The Current Decklist – The Jester
The current list:
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Mountain
4 Barbarian Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Black Lotus
4 Goblin Welder
1 - Open Slot -
1 Trinisphere
4 Smokestack
4 Tangle Wire
4 Uba Mask
4 Jester's Cap
4 Crucible of Worlds
4 Chalice of the Void
Why play this? Is it any good? Prove it!
Okay.
I took it to two tournaments. I made Top 8 in one, and had really bad luck in the other, finishing around 13th place.
Robert Vroman took it to a tournament, and he split in Top 4.
Colby Evenpence took it to StarCityGames Power 9 and made Top 8 on both days.
Is this list set in stone?
Of course not! That's why this article exists, and there is even an open slot in the maindeck. This is merely the list I'm playing at the moment. Almost any of the cards can be switched in and out of the deck to fit your metagames.
In the year since this deck was created, there were a few big changes that were made. Here is the basic Ubastax timeline.
The differences from Vroman's deck were:
+1 Smokestack
+3 Tangle Wire
-4 Sphere of Resistance
The Jester – Yespuhyren – is the list at the top. The differences from Evenpence's list were:
-3 Null Rod
-2 Gorilla Shaman
-2 Duplicant
+4 Jester's Cap
+1 Tangle Wire
+1 Uba Mask
+1 Open Slot
The decks change by less than ten cards each time. Although the changes are very small, believe it or not they are necessary. The original UbaStax list, UbaWire, would not do that well in the environment now, and that is why it has evolved to include Jester's Caps.
The One Open Slot: This slot has many different options available, all of which are good. There hasn't been any one card that has managed to prove itself good enough to maintain a slot in the deck permanently. The options I have had success with are:
Karn, Silver Golem – Eats Moxes, and animates lots of artifacts for the win.
Mindslaver – Hard to activate, but will usually put you in a good enough position to win the game once you activate it.
Triskelion – Great against Aggro and Welders.
Sundering Titan – Great against decks like Gifts that rely on basic lands.
Wheel of Fortune – Great because Uba Mask combos well with Draw 7's.
Memory Jar – Another Draw 7 that you can reuse with Goblin Welder.
Solemn Simulacrum – A strong creature; he beats for 2, tutors up a land, sacrifices to Smokestack, and draws you a card when he dies. That little green man just does so much!
Why is this different from other Stax decks?
Although this deck contains many of the basic cards that 5c Stax has, Smokestack is actually the card I would cut first. This deck does not need to get rid of permanents to win. The goal behind this deck is to use Tangle Wires and Wastelands to slow down the opponent, while attempting to do one of three things.
Use Jester's Cap
Get an Ubalock
Smokestack Lock with Crucible
Those are the three primary goals that this deck has. The main reason that Smokestack is included is because of Mana Crypt. I have lost a great deal of games to Mana Crypt damage, because without Smokestack in the list, the only way to get rid of it is to weld it out… and if you can't resolve a Welder, then you are basically dead. The other option is to cut Mana Crypt from the list, and I'm not sure I would ever want to do that as it's absolutely amazing.
I have highlighted the three main focuses of the deck, because far too often people do not play the deck this way. Although it greatly resembles Vroman's UbaStax list, the deck does not function the same. It has different priorities and ways of winning, and it should be treated differently as such. Jester's Cap is the main focus of the deck, not Smokestack, and that is something that people must come to grips with when trying to play this deck properly.
I feel that this deck is better than the original Ubastax list right now, because of the strength of Jester's Cap in the overall metagames. It is a game-winner against a slew of the most popular decks, and I attribute a large percent of my wins to that card alone.
Will a list without Null Rod sporting Jester's Caps always be the best? Of course not. But I feel it is right now. There are many cards out there that can be put into the Maindeck or Sideboard to improve certain matches when the metagames dictates that. This deck must change and adapt to the metagames, or it will fail. Migrating from Null Rod to Jester's Caps was the first adaptation. Trust me, there will be another, with something even better, sooner or later. It is a necessity, or the deck will die.
Strategy
Other cards that could be put maindeck:
Sphere of Resistance
Null Rod
Granite Shard
Juggernaut/Su-Chi/Razormane Masticore
Orb of Dreams
Gorilla Shaman
Karn, Silver Golem
The possibilities are endless; this is just a few of the tried and tested.
