Siding against the meta decks

Hey guys, I am back this week with an article about different side deck cards and tech choices in order to combat the popular meta decks.

With the release of the Nekroz deck, the meta shifted towards Qliphort and Nekroz being the top decks of the format. Burning Abyss still sees some play, but the deck struggles against Nekroz, just as Shaddolls and Satellars do. If you plan to attend a larger tournament, you should be prepared for the different decks (especially Qlis and Nekroz) you will face, so it´s quite important to know what cards you can effectively side against which decks. Choices shouldn´t hurt your own deck, of course, so it always depends on what deck you are playing.

So without further ado, let´s take a look at what cards work well against the current meta.

Mind Crush

Good against Nekroz, Qliphort, Satellarknights

Mind Crush is gaining popularity right now, because this card works well against both Qliphort and Nekroz. The two heavily rely on searching cards from their deck, so you are in a great position if you can not only make them discard a needed card, but also take a look at their other cards in hand. This is a huge advantage for the following turns. Satellars may be less popular this format, but if you play against them, you can use Mind Crush very effectively, too. Mind Crush can basically be side decked in every deck, since it doesn´t hurt your own deck at all. The only downside is that you always have to have a card in hand to activate it, so keep that in mind.

Mistake

Good against Nekroz, Qliphort, Satellarknights

Mistake is another great card to shut down your opponent from searching. If they can´t find an out to it during the following turns, you will pretty much win the game, as Nekroz players can´t do anything and Qliphorts can no longer outplus you. The downside of Mistake is that it can easily be destroyed by a single MST, because it´s a permanent trap. Nevertheless, this card can be sided in any deck, that doesn’t rely much on searching (Shaddolls, Evilswarms, BA,…).

Shared Ride

Good against Nekroz, especially for the Mirror Match, ok against Qliphort

Shared Ride is a card that didn´t cause much interest when it was released in Legacy of the Vailant. With Nekroz being the deck to beat right now, many players opt to put this card into their side decks. Shared Ride let´s you draw a card everytime your opponent searches for a card from their deck. It is only worth to be sided against Nekroz, but in this particular scenario it is like a Maxx C versus BA. The Nekroz player can either continue searching this turn and give you more fresh cards or he will stop, leaving you with a 1 for 1 trade. In the mirror, Shared Ride works really well, since you disrupt your opponent without having to worry about getting OTKd ( Valkyrus can prevent that). Many players even play this card in their Nekroz main decks, as it gives you an advantage over your opponent in the mirror match and against Qliphort it is not that bad at all.

Effect Veiler

Good against Nekroz and Satellarknights and BA, bad against Qliphorts

Veiler is a very good card against Nekroz as it can prevent your opponent from resolving a Manju/Senju. This can really force your opponent to awkward plays and moreover, you will have the chance to resolve a Nekroz of Trishula, because your opponent will no longer be able to clear their own field. In addition to that, you can make a Lavalval Chain and Valkyrus play to topdeck a Veiler and draw if afterwards off of the effect of Valkyrus. This is a pretty strong move and really important to know in the mirror match. The biggest problem with Veiler is that it is absolutely useless against Qliphort, so you should not run it in the main deck if you expect to play against many of them.

Maxx “C”

Good against BA and Nekroz, ok against Satellarknights

Maxx C is a very popular side deck card that many players also run in their main deck. Due to the fact that it is never a really dead card, it is preferred as a maindeck choice over Veiler.

Mirror Force

Good against Nekroz and Qliphort

Mirror Force seems to make a little Comeback these days. Since the meta is now dominated by decks which rely on monsters that don´t replace themselves if destroyed, Mirror Force could be a potential surprise and most people don´t expect it. I would definitely try it out versus Qlis or Nekroz. In addition to that, it´s always a huge surprise if you flip a Mirror Force since most players don´t see it coming. Once Mirror Force gets more popular, this will change however.

Twister

Good against floodgates and Qliphort

Twister acts like an additional MST and can be sided against Qliphort to destroy all their floodgate cards and some decks that side cards like Mistake or Vanitys Emptiness against you. It´s quite popular in the Nekroz side deck as Nekroz need to get rid of opposing floodgates as soon as possible.

Fairy Wind

Good against floodgates and Qliphort

I think I don´t need to explain anything here. Fairy Wind is only needed against Qliphorts in order to destroy all their scales and floodgates. In the Qliphort mirror, Spell Shattering Arrow is played instead to not hurt your own setup.

Psi Blocker

Good in the Nekroz Mirror Match and against any problem cards

Psi Blocker is a card that is mostly used in the mirror match, but it can put in a lot of work for you there. Calling Valkyrus can help you push for damage and even more important, you can dodge floodgate cards and continuous effects that prevent you from playing your own game.
That´s it for this time. I hope you all enjoyed reading. Keep in mind that this is only a list of the most popular side deck cards at the moment and that there are plenty more different cards you can try out, but for now, those cards should help you the most.

What cards do you prefer to side deck in this format? Feel free to leave your comments down below.

Author: Bernhard Gailer