Hello! Earlier this week I did a breakdown on the main deck of the Jeskai Control list that I played to a Top 4 finish at GP Dallas:
Jeskai Control in Dallas *Top 4*
Today I’m going to discuss sideboard plans for the deck. Here is the list again:
Jeskai Control
Alex Mitas, 4th place at Grand Prix Dallas Fort Worth
Sideboarding
All right I have to admit, while I did say this would be an extensive sideboard guide, there are simply too many different archetypes and too many iterations of those archetypes in Modern for me to go over everything. That said, I will do my best to go over the most popular matchups.
But Alex, what if I want to know how to sideboard against Knight of the Reliquary, Collected Company, or Grishoalbrand?
Welcome back, mystery person, and good question. If for some reason you would like to hear my thoughts for sideboarding in a matchup that is not listed, feel free to leave a message in the comments and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
Infect
Out
In
Infect is an easy matchup as long as you know what to play around and when to time your removal. A common approach I take to this matchup is to prioritize removing Inkmoth Nexus, and then casting Supreme Verdict to safely remove the rest of the dangerous little critters.
R/G Valakut
Out
In
Counter all of the threats. Runed Halo naming Valakut, Molten Pinnacle is usually lights-out in this matchup.
Jund
On the Play
Out
In
On the Draw
Out
In
The most important part of this matchup is keeping Dark Confidant and Liliana of the Veil off of the board, and my sideboarding reflects that. I will even Path Dark Confidant on turn 2 if I can’t remove it any other way because it’s just that good.
Bant Eldrazi
Out
In
If Cavern of Souls didn’t exist, this matchup would be a cake walk. As it is, I like to respect Cavern and board out all of my permission spells.
Naya Burn
Out
In
The primary goal in this matchup should be to minimize the damage taken by their creatures, and to maneuver the game so your life gain spells don’t get hit by Skullcrack or Atarka’s Command. Runed Halo is great against Eidolon of the Great Revel, and okay against Rift Bolt or random creatures.
Lantern Control
Out
In
This matchup is tricky to play because your game plan can shift from game to game. That being said, I do think Jeskai is a slight favorite. Try to keep Lantern of Insight off the board if you can, and stick a threat to kill them. Ensnaring Bridge isn’t too much of a problem so long as you can keep your Cryptic Commands from getting targeted by Surgical Extraction.
Affinity
Out
In
This matchup is relatively simple to understand and relatively easy to win. Just make sure to save an answer for Etched Champion and play around top-decked Cranial Platings and you should be fine. I will sometimes board in more permission spells if I think my opponent has Blood Moon or if I am on the play.
As always, don’t be afraid to change your sideboard plan if your opponent plays differently or with unexpected cards. For example, I like permission spells more against people who don’t play around them, and less against people who do.
Alex, you forgot to mention how to sideboard against Dredge.
Ah, I can always count on you, mystery person.
Dredge
Out
In
The best plan I can think of for this matchup is to either try and ride Elspeth to victory, or race while buying time with your other spells. Unfortunately this deck is not very good at racing and there is only one copy of Elspeth. Like I said in my deck guide, my win percentage in this matchup is quite low. Good luck with this one.
Maybe they’ll just ban a card from Dredge.
One can hope.
Thanks everyone for reading, and may you always have large Sphinx’s Revelations!
