Sideboarding with Pitch Long

[Gekoratel]

Before Waterbury the builds of Pitch Long that splashed red were only run by a few people, primarily members of ICBM.  Now it is commonly accepted as the best build because it allows for maindeck Wheel of Fortune and also leaves more room in the board instead of taking up room running Badlands.    The maindeck that I am using right now is the exact same as Peter Intile's Day 1 List.  His sideboard had some odd card choices so the one I am going to post is my current sideboard configuration.  For reference here is the list.

Pitch Long
Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Memory Jar
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

Enchantments
1 Necropotence
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain

Instants
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
3 Cabal Ritual
1 Chain Of Vapor
4 Dark Ritual
4 Force Of Will
2 Misdirection
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Rebuild
1 Vampiric Tutor

Sorceries
1 Demonic Tutor
3 Grim Tutor
1 Infernal Contract
1 Mind's Desire
2 Tendrils Of Agony
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Tinker
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Lands
1 Badlands
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Underground Sea

Sideboard:
4 Duress
3 Xantid Swarm
3 Empty the Warrens
2 Thrashing Wumpus
1 Bayou
1 Swamp
1 Planar Void

Now I'm going to discuss how and why I sideboard for different matchups.

Mirror
-1 Necropotence
-1 Infernal Contract
-1 Rebuild
-1 Chain of Vapor

+4 Duress

Unlike most generic Pitch Long sideboards I am currently running 4 Duress because they are amazing against any form of combo and they are needed for my Gifts sideboarding strategy.  The obvious cards to take are those that make you lose a large amount of life and then die from a mini-tendrils.  I've heard of people leaving in Necro on the play because it is reasonable on turn 1 when your on the play but any time after that it's to much of a liability to cast.  Personally I'd rather not have a card that's dead unless it's in the opening seven.

Drain Gifts
-1 Swamp
-1 Rebuild
-2 Misdirection
-4 Force of Will

+1 Bayou
+3 Xantid Swarm
+4 Duress

This sideboarding strategy is quite different from what I did in the past.  My old sideboarding was to take out a mixture of Accelerators, Threats, and Misdirections while bringing in 3 Xantid and 2 Duress.  Sideboarding this way is so tough because you need to leave in enough blue spells to support Force but if you bring in to much disruption then you won't be able to throw enough threats at Gifts and they will just win before you do.  The idea to board out Force of Will came from one of TK's tournament reports where he took out Forces against Control Slaver.  I don't think it is a good idea against CS because your primary plan is so strong but against Gifts this works well.

When you are playing with the post-board setup the deck is much closer to Grim Long than Pitch Long so you will need to change your style of play accordingly.  Another benefit of this strategy is that if your opponent doesn't know how you sideboard then they may hold on to Ancestral for fear of Misdirection which will give you more time.  Even with this sideboarding the match is still very difficult, if you find yourself in a metagame full of Drain Gifts then it would be a good idea to switch to combo with MD Duress.  If it is a large tournament like TML Open or SCG then Pitch Long is still a fine choice.

Control Slaver + other Drain decks - updated
-1 Swamp
-1 Time Walk
-1 Mystical Tutor
-1 Mox Pearl/Emerald

+1 Bayou
+3 Xantid Swarm

When playing against decks like CS or T1T you don't need to make the same drastic sideboarding because they don't have the capabilities to kill you quite as quickly as Gifts.  I board out Time Walk because I want to have as many threats against Drain decks as possible and it doesn't fit this role.  If you see some random hate like Arcane Lab then you will need to board out a least 1 threat card in order to squeeze Chain back in the deck. 

Fish
-1 Underground Sea
-1 Mind's Desire
-1 Infernal Contract
-1 Wheel of Fortune
-2 Misdirection

+1 Swamp
+2 Thrashing Wumpus
+3 Empty the Warrens

The pre-board match against Fish varies quite a bit based on what list they are running.  Builds that are similar to Dave Feinstein's list are easier for combo because the only MD hate is Meddling Mage and 2 Stifles.  Other builds have cards like True Believer and Orim's Chant to make life more difficult.  The match gets drastically better after sideboarding against any version because you get to attack them from so many different angles.

1)Quick Empty the Warrens for 8-10 guys
2)Drop the Wumpspot and destroy their team
3)Combo off with Tendrils as usual

Now the Fish player needs to decide when sideboarding how am I going to leave in enough cards to deal with plans 1-2 while still not losing to Pitch Long's primary plan.  Fish does not want to leave cards like Swords to Plowshares and Echoing Truth in against combo but they are either forced to make their deck weaker against Pitches default combo or have no answer to plans 1-2.  The extra Swamp that comes in is good defense against Wasteland which helps when you are trying to activate Thrashing Wumpus twice.

