{"ops":[{"attributes":{"color":"#ffff00"},"insert":"SIDEBOARD MATCHUPS"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#008a00"},"insert":"POPULAR META DECKS"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nThese are the decks that we'll be seeing most often. It's important to study up on how these decks operate more than the others. Generally speaking, Bant Spirits plays well against Abzan Greasefang, Azorius Control, and Mono Green Nykthos Devotion (a big selling point, currently!); we have a pretty even matchup against Mono White Humans and Rakdos Midrange; lastly, we have a troublesome matchup against Izzet Phoenix. No matchup is lopsided, however, and much of the outcomes are dictated by proper piloting, predictions, and timing.\n\nABZAN GREASEFANG"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\t\t\t\t\t+2 Remorseful Cleric\n\t\t\t\t\t+2 Extraction Specialist\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Lofty Denial\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Rest in Peace\n\n\t\t\t\t\t-3 Spectral Sailor\n\t\t\t\t\t-2 Empyrean Eagle\n\t\t\t\t\t-1 Spell Queller\n\nThis deck loves the graveyard! You know what that means... Remorseful Cleric and Rest in Peace are auto-includes. Shacklegeist is the unquestioned MVP of this matchup; protect it at all costs! We even run two Extraction Specialist to ensure Shacklegeist sticks around. Any vehicle that comes on board gets tapped harder than someone at a frat party. When Nancy Reagan announced, \"Just Say No\", she was talking about Esika, Skysovereign, and Parhelion! We run the third Lofty Denial to make extra sure that Greasefang and her troublemaking cohorts stay away. It also serves double-duty protecting us from a blowout spell, like Culling Ritual.\n\nAZORIUS CONTROL"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\t\t\t\t\t+2 Shapers' Sanctuary\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Extraction Specialist\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Lofty Denial\n\n\t\t\t\t\t-3 Spectral Sailor\n\t\t\t\t\t-1 Shacklegeist\n\nThis is a grindy matchup that we do fairly well against, so we don't need to side-in a ton of things. Shapers' Sanctuary is good against their Portable Holes, Fateful Absences, and March of Otherworldly Lights. Most of their removal is exiling, but we will occasionally get a creature spell countered into the graveyard, which makes one copy of Extraction Specialist good enough to make the cut. Our Spell Queller denies their Dovin's Veto and Supreme Verdict, which is clutch in the late game. Temporary Lockdown, Detention Sphere, and The Wandering Emperor are annoying cards to watch out for; keeping the Skyclaves is a must. The reason we keep copies of Shacklegeist is for the inevitable Baneslayer Angel that will get sided in against us. Tap it down so we can win the game!\n\nGREEN NYKTHOS DEVOTION"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\t\t\t\t\t+3 Portable Hole\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Disdainful Stroke\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Katilda, Dawnheart Martyr\n\n\t\t\t\t\t-3 Spectral Sailor\n\t\t\t\t\t-2 Selfless Spirit\n\nWe run the Portable Holes to suck up their mana dorks, disrupting their momentum and setting them back at least one turn. This deck runs some scary blowout spells: Karn, Skysovereign, Cavalier of Thorns, and Storm the Festival are all important cards worth countering, hence why we add the Disdainful Stroke. Mono Green does not have access to mass creature removal, so we're safe to remove Selfless Spirit here. The Katilda is nice for some extra power since we'll likely be swarming. Shacklegeist is fantastic in this matchup for tapping down the mana dorks on Turn 2, and also for disabling the Cavalier's big defensive booty or to prevent Skysovereign from killing more of our creatures.