of testing I have found that the following series of events happens: They build up to 3-4 mana and sometimes have Inkmoth to attack as well, attack without pumping enough times to warrant a response and play out their hand after the inevitable 4th Titi trigger because it is difficult to go off at that point for us. Is Titi really necessary? Thoughts?
I have been playing at my LGS and participating in FNM events to varying success. The best part about losing is that you learn what not to do. The best way to improve is to fail!!
Anyways, I've been testing a lot and have constructed what I think is a decent sideboarding strategy against most of the top decks currently in the format. This is currently what I have come up with and would appreciate as much feedback as possible. The list I play splashes red to maintain early interaction whilst having the ability to win late game with a reliable win condition (Bolt-Snap-Bolt). While also having access to potent red sideboard cards when applicable. Obviously, the argument towards which colour has the best sideboard cards leans towards white, but red still has some goodies.
Any questions regarding the sideboarding would be greatly appreciated as I am also learning and will always be willing to adapt to an ever changing metagame.
I have some input before anyone comments further on specific matchups:
Death's Shadow: So far, this matchup has proven to be one of the easier ones. They don't have a reliable Liliana of the Veil on turn two, they only have 10 real threats against us and they need to attack to do anything. Any deck that relies on attacking to harm us is going to have a hard time dealing with our disruption along with killing us. This matchup plays out similar to Jund in that the opponent must maintain a disrupting approach while laying out threats. Regarding how I choose to sideboard in this matchup; I have found that killing them with Bolt-Snap-Bolt is extremely reliable if they aren't careful, and furthermore, if they are careful it gives us so much time to pressure them with the threat of comboing off.
Eldrazi Tron: I have currently had a horrible time with this matchup. I just recently added Blood Moon to the deck to see if it improved any of our existing horrible ones. Blood Moon definitely has an extremely high impact on Eldrazi Tron, for sure. However, Blood Moon allows the game to slow down enough that their extreme mana advantage is nullified. Eldrazi Tron has access to some of the most annoying cards to deal with for this deck, in my opinion. Namely, Chalice of the Void, Surgical Extraction and Warping Wail. Lightning Bolt has a hard time dealing with anything they throw at us and I have been debating whether or not it is worth it to side out or keep in to eliminate Thought-Knot Seer and maintain card parity. It's a questionable sideboard strategy and I invite opinions.
Naya Burn: This is matchup I wish I received more feedback for when I posted earlier regarding it. This matchup is inherently poor due to their ability to close out the game against our few interactive spells. Their creatures require answers most of the time and will often net them 3-6 damage which equates to a very dead Turns player. I have tried to shore this matchup by reducing our curve and trying to make our spells matter. The biggest card in this matchup is Eidolon of the Great Revel, as previously stated, is certainly hard to deal with for any combo deck with little removal. Removing Temporal Mastery and Ancestral Vision seems right to me. Having access to a card that says draw three cards for "U" is great, but it requires more than just one measly blue mana and we assuredly cant afford it in a large percentage of situations against them. Thing in the Ice isn't even a reliable blocker most of the time since they can choose to finish him off after a block with a bolt effect negating one of your few quick and easy win conditions against them. A win in this matchup relies on three things: 1. We need the play. 2. We need a sufficient opening hand of early interaction. 3. They cannot resolve Eidolon while you aren't ready to answer it.
Infect: The only relevant thought I have regarding an Infect opponent is if it's worth bringing Thing in the Ice against them. A lot of the time the games play out with them having an abundance of threats (barring Blood Moon) and we just have to be extremely patient and kill one after taking damage hoping they don't have enough spells that pump and protect. The matchup is pretty straight-forward, I'm just curious about Titi.
There is much room for improvement on the sideboard guide, including the addition of additional Tier 2 decks. Any suggestions are met with thanks. I love improving a deck that has widely agreed potential to be great.
Regarding Gigadrowse, is it necessary in a UR shell, in your opinion? It seems like it has some much needed tempo, but I'm under the impression that once you splash you might just have better options, namely lightning bolt in this case.
Ancestral Vision has been amazing in testing. It doesn't exactly seem like a win more card, I don't even know how to debate that. It draws three cards. Regarding 8-Rack, I often find myself trying to optimize the deck for everything, not a specific meta-game. That is a huge downfall of mine. Obviously, 8-Rack is less of a concern and BGx is the target wen concerning Vision.
Flip Jace seems like pure value in this deck. The main reason i wanted to discuss him is to see if there is something i missed when evaluating his inclusion in the sideboard. The decklist that just 5-0'd the league is the one I am referring to. Are there matchups where he comes in and shines over other cards, surprises the opponent, completely takes over the game?
Disrupting Shoal has been a pet card of mine ever since RUG delver as I stated before. It often is Force of Will against most opponents playing specific curves. I have had success siding it in against Jund (despite the card advantage they gain) but where it really shines is against Affinity, Bogles, Burn, Infect and Ad Nauseam. Often pitching it to counter a 2 drop but sometimes a pivotal 1 drop against Bogles or Infect. It allows you to play defense while tapping out. I wouldn't say that I would play it no matter what, but I have had success with even though this decks curve is wacky.