Stax - updated
-1 Mox Emerald/Pearl
-1 Mind's Desire
-1 Infernal Contract
-1 Time Walk
-2 Misdirection

+1 Swamp
+2 Thrashing Wumpus
+3 Empty the Warrens

Now that EtW is out of the bag it's not quite as insane against Stax as it was originally because all competent Stax players will have an answer for it in the board.  I still think it is stronger than other options because the Stax player is forced to side in cards that deal with EtW.  Then in the match they are spending time answering goblins rather than disrupting Pitch's primary plan.  In addition if they don't know that you have Empty in the sideboard then they may not bring in an answer and have no way to deal with 6 guys on turn 1.  Another note about this sideboard is how useless Jester's Cap is now because the deck has 7 threats so they need to Cap you 3 times in order to get rid of all of your win conditions.



The reason I feel it's necessary to talk about these sideboarding strategies is not due to the cards that are coming in but rather what cards to take out.  With a combo deck when you are siding out a large number of cards you want to make sure that you don't hurt the core of the deck.  I would like to hear your opinion about other options for cards that can come out in the matches when you are sideboarding heavily. 

Another idea that Eric Becker suggested is sideboarding Scrubland and Orim's Chant in place of the Bayou/Xantid Swarm.  This seems like a very strong idea because most builds of Gift's are running 2-3 Repeal which buys them enough time to answer Swarm and combo out themselves.  Adding Chant to the sideboard would make siding against combo difficult because you would need to take out 3 more cards in order to make room for Chants.  I feel the strongest place for Chant is in 2.5 and 5c Grim Long  because unlike other combo builds all they have for disruption is Duress so the combination of Duress and Chant would make there combo match stronger.

[ErkBek]

I haven't played PL/r yet, but the warrens sideboard now seems worth the addition of red. The sideboard strategies all seem pretty strong except for the slaver matchup.

Control Slaver + other Drain decks
-1 Swamp
-1 Time Walk
-1 Chain of Vapor
-1 Rebuild

I don't think its a good idea to board out both bounce spells when its fairly certain that they'll either bring in Arcane Labs or Sphere of Resistance. Without bounce spells you just scoop to these. Also, you are boarding out 3 blue spells dropping the blue cards to 15, which could be a problem.
I think its pretty safe to board like this

-1 Swamp
-1 Time Walk
-1 Mystical Tutor
-1 Mox Pearl

This sideboard lets you keep 1 more blue card, which is fairly insignificant, but most importantly you keep your bounce spells. Moxlotus helped me really understand how bad mystical tutor is in this matchup. Mystical makes you reveal your upcoming play so it can't effectively grab a desire (or necro), thus its targets are reduced to Ancestral, Bounce, Rituals, Draw7's, and Yawg Will. For some reason, Desire always seems like the card you'd want to get for that U mana on turn 1 to set up a turn 2 win through counters.

Mystical for Ancestral is a very underwhelming play in Long, UU to net 1 card at the cost of your early mana development sucks (its frequently the play you end up having to make though). Mystical for a Ritual sucks too. So you are basically left with Draw7's, Will, and Bounce. Will and Draw7's are better found with Grim Tutor after Xantids are in your deck.

[Gekoratel]

Thanks for the advice about the slaver matchup, I have probably been succeding with a suboptimal siding strategy because the matchup favors Pitch Long.  Looking back Mystical Tutor was pretty underwhelming when I played it against T1T at Waterbury because it felt like I Time Walked him when I tutored for a threat and he had the Drain.  I am surprised that you mention Arcane Lab because I haven't had that card played against me in ages and assumed that no one was running it.  I have seen Sphere of Resistance in sideboards which would make boarding out both Chain and Rebuild very weak.

[Moxlotus]

Stax
-1 Mox Emerald/Pearl
-1 Mind's Desire
-1 Infernal Contract
-1 Mana Vault
-2 Misdirection

+1 Swamp
+2 Thrashing Wumpus
+3 Empty the Warrens

First, its no big secret that I hate Thrashing Wumpus in the sideboard.  I think its a 5 mana card that is going to be rough to cast against decks with mana denial.  I think it sucks against Fish (I'd rather have Massacre+Chains), but some like it.  If it was in my sideboard, I certainly would not be boarding it against Stax.  5 mana to get a 3/3 is pretty underwhelming.  Taking out mana sources to fit in 5 mana guys isn't a good idea.  I also wouldn't be boarding out fast mana that raises storm easily when bringing in 3 EtW.  Not sure I would cut Desire.  It's not the best and it is always on the border of getting taken out depending on how many cards I am bringing in. 

I think Contract is stronger than Grim #3 against Stax.  You're using 3 mana (likely from a ritual)--I want something to draw me multiple mana cards rather than tutor for something.

