So the sideboarding quandry I'm in is whether to run 4x Leyline or 4x Extirpate in the board of whatever Faeries deck I'm going to run at the PTQ this weekend.
the pluses and minuses I see are
Leyline
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+ played turn 0 for free
+ prevents all future cards from being put into Opp graveyard after play (good vs punishing fires, Knight of Reliquary, Tarmogoyf, Thopter/Sword combo)
+ perm in play that can't be thoughtsized away
+ very good vs dredge
- after turn 0 it cost 4 mana to play vs decks you don't really want to tap out/down against
- does not remove cards already in graveyard when played (not good vs goyf/KOR)
- is a perm that can get removed before opp combos off (ie maelstrom pulse from a dredge deck)
Extirpate
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+ cannot be responded to except by mana abilities (ie grove)
+ 1 mana instant
+ good versus combo decks (punishing fires, sword of the meek, scapeshift, hive mind, dredge etc) especially in conjunction with counters or hand disruption
- easily taken with hand disruption before you'd likely want to use it.
- doesn't remove all cards from graveyard (so dredge can still combo off with bridges if you remove their dread returns with extirpate or vice versa)
so which would you run in a PTQ as a 4 or 3 of?
feel free to add any additional +/- and thoughts
the pluses and minuses I see are
Leyline
--------
+ played turn 0 for free
+ prevents all future cards from being put into Opp graveyard after play (good vs punishing fires, Knight of Reliquary, Tarmogoyf, Thopter/Sword combo)
+ perm in play that can't be thoughtsized away
+ very good vs dredge
- after turn 0 it cost 4 mana to play vs decks you don't really want to tap out/down against
- does not remove cards already in graveyard when played (not good vs goyf/KOR)
- is a perm that can get removed before opp combos off (ie maelstrom pulse from a dredge deck)
Extirpate
----------
+ cannot be responded to except by mana abilities (ie grove)
+ 1 mana instant
+ good versus combo decks (punishing fires, sword of the meek, scapeshift, hive mind, dredge etc) especially in conjunction with counters or hand disruption
- easily taken with hand disruption before you'd likely want to use it.
- doesn't remove all cards from graveyard (so dredge can still combo off with bridges if you remove their dread returns with extirpate or vice versa)
so which would you run in a PTQ as a 4 or 3 of?
feel free to add any additional +/- and thoughts