Sideboarding with Oshawa stompy

[Didor]

Oshawa stompy (or mono green madness ) is a deck I really love. But although it smashes nearly every control deck by now, I'm wondering how to twick the sideboard for a more aggro metagame.
Razor's sideboard was the following:
4 Ground Seal
4 Naturalize
4 Tormod's Crypt
2 Root Maze
1 Null Rod

I wonder what changes could I do to it in order to be able to handle better both regular and goblin slight ; I thought about cutting the crypts, as Ground Seal seems to be enough to hose cemetary-based decks.

Some cards that I tried for its slots were:

4 Ravenous Baloth ( they seemed a bit slow, but kills theirs critters and is an efficient beater)
4 Wall of Blossoms ( which is good for defense and cantrips)
4 Wall of Roots ( useful as an additional mana source)

Yet, the walls didn't quite fit with the overall aggressive nature of the deck.
What would all of you suggest as good sideboarding options against slight and goblins ?

[Tobi]

Obviously, you have a quite good matchup against sligh and even Gobbo, and I guess you will not need that much sideboard support in these matchups. Massive and quick burn could be a problem though. Lifegaining should solve this in form of Bottle Gnomes, or better, Spike Feeder which is more versatile. Both are creatures and therefore good with the Survival engine.

[Razvan]

Oshawa Stompy needs weapons against Stax. All these sideboard cards, as you notice, costs 2 mana. A Chalice for x=2 is game over against it, so you need ways to combat that.

I can't think of any, but I think I am meeting Razor tonight, so we might come up with something.

Root Maze is pretty cool tech, actually, and so is the Crypt. Ground Seal, I think, is a great move, but I don't quite see the need for both Crypt and Seal, so I would stick with one.

The Walls are interesting, but I am not sure if they are needed or not (especially Wall of Roots). The Baloths are good against burn, as Tobi said. Bottle Gnomes are far inferior to Spike Feeder though. They cost the same, but the Gnomes are more situational, and only gain 3 life as opposed to 4. The Baloths are better than both, since they are hard to kill, swing for 4 and are generally a good creature.

[Jacob Orlove]

I ran Chalice of the Void in the side to handle burn, and a whole bunch of other stuff too. It's awesome.

[dicemanx]

Didor: What exactly do you mean by "aggro" in your aggro-heavy meta? If you're seeing lots of Sligh and Suicide, then it might be a very good idea to put Vineyards back in and run Baloths in the SB. Otherwise, as Razvan pointed out, Spike Feeders are very decent options. Chalice is also excellent as Jacob mentioned, although he had more room in his SB because he main-decked some of the SB hosers like Root Maze and Ground Seal.

Some other random notes: Crumble is good at evading those killer Chalices for 2, and with Rancors they give you a fighting chance against wMUD/Stax's Smokestacks. I would also still SB up to 4 Ground Seals and Crypts. This deck has brutal match-ups against Dragon and decks using Welders, so it makes a lot of sense to maximize the number of graveyard hosers.

[Didor]

In fact, by aggro I do mean suicide and slight/gobo. The thing is I also see food chain gobs and nether void decks, so vineyards may not really be that great: my opponent could use it to play its nether void, deed or big goblins.

As for the sideboard, I really like ground seals, and would play them over crypts (that is why I'm trying to tweek my sideboard by replacing those 4 crypts). Root maze and a fourth null rod seem also quite good.
For the moment, the baloth seems to be the best anti-aggro candidate that could take the crypt's slots. But without vineyards, I still fear it might sometimes come a little too late...

Concerning the 2cc problem, I don't really know how to solve it. I could use crumble (or the new darksteel oxidize, wich seems better) in order to deal with artifacts and chalices, instead of naturalize. But I like naturalize's versatility, and I fear a new rise in anti- aggro enchantments like moat or humility, that could completly criple the deck.

[Razvan]

So diversify the sideboard. Don't board 8 anti-graveyard resources. Ground Seals should be more than enough, and don't bring those in against Stax.

Root Maze might be the replaced candidate, to make room for the Crumble or Oxidize (besides the life gain, what is the difference).

Naturalize is good against a host of decks, even though I doubt Moat would make a big comeback.

[Didor]

Therefore, I might try:
4 Ground Seal (graveyard hate)
4 Ravenous baloth (against aggro)
4 naturalize ? (could be oxidize, but how to deal with enchantments ?)
1 null rod
2 other cards (although I really like root maze, as dragon, and combo in general are my worst match up)
What do you all think of this ?

As an additional note, I think that spike feeder, while he provides life and cost 1 less than a baloth, is not a really good beater, and dies to burn, wich is something not that good for the use I want to make of him.
For mana accelaration, I though about using 1 or 2 maindeck gaia's cradle. But do you think the added vulnerability to wasteland is a fair price to pay for it ? Given the quite high number of creatures in the deck, a cradle would easily give 2 or 3 manas really fast.

Double posts merged. Use the Edit feature please.
-- Toad

[zero]

Why not try masticore vs. aggro? Four colorless mana, in a deck that, to me at least, does not always want to give you 2 green, seems useful. You have 4 squees to feed him with, and you'll be siding out your null rods vs. aggro anyway...or does baloth's life gain seem more useful despite the mana issues?

[Didor]

Masticore does seem to fit the deck, and is something I should try, thank you Zero.

However, I think the deck can give me two greens really fast, with 10+ forests and Elvish Spirit Guides, so baloth would be easy to play.

