It's the same reason why Glittering Wish does not see much play - Modern is fast format. Other than dedicated Gift decks that can potentially win-off a Gift, you want to rather draw the answer right away. Not a turn after. In control format, we got teachings and even mystical teachings do not get to see much play.
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Just a casual guy playing around with expensive cards.
It's the same reason why Glittering Wish does not see much play - Modern is fast format. Other than dedicated Gift decks that can potentially win-off a Gift, you want to rather draw the answer right away. Not a turn after. In control format, we got teachings and even mystical teachings do not get to see much play.
4 mana is obviously not too expensive for the format, since sweepers get played. What I'm saying is if nothing is played that is worth answering on turn 4, search for Supreme Verdict, Wrath of God, Day of Judgement, and Gifts Ungiven. Or 3 sideboard cards and Gifts Ungiven. Or 3 finishers and Gifts Ungiven. You will be casting this on your opponent's turn, so you will get the answer right away on yours.
...You mean a format where turn 3,4 combos are rampaging, and crazy 2 mana cost creatures are getting dropped? I would rather pack my control deck with another counter or burn card rather than fetch.
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Just a casual guy playing around with expensive cards.
Gifts is played in 4C Gifts Control and UW Tron, mostly for the Unburial Rites + Iona/Elesh Norn combo.
Unfortunately those decks never really got played a lot, and now there is Scavenging Ooze, dropping Gifts down a notch. Gifts really relies heavily on the graveyard - just look at typical Gifts combos like Rites + Elesh Norn, or Raven's Crime + Loam, or Academy Ruins + Mindslaver/Engineered Explosives...
...You mean a format where turn 3,4 combos are rampaging, and crazy 2 mana cost creatures are getting dropped? I would rather pack my control deck with another counter or burn card rather than fetch.
If that was a problem for control, Scapeshift wouldn't see play (I know, its combo but it still functions as a control deck) and American control wouldn't be able to run stuff like Sphinx's Revelation. And it doesn't have to be reliant on the graveyard. Gifts Ungiven is instant speed, so you could just leave up the mana to counter something and then cast it. It seems like everything a control deck could want.
Gifts is played in 4C Gifts Control and UW Tron, mostly for the Unburial Rites + Iona/Elesh Norn combo.
Unfortunately those decks never really got played a lot, and now there is Scavenging Ooze, dropping Gifts down a notch. Gifts really relies heavily on the graveyard - just look at typical Gifts combos like Rites + Elesh Norn, or Raven's Crime + Loam, or Academy Ruins + Mindslaver/Engineered Explosives...
But it can be used in things other than graveyard-reliant combos. It can search up 3 of whatever you need at the time. Or, in Scapeshift with black, it can search up 2 tutors, Scapeshift, and whatever else you need. It just seems like it is a very powerful card and its suprising that it isn't used more in control.
...You mean a format where turn 3,4 combos are rampaging, and crazy 2 mana cost creatures are getting dropped? I would rather pack my control deck with another counter or burn card rather than fetch.
You do realize Gifts Ungiven decks play tons of disruption, right?
If turn 3 & 4 combos were the issue, Sphinx's Revelation would be the worst card in the format, but it's clearly not because those decks play disruption, just like Gifts decks do.
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As someone who played a Gifts deck for a long time in this format, but no longer does, let me go over this:
Essentially there are two main decks to play, UW Gifts Tron and WUBG Gifts Control. Both decks are using Gifts Ungiven + Unburial Rites to be able to reanimate a huge creature and win the game like that. Popular choices include Iona, Shield of Emerai, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Terastodon, and Sundering Titan. The idea with any of these choices is that they protect themselves or protect you. Iona names a colour to prevent removal, Elesh Norn Wraths the board to prevent you from losing immediately (so you can get to late game). Terastodon and Sundering Titan both blow up lands to prevent your opponent from getting to late game.
The primary reason these decks are seeing less play is because of all the grave hate. For me, it was Scavenging Ooze that finally did it, as there's just too much main deck playable grave hate now. I was a UW Tron player, so I also played a Gifts Combo with Mindslaver, being able to find an infinite combo. However, Ooze can hit the Mindslaver, from the MB, which really blows.
