How To Get Better At Sideboarding | The Definitive Guide | Magic: The Gathering

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

I will be playing in a Magic Origins flashback draft at Mox Boarding House Portland this January 21! More details here: app.getoccasion.com/p/n/vNPZZV7h/v5

[@thevoxdeus]

I'm a master of the concept of "transformational" sideboarding. I can transform any functional deck into an incoherent mess, on command.

[@ianaldridge7136]

You see, I removed my Charbelchers so my opponent's artifact removal wouldn't have a target. Unfortunately I wasn't able to clutch it out

[@ther3aper561]

😂

[@jynxedfrombirth]

hahaha awesome

[@retro.7673]

Instructions unclear: My commander playgroup banned me.

[@johnvlahos1202]

😂😂

[@JulietHotel580]

Not wanting to be banned from my LGS is what’s stopping me from playing mono black OTK 😂😂😂😂

[@CastoCFC]

​@JulietHotel580 same reason I don't build my Tergrid deck.

[@Billchu13]

Many commander players ask the question- what's a sideboard?

[@Groovegandalf]

That's where you put your beverages. Right?

[@Billchu13]

@Groovegandalf ashnods coupon

[@ChristopherPhoenixMusic]

@@Groovegandalf nailed it!

[@_RUSH_]

Seriously tho, what is it???

[@internationalarmy3984]

@_RUSH_All I know is that in standard or modern there are some cards that say put a card outside the game to your hand. I think that’s what a sideboard is. He could also be referring to having certain cards on the side and you could exchange them depending on the match up. That’s my guess

[@latinojackson9694]

another minor, but advantageous, sideboarding tactic is to put your entire sideboard into your deck, shuffle it, then take out 15 cards, even if you only sideboarded in a few cards, or none at all, it'll give your opponent an unreliable amount of information and throw them off, plus it's funny

[@robertcraft1030]

I like this.

[@GarretWallace827]

Let me give you an example of when this could matter btw. In february i was playing the Sunday modern 10k at the Denver RC. I was 5-0 going in to round 6 and got paired against what i assumed to be a dedicated cascade/footfalls deck. My opponent watched me sideboard in a handful of cards, made the correct assumption that i brought in anti-footfalls cards, and they then sided out their footfalls and brought in territorial kavus (they were playing footfalls with the leyline+scion domain tech). So they went from footfalls to just basically zoo and i got completely wrecked 😂

[@GarretWallace827]

The moral being if i did the 15 card trick they might not have known if i was going to bring in anti rhinos cards, as they did tell me after the match that they were paying attention to my sideboarding when making that decision. Given, i still probably would've lost.

[@shen8406]

This video made me remeber the time that a friend used the side board to entirely change his deck betwen games in a yu-gi-oh torunament. In game one he was playing with a burn deck, them to game two we hould change 15 cards from his deck with the sideboard and turn his deck into a Monarch deck to take his opponent off-guard if they sided for burn. I remember one guy saying "My opponent was playing with chain burn and he next game he was playing with monarchs!" and I just tought that it was a fun way to use side decking .

[@Scrublord641]

I do that with my Thopter Gifts deck in Modern

[@waltercardcollector]

My friend did the same thing! It was 2013 or so and he had a Skill Drain deck that he could use the sideboard to turn into an Elemental Hero deck!

[@AshleyoftheSwiftspear-pb8cs]

I remember during 2015 worlds I think people would often side between domain monarch and extra deck monarch. It was so sick

[@JesperoTV]

That is kinda how you sideboard with izzet phoenix in pioneer :D

[@johnskelton6840]

It’s so sad that these videos don’t get as many views, these videos are the best you mkae

[@Azeria]

Yes I must get better at sideboarding, as I definitely don’t only play Commander, Canlander, Bo1 Standard and Brawl 👀

[@Wa11breaker]

Even CMD, is good to have a certain "side" to adjust to the places you play, if I'm playing with friends, a bunch of goofy cards enter my deck instead of the more expensive/serious ones I use at the LGS with random "competitive" ppl 🤣.

[@Azeria]

@@Wa11breaker that’s brewing for a meta, that’s definitely different

[@Icameron259]

If you have a standard collection, I encourage you to at least give Bo3 a try. I find sideboarding makes the game feel a bit more skillful and a bit less random compared to Bo1, which makes it more fun for me.

[@Azeria]

@@Icameron259 oh I have, it’s much less fun and takes way longer to ladder

[@hensterino]

I learned this the hard way at FNM (I'm a newer player). Lol I was playing a standard deck with haughty jinn and tolarian terror. One rest in peace played by my opponent and i was sad lol 😭 my final opponent recommended I swap out the previously mentioned creatures in game 2 regardless if i win or lose. In retrospect that makes a lot of sense.

