At one point I knew this, but it seems that while writing my post I forgot that. In that case, I stand by my current sideboard, which is the second. Now the only decision is between Tormod's Crypt and Root Maze.

Drake

Hey guys, this is Jason Hall (pilot of the first decklist in this thread). Let me just say that the thing that bummed me out the most about getting 9th was the thought that people wouldn't discuss my decklist here. I've been playing this deck for about 3 years and have pretty much exhausted my ideas for the deck, and it's both amazing and refreshing to get other people's input. That said, here's my input. I have a lot to say and I hope it's all clear. I will post my logic first then propose two sideboards based on that logic.

For artifact destruction in this deck, although slightly harder to pay for, artifact mutation is better than naturalize because of the obvious aggro boost it gives goblins. This also works on colossus, which naturalize can't do. Against stax, artifact mutation is just ridiculous. However, while artifact mutation has mad synergy with the deck (imagine what happens when you artifact mutation a colossus with a food chain out......*drools*), naturalize is by far more versatile. While artifact mutation is a monster answer to:

Stax
Belcher
Colossus
Slaver
(a few others I've surely forgotten)

naturalize is a "just good enough" answer to all of the above, disregarding colossus, but also works against oath and dragon (again, other's I've surely missed) which are both very bad matchups for FCG and are the cause of the SB change. So why  not run naturalize instead of artifact mutation?

Against oath, Emerald Charm is simply a much better answer than naturalize. Same effect for 1 colorless less. Enough said. However, emerald charm doesn't work against dragon. Geting rid of Chalice allows me to adjust some numbers so I can get two answers to oath and dragon (making a sideboard of 5 cards with 3 copies), so I decided to focus one answer to each deck. My thought process was: I have enough room to answer both decks (oath and dragon) individually, so why not make each answer the best for each situtation? The problem with this is, with the current builds of dragon running bounce spells and abayance, the best answers (root maze, tormod's crypt, ground seal) can only slow the game down slightly, whereas naturalize could end the game. This means that, in my opinion, the current best answer for this deck would be naturalize. So the question is, with naturalize looking like such a good card, do I run a worse answer to oath, stax, slaver, etc just to have the best answer to dragon?

If I don't go for naturalize, the card I use against dragon should be an answer to storm combo. The only two cards I can figure that would fit this category are root maze and tormod's crypt. First let's look at root maze. Root maze slows everyone down (which seems good since both decks are faster than FCG) and must be bounced (in most cases) for dragon or storm combo to win. However, this mana base does not go well with root maze, not to mention the fact that fetch lands become very costly for this deck. Tormod's crypt, on the other hand, does not slow FCG down at all, yet can slow the opponent down to find ways of getting around crypt. Crypt is only good at stopping Yawg Will against storm combo, but this is a huge play. However, storm combo doesn't always need Will to win. Against dragon, crypt can get bounced or abayance gets played. This will slow the game down slightly, but with dragon's drawing power, it doesn't usually last long. Dragon has fewer answers to root maze, but storm combo has worse answers to crypt. Which card is better? Seeing as pyro pillar and null rod will come in against combo anyway, root maze seems to be the better choice (why attempt to overkill one matchup leaving another more vulnerable?).

Pyro pillar and null rod, from experience, are both just flat out necessary for the deck. The problem with pyro pillar against storm combo is they hit you for a lot (not enough to kill) and survive the pillar, or just hit you for exactly 20 and survive because tendrils costs 4. A pillar on the board will make the opponent think, possibly stall a turn or two, but works best when there's another hate card out that stalls (chalice, null rod) or there's another pillar out, slowing their game down even more.

Well I'm starting to get tired and don't want to get any less clear, so I'll end the sideboard discussion here with the two proposed sideboards:

Heavier towards Dragon Meta

3 Null Rod
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Naturalize
4 Pyrostatic Pillar

or

Heavier towards Oath Meta

3 Null Rod
3 Artifact Mutation
3 Emerald Charm
3 Pyrostatic Pillar
3 Tormod's crypt/Root maze


As far as my maindeck is concerned, I upped the sharpshooter count to two for dragon and slaver (pentavus). I will never use less than 4 incinerators because they've never been a dead card for me. Uncounterable welder kill? Last I checked, it was 4 welders or none, so why shouldn't I have an uncounterable answer for each and every one? Hell, I've hard casted the guy. He's still a 2/1 beater or 4 mana with a food chain. I use 2 Kiki's and 2 Siege because I want to see them in my opening hand next to a lackey. I very rarely have a problem with seeing too many kiki's (can't remember ever seeing too many sieges).

3 has been the perfect number for food chains for me. I have NEVER drawn a food chain and wished it was something else since I dropped it to 3, and I still see it enough when I want it. I confess I use food chain as a counter target a lot. The situation has always been: have a food chain out with nothing to use (since they'd counter the goblins) or at least have a guy on the table. It's a very situational decision though.

Finally (really finally) the Red Blasts. Maybe it's just where I am, but I can think of three PEOPLE who don't use in my area (and I'm one of them). I can't tell you how many times I've heard "....You maindeck those?" immediately after someone walked into a blast. Ultimately, this pushes my lackeys through counters and stops gifts and tinker, two cards that lead to horrible horrible things for those little goblins.

Cards I've tried that, for me, failed:

Maze of Ith (works great against oath and colossus, but these decks play waste and missing that land drop really hurts)
Blood Moon (it's a worse food chain, in that it just becomes counter bait, or if it gets through it doesn't win the game, it just slows it)
Ground Seal (not versatile enough)
Wheel of Fortune (just never that great)
Oxidize (art mut and naturalize are better overall and people always set chalice for 1 first)
Rack and Ruin (art mut and naturalize are better overall)
Goblin Vandal (he was great when trinisphere wasn't restricted, but now he's either useless or won't get through when needed)
Elvish Spirit Guide (maybe if this were red....)

There are so many others that I can't remember (and most for good reason).

Well, if I weren't tired I'm sure I'd have more to say. However, I don't want to muddle this up more than I already have. I'd love to hear all the opinons you've got.

-Drake