Golgari Elves Sideboard Guide -February 5, 2023

Golgari Elves

Pioneer

Buy on TCGplayer $487.42

Buy on Card Kingdom $481.61

0 mythic

39 rare

10 uncommon

11 common

0

1

2

3

4

5

6+

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Creatures (32)

4

Llanowar Elves

$1.56

4

Elvish Mystic

$1.40

4

Jaspera Sentinel

$1.40

4

Leaf-Crowned Visionary

$15.96

2

Elvish Visionary

$0.70

4

Elvish Warmaster

$3.96

4

Dwynen's Elite

$1.40

2

Llanowar Visionary

$0.98

4

Shaman of the Pack

$1.40

Instants (8)

4

Chord of Calling

$31.96

4

Collected Company

$47.96

Lands (20)

3

Forest

$0.03

1

Lair of the Hydra

$2.29

2

Llanowar Wastes

$3.98

2

Secluded Courtyard

$1.98

4

Blooming Marsh

$31.96

4

Overgrown Tomb

$67.96

2

Boseiju, Who Endures

$85.98

2

Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

$79.98

60 Cards
$382.84

Sideboard

3

Vivien, Monsters' Advocate

$11.97

1

Phyrexian Revoker

$0.49

1

Knight of Dusk's Shadow

$0.35

2

Scavenging Ooze

$0.98

1

Masked Vandal

$0.69

1

Reclamation Sage

$0.35

2

Nissa, Vastwood Seer

$7.98

4

Thoughtseize

$75.96

15 Cards
$98.77

Sideboard Guide

When sideboarding, we are almost always asking ourselves “are they running sweepers?” If the answer is yes, we almost always board to remove Dwynen’s Elite and Chord of Calling and shift our plan to be a bit more grindy. If the answer is no, then we will find ourselves removing select cards in an effort to improve our game plan for that particular matchup.

Rakdos Midrange

Matchup feel: Slightly favored. Games can be very swingy.

The game plan changes drastically between game one and sideboard games. During game one, you are more favored as they don’t have access to sweepers. Proceed with developing a huge board while prioritizing drawing extra cards with Leaf Crown Visionary when possible. During sideboard games, you want to take out your cards that play heavily into board wipes and replace them with grindy cards. Vivien is the best card in the matchup and Nissa helps guarantee the mana to get there. Masked Vandal and Scavenging Ooze do a good job destroying any Fables and keeping our life up through a Sheoldred. If you lose, it’s probably because of Sheoldred combined with sweepers. If you win, you probably made it through a few sweepers and eventually overwhelmed them. 

Note: You don’t have Chord of Calling but you do have Vivien’s -2. This can find you a two drop off of a three drop, which can help tutor Scavenging Ooze and Masked Vandal in a pinch.

Selesnya Angels

Matchup feel: Slightly unfavored

These games usually have a low turn count, and a lot of game actions on either side. Your gameplan is what it usually is: to flood the board and play Shaman of the Pack. What is nice is that your early turns are more impactful, and you don’t have to worry about too many interactive spells from them. What is tough is that if they get the right sequence of angels, they can get out of range very quickly. Post-board, you have a Knight of Dusk’s Shadow to tutor up to prevent this lifegain and you can expect a few more interactive spells, but the overall strategy remains the same. 

Lotus Field

Matchup feel: Slightly favored

Game one is a complete race, where they usually have to draw more specific cards than you do to win. You can expect to develop your board without interaction, which is very nice. Post-board games should be played in a similar fashion, except they have access to board wipes. Thoughtseize is great here, and I like Phyrexian Revoker to turn off Vizier of Tumbling Sands or Hope Tender, but that can be a bit narrow. Waiting until the end of their turn for Collected company can help against sweepers, but otherwise any wrath usually reads “Elves loses the game.”

Azorius Control

Matchup feel: Unfavored, but our board plan is currently stacked against this.

Game one is your traditional cat-and-mouse game of “how many creatures should I have out to play around a wrath?” This can be tough to explain in detail in an article, but the general idea is to make sure you’re aggressive enough that you don’t lose to any good hand or a wrath and instead let yourself lose to the wrath if they have it. If you have a board you think that you can win with, then it is often correct to try and hold Collected Company for after they wrath. Control has a few different builds now, and not all of them include Temporary Lockdown or Portable Hole. If you see them, then I like bringing in Masked Vandal and maybe even Reclamation Sage if you expect a lot. Otherwise, post-board you want to Thoughtseize their wrath effects or resolve a Vivien and apply pressure. 

Green Devotion

Matchup feel: Favored

Game one is a race to the finish. You’ll often find yourself not having to worry about interaction and with a fast hand or a Chord of Calling, you should usually win the race. Post-board games are nearly identical, but you can Chord for Phyrexian Revoker and turn off Karn, The Great Creator. Without Karn, they have a really hard time finding a win through our massive board of chump blockers. They do have Boseiju, Who Endures, maybe a mainboard Skysovereign, or maybe a Nicol Bolas, Dragon God, but you don’t need Karn to be turned off forever, you only need a turn or two. 

Gruul Vehicles

Matchup feel: Favored (maybe just slightly).

This matchup should feel pretty good, but it can quickly slip away with their mix of aggression and interaction. Game one, you care about Skysovereign or a mix of early threats and disruptive elements. Skysovereign will really ruin your day if you don’t have a large board presence already. Games two and three, you have artifact and enchantment removal at X=2 and X=3, which is helpful against a lot of their cards. Be careful, and watch out for Embercleave. Saving a Chord in case they go for it will win you games.