[@faereman]

OMG it's him, the professor!

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

It's me! (The Professor)

[@MrSadoap]

Prof are you in my head because I was just looking for something about this online yesterday for my goblin deck! Thanks for this!

[@narvuntien]

Sideboarding and Mulligans are like 50% of playing modern. I play a wish board deck in modern and only have 2 slots free. However, when I was playing against a deck such as Ruby storm, that is extremely specific, I sided in a lot of my wish targets as I only really need to get Trinisphere from the sideboard with Khan to win and I don't need a bunch of ways to interact with creatures.

[@thestarwolfgamer7394]

The only time I've ever been proud of my sideboard game, I had earned it. A Playset of Leyline of Combustion in Theros Beyond Death Standard absolutely destroyed the Temur Adventures and Jund Sacrifices decks, and I generally had a favorable matchup into U/W Control. That was the only time I ever made Mythic on arena.

[@ghostguin1398]

Was watching your video from 6 yrs ago to prep for a store championship I have tmrw so this is brilliant thanks prof.

[@thebeckofkevin]

Used to live walking distance from mox in bellevue. Such a cool spot.

[@trident042]

That thumbnail ain't telling no lies, Prof! I need to get better at sideboarding so I can play Bo3 Standard like a real Magic player, instead of scrubbing around in Bo1 on Arena.

[@MrWesternAUS]

Before I even watch the video, I did a Draft yesterday, didn't really win any games yesterday..... until the final game where I did get a little help from my opponent from Round 2. Managed to go 2-0 because I had cards in my sideboard that I drafted that could have worked. Now to gain some more information

[@kherubim1]

11:25 This is a very important point, and a good reason to have an idea on the metagame.

[@Medsas]

simple formula is: give a score to each sideboard card score per card = (frequency of a deck in meta) x (% win rate improvement against that deck using said card) take the 15 best scoring cards into your sideboard as a starting point, then adjust

[@matthewstigall5299]

Favorite sideboard cards are return to nature and destructive revelry

[@coreysierchio4650]

Have an all artifact sideboard & run Karn (only works in legal formats) *Thanks for the Content* !

[@dinodudeGR]

I WAS SEARCHING TODAY FOR A COMPLETE GUIDE OMG THIS IS SO WEIRD!! THANKS TUTOR!

[@bulganzi]

Play magic with The Professor! That’d be so fun.

[@Wa11breaker]

I got a damn 2x2 binder of cards just for my CMD decks "sideboard", depending where I'm gonna play, to adjust the "tier" of the deck 😅.

[@mikotagayuna8494]

Just when they think they have all the answers, I change the questions. - "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, on sideboarding

[@Vandylizer]

Wow as someone switching from competitive Yugioh the concept of a Wishboard is pretty wild. Loving the MTG educational videos Professor. The specific examples you give are super helpful to back up your advice with (I especially love that you gave Dimir midrange examples since that x what I'm playing in MTGA as my first deck). Are there any channels you (or anyone reading this) can provide for people explaining Dimir Midrange for Bo3 (and how I can try to make it also work for Bo1 until I can afford more Rares to build Bo1)?

[@ramzcoldlampin5460]

With me, The Professor! ❤🎉

[@benjaminrichard7741]

Yes! I love going to Mox!❤

[@captainflapjax7240]

Here because Prof told me to come here after his Whatnot Stream. Still havent gotten the notification from KZbin lol

[@Santouuryu]

Thanks, professor!

[@SteveRyan-bg5yz]

lol, was thinking the other day on whether you had one of these types of videos.

[@HydeTheSturdy]

Thanks for this video, it made me make my decks on Arena have sideboards

[@jordanketchum1526]

Greeting professor! Would you talk about the books you have behind you? I’d like to know what may be good to read about Magic: The Gathering

[@syntheticsylvie]

wtf Prof, i just started playing Best of 3 standard ranked in Arena, did you make this video for me? :D jk obv but still :3 A stream and video in one day??? We are so blessed! I mostly use my sideboard in standard to be counterplay for the meta.

[@tommyg121]

Dude, I'm trash at sideboarding. Thank you for the insight.

[@empatheticrambo4890]

Hope this helps when I go to a prerelease !

[@11ThunderKing11]

This is the perfect video to have pop up just now, since I'm just getting into standard for the first time. Thanks Prof!

[@robertforeman8494]

A sideboard is an underrated part of all deck. It's ment for when a niche card just won't work change it for other cards.

