Sideboard Status

This week’s card is Gryff’s Boon, originally printed in Shadows over Innistrad.

The Good: Flying is almost never an irrelevant ability, be it sneaking in damage over blockers or contesting aerial superiority. The 1 mana cost ties with Shimmering Wings, Flight, Aboshan's Desire, and Air Bladder as the cheapest methods of granting a creature flying, and the only one that can be recurred naturally. The +1/+0 isn’t terrible either even if the advantage granted in most circumstances is small. The ability to recur the Boon is relevant, as it gives a slight Rancor like ability to dodge most enchantment removal. It also gets around most countermagic, as most control decks do not focus on countering activated abilities. 

The Bad: It needs to already have a creature on board to be a live draw. The fact is that in a removal heavy format, enchantments generally act as a temporary buff. After it hits the yard, the 4 mana activation cost can be a bit hard to hit consistently in most decks. 

Where it might see play: Decks based around auras or equipment can use tutor effects like Open the Armory to work Gryff’s Boon into a toolbox style deck. In addition it can work it’s way into many other decks in both side and main for the flight granting power and recursion. 

What it deals with: Countermagic, walls, and flying attackers can all be given some issues by the Boon.

What deals with it: Graveyard hate is the safest way to remove the power of Gryff’s Boon. In addition, removal or flying blockers ca hold it down.

Threat level: Medium

This week’s card is Veilstone Amulet, originally printed in Future Sight.

The Good: Protecting your creatures every time you cast a spell is a powerful utility effect. It allows your creatures to have a turn to set up  as the cast of the creature will trigger the amulet. On your opponent’s turn, it adds most of an overloaded Mizzium Skin to all of your instants. The very fact that it exists can cause an opponent to second guess playing a kill spell.

The Bad: It is weak it artifact destruction, as the ability never affects itself. It can often become nothing more than a bump in the road to spells like Abrupt Decay where it is hit first before the actual target is also summarily destroyed, though in this case the aster still needs to wait a turn.

Where it might see play: Decks with creature biased combos such as Collected Company can benefit from giving this a spot in the sideboard to help fend off their more removal heavy opponents and protect the combo from most instant speed tricks. 8 Wack variants can also use it as a way to ensure all the damage on the board is going to hit something.

What it deals with: Spot removal and spot disruption of creatures.

What deals with it: Artifact destruction and non-targeting effects, such as Council's Judgment or Wrath of God.

Threat level: Medium

This week’s card is Elusive Tormentor, originally printed in Shadows over Innistrad.

The Good: Starting off strong with a 4/4 body for 4, the Tormentor is a solid mid game threat.The vampire type has decent support, including in set cards that can be discarded without much issue like Stensia Masquerade. The discard to flip is a double advantage when it comes to SoI, as there is a prevalence of madness and delirium that this helps. Attaching any kind of +power equipment or aura can cause the unblockable side to become even more terrifying, akin to an Invisible Stalker with indestructibility.

The Bad: The cost of flipping can start to eat away at you hand rather quickly, even if the deck is prepared for it. When flipped it loses the vampire type for the lesser used and supported (in this block) elemental type. Dies to the fairly widely used Languish.

Where it might see play: Filling a similar role to Ætherling, Elusive Tormentor could see play as a control finisher. Unfortunately, the prevalence of Languish in control decks puts the poor vampire at a disadvantage in the very deck it would see the most play. Some Modern decks might have use for it to provide a soft counter to Ensnaring Bridge that can be run in the mainboard.

What it deals with: The ability to attack as a 0 power creature allows it to sneak under an Ensnaring Bridge of any size. In addition, the ability to dodge both board wipes and targeted removal make it a strong finisher.

What deals with it: Pithing Needle and Phyrexian Revoker can be used to lock it into the 4/4 form, from where it can be easily dealt with. Shrivel effects are really the only thing that can take it out while transformed, but they do so incredibly well, as it can only flip to Insidious Mist at any time, not back at any time. Discard spells limit the effectiveness of the Tormentor, forcing a dwindling resource to be channeled into protection. Languish is a good option, as it kills the vampire in both forms.