Sideboarding:
Sideboarding with this deck is much more of a metagame call than anything else. All of the cards listed below are what I believe to be most of the viable sideboard cards available; I have talked a little bit about each one, and the matchups in which they shine. My current sideboard, however, is this:
3 Granite Shard
4 Pyrostatic Pillar
4 Shattering Spree
4 Defense Grid
Artifacts:
Defense Grid – This is strong against all Blue control decks, as it means they will have to play most of their spells on their own turn, and things like Force of Will and Mana Drain become too expensive to cast in the first few turns. Basically, if you resolve it fast, you know they aren't going to be countering that much very early on.
Spawning Pit – This is purely against Oath, as it gives you an outlet to sacrifice creatures at will, and without a cost. It is very easy to drop, as it only costs two mana, and therefore can be dropped with a shop, or a Mox plus Land on turn 1 fairly consistently.
Granite Shard – This is good against a lot of decks, and is one of the cards that could definitely be maindecked, due to how powerful it is. It is amazing against all forms of Slaver, as it pings out their Shamans and Welders, it is excellent against Ichorid as well, and even against Oath, as you can ping the tokens before they can Oath.
Tormod's Crypt – This is good against Combo and Ichorid, as they both rely heavily on their graveyards for creatures/dredgers and Yawgmoth's Will respectively
Duplicant – This is a decent answer to Oath, and is good against Workshop Aggro as well. However, I feel this card is outdated as a relevant sideboard option.
Juggernaut – This isn't so much a reactive card than a proactive one, where you can use this to transform into an aggro deck. This can be a good surprise option.
Triskelion – Similar to Juggernaut, though this is also good at killing weenies like Welders, and is much better against Aggro.
Null Rod – This is good if you want to sideboard against Tendrils combo or Belcher, though there is already a lot of hate in the maindeck for those archetypes.
Sphere of Resistance – This is also good against Combo decks, as they are forced to spend more resources, greatly limiting what they can do to you. They will usually have to remove the Sphere before comboing off, though it isn't mandatory.
Ensnaring Bridge – This is a good card against Oath and Aggro, especially because with Uba Mask you keep your hand low, and usually at empty. The downside with the Bridge is the same as all other artifacts; it is very easy to remove via bounce or destruction spells.
Caltrops – This card is a game-winner against Ichorid, and in multiples can also single handedly defeat Fish and Goblins.
Orb of Dreams – This card isn't the greatest, but it is good against Dragon and Combo. It slows down Oath and Ichorid, though Ichorid more so, because Ichorid will come in tapped and die at the end of the turn, therefore it'll never be able to swing. They will then have to win with Ashen Ghouls, which you should be able to remove every turn with Barbarian Rings and Granite Shards.
Red Cards:
Pyrostatic Pillar – I would say this is the best card we can possibly sideboard against Combo, because it does massive amounts of damage to them just trying to set up their Storm count to 10. They would have to play 9 spells and tendrils exactly, and that's if they can do that right away without taking damage. The only way combo really has to remove it is Chain of Vapor in Intuition Tendrils, and I don't believe that any combo decks run Echoing Truth. Regardless, it is the best option.
Goblin Bombardment – This is probably the best card we can sideboard in against Oath, because the general rule of permanents is that Artifacts are the easiest to destroy, and Enchantments are the most difficult. It is free to use, it is easy to cast with nine Red mana sources and costing only two mana, and again, is hard to remove. Most Oath decks will have to Pithing Needle or Rushing River it.
Shattering Spree – This card is really good against Stax if you can get a large amount of Red mana. It has the potential to completely wreck their board. It can also go through Chalice of the Void at one, thanks to Replicate. The big downside is that with only one Red mana available, it is not as good as other options.
Viashino Heretic – This is another great card, though it is not considered as powerful as Shattering Spree. It does massive amounts of damage, and kills artifacts every turn for a mere two mana, with only one needing to be Red. This is still a viable sideboard option if you do not like Shattering Spree, though I still feel that Spree edges out over it with the ability to destroy multiple artifacts in one shot.
Price of Glory – This is a good option, and is stronger than Defense Grid when it is in play. The issue, though, is the fact that it costs three mana, and getting three non-Workshop mana into play with this is usually too slow to be relevant.
Fiery Temper – This is a good option against all aggro. It is worse than Lightning Bolt if you have to hard cast it, and unless you have a Bazaar this card is downright terrible. The one thing about it, though, is if you madness it with Bazaar, it can go through Chalice set at one.
Lightning Bolt – This is good against all aggro, as it kills Juggernauts, Heretics, and almost any Fish creature. The downside, like most other cards in here that aren't used that often, is the fact that it has a casting cost of one, which conflicts with Chalice of the Void most of the time.