[@lordofpigz]

Perfect timing I have my lgs standard store championship

[@blkdrgn18]

I know you did several videos on deck building but you only give examples of select cards. Would it be possible for you to do a series where you go through all the different types of decks to build, only this time from the ground up? It would be easier to learn if you start from the beginning to the end of building a deck. I know there's the BREAD system as well as 4 of this, 3 of that, etc. I think it would be so much easier to watch you build a deck from scratch than just use a couple of examples especially since new magic players don't know the cards you use. Definitely use standard format. I think it would be useful to explain the different deck types if you build a deck from scratch and explain why it's a mid range deck or a control deck, etc.

[@treetheoak8313]

Why did I feel like that bit with you "the professor" was the start of a pavlovian experiment?

[@taythree5549]

Unfortunately I forgot what day it was and who I was supposed to meet to play drafts with so I went to Poland's Proxy bored in house magic the gathering store and played with The Doctor on June 12th. So close yet so very wrong I was, But I did get a signed promo screwdriver 😂

[@scottcampbell9515]

What about sideboarding against a deck you did not expect to see? Also what tips can pilots of those unexpected decks use to increase their average win percentage beyond what was already discussed here?

[@CraigStevenLikesStuff]

JLK catching strays over here. 😂

[@mukundkumar9777]

At the Bloomburrow Prerelease, i made a golgari squirrels deck that was so bad i can't even explain it in english. between the first and second rounds, after losing 0-2, i switched to simic frogs and easily won the next 2 games (idk if thats allowed in touranments but my lgs allows it)

[@karkatvantas7820]

I'LL SEE YOU THERE PROFESSOR

[@xChikyx]

I only planned to play modern once, and I was building a mono white deck with orzhov lands, and the sideboard was to change the deck completely from mono black to orzhov. Thankfully I never built it because never actually liked modern, and shit was expensive as fuxk

[@dellpino]

This was helpful, i literally never sideboard

[@campingtroll]

love your content Professor

[@christianbarrera2489]

OH MY GOD! ITS HIM! THE PROFESSOR

[@OdinMagnus]

Talk to your friends at wizard to make a sideboard for Commander for things like the Learn mechanic or wishes. Would be nice for my wizards to be able to Learn some new tricks. Or maybe a new type of Learn?

[@enterchannelname8981]

I've been playing a lot more BO3 on arena and sideboarding makes the game feel a lot more fair - sure, the reanimator combo nastiness deck can take game 1, but I have the advantage post-sideboard when I put in a bunch of graveyard hate. It also makes my color combos feel more impactful - if I have G and B, I can run really good (imo) sideboard cards like Choking Miasma and Tear Apart to their full potential, but I miss out on other exceptional sideboard cards like Rest in Peace and Authority of the Consuls, which means my sideboard games are based on what colors I can run, rather than the five or so major cards in my deck. TLDR: Sideboarding is cool Also, I liked that you let us know really quick the target audience - intermediate players. Expert and beginner players can watch something else - there probably isn't a lot for them here. I am the target audience, and I think more guides should have something like that.

[@Bluecommando10]

Origins.. what a great set.

[@danacoleman4007]

an even greater convention

[@dddgaming885]

8:20 RATS RATS WE'RE THE RATS

[@johnphillips4058]

I ordered some merch on December 15th. for Christmas. It hasn't shipped yet... Any idea what's going on?

[@rathlord]

I'd wager that, taking the playerbase as a whole, sideboarding is probably one of the weakest skills on average today. Great video and something people should understand for sure.

[@tsmaathearchivist5997]

Question for commander play. Can you use wish to tutor a card that isn't in the commanders colors? Say you're running alexios (mono red) but you really want a card in green that pumps him. Could you use wish to tutor for a card if you could pay for the mana cost of that card. Aka green pips?

[@andrewwang7699]

commander doesn't normally have sideboards you can wish from (barring house rules), so wishes usually cannot find any cards

[@tsmaathearchivist5997]

@andrewwang7699 thank-you!

[@jekfosburg]

2:39 WYRMSPAN!!!! I love that game!

[@UninvitedGhost]

No sideboarding is one reason I like Commander.

[@trustianoc2107]

8:30 rats rats we are the rats

[@GeorgieBoiiGames]

The second oldest magic content content creator 😂😂 that one killed me haha

[@philippniemann8842]

How can I sideboard like a pro in commander, Prof? 🙂

[@nathangrajeda5887]

This caught me off guard I burst out laughing 😂 2:12

[@tripleeyeemoji]

Video doesn’t pander to commander players, thus the views will be low. Sad to see. Great video

[@austinhalliday5052]

Sent to my friend who only makes 4 card sideboard for FNM

[@LyubenV]

The biggest high IQ thing I do is bring in hate for stuff my opponent will probably bring in. Like bringing in Tishana's Tidebinder against a red deck when I expect them to bring in Urabrask's Forge.

