Awakening Prism Part 2: Sideboarding

Since my last article, Prism has seen an uptick in play, as her once fragile existence has proven to be incredibly strong with the placement of day 2 finishes from myself and others. But she has yet to crack through the meta, as a competitive wall has seemingly been formed that denies her entry into the coveted top 8 finishes and finalist placements. This may be due to unfavorable matchups like Fai, Katsu, and Dash that show up often at local tournaments, deterring players from attempting to pilot Prism for Calling, Battle Hardened and Pro Tour events due to a lack of experience and comfort.

But I choose to believe the issue lies, perhaps, in my previous discussion of Prism's new competitive nature and my lack of guidance in assisting players with sideboarding for each matchup. With a new meta on the rise - and with the release of a new card - I can address both topics today.

First, it's important to acknowledge that most people first fell in love with the Prism of the past due to her aggressive capabilities combined with the overpowered keyword of Spectra. The Prism of today, however, lacks Luminaris; and without easy go again, many have turned away from her as a competitive option.

But despite the lack of base aggression she once was capable of, she has not lost her spectra prowess. While it might seem counterintuitive to Prism’s new hero ability - which does nothing for the ever-growing capability of an aura strategy - spectra is unwavering as a core aspect of the Illusionist class. It demands that all must play and interact with the secondary resource game or die because they failed to do so.

Thus the reason to play Prism has significantly changed from the past. She is not easy to pick up and play; she requires a unique amount of time dedicated to understanding that her gameplay alone is not about the amount of optimal play lines per hand, but recognizing the play patterns your opponents take and how you can manipulate that to your advantage. At least, in the harder matches - like Fai and Katsu - that tends to be the case.

Listed below is a simple guide to what to remove per matchup, before we discuss why we swap in certain cards.

Despite what you might think with Prism's challenges into Dash, she will not struggle into the 3 new mech heroes unless they also opt for a tanky Pistol build focused around Induction Chambers. Prism's main issue with Dash has never really been the Mechanologist's capabilities to go wide through boosting, but rather their ability to switch into a fatigue build after turns of mass damage, which expends no cards from deck to do so as they pistol whip you to death. In that case, if Prism finds herself at the short end of having to deal with that strategy, she’s thankfully capable of using Erase Face to tax her opponent’s hand for aggro. She also has Warhorn with Remembrance to reduce the long-term threat of the Teklo Pistol.

Erase Face really hampers the Mechanologist strategies, denying pump effects that Maxx might run, and Teklovossen's machinations to fill up his banished with Evos early. But Erase Face has three more matchup where I believe it to be a critical component of counter gameplay. Into Rhinar, it can shut down or at least delay Bloodrush Bellow turns. Into Runeblade, it stops Mauvrion Skies. And into Fai, it helps to offset consistent Phoenix Flames and tones down the threat level signifcatly from Mask of Momentum’s draw effect.

Personally, I’m stuck debating if Amensia is still earning its keep. I’ll lay out both sides of the arguement. Despite my original intentions for the card, Amnesia is not required into Katsu matchups, as Prism is surprisingly well positioned to win - specially if you can take advantage of Katsu’s typical play patterns and lines. Vynnset, who was also at the forefront of my concern when building Prism, has shown herself to be rather low in attendance and win rate.

On the flipside, Amnesia does have its uses into matchups like Maxx Nitro, who can be semi-crippled by its on-hit effect. This is due to most Maxx players running cards that synergize with Hyper Drivers, like Big Bertha, Crankshaft, and Moonshot. Because of this, it might still be able to hold its slot within the sideboard if Maxx Nitro becomes a pesky problem to overcome. This same concept can also apply to Fai as Amnesia’s on-hit effect can shut down bigger turns by denying Flamecall Awakening, Rise from the Ashes and Fai’s hero ability. While it’s personally up in the air whether it should stay or go, if you decide to drop it, I would suggest its replacement be Command and Conquer due to it’s relevant on-hit effect.

The figments are all tailored for individual matchups. Figment of Triumph provides little to no value outside of the Lexi matchup, where we use it to deny go again at instant speed during the resolution step (you can read the technical breakdown of that process in my previous article).

Figment of Ravages and Figment of Rebirth are meant to help you win the Dromai matchup by either using the Halo of Illumination at instant speed to clear an ashwing and full stop a turn, or to loop your yellow 6 attacks so you can continue to pop dragons. The fact that either can become a 4 attack swing is simply just convenient, rather than being a necessary factor.

I could argue for the addition of a third piece of arcane barrier, and if you decide to do that, Figment of Ravages is the cut.

Prism's sole Bright Lights addition, Phantom Tidemaw, is insanely busted. As Prisms enemies seldom respect the value of your board, they'll frequently pop Miraging Metamorph without considering the value you stand to gain from an extra copy of Tidemaw. Not only that, but as I’ve mentioned in my Iris Dromai article, ward can allow you to trigger Haze Bending in particularly unique ways - meaning any opponent who attempts to race you down will be at a further disadvanatge as you replace your aura with a spectral shield, essentially floating protection over multiple turns. If your opponent chooses to pop it, they waste a card; and if you have Haze Bending out, you stay aura neutral.

Prism is better suited than ever to remain in control of the game. Hopefully that helped you better understand how to play Prism and what to side out into certain matchups.