Hello, my fellow Planeswalkers! I am The MTG Hero and one of the things that separates a good MTG player from a great one is knowing how to sideboard. We spend a lot of time building our decks, testing different cards, and trying to find the perfect 75. But once we get into a match, it can be easy to make mistakes when deciding what to bring in and what to take out.
I’ve seen players bring in too many cards simply because they seem good against the deck they’re facing. The problem is that you can actually make your deck worse by trying to improve it too much. Your sideboard is there to help you win difficult matchups, not to completely change what makes your deck good in the first place.
So today, I want to talk about how I approach sideboarding, how to avoid overboarding, and why it’s important to have a clear plan for both the cards you’re bringing in and the ones you’re taking out.
Build Your Sideboard With a Purpose
When building a sideboard, the first thing you need to ask yourself is what your deck struggles against. It sounds simple, but it’s easy to get caught up in adding powerful cards without thinking about whether you actually need them.
For example, Mono-Red Aggro might struggle against decks that gain life, play a lot of removal, or stabilize behind big creatures. Those are the kinds of matchups where I want my sideboard to help. If I’m playing Golgari Midrange, though, my needs might be completely different. I may want more graveyard hate, better answers to certain permanents, or cards that help me win longer games.
The important thing is to build your sideboard around the problems your deck actually has.
I usually think about sideboard cards in a few different categories:
Answers: Cards that deal with specific problems, like graveyard hate, artifact removal, or additional removal spells.
Matchup upgrades: Cards that are especially good against certain decks, such as sweepers against creature-heavy strategies or resilient threats against control.
Flexible cards: Cards that are useful against several different archetypes instead of only one specific deck.
I really like flexible sideboard cards because we only have fifteen slots to work with. If one card can help against three different matchups, that’s a lot of value from a single slot.
That doesn’t mean you should never play narrow answers. Sometimes, a particular matchup is bad enough that you need something specifically designed to fight it. Just make sure the card is worth taking up that space.
Know What You’re Taking Out Before You Bring Anything In
This is probably one of the biggest things I think players overlook when sideboarding.
It’s easy to look at your sideboard and see several cards that seem great against your opponent. You might have better removal, additional threats, or some disruption that can give you an advantage. Naturally, you want to bring those cards in.
But there’s one question you need to answer first: What are you taking out?
Every card you bring in means something else has to leave. If you can’t figure out what to cut, there’s a good chance you don’t need that sideboard card as much as you think.
Let’s say I’m playing Mono-Red Aggro against another creature deck. I want to bring in three extra removal spells because killing their creatures will help me get through combat and keep attacking.
That makes sense.
But what happens if I also decide to bring in a bunch of defensive cards and a couple of expensive threats? Suddenly, I’ve cut so many creatures that my deck doesn’t apply pressure the way it normally does.
I’ve improved a few individual card choices, but I’ve also weakened the strategy that made the deck good.
That’s something you always need to keep in mind. You aren’t just trying to put the best cards into your deck. You’re trying to build the best version of your deck for that particular matchup.
Before a match, I recommend having a general idea of which cards you want to bring in and which ones you want to take out. You don’t have to plan every single swap perfectly, but having a starting point makes the process much easier.
Don’t Overboard!
If there’s one sideboarding mistake I want players to avoid, it’s overboarding.
We’ve all been there. You look at your opponent’s deck, see a bunch of cards you want answers for, and start bringing in everything that seems useful. Before you know it, you’ve changed half your deck.
The problem is that your main deck was built to do something specific. When you start removing too many cards, you can lose the consistency that makes your strategy work.
Think about playing a midrange deck against control. You might want to remove some of your weaker removal spells and bring in more threats and hand disruption. That’s a perfectly reasonable plan.
But then you start adding even more threats, extra disruption, and a few other cards that might be useful. Eventually, you end up cutting too many of your original cards and drawing hands that don’t work together very well.
Instead of putting pressure on your opponent and forcing them to answer your threats, you’re stuck with an awkward mix of cards that don’t really fit together.
The same thing can happen against combo decks. You might want to bring in every piece of disruption you have, but if you remove too many threats, you could give your opponent all the time they need to assemble their combo.
You don’t need to answer everything your opponent does. You need to give yourself the best chance to win.
Whenever you’re considering a sideboard card, ask yourself three things:
Is this card actually good in the matchup?
Is it better than something I’m already playing?
Can I afford to take out the card I’m replacing?
If you can answer those questions, you’re probably on the right track. If you’re bringing in a card just because it looks powerful, take a second to think about whether it really belongs.
Sometimes, the best sideboarding decision is to leave a good card in your sideboard.
