As we mentioned last week, it feels like it's been awhile since we've dived into any strategic content. Maybe it's not so much how long ago we've done so, but how infrequent it's been. This week, with Standard looking to be on the mend, I want to talk about some of the best sideboard options in the format.

The funny thing is, not that M20 has rotated, I actually think we have more choices now. The hoser cycle in that set - Aether Gust, Devout Decree, Fry, Noxious Grasp, and Veil of Summer - was actually so good that they were basically auto-includes based on whatever the metagame was. And the fact that all of them hit two different colors meant they ended up doing a lot of work in multiple matchups. Heck, these cards were so pushed, one of them actually had to be banned! In multiple formats!

All things considered, I'm glad they're gone, and Shifting Ceratops as well, which was also a juggernaut (even though he was a 5/4 and not a 5/3).

Even with the overpowered cycle gone, there are still a ton of great options for our sideboards right now in Standard.

Mystical Dispute

Nothing really needs to be said about this card, and it's barely even a sideboard card, so much as a main deck card. This was actually a card I thought was in the M20 cycle of cards because it was so good, and it affected a specific color, just like they do. Of course, Dispute affects Blue cards, while the M20 hosers hit both of their opposing color pairs.

This is obviously great right now in Standard because some of the best decks are Control, Rogues, and, obviously, Omnath. Being able to counter an Omnath for one mana is a pretty great deal. While simply countering a Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath one time wasn't that big of a deal, thankfully we don't really have to worry about that anymore.

Like the M20 cycle, this is definitely a card that is going to see play until it rotates. It's basically a Mana Leak for either one more or one less mana, depending on what you're countering.

Redcap Melee

Redcap Melee is interesting, and it is actually part of the Mystical Dispute cycle. Unfortunately (or fortunately), the other three cards - Archon of Absolution, Specter's Shriek, and Oakhame Adversary - are all basically unplayable in Constructed. Redcap Melee almost suffered a similar fate, but then along came Omnath... A Red creature with 4 toughness that was just ripe for the picking. While Redcap Melee might have seen some play before Omnath, the Locus of Creation definition ramped up its playability.

The fact that Mono-Red decks always exist in some form or another in Standard gives this a good deal of versatility, allowing you to take down Bonecrusher Giants, Kargan Intimidator, or Torbran, Thane of Red Fell with ease, for one mana, and at instant speed. The thing is, while you'd have to sacrifice a land, Melee does kill other troublesome creatures like Questing Beast for a single mana as well, which is pretty good. Redcap Melee has a good bar for a sideboard card: rarely dead, and sometimes excellent.

Chainweb Aracnir

Here's an interesting lil guy. This spider seems to take the place of Kraul Harpooner, with a couple of upsides. The first is that it isn't fighting, it's just dealin' damage. This is nice, because Kraul Harpooner could usually kill big creatures, but that dude never survived. Like, ever. It was just a Plummet most of the time. The Aracnir is a bit different in that it just deals damage to the other creature, and it can keep coming back. Even at its base 1/2 it can still take down things like Brazen Borrower and... okay, I couldn't find any other cards, but there's still more to this spider!

Escaping for only four cards is on the lower end, and being a 4/5 when it enters the battlefield means it can take down some sizable threats. Additionally, just like Uro was poised to do, this card gets better against the Rogue matchup because they're likely to both mill it, and enough cards for you to escape with. That's basically like drawing a Stingerfling Spider for free... remember that guy?

Shredded Sails

This is an interesting one, and is in the vein of such cards as Return to Nature, Abrade, and Broken Wings. I actually love modal cards like this that give you a lot of options. One of the biggest problems with most sideboard cards is that you feel bad bringing them in if, when you draw them, you don't need them. No one wants to draw a card like Naturalize at the wrong time - it's basically drawing a blank - so the addition of both "destroy target creature with flying" or "exile a card from a graveyard" gives these cards added versatility that makes the times they're dead fewer and farther between.

Shredded Sails is actually pretty amazing if you compare it with previous options, like Shatter. For the same mana cost, you can still destroy any artifact, but you can also deal four damage to a flyer, or even cycle it to get around that pesky "dead in your hand" problem.

This seems like a pretty solid tool if the Rogues deck is gaining popularity, as it hits both Brazen Borrower and Soaring Thought-Thief. It also hits things like Vantress Gargoyle, Rankle, Master of Pranks, and Nighthawk Scavenger, which have all been seeing a good amount of play. This card has even found a home in some main decks, which should give you an idea of how versatile it is.

Spikefield Hazard

Comically, this is a card that would be a sideboard card if it wasn't also a land. But the fact that it can be played as a land means that this has been going straight into main decks to combat things like Lotus Cobra, Brazen Borrower, Scute Swarm, and Thieves' Guild Enforcer.

There are so many great targets for this card currently that, what would have once been relegated to the sideboard, can be found as a four-of in multiple decks. It kind of reminds me of Mental Misstep in that way. Worst case scenario, you play it as a land. Just another reason why the modal double-faced lands are really, really great designs.

In addition to these, there are plenty of copies of the usual suspects, like Negate, Return to Nature, Soul-Guide Lantern, Light of Hope, and Thundering Rebuke. One thing the majority of these cards have in common is that they're all versatile and have different modes you can utilize depending on the situation, which is a great way for sideboard cards to behave.

I think between the two schools of sideboard cards - the M20 versions that are incredibly pushed and flexible, without many real restrictions, and cards like Light of Hope that let you do three different things, but none of them are absurdly powerful - I for sure prefer the latter, and I think they're a great indication of where the power level of cards should be. You can look at a card like Erase and look at a card like Light of Hope, and you know that the latter is significantly stronger, but not to some ridiculous degree.

Cards like Light of Hope, Broken Wings, and Shredded Sails might actually be some of the best sideboard cards I can think of. They can come in against various matchups, there's a (nonmana) cost for playing them, and they all have a good deal of versatility at a great rate. In fact, just look at the upgrades here.

Erase into Light of Hope

Crushing Canopy into Broken Wings

Shatter into Shredded Sails

All three of these kept the same mana cost, remained at instant speed, and kept the same initial ability, while adding two more. And not one of them is broken (other than the wings, anyway). I don't think these are the most powerful sideboard options in the format, but they may be the most elegant, and they may represent the absolute best way to design sideboard cards in the future.

Welp, that's it. Is there any sweet sideboard tech you guys are utilizing that I may not have known about? Let me know, along with all your thoughts, in the comments below! As always, thank you guys for reading, I hope you're all staying safe, and be sure to use promo code FRANK5 for 5% off your total! I'll catch you all next week!

Frank Lepore

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