I wonder why one copy of a single card makes sense in the sideboard, I suppose that if you want to see the card at all you want at least 3, one seems like wishing but not really expecting to draw the card.
Which are the arguments to include a single copy of a card which purpose is to improve any given match up?
A single card makes sense in the scenario where you can tutor for it (Vanifar with creatures), have a lot of card draw/filter, are only wanting it late game (Elixir of Immortality against a mill strategy), or if you are only looking to slightly bolster your main deck (Path to Exile is Swords to Plowshare number 5 in legacy lists).
it can be very relevant and a lot of times you see this done if the card has a narrow use. cards like negate, celestial purge, or creatures with a very specific use tend to occupy this type of slot.
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Against Humans (and aggro decks that sideboard poorly and run Surgical Extraction) it helps to have varied sweepers in your sideboard, so a Jeskai Control deck might sideboard 1 Engineered Explosives, 1 Anger of the Gods, and 1 Settle the Wreckage. Note that all those cards are fine to strong against other decks as well.
In addition to what the above posters said, it is often done to make card by card upgrades to your main deck for a specific matchup. Let's say that you have 1 card in your main deck that is truly horrible in the matchup you're currently facing. If you have 1 card in your sideboard that is great in that matchup, that is a swap which you will always want to make. True, you may not draw it. But if you do, it's much better than if you drew the card that it replaced.
it can be very relevant and a lot of times you see this done if the card has a narrow use. cards like negate, celestial purge, or creatures with a very specific use tend to occupy this type of slot.
That being said, i tend to believe it to be the other way around. Sideboards with a lot of 1of cards tend to overlap a lot, so they can be used in a veriety of configurations to suit different matchups. Therefore they have a wider application.
Narrow answer cards are those you absolutely need in specific matchupss, usually the bad ones. Take Fulminator Mage in earlier BGx midrange VS Tron for example. Other exaples are Rest in Peace and Stony Silence in white based decks vs graveyard based strategies or artifact based combo. These usually are pretty narrow but powerfull "hoser" effects you really want or absolutely need to draw in order to win.
So by this standard, overlapping side board cards can be used as a variety of 1ofs whereas the narrow, must have answers usually show up in multiples.
it can be very relevant and a lot of times you see this done if the card has a narrow use. cards like negate, celestial purge, or creatures with a very specific use tend to occupy this type of slot.
That being said, i tend to believe it to be the other way around. Sideboards with a lot of 1of cards tend to overlap a lot, so they can be used in a veriety of configurations to suit different matchups. Therefore they have a wider application.
Narrow answer cards are those you absolutely need in specific matchupss, usually the bad ones. Take Fulminator Mage in earlier BGx midrange VS Tron for example. Other exaples are Rest in Peace and Stony Silence in white based decks vs graveyard based strategies or artifact based combo. These usually are pretty narrow but powerfull "hoser" effects you really want or absolutely need to draw in order to win.
So by this standard, overlapping side board cards can be used as a variety of 1ofs whereas the narrow, must have answers usually show up in multiples.
That makes sense, as well as other arguments where the 1 copy on the SB actually makes the 4th overall or complements similar effects on the MB.
That being said I can't get out of my head the probability of drawing a single copy in G2, I just imagine playing the game and needing the card and cursing because I only put one copy.
It was touched on in the post about the multiple individual different sweepers in an earlier post, but it is often the case that you might want multiple slightly different sideboard cards that all do similar things in certain matchups. Besides avoiding surgicals, some of them might be useful in some matchups but not in others, while others might be more better generally but useless in a few key matchups where that kind of effect is still useful, just because of the specific cards they are up against having defenses against that sort of thing or whatnot. Some of these could also be sideboard cards against other decks but less optimal or useless in some of the matchups that the kind of card is typically there for.
For instance, an anti-artifact section of a sideboard set of slots could have a mix of one copy each of Fragmentize, Kataki, War's Wage, Revoke Existence, and Stony Silence. Not all will be slotted in against the same decks or cards you might be facing, they all play slightly different roles and are good against slightly different decks, and not all might be sideboarded in against every deck with artifacts of note, but some might also be slotted in against non-artifact decks because, say, they are good against the enchantments in it for fragmentize and revoke, or because you are countering expected opponent sideboard cards that are typically artifacts against your deck.
Another example is someone might play their Relic of Progenitus from the sideboard out of a bunch of anti-graveyard cards of different sorts (perhaps including surgical extraction and Leyline of the Void), not because of hating on a graveyard, but because of it's card draw, against some deck that makes you want to do more card draw enough to use it in some fringe situations.
To that end, where it fits your deck, I'd see single copies of most of your sideboard cards being beneficial, even if you have multiple cards against a type of strategy you might be facing. This is less of a good plan if you really know the metagame you are facing and it's not very diverse, but in a highly diverse metagame, it might be a good idea.
A great deck building technique which is not talked about very often is the "Elephant" technique. That is a method where you conceive of the best deck build for your particular deck for each matchup and then whittle it down to a full 75. A quick Google search brings up this article from 2013, and I'm sure there are others: http://www.starcitygames.com/article/26317_The-Elephant-Method-A-Case-Study.html.
