Legacy sideboard tech for the Eldrazi matchup
Legacy's Eldrazi decks come in several forms, but they share a plan: develop mana, deploy artifact and Eldrazi creatures, then threaten a much larger finisher. Against creature decks, they can turn a crowded board into a liability; against control, they use rituals, discard and cheap interaction while assembling a game-winning threat.
That makes sideboard tech unusually dependent on your main deck. A useful plan prepares for a normal creature board, an active Ritual of Solemnity, a developed Temple of the False God and the turn when Ulamog's Awakening can be cast. One universal list of answers will be less effective than several small packages built for those situations.
How Eldrazi changes the game plan
Eldrazi's early creatures are good, but its real pressure comes from compounding resources. Matter Tender discounts black spells and works with devotion effects, while Eldrazi Skyspawner threatens an early attack. Lists with Ritual of Solemnity also make entering-battlefield triggers costly. Each card asks a different sideboard question, so replacing one with a generically strong card can leave a hole.
The right answer depends on the version you face and the shell you play. Match the package to the game plan rather than trying to solve the archetype with one card.
| Deck you pilot | Main sideboard goal | Useful packages | Biggest danger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aggro or creature-heavy | Add affordable answers and a way through | Bitter Triumph, Abrade, Ovinomancer | Ulamog's Awakening |
| Control | Deny resources and buy one-for-one interactions | Frost Breath, Jace, Stasis, Pithing Needle | Discard and cheap interaction |
| Midrange | Remove key creatures and win the race | Dismember, Tuskeri Firewalker, Titanic Growth | Stabilised board with reach |
| Combo or Doomsday | Find speed while disrupting creatures | Breach, Show and Tell, Fatal Push, Pyrokinesis | Stubborn Denial and fast threats |
Only use cards your deck can cast and plans your pilot can execute. Keep one package for early creatures, one for artifact or engine permanents, and one for a spell the opponent may be holding. A sideboard of twelve reactive cards can still fail if every package plays the same game.
Creature-heavy and midrange lists
- Abrade: Removes Matter Tender and other artifact creatures without slowing the turn.
- Ovinomancer: Makes an opponent sacrifice half their creatures, which is strong against developed creature boards.
- Dismember: Kills any creature for {1}{B}, including a 3/3 Skyspawner, at a life cost.
- Tuskeri Firewalker: Channel deals three damage to kill Skyspawner after its trigger; the 2/2 also attacks with haste.
- Bloodtithe Harvester: Trades into smaller creatures, gains life and adds a Blood token for later pressure.
- Titanic Growth: Grants +1/+1 and trample, helping a smaller threat punch through a large blocker.
Control, ramp and combo lists
- Brazen Borrower or Repulse the Monstrous: Flash creatures that enter and tap a target, preserving a body after the Eldrazi threat is handled.
- Frost Breath: An instant-speed tap with no entering trigger, so Ritual cannot tax it.
- Stasis: Locks creatures out of combat, while creatures already tapped when it resolves remain tapped. Its cost and symmetry make timing important.
- Jace, the Mind Sculptor: Discards a dangerous spell or finds a needed answer with Brainstorm while protecting the planeswalker.
- Breach and Show and Tell: Fast-combo tools for shell decks, not standalone answers; they need a clear kill and must account for Stubborn Denial.
Side counts should follow the expected field. Two copies of a clean answer and one of a plan card often beat four copies of a narrow threat. Bring the same package against the likely deck, but preserve a functional card for a surprise. Test every slot after taking a mulligan; a sideboard plan that depends on drawing a combo piece is not a plan against creature pressure.
The distinction between a promising launch and a finished experience is examined in this Ashes of Creation review. For Magic, judge the sideboard against real Eldrazi lists and the likely Sunday field, not just the best-case draw.
Timing around Eldrazi's biggest threats
Ritual of Solemnity does not stop spells or mana abilities; it taxes a permanent's entering trigger by one mana. Brazen Borrower, Repulse the Monstrous and Psychic Frog still work, but the opponent can spend the extra mana to stop their trigger. Instant answers such as Abrade, Dismember and Bitter Triumph ignore the trigger, while Frost Breath can tap a creature without one.
Ulamog's Awakening has no useful window after it resolves, and it also destroys the caster's own creatures. Stop or discourage it before the eighth mana drop: use discard to take a dangerous spell from hand, a counterspell when available, or a board state that makes an eight-mana spell unattractive. Duress and Jace can strip cards, but neither removes the Temple, so treat them as answers to the plan rather than the acceleration.
Chalice of the Void is tempting against one- and two-mana creature packages, but cast it only with four mana open; it stops new cheap spells rather than removing creatures already deployed, and Skyspawner remains outside that range. A focused archetype demands specific answers rather than generic toughness. The Pit’s Legacy Breakfast guide shows how a dedicated decklist changes those priorities, and the same lesson applies to each Eldrazi variant.
Australian events and local play
An Australian plan must work when the field is not a neat metagame sample. At an arvo side event in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth, you may face a tuned Legacy decklist, a fair dinkum one-off or a control deck built around cards the local shop could obtain. Sideboard for the common plan and keep one answer for the genuine surprise.
Geography also changes testing. Perth runs about two to three hours behind the eastern states, so a 10 p.m. AEST Twitch stream can begin around 8 p.m. AWST, depending on daylight saving. Australian event coverage should list its time in both zones, while players outside the cities can use community channels and The Legacy Pit's decklists to test remotely.
The local market affects singleton choices. Australian game stores carry different stock, AUD prices follow overseas releases closely, and scarce cards can miss an event deadline while a group buy is arranged. Check local inventory and realistic shipping times before locking a one-of plan. Many Australian Legacy tournaments use Swiss rounds and a top-eight cut, so a sideboard that handles both Eldrazi and an overperforming control deck may be worth more than one extra hate card.
Build a plan you can execute
The Legacy Pit provides more than 50 prebuilt decklists, streamed gameplay on Twitch and a community built around Legacy. Use those resources to choose a shell before treating sideboard cards as an afterthought. Before locking a list for an Australian tournament, check the latest event press releases for confirmed dates, venues, registration and schedule changes, then follow the relevant social channels for updates.
Prepare three labelled packages: early creature removal, protection against Ulamog's Awakening, and an answer to the deck's engine. Write the trigger or timing condition beside each card so it is easy to find under pressure. Test each package in repeated games, note which cards never appeared and adjust the quantities, then lock the list and bring the plan into play.