Help, my Kithkin sideboard is for crap!

I got this Kithkin list from the Lincoln, Nebraska PTQ from last weekend. (not a winner, of course. Why would I pull my tech from someone who would actually win?) Anyway, I've been really happy with the maindeck, which is:

16 Plains
4 Rustic Clachan
3 Mutavault
3 Windbrisk Heights
Lands: 26

4 Goldmeadow Stalwart
4 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 GoldMeadow Harrier
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
4 Wizened Cenn
3 Thistledown Liege
2 Mirror Entity
4 Cloudgoat Ranger
Creatures: 27

4 Spectral Procession
3 Mirrorweave
Spells: 7

I've been very happy with the 26 land version. The extra disposable Clachans are extremely helpful, especially now that more people are playing cards like Incendiary Command. I also feel more comfortable about keeping two land hands, even with multiple Lieges or Cloudgoat Rangers, because you can be fairly sure you're going to be able to hit your drops. I just think the maindeck is overall very solid, without any unnecessary or situationally bad cards, like Surge of Thoughtweft or Militia's Pride. I've been fairly disappointed by the sideboard, however. Here's the PTQ board:

4 Wispmare
3 Ajani
2 Brigid
3 Surge of Thoughtweft
3 Pollen Lullaby

Not that I've been getting bad results or anything, I just feel the board is a little underused. The Ajanis are really good, I board them in against almost everything. The Wispmares are obviously keepers. But the other 8 cards are fairly unusable outside of the mirror. Considering the Ajanis are also mirror cards, was this guy expecting a PTQ so full of Kithkin that he thought he needed 11 cards for the mirror, 8 of them exclusively for the mirror? Now, I can understand that Pollen Lullaby is pretty much necessary, a given, for mirror strategy. And Brigid does seem very strong, though I've yet to actually draw and play her. So I guess I would say that it's really the Surge of Thoughtweft I have a problem with. It just seems really underpowered. Or, maybe not underpowered, but more like there must be more versatile cards out there. I've considered some answer cards in that slot, but I don't know which ones I'd prefer. Oblivion Ring is the obvious one, but it's hard to get excited about Sorcery speed answers in this Cryptic Command/Broken Ambitions/Spellstutter Sprite format. There's Crib Swap at instant speed, and it's alright, I guess (though that extra blocker can mean a lot against this deck). I've thought somewhat seriously about Last Breath, mostly because of Elementals (it's almost impossible for this deck to beat turn 2 Smokebraider unless a) I get turn 1 Harrier, and b) they don't draw any removal. So that matchup can be a problem. But, is the deck worth worrying about? I've also considered Forfend, just because it has decent applications in both the mirror and against Firespout/Incendiary Command. Then we're back to the 11 card mirror sideboard, though, and I'm just not sure there are 11 cards to take out against the mirror. (8 cards are easy, the Stalwarts and the Forge-Tenders, but after that, what else?) So, what do you guys think the board for the above deck should be?

I guess if it was me id make the sb like this.

3x Brigid
4x Wispermare
3x Pollen lullaby
4x Oblivion rings
1 uh...Thistledown liege...idk

Then again i think your nuts for playing 26 land,its a weenie deck for gods sake 24 is enough.

It's not actually a weenie deck. Just because you've got lots of 1 and 2 drops doesn't make it a weenie deck. It's a lot more like a combo deck than a weenie deck. You've got these parts that in different combinations will give you wins, but there's hardly any games you'll win on the back of just "play creatures and swing." Add to that the fact that so many of the things you want to do, like activating Mutavaults and Windbrisk Heights or using Mirror Entity, require more mana than you'd ordinarily need to just play your spells. Then there's the fact that your average casting cost is somewhere around 2.8 (depending upon what CC you'd consider for Mirror Entity), as opposed to the 1.8 or so for a normal Weenie deck. Then you've got 6 lands that aren't useful until turn 4, so you need to compensate with additional lands to ensure that you can make those early drops. Overall, I think the case is pretty strong for using more than 24 land.

Theres still nothing in there that warrants playing 26 land,rustic clachan is ok but atleast with surge of thoughtweft md you can draw a card even if your only playing 2 or 3.

I think I'd play:

26 land
2-3 Mutavault
4 Clachan
4 Hideaway
X Plains

The dudes from the GP List, no Mirror Entity or Forge-Tender main (Forge-Tender may be a fine metagame call)

Mostly the same spells as the GP List minus Militia's Pride bc I think it does nothing. Surge is fine imo, and really nutty when you're on the play.

So basically, your maindeck -2 Entity -4 Forge-Tender +3 Surge +3 O-Ring

For the board, I'd try
4 Forge-Tender
2 Thoughtweft Gambit?
2 Brigid
4 Pollen Lullaby
3 Borderguard

oh yeah, If you are playing 4-and 5-cc spells in your deck, and you want to curve out with them ever, you should probably play more than 24 lands. same goes for red decks that play siege-gang in type 2.

I think if you're going to play Forge-Tender, which I am committed on, then Mirror Entity needs to go along with it. With 10 1-drops, you need more ways to turn multiple early drops into mid-game wins. With Mirrorweave, you obviously need a Lord as well.

Quick question. How helpful have you found Surge of Thoughtweft to be, and in which circumstances?

Surge is good in pretty much every matchup where you go first. Especially the mirror.

you need mosquito guards dude. 1/1 one drop with first strike. come on, at least put him in the side board. hes great late game as well with his reinforce ability.