WUBG Control played a lot of small synergy packages for value, but at the end of the day the combo was still the bread and butter of the deck.
As for why other decks don't play it, it's a heavy investment. It's a 4 mana card that requires you to build a deck in a specific way. It works a lot better with 1-ofs and honestly, you never really get what you need if your deck isn't comprised a certain way. Take, for example, Twin. You're now spending 4 mana to find one of each combo piece and getting two of the same kind, thus no combo. Maybe you play UWR Twin and find Resto, Pestermite, Exarch? Still, it's a lot of work to do that and then you need to wait a turn while they know what's coming. Gifts decks tend to be very grindy, as finding a Gifts via Gifts is a common thing.
It's basically only playable when you can abuse the Unburial Rites combo, and that's not great when there's MD grave hate for it.
But it can be used in things other than graveyard-reliant combos. It can search up 3 of whatever you need at the time. Or, in Scapeshift with black, it can search up 2 tutors, Scapeshift, and whatever else you need. It just seems like it is a very powerful card and its surprising that it isn't used more in control.
All Gifts decks are graveyard dependent. You either play Snapcaster Mage or Sun Titan as recursion.
Gifts forces you into playing 1-ofs, and if you've already used some of those 1-ofs, you need to fall back on recursion to make sure that you can make a pile which will give you what you want. Simple example: let's say you have 3 board wipes, but one of them got discarded and the other two are hanging out in your deck. When you Gifts, you'll want to search for the two wipes + Snapcaster Mage. If you didn't have the Mage, you won't be able to perform a board wipe, and most likely lose.
In Scapeshift, it's easier to just dig for Scapeshift itself with Augur of Bolas or Peer through Depths. You've got 4 Shifts and some Cryptic Commands, so the last thing you need is more 4-drops.
As someone who played a Gifts deck for a long time in this format, but no longer does, let me go over this:
Essentially there are two main decks to play, UW Gifts Tron and WUBG Gifts Control. Both decks are using Gifts Ungiven + Unburial Rites to be able to reanimate a huge creature and win the game like that. Popular choices include Iona, Shield of Emerai, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Terastodon, and Sundering Titan. The idea with any of these choices is that they protect themselves or protect you. Iona names a colour to prevent removal, Elesh Norn Wraths the board to prevent you from losing immediately (so you can get to late game). Terastodon and Sundering Titan both blow up lands to prevent your opponent from getting to late game.
The primary reason these decks are seeing less play is because of all the grave hate. For me, it was Scavenging Ooze that finally did it, as there's just too much main deck playable grave hate now. I was a UW Tron player, so I also played a Gifts Combo with Mindslaver, being able to find an infinite combo. However, Ooze can hit the Mindslaver, from the MB, which really blows.
WUBG Control played a lot of small synergy packages for value, but at the end of the day the combo was still the bread and butter of the deck.
As for why other decks don't play it, it's a heavy investment. It's a 4 mana card that requires you to build a deck in a specific way. It works a lot better with 1-ofs and honestly, you never really get what you need if your deck isn't comprised a certain way. Take, for example, Twin. You're now spending 4 mana to find one of each combo piece and getting two of the same kind, thus no combo. Maybe you play UWR Twin and find Resto, Pestermite, Exarch? Still, it's a lot of work to do that and then you need to wait a turn while they know what's coming. Gifts decks tend to be very grindy, as finding a Gifts via Gifts is a common thing.
It's basically only playable when you can abuse the Unburial Rites combo, and that's not great when there's MD grave hate for it.
Pretty much this. Green decks are hard to beat because you have to fight through DRS and Scooze, whilst trying to survive their other threats like goyf, smiter, KotR, etc. Even worse, their yard hate shuts down a lot of your consistency by being able to blank snapcaster mage, and eat flashback spells. Not to mention, whilst the rites combo is certainly consistent and powerful, it doesn't win the game for you straight away. You can fight your way through graveyard hate and go off, only to die a few turns later to a lucky draw, which is a problem a lot of other combos don't really have.