Therefore, the choice would be: Is a regenarating and weeny eating beater better than a life gain enabler beater ?
Although masticore could clear the board the turn after it comes (wich would be turn 4-5), baloth could block and kill some dorks, and then give me 4 life points.
If I'm facing a good slight/gobbo deck drawing burn, I fear this burn could reap away my last life points even if I manage to clear the board with masticore. The few life points offered by baloth could therefore give me enough time to win despite the burn...
What do you all think about it ? Masticore or Baloth ?

[timmy]

One idea that has helped me against stax is to play seeds of innocence, however the life gain could potentially hurt you a lot.  Another idea for both workshop decks and aggro style decks would be to maybe play bayou's maindeck and run some pernicious deeds either main or side.

[Didor]

Timmy - as I will play the aggro against stax, I'd rather not give the opposing player too much life. And seeds of innocence will also destroy my null rods...
Concerning Bayou, I'd rather not splash any color, for one of the deck's main strengh is its perfect mono-green mana base. What's more, using pernicious deed would surely hurt me more than the opponent, so in no case it would be an option to consider.

[Jacob Orlove]

I found Masticore far too slow. It also puts too much pressure on your Squees--unless you draw like 3+, you can't really keep the Core and a Bazaar going, and if you run Survival, it competes with that for mana too. Baloth would probably be better, but I like how quickly Chalice can come out and stop the burn. Chalice for 1 doesn't hurt you too much, but it'll cripple red decks. Chalice also helps in so many other matchups, where Baloth is just worthless (eg vs combo).

[Didor]

Yes, Chalice might be the way to go... set at 0 it might even improve the horrible combo match-ups, and if taking out the gibbons to side it in, it will do no harm to the deck (except for Rootwallas, but one or two of them might be able to hit the ground first turn before a chalice).

To sum it up, my sideboard would look like this:

4 Ground Seal
4 Naturalize
4 Chalice of the void
2 Root Maze
1 Null Rod

or:

4 Ground Seal
4 Oxidize
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Null Rod
2 [card that would deal with the occasional cripling enchantment: humility, moat... ]

Some comments ?

[Jacob Orlove]

I'm a fan of Emerald Charm to hit enchantments, because it also does some other cool stuff (like give you an answer to flyers). Then again, I have a ton of room in my SB because my maindeck is so different. If you run Survival, it might be better to include a creature that can answer those cards, but, then again, that won't be too useful vs Humility.

[Didor]

Yes, I do run survival, and at first I though about creatures such as Druid Lyrist. But as you pointed it, they can't deal with humility wich is a card more and more keeper decks are supporting at the moment.

Emerald charm seems great, and could be the answer I am looking for. The only drawback to it would be that I only have two slots left for it, wich surely is not enough. Therefore, I don't know wether to stick to 4 oxidize + 2 charms, or split it for 3 oxidize + 3 charms ...

[Ivantheterrible]

The problem I have had with chalice against decks that win fast is that if you dont draw it in your opening hand it might be too late when you do get it.

If you get chalice late game against sligh it might not do anything to play it for 1 as many 1 cost spells will allready be in play. Something like baloth you can draw late game and stop cretures(can do allready) aswell as gain life when facing lethal burn.

I havent tested agaisnt othter aggro but would think that aggro was usually a good matc-up as oshwas cretures should be bigger.

I can see how sligh could  burn you to death but would think that you should outrace them. Suicide should be a walk in the park as they have no alternate kill and short of a huge shade your guys are bigger.

Also against sligh remember that you can  play gibbons to make them shy away from burn slowing the game till your supior cretures smash face for the win.

[Pago]

Until darksteel is released and oxidize becomes legal, try crumble for anti-artifact

[Didor]

An other possibility for artifact / enchantment hate, that could replace naturalize, could be (according to the mtgnews spoiler for darksteel):

Viridian Zealot -  GG
Creature - Elf (R)
1G,Sacrifice Viridian Zealot: Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
2/1

Sure, it is not an instant and does not resolve the problems of a chalice set at 2. But it is an answer one can get using Survival, is cheaper than Nantuko Vigilante, and can fairly beat for a few turns before giving its life to destroy an enchantment / artifact.

Therefore, to date, my sideboard would be (once darksteel is out):

4 Ground Seal
4 Viridian Zealot
4 Chalice of the void
2 Root Maze
1 Null Rod

or:

4 Ground Seal
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Null Rod
4 Oxidize
2 Emerald Charm
 
Any suggestions ?

[Hi-Val]

I saw Drop Of Honey suggested on the main board. It eats welders and Goblins and plenty of other stuff, and it's worth a try in an aggro meta. Kinda slow, but it's a green Abyss.

[Didor]

In fact, I'm not concerned enough by aggro to modify my maindeck for it. All I want is a little help from the sideboard, and as Jacob pointed it, Chalice could do this job. Drop of honey is a great card, but I don't think it is needed here. Furthermore, it could even slow down the deck's lightning fast beatdown.

[Pago]

The Zealot also works hand in hand with SotF, and like you said, it can be immediatly droppe as a beatstick rather than sit around in your hand (like Naturalize) waiting for a target.

[Didor]

Apart from the sideboard, there is one card I'd like to maindeck : Gaea's Cradle. Have you already tested it ? I know it might give some more targets to the opponent's wastelands, but it really could give a boost to this mana-intensive deck, as it is not playing Vineyard anymore.