\n\nIZZET PHOENIX"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\t\t\t\t\t+3 Extraction Specialist\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t+3 Portable Hole\n\t\t\t\t\t+3 Shapers' Sanctuary\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"var(--color)"},"insert":"\t\t\t\t\t+2 Remorseful Cleric"},{"insert":"\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Rest in Peace\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Spirit of the Labyrinth\n\n\t\t\t\t\t-4 Shacklegeist\n\t\t\t\t\t-4 Spell Queller\n\t\t\t\t\t-3 Spectral Sailor\n\t\t\t\t\t-1 Collected Company\n\t\t\t\t\t-1 Empyrean Eagle\n\nThis is a unique matchup that's also one of our most difficult. We are siding in 13 of our 15 sideboard cards. The Portable Holes are necessary for removing Ledger Shredder early on. The Remorseful Cleric and Rest in Peace are obvious grave-hate for the most graveyard-centric deck in the format. Spirit of the Labyrinth is backbreakingly great against their deck. It throws off their momentum and forces them to waste a removal spell on a non-lord; otherwise they suffer. Shapers' Sanctuary and Extraction Specialist offsets their removal package and swings momentum back in our favor. The Specialist can even get back a Remorseful Cleric or Spirit of the Labyrinth! There is nothing exceedingly useful for Shacklegeist to tap down in this matchup, so he gets removed. Spell Queller isn't very good since Izzet Phoenix doesn't run many blowout spells and their abundant spot removal will likely get the spell back anyways. We are very thin on creatures and Collected Company is at its weakest against this deck, so we cut one copy of CoCo. We keep the Selfless Spirits in case they side-in Sweltering Suns or Anger of the Gods. Our main strategy here is to persevere and stay aggressive with the board. Our spirits will out-scale their birds over time.\n\nMONO WHITE HUMANS"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\t\t\t\t\t+3 Portable Hole\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Lofty Denial\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Katilda, Dawnheart Martyr\n\n\t\t\t\t\t-3 Spectral Sailor\n\t\t\t\t\t-2 Selfless Spirit\n\nBrutal Cathar and Adeline are problematic cards if they stick around too long, making them prime targets to remove with Skyclave Apparition... on the condition Brave the Elements doesn't intervene. This is why adding another Lofty Denial is important: to remove the creature before Brave has an opportunity to respond. They will likely side-in Declaration of Stone against us, making counter spells extra important! Thalia's Lieutenant is another great card to counter if they have a board established. And Skyclave is still useful for this matchup since you can target one of their Portable Holes without fear of a Brave intervening. Their deck mostly exiles our stuff, which makes Selfless Spirit a dud. On the positive, their deck is mostly low CMC creatures, which makes our own Portable Hole a slam dunk! Make sure to prioritize sucking up either Thalia's Lieutenant or Hopeful Initiate; Thalia herself is a suboptimal play and Dauntless Bodyguard is pointless to remove since our deck doesn't destroy. And though their creatures get big, ours get big also and we have the advantage of flying. A pretty fair and interesting matchup, all things considered. These games can sometimes turn into a race, which makes Katilda extra helpful in pulling out ahead.\n\nRAKDOS MIDRANGE"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\t\t\t\t\t+3 Extraction Specialist\n\t\t\t\t\t+3 Shapers' Sanctuary\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Katilda, Dawnheart Martyr\n\n\t\t\t\t\t-4 Shacklegeist\n\t\t\t\t\t-3 Spectral Sailor\n\nOur dynamic duo of Extraction Specialist and Shapers' Sanctuary really shine in this matchup! These two cards fight hard against the Fatal Pushes, Bonecrusher Giants, Dreadbores, and Abrades of the world. Specialist has the added benefit of grabbing back things discarded from the inevitable Thoughtseize or Kroxa. Katilda is a great add to fight off against the burn damage from Sheoldred while also protecting against Kalitas and Bloodtithe Harvester. Shacklegeist and Spectral Sailor are both very mid in this matchup and neither will be sorely missed. Skyclave Apparition is an MVP card, able to singlehandedly solve some of the deck's biggest threats in Liliana, Sheoldred, and Kalitas!