Pyroblast/Red Elemental Blast – This is great in certain metagames, though I feel that this card has outlived its need to survive. Although it is great against decks like Gifts and CS/BS, those are the decks against which you want to drop Chalice at one as soon as possible, and the conflicting mana cost edges out the Blasts. They are really the most useful for destroying Back to Basics or Energy Flux, both of which are serious issues for this deck. Jester's Cap is the best weapon against those in the maindeck, and you pretty much have to blow a Cap before either one resolves.
Lava Dart – This is a good way to hunt Welders, though with only three Mountains, the flashback option becomes less favorable. The good thing is you can Bazaar into a mountain with Crucible, and you can use it with ease. The biggest drawback, however, is the fact that it is stopped by Chalice at one, which is what you will set it to against most decks sporting Welders anyway.
Lands:
Maze of Ith – This is the only land I still consider to be somewhat relevant, though I believe that it is now outdated.
Playing the Deck
In this section I will talk about card selections, and elaborate more as to why they are included in the deck, regardless of how obvious they may seem.
Jester's Cap:
This card is excellent in the majority of the matches you will play, and as such I run it as a four-of. I will explain this card in the most detail, as it is the namesake for the deck.
Combo:
Intuition Tendrils – A Cap usually wins game 1 as you can hit the lone Tendrils. If it's gone, just go for their Hurkyl's, Rebuild, and Yawgmoth's Will. In game 2, most of them will add in 2-3 Tendrils, and 4 Dark Confidant. If they only add in two Tendrils, then go for all three with Cap. If you see that there are four of them, then you definitely want to take Will, and two Artifact Bounce spells (Hurkyl's Recall or Rebuild) because those are the most detrimental to your plan. Remember, you will be facing four Dark Confidants in games 2 and 3, and you must be able to deal with them. Plan your sideboard accordingly.
Dragon – Take all their win conditions out, though they can still draw the game. If there are already win conditions and a Dragon in the grave, your next best bet would be to go for Bazaars. If they have all of those pieces already, then you are in trouble. If this is the case, my choice would be to take their 2-3 Necromancies, and then do my best to set a Chalice at two to stop the other reanimation spells.
Grimlong – Cap takes all their win conditions out. If you crack Cap, and they don't have a Tendrils in hand, you win. This isn't the greatest matchup preboard, though I feel the postboard matchup is heavily in this deck's favor depending on your sideboard. I side in 4 Pyrostatic Pillars.
TPS – Most people don't play this any more, as they are playing IT, but the ones who do play this usually don't have more than two Confidants and 1 Tendrils, so Capping them is usually game.
Control:
Gifts – Most Gifts decks play 2-3 win conditions, consisting of the following:
Tendrils of Agony.
Tinker / Darksteel Colossus.
Mana Severance/Goblin Charbelcher (this isn't back yet, but it might be the combo of choice to replace the now defunct Time Vault / Flame Fusillade combo that was so favored by the Gifts players.)
Oath – Oath only plays two creatures, and you can remove both. Even if they have a creature in their hand, you can still Cap them for the following:
Brainstorm to prevent reshuffling the creature back in.
Forbidden Orchard to prevent them from giving you a creature so they can Oath. This is an option you will only want to use if they already have a Brainstorm in hand.
Control Slaver/Burning Slaver – The deck plays so many different threats that capping the deck will never guarantee a win. The threats that most of them will pack maindeck are:
1 Rack and Ruin (CS)
1 – 2 Mindslaver (BS – 1, CS – 2)
3 Goblin Welder
1 Fire / Ice (CS)
Yawgmoth's Will
Tinker
Darksteel Colossus (CS)
Triskelion (CS)
Duplicant (BS)
Sundering Titan (BS)
1 Crucible of Worlds (BS)
1 Burning Wish (BS)
Because of the amount of threats that are necessary to Cap, some important judgments have to be made. Lets assume that all the cards are available to choose from. Which would I choose, and how do I make that decision?
First of all, I think to myself “What can kill me?” Now look very closely at those lists. Each list has 2 large threats to deal damage: Colossus plus Trike / Titan plus Duplicant. Those two creatures are their main ways of beating you. Remember, if you don't concede, they must be able to deal you twenty damage, or deck you out.
Now, you have to assess the threat level of the other cards.
1 Rack and Ruin (CS) – High threat level.
1 – 2 Mindslaver – Low threat level without you having Smokestack or Welders at the time.
