How Should You Sideboard Against Murderous Rider Mtg Decks?

If you want a single card that feels like two different tools in one toolbox, Murderous Rider is it — and in Modern it really shines in decks that are already leaning into both black and white grind. I tend to reach for it in midrange/control shells where the gameplan is to out-value the opponent: think Orzhov midrange lists, Esper control builds that want a resilient threat and a targeted removal spell, or Mardu-style midrange that already runs both colors. Those decks get the most mileage because they can cast the removal mode when the board demands it, then later become a recurring lifelink threat that stabilizes races. Practically, I like 2–3 copies in the main of those shells. The reasons are obvious in play: the removal half is a two-for-one in grindy spots (it hits planeswalkers cleanly), and the creature half both pressures and stabilizes thanks to lifegain. It’s especially valuable against creature/combo hybrids that rely on a single big threat or a planeswalker to win. Conversely, decks that aim to be hyper-low on life (like Death’s Shadow builds) or decks that don’t want to invest in white (many Rakdos/Jund variants) are poor fits — the card’s cost and life swing can be awkward there. If you’re brewing, think about how your manabase handles an extra color or splash; Murderous Rider rewards a stable two-color base. It also plays well with graveyard interaction and ways to recur creatures, and it’s a nice midgame anchor in mirror and control matchups. Personally I love how it reads like insurance and an attacker in one — it just makes those long Modern games feel manageable.

haste, or an equipment/temporal enabler that turns one big creature into a game-ender. So my core plan is: stabilize the early turns, hate their win-con, and then pivot the game back to my board. On the cards to bring in: extra lifegain and blockers (cheap walls or creatures with first strike), a couple of sweepers or mass-removal answers to wipe their early snowball, and targeted hate for equipment/artifacts if they lean on Ember-style finishes. Instant-speed interaction is huge — you want to kill their key piece after it commits but before it triggers free wins. What I usually trim are slow top-end threats that die to single burn, overly situational tech that doesn’t matter in tempo matchups, and some number of cheap removal spells that overlap with my in-game plan. Sideboarding is never one-size-fits-all, but if I can swap out 6–8 cards in this pattern I typically force them off their rails. Overall, it feels great to shut down their burst and then grind them out; it’s very satisfying when a carefully timed wipe undoes a turn where they thought they were unstoppable.

Murderous Rider is one of those cards that feels like two tools in one toolbox, and I love how cleanly it fits into midrange decks in both Modern and Pioneer. Mechanically, the card gives you an instant-speed removal spell on one half (the 'adventure' side) that destroys a creature or planeswalker — at the cost of a little life — and then the card is exiled so you can later cast the creature half from exile. The creature side comes down as a respectable lifelinking threat that helps stabilize races after you used the removal. That flexibility is huge: you can answer an early threat on your opponent’s turn and still have a clock later, or you can hold back and drop the creature when you need the lifegain immediately. In Modern, the role is often as a versatile two-for-one replacement for spot removal: the format has lots of big threats and planeswalkers, and being able to kill a Chord/Titan/planeswalker at instant speed and then still present a body is powerful. In Pioneer, the same core strength applies but the format sometimes rewards the creature body more (fewer zero-cost or ultra-cheap answers), so you’ll see it single-handedly win races or trade up in tempo. Deckbuilding-wise, I usually treat it as a 2–4 of in black midrange shells and be mindful that if you cast the adventure you’ve exiled the card (so recursion plays matter). Personally, I enjoy how it forces opponents to choose — take the removal and lose a creature, or let the lifelinker stick and watch your life total evaporate. It’s elegant and fun to play, honestly.

