hello, please help me with my fish board and strategy.

[effang]

Edit 1:
Halo, I am running a fairly typical fish build with a few changes and I would appreciate any help that people can give me. I am most interested in learning how to sideboard correctly.

U/R Fish
*** Denotes change from a “standard� build

4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Spiketail Hatchling
4 Grim Lavamancer
1 Voidmage Prodigy
1 RAZORFIN HUNTER***
1 Gorilla Shaman
4 Standstill
4 Curiosity
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Force of Will
2 Daze
2 MISDIRECTION***
1 Stifle
3 Null Rod
NO TIME WALK***
4 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland
4 Mishra.s Factory
2 Faerie Conclave
3 Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Strip Mine
1 Library of Alexandria
1 BLACK LOTUS

Sideboard
3 Tormod.s Crypt
3 Red Elemental Blast
2 Rack and Ruin
3 Sigil oF sleep
2 Fire/Ice
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Stifle

My meta consists of
draw7
hulk
10 land stompy
UG madness
scrub control
scrub aggro

In the Main:
1  I have seen some "some" scrub aggro, so I am running 1 razorfin hunter instead of the standard 2x voidmage prodigy to deal with sligh, some madness, etc.
2  I am running two misdirections because I am interested in the surprise factor.
3  I am running black lotus...because either I will have a great first turn play, or I will be playing a 2nd or 3rd turn null rod and in that case, I think that both sapphire and black lotus will be useless.
4  No time walk because I’m running the 2x daze as well as 2x misd

In the Board:
The sigils and the sword of fire are for scrub aggro and to deal with UG madness.  Also, for my meta, is it dangerous to go to only 2 rack and ruin? I don’t see much slaver, so I’m thinking this is ok.

My main problem is how to utilize my sideboard. I understand what to put into certain matches, ie tormod's crypt for dragon, rack and ruin for draw 7 and slavers, but what do I take out? It seems as if grim lavamancer's are the ones that I’m going to taking out in most matches. If somebody could help me with a guide, or describe how to sideboard for fish, that would be great.

ie vs dragon
In 3 crypt, out 4 grim lava
In 1 stifle

Vs. hulk
In 3 sigil of sleep, out???

Vs. combo/slaver/artifact heavy
In 2 racks and ruin out 3 grim lava
in 1 stifle

vs aggro UG madness
in 3 sigil
in 1 sword of fire and ice
in 2 fire/ice ???

out what?

Finally, everybody knows how powerful REB is, however, what do you take out? Definitely not FOW, but instead daze and stifle?

Any and all help would be great, thanks.

[AngryPheldagrif]

For something this minor, take it to the Newbie Forum. Also, read Phil's posting FAQ. It's full of tips on how to make quality posts.

Welcome to TMD!
-Dan

PS: Are Stifle and Sword of F/I really worth running as 1-ofs on the board?

Other than that, what you take out is up to you, and is often a personal choice depending on who is involved and how the match plays out. Generally, I like to sideboard out the Misdirection(s) and the Null Rods against U/G madness. If you still need more spots, dump a couple Cloud of Faeries. If they're aggroing a ton, you're going to want to play with more control and less explosiveness. One extra Faery rarely makes a difference when you need to take out a Wurm token. Stifle could also go out. **disclaimer** The preceding was from a guy who rarely plays Fish, so take most of what I say with a grain of salt. Good luck.

Edit:

vs combo/slaver/artifact heavy
in 2 rack and ruin out 3 grim lava
in 1 stifle

Well, you're dealing with 3 entirely different matchups here. Against Draw-7 Rack and Ruin is effectively dead, whereas Lavamancers can at least take care of Xantid Swarms. You'd really want to board in the REBs for maximum control and even the Crypts against some combo. Board out the Faeries I'd say, they're useless when you just want to survive the first couple turns.

[lilmidget]

Could you explain why you didn't include Time Walk? I see no reason not to include it.

[Moxlotus]

Tormod's Crypt isnt good in the deck because the combo it makes with Null Rod is excellent.  Null Rod shuts off around 25% of Tog's and Dragon's mana which is pretty good.  Crypt is a little better but you are only shoring up the match a tiny bit when 3 SB slots could be put to better use.

[Triple_S]

Gay/r is a tempo deck, Time Walk is amazing tempo.  Connect the dots.

[effang]

come on guys...some more help please.
i put back in the time walk.