[@KiteTCG]

It'd sure help if Arena's sideboard wouldn't glitch every other week.

[@ridleykiller93]

Been playing off and on for 20 years. Never truly sideboarded anything. Not even once.

[@MrMeldonius]

Sideboarding is admitting defeat - if you have not built your deck to perfection, why bother?

[@ther3aper561]

No, I just need my ops to be worse at mainboarding 😭

[@huuua2]

4:19 shots fired at Top Players in Yu-Gi-Oh, or at least what it would seem like from an outside perspective to how to make a sideboard

[@DinobotTM2]

Are there.... older mtg youtubers than the professor? PS: I started playing during Ice Age, I am allowed this joke.

[@Azeria]

I think it was a reference to Josh Lee Kwai

[@MeowRaptor]

13:09 CGB would like to know your location

[@sagas3216]

not if i only play edh 😎

[@SaltySparrow]

Arena best of one is a format too many people play and have become weaker at this. A deck might be the best mainboard, but gets absolutely hosed by sideboard cards.

[@BowBeauties]

Bummer. I live in PDX, but will be in WI. 😢

[@Soshikix]

Im disappointed. I thought the Prof was going to teach me how to get better at skateboarding.

[@danacoleman4007]

wow, would I ever love to see him attempt to ride a skateboard! 😂

[@Ffmtechno90]

Hi

[@eulefranz944]

I hate that my favourite sideboard card got banned!!! Rip Jegantha the wellspring aka big dumb elch aka my commander in 60 card formats

[@blabik]

Wait, if you're the second, who'S the first?

[@jimmynikoleit]

Let's goo

[@danacoleman4007]

wrong type of video for that

[@StayHappyDanny]

I didn’t even know I was using sideboarding until I watched this video

[@Keinish79]

I only play at the kitchen table and used to play on prerelease day. With my friends and arena I always play best of one, so sideboarding was never a factor. I understand why it is there, but I never liked it. So when best of was an option I always go with that.

[@lain1252]

Leyline of the void is a terrible card to use as an oversideboarding example. You play leylines to have them in your opening hand and many decks include leyline of the void in their sideboard without the ability to cast it, so sideboarding in 2 of them is a terrible idea.

[@christhompson8003]

1st game: *draw too many lands* Between games: *take out lands* 2nd game: *dont draw lands Prof! Why?! :(

[@davedeboy5726]

I once saw a guy with polarized glasses and asked him to take them off. He refused to so I complained to the tournament director and he made him take them off-he walked out because he couldn't cheat anymore.

[@gustavomagalhaes2730]

How can he cheat with them?

[@jurgnobs1308]

ah yes the famous cheating trick where you wear glasses to let youe opponents see your hand. 200 IQ play

[@davedeboy5726]

@@gustavomagalhaes2730 he had a black light behind his sunglasses and on his cards he had stamps like a night club on them that glow in the dark. He knew what his next cards were and what his initial hand was.

[@jcwalker722]

@@gustavomagalhaes2730there are markings you can make on cards that can only be seen with polarized lenses, not with the naked eye.

[@camoyuki]

commenting for the algorithmic overlords

[@CorruptedRifle]

No I don’t, I only play commander :)

[@CODM.Ãvęřŷ]

I'm not an expert ... But after viewing and analyzing the video from beginning to end, millisecond by millisecond frame by frame, minute by minute I came to the conclusion and I can say, that I can't say anything because as I said at the beginning, I'm not an expert.

[@mitchellbiggs5803]

I think we can all agree that spice8 needs to be in every shuffle up and play episode 👌🏼 and there needs to be more shuffle up and okay 😅. Can you do an oathnreaker format episode?? I've always been very interested to see how it plays and no one at my LGS plays it.

[@sethzard]

Don't have to sideboard it you only play best of 1 *taps head*

[@Fighting_irish493]

Commander has a side board now

[@danacoleman4007]

?

[@scottmacwatters]

“Well over half of all the games you play are after sideboarding” not if you lose 0-2 every time like me. Then it’s exactly half.

[@pauliebleeker5442]

I'd prefer not to.

[@TehKorwinMikke]

cardgame

[@AltairLT]

All I hear is play more BO1.

[@eggomyeggo]

first

[@notyou9348]

Whats a sideboard lmaooo

[@bencheevers6693]

I think it's not accurate to say people don't know they need to get better at sideboarding, every average player knows they need to get better at it and good players still feel the same way. Just my experience and opinion.

[@MathewWalls]

I know players who use sideboards and they're all cowards.