The narrower a problem is, the easier it becomes to focus on a specific solution. Hence, you can see how difficult it becomes in Type 1.5 to build a proper sideboard. In a format boasting dozens of viable decks and hundreds of playable cards, how does one find the fifteen best options?

To complicate matters, each area boasts its own metagame. While there exists a top tier of decks in the overall format, not everyone has the Bazaars of Baghdad to play Dragon, the Mishra's Workshops to play WelderMUD, or the inclination to be a sheep (no matter how successful). A broad field of classics, liberally studded with rogue creations and individual innovations, provides a daunting challenge.

The first step to success is to know thy enemy. What do you expect to see at the tourney for which you are preparing? Scouting, observation, online research, past history and inclination (you can be pretty sure I'm playing Madness...) and plain, old fashioned espionage are all worthwhile activities. While not advocating bribing, sneaking, and peeping - you shouldn't rule them out either...

Using Woosta (where I play most these days), as an example, I need to be prepared for aggro. Critters are everywhere, especially little Red ones. If I bring the same sideboard I would for the combo/control heavy metagame in Syracuse - my deck will not be as prepared as it should be. Woosta, at the moment, has some small amount of combo (most of it homegrown and a bit raw - but fun!), but very little control. This will change as the environment grows, expands, adapts, matures, and generally searches for way to be different and dominant (and beat me). For the moment, however, I need to be able to deal with the hazards of speedy little Red men.

"What you can use depends so much on what you play, though!" Absolutely right, although one of the points I will discuss a bit later is the ability, the necessity, of pinpointing broad-based answers. I will list two decks and their sideboard which I bring every week - one which I play, one which I lend out.

Madness (my deck)
Mana: (28)
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Taiga
2 Riftstone Portal
4 Plateau
2 Savannah
4 Wasteland
4 Elvish Spirit Guide

Tricks: (14)
4 Fiery Temper
4 Violent Eruption
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Pyrokinesis

Critters: (19 - 23 with ESG)
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Arrogant Wurm
4 Squee, Goblin Nabob
2 Anger
1 Masticore

Sideboard: (15)
2 Tormod's Crypt
3 Artifact Mutation
4 Ray of Revelation
2 Circle of Protection: Red
4 Naturalize
2 Gaea's Blessing

Teh Solution (not fully developed, as Justin will attest....and yes, it follows the Jamie Wakefield method of 62 cards/26 mana)
Mana: (26)
4 Tundra
4 Coastal Tower
4 Volcanic Island
4 Flooded Strand
4 Shivan Reef
4 Mishra's Factory
2 Island

Critters: (0)
Kinda (other than Decree and Factories)

Tricks: (36)
4 Isochron Scepter
3 Counterspell
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
3 Fire / Ice
1 Orim's Chant
3 Swords to Plowshares
4 Accumulated Knowledge
3 Brainstorm
1 Decree of Justice (yes, I know, there should be more of them....)
3 Intuition
3 Cunning Wish

Sideboard: (15)
1 Boomerang
1 Swords To Plowshares
1 Fire / Ice
1 Ebony Charm
1 Heroes Reunion
1 Abeyance
2 Orim's Chant
3 Disenchant
4 Chill

"But your Madness deck has so little sideboard against Red?" That is because I moved almost everything to the main deck! I even added the COP: Reds maindecked for a while, as there are no truly dead cards with Bazaar of Baghdad and Wild Mongrel. The Naturalizes were moved to the sideboard and Lightning Bolts added, the Pyrokinesis got taken off the bench and promoted to Varsity, and the Wastelands - crucial in Syracuse - got cut. They were exchanged for Sylvan Scryings and one Dust Bowl in an attempt to guarantee having Bazaar of Baghdad, which seems to be fatal for most opponents, especially zippy Red ones. It is still experimental, a work in progress, but a conscious attempt to get (and stay...) one step ahead of the metagame.

