“Izzet Spellementals is a tempo-combo deck that leverages spell-triggered synergies to grow its elemental creatures (primarily Hearth Elemental and Eddymurk Crab) while filtering through the deck with cantrips like Opt and Sleight of Hand. The deck uses a suite of cheap interaction and card selection to protect its threats and chain spells together, with payoffs like Sunderflock and Colorstorm Stallion closing out games once the engine is running. The core gameplan is to establish a threat early, then use each subsequent spell to both advance board state and trigger incremental advantages, overwhelming opponents who cannot answer multiple growing threats simultaneously.”
Missing sideboard cards? The full 15-card sideboard runs about $22.99.
Buy sideboard on ManapoolBRG floods the board with cheap, small-bodied creatures (Gene Pollinator, Llanowar Elves, Umbral Collar Zealot, Biotech Specialist), so Slagstorm's 3 damage to each creature is a great sweeper here. Colorstorm Stallion is a resilient 3/3 with ward that grows and dodges their removal suite while pressuring life total. Spell Snare still hits targets like Biotech Specialist, Umbral Collar Zealot, and The Sackville-Bagginses, but trimming it alongside some Opts smooths the transition into a slightly higher curve without touching the core engine.
This is the mirror, so the game is decided by who protects their engine pieces and threats better. Spell Pierce is excellent proactive protection for our own Hearth Elemental and Sunderflock against their answers, and Disdainful Stroke snipes their Sunderflock or Eddymurk Crab. Impractical Joke's 3 damage doesn't profitably answer their bigger threats like a grown Colorstorm Stallion or Sunderflock, and one Get Out is a bit clunky when both sides are racing the same plan, so we trim to make room for cheaper interaction. Keep the core engine intact since this matchup is about executing it better than they do.
Mono-Green Landfall goes wide and tall with cheap dorks and landfall payoffs like Mightform Harmonizer and Mossborn Hydra, so Slagstorm's 3 damage to each creature sweeps their early board of Llanowar Elves and Sazh's Chocobo before they scale up. Colorstorm Stallion pressures quickly while dodging their limited interaction (they have almost no removal). Spell Snare and Get Out are weak since this opponent's card quality per slot is low and countering one piece rarely stops their go-wide plan, so we favor a sweeper and a fast clock instead.