3 Goblin Welder - Low threat level without slaver or lots of artifacts in the graveyard.
1 Fire / Ice (CS) – Extremely low threat level if you have no Welders.
Yawgmoth's Will – Low threat level without kill conditions. It doesn't matter how far ahead they get, because if they don't have a way of actually winning, then you are fine.
Tinker – Low to Medium threat level – This depends on what deck you are playing against. Against CS running two Mindslavers, Capping becomes far more difficult. Against BS, then I would say take the Slaver and the two big creatures if you can.
1 Crucible of Worlds (BS) – Medium Threat Level – Unless you have a Smokestack or Crucible / Strip / Wasteland lock going, this card is not that crucial to winning the game for them or saving them against you. I wouldn't take it.
1 Burning Wish (BS) - High Threat Level – This finds them an alternative way to reduce your life to zero, and as such is an immediate threat to get rid of.
Generally, I feel the right play would be to therefore take the two larger creatures, and Burning Wish against BS to stop Tendrils, and two larger creatures and Tinker against CS. This means that BS has can still Slaverlock you, but their only three available win conditions are Goblin Welders, which they must then use to swing with for the win. Against CS, taking the two larger creatures and Tinker is generally the correct choice. Tinker can get them Mindslaver. If you take one, they still have a Tinker and a Mindslaver left in the deck. Mindslaver costs six to get into play, and Tinker costs three to put it into play. Therefore, taking Tinker means they will just have a bit of a harder time resolving a Mindslaver.
Again, the deck will still have 3 Goblin Welders as a win condition, and their only other source of damage is one Fire / Ice, which is in no way a real threat to your life total. You will have four Barbarian Rings, three to four Granite Shards (if it is post board), and three more Jester's Caps to hunt down the remaining Goblin Welders.
Just remember, that taking out the three Welders and two creatures does not mean you win, however. If you have a welder, they can Slaver lock you using your own welders, and kill you with your own Barbarian Rings. This is the only way for the decks to self inflict damage, so you must watch out for this as a possible way for you to win. You must also remember that many opponents will not think of this, and will usually concede because they will deck out before you. Don't count on it happening every time, but many players will not realize that this is a viable kill condition for them.
Aggro:
Ichorid – This is not the best matchup to drop a Cap for you, though early game it can be really effective. I generally take out three Ichorids if available, as they can rarely cast more than one or two Ashen Ghouls a turn, and if you have B-Ring / Crucible or Granite Shards, they become easy to deal with. A second Cap can take out a 4th Ichorid, as well as some Ghouls.
Fish – This is also not the greatest matchup to drop a Cap, though post board it would be a wrecking ball, as a lot of them will side in three Energy Flux, and some have three Null Rod maindeck and you can hit those. If you have a Smokestack or Wasteland recursion, then hitting them for their Crucibles would also be a great play.
Food Chain Goblins – This sucks. Even taking out three Goblin Piledrivers doesn't mean that you will be able to overcome the Goblins. The good thing is that very few people play this deck anymore, as Ichorid has become the budget deck of choice at the moment. Your best bet is to try and bog them down with Tangle Wire and ramping Smokestack.
Prison:
5C Stax – This is pretty good, because other than Barbarian Ring and Welder beats, most 5c Stax decks run three large creatures as kill conditions, and you can just remove those. Another viable option is removing Crucibles, as most of the decks run only three. Another last resort is hitting three Workshops if you feel it is absolutely necessary.
Uba Stax – You will usually want to Cap them for Crucibles, as the Crucible war often decides who will win the game. This isn't a matchup you will see often, though this deck does have the advantage if they are playing an out of date list. If they are playing the same version, you will also want to have a look at what the one open slot is. That card will often be a serious threat to you, unless it is Wheel of Fortune, Memory Jar, or Mindslaver. A creature has the potential to beat you, and that is something you have to be able to deal with, whether by removing it with Jester's Cap or having an active Welder.
Other Maindeck Card Selections:
Smokestack - This card is the card that most every Stax deck includes in its core lock components. This card can be devastating when combined with Crucible of Worlds, as well as with Wastelands and Strip Mine. Unless you are in desperate need to clear the board largely or completely, the general rule of thumb is to ramp it up to one counter, and keep it there until you can find a Crucible to stop you from losing permanents while they slowly lose their entire board.
Tangle Wire - This card is thought to be less necessary that Smokestack, because it doesn't have a lasting effect, and it doesn't make your opponents lose any permanents. Personally, I feel that this card is an excellent lock piece for this deck, as it does a lot of things that Smokestack does not.