Mono-White Humans

Matchup feel: Favored

All three games will feel like a complete race, so the die roll matters a lot. Your key card is Chord of Calling and theirs is Brave the Elements, and whoever resolves one of these usually wins. The nice thing is that theirs requires them to have lethal on board and to make it to that attack step, where yours does not. Post-board, Mono-White brings in Portable Hole, so I like some copies of Reclamation Sage and Masked Vandal. Knight of Dusk’s Shadow is probably too cute, but hear me out: the most likely way for them to win is amassing a decent board and getting the last bits of damage through with Brave the Elements. You can really surprise their combat math by using Chord of Calling for a non-green creature and getting a surprise block. 

Enigmatic Fires

Matchup feel: Favored

You should stick to your plan and go as fast as possible. They usually don’t play sweepers, so you can commit to your Plan A. If you have the ability to destroy their key enchantments then it’s a good idea to do so. Post-board, they don’t get too much of an upgrade, but Masked Vandal and Reclamation Sage are huge for us.  

Abzan Greasefang

Matchup feel: Favored

If they have turn three Parhelion II, then there’s not really anything you could have done, so don’t worry about that. Your average draw is faster than their average draw, and you should be able to untap at least once after they land their “combo”, so they give you plenty of time. Scavenging Ooze is a good draw or Chord target when you have a mana up to respond to a Greasefang trigger. Masked Vandal is a good Chord target when X=2 but you don’t have a mana up. I don’t like Reclamation Sage here, because if you you have access to Chord for three then it’s just better to Chord for Scavenging Ooze and use the extra mana to eat their Greasefang target.

Rakdos Sacrifice

Matchup feel: Super duper unfavored

This deck is a bit of a nightmare, and an even worse matchup than before now that we’ve taken out Shapers’ Sanctuary. Go as aggressive as possible while trying to remove their Witch’s Ovens and eat their Caldron Familiar with Scavenging Ooze. Beyond that, you’d need to hope for the best.

Izzet Phoenix

Matchup feel: Unfavored

Game one is a race. Their single-target removal can really slow you down, but you have plenty of ways to grind that out. Watch out for triggering their Ledger Shredder if you can avoid it. Their two-drops are actually the biggest reason we are losing matches. If you’re winning a game, it’s usually game one. Post-board is tough because the mindset of going wide and developing your board is much worse when they’re boarding into sweepers. Scavenging Ooze is helpful if you can untap with it. The biggest problem with this matchup is that they board into three-mana sweepers, which can really hinder our previous gameplan. I bring in Thoughtseize here to take their two-drops, their sweepers, or their Treasure Cruise. The golden rule about playing around sweepers holds true here: don’t let fear of a sweeper let you lose to a good hand without a sweeper. 

Izzet Creativity

Matchup feel: Slightly favored.

This is another race where they have some disruptive elements. It’s best to commit to a fast gameplan and develop a board. You shouldn’t have to worry about sweepers in any of your three games. Conveniently, their combo can be blocked and, as long as you survive, then you have a chance on your next turn. You might be able to disrupt their combo with Boseiju, but that can be hard to line up. Post-board we have Reclamation Sage and Masked Vandal to try and reduce their artifact/enchantment count, and using Chord of Calling to get one in response can help keep their creativity to X=1.

Thoughtseize overperforms here as it can take away their Creativity. 

Watch out for different targets post-board. You never know what to expect, but there’s not much of a point in playing around different targets, unless a stronger consensus is found for their decklists. 

Dimir Control

Matchup feel: Slightly unfavored, but our current sideboard is stacked against it.

This is similar to our game plan versus Azorius Control, except they have a combo finish with Narset and Day’s Undoing. This also means that their hands are much more vulnerable to Thoughtseize than Azorius Control is. Taking a Narset and leaving them with a Day’s Undoing can make it feel like you Thoughtseized two cards.

Bant Spirits

Matchup feel: Favored

This matchup can be swingy, but they have a really hard time with Chord of Calling. Their game plan is to try to use their instant-speed threats to out tempo you. You have a few advantages there, since you have a lower curve and a free spell. Apply pressure by developing your board and you might find yourself in a position where if they tap out then they’ll lose on the spot. Post board you have Masked Vandal and Reclamation Sage to help against Portable Hole or Maybe Katilda. 

Please note: Jaspera Sentinel has reach. I repeat: Jaspera Sentinel has reach. 

Mono-Blue Spirits

Matchup feel: Favored

This matchup is a bit tougher than Bant Spirits because they play a much better tempo game. Although, spirits still struggles against opponents casting multiple spells per turn and has a harder time in a racing situation. Chord of Calling is still very good, as you don’t lose any tempo by playing it even if it is countered. Post-board, you have a few cards that can help against Portable Hole, Curious Obsession, and Witness Protection but otherwise your gameplan is the same.

Our deck is light on sideboard answers to Spirits decks at the moment to help combat more prevalent decks. 

Mono-Red Aggro

Matchup feel: Favored

This is a race where you have the ability to go a bit bigger than they do. Game one is usually heavily in our favor unless something goes very wrong. There’s no truly stock Mono-Red list, so it’s hard to predict what they’ll bring in, but Reclamation Sage and Masked Vandal end up having a lot of targets either way with Kumano, Eidolon, Embercleave, and Anax.

Post-board they might have Goblin Chainwhirler, which you can’t really beat, but can play around if you have two or more Lords. The thing about Chainwhirler is that their clock is fast enough that you can’t really afford to play around it with most hands. Your original game plan will usually be enough.

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