Threat level: High

This week’s card is Reconnaissance , originally printed in Exodus.

The Good: Functioning to turn all of your creatures into Gustcloak (before the Gustcloak existed), Reconnaissance can fit into a variety of differing niches. It can be used as a  Dolmen Gate in order to attack without fearing blockers, as you can just remove the creature from combat if the block would hurt your board position. After damage, you can activate the ability during the End of Combat Step in order to untap any remaining creatures and have the Reconnaissance function as a Serra's Blessing. You can also use the effect to back out of damaging a blocking Phyrexian Obliterator or creature with similar effect.

The Bad: Unlike Serra’s Blessing, Reconnaissance doesn't allow you to activate abilities of attacking creatures that require tapping and sill have the count as attacking, as part of the effect is to remove the attacker from combat. Dolmen Gate is superior in the attacking department as it can give you more aggressive favorable trades, rather than just backing out when your creature would die. If your creatures go missing it acts as a dead draw.

Where it might see play: The more aggressive decks that may have wanted this either already have some sort of evasion or don’t care about their creatures dying. Vigilance is nice, but not many decks are willing to run a card that acts mainly to grant it. As such, Reconnaissance is more likely to see play in a deck full of high toughness creatures to act as a better Serra’s Blessing. 

What it deals with: Creatures with on damage effects like Phyrexian Obliterator (only on attack), blockers with deathtouch, and things that care about attackers, like Wing Shards.

What deals with it: Enchantment removal and cards like Suppression Field can make the costs too high to be practical.

Threat level: Medium-Low

This week’s cards are a pair of 4-drop equipment, Demonmail Hauberk from Innistrad and Murderer’s Axe from Shadows Over Innistrad. Both of them help to trigger an ability introduced in the set they came out in.

Demonmail Hauberk:

The Good: +4/+2 can turn any creature into a 5 turn clock at worst. The non-mana equip cost can allow you to play and equip on turn 4 even without mana acceleration. The cost of equipping can help you to trigger Morbid on your turn at a time that you want. The benefits of a repeatable sacrifice outlet has been seen before in cards like Viscera Seer. The major advantage that the Hauberk has over cards like the Seer is that it doesn't require any specific color.

The Bad: The 4 cost is larger than most other repeatable sacrifice outlets and can punish a deck relying on it. If you want to use it for its intended function, you need more than one creature, and it can whittle down your forces rather quickly,

Where it might see play: Unfortunately, the 4 cost hurts its chances of being a staple in any format, with most decks latching onto more reliable black outlets. Non-black decks that want a repeatable sacrifice outlet, such as decks based around Reveillark and  Saffi Eriksdotter, may want it nonetheless. It can also work out as a casual powerhouse card, as +4/+2 is a formidable buff. Some tokens decks may also have uses for it.

What deals with it: Artifact or creature destruction, keeping pressure on the one playing it.

Threat level: Low by itself, high with a large amount of expendable creatures or a sacrifice based combo.

Final Verdict: The high cost hampers the usefulness, but a good all-color sac outlet.

Murderer’s Axe:

The Good: Another equipment that comes in and can be equipped right on turn 4 as the Hauberk. The difference here is that, rather than trigger Morbid, this equip triggers Madness and help fill the grave for Delirium or Threshold. In the draft format for Shadows, having Delirium can be a game-changer, and the Axe helps turn that on by allowing you to get lands to your graveyard easily. 

The Bad: +2/+2 on a 4 cost equipment is nothing to write home about, even if it has a “free” equip. Your hand can also often be a more valuable resource than your mana, so caution should be used before equipping.

Where it might see play: Shadows draft decks based on madness or utilizing delirium should definitely consider using this card. Outside of sealed though, there are better options in most colors, so draft would be the main format for this Axe.

What it deals with: Filling your empty grave

What deals with it: Artifact destruction, moderate to high toughness blockers.

Threat level: Medium-Low

This week’s card is Munda, Ambush Leader, originally printed in Battle for Zendikar.

