Magic: the Gathering Standard Sideboard Plan versus Control Decks in the Format

I have observed that sideboard suggestions are not likely recommended as part of the Magic: the Gathering Standard deck tech videos I have seen on Youtube. Some of these vloggers may lightly discuss it, others do a thorough card-by-card analysis, and the rest are just there showing the list, and that is it. Their suggestions may appear to be archetype specific, but the general sideboard strategy is missed in the discussion.

Today’s topic that I will discuss is how you will sideboard against control decks in the current Standard metagame. To list out these control decks, we have Jeskai Control, Izzet, Grixis, Jund, Esper, Rakdos, Dimir, Mono-White, Blue-White, and Mono-Black control. That is pretty a lot of decks, but the common denominator is that they go wide and are slower to develop their board. I will summarize in bullet points the sideboard plan strategy & with a few card suggestions. 

  • Discard spell sideboard route – If your deck goes with having Black as one of its main colors, your sideboard will automatically consist of discard spells. The currently popular cards are Duress, Check for Traps, and Go Blank. They are cheap to cast and won’t affect if you have an aggressive curve, and having to discard their best against your board like a Doomskar for example is a huge advantage. This will also let you know what other threats they might have and what are their possible gameplay in the succeeding turns. You will also notice some midrange decks also having maindeck Duress in their list as this is effective currently by taking out Fables and Chariots before they resolve. 
  • Solid counterspells are the way – The control decks’ usual win condition is to wide and resolve a planeswalker or a huge creature like Titan of Industry. If your build is Blue-based, adding solid counterspells to the board is the best game plan against them. Cards like Disdainful Stroke, and Negate are the best answers against Lolth, Goldspan Dragon, and Magma Opus. Not to mention, you can also counter mass removal spells. Mono-Blue Tempo or Azorious Aggro decks have these card options and sometimes have them in the maindeck. 
  • Go in Par with them – Another common routine when facing a control deck is to also go wide with them. If they were able to answer your early threats, they would likely have less way to do so when you resolve a late-game planeswalker or utility creature. A few of these examples are Kotose, the Silent Spider for Dimir-color decks, The Wandering Emperor or Ao, the Dawn Sky for Mono-White Aggro, and Lolth, Spider Queen for Black-based builds. You just make sure you sideboard out useless cards like excess spot removals or inefficient creatures. 

Overall, these decks go stronger in the long game and are vulnerable to fast aggro decks, provided that you would not overcommit to a mass removal spell. Decks with Vehicles usually shine here. Try to play around, predict their next possible play and adapt from it. Take note of the spells they have used, check their graveyard, and analyze the possibility of them drawing the card that will be efficient against your strategy. Depending on what playstyle your deck is, a good combination of disruption spells and late-game bombs is a major way of winning the matchup against control decks.