Also, I've been having trouble with sideboarding, and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for our bad matchups.
Burn- I've been trying out different variations and have had the mindset that you suggested before, make your curve as low as possible. So I have been boarding like this.
-4 Temporal Mastery
-4 Time Warp/Remand
-4 Dictate of Kruphix
+2 Disrputing Shoal
+1 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
+2 Gigadrowse
+3 Thing in the Ice
It seems strange to side out the combo, but as I said, the idea behind it is to side out all cards that are costly so that you can interact on an even playing ground and not sit there and hope not to die. This is just a test, however, and i would appreciate all the input you can give!! I'm on the fence about taking out a card like Remand over Time Warp. It interacts early and gives a plethora of 2 drops to pitch to shoal if necessary. I'm stuck.
Affinity is a lot better after board. A timely Hurkyl's Recall is just game against them. Turns takes so much advantage of the tempo gained from casting that card. Of course, they have openers that will crush anybody playing anything and there's not much you can do about that. Sometimes you have to use Hurkyl's to just stay alive and it becomes less of a time walk due to the resiliency of 0 drops like Memnite and Opal against Hurkyll's Recall. Cards like Disrupting Shoal shine is this matchup too since they have a straightforward curve and also have key cads you need to pay attention to. I tend to aim for anything that will immediately kill me or something that will eventually kill me (Cranial Plating, Steel Overseer). Also, with Pyroclasm and Lightning Bolt, it becomes easier to stay alive in the early game.
-4 Remand
-4 Temporal Mastery
-2 Cryptic Command
+2 Pyroclasm
+2 Hurkyl's Recall
+3 Thing in the Ice
+1 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
+2 Disrupting Shoal
The statement before about silver bullets was probably just stupid and should probably be erased from everyone's memory. You're right, Serum Visions is way more important for that.
Long time lurker here. Thought I would voice my opinion on some things, ask questions and receive input.
Gigadrowse I've heard a lot of people swear by it and say it is one of the most necessary cards in the deck. I've had varying experiences with this card, ranging from amazing to mediocre. This card is good when it's good and at least okay when it's not. It wins control matches hands down and has amazing tricks when used against creatures. However, I feel like a lot of aggressive strategies possess the ability to attack in a wider way which negates the possibility of gigadrowse being a fog. The ratio of mana development to creatures usually favors decks like affinity and 8 whack.
UR Turns The inclusion of red in our deck allows us to have early game interaction with reach. I shouldn't need to explain the versatility of lightning bolt. Bolt snap Bolt becomes a quick clock in a deck taking all the turns. I've been thinking as to why this strategy is considered the underdog to mono blue. Mana bases aside it boasts favourable matchups against aggressive strategies including affinity, zoo, infect, merfolk, and delver variants. It gives us access to game ending sideboard cards like pyroclasm and Vandalblast to name a few and obviously lightning bolt all for little to no cost. The life loss from scalding tarn or a single copy of steam vents is easily made up for with the versatility of lightning bolt.
Ancestral Vision vs. Howling Mine This is an argument that I personally don't understand. I'm unsure if it's just an opinion based argument or if there is proof of more success with either. I think vision is too good not to run at least 3 in the main. I also don't think that you're required to run thing in the ice alongside vision to warrant it's inclusion. Vision has the benefit of drawing cards for you alone but regrettably being a horrible top deck. I think the small price of one blue mana and four turns is enough to throw these in your deck. This card drastically improves bgx matchups and 8 rack. It puts fear into some opponents making them pseudo-misplay when it is close to coming off of suspend. This card allows you to run less silver bullets in your side "in theory" because you have a better chance of drawing them.
Inclusion of Flip Jace Some initial thoughts; obviously he is bad in multiples, therefore, I prefer running a low number. I'm under the impression that the lists running these run them for an alternate wincon condition against infinite life. I've had that come up many times against pod where it was useful. I've also read people saying that jace is a must include in metagames where there are a lot of linear "I need to attack to win" strategies. I fail to see how jace keeps you alive against these types of decks. I find that mid combo he supports your gameplan perfectly as a two drop to compliment taking an extra turn and keep the engine going. He is filtering early and a win condition later. I feel like he could be a flex spot though, I'm not sure about people's opinions.
Disrupting Shoal in the side This is a card I've been a fan of ever since I played RUG Delver. It allows you to interact earlier than usual and stops linear decks in their tracks from gaining the upper hand against you. You can tap out to play a threat or can trip and leave up mana to stop an integral play from your infect, Burn, affinity, Bogles, or zoo opponent. I wanted to know the opinions on this card as well. I think it's perfect in certain metas, especially when we are gaining such incremental advantage with dictate and vision/mine.
