---
# System prepended metadata

title: Abzan tyvar sideboard guide
tags: [Magic]

---

#    Abzan tyvar sideboard guide
###    Against Rakdos Mid

Out:

4 Zulaport Cutthroat

1 Vraan, Executioner Thane

In:

2 Plaguecrafter

3 Fatal Push

Out sideboard plan involves trying to remove as many of their creatures as possible. We need to kill Sheoldred when it comes down, but stuff like Misery’s Shadow has to go as well. As a result, we’re playing four total Plaguecrafter, and putting in three copies of Fatal Push.

I found that Voice of Resurgence and Extraction Specialist are excellent in this matchup. Voice forces them to interact awkwardly with your creatures, and puts emphasis on them casting creatures rather than removing yours. That gives you time to build up your forces and hopefully find ways to cut down Sheoldred.

###    Against Mono-Green Devotion

Out:

3 Extraction Specialist

4 Voice of Resurgence

1 Vraan, Executioner Thane

In:

2 Thoughtseize

3 Knight of Autumn

1 Cankerbloom

2 Plaguecrafter

This matchup can feel grindy in some spots, but mostly your opponent just ignores you and tries to combo off. We can use our interaction to slow them down. Thoughtseize strips them of their primary payoff, while Knight of Autumn and Cankerbloom stop their Karn squeezes. Pithing Needle on Tyvar or Priest of Forgotten Gods is very annoying, so I like having all the disenchant effects to keep them in check. Luckily, they can also smash Wolfwillow Haven, slowing them down even more.

This matchup can be tough on the draw, as we don’t have ways to kill Llanowar Elves. However, I don’t feel like Fatal Push does enough to warrant coming in. Perhaps there is a configuration that wants both Thoughtseize and Fatal Push against them, but I don’t know if we can really afford to cut that many creatures. Our White spells are generally good against interaction, but Mono-Green doesn’t really kill our stuff or make us discard. Feel free to cut them to help make room for your sideboard cards.

###    Against Azorius Control

Out:

4 Priest of Forgotten Gods

2 Plaguecrafter

1 Elvish Mystic

1 Llanowar Elves

In:

2 Thoughtseize

3 Sin Collector

1 Cankerbloom

2 Knight of Autumn

I like a few disenchant effects to help against Temporary Lockdown. That card obliterates our opening positions, but having a few ways to unlock them is great. Sin Collector and Thoughtseize replace our anti-creature package. Even though Plaguecrafter can kill a Planeswalker, it is not easy to control. I like trimming some Elves as they get caught up in the sweepers, and ramping isn’t that necessary in this matchup. Outside of a Turn Two Tyvar, the Elves are just fodder for Priest, which gets sided out.

Our white cards are great in this matchup.

###    Against Gruul Mid

Out:

3 Extraction Specialist

2 Plaguecrafter

2 Zulaport Cutthroat

In:

3 Fatal Push

3 Knight of Autumn

1 Cankerbloom

This matchup is about board position, and cards like Zulaport Cutthroat don’t really perform well. We must become more interactive, and that usually means trimming on the drain package. Extraction Specialist is usually okay in matchups like these, but their primary source of removal is going to be Obliterating Bolt. Extraction Specialist gains a lot of value from our opponent killing our stuff. In this instance, they are not doing that, so we’re left trying to make it good on our own. While that’s certainly something we’re capable of doing, it takes away a lot of the core strength of the card.

Disenchant effects are only great if they have The Akroan War. Otherwise, they’re just okay for killing the vehicles. Plaguecrafter gets swapped out here because of how weak it is against Esika’s Chariot. In the face of Llanowar Elves, Esika’s Chariot, and The Akroan War, those Plaguecrafter start to look rather awkward!

###    Against Lotus Field

Out:

2 Plaguecrafter

3 Extraction Specialist

In:

3 Sin Collector

2 Thoughtseize

Plaguecrafter is not ideal here, as they have no creatures or Planeswalkers, meaning you’re just forcing a discard against them. That might not be worse than Voice of Resurgence, but I think we need to keep some food for Priest of Forgotten Gods, as we’re cutting Extraction Specialist for similar reasons. Sin Collector and Thoughtseize are excellent here, giving us a way to punch holes in their plan. Our deck usually grinds on creatures pretty well, so it’s important to have five or more cards to bring in to attack from a different angle.