Gifts Ungiven is a still good card, grave yard hate isn't new, its always been there, you just shouldn't expect to be able to go "derp derp, Unburial Rites, Iona = win"
Gifts Ungiven is a still good card, grave yard hate isn't new, its always been there, you just shouldn't expect to be able to go "derp derp, Unburial Rites, Iona = win"
Say you're on 4cc Gifts, you're staring down both a Scavenging Ooze and a Deathrite Shaman, but it's Game 1 so you left two of your board wipes in the sideboard. The pile you're searching for comes out like this: Damnation-Gifts Ungiven-Path to Exile-Abrupt Decay
I can either give you both PtE and Decay and at least see both my yard hate guys die but give you no further gas, or I can give you Decay and Gifts and force you to try more Gifts piles at least one turn later, with the restriction this time that you can no longer search for board wipes.
As Melira Pod, the hand-you-Gifts-and-spot-removal plan is surprisingly good in Game 1 because you get to Time Walk yourself casting Gifts. It's especially good if my first guy is Deathrite, you cockily think that the Gifts I hand over will produce Unburial Rites + Elesh Norn, you kill Deathrite, then I Chord of Calling for Ooze in response to Rites.
There is also the slim chance that you die the turn you try to cast Gifts a second time after you spend half of Turn 5 killing Deathrite. Melira Pod has a pretty decent aggro game against heavy control like 4cc Gifts.
Not to mention that I have had to churn out get-me-out-of-colour-screw piles like the below (when I had Abrupt Decay in hand and no green mana sources, but I was staring down another Deathrite): Misty Rainforest-Path to Exile-Maelstrom Pulse-Verdant Catacombs
This guarantees that Deathrite is toast but at the cost of not finding more answers.
Deathrite and Ooze tend to turn Gifts into a mere Draw 2-class spell instead of a powerful monster.
If you try constructing your Gifts deck such that you're not horridly Deathrite- and Ooze-weak, you suddenly just get the 3rd best and the worst cards in each Gifts pile you make. Playing redundant, uniform-quality removal is fine, but it's harder to find redundant, uniform-quality counterspells or targeted discard, and devoting 4 slots for finishers just might be 2 slots too many (I have only seen 0-2 planeswalkers in UWR Wafo-Tapa Control decks because walkers are huge sorcery-speed mana sinks in that deck).
Devoting 3-4 sideboard spots for the Burn match-up is also rather ugly. It's great if hate overlaps (e.g. Fulminator Mage hurts both Scapeshift and Tron, Kitchen Finks hurts both Burn and Zoo, Stony Silence hurts both Affinity and Tron), but it's hard to find 15 sideboard cards that interlock well as Gifts silver bullets without sacrificing match-ups.
This is one of the most powerful plays in modern, and is in fact seeing play. If you think gifts isn't seeing much play then you should trawl the threads harder.
No self-respecting Gifts player ever searches for another Gifts. It's a complete waste of time, especially in a fast format. They're just going to give you the Gifts which stalls you longer.
Deathrite and Ooze definitely hurt a dedicated Gifts strategy. However, I do not believe 4 color control gifts is the way to go. Gifts needs to be a value card amongst a deck built of other value cards (see: Junk Gifts). Ideally you want your fatties castable such as Linvala or Baneslayer and don't rely too much on your graveyard.
No self-respecting Gifts player ever searches for another Gifts. It's a complete waste of time, especially in a fast format. They're just going to give you the Gifts which stalls you longer.
Deathrite and Ooze definitely hurt a dedicated Gifts strategy. However, I do not believe 4 color control gifts is the way to go. Gifts needs to be a value card amongst a deck built of other value cards (see: Junk Gifts). Ideally you want your fatties castable such as Linvala or Baneslayer and don't rely too much on your graveyard.
I've heard quite a few posters in Gifts-playing decks' threads saying that they often search for another Gifts just so opponents won't pick it (or get enormous value from the next Gifts).
Gifts is certainly playable, but it's struggling due to the grave hate. There was also a great deck called ritual gifts but it really needed seething song, after song went it kinda faded...
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I'm a control player, because I like to reserve the right to say no.