The Good: A solid 3/4 body brings it out of the range of the ever dreaded  Lightning Bolt, and for 4 mana, it is also on curve with haste. Its creature type, ally, is incredibly relevant. The ability clears away the cards that you don’t want to draw later in the game. By utilizing the Changeling spells, such as Nameless Inversion or Crib Swap, a variety of useful effects can also be filtered to. The variety of effects on allies allows for the general elimination for need of other other cards.

The Bad: The legendary aspect hurts the versatility a bit, though the filter mitigates this. If utilizing the ability, there is no way to filter into lands or non-ally, non-changeling spells, cutting out several paths of game play from the player who decides to use the ability. If played on curve, the ability could lock the player into a 4-6 mana game. 

Where it might see play: Ally aggro decks love this guy for the ability to get rid of all the dead lands after the curve has topped, unfortunately this can cut them out of the traditional Lightning Bolts or Helices they might run. Allies EDH can get decent use out of Munda as they can utilize the draw of Sea Gate Loremaster to fix the issue of not drawing non-allies.

What it deals with: Dead draws late in the game

What deals with it: Board wipes can really make Munda sad as the can unravel what he has worked so hard to put together. Repeatable mill like Evanescent Intellect can also cause problems for the viability of the filtering.

Threat level: Medium

This week’s card is Planar Guide, originally printed in Legions. 

The Good: This card finds itself on curve as a 1/1 for 1 with a relevant creature type in human and a not as relevant one in cleric. The ability is great utility, and can be incredibly powerful with the right support. It re-triggers “enters the battlefield” effects, clears tokens and auras, resets counters, can give a one-time vigilance-like effect, and can act as a pseudo-fog in a pinch.

The Bad: The mana cost is more than that of cards with similar effects such as Ghostway and Eerie Interlude. This is mitigated in that it hits your opponents creatures as well, granting it more versatility, but the cost is high enough that you might want to think twice about activating it. Unlike  Mistmeadow Witch, it cannot save itself via its ability. If it’s targeted by a kill spell, the only choice you have is if you want to use that ability now.

Where it might see play: Decks that use  Roon of the Hidden Realm or  Norin the Wary would be able to welcome this guy into their list without much trouble to help them get an extra few ETB triggers in on their opponent’s turn along with the Fog effect. White weenie decks with things like  Æther Vial may also consider it for the effect, as  it can be held in the hand until needed, or played out for an extra body.

What it deals with: Token decks, decks that stack auras, and certain combo decks all have issues with Planar Guide.

What deals with it: Keep track of the user’s mana. If they drop below 4, you’re safe from the ability for a turn. Kill spells are also a great way to taunt out the ability to diffuse it on a turn that it can’t cause as many problems. When all else fails, counters like Stifle or Squelch will do the trick. 

Threat level: Low to medium, depending on the situation.

Welcome to Sideboard Status. This is a blog where I will look at some of the more underused or unknown cards and see if they’re viable. 

This week’s card is a card originally printed in Homelands, Rysorian Badger, an interesting card with a cool little ability. 

The Good: The ability helps deal with decks that need creatures in their graveyard and gains you life. The single green mana in the casting cost allows it to be easily splashed in a non-green deck or a deck with a lower green concentration.

The Bad: The 2 toughness puts it into the unfortunate bracket of creatures that can be killed by Shock or Magma Jet. The 3 mana converted mana cost makes it unfavorable in many decks as the 3 slot could be better used for another card and many decks that want it for the ability would be better off using something like Ravenous Trap. The ability, while useful, also prevents the damage that would be dealt by the badger.

Where it might see play: Unfortunately beat out in power and versatility by things like Scavenging Ooze and Deathrite Shaman, the badger won’t be able to make that big of a splash on the competitive scene.  The casual scene on the other hand may see this as a nice replacement for such cards. The slower, lower power of the format gives this little guy a chance to shine. 

What it deals with: Graveyard decks, such as dredge.

What deals with it: Most kill spells and blockers.

Threat level: Very low.