Without much thought into it, I would say it may be best as a sideboard plan for an esper deck to transform into a reanimator plan. That unburial rites plan seems lacking for legacy though especially when intuition will usually be better.
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You can find combos to win with gifts in legacy, but intuition is normally better (well and brainstorm). Gifts is really nice though if you have a great read on an LGS that is slow enough. Example: life from the loam/wasteland/grove/punish is an example of a pile that will crush almost anything going long, and then you have the rest of the deck to play other stuff
As for combo's: four mana is a LOT, most combos threaten wins turn two, and normally win turn 3, turn four is 'slow' much less turn 5. And why play something that sinks up so much mana, when there are cheaper options around
The only thing I've really ever seen Gifts Ungiven in is Blue Nic Fit, which can afford the four mana, to make piles like Genesis, Eternal Witness, Recurring Nightmare, anything. Other than that, it's hard to justify the four mana and the flexibly you get by just playing Intuition instead.
Correct choice is Crucible and Sword, as it makes you spend the most mana to get all the pieces, and ensures you can't get it that turn.
Unless of course I'm holding Surgical Extraction......
Depends on how susceptible to Wateland you are, too. Some decks just can't let you have Crucible, and might give you Foundry and Sword, which is fine. In any case, there's no real "good" option; no matter what your opponent gives you, you'll have Foundry and Sword online assuming you cast Gifts after you've gained control of the board. But yeah, if your opponent plays it right, you'll get a sword in hand, which isn't ideal, but not terrible either.
Modern is the format where Gifts really gets to rock.
In Legacy, 4 mana just to draw more cards doesn't really cut the mustard. Legacy is Intuition territory.
It's not impossible to use Gifts in Legacy, but the trouble is that once one has a playset of Intuition at the 3 CMC slot, does one really need MORE card draw at the 4 CMC slot? JTMS, or some other game-winning threat, occupies that place.
-----The Legacy Flowchart-----
Tiny Leaders Overlord
sword of the meek
crucible of worlds
academy ruins
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[180 classic cube]
As for combo's: four mana is a LOT, most combos threaten wins turn two, and normally win turn 3, turn four is 'slow' much less turn 5. And why play something that sinks up so much mana, when there are cheaper options around
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Correct choice is Crucible and Sword, as it makes you spend the most mana to get all the pieces, and ensures you can't get it that turn.
Unless of course I'm holding Surgical Extraction......
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Depends on how susceptible to Wateland you are, too. Some decks just can't let you have Crucible, and might give you Foundry and Sword, which is fine. In any case, there's no real "good" option; no matter what your opponent gives you, you'll have Foundry and Sword online assuming you cast Gifts after you've gained control of the board. But yeah, if your opponent plays it right, you'll get a sword in hand, which isn't ideal, but not terrible either.
[180 classic cube]
In Legacy, 4 mana just to draw more cards doesn't really cut the mustard. Legacy is Intuition territory.
It's not impossible to use Gifts in Legacy, but the trouble is that once one has a playset of Intuition at the 3 CMC slot, does one really need MORE card draw at the 4 CMC slot? JTMS, or some other game-winning threat, occupies that place.
Overall record: 139-98-15
Total number of matches: 252
Win percentage ignoring draws: 58.649789
Win percentage including draws: 55.158730
Intuition is better in that case. The big deck running those 4 cards (land.dec) are running 4's of all minus Tabernacle.
Intuition can also grab multiples of the same card. Like, if you need more Mazes, Ports, etc.
Have any questions or concerns? Come take a dip in my pool.