The Sideboard is an optional deck consisting of between 0 to 10 cards separate from the player's main deck to be used in a tournament. Between games 1-2 and 2-3 of each round, players may choose cards from their sideboard and swap them with some cards in their main deck. They must return the changed cards to their correct decks, i.e. to the way the deck originally was, before each new round.
The sideboard is referred to as optional, but allow me to let you in on a little secret. You ready?
For success beyond casual play (best of 3 tournament play), it's not optional. Consider this: You play 2 to 3 games per round. Each round, every game after the first is played post-board. In other words, you play two thirds of your competitive games post-siding. Use this to your advantage. I'm sure that makes enough sense, but let's talk about how to make and use a good side.
Unfortunately, the sideboard in Buddyfight is rather small compared to other games. In Yu-Gi-Oh!, for example, it's 15. In that game you can run 3 of all the cards in your side and still have 5 unique cards. Here in Buddyfight, you have a 4-of format and a 10-card side, meaning that you can only max out on two unique cards. Space matters, in other words. Not only does space matter, but choice is also vital. You shouldn't just throw in 10 cards that you kind of like or think weren't quite good enough.
Allow me to clarify something. There's a difference between "not quite good enough" and "situational or matchup-dependent." In something like Legend World's Laevateinn (I know it's not budget, but I just got the deck. Cut me some slack), you have a lot of cards like Caladbolg Replica (reduces non-attack damage by 1) and Skilled General's Insight (bestow penetrate to all your items or drop an item from your field to gain 4 life). Neither of these cards are going to come up in every matchup, but they can be the difference between winning and losing in a few. The goal of a sideboard is to cover your deck's weak points in certain matchups, not to run the cards you thought looked cool but didn't have space for.
In addition to situational and matchup-dependent cards that your deck has access to, think of the stuff your world has access to or some generic cards. Obstruct was hugely popular toward the end of the X era of Buddyfight, as halting an opponent's card draw for a turn is an incredible shift in tempo and can be devastating if its user has already set up. While Obstruct is currently at one on the Irregulars List, it goes to show that some generic catch-alls like this exist and should be played if possible.
For the final point about building your side deck, make sure to consider the meta in which you'll be competing. If your locals is based on large, destruction-immune monsters, maybe siding anti-burn cards isn't a good idea. This applies even for larger tournaments. While you should certainly be prepared for rogue decks, you'll want to gear your side more for the better decks in the format, as it's what you'll be more likely to face. Optimally, every card in your side should cover both expected matchups and surprises. In Yu-Gi-Oh!, for example, Twin Twisters is useful against both the meta contender of Altergeists and many rogue decks that rely on back row. I know it's another game, but it's the easiest for me to point to.
Now that we've established the kinds of things to put in your side deck, let's take a look at how to side. When you're siding cards, you don't just indiscriminately put in and take out cards (although this is a tactic that has been employed in Yu-Gi-Oh! before). You need to determine what your core cards are and what you "can side out." I'll use Laevateinn as an example once again. You typically can't side out Base Laev, Savage, and Scabbard. You also can't normally side out your draw spells. You might, however, be able to side out some of your negates or your protection weapons. You might side out negates against a slower matchup where you can afford to take a turn worth of damage. You might side out a card like Durandal if you're against a deck that has little to no ways to destroy non-monster cards on the board. Instead, you could side in some more aggressive swords, soul hate, or any number of other things to make your matchup easier. Generally, though, try not to side out 10 cards and side in 10 others, as that can start to shift your deck a bit too much. Generally, try not to side more than a couple of cards for each matchup.
Moving on, let's talk about alternative siding methods. As mentioned before, you could theoretically shuffle your sideboard into your deck and take the top 10 cards of your deck back out so that neither player knows what was sided. There are multiple reasons that this is not a good idea, not the least of which being that you might have just sided in your anti-burn stuff against Thunder Empire or something. It's a really big mind game tactic, though, so I'm a bit of a sucker for it. In terms of stuff that I would actually call sane ideas, we have smokescreening and counter-siding (I know it's not exactly an alternative method, but it's a specific concept that fits best in this part of the post).
Smokescreening is where you purposely side in all 10 cards and side out 10 cards to change your deck almost entirely. This is honestly a lot harder to do in Buddyfight due to a number of factors (mainly the size of the sideboard and the size of most cores), but one of my favorite strategies in other games. If we had a larger sideboard, though, there are a couple of decks I could see attempting it, such as smokescreening Laevateinn into Zodiac somehow. If you come up with a smokescreen strategy, please do pass it my way. I'd love to take a look.
As for counter-siding, this is uncommon, especially in a game like Buddyfight. To put it simply, counter siding is where you predict what your opponent will side against your deck and side to beat that strategy. You next level your opponent and make their siding tactics ineffective. In most games, it's difficult due to the fact that a meta has to be extremely well-defined for it to work. Buddyfight is no exception. Additionally, this strategy can only really be employed by top tier decks that people expect to see, not by a rogue deck like the ones you'd see here on Futurecard Budgetfight.
That's about it for today. Sorry for the lack of images, but there's not much I can have accompanying a post like this one and I needed to get it out for a post on AP TCG. Until next time, stay frosty.
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