\n\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#008a00"},"insert":"TIER 2 DECKS"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nThey may not be the most played decks, but they still have plenty of firepower and are not to be underestimated. We have a good matchup against Mono Blue Spirits, an alright matchup against Gruul Aggro, and a troublesome matchup against Mono Red Burn.\n\nBANT SPIRITS"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\t\t\t\t\t+3 Portable Hole\n\t\t\t\t\t+2 Shapers' Sanctuary\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Katilda, Dawnheart Martyr\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Lofty Denial\n\n\t\t\t\t\t-2 Collected Company\n\t\t\t\t\t-2 Selfless Spirit\n\t\t\t\t\t-2 Spectral Sailor\n\t\t\t\t\t-1 Mausoleum Wanderer\n\nWinning the mirror match is tricky. This is a controversial decision, but I believe the solution begins with cutting down on otherwise-staple cards: Mausoleum Wanderer and Collected Company. Since Bant Spirits are so creature-focused, there really isn't much opportunity to counter instants and sorceries; Lofty Denial is a lot more dependable for this matchup. We cut down on CoCo because it's a difficult spell to resolve with all the Wanderers and counter spells running about. We replace the two CoCo with Shapers' Sanctuary to make our opponent second-guess their Shacklegeist decisions. Portable Hole is great for sucking up enemy Supreme Phantoms or a Wanderer that will look to counter CoCo. These games often turn into a stalled race of who can build the bigger board faster, which makes Spectral Sailor's card draw surprisingly more viable; we keep him at one copy. Selfless Spirit is not needed since Bant Spirits do not normally run board-wipes. That makes Katilda a pivotal piece that can put us over-the-top in this battle of attrition.\n\nGRUUL AGGRO"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\t\t\t\t\t+3 Portable Hole\n\t\t\t\t\t+2 Extraction Specialist\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Lofty Denial\n\n\t\t\t\t\t-3 Spectral Sailor\n\t\t\t\t\t-2 Selfless Spirit\n\t\t\t\t\t-1 Mausoleum Wanderer\n\nThis deck runs several variations: some use vehicles, some are creature-focused, and some are more midrange. The common culprits you'll see in Gruul decks are Bonecrusher Giant, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, and The Akroan War. Lovestruck Beast is an efficient body for Embercleave, and Reckless Stormseeker is a haste-enabler to close out games. Be extra mindful of Fable after it transforms, as it can create copies of a problematic creature already on board. I've seen a version that runs Combat Celebrant, which is bad news if the attack goes through. Shacklegeist is your friend here; you may want to keep a couple of Spirits untapped at all times in the event a problematic hasty attacker arrives on their turn. We need the Skyclaves and Lofty Denials to deal with their Enchantments. We side-in the Portable Holes for their mana dorks to delay board presence. They will probably side-in Rending Volleys, so fight back with Extraction Specialists. This isn't an easy matchup, but it is doable with smart decision making.\n\nMONO BLUE SPIRITS"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\t\t\t\t\t+3 Portable Hole\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Katilda, Dawnheart Martyr\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Lofty Denial\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Spirit of the Labyrinth\n\n\t\t\t\t\t-3 Spectral Sailor\n\t\t\t\t\t-2 Selfless Spirit\n\t\t\t\t\t-1 Mausoleum Wanderer\n\nThis variation of spirits loves to draw cards with Curious Obsession and Ascendant Spirit. In other words, Portable Hole is amazingly good. Keeping their Auras off the board is smart since it weakens their Geistlight Snare. We side-in Spirit of the Labyrinth to make extra sure they don't draw their cards. This lockdown plays to our benefit since we can out-resource them with our Collected Companies. There won't be any board-wipes, making Katilda great and Selfless Spirit unnecessary. They will more than likely be running extra counter spells, so be mindful of fighting back against the inevitable Mystical Disputes and Lofty Denials. As long as we deny their draws and get our lords out, we can win the long game.