How To Sideboard Against Death And Taxes In Legacy
Death and Taxes is one of Legacy’s most punishing fair decks. It attacks mana with Wasteland and Rishadan Port, taxes spells with Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and turns small creatures into a resource engine through Aether Vial, Stoneforge Mystic and Flickerwisp. A sideboard plan that looks strong on paper can fail if it ignores the deck’s ability to play at instant speed and disrupt your sequencing. Learn more about O Que O Sucesso De Baldur S Gate 3 Significa Para O Futuro Dos Rpgs De Câmera Isométrica.
The right approach is to identify what your deck can afford to remove, then bring in cards that answer the part of Death and Taxes causing the most trouble. A control deck may want sweepers and flexible removal, while a combo deck usually needs cheap interaction that prevents Thalia or Deafening Silence from buying enough time. At a Melbourne or Sydney event, where the local Legacy field can shift quickly from blue tempo to creature decks, flexible sideboard choices have particular value.
Understand The Core Threats
The first step is separating the deck’s threats into categories. Aether Vial bypasses countermagic and lets creatures arrive during combat or at the end of your turn. Thalia makes expensive interaction awkward, Wasteland and Port punish greedy mana bases, and Mother of Runes protects the creature that matters most. Stoneforge Mystic then converts a relatively small board into a serious equipment threat.
Removal should usually be aimed at creatures that generate ongoing advantage rather than at every creature on sight. Killing Stoneforge Mystic before it finds Umezawa’s Jitte is often more important than removing a random 2/1. If the opponent already has equipment in hand, however, answering the equipment itself may be the better exchange. Skyclave Apparition, Solitude and Flickerwisp also mean that a permanent you deploy may not remain where you put it.
Avoid treating every white creature as the same target. Recruiter of the Guard, if included, can assemble the exact hate piece needed for the matchup, while Palace Jailer can swing a stalled board. In many games, the opponent’s strongest turn involves several small advantages rather than a single bomb, so preserve removal for moments that break that sequence.
Choose Answers That Match Your Deck
Artifact and enchantment removal is valuable because it can answer Aether Vial, equipment and sideboard cards such as Deafening Silence. Abrupt Decay, Prismatic Ending, Wear // Tear, Force of Vigor and Meltdown all have applications, though each has a different cost. Ending is flexible but can become awkward under Thalia; Wear // Tear is efficient when both modes matter; Meltdown is excellent when several Vials or equipment are present.
Sweepers are strongest when they are cheap enough to cast before the board becomes unmanageable. Toxic Deluge, Supreme Verdict and Engineered Explosives can reset a battlefield, but consider how much damage your mana base takes from Wasteland. A four-colour control list that keeps a hand dependent on multiple dual lands may never reach its stabilising spell. Basic lands and fetchable sources become sideboard assets in this matchup.
The broader tabletop audience often enjoys strategic games for the same reason it follows detailed isometric RPG analysis: decisions matter because resources are limited. That mindset applies here. Do not select a sideboard card merely because it answers a permanent; select it because it works within your deck’s mana, curve and game plan.
Sideboard By Archetype
Blue tempo decks should usually bring in cheap removal, artifact interaction and cards that remain useful when the opponent has Vial active. Lightning Bolt, Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending, Force of Will and Force of Negation all play different roles, but trading a card for a single small creature can be poor if Stoneforge or equipment is still unchecked. Delver-style decks should protect their threat while denying the opponent time to build a board.
Control decks generally benefit from sweepers and broad answers. Remove narrow countermagic that becomes unreliable against Vial, and consider trimming expensive cards that are vulnerable to Port. Supreme Verdict is especially attractive because it cannot be countered, although the four-mana cost requires careful planning. If your list uses Terminus, avoid blindly filling the graveyard with creatures that can be replayed through Vial after the miracle is cast.
Combo decks need a more focused plan. Storm should prioritise answers to Thalia, Deafening Silence and Ethersworn Canonist, with bounce or removal that can be cast under a tax effect. Reanimator may have little interest in creature removal, but it still needs to respect Containment Priest and sometimes Surgical Extraction. Painter, 8-Cast and other permanent-based combo decks should consider how many cards are vulnerable to equipment, Flickerwisp or sideboard artifact hate.
Build A Practical In-Game Plan
On the play, a fast answer to Aether Vial can be worth more than a powerful late-game card. On the draw, you may need removal immediately because the opponent can deploy Vial, pass with mana available, then flash in a disruptive creature during your upkeep. Sequence lands with Wasteland and Port in mind: fetch basics where possible, and do not expose your only coloured source unless the spell in hand demands it.
Combat is another resource. Death and Taxes often wins by forcing awkward blocks while Mother of Runes or equipment turns a small attack into a blowout. Keep track of protection colours, especially before committing a removal spell or blocking with an important creature. If you can force the opponent to spend a turn equipping instead of adding another disruptive body, that may be a better exchange than taking a risky attack.
Post-board games often reward patience, particularly for Australian players travelling between larger events in Brisbane, Perth or Adelaide where tournament rounds can stretch through a long arvo. Keep your clock in mind, but do not rush into a line that gives Flickerwisp a profitable target. Death and Taxes is happy to win through incremental value, so your plan should create a decisive swing: a clean sweeper, a protected threat or a turn where its mana denial no longer matters.
Refine The Fifteen Cards
Sideboarding should remove cards that are weakest in the actual matchup, not cards that happen to look slow. Creature removal that cannot hit Stoneforge Mystic may be poor, while a counterspell that is excellent against blue decks may have too few targets here. Review the full 75 after testing and ask whether each card improves a specific game state.
A useful test is whether your sideboard cards remain reasonable when drawn late. Wear // Tear can destroy equipment or Vial, Deluge can clear a developed board, and End the Festivities can punish a swarm of small creatures. Narrow cards can still be correct, especially when a local metagame has a lot of Death and Taxes, but they should offer a meaningful payoff for occupying a sideboard slot.
The Legacy community hub is a useful place to follow tournament coverage, decklists and discussion around changing metagames. Watching games rather than relying only on lists can reveal practical details, such as when players hold removal for Stoneforge or how they sequence around Port. That information is often more valuable than copying a sideboard without understanding its purpose.
| Deck Type | Cards To Consider Bringing In | Cards Often Trimmed | Main Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Tempo | Cheap removal, Wear // Tear, Prismatic Ending | Narrow countermagic, expensive threats | Stop Vial and equipment while protecting pressure |
| Control | Supreme Verdict, Toxic Deluge, Engineered Explosives | Slow counters, clunky finishers | Preserve mana and reset the battlefield |
| Storm | Bounce, creature removal, anti-enchantment cards | Low-impact discard, slow engines | Answer Thalia and Canonist efficiently |
| Reanimator | Containment Priest answers, flexible removal | Excessive creature interaction | Protect the combo from hate bears |
| Artifact Combo | Removal for equipment and hate permanents | Cards that cannot affect the board | Keep the combo online through disruption |
A strong plan against Death and Taxes is built around clear priorities: respect Aether Vial, protect your mana, answer equipment before it dominates combat and reserve premium removal for creatures that create value. Test the plan against real games, record which cards were stranded, and adjust for the Legacy field you actually face. Follow The Legacy Pit for more gameplay, events and community discussion, then bring a deliberate fifteen-card plan to your next local FNM or major Australian tournament.