With the suspension of
Brainstorm
Brainstorm
Draw three cards, then put two cards from your hand on top of your library in any order.
in Historic on Magic Arena, the metagame is opened up to more decks becoming represented in the ladder and in tournaments. One of the decks that I expect is going to be an early front runner is Jund Sacrifice. Jund Sace has been a long standing staple deck in the format, so we’re going to talk about the best 5 sideboard cards to beat Jund Sacrifice in Historic
The Cards
5. Yasharn, Implacable Earth
Yasharn, Impacable Earth is another great option to pick up. This decent sized creature will prevent our opponents from sacrificing anything to activate abilities, which is the whole strategy shut down. This also pulls some basics out of our deck to thin the deck a bit more to find relevant spells, but the second ability is where this shines. A bit part of the game plan of Jund Sac is to sacrifice things with
Mayhem Devil
Mayhem Devil
Whenever a player sacrifices a permanent, this creature deals 1 damage to any target.
in play to ping down your board or go upstairs.
4. Scavenging Ooze
Scavenging Ooze
Scavenging Ooze
{G}: Exile target card from a graveyard. If it was a creature card, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature and you gain 1 life.
is a great way to counteract multiple aspects of the Jund Sac game plan. It’s activated abilities allow you to exile cards from a graveyard for 1 green mana, and against Jund Sac, there’s plenty of juicy targets. The main ones here are going to be Cauldron Familar and occasionally
Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger
Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger
When Kroxa enters, sacrifice it unless it escaped.
Whenever Kroxa enters or attacks, each opponent discards a card, then each opponent who didn't discard a nonland card this way loses 3 life.
Escape—{B}{B}{R}{R}, Exile five other cards from your graveyard. (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its escape cost.)
. This also counters the life drain that the cat would do to us as well. This also can provide a sizeable threat to battle with.
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3. Relic of Progenitus
The next option is
Relic of Progenitus
Relic of Progenitus
{T}: Target player exiles a card from their graveyard.
{1}, Exile this artifact: Exile all graveyards. Draw a card.
. If this comes down early enough, it can eat up any relevant cards in our opponent’s graveyard, and if it comes down late, it can exile all of the cards in our opponent’s yard, and it replaces itself. This is a super versatile card that can fit in any deck since it’s an artifact, and it’s a common so it’s pretty cheap to craft.
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2. Devout Decree
Devout Decree
Devout Decree
Exile target creature or planeswalker that's black or red. Scry 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card on the bottom.)
is a great option to some of the biggest problem cards that Jund Sac presents. Our biggest targets are
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King
Flying
Whenever Korvold enters or attacks, sacrifice another permanent.
Whenever you sacrifice a permanent, put a +1/+1 counter on Korvold and draw a card.
,
Mayhem Devil
Mayhem Devil
Whenever a player sacrifices a permanent, this creature deals 1 damage to any target.
and
Woe Strider
Woe Strider
When this creature enters, create a 0/1 white Goat creature token.
Sacrifice another creature: Scry 1.
Escape—{3}{B}{B}, Exile four other cards from your graveyard. (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its escape cost.)
This creature escapes with two +1/+1 counters on it.
. While this is a sorcery, it’s cheap enough that we’re most likely able to play this and advance our game as well, so it’s not a huge ask.
- Rest in Peace
Rest in Peace
Rest in Peace
When this enchantment enters, exile all graveyards.
If a card or token would be put into a graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead.
is the best card to counteract the sacrifice game plan of Jund. It’s a 2 mana enchantment and you just set it and forget it. This deals with the cat oven engine, and deals with Woe Strider. If you’re playing white you definitely should be playing this in your sideboard.