In my previous blog post, I have shared my Standard Theros Beyond Death deck tech on the Big Red midrange deck and for today will be the sideboard list and guide for the in-and-outs based on the recent metagame of the format. For a quick lineup of the deck’s creatures, we have the usual suspects in the form of Runaway Steam-Kin, Bonecrusher Giant, and Phoenix of Ash while the unusual choices were Drakuseth, Cavalier of Flame and Tectonic Giant.
Here below is my planned sideboard for the deck:
4 Agonizing Remorse
2 Embereth Shieldbreaker
1 Fry
1 Lava Coil
2 Redcap Melee
2 Storm’s Wrath
1 Swamp
1 Ugin, the Ineffable
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
Agonizing Remorse – the main reason for the splash of Temple of Malice in the main deck. This lets you access this powerful discard/graveyard removal card against Blue-White Control and other midrange decks such as Temur Reclamation. The addition of a lone Swamp lets you draw your Black mana in a higher chance.
Embereth Shieldbreaker – Artifact destruction is a common gameplan against Witch’s Oven decks and this card just does that, plus a bonus 2/1 creature.
Fry, Lava Coil and Redcap Melee – Color-specific removal spells is what you would need in certain scenarios but not all the time. Red aggro usually starts aggressive so you would need early spot removals in Lava Coil and Redcap Melee to deal with their creatures.
Storm’s Wrath – Two more of these sweep spells against aggressive Red, Black or White creature decks.
Ugin, the Ineffable – While I would consider another Chandra, this one just does my expectation of a planeswalker that can deal with a threat and gives you card advantage at the same time.
Sorcerous Spyglass – One way to answer a resolved Planeswalker or Artifact. There are quite a few scenarios that this can be useful but then again we had to make sure to have at least one in our sideboard.
Here is the sideboard guide versus the current top decks in the Standard format:
Versus Blue White Control
Out: 3 Lava Coil, 2 Storm’s Wrath, 4 Omen of the Forge
In: 4 Agonizing Remorse, 1 Swamp, 1 Fry, 1 Ugin, the Ineffable, 1 Sorcerous Spyglass, 1 Embereth Shieldbreaker
Versus Mono Red Aggro
Out: 1 Drakuseth, 4 Phoenix of Ash, 2 Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded
In: 2 Embereth Shieldbreaker, 1 Lava Coil, 2 Redcap Melee, 2 Storm’s Wrath
Versus Mono Black Devotion
Out: 1 Skarrgan Hellkite, 2 Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded, 1 Drakuseth, 1 Omen of the Forge
In: 1 Lava Coil, 1 Storm’s Wrath, 1 Ugin, 2 Embereth Shieldbreaker (for Witch’s Oven builds)
Versus Golgari Adventures/Witch’s Oven
Out: 1 Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded, 1 Drakuseth, 3 Omen of the Forge
In: 1 Lava Coil, 1 Storm’s Wrath, 1 Ugin, 2 Embereth Shieldbreaker
Versus Temur Reclamation
Out: 3 Lava Coil, 2 Storm’s Wrath, 2 Slaying Fire, 1 Omen of the Forge
In: 4 Agonizing Remorse, 1 Swamp, 1 Fry, 1 Ugin, the Ineffable, 1 Sorcerous Spyglass
Versus Jeskai Fires
Out: 4 Omen of the Forge, 2 Slaying Fire, 2 Lava Coil, 1 Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded
In: 4 Agonizing Remorse, 1 Swamp, 2 Storm’s Wrath, 1 Ugin, the Ineffable, 1 Sorcerous Spyglass
Versus White Weenie
Out: 4 Phoenix of Ash
In: 1 Lava Coil, 2 Storm’s Wrath, 1 Fry
Versus Rakdos Knights
Out: 4 Phoenix of Ash, 2 Drakuseth
In: 1 Lava Coil, 2 Storm’s Wrath, 1 Redcap Melee, 2 Embereth Shieldbreaker
Versus Gruul Aggro
Out: 2 Phoenix of Ash, 1 Tectonic Giant, 4 Omen of the Forge
In: 1 Lava Coil, 2 Storm’s Wrath, 1 Redcap Melee, 2 Embereth Shieldbreaker, 1 Ugin, the Ineffable
That is quite a long sideboard guide as we still expect the variance of the decks in your local Standard metagame. Just do take note of the usual cards taken out archetype matchups such as control and aggro decks.
Wrapping up this blog post and I do hope this helps you if ever you would like to try playing Big Red Midrange in your next Magic: the Gathering tournament.
Until the next blog post and thanks for reading. 🙂