Certain matchups being viewed as bad or good when they shouldn't be (like Xexen said, Jon finkel stated "Focus on only what matters"; this just makes me think that the evaluation of certain matchups may be skewed and just needs a bit less of a dogmatic mindset. ie: Affinity, Burn, Infect, Tron variants, Bogles, Ad Nauseum.
Affinity - becomes a cakewalk after board, if you know what they can do with their mana, you know how to win the matchup. Hurkyl's Recall is obviously a house and usually buys you a couple turns equivalent to about 1-2 time walks. Key cards like Arcbound Ravager and Steel Overseer are a nuisance when trying to calculate combat math, but all we need to focus on its not dying, not disintegrating the opponents board state. Galvanic Blast usually gets sided out making Thing in the Ice awesome again. Slower cards like Etched Champion aren't going to do much, we only need to focus on what matters.
Burn - this matchup seems unwinnable g1. That's just from experience. It seems we need a sequence of huge tempo swings and lucky miracles to come out ahead. Also being on the play helps immensely. The versions with wild nacatl are harder to win in my opinion. After board we have a great blocker in thing in the ice, but he can be easily dispatched by bolt like removal after blocking making your win con non existent. Hard hate in the side like sun droplet can be effective but require a lot of set up and need to be played in the early turns to have a high impact. The addition of radiant fountain in some lists seems awesome on the surface but the life gained from it is usually irrelevant and won't buy enough time. 2 life is negligible in this matchup where they have constant attackers. Spellskite is also a great blocker and protects mine effects from destructive revelry. I've been debating with my self whether taking out most of the engine in Dictate is worth it against burn since sometimes the dictate just gets stuck in your hand because you don't want to give your opponent any advantage because they can make so much use out of those cards making it feel like you mulliganed down a card. Just a theory and it seems bad on paper but it could work. Also, being on the play makes remand a little better since it can buy you time against a crucial t2 eidolon. I've found that eidolon wins games for them against us.
Infect - Spellskite doesn't spell a win against them. It only buys a bit of time. Not to mention you could have some opponents side in nature's claim against our mines which double as terminate against skite. The hands with tons of pump spells usually lose to skite, but an attacker backed up by hierarch is a fast clock for us. I find this matchup gets better with more interaction, meaning the addition of red makes this more winnable. Chalice of the void doesn't really turn my crank either because thy want to come out of the gates so fast anyways making it hard to stifle them with. It just stops pump and future glisteners or hierarchs, not attacking with a previously cast threat. It also shuts off your gigadrowse and vision which I'm not not sure is correct to side out if siding in chalice. Higher cmc cards like mastery and cryptic seem bad but are integral to the shell. It's hard to understand which cards are okay to side out in certain matchups.
Gx Tron - I agree with the people saying this matchup is a cakewalk. Remand being in your deck means that you usually just have the curve of remand into cryptic or dictate and go off. It's usually easy to win this matchup. Gigadrowse is also a silence in some scenarios. After board they usually don't have anything relevant. Sometimes they just have karn t3 and if you don't have a way to stop it, it becomes a good threat, otherwise it's just a karn that eats a card "of your choice" or more commonly, an irrelevant land. Some people say that karn resolving is okay and can be ignored, it's usually not the case if cast early enough. Remand is literal time walk against them and is key in winning this matchup.
Eldrazi Tron - This matchup sucks for us in my experience. They have hard to deal with threats, big mana and a stupid fast clock most of the time. Counterspells help but sometimes you have those cheeky opponents who run cavern of souls because it usually doesn't hinder them at all and you get wrecked. Cards that matter are thought knot, ulamog and them untapping with an endbringer. Sideboarding for this matchup is strange. They have a plethora of options to side out and in and even the slightest disruption from them can interrupt us. Warping wail on our warp effects really sucks too. I think this is a skill intensive matchup and I don't know what to focus on entirely just yet.
Bogles - This should be a really easy matchup. We don't care about anything they're doing unless it kills us and giving them more cards doesn't matter. The only thing is stopping them from killing us. They're a deck reliant on attacking a casting sorcery speed spells so exhaustion is usually awesome here. Try to play around mana tithe (some people still play it) spellskite obviously does a lot of work, even moreso on the play.
Ad Nauseum - I've experimented with Overwhelming Denial and it is awesome in this matchup. It allows you to go off without fear. Disrupting shoal also allows this. Usually this match plays out into the late game with both players sculpting their hands to go off but we have to wait until we can disrupt them while going off and we need more than they do. They just need a pact or 2 to stop us. I don't think this matchup is bad at all. It's just a matter of patience from both players. Usually the person who goes off prematurely, loses. Disrupting shoal is a counterspell against Pact or a force of will when pitching time warp against ad Nauseum. Remanding their mana rocks is huge, especially bloom. Like any matchup that plays out like this, land is an integral part of the strategy. Prioritize land first and counterspells second.