###    Against Abzan Greasefang

Out:

3 Extraction Specialist

2 Plaguecrafter

In:

2 Thoughtseize

3 Fatal Push

This matchup can be tough without Scavenging Ooze or Armored Scrapgorger. It’s possible that leaving those on the sidelines for more powerful White sideboard cards is incorrect, but I haven’t played against a lot of Greasefang lately so I’m not too worried about it. If your metagame has a lot of graveyard based strategies, like Izzet Phoenix and Greasefang, I would recommend adding two Scavenging Ooze over one Plaguecrafter and one Knight of Autumn. Those can come in here over some number of Zulaport Cutthroat in that situation.

At some point, you should be able to get Priest of Forgotten Gods on the table. If you do that, it shouldn’t be too difficult to keep their board clean. Tyvar is jacked in this matchup, as they have very little disruption, and activating Priest multiple times gives you a significant advantage.

###    Against Izzet Creativity

Out:

2 Plaguecrafter

4 Zulaport Cutthroat

1 Vraan, Executioner Thane

In:

3 Sin Collector

2 Thoughtseize

2 Knight of Autumn

This matchup is all about getting a board presence and trying to keep it without dying to their combo. They can’t beat an active Priest of Forgotten Gods that easily, even though the Wurm makes three more 5/5‘s. You can hold Priest up consistently, and even get some surprise wins by hitting one of Collected Company after the Wurm is already in play. If Tyvar is in play, the Priest is active, and the instant trap version will be brutal against them.

While the drain effects are not terrible here, they’re usually not enough to get us over 30 life, which is the required amount to survive one hit from their combo. They do have ways to make creatures ala Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, so Priest is actively good. If they go for their sideboard plan of cutting their combo, Priest becomes incredible against things like Shark Typhoon. Your White cards are all pretty good here. I love Voice of Resurgence, as it forces them to interact in sloppy ways, and even mainphase Big Score. Doing so usually results in their shields being down, and reduces the effectiveness of their interaction.

At the core, Izzet Creativity is a control deck. Voice messes with their sequencing, and Extraction Specialist lets you keep the pressure on. I wouldn’t be too afraid of Anger of the Gods right now, as most people are playing Brotherhood’s End, but I will say that this entire build gets much much worse if Anger of the Gods becomes the norm. That card has literally always kept Voice of Resurgence in check, but we’re at a point right now where there is a slightly “better” option. It’s just lucky that the one people are playing, Brotherhood’s End, isn’t quite as devastating (even though it’s still good against us).

###    Against Mono-White Humans

Out:

3 Extraction Specialist

2 Plaguecrafter

1 Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler

In:

3 Knight of Autumn

3 Fatal Push

Our opponent will likely have Ossification and/or Portable Hole after sideboard. I like cutting Plaguecrafter, as their deck is full of one-mana threats. Fatal Push is excellent here, as we’re able to turn on Revolt easily to take care of Adeline and Brutal Cathar. Tyvar can be cut in higher numbers if you have more stuff like the 4th Fatal Push to bring in. They attack it well, and Tyvar’s strength comes against opponents that don’t attack much. Obviously the abilities are all good, but Priest of Forgotten Gods is naturally oppressive in this matchup, which makes Tyvar less necessary.

###    Against Izzet Phoenix

Out:

2 Plaguecrafter

4 Zulaport Cutthroat

In:

3 Sin Collector

3 Fatal Push

Sin Collector is essentially free, taking their best spell and leaving a body behind. Thoughtseize is okay but much worse. Fatal Push is a necessary sideboard card for killing exactly Thing in the Ice, but Ledger Shredder is also annoying. I don’t think we can rely on Priest of Forgotten Gods to get the job done, so we need some help.

I don’t love Zulaport Cutthroat or Vraan in this matchup, but we have space for one. I like Vraan if we aren’t doing multiples or having it be our primary gameplan. Voice of Resurgence is great here, as most people have moved away from exiling removal. Extraction Specialist is equally brutal. Tyvar is good when they don’t have fast Phoenix draws, but can be bad in the face of their flying force. With that said, it’s tough to win the game if they bring back any number of Arclight Phoenix unless we’re already winning.

This is another matchup where you could theoretically have a few Scavenging Ooze. As I said earlier, you can trim a Knight of Autumn and Plaguecrafter to fit them, and they’re great for this and the Greasefang matchup.