Every maindeck graveyard hate card dies to pyroclasm, bolt, decay etc. sideboard is another story, but dear lord people, learn to adapt to a metagame instead of just giving up once a single card might cause your strategy problems.
All I see in this thread are people who refuse to adapt to a metagame, and expect a deck to build itself for them. Look at UWR control for example - most of the deck is removal. Gifts decks would be smart to follow suit, especially considering every card that supposedly causes them problems is a creature (ooze, shaman, etc).
I understand there is a limited amount of adaptability for a deck like UW tron when using gifts, but seriously - ooze and deathrite shaman shouldn't stop you from making use of gifts. Gifts decks play removal and disruption. Use that removal and disruption to kill and disrupt what would be problematic. Beyond that, any deck playing gifts ideally should be able to choose a non-GY dependent pile exclusively for card advantage. A pile of Bolt, Helix, Path and Electrolyze for example provides both card advantage, and answers any of the aforementioned problematic cards.
Every maindeck graveyard hate card dies to pyroclasm, bolt, decay etc. sideboard is another story, but dear lord people, learn to adapt to a metagame instead of just giving up once a single card might cause your strategy problems.
All I see in this thread are people who refuse to adapt to a metagame, and expect a deck to build itself for them. Look at UWR control for example - most of the deck is removal. Gifts decks would be smart to follow suit, especially considering every card that supposedly causes them problems is a creature (ooze, shaman, etc).
I understand there is a limited amount of adaptability for a deck like UW tron when using gifts, but seriously - ooze and deathrite shaman shouldn't stop you from making use of gifts. Gifts decks play removal and disruption. Use that removal and disruption to kill and disrupt what would be problematic. Beyond that, any deck playing gifts ideally should be able to choose a non-GY dependent pile exclusively for card advantage. A pile of Bolt, Helix, Path and Electrolyze for example provides both card advantage, and answers any of the aforementioned problematic cards.
My previous post touched on the get-enough-Deathrite-and-Ooze-removal issue:
Say you're on 4cc Gifts, you're staring down both a Scavenging Ooze and a Deathrite Shaman, but it's Game 1 so you left two of your board wipes in the sideboard. The pile you're searching for comes out like this: Damnation-Gifts Ungiven-Path to Exile-Abrupt Decay
I can either give you both PtE and Decay and at least see both my yard hate guys die but give you no further gas, or I can give you Decay and Gifts and force you to try more Gifts piles at least one turn later, with the restriction this time that you can no longer search for board wipes.
As Melira Pod, the hand-you-Gifts-and-spot-removal plan is surprisingly good in Game 1 because you get to Time Walk yourself casting Gifts. It's especially good if my first guy is Deathrite, you cockily think that the Gifts I hand over will produce Unburial Rites + Elesh Norn, you kill Deathrite, then I Chord of Calling for Ooze in response to Rites.
There is also the slim chance that you die the turn you try to cast Gifts a second time after you spend half of Turn 5 killing Deathrite. Melira Pod has a pretty decent aggro game against heavy control like 4cc Gifts.
Not to mention that I have had to churn out get-me-out-of-colour-screw piles like the below (when I had Abrupt Decay in hand and no green mana sources, but I was staring down another Deathrite): Misty Rainforest-Path to Exile-Maelstrom Pulse-Verdant Catacombs
This guarantees that Deathrite is toast but at the cost of not finding more answers.
Deathrite and Ooze tend to turn Gifts into a mere Draw 2-class spell instead of a powerful monster.
If you try constructing your Gifts deck such that you're not horridly Deathrite- and Ooze-weak, you suddenly just get the 3rd best and the worst cards in each Gifts pile you make. Playing redundant, uniform-quality removal is fine, but it's harder to find redundant, uniform-quality counterspells or targeted discard, and devoting 4 slots for finishers just might be 2 slots too many (I have only seen 0-2 planeswalkers in UWR Wafo-Tapa Control decks because walkers are huge sorcery-speed mana sinks in that deck).
Note that I am most likely Gifts-ing for removal because I don't have (good enough) removal in hand.