First of all, the card is effective immediately, and an excellent play if you are on the draw. Tangle wire combines extremely well with Smokestack, as you can have them sacrifice permanents, then tap down other ones, whereas you can tap them and sacrifice the already tapped permanents. Combined with Goblin Welder, you can have them tapping four permanents every turn, whereas you would just tap Tangle Wire and two others, and with the amount of permanents unaffected by being tapped down that this deck runs it is often of no consequence to you. With Uba Mask, it can often give you two or three turns where you opponent removes useful cards and can't play them because of the mana denial from the Wire.
Crucible of Worlds - This card is just incredible in this list, and it would be hard to justify going down to any less than four of them in the deck. They combine extremely well with a few cards:
Smokestack – When you ramp the Smokestack up to one, you effectively don't lose permanents while your opponent is losing one every turn.
Wasteland/Strip Mine – You can constantly remove their lands, one every turn, and really cripple their mana base.
Bazaar of Baghdad – Having a Crucible in play helps to negate the downsides of discarding, because when you discard, it doesn't hurt you. Being able to discard lands without a drawback will also help to greatly improve draws, as you can just Bazaar away useless cards and lands to find the big guns.
Barbarian Ring – This is often used as the kill condition of the deck, recurring a Barbarian Ring ten times to deal them twenty damage. It is best at killing Welders, Ichorid's creatures, Meddling Mages, and more.
Chalice of the Void - This card has often been said not to be good enough to deserve a maindeck slot, but I personally disagree, and feel it is still a great card to have. Besides the obvious dropping of Chalice for free with zero counters on the play, you can also severely hurt other decks by dropping Chalice at different numbers. Here is what I would recommend dropping it for against other decks.
Gifts – 2/3
CS/BS – 1
Oath – 2
5c Stax – 1
IT/Grimlong – 1
Dragon – 2
Fish – 2
Food Chain Goblins – 2
You should also remember that this card can be dropped for free for:
Feeding a Smokestack.
Getting more mana with Academy if needed.
A free Weld target.
Uba Mask - This card has received the most doubt, and there are many reasons which this card should not be removed from the list in my opinion. It has many useful functions that make it a great card in the deck, for instance:
Card Advantage: With an Uba Mask in play, you generally will have the advantage as far as card advantage is concerned. The deck plays no sorceries, so you are always guaranteed to draw permanents that are relevant at the time. It also gives opponents a lot more dead cards, for instance:
Card Draw – Brainstorm, Recall.
Counters – Mana Drain, Force of Will, Mana Leak.
Discard – Duress, Cabal Therapy, Hymn to Tourach.
The Ubazaar Engine: Combining Uba Mask with Bazaar is just amazing, as you are drawing an extra two cards a turn without spending mana and without any drawbacks, other than losing what you don't play that turn. Remember, that if you have Ubazaar plus Smokestack, then you should always Bazaar in response to Smokestack going on the stack, because you will have the two additional cards until the end of the turn. The more information you have available, the more informed decision you can make about what to sacrifice to Smokestack. You can even sacrifice the Bazaar, replay it with Crucible, and use it again for an additional two cards that turn.
The Ubalock: Goblin Welder and Uba Mask is a soft to hard lock, depending on how many of each you have. The best option is having two Welders and at least one Uba Mask. Due to the way Uba Mask works, if your opponent removes their draw, and you then Weld out the Uba Mask so they lose their draw unless they want to play it in response. Remember, because this is still in their draw phase, they can't play any permanents. This limits them to instants only. At the end of their turn, you Weld Uba Mask back in, and untap your Welders to do it again. You can also do this with two Uba Masks and one Goblin Welder, though the first play works best for protection.
An issue with Uba Mask that can't be overlooked is the vulnerability against opposing Welder decks. You need to make sure that the number of Welders on each side is either equal or in your favor, or else they will be able to Ubalock you.
Goblin Welder - This card is one of the best creatures in the game right now, and he is definitely amazing in this deck. This little guy does just about everything you would want…
Welder with Bazaar: Pitch good artifacts and Weld them in.
Welder with Uba Mask.
Welder as protection – If an opponent targets an artifact, you can weld it out in response to save it.
Welder against Colossus – If you have an active Welder, it usually stops your opponent from Tinkering into Darksteel Colossus, as you can just Weld it back immediately.