I have also been working on a Primer of my own using Google .docs; I would just like to contribute to the thread in any way I can. I will continuously update it as I can (working and general life duties prevent a diligent upkeep). Hopefully some of you can suggest modifications or any interesting things to put in the Primer and it would be greatly appreciated by me and most likely anyone who aims to utilize the information.
Here is the link to the Primer. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uk4ovMIetvFnK8C-ROuttAkH8GmtVyf_9HcAuLlQjKs/edit#heading=h.4nl84694m7ql
I will also be posting a Spreadsheet of matchup sideboarding for easy access. I am pretty meticulous so any nitpicking wouldn't go without thanks.
Edit: this is my celebratory 69th post... so yay
This seems correct. Stopping Walking ballista was an oversight haha. My focus was to have a dedicated answer to supreme verdict decks, but I think Boros Charm is where we would want to be at that point.
Out:
-4 Wild Nacatl
-2 Spell Pierce
-1 Thought Scour
-2 Mana Leak
In:
+1 Snapcaster Mage
+2 Huntmaster of the Fells
+2 Engineered Explosives
+1 Pithing Needle
+1 Ancient Grudge
+2 Pyroclasm
I've felt like disrupting shoal has been a great card to break up their synergies, I'm just not dogmatic about it's inclusion post board. It feels right to take out nacatl, but on paper I feel like chart a course isn't reliably turned on in this matchup with a lack of offense. Also, in my opinion, staying ahead of affinity in CA is integral to winning the matchup so the inclusion of chart a course and taking a controlling role seems correct, but I wanted to clarify. Anyways, my problems with this matchup include etched champions, man-lands and certain sideboard cards. Maybe I'm getting unlucky, who knows, but I feel like "rest in peace" is a common sideboard card due to the prevalence of storm now and it inherently attacks a large portion of our decks gameplan. In addition, removal in the form of dispatch can be quite annoying. I've found engineered explosives to either be an all star removal spell/sweeper or too slow and have been wanting a second copy of AG occasionally. If humans takes a step back, can you foresee a transition back to 2 copies?
Is UWR any better since it usually doesn't run verdict and Gideon in exchange for queller, etc.?
As for storm, that makes a lot of sense actually. Didn't even think about it. I remember you replying to somebody stating that sleight of hand was taken out in 0 of our matchups, but that might have been before storm was a thing and also might have been before the probe banning. But I am not 100% sure lol. Taking out goyf seems strange because he is just so efficient, but it makes sense when the opponent can untap and murder you.
Against UB control, would keeping in countermagic be ill-advised? Keep in mind that I've seen ub control decks start to transiting towards the spreading seas/FoR package with a plethora of planeswalkers for value. Does the theoretical presence of liliana make permission too much of a liability?
I faced 2 UWx control decks one of which was more creature oriented with flash spells, 2 Grixis Shadow, and UB control with spreading seas and field of ruin. I felt that the shadow matchup is easily understood and likely in our favour since we can overwhelm them with paths and goyfs, however, UW and UB control (not the geist version) seem to be problematic in my experience. Even during testing on cockatrice I have had trouble keeping up with a resolved Gideon of the trials followed by verdict. All that in addition to their LD package seems like an inevitable loss for us. I've been experimenting with surgical extraction and engineered explosives against the Gideon versions to blow up potential d spheres and Gideon and surgical to rid them of verdict.
The UB control deck seems like a worse version where you can keep counter magic in to stop damnation from resolving and pretty much win from there.
Is this thread dead rn?
OUT:
-4 Path to Exile
-1 Hooting Mandrills
-2 Thought Scour
-1 Sleight of Hand
IN:
+1 Snapcaster Mage
+2 Engineered Explosives
+2 Pyroclasm
+1 Surgical Extraction
+2 Negate
Alright! Questionnaire #2 Here we go.
On a side note, I have thought of a particular instance wherein Surgical might be beneficial outside of the aforementioned cases. In the UW or UWx control match-ups, would it ever be brought in to extract Supreme Verdict after they inevitably cast one to remove the burden of worrying about over-committing or is that too narrow of an application? This is a niche use of the card and I'm sure there are more that have merit for discussion.
cont'd
vs. UR Storm:
- Do we side in Pyroclasm or EE specifically for EtW post-board
- Is Snapcaster Mage worth siding in when his typical lowest mana cost is 3 (and Storm traditionally plays Remand)? Does he ever serve an Ambush Viper role?
- Does Surgical have a designated target most of the time? If so, what is it? If not, what are the main targets?
vs. Titan Breach- Do we keep Path to Exile in post-board for Titan and potentially Obstinate Baloth despite it ramping them further towards their goal?
- Is Spreading Seas good enough to side in to shut off a mountain or double green? {I find it has been, just wanted to check}
- Do we focus on countering the ramp spells in this match-up (using Mana Leak aggressively) or should we save it for a inevitable Titan or TtB?
