Winning in a game of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Magic: The Gathering is often reliant on a 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:player's ability to sideboard. It's a difficult art to master, but your win-to-loss ratio will significantly improve once you do. There are a lot of different decks seeing play in Arena's Explorer format, so it's good to know which cards to have at the ready against certain archetypes.
Between Azorius Control, Mono-Blue Spirits, and Yorion Good Stuff, blue is a prominent color in Explorer. So, knowing what cards are optimal for your blue deck's sideboard is essential. These are the best blue cards to use in your Explorer deck.
Updated on January 5, 2023, by Brad Hill: Magic: The Gathering Arena just treated players to some brand new content with the release of The Brothers' War and Explorer Anthology 2. These collections inject new cards into the Explorer format, while Explorer Anthology 2 brings it closer to the in-person Pioneer format. With that, we've updated this list to include a few more cards that weren't available previously.
13 Dispel
You always want to have tools to go against control decks in your sideboard, and the best kind of card for them is a counterspell. Dispel is ideal because of its mana value and targets. It might seem a little narrow since it only counters Instants, but that's exactly what you want to counter from control decks.
Dispel can be us♒ed primarily against other counterspells, but it also works wonders against Burn decks and all their direct damage spells.
12 🅷 Defabr🌜icate
Since The Brothers' War's release, artifacts have gained 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:new prominence in Explorer, and few blue spells deal with artifacts. Defabricate is perfect against Greasefang decks when your opponent tries to cast Esika's Chariot from their hand. Anything countered by Defabricate gets exiled, so you won't have to worry about that chariot being returned from Greasefang's ability.
Speaking of Greasefang, Okiba Boss's ability, Defabricate stops it in its tracks, giving you one extra turn before your opponent brings the Parhelion 2 to the battlefield.
11 Clever Impe𒀰rsonator
Nothing feels more demoralizing in a game of MTG than your opponent resolving a big creature when you don't have an answer for it. If they cast Titan of Industry against your Spirits, it's difficult to get through a successful attack.
Clever Impersonator offers you an out, however. You can copy your opponent's big creature and offer an equally intimidating threat. Better yet, if they play an enchantment or artifact that gives them the upper hand, Clever Impersonator copies any permanent and will keep your footing equal.
10 🐷 Mystical Dispute
Control and tempo players immediately fell in love with this counterspell from Throne of Eldraine. Against other blue spells, it only co𝔍sts one blue mana to cast, and that blue mana often 🐬goes undetected by less experienced players.
Mystical Dispute is potent against control decks (unless they have Dovin's Veto), so keep two to three copies in your sideboard. Be sure to choose the right time to cast it because it becomes a dead card once your opponent has enough mana to pay the tax.
9 🦋 Hulﷺlbreaker Horror
Hullbreaker Horror is an extraordinary creature that can easily be found in the main deck. However, it's not always necessary, and it's weaker against aggro decks with cheap, efficient creatures. The best time to bring in this horror is against a control deck—specifically, a control deck with counterspells.
It has flash and can't be countered, so play it on your opponent's end step and win the game in the next turn or two. Hullbreaker Horror's triggered abilities chip away at your opponent's morale when they realize they're unable to keep anything on the battlefield.
8 ꦺ Aether Gust ও
Aether Gust is for the tempo decks. It's not a counterspell, but it slows down your opponent's strategy. So, don't play this in place of a counterspell because it's not the same thing. However, there are plenty of opportunities for this card to see play.
Play Aether Gust to prevent a big spell from resolving or to move something out of the way. This is great if you're playing Mono-Blue Spirits. If you see Chandra, Awakened Inferno, Aether Gust is a great response due to Chandra being uncounterable.
7 Narset's Reversal
Narset's Reversal fooled some players when WOTC first revealed it. On paper, it looks like a decent replacement for a counterspell. In practice, however, it's situational and muddies up your main deck if you play against somebody without valuable instant or sorcery spells.
That's not to say Narset's Reversal is entirely unplayable. On the contrary, it has its place in your sideboard and works well against a deck like Boros Heroic to counter Gods Willing. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The big baddy in Explorer lately is Rakdos Midrange, and it's always a good feeling to reverse a Thoughtsieze.
6 Teachings Of The Archaics 𒉰
Teachings of the Archaics is a valuable tool to keep in your back pocket–your back pocket being your sideboard in this case. Teachings is a good source of card draw, but the best part is that it's a lesson. If you run Divide by Zero in your main deck, it can search out Teachings of the Archaics from your sideboard and have a solid play for your next turn.
This source of card draw is especially beneficial when you're running low on cards while your opponent has a full hand.
5 ⛄ Narset, Parter Of Veils 🀅
You might ask why a highly playable card like Narset, Parter of Veils is relegated to the sideboard. Most decks that play Narset are control decks 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:like Azorius Control, and since The Wandering Emporer's introduction, Narset has become more situational.
However, she needs to be brought in against other control decks because denying your opponent card draw is a significant asset. Azorius and Esper Contrꦆol rely on drawing cards to find the right spell at the right time, so Narset hinders them. Meanwhil👍e, she helps you find the spells you need.
4 Cerul♒ean Drake
It doesn't take a seasoned veteran of the game to see when to play Cerulean Drake. Protection is a powerful ability for a creature to have, much less a creature that costs two mana. To cement its place as a blue card, you can sacrifice Cerulean Drake to counter any spell that targets you, saving you from a certain demise when your life total is too low for comfort against a red deck.
Switch out a creature of similar mana 🧸value or more for Cerulean Drake and keep it on defense.