Removal Gifts piles come with flaws, as I have mentioned above. They tend to stop the gas chain at the first Gifts. A 3 board wipes-X pile is no doubt better than the above piles I mentioned, but the 3 board wipes pile means that my next Gifts can't search for more board wipes reliably.
If that was a problem for control, Scapeshift wouldn't see play (I know, its combo but it still functions as a control deck) and American control wouldn't be able to run stuff like Sphinx's Revelation. And it doesn't have to be reliant on the graveyard. Gifts Ungiven is instant speed, so you could just leave up the mana to counter something and then cast it. It seems like everything a control deck could want.
But most often that is not the case. Let's put it this way; instead of including 4 Gifts, you play some combination of counters/removals. In early game what would you rather draw? The control decks can stabilize after an early game. Instead of drawing the answers right away, you want to draw a Gift? Or even see a gift in your opening hand instead of another counter?
You do realize Gifts Ungiven decks play tons of disruption, right?
If turn 3 & 4 combos were the issue, Sphinx's Revelation would be the worst card in the format, but it's clearly not because those decks play disruption, just like Gifts decks do.
First-able, Gift is not Sphinx's Revelation. They are different cards that serve different purposes. If Gift was so great as to everyone makes out to be, it would be played as 4 of in UWR. But even Sphinx's gets played 2-3 of, not an automatic 4.
The second part of your comment is exactly why I want more disruptions in my control deck, not a card to go search for it so I can answer a turn later. Sphinx is there to help me stabilize in late games.
However having said that, if you are playing a 'dedicated' Gifts deck, then you have a potential win-off a resolved Gift. Now, that is totally different discussion all together. But like many people said, graveyard is easy to hate out.
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Just a casual guy playing around with expensive cards.
The introduction of scavenging ooze made the card (and the entire 4cc deck tbh) borderline unplayable. There are too many blah matchups. And a couple of terrible ones.
Also, you really never gifts for another gifts ungiven. When you do its pretty much just desperation mode and you're just hoping your opponent has a brain aneurysm and puts the extra gifts ungiven in the graveyard. As someone mentioned in this thread, you really don't have a ton of time to just chain gifts into gifts. Most decks can just untap and kill you by t4/t5 so its not a good play except for maybe 1% of the time.
I shelved the deck after playing it online for 6 months but will probably go back to it to see how it plays once (if) ooze starts seeing less play.
As a UW Tron player, I liked to Gifts for Gifts a lot. The only time it's bad is when you actually need specific cards, like a combo, or removal. A lot of the time, I'd just grab a value package like Remand, Gifts, Path, and Map, or something like that. They can rarely give you Gifts again since you just net more value. And as a UW Tron player, you might even have enough to just cast it again. Gifts for Gifts is mostly just telling your opponent "do you want me to do this again, or would you prefer I get a choice of 2/3 cards". This is obviously less good in WUBG Gifts Control since you don't have mana to cast a million Gifts.
Gifts Ungiven is a still good card, grave yard hate isn't new, its always been there, you just shouldn't expect to be able to go "derp derp, Unburial Rites, Iona = win"
The problem is you're playing tons of subpar cards to make your gifts playabe. I mean, day of judgement? Aven riftwatcher? Timely is strictly a sideboard card, but you'd have to mainboard it.
You could jump through hoops to make gifts good... or, y'know, play a deck already packed with good cards.
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Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
What about Scapeshift with a black splash? They could use it to search up Scapeshift, Clutch of the Undercity, Snapcaster Mage, and another card. It would provide a lot more consistency.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
4 mana is obviously not too expensive for the format, since sweepers get played. What I'm saying is if nothing is played that is worth answering on turn 4, search for Supreme Verdict, Wrath of God, Day of Judgement, and Gifts Ungiven. Or 3 sideboard cards and Gifts Ungiven. Or 3 finishers and Gifts Ungiven. You will be casting this on your opponent's turn, so you will get the answer right away on yours.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
Unfortunately those decks never really got played a lot, and now there is Scavenging Ooze, dropping Gifts down a notch. Gifts really relies heavily on the graveyard - just look at typical Gifts combos like Rites + Elesh Norn, or Raven's Crime + Loam, or Academy Ruins + Mindslaver/Engineered Explosives...
| Ad Nauseam
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Big Johnny.