The Keeper-style deck also sports much maindeck hate - STP (Swords to Plowshares), Fire/Ice, and the wonderful flexibility of Cunning Wish - to complement the options in the board. Another STP, more Orim's Chant, Chill, Heroes Reunion-on-a-Stick can all ruin a Red player's day. I'm considering Blue Elemental Blast, since it is Wishable and also looks fine on a Stick, and possibly COP: Red here as well. Since this deck has a much better natural match-up with combo and control, it can afford to set aside more slots for fast, crispy aggro.

One similarity between both sideboards is the ability to deal with problem enchantments and artifacts. These days there are very few decks which don't sport either or both. In many decks, especially combo, the artifacts and enchantments are crucial. Teh Solution itself relies heavily on the ability to repeatedly abuse a well imprinted Isochron Scepter. Therefore, cards like Naturalize and Disenchant which can handle both classes of threat are much more valuable than cards like Artifact Mutation (although I love the tempo swing of converting my opponents threat/answer into my beaters).

Versatility, especially in a format of broad possibilities, becomes key in deciding a card's worth. Can the card be used against a variety of threats - either in type, archetype, or style? Thus Artifact Mutation becomes more viable in a R/G aggro-control deck. It allows me to sideboard out creatures, if necessary, and not necessarily lose tempo while still dealing with pesky artifacts such as Isochron Scepter, Goblin Charbelcher, Tangle Wire, and Smokestack. While not as versatile as Naturalize, the Mutation still provides a valuable secondary ability, which puts it head and shoulders above a number of other, more vanilla options ranging from Shatter to Rack and Ruin to Pulverize to Shattering Pulse.

Repetition of threat, a twist on versatility, is another trait to be valued. The ability of Ray of Revelation to be used twice (or get Duressed and still be used) make it a better card for my Madness deck than Disenchant. I now have twelve ways to wax an enchantment packed into eight card slots, efficient. Combine that with the Gaea's Blessings, I have potentially even more chances to wreck my opponents afternoon. The Gaea's Blessings are another example of both versatility and repetition of threat. They allow me the potential to re-use whichever expended cards in my deck are most valuable, can deny key graveyard resources to an opponent, and of course help protect me from decking both as Millstone/Ambassador Laquatus proofing and by possible infinite Blessing recursion.

Repetition of threat also means duplicating your ability to cope with a weakness. I constantly see people throw four Naturalizes in a deck or sideboard and be happy that they are"prepared," which makes me cringe. When I go to a tournament where Dragon is expected, I run four Wasteland and four Naturalize main deck - and expect to lose Game 1. I will have four Ray of Revelation, three to four Tormod's Crypt, another two to four Root Maze or Ground Seal or Night Soil, and two Gaea's Blessings in the sideboard.

I'm still not guaranteed victory, but I can rest assured that I will not lose simply by being underprepared and underarmed in the face of not only their combo, but their Duresses, Force of Wills, Chains of Vapor, and Pernicious Deeds. While the Dragon player may beat me, they'll damn well have to work at it!

Furthermore, every card listed (with the exception of Root Maze) is also good against a number of key cards and strategies in other popular decks and archetypes ranging from Survival of the Fittest to Reanimator to Goblin Welder recursion in wMUD to Oath. Against decks like WelderMUD, I will often sideboard out most of my creatures so that I can fit in enough ways to cripple their locking and recursive elements. I would rather become a slow control deck and win (eventually...) than stay a fast aggro deck and lose.

I'm often accused of being a packrat (guilty) and a toolbox deckbuilder, of hedging my bets with a range of cards that dilute my deck. While the debate of versatility versus pure focused intensity deserves an article of its own (ooooh, foreshadowing!) I hope that I've demonstrated to toolbox to be a viable sideboard plan. As Carl Jarrett says,"may evil become confused on the way to your house," much likelier to happen in my opinion if you have a versatile, repetitive array of threats and answers.

Allan Race
scrumdogg@iwon.com
scrumdogg on The Source and Star City
bad Level 1 judge and crusty rogue