###    Against Selesnya Angels

Out:

4 Voice of Resurgence

3 Extraction Specialist

In:

2 Plaguecrafter

3 Fatal Push

2 Knight of Autumn

There’s a good chance they bring in Portable Hole to stop Priest of Forgotten Gods. As a result, I like some number of Knight of Autumn. They could have another target in Shapers’ Sanctuary, as I’ve felt like they mostly board that card in whenever they see a land that makes Black mana. Plaguecrafter and Fatal Push are excellent here, helping chop down their creatures. Bishop of Wings can be particularly annoying, as they’re able to sweat through all the sacrifice effects with ease, so try to use Fatal Push on that when you can.

They don’t interact much, so Voice and Extraction Specialist can go.

###    Against 5-C Bring to Light

Out:

2 Plaguecrafter

4 Zulaport Cutthroat

1 Vraan, Executioner Thane

2 Woe Strider

In:

3 Sin Collector

2 Thoughtseize

3 Knight of Autumn

1 Cankerbloom

This is a deck I haven’t played against much, but I treat it like the old Niv-Mizzet decks that are just five color piles of good instants and sorceries. Priest of Forgotten Gods is okay, as their primary win condition is Omnath, Locus of Creation. We can use Priest to take care of that and a few other threats while assemble a big battlefield. Our White cards are great here, as they insulate us from removal, of which their deck has a lot.

Knight of Autumn and Cankerbloom are both great here, as Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and Leyline Binding are key elements for their deck. Thoughtseize and Sin Collector are just disruptive elements which can take Bring to Light.

###    Against Enigmatic Fires

Out:

2 Plaguecrafter

4 Voice of Resurgence

In:

2 Thoughtseize

3 Knight of Autumn

1 Cankerbloom

Most of their removal exiles, which makes Voice of Resurgence weaker. I like cutting them in favor of the disenchants and some Thoughtseize. Unfortunately, Sin Collector doesn’t do much here, as it targets instants and sorceries. The games can go very long, so prepare yourself to tuck in for a long one. They are very hard to kill sometimes, as their deck has plenty of toolbox cards and haymakers to prevent them from dying.

Overall, I think this is one of the tougher matchups, as they’re not that vulnerable to Priest of Forgotten Gods. As a result, we have to try to combo kill them with our drain effects.

###    Against Dimir Control

Out:

2 Plaguecrafter

1 Zulaport Cutthroat

2 Priest of Forgotten Gods

In:

2 Thoughtseize

3 Sin Collector

Dimir Control struggles with Voice of Resurgence quite a bit. Extraction Specialist is also great, as their primary mode of interaction early will involve killing or countering your creatures. While Priest of Forgotten Gods won’t have many targets for them to sacrifice, the ability to churn through your deck, make mana, and drain your opponent is still okay. I like trimming on the sacrifice engine a bit, and letting your creatures attack and block naturally.

Be wary of Extinction Event, and try to keep your creatures half and half on even/odd when possible. Don’t cast Collected Company into open mana if you can. Save it for when they take a turn to play their sweeper, as that will be your easiest way to rebuild.

###    Against Mono-U/Azorius Spirits

Out:

3 Extraction Specialist

4 Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler

In:

3 Fatal Push

2 Plaguecrafter

2 Thoughtseize

This is not a matchup based on attrition. Tyvar gets knocked out pretty easily against their fliers, so I like cutting them. The same is true for matchups like Atarka Red. You just can’t protect it enough to warrant keeping it around after sideboard. They don’t have much interaction, so Extraction Specialist is weak. However, Voice of Resurgence forces them to play spells at weird times, which can open up space for you to blow them out with Fatal Push or other interaction.

Most decks like Spirits have a tough time against Priest of Forgotten Gods. If you can stick it, the game will be almost impossible for them to keep up as long as you aren’t already on the back foot or dead. An edict every turn is tough for most creatures to beat!

###    Against Mono-Black Mid

Out:

4 Zulaport Cutthroat

1 Vraan, Executioner Thane

1 Llanowar Elves

1 Elvish Mystic

1 Boseiju, Who Endures

In:

2 Plaguecrafter

3 Fatal Push

3 Sin Collector

The White cards are generally good, as their removal tends to be non-exiling. You should expect Extinction Event after sideboard here, but overall I think the matchup is ok. Their best spell is likely Sheoldred, which can be dealt with via edicts or Fatal Push with Revolt. I like trimming the drain package, as the games tend to go long and are attrition based. We have less “food” for the Zulaport Cutthroats, which ultimately makes them weaker.


###### tags: `Magic`