Good news — 'Murderous Rider' is legal in Commander right now. I still get a kick out of how clean and efficient the card is: it functions as both a creature threat and a removal spell, which is exactly why people keep bringing it up whenever someone asks about legality. The official Commander banned list doesn't include it, so you can sleeve it up for multiplayer pods, cube-style Commander, or singleton brews without worrying about it being forbidden. That said, every playgroup can set its own tone, and some casual tables self-ban cards that feel too swingy for their meta, but that's house rule territory rather than official policy. Practically speaking, 'Murderous Rider' is popular because it gives immediate interaction and later sticks around as a body if it survives, which makes it great in midrange and aristocrats-style shells, and it plays well with blink, recursion, and sacrifice synergies. It’s not on the restricted list because it doesn’t warp entire archetypes the way some banned cards do—its power is more situational and interactive. If you’re building around it, consider cards that care about creatures entering or leaving the battlefield, or ways to flash it back from grave for repeated value. If you want to be absolutely sure at any given moment, check the most recent Commander banned list published by Wizards or community-maintained lists used by your playgroup. For my own games, I treat 'Murderous Rider' as an honest, healthy card that rewards good timing and deck synergy, and I love how it keeps games engaging rather than ending them on the spot.

I keep a pretty close eye on how reprints tug prices around, and for Murderous Rider that tug started with its home base — the original printing in 'Throne of Eldraine' set the market baseline. That version was everywhere when it was Standard-legal, and players buying playsets for Pioneer/Modern-adjacent play drove early demand. After that initial flush, what really moved the needle were subsequent reprints that changed supply or created collectible variants. The big categories that affected value: broad reprint runs in reprint-focused products that dramatically increase supply (these pushed the non-foil price down), special-run promo or alternate-art printings that siphoned demand toward premium versions (which sometimes raised the price on the original non-foil because collectors hoard both), and foil or etched treatments that command higher prices and so deflate the appeal of regular copies. Digital reprints on MTGO/Card databases also nudged the market by changing availability for online play. Personally I watched prices wobble after each of these; the cheapest copies got cheaper when mass reprints arrived, while unique promos actually became the scarce, sought-after pieces. Overall, the lesson I carry in my binder is that not all reprints are equal — some are supply-drops that hurt price, some are flavor-drops that create new, pricier variants, and both types reshuffle value in their own way. I still smile when a promo art shows up and a little corner of the market lights up.

Lately I've been flipping through my trade binder and watching prices for 'Murderous Rider' like it's a tiny soap opera — the swings tell a better story than a single chart. Over the past months the pattern has felt familiar: a quiet baseline, a small spike whenever a popular decklist or stream highlights it, and then a soft slide back down once the meta cools. The real driver for that card has been reprints and Standard rotation; whenever a fresh print shows up in a set or a supplementary product the retail price dips fairly quickly. At the same time, Commander demand keeps a floor under it — casual players love efficient removal that doubles as a creature, so expect a steady small-but-not-negligible aftermarket presence. I hunt singles across different storefronts, and what I notice is the spread between buylist and retail widens during dips and tightens during hype spikes. Foils, borderless promos, and graded copies behave like their own little economy and can stay stubbornly higher even when regular copies slump. For me, that means I’ll trade into a playset during a calm period if I need them for builds, but I won't count on big gains unless a new format or banlist shakes things up. All in all, the trend feels like low volatility with occasional short, sharp spikes — a comfy, playable card with modest investment upside. Hope that helps and yeah, I still get a kick out of flipping a perfect playset into a sweet trade-in once in a while.

I get excited every time this topic comes up—there’s something so satisfying about peeling apart a matchup and finding the little screws that stop a combo cold. Pros sideboard against Tolarian Library decks because the Library isn’t just a single threat: it’s an engine for massive card advantage that often wins games by simply out-resourcing you. In practical terms that means opponents bring cards that directly interrupt the Library’s function (enchantment/artifact removal), deny its setup (discard, targeted exile), or change the race (faster threats and tempo plays). In tournaments you’ll see players slotting in things like discard spells to rip the Library or its enablers out of hand, enchantment removal to destroy the Library once it hits play, and tempo tools that force the Library deck to spend time answering instead of drawing. Life-loss draws are another angle—Library players trade life for cards—so lifegain or pressuring them to win faster is a common plan. Sometimes it’s also about insurance: surgical-style hate against the combo pieces, or cards that turn a slow card-advantage game into a frantic, short race. I remember a match where I brought in two copies of enchantment removal and a pair of hand disruption cards after game one. The Library player had a great opener, but ripping their key card and popping the enchantment a turn before they got value meant they never reached the absurd draw turns. Sideboarding isn’t magical, it’s about denying the mechanism—the more you stop the engine, the fewer turns they get to snowball. If I had to give one tip: think disruption first, then tempo; if you can’t stop them permanently, make them pay every single turn they’re trying to assemble it.