Yeah, Mystical definitely sucks the big one against control.

[ErkBek]

I didn't notice, you are boarding out Mana Vault vs. Stax! Sure vault gets hit by rod and chalice @1, but it lets you power out threats through the rest of their mana denial. Vault is awesome in that matchup from my experience.

Desire is usually disappointing in that matchup for me too.

Wumpus is actually really solid in the stax matchup from what I hear. Basically if Wumpus hits the board, stax has huge problems dealing. It kills Dark Confidants and Welders meanwhile putting them on a pretty decent clock.

I think I'd rather have Grim #3 than Contract in this matchup since its really nice to just put away a game quickly with a yawg will if there is an opening. Also, I could see the life loss being somewhat of an issue at times.

I'd say you should board out time walk instead of vault because time walk is terrible in this matchup unless played on turn 1 or 2.

The Red Spirit Guide would be hot with the warrens in that matchup....too bad space is tight.

[Gekoratel]

Wumpus has been very good in my experience against Stax because he puts your opponent on a fast clock attacking for 3 a turn and using any excess mana that you have.  If he is your only business spell then by himself he can represent a 4 Turn clock on average against a deck that isn't very good at dealing with permanents on the board.  He is difficult to resolve against Resistor but against Chalice@0 he is easily powered out with a few rituals.

About the debate between the 3rd GT and Infernal Contract I am on the fence about which one is better.  The reason I went with taking out Contract is because sometimes they are doing enough to slow down my draw that I can get beaten down by Welders and Gorilla Shamans after I resolve Contract.  My choice between these two cards was very close and I'm still not sure which is worse.

I have found Desire to be very poor against Stax because you need to end with UU and generally need a black mana source to ritual into it.  This means outside of Tolarian Academy getting Desire to resolve before their disruption hits is difficult to accomplish.  This is the same reason that I take it out in the Fish match as well.  I've even debated taking out Bargain in the Stax match but haven't done so because it can be played with just rituals.  Also Bargain almost never loses once resolved where the same can't be said about Desire.

[Anusien]

How important is Thrashing Wumpus in other matchups besides the ones listed here (like Ichorid, for instance).  The criticisms of him in the listed matchups seem extremely valid, and I'm wondering if there are better specific anti-Stax or anti-Fish cards (the 4th Empty the Warrens for instance).  I'm wondering what you think of Ancestral Visions or Wheel of Fate in those matchups; it would take a long time to get going, but it feels like you may have that much time, especially if you were going to win with Wumpus anyway.

[Mr. Nightmare]

If Wumpus resolves and isn't answered with bounce or Needle vs. Ichorid, they literally cannot win.  They never have creatures past their upkeep, so they can't swing, can't Flash Therapy, and can't Dread Returns.  While in general, I prefer the Massacre plan, I definately see Ichorid as one of the matchups that makes Wumpus really good.

[Gekoratel]

The problem I've had with Massacre in the past is that I find myself facing builds of fish that are running minimal to no Plains.  Against SS you need to hardcast Massacre and against Bob-berman and UBW fish they may avoid fetching for a Tundra until they absolutely need it due to fear of Massacre.  Wumpus can also come in against random aggro decks like RG beatz but you're probably crushing them anyhow.  If you find yourself in a meta where the only Fish deck is UW then Massacre deserves a slot but I like how Wumpus can come in against any build of Fish.  It is also decent in the Stax matchup where anti-fish cards other than EtW are not.  Wumpus is also amazing against Ichorid as Nightmare has mentioned because it forces them to bring in Needles or Chains in order to deal with him.  The 1x Planar Void also comes in for this match.

How important is Thrashing Wumpus in other matchups besides the ones listed here (like Ichorid, for instance).  The criticisms of him in the listed matchups seem extremely valid, and I'm wondering if there are better specific anti-Stax or anti-Fish cards (the 4th Empty the Warrens for instance).  I'm wondering what you think of Ancestral Visions or Wheel of Fate in those matchups; it would take a long time to get going, but it feels like you may have that much time, especially if you were going to win with Wumpus anyway.

Running the suspend cards is an idea that I had not heard of before your post.  While I do feel there are better anti-Stax cards than Wumpus (ie Rebuild/Hurkyl's Recall) I like the fact that he can come in against multiple decks (Stax, Fish, Ichorid).

[Grand Inquisitor]

Are the four slots given up for bayou xantid really worth it, or would blasts be almost as good?  They could also be brought in against fish and, if you wanted, combo.

I don't think you're going to convince anyone that Wumpus is good against Stax.  He's expensive, he negates your other stax option (Etw) and welders aren't really a threat against combo (they're much better against control).