- Does Ancient Grudge or EE have a home in the 60 post-board to catch early Relics or Chalices? I've found that having Relic allows them to dismiss Tarmogoyf entirely and sometimes kill it with either Anger or Bolt.
- Does Shoal come out or stay in for the potential countering of their Relics, Bolts, Tribe-Elder, or Chalices?
vs. Living EndDisrupting Shoal becomes counterspell against "LE"; that would lead me to believe the matchup can be decent. I can only assume from what I've heard that it is bad because of cards like Shriekmaw and Fulminator Mage and Living End just being a board wipe against us. What has your experience been?
Also, does the way we play our threats against midrangey decks change based on our hand or do we have a specific angle of attack? ie. play out all threats at once, or try to overload their removal (which seems difficult) by playing threats consistently early. I find that with the latter approach, they just come out ahead with plays like push, push, lili or push, goyf, push, lili.
Do we want access to Engineered Explosives and Pithing Needle out of the board. Needle efficiently and proactively answers Lili and EE seems like a good way to get rid of a board of Goyfs and Scoozes... not quite sure though. This matchup seems all over the place with what they could end up doing.
This was a stupid way to phrase what I was trying to ask. This question just encapsulates all the different options we have with our entire deck at all times and is almost impossible to answer without context.
I have been working on a project similar to what Riku_the_Wizard was doing a while back with the Bedlam/Traverse/Delver Temur deck that got banished along with Gitaxian Probe. It's a sideboard notebook that takes after your thoughts behind the way you treat sideboarding (Aggressive, Midrange and Tempo Transitions). I find that really clears up a lot of what I have been having trouble with in Magic in general.
I want to take this deck to a large event and do well because I truly believe it has potential. Every card, every matchup, every card they play, every state in the game, every moment! It's all a wonderful part of Magic and I feel like this deck really encapsulates what I want to be doing in Magic; piloting an aggro-control deck. Being able to switch gears post board and take over the game against a wide variety of decks, have a late game or an early game if you see fit! It's ecstasy!
I have been looking for some sound advice from the Creator/Innovator himself. I have a couple questions and I was wondering if I could ask for some help with the notebook. I'd greatly appreciate it.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eVxCulAamr3vxPw9nVgc7XQtluFnIdNxAwmzefpVKHA/edit#gid=0
Be forewarned, it is not completed yet and most of what I've listed might not be correct yet.
I've had some trouble in testing with certain matchups. Specifically Midrange style, removal-dense decks like Jund and Uw Control style decks. I've wanted to clear up some issues with this help sheet and write some particular, helpful notes about certain matchups like:
These are vague but examples of the many issues I wanted to address.
Eldrazi Tron is a matchup that isn't actually that hard to process. Ideally, you would want to Gigadrowse and Exhaustion them all day, but thats not always the case. With the UR version, you're playing a much more control oriented game plan where Lightning Bolt and Snapcaster Mage become key parts of your victory. Surgical is a card that can outright destroy this deck's consistency; my aim after boarding is to make that card not matter as much. Taking out Snapcaster Mage comforts me because I know I am less reliant on the graveyard and more focused on casting cheap interactive instants to disrupt my opponent and leverage my lategame advantage. Vendilion Clique serves a much better purpose in a metagame filled with combo and control decks, I wouldn't be so quick to throw it in without proper research of the metagame beforehand. Eldrazi Tron isn't exactly prevalent at my local meta, it's a tier 1 deck that takes up a large share of the meta. It is obviously going to be concerning. Teferi doesn't appeal to me at all. The point of my post was to hopefully put a dent in this less than favourable matchup with some advice on playing against them and assuredly "taking it slow" doesn't quite cover all the bases. I don't intend to insult, but hopefully some more constructive advice can flourish its way into this thread. I definitely appreciate your help
Of course, if the opponent brings in or leaves in Twisted Image for whatever reason against us, they might get that lucky cantrip kill. I'm not going to focus on such a negligible interaction, though. My initial concern was if Thing in the Ice was any good against them due to the resiliency their cheap creatures have against the bouncing effect. I fear I might need to remind some folks that the UR version doesn't play out like the Mono Blue version and that the reason to run red is to beat aggressive strategies like Infect. Thing in the Ice is in the board for that exact reason but through several matches of testing I have found that the following series of events happens: They build up to 3-4 mana and sometimes have Inkmoth to attack as well, attack without pumping enough times to warrant a response and play out their hand after the inevitable 4th Titi trigger because it is difficult to go off at that point for us. Is Titi really necessary? Thoughts?
Anyways, I've been testing a lot and have constructed what I think is a decent sideboarding strategy against most of the top decks currently in the format. This is currently what I have come up with and would appreciate as much feedback as possible. The list I play splashes red to maintain early interaction whilst having the ability to win late game with a reliable win condition (Bolt-Snap-Bolt). While also having access to potent red sideboard cards when applicable. Obviously, the argument towards which colour has the best sideboard cards leans towards white, but red still has some goodies.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1i9c-4EphhkBtEWvRmNuQpSr6YNzErX1_Dinh9PWnpI8/edit#gid=0
Any questions regarding the sideboarding would be greatly appreciated as I am also learning and will always be willing to adapt to an ever changing metagame.