I get fired up at the sight of an Isshin-heavy board — those decks live for combat triggers and go-wide rushes, so my favorite way to beat them is by smashing their ability to attack profitably. My go-to plan is layered: fast, targeted removal before combat (like exile or unconditional kill spells) to strip away key attackers and any sac outlets, then a board wipe if they rebuild. Cards that exile are especially tasty because they stop recursion: exile-based answers or instant-speed removals that take out the commander or its key creatures before damage is assigned are huge. If you can exile the commander or remove key attackers pre-combat, you stop the snowball. On the broader side, I lean into wraths and selective wraths — 'Toxic Deluge', 'Wrath of God', 'Damnation', 'Austere Command' — because Isshin decks often depend on a wide battlefield of creatures or a few big threats. Finally, taxes and fog effects (things that stop attacks or make them costly) buy you time to set up your win conditions. In short: cheap pre-combat removal + exile where possible + well-timed wraths, and you’ll make that Isshin player cry into their tokens. That’s generally how I steer games against them.

I get such a kick building around vampires — Olivia, Crimson Bride screams high-drama, in-your-face gameplay to me. If you want the best strategy, think aggressive political control: pressure early with cheap vampires that beat face, then use Olivia as a midgame value engine that punishes blockers and turns your attacks into tempo swings. You’re aiming to bite opponents down while stealing or cashing in on combat triggers, so the deck wants lots of ways to deal combat damage, ways to profit from creatures dying, and cheap removal to clear the way. Start the curve low: one- and two-drop vampires, a few lords or anthem effects, and recurring threats so you never run out of bodies. Layer in targeted removal and discard to pin down problem cards, plus a couple of board wipes you can live through (or that only catch non-vampires). Include sacrifice outlets and recursion—things that let you reuse Olivia’s triggers or extract value when a big swing forces enemy blockers. Card draw is vital in red/black, so prioritize wheel effects, looting, and repeatable draw engines. In practical terms, that looks like a core of sticky creatures, interaction to protect your plan, a few efficient burn spells, and a late-game finisher that drains or chips away life while Olivia keeps the pressure. Play tight: pick your attack lanes, know when to steal value versus go all-in, and let the vampire synergy do the rest. I love how vicious and theatrical this style plays out at the table.

Blacker Lotus is one of those cards that feels like a wildcard in any deck—literally. It’s banned in most formats for obvious reasons, but if you’re playing casual or cube, it’s a hilarious addition. I love slotting it into high-risk, high-reward builds where the chaos factor is part of the fun. Imagine pairing it with 'Yawgmoth’s Will' or 'Underworld Breach'—suddenly, that free mana becomes a gateway to absurd combos. The trick is to treat it like a one-shot explosion of resources, not something you rely on. I’ve won games by cracking it early to fuel a turn-one 'Dark Ritual' into 'Griselbrand', but I’ve also lost by drawing it when I needed stability. In commander, it’s a meme-tier include, but that’s part of the charm. Some groups allow proxies for laughs, and it’s worth discussing with your playgroup first. If you’re into thematic decks, throw it into a 'Jhoira of the Ghitu' suspend build where randomness is the theme. Just don’t expect consistency—it’s more about the stories you’ll tell afterward, like the time I accidentally decked myself because I forgot it exiles itself. Pure Magic chaos at its finest.