Bazaar of Baghdad - Another key part of the deck, this card is one of the cards that need the most experience getting used to. There are right times and wrong times to Bazaar, and many situations might even sound the same. The times Bazaar is obvious:
When you have lots of dead cards in hand.
When you have a welder in play and something to Weld out.
When you have lands in hand and a Crucible.
There are also some other times that are more obscure, and will take your own judgment. Don't be afraid to discard good cards to find mana. If you are light on lands, then it doesn't really matter what you have to pitch to find lands, because without them you can't play anything at all. Once you hit the four-mana mark, you can play anything in the deck. After that, you will want to start Bazaaring for some good spells to play.
Without a hand, Bazaaring might seem like a good idea to some, and a bad idea to others. The general strategy I use is that if I already have threshold and nothing in play to take advantage of cards in the grave (Crucible/Welder), then I will just draw a card for the turn. The next turn, I will draw, and Bazaar, meaning I get to keep one of the four cards, and then I will usually play that card, leaving me with no cards in hand again to repeat the process. Then, if the card I played is a Crucible or Welder, I will be Bazaaring on my upkeep to draw a card. If it's not what I'm looking for, draw again, and Bazaar up to four cards again, choosing which one I like best at the time.
Cards that didn't make the maindeck cut:
Gamble – This card has some great potential, but it fails in a few places. First of all, it has the deadly casting cost of one, which is a big problem for this deck most of the time, and it rarely makes exceptions for this. It also will often end up with you discarding the card that you tutored up, because Uba Mask and Bazaar will both contribute to you having a very low hand side. Because of this, as cool as Gamble is, it just doesn't make it.
Gorilla Shaman – Another excellent card, one of the one-costers that I would still play despite Chalices. It's not that it isn't good enough, there is just too many other cards in the deck that are making it instead of him.
Goblin Lore/Control of the Court – This card is amazing under Uba Mask, but without it you are likely going to get screwed over severely. It has the potential to be good and bad at the same time, and the lack of consistency makes it a liability in tournament play, and I know I'm definitely not willing to take a risk like that when the stakes are high.
Raze – This card would probably have to be a three- or four-of, and is awesome for beating up on basic lands. It is cheap to cast, very affordable, and combos nicely with Crucibles. Again, this fails the general rule of being a dead card under Chalice for 1, and its just not good enough to merit the risk of running this over something better.
Null Rod – I chose to cut this in favor of Jester's Cap, as I feel that the Cap helps to fight some of our worse matchups in Oath and Slaver, as well as making almost any non-aggro matchup even better. If I could run them both, I would.
Sphere of Resistance – This is a good card, of course, but it does strain the deck's mana capabilities, especially being loaded with four casting-cost spells like it is. It also hasn't proven to be better than Tangle Wire, Uba Mask, or Smokestack to fight itself a few slots in the deck.
Solemn Simulacrum – This card used to be in all the Uba lists, and is honestly still an amazing creature. He is so much for such a small cost, and he is one of the best creatures we can add to this deck. As good as it is, it just isn't as good as it needs to be to replace some of the cards already in the deck.
Duplicant – This is great to have in the maindeck to fight against Oath in the early games, though now with the addition of four Jester's Caps in the maindeck, the fight against Oath isn't as difficult as it once used to be, and we can add a whole bunch of answers in the sideboard if necessary. As good as he is, he has just become somewhat obsolete nowadays.
Null Brooch - This card is really cool when you have no hand under Uba Mask, and it has a great effect, though without Uba it hurts. I wish I could fit some into the list, now that there aren't any Null Rods maindeck; it might be possible to do it.
Ghost Quarter – This card is amazing, and can be better than Wasteland against decks with very few basic lands. The only reason this didn't make the cut is because there are already enough mana sources in the deck, and there isn't anything to really cut except for Wastelands. The Red sources are few enough, and any fewer would be a liability.
What about Sideboarding?
Although it's up to you how you sideboard, there are a few things that you will want to remember.
Against decks running opposing Welders, like CS/BS, it is often a good idea to sideboard out your Uba Masks to reduce the odds of you being Ubalocked with your own Uba Mask.
Against opposing Stax decks, you will often want to sideboard out Tangle Wire. It is terrible if they resolve their own smokestack, and it is the card least important to the maindeck strategy in this matchup. I recommend siding these out for four artifact destruction spells (if they are in the sideboard). If you don't play any, and there is nothing more beneficial for you in the matchup, then they should stay in. Play them carefully.
Jason P.
Yespuhyren on TMD and SCG
Cofounder of Team Blitzkrieg: The Vintage Lightning War
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