Vs. Infect


+1 Darkblast

+2 Ancient Grudge

+1 Vengeful Pharaoh

+1  Raven's Crime



-1 Golgari Brownscale

-3 Zombie Infestation

-1  Squee, Goblin Nabob


Your plan against infect is to kill everything on sight. It's very hard for them to keep any creature alive once you have Darkblast going or if you have resolved a Smallpox. Ghost Quarter and Ancient Grudge take care of Inkmoth Nexusand there's nothing you're really worried about once you've established control. You can also achieve that by emptying their hand with Raven's Crime (very efficient when you're waiting for a threat). Just be careful not to attack their hand when there are creatures still on board, you would help them fil their graveyard to pay for their Become Immense.

You take out threats (Zombie Infestations in this case), as you really don't need to put any pressure. They will run out of threats and you'll be in total control after a couple of turns. The finish is really just a formality.

Vs. Tron


+4 Ancient Grudge

+2 Raven's Crime

+1  Bojuka Bog



-2 Darkblast

-1 Golgari Brownscale

-1 Terminate

-2 Go for the Throat

-1  Murderous Cut


There are two versions of Tron and they play very differently. However, the sideboard plans are almost the same.

Against the Gr version of Tron, your plan is to control the game and keep them away from the tron. Smallpox and Ghost Quarter should help while you try to empty their hand. The pressure you put on them isn't as important as against Monoblue Tron. They may have Pyroclasm and they're running Relic of Progenitus as well, so you won't be able to play with your graveyard for very long, or at least not with the “same” graveyard. The Gr Tron relies heavily on the Urza lands to win so as long as you keep them from hitting the three of them, you should be fine. The thing is, even if they do and don't have Karn to follow up, you have ways to deal with Wurmcoil Engine. If you manage to keep some creatures on the board, you can attack with flying Spirits and kill your blockers with a Darkblast for example and deny them the lifegain. It's not ideal but it works.

Against Monoblue Tron, it's a different story. Keeping them from hitting the Tron is not going to be as efficient, mostly because they don't need it as much as Gr Tron. They have Counterspells to stall a little bit, Solemn Simulacrum and Talismans to ramp to five or six mana without the Urza lands. Your plan here is to put as much pressure as possible early, and then try to keep them away from their sixth mana. Trying to keep them away from six mana without pressure on the board is a lost battle. This matchup is probably one of the hardest you'll get to face.

Vs. Burn


+1 Ray of Revelation

+1 Raven's Crime

+1 Vengeful Pharaoh

+2  Golgari Brownscale



-3 Lingering Souls

-1 Flame Jab

-1 Darkblast


Burn is not a matchup I'm afraid to play anymore. I'd even say we're heavy favorite against it. The sideboard plans haven't changed much since last time, but I'm always feeling very confident when I play against it, you just have to play cautiously, especially with your fetch and shock lands. Zombie Infestation is still your go-to card and Golgari Brownscale usually buys you enough time and put you out of range of direct damage.

Vs. Sultai


+1 Raven's Crime

+1 Vengeful Pharaoh

+1 Bojuka Bog




-1 Darkblast

-1 Bloodghast

-1 Swamp


Gerard Fabiano won the last SCG Open with Sultai, and I guess we have to get ready for that deck to emerge. Just like most midrange decks that rely on Snapcaster Mage, we don't have to worry too much about Relic of Progenitus or Rest in Peace. I haven't played against this deck yet, but I think we are heavy favorites as they have very few ways to deal with our threats and we have answers for pretty much everything they have. Without Spell Snare, they will never really be able to play around Smallpox and have their Tarmogoyfs stick around for long enough.

Vs. Storm


+2 Raven's Crime

+3 Bojuka Bog

+2  Ray of Revelation



-1 Golgari Brownscale

-3 Lingering Souls

-1 Vengeful Pharaoh

-1 Murderous Cut

-1  Terminate


Against Storm, you have a lot of dead / bad cards. Spot removal only kills Goblin Electromancer and you don't want to have too many of them. Lingering Souls is also way too slow. Your main plan is to get to Raven's Crime and start emptying your opponent's hand.

We have three Bojuka Bogs in the sideboard that are super handy in this matchup. Usually when you bring in lands from the sideboard, you take out lands from your maindeck to keep as many active spells as possible. In this case, extra lands will be like extra active spells (fuel to Retrace  Raven's Crime). You want to go up to 26 lands to have enough fuel to cast Raven's Crime again and again without having to cast your Life from the Loam.

Vs. Loam Pox


+2 Ray of Revelation

+3  Bojuka Bog



-1 Swamp

-2 Go for the Throat

-1 Murderous Cut

-1  Terminate


I got to play this matchup a couple times online. While the key card is obviously Bojuka Bog after sideboard, Zombie Infestation is the card you'll have to fight over. If one of the two players has an Infestation, he's a heavy favorite. There's no real way to deal with three or four zombies at the same time (with more coming), unless you have yours, and then the one who hits his opponent's Loams with Bojuka Bog will win.

Vs.  Amulet of Vigor


-2 Darkblast

-1 Golgari Brownscale

-3  Lingering Souls



+4 Ancient Grudge

+2  Raven's Crime


You have a lot of ways to disrupt your Titan Amulet opponent. Smallpox on turn two after he played a tapped land is a huge step back for him. Ghost Quarter is also a good way to keep them away from six mana. After sideboard, you have a lot of ways to destroy their Amulet of Vigor ( Ancient Grudge) and your plan will be to empty their hand with Raven's Crime. The only way you lose is when they go off on turn two or three with Summer Bloom and Amulet of Vigor.

Sometimes they board in Hive Mind and try to kill you on the same following turn with Summoner's Pact. Keep in mind that could be one of their plans and that you may want to have double green with your lands.

By now, with all the articles you read about the deck, you probably have most of the important sideboard plans for the format (even with the new changes, you should be able to figure out the few differences).