I have some input before anyone comments further on specific matchups:
Death's Shadow: So far, this matchup has proven to be one of the easier ones. They don't have a reliable Liliana of the Veil on turn two, they only have 10 real threats against us and they need to attack to do anything. Any deck that relies on attacking to harm us is going to have a hard time dealing with our disruption along with killing us. This matchup plays out similar to Jund in that the opponent must maintain a disrupting approach while laying out threats. Regarding how I choose to sideboard in this matchup; I have found that killing them with Bolt-Snap-Bolt is extremely reliable if they aren't careful, and furthermore, if they are careful it gives us so much time to pressure them with the threat of comboing off.
Eldrazi Tron: I have currently had a horrible time with this matchup. I just recently added Blood Moon to the deck to see if it improved any of our existing horrible ones. Blood Moon definitely has an extremely high impact on Eldrazi Tron, for sure. However, Blood Moon allows the game to slow down enough that their extreme mana advantage is nullified. Eldrazi Tron has access to some of the most annoying cards to deal with for this deck, in my opinion. Namely, Chalice of the Void, Surgical Extraction and Warping Wail. Lightning Bolt has a hard time dealing with anything they throw at us and I have been debating whether or not it is worth it to side out or keep in to eliminate Thought-Knot Seer and maintain card parity. It's a questionable sideboard strategy and I invite opinions.
Naya Burn: This is matchup I wish I received more feedback for when I posted earlier regarding it. This matchup is inherently poor due to their ability to close out the game against our few interactive spells. Their creatures require answers most of the time and will often net them 3-6 damage which equates to a very dead Turns player. I have tried to shore this matchup by reducing our curve and trying to make our spells matter. The biggest card in this matchup is Eidolon of the Great Revel, as previously stated, is certainly hard to deal with for any combo deck with little removal. Removing Temporal Mastery and Ancestral Vision seems right to me. Having access to a card that says draw three cards for "U" is great, but it requires more than just one measly blue mana and we assuredly cant afford it in a large percentage of situations against them. Thing in the Ice isn't even a reliable blocker most of the time since they can choose to finish him off after a block with a bolt effect negating one of your few quick and easy win conditions against them. A win in this matchup relies on three things: 1. We need the play. 2. We need a sufficient opening hand of early interaction. 3. They cannot resolve Eidolon while you aren't ready to answer it.
Infect: The only relevant thought I have regarding an Infect opponent is if it's worth bringing Thing in the Ice against them. A lot of the time the games play out with them having an abundance of threats (barring Blood Moon) and we just have to be extremely patient and kill one after taking damage hoping they don't have enough spells that pump and protect. The matchup is pretty straight-forward, I'm just curious about Titi.
There is much room for improvement on the sideboard guide, including the addition of additional Tier 2 decks. Any suggestions are met with thanks. I love improving a deck that has widely agreed potential to be great.
Here is my current list for reference.
4 Snapcaster Mage
Sorceries
3 Ancestral Vision
4 Serum Visions
4 Exhaustion
4 Time Warp
4 Temporal Mastery
Instants
2 Gigadrowse
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Remand
2 Cryptic Command
4 Dictate of Kruphix
Lands
10 Island
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Steam Vents
4 Sulfur Falls
1 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
1 Spellskite
3 Thing in the Ice
1 Ancestral Vision
1 Pyroclasm
1 Dispel
2 Spell Pierce
1 Disrupting Shoal
2 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Blood Moon
Ancestral Vision has been amazing in testing. It doesn't exactly seem like a win more card, I don't even know how to debate that. It draws three cards. Regarding 8-Rack, I often find myself trying to optimize the deck for everything, not a specific meta-game. That is a huge downfall of mine. Obviously, 8-Rack is less of a concern and BGx is the target wen concerning Vision.
Flip Jace seems like pure value in this deck. The main reason i wanted to discuss him is to see if there is something i missed when evaluating his inclusion in the sideboard. The decklist that just 5-0'd the league is the one I am referring to. Are there matchups where he comes in and shines over other cards, surprises the opponent, completely takes over the game?
Disrupting Shoal has been a pet card of mine ever since RUG delver as I stated before. It often is Force of Will against most opponents playing specific curves. I have had success siding it in against Jund (despite the card advantage they gain) but where it really shines is against Affinity, Bogles, Burn, Infect and Ad Nauseam. Often pitching it to counter a 2 drop but sometimes a pivotal 1 drop against Bogles or Infect. It allows you to play defense while tapping out. I wouldn't say that I would play it no matter what, but I have had success with even though this decks curve is wacky.
Also, I've been having trouble with sideboarding, and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for our bad matchups.