The sideboard I'm pretty well decided on is:

2 Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile
4 Wispmare
3 Pollen Lullaby
3 Ajani Goldmane
3 Forfend

My basic sideboard plans for the top matchups are:

Faeries
-4 Burrenton Forge-Tender
+4 Wispmare

Fairly self explanatory. You already have a good matchup, take out one bad card for one great card.

Elementals
-4 Goldmeadow Stalwart
-1 Thistledown Liege
-1 Cloudgoat Ranger
+3 Ajani
+3 Forfend

Toast Variants
-4 Knight of Meadowgrain
-1 Thistledown Liege
-1 Mirrorweave
+3 Ajani
+3 Forfend

I put these two separately because they are actually the different sideboards I would want against both decks depending on whether I went first or not. Going first, you will still have enough pressure with your other one drops, so you don't need the Stalwart as much. Going second, you really need that early two power, to try and force the Firespout early. And honestly, I just can't decide which two of the three cards, Cloudgoat Ranger, Thistledown Liege, or Mirrorweave, should get there numbers shaved. I have a feeling it should be Liege and Ranger, since Mirrorweave has all sorts of great uses against Cloudthreshers, Plumeveils, Reveillarks.

Mirror
-4 Burrenton Forge-Tender
-4 Goldmeadow Stalwart
+2 Brigid
+3 Ajani
+3 Pollen Lullaby

Ben and I disagree heavily on this one, but I tend to agree with Tom LaPille that, in the mirror, those early creatures won't matter nearly as much, especially since both decks will be playing early drops. If I look at any of the other cards this deck could be taking out to fight the mirror, I feel even better about the choice. If they take out Knights of Meadowgrain over Stalwart, then you win that fight. If they take out any of the middle game cards, Liege, Ranger, Mirrorweave, Mirror Entity, then you'll have such a better deck after you get to turn 4 that it won't matter that you soaked up maybe 4 extra damage off the first two turns.

I've decided that the Oblivion Rings are probably necessary. I can't decide if I should main or side them, though. The sideboard would be:

3 Ajani
3 Oblivion Ring
3 Wispmare
3 Forfend
3 Pollen Lullaby

If I were going to maindeck it, instead, I would go down to 24 lands and drop a Cloudgoat Ranger.

I actually really liked Oblivion Ring and Kinsbaile Borderguard. Guard is nuts against decks that try to remove all your dudes, especially in conjunction with Militia's Pride, which I didn't like until I tried it.

The Kinsbaile Borderguard and Militia's Pride seems like extra-gravy goodness to me, especially in a world full firespout and Austere Command. Bisquits and Gravy sound good to me for some reason. Must be lunch time!

@aceben3- I love your sig!

Not that I'm planning on playing this version or anything, but I was trying to figure out what a version of the deck would look like if you skewed it really heavily against your hated deck, 5-color. Here's what I came up with off the top of my head:

// Deck file for Magic Workstation (http://www.magicworkstation.com)

// Lands
4 [MOR] Rustic Clachan
13 [LRW] Plains (1)
4 [LRW] Windbrisk Heights
4 [MOR] Mutavault

// Creatures
3 [LRW] Cloudgoat Ranger
2 [LRW] Ajani Goldmane
3 [SHM] Thistledown Liege
4 [LRW] Goldmeadow Stalwart
4 [LRW] Burrenton Forge-Tender
4 [LRW] Goldmeadow Harrier
4 [LRW] Wizened Cenn
3 [MOR] Kinsbaile Borderguard

// Spells
2 [SHM] Mirrorweave
3 [LRW] Oblivion Ring
3 [LRW] Militia's Pride

// Sideboard
SB: 3 [MOR] Reveillark
SB: 3 [LRW] Pollen Lullaby
SB: 3 [LRW] Wispmare
SB: 3 [LRW] Surge of Thoughtweft
SB: 3 [MOR] Forfend

First of all, just eliminating the Spectral Processions and replacing them with Militia's Pride is probably the right call. They're really only good against 5-color in one certain situation involving an exact combination of three cards (You play Procession. Next turn you swing, they Flash Cloudthresher, you Mirrorweave the Thresher and win). Pride is just better overall at helping you recover from a board sweeper. Speaking of removing useless cards and replacing them with sweeper insurance, the Knights of Meadowgrain are tremendously under performing in this matchup (or basically any matchup that isn't the mirror in the first 4 turns of the game). Borderguard is just better against their strategy for you. And to go along with it, I upped the 1-drop count to 12. Each one is actually pretty good in the matchup, and they combo well with both of your ways to stabilize after a board sweeper. Also, since you're increasing the 1-drop count, and decreasing the 2-drop count, you can much more safely play the full boat on Mutavault and Windbrisk Heights. I made the exact same change to this deck as I did to my own to incorporate maindeck O-Rings, -1 Plains -1 Cloudgoat -1 Mirrorweave. Removing the extra Mirrorweave in this deck makes even more sense, since I've taken out the Spectral Processions. The sideboard probably has too many cards for the 5-color matchup, since you're essentially pre-boarded against them. However, swapping out the Cloudgoat Rangers for Reveillark is still good, since they fill the same spots, in both mana and situation. Forfend might be unnecessary, since the deck will no longer curve out as much with 1-drop 2-drop 1-drop+Forfend, which is really the situation in which the card is most effective. So it's possible that some better mirror cards would go in that slot in the sideboard. It's just a first draft, anyway. What do you think? I'm hopeful that maybe Faeries will continue to do well, so people might start focusing against that deck some more. But if not, maybe something like this is the way to go.