[Mog]

Edit 1:
U/R Fish
*** Denotes change from a “standard� build

4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Spiketail Hatchling
4 Grim Lavamancer
1 Voidmage Prodigy
1 RAZORFIN HUNTER***
1 Gorilla Shaman
4 Standstill
4 Curiosity
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Force of Will
2 Daze
2 MISDIRECTION***
1 Stifle
3 Null Rod
NO TIME WALK***
4 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland
4 Mishra.s Factory
2 Faerie Conclave
3 Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Strip Mine
1 Library of Alexandria
1 BLACK LOTUS

Sideboard
3 Tormod.s Crypt
3 Red Elemental Blast
2 Rack and Ruin
3 Sigil oF sleep
2 Fire/Ice
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Stifle

Ok, I see some things that are a little wacky right away that should be dealt with.  We'll start with the MD:

Lotus?  Gay/r doesn't really need it.  I've been testing without out it and been doing great.  We're not likely to explode on turn 1 with lotus and others like other decks might do.  Also, swamp one of those blue fetches for an island.  I like Flying Men a lot better than Cloud of Faeries, mainly because it's a turn faster.  Cloud of Faeries is acceptable in this deck, but Flying Men just work a lot better b/c you can attack a turn earlier.  Spiketail Hatchling isn't needed if you've got voidmage prodigy, which I would suggest that you go up to 2 on and also go up to 3 on Razorfin Hunter.  Don't underestimate curiosity on Razorfin Hunter: It's a house!  Finally, I'd cut a Mis-D (goes to board) for an additional Mox Monkey.  Now it's lookin' good   !

Now let's look at the sideboard.  As others have said before me, Tormod's Crypt isn't really needed and is unsynergistic with Null Rod, which you won't want to take out against Combo.  Sword of F/I is way to clunky and comes out too late.  Gay/r is about tempo and Sword doesn't allow you to generate enough tempo to offset how much you have lost.  Also, not a huge fan of Sigil of Sleep here, but that doesn't mean that you can't use it.  I prefer BEB's instead.  I'd add another R&R, another F/I, and 2 Mis-D.  That's what I have to give.  Good Luck.

[Moxlotus]

If you're playing fish, you can't cut cloud of faeries.  They are the ultimate tempo card.

[Mog]

Well, my point is that in Fish or Gay/r Cloud of Faeries is acceptable but Flying Men is far superior.  Although, Cloud of Faeries may be the ultimate tempo card.  Flying Men is the same body and allows you to get the curiosity engine going a turn earlier.  From testing, I'm sure you'll find that Flying Men is much better than Cloud of Faeries.

[Moxlotus]

Well, my point is that in Fish or Gay/r Cloud of Faeries is acceptable but Flying Men is far superior.  Although, Cloud of Faeries may be the ultimate tempo card.  Flying Men is the same body and allows you to get the curiosity engine going a turn earlier.  From testing, I'm sure you'll find that Flying Men is much better than Cloud of Faeries.

Turn 1 conclave, followed by Turn 2 faeries+standstill/curiosity is good.  Faeries make conclave a lot better so the tempo lost isn't as bad.  How do you get the Curiosity engine going on earlier?  You still play Null Rod on Turn 2 to avoid being hit by mana drain so you aren't curious any earlier.  Turn 1 you have the mana to Stifle a fetch and lay it down turn 2, which admittingly you CAN do with Flying men but you never would.

[lilmidget]

Well, my point is that in Fish or Gay/r Cloud of Faeries is acceptable but Flying Men is far superior. Although, Cloud of Faeries may be the ultimate tempo card. Flying Men is the same body and allows you to get the curiosity engine going a turn earlier. From testing, I'm sure you'll find that Flying Men is much better than Cloud of Faeries.

A turn 1 Lavamancer would be an even better play

[Mog]

Yes, a lavamancer turn 1 is better and probably one of the best turn 1 plays (w/o moxen) that this deck has.  I learned that very quickly.  I'm not necessarily flaming and saying "Cloud of Faeries is terrible in this deck blah blah blah etc."  I'm saying that it is an acceptable card choice.  But receiving insights from my friends and other TMD people as well as testing has shown that Flying Men is better for the main reason that I have articulated in a previous post.  Also Moxlotus, your assumption that I'm playing against someone playing tog or similar things that are powered isn't always correct.  Using Flying Men we are able to attack one turn earlier and thus, draw one more card earlier.  Personally, I rather have one more card in hand on turn 2 and one damage in rather than the ability to play 2 cards from my hand.  Maybe Cloud of Faeries allows for a more controllish type of Fish.  But this type of aggro Gay/r is far superior imo.  Same as when we budget the Fish deck we are forced to play a more controlled version.  Nothing necessarily wrong with it and we don't lose much, but we lose enough.  A powered deck is superior to a non-powered deck which should make sense.  Also, why would you ever play faerie conclave when you could play a lavamancer first turn.  But come to think of it, Flying Men first turn might be a little scarier, but it's a tough call.  In Gay/r we try to beat the person by gaining more card advantage than they do with our engine of curiosity so why not get it up and running a turn earlier?  Since this is basically how we win, it's like saying why not win a turn earlier?