Burn- I've been trying out different variations and have had the mindset that you suggested before, make your curve as low as possible. So I have been boarding like this.
-4 Temporal Mastery
-4 Time Warp/Remand
-4 Dictate of Kruphix
+2 Disrputing Shoal
+1 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
+2 Gigadrowse
+3 Thing in the Ice
It seems strange to side out the combo, but as I said, the idea behind it is to side out all cards that are costly so that you can interact on an even playing ground and not sit there and hope not to die. This is just a test, however, and i would appreciate all the input you can give!!
Affinity is a lot better after board. A timely Hurkyl's Recall is just game against them. Turns takes so much advantage of the tempo gained from casting that card. Of course, they have openers that will crush anybody playing anything and there's not much you can do about that. Sometimes you have to use Hurkyl's to just stay alive and it becomes less of a time walk due to the resiliency of 0 drops like Memnite and Opal against Hurkyll's Recall. Cards like Disrupting Shoal shine is this matchup too since they have a straightforward curve and also have key cads you need to pay attention to. I tend to aim for anything that will immediately kill me or something that will eventually kill me (Cranial Plating, Steel Overseer). Also, with Pyroclasm and Lightning Bolt, it becomes easier to stay alive in the early game.
-4 Remand
-4 Temporal Mastery
-2 Cryptic Command
+2 Pyroclasm
+2 Hurkyl's Recall
+3 Thing in the Ice
+1 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
+2 Disrupting Shoal
The statement before about silver bullets was probably just stupid and should probably be erased from everyone's memory. You're right, Serum Visions is way more important for that.
Gigadrowse I've heard a lot of people swear by it and say it is one of the most necessary cards in the deck. I've had varying experiences with this card, ranging from amazing to mediocre. This card is good when it's good and at least okay when it's not. It wins control matches hands down and has amazing tricks when used against creatures. However, I feel like a lot of aggressive strategies possess the ability to attack in a wider way which negates the possibility of gigadrowse being a fog. The ratio of mana development to creatures usually favors decks like affinity and 8 whack.
UR Turns The inclusion of red in our deck allows us to have early game interaction with reach. I shouldn't need to explain the versatility of lightning bolt. Bolt snap Bolt becomes a quick clock in a deck taking all the turns. I've been thinking as to why this strategy is considered the underdog to mono blue. Mana bases aside it boasts favourable matchups against aggressive strategies including affinity, zoo, infect, merfolk, and delver variants. It gives us access to game ending sideboard cards like pyroclasm and Vandalblast to name a few and obviously lightning bolt all for little to no cost. The life loss from scalding tarn or a single copy of steam vents is easily made up for with the versatility of lightning bolt.
Ancestral Vision vs. Howling Mine This is an argument that I personally don't understand. I'm unsure if it's just an opinion based argument or if there is proof of more success with either. I think vision is too good not to run at least 3 in the main. I also don't think that you're required to run thing in the ice alongside vision to warrant it's inclusion. Vision has the benefit of drawing cards for you alone but regrettably being a horrible top deck. I think the small price of one blue mana and four turns is enough to throw these in your deck. This card drastically improves bgx matchups and 8 rack. It puts fear into some opponents making them pseudo-misplay when it is close to coming off of suspend. This card allows you to run less silver bullets in your side "in theory" because you have a better chance of drawing them.
Inclusion of Flip Jace Some initial thoughts; obviously he is bad in multiples, therefore, I prefer running a low number. I'm under the impression that the lists running these run them for an alternate wincon condition against infinite life. I've had that come up many times against pod where it was useful. I've also read people saying that jace is a must include in metagames where there are a lot of linear "I need to attack to win" strategies. I fail to see how jace keeps you alive against these types of decks. I find that mid combo he supports your gameplan perfectly as a two drop to compliment taking an extra turn and keep the engine going. He is filtering early and a win condition later. I feel like he could be a flex spot though, I'm not sure about people's opinions.
Disrupting Shoal in the side This is a card I've been a fan of ever since I played RUG Delver. It allows you to interact earlier than usual and stops linear decks in their tracks from gaining the upper hand against you. You can tap out to play a threat or can trip and leave up mana to stop an integral play from your infect, Burn, affinity, Bogles, or zoo opponent. I wanted to know the opinions on this card as well. I think it's perfect in certain metas, especially when we are gaining such incremental advantage with dictate and vision/mine.
Certain matchups being viewed as bad or good when they shouldn't be (like Xexen said, Jon finkel stated "Focus on only what matters"; this just makes me think that the evaluation of certain matchups may be skewed and just needs a bit less of a dogmatic mindset. ie: Affinity, Burn, Infect, Tron variants, Bogles, Ad Nauseum.
