MTG sideboard questions?

Question

Mono-red sideboard:
3 Dragon's Claw (RDW)
1 Earthquake (Jund)
1 Obsidian Fireheart (UW control, or any other control deck at this point)
1 Chandra Nalaar (UW control, or any other control deck at this point)
3 Leyline of Punishment (white)
3 Flame Slash (Mythic, control)
3 Forked Bolt

1. For a Mono-red deck, is it worthwhile to use Combust in sideboard, or is Flame Slash a better card to use? The only real threats that Combust can destroy, but Flame Slash cannot, are Baneslayer Angel and Sovereigns of Lost Alara, and I only have space for 1 of the 2 cards in sideboard. 
2. What should I have in sideboard to deal with Jund? I need more than 1 extra Earthquake (3 in mainboard). My main problem with Jund is Sprouting Thrinax, but I don't have an answer at this time.
3. Should I use Cunning Sparkmage instead of Forked Bolt to deal with Mythic or NLB?
4. What sites are best for keeping up on the metagame?

Answer as many questions as you can. No, I will not give a full decklist, but I will say that I despise the Summons/Bushwhacker combo. If you don't know what this means, don't answer the questions.

Alteffor · Accepted Answer

1) I prefer Combust in the sideboard to flame slash. It kills Baneslayer Angel who is the biggest problem to beat in RDW, and if you ever see Sovereigns of Lost Alara, you've lost if you can't destroy it immediately.

2) Ignore Thrinax. Don't try to kill it. It's less of a threat for RDW if you just ignore it. Against Jund, I suggest boarding in Quenchable Fire, since they can't pay the mana to prevent an extra 3 Damage, and Staggershock, because it kills Bloodbraid Elf and burns them, or kills another creature.

3) Cunning Sparkmage doesn't deal with mana dorks fast enough. If you go first, you can only kill off one before they'll likely get a threat through. Forked Bolt kills two dorks with one stone.

4) I use www.mtgsalvation.com forums to keep up on the state of the meta.

JW · Answer

*My answer is made based on the assumption that you do competitive gaming.*

1) With the competitive metagame being what it is, siding in Dragon's Claws in place of any burn spells or creature spells will not help you gainning that extra ground against your opponent.  This might sound harsh but when you play against Jund's elf->blighting on turn 4 or U/W mythics' Gideon/ Jace control, will those claws' 1 or two extra life really give you more advantage than what's already in your deck?

2) Obsidian is a fun mythic card but it's not for competitive play. You can play him for turn four and have it removed by DOJ, terminate, bitty blast, doomblade, O ring, Journey or other spells right after.  If U/W have a good winning percentage against Jund, then it will have game against this 4/4.

3) Without your deck list, I think it's safe to say that I'm greatly confused by the leyline.  You said "For a Mono-red deck, is it worthwhile to use Combust in sideboard, or ..." so I can only assume you have a mono red deck, which means this will be the only copy in the whole deck that you hope to have in the beginning hand or never being able to cast it in a real game? 

4) Forked Bolt is really bad...


Anyway sorry if this offended you, but in all honesty, after having played R/W Fiend/BushSummons against Jund and U/W at tournements and won I'm pretty sure this SB won't help you get your game on against them.  If you run mono red, the only true weapon you have is the speed of dmg.  I don't know if you know this, but a turn one goblin guide will give me 28% additional win rate in a game against Jund, and that should say something right there.

I can change this sideboard if I actually see your decklist but in a case like this I will have to wish you the best, feel free to ignore this answer, but when you do realize you have problem with the sideboard, you can e-mail me your list and I can fix it up for you, good luck.

MTG sideboard questions?

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