If you use this method you will often end up with multiple 1-of cards in your SB, because your MD is reconfigured on a card by card basis per matchup.
You may also run a one-of when drawing exactly one of a card is good, but drawing multiples would dilute your deck’s plan too much. Combo decks tend to do this.
Thanks for the arguments, I kind of getting into grips with this SB strategy more, in fact these weekend I tried 2 different sweepers and experienced why it would be useful.
i think our definition on narrow are different. i wouldn't consider stony or RIP narrow as they hose over half the meta. It's intended use may be narrow but its application is anything but. Cards like stony and RIP dont just stop one thing they stop many things. RIP makes delve, spell recursion, creature recursion, death tiggers, and completely invalidates some decks till its gone. Stony does similar things as it just shuts off some cantrips, mana rocks, clues, Affinity, KCI, and also invalidates some decks like lantern. Cards like negate and remove soul, while being able to hit more decks is a single time answer that i dont necessarily know i would bring in if i have a catch all like the enchantments. This is where our definitions vary as i consider it narrow because it may only stop one thing. Granted sometimes that 1 thing can win the game. I did like how someone explained that it may also compliment other spells that do similar things but may need a different card for extraction effect defense.
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When "elephanting" a deck, I often end up with a bunch of very wide one-ofs that are applicable in many matchups, e.g. Abrade, Beast Within, and Abrupt Decay in my Assault Loam deck. Instead of having 4 Nature's Claim for a bad affinity matchup, I would rather play many varied cards that also are good in other matchups that I can board in. 1 Abrade, 1 Beast Within, and 1 Abrupt Decay would all come in against Affinity, but could also be brought in against other decks easily. The one of's make sure I have no dead cards main deck, and no dead cards in sideboard; it seems everything has many uses and a lot comes in for nearly every matchup. That being said, I still usually have multiple 2 or 3 of's like Nihil Spellbomb or Anger of the Gods.
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Which are the arguments to include a single copy of a card which purpose is to improve any given match up?
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Standard: lol no
Modern: BG/x, UR/x, Burn, Merfolk, Zoo, Storm
Legacy: Shardless BUG, Delver (BUG, RUG, Grixis), Landstill, Depths Combo, Merfolk
Vintage: Dark Times, BUG Fish, Merfolk
EDH: Teysa, Orzhov Scion / Krenko, Mob Boss / Stonebrow, Krosan Hero
Negate is not narrow at all!
That being said, i tend to believe it to be the other way around. Sideboards with a lot of 1of cards tend to overlap a lot, so they can be used in a veriety of configurations to suit different matchups. Therefore they have a wider application.
Narrow answer cards are those you absolutely need in specific matchupss, usually the bad ones. Take Fulminator Mage in earlier BGx midrange VS Tron for example. Other exaples are Rest in Peace and Stony Silence in white based decks vs graveyard based strategies or artifact based combo. These usually are pretty narrow but powerfull "hoser" effects you really want or absolutely need to draw in order to win.
So by this standard, overlapping side board cards can be used as a variety of 1ofs whereas the narrow, must have answers usually show up in multiples.
Modern: WUBRG Humans - GBW Traverse - GWU Knightfall - GRW Bushwhacker Zoo -
That makes sense, as well as other arguments where the 1 copy on the SB actually makes the 4th overall or complements similar effects on the MB.
That being said I can't get out of my head the probability of drawing a single copy in G2, I just imagine playing the game and needing the card and cursing because I only put one copy.
For instance, an anti-artifact section of a sideboard set of slots could have a mix of one copy each of Fragmentize, Kataki, War's Wage, Revoke Existence, and Stony Silence. Not all will be slotted in against the same decks or cards you might be facing, they all play slightly different roles and are good against slightly different decks, and not all might be sideboarded in against every deck with artifacts of note, but some might also be slotted in against non-artifact decks because, say, they are good against the enchantments in it for fragmentize and revoke, or because you are countering expected opponent sideboard cards that are typically artifacts against your deck.
Another example is someone might play their Relic of Progenitus from the sideboard out of a bunch of anti-graveyard cards of different sorts (perhaps including surgical extraction and Leyline of the Void), not because of hating on a graveyard, but because of it's card draw, against some deck that makes you want to do more card draw enough to use it in some fringe situations.
To that end, where it fits your deck, I'd see single copies of most of your sideboard cards being beneficial, even if you have multiple cards against a type of strategy you might be facing. This is less of a good plan if you really know the metagame you are facing and it's not very diverse, but in a highly diverse metagame, it might be a good idea.
If you use this method you will often end up with multiple 1-of cards in your SB, because your MD is reconfigured on a card by card basis per matchup.
Standard: lol no
Modern: BG/x, UR/x, Burn, Merfolk, Zoo, Storm
Legacy: Shardless BUG, Delver (BUG, RUG, Grixis), Landstill, Depths Combo, Merfolk
Vintage: Dark Times, BUG Fish, Merfolk
EDH: Teysa, Orzhov Scion / Krenko, Mob Boss / Stonebrow, Krosan Hero
That is a useful read. Thanks for sharing the article.
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