\n\nMONO RED BURN"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\t\t\t\t\t+3 Extraction Specialist\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t+3 Portable Hole\n\t\t\t\t\t+3 Shapers' Sanctuary\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Katlida, Dawnheart Martyr\n\n\t\t\t\t\t-4 Spell Queller\n\t\t\t\t\t-3 Spectral Sailor\n\t\t\t\t\t-2 Lofty Denial\n\t\t\t\t\t-1 Empyrean Eagle\n\nMono Red loves to kill our creatures! Play With Fire, Skewer the Critics, Bonecrusher Giant, Lightning Strike, and Spikefield Hazard are all commonly played spot removal. We fight back with Shapers' Sanctuary to circumvent the targeting. Extraction Specialist pulls double-duty here as a reviver and also as a Lifelink blocker to keep us alive. Portable Hole is a must to get rid of Monastery Swiftspear, Soul-Scar Mage, and Eidolon of the Great Revel. Counter spells are bad in this matchup, so we remove Spell Queller and Lofty Denial. We swap out an Empyrean Eagle for Katilda to gain extra Lifelink protection.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#008a00"},"insert":"ROGUE DECKS"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nEvery now and then, there's the oddball matchup that throws off your preparation. This is where improvisation and getting to know your deck becomes essential. This list can never be comprehensive, so I will name some of the more noteworthy rogue strategies I have encountered.\n\nGOLGARI MIDRANGE"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\t\t\t\t\t+3 Extraction Specialist\n\t\t\t\t\t+3 Shapers' Sanctuary\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Lofty Denial\n\n\t\t\t\t\t-4 Shacklegeist\n\t\t\t\t\t-3 Spectral Sailor\n\nWe play around this deck similar to how we play against Rakdos Midrange. There's going to be a lot of spot removal thanks to Fatal Push, Abrupt Decay, and possibly even Assassin's Trophy! And don't forget everyone's favorite card: Thoughtseize! That means we break out the resource rebuilding duo of Extraction Specialist and Shapers' Sanctuary! We keep the Lofty Denials in spite of Abrupt Decay because we need to watch out for Culling Ritual, Path of Peril, and Extinction Event.\n\nHAMMER TIME"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\t\t\t\t\t+3 Portable Hole\n\t\t\t\t\t+2 Extraction Specialist\n\n\t\t\t\t\t-2 Empyrean Eagle\n\t\t\t\t\t-2 Selfless Spirit // Spell Queller\n\t\t\t\t\t-1 Spectral Sailor\n\nPretty straightforward strategy here: we run the Portable Hole to suck up the Colossus Hammer or a problematic creature. Chump blocking is at its best here, which makes Spectral Sailor pretty decent to keep around as a cheaply costed Flash body. Extraction Specialist helps with keeping the blockers up and offsetting some of the massive damage loss thanks to Lifelink. Shacklegeist and Skyclave Apparation are both fantastic against this matchup. If the Hammer player is running board-wipes, feel free to swap out two Spell Quellers for the Selfless Spirits instead.\n\nLOTUS FIELD COMBO"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\t\t\t\t\t+1 Katilda, Dawnheart Martyr\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Disdainful Stroke\n\t\t\t\t\t+1 Spirit of the Labyrinth\n\n\t\t\t\t\t-3 Spectral Sailor\n\nThis deck is weird and also not an easy matchup for us. It loves ramping heavy into truckloads of mana with Lotus Field + Thespian's Stage so it can cast the Big Boi YOLO spells. That can actually be a problem for our Lofty Denials, since there'll be times where they have generated so much mana, they can pay the extra 4. We still run Lofty Denial though, because we need to at least try to catch them exposed! I certainly don't feel comfortable watching an Emergent Ultimatum or Omniscience resolve. Sadly, not many of our side-deck options are viable to counteract this deck. We side-in Spirit of the Labyrinth only because it can possibly Stax a Pore Over the Pages or Peer into the Abyss, making it marginally better than Spectral Sailor. We keep the Shacklegeist to tap down a Vizier of Tumbling Sands in case it comes up. Otherwise, the best we can do is aggro as hard as possible and hope it's enough.\n"}]}