Affinity - becomes a cakewalk after board, if you know what they can do with their mana, you know how to win the matchup. Hurkyl's Recall is obviously a house and usually buys you a couple turns equivalent to about 1-2 time walks. Key cards like Arcbound Ravager and Steel Overseer are a nuisance when trying to calculate combat math, but all we need to focus on its not dying, not disintegrating the opponents board state. Galvanic Blast usually gets sided out making Thing in the Ice awesome again. Slower cards like Etched Champion aren't going to do much, we only need to focus on what matters.
Burn - this matchup seems unwinnable g1. That's just from experience. It seems we need a sequence of huge tempo swings and lucky miracles to come out ahead. Also being on the play helps immensely. The versions with wild nacatl are harder to win in my opinion. After board we have a great blocker in thing in the ice, but he can be easily dispatched by bolt like removal after blocking making your win con non existent. Hard hate in the side like sun droplet can be effective but require a lot of set up and need to be played in the early turns to have a high impact. The addition of radiant fountain in some lists seems awesome on the surface but the life gained from it is usually irrelevant and won't buy enough time. 2 life is negligible in this matchup where they have constant attackers. Spellskite is also a great blocker and protects mine effects from destructive revelry. I've been debating with my self whether taking out most of the engine in Dictate is worth it against burn since sometimes the dictate just gets stuck in your hand because you don't want to give your opponent any advantage because they can make so much use out of those cards making it feel like you mulliganed down a card. Just a theory and it seems bad on paper but it could work. Also, being on the play makes remand a little better since it can buy you time against a crucial t2 eidolon. I've found that eidolon wins games for them against us.
Infect - Spellskite doesn't spell a win against them. It only buys a bit of time. Not to mention you could have some opponents side in nature's claim against our mines which double as terminate against skite. The hands with tons of pump spells usually lose to skite, but an attacker backed up by hierarch is a fast clock for us. I find this matchup gets better with more interaction, meaning the addition of red makes this more winnable. Chalice of the void doesn't really turn my crank either because thy want to come out of the gates so fast anyways making it hard to stifle them with. It just stops pump and future glisteners or hierarchs, not attacking with a previously cast threat. It also shuts off your gigadrowse and vision which I'm not not sure is correct to side out if siding in chalice. Higher cmc cards like mastery and cryptic seem bad but are integral to the shell. It's hard to understand which cards are okay to side out in certain matchups.
Gx Tron - I agree with the people saying this matchup is a cakewalk. Remand being in your deck means that you usually just have the curve of remand into cryptic or dictate and go off. It's usually easy to win this matchup. Gigadrowse is also a silence in some scenarios. After board they usually don't have anything relevant. Sometimes they just have karn t3 and if you don't have a way to stop it, it becomes a good threat, otherwise it's just a karn that eats a card "of your choice" or more commonly, an irrelevant land. Some people say that karn resolving is okay and can be ignored, it's usually not the case if cast early enough. Remand is literal time walk against them and is key in winning this matchup.
Eldrazi Tron - This matchup sucks for us in my experience. They have hard to deal with threats, big mana and a stupid fast clock most of the time. Counterspells help but sometimes you have those cheeky opponents who run cavern of souls because it usually doesn't hinder them at all and you get wrecked. Cards that matter are thought knot, ulamog and them untapping with an endbringer. Sideboarding for this matchup is strange. They have a plethora of options to side out and in and even the slightest disruption from them can interrupt us. Warping wail on our warp effects really sucks too. I think this is a skill intensive matchup and I don't know what to focus on entirely just yet.
Bogles - This should be a really easy matchup. We don't care about anything they're doing unless it kills us and giving them more cards doesn't matter. The only thing is stopping them from killing us. They're a deck reliant on attacking a casting sorcery speed spells so exhaustion is usually awesome here. Try to play around mana tithe (some people still play it) spellskite obviously does a lot of work, even moreso on the play.
Ad Nauseum - I've experimented with Overwhelming Denial and it is awesome in this matchup. It allows you to go off without fear. Disrupting shoal also allows this. Usually this match plays out into the late game with both players sculpting their hands to go off but we have to wait until we can disrupt them while going off and we need more than they do. They just need a pact or 2 to stop us. I don't think this matchup is bad at all. It's just a matter of patience from both players. Usually the person who goes off prematurely, loses. Disrupting shoal is a counterspell against Pact or a force of will when pitching time warp against ad Nauseum. Remanding their mana rocks is huge, especially bloom. Like any matchup that plays out like this, land is an integral part of the strategy. Prioritize land first and counterspells second.
Here is my list for reference:
4 Snapcaster Mage
Enchantments
4 Dictate of Kruphix
Sorceries
4 Ancestral Vision
4 Serum Visions
4 Exhaustion
4 Time Warp
4 Temporal Mastery
Instants
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Remand
2 Cryptic Command
10 Island
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Steam Vents
4 Sulfur Falls
1 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
3 Thing in the Ice
2 Pyroclasm
1 Day's Undoing
2 Gigadrowse
2 Disrupting Shoal
2 Spell Pierce
2 Hurkyl's Recall