[Frappie]

So this is what I saw at SCG. Instead of Razorfin, try Goblin Sharpshooter. I play a scrubby aggro deck (see FCG). The sharp is a must deal with before I could even start to think about dropping the ton of gobs in my hands.

[LizardKING]

Although it has more or less to do with the subject, I do not see how your build can deal with big creatures. There is at least one Tog in your meta and you choose Tormod's Crypt in the SB to stop the big Smash : nevertheless, in my opinion, this is not a good choice.

Generally speaking, one of the big problem of Fish decks is when they have to face huge creatures. PTW uses 2 Maze of Ith in his SB, which seems a good choice. Personally, I sometimes found it not enough because they can come too late. Last time I went to a tourney, I was paired with a random Sneak-and-Tell deck that consistently puts in play a Darksteel Colossus turn 3. In most cases, I can just concede because even after SB, I could not race (that among these, this opponent packs annoying stuff like Defense grid, FoW, etc...). Besides that, I really do not like the MD Razorfin Hunter and I advocate for 2 Waterfront Bouncer MD in place of the RH/Prodigy.

[Mog]

@Frappie:

I don't think that Goblin Sharpshooter would be a good choice because:

1. It costs 1 more than Razorfin Hunter (Important in a tempo deck)
2. Razorfin Hunter is more versatile (It will probably get more damage through)
3 Works better with Curiosity
4. I think that Goblin Sharpshooter is only good against decks with tiny little creatures or against DoJ (which it won't resolve in that match) and versus tiny creatures Fire, and other pingers do the job fine.  

Also, we use so many pingers so that we can ATTEMPT to control aggro.  Very difficult to do.  

@LizardKING:

Well people shouldn't be using Tormod's Crypt in the board.  Gay/r is an aggro-control deck that is designed to beat control.  I don't think that Gay/r will lose to tog b/c it beats it in card advantage and that's the basis of how it will win.  However, I do agree with you on the fact that we lose to aggro.  Since most of the time we face TNT in an aggro match we have artifact hate which will improve the matchup.  In combo decks like that we should be able to prevent the combo most of the time.  However, Maze of Ith could be a consideration

[Rainula]

Just incase people still play the flying men, I have two things to say that should convince you otherwise.  Firstly, it cannot be overstated how useful the untapping lands affect is in a deck that plays four mishras factory and a library of alexandria, plus the needed red mana that can be a bit difficult to pay for lavamancer ablility is sometimes easier to get with the fairies.  I have many times been able to draw two cards  and or get a free pump on a mishras factory from the untapping lands property.  The secondary property of the cloud of faries, cycling, is useful from time to time.  I've found that under a standstill if I make the supposition that having a possible counterspell once the standstill is broken is more valuable than a cloud in hand I will cycle them.

On a complete side note, I've been playing two waterfront bouncers in place of two spiketails to see how they benifit the deck.  I can honestly say that they increase the potency of the standstills in that they can clear the way of an annoying angel or fattie (eg darksteel colossus) when necissary under a standstill and give power to all the extra cards that lie in your hand during certain parts of the game.  Basically, if you are losing the creature battle you can lay down a standstill if you have a bouncer on the board (bear in mind that other aspects apply to whether or not this is a benifit, how far behind you are, whether the bouncer is still sick of being summoned, whether your opponent will respond with fire or swords, ect.)  They also help win the mishras factory battle in the mirror.

I am a big fan of voidmage and cannot see running any other number than two.  Given that the decks draws the number of cards it does, it almost plays like three, but only when fish is doing it's job.  Some people might interpret this as winning more, but as fish is tempo based, I feel that it needs a mid-game threat that threatens to win the end game for you.  Voidmage is that type of card.

I don't like rasorfin hunter.  I tried it in several places to put in in and it never earned it's place in the main board.  It is darned demanding on the colored manabase and the voidmage already fills that gap enough.  Dont forget that fish playes less that 16 colored manasources and having two early on isn't as easy as it seems against opposing wastelands and the additional restriction of one of each color.

Hope I've been helpful