Make Sure You Have Enough Cards to Bring In and Take Out
Another thing worth thinking about when building a sideboard is how many cards you can realistically bring in for each matchup.
Let’s say you’ve got six cards in your sideboard that are great against control. That sounds nice, but what if you only have three or four cards in your main deck that you actually want to remove?
You might end up bringing in all six anyway because they look good, even if doing so means cutting cards that are still important to your game plan.
This is why I like to think about sideboarding while I’m building the sideboard itself. It’s not enough to ask whether a card is good against a particular deck. You also need to know what it replaces.
For example, if I have four cards specifically meant for aggressive matchups, I want to have a reasonable idea of which four cards are likely to come out. If I can only find one or two cards that I’m comfortable cutting, I might not need all four sideboard slots for that matchup.
Of course, there are exceptions. Sometimes, a matchup is difficult enough that you need to make some major changes. Other times, a single sideboard card can replace multiple cards in your main deck because it changes how you approach the matchup.
I’m not saying every sideboard plan has to be an exact one-for-one swap. I’m saying you should have a reason for every change you make.
Pay attention to which cards you actually bring in during testing, too. If a card rarely makes it into your deck because you never have room for it, that’s worth considering when you update your sideboard.
You only have fifteen slots. You want those slots working for you, not sitting there looking good on paper.
Don’t Ruin Your Mana Curve
This is especially important if you’re playing an aggressive deck, but it’s something every deck should consider.
Let’s stick with Mono-Red Aggro for a moment. One of the biggest strengths of the deck is its ability to play cheap threats early and keep the pressure on. If I bring in several expensive cards after sideboarding, I might end up slowing myself down too much.
Sure, those cards might be powerful. But if I’m spending the early turns doing nothing while my opponent develops their board, that power may not matter.
The opposite can happen with control decks, too. If you take out too many cheap interaction spells to make room for expensive finishers, you could struggle to survive the early game.
It’s also worth paying attention to how many creatures, removal spells, and other important effects you’re left with after sideboarding. You don’t want to cut so many threats that you can no longer pressure your opponent, or remove so much interaction that you have no way to deal with their board.
After making your swaps, take a quick look at your deck. Does your mana curve still make sense? Do you still have enough early plays? Can you realistically execute the game plan you’re trying to follow?
These might seem like small things, but they can make a big difference over the course of a tournament.
Have a Sideboarding Plan, But Don’t Be Afraid to Adjust It
I think every competitive player should have some kind of sideboarding guide for the decks they expect to face regularly.
It doesn’t need to be anything fancy. A simple list of cards to bring in and cards to take out can be enough to help you make better decisions, especially when you’re playing several rounds in a long tournament.
For example, against an aggressive deck, your plan might be to bring in additional removal and sweepers while taking out some of your slower cards. Against control, you might bring in resilient threats and hand disruption while removing removal spells that have few useful targets.
Having that plan gives you somewhere to start.
But don’t treat it like it’s written in stone.
Your opponent might be playing a different version of the deck than you expected. They might have unusual card choices, or they might change their strategy after sideboarding. As you learn more about their deck, you may need to adjust your plan.
This is where testing really helps. The more familiar you are with a matchup, the easier it becomes to recognize which cards matter and which ones aren’t doing enough.
I also like to pay attention to cards that consistently underperform after sideboarding. If I’m regularly drawing a card that doesn’t help, or if I keep making the same cuts in every matchup, that might tell me something about my main deck or sideboard that needs to change.
You won’t get every decision right, but you’ll get better at recognizing what works the more you play.
Final Thoughts
Sideboarding is one of those skills that takes time to get comfortable with. Even if you have a great decklist, making the wrong changes between games can put you in a much worse position than you were in before.
When building your sideboard, focus on the matchups your deck struggles against. Make sure you know what you’re cutting before you decide what to bring in, and don’t feel like you need to use every sideboard card just because it’s available.
Most importantly, don’t overboard. It’s easy to get carried away when you see several cards that look good against your opponent, but you still need to make sure your deck can do what it was designed to do.
I’ve always believed that the best sideboard plans are the ones that improve a matchup without sacrificing too much of your original game plan. Sometimes, bringing in two cards is all you need. Other times, you might need to make bigger changes. The trick is knowing the difference.
So, the next time you’re sideboarding, take a moment to think about what your deck needs, what you can afford to cut, and whether the changes you’re making actually help you win.
A good sideboard can make a huge difference, but knowing how to use it is what really matters.
Until next time, keep tuning those lists and learning from your matches!
My name is The MTG Hero. I have played Magic for over 15 years. I am a consistent high Mythic ranked player. Follow me on Twitch and subscribe on YouTube!