If that was a problem for control, Scapeshift wouldn't see play (I know, its combo but it still functions as a control deck) and American control wouldn't be able to run stuff like Sphinx's Revelation. And it doesn't have to be reliant on the graveyard. Gifts Ungiven is instant speed, so you could just leave up the mana to counter something and then cast it. It seems like everything a control deck could want.
But it can be used in things other than graveyard-reliant combos. It can search up 3 of whatever you need at the time. Or, in Scapeshift with black, it can search up 2 tutors, Scapeshift, and whatever else you need. It just seems like it is a very powerful card and its suprising that it isn't used more in control.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
You do realize Gifts Ungiven decks play tons of disruption, right?
If turn 3 & 4 combos were the issue, Sphinx's Revelation would be the worst card in the format, but it's clearly not because those decks play disruption, just like Gifts decks do.
Essentially there are two main decks to play, UW Gifts Tron and WUBG Gifts Control. Both decks are using Gifts Ungiven + Unburial Rites to be able to reanimate a huge creature and win the game like that. Popular choices include Iona, Shield of Emerai, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Terastodon, and Sundering Titan. The idea with any of these choices is that they protect themselves or protect you. Iona names a colour to prevent removal, Elesh Norn Wraths the board to prevent you from losing immediately (so you can get to late game). Terastodon and Sundering Titan both blow up lands to prevent your opponent from getting to late game.
The primary reason these decks are seeing less play is because of all the grave hate. For me, it was Scavenging Ooze that finally did it, as there's just too much main deck playable grave hate now. I was a UW Tron player, so I also played a Gifts Combo with Mindslaver, being able to find an infinite combo. However, Ooze can hit the Mindslaver, from the MB, which really blows.
WUBG Control played a lot of small synergy packages for value, but at the end of the day the combo was still the bread and butter of the deck.
As for why other decks don't play it, it's a heavy investment. It's a 4 mana card that requires you to build a deck in a specific way. It works a lot better with 1-ofs and honestly, you never really get what you need if your deck isn't comprised a certain way. Take, for example, Twin. You're now spending 4 mana to find one of each combo piece and getting two of the same kind, thus no combo. Maybe you play UWR Twin and find Resto, Pestermite, Exarch? Still, it's a lot of work to do that and then you need to wait a turn while they know what's coming. Gifts decks tend to be very grindy, as finding a Gifts via Gifts is a common thing.
It's basically only playable when you can abuse the Unburial Rites combo, and that's not great when there's MD grave hate for it.
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
All Gifts decks are graveyard dependent. You either play Snapcaster Mage or Sun Titan as recursion.
Gifts forces you into playing 1-ofs, and if you've already used some of those 1-ofs, you need to fall back on recursion to make sure that you can make a pile which will give you what you want. Simple example: let's say you have 3 board wipes, but one of them got discarded and the other two are hanging out in your deck. When you Gifts, you'll want to search for the two wipes + Snapcaster Mage. If you didn't have the Mage, you won't be able to perform a board wipe, and most likely lose.
In Scapeshift, it's easier to just dig for Scapeshift itself with Augur of Bolas or Peer through Depths. You've got 4 Shifts and some Cryptic Commands, so the last thing you need is more 4-drops.
| Ad Nauseam
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Big Johnny.
Pretty much this. Green decks are hard to beat because you have to fight through DRS and Scooze, whilst trying to survive their other threats like goyf, smiter, KotR, etc. Even worse, their yard hate shuts down a lot of your consistency by being able to blank snapcaster mage, and eat flashback spells. Not to mention, whilst the rites combo is certainly consistent and powerful, it doesn't win the game for you straight away. You can fight your way through graveyard hate and go off, only to die a few turns later to a lucky draw, which is a problem a lot of other combos don't really have.
I'd also reckon ScavOoze kicks the Rites trick in the balls something fierce.
I say it ultimately comes down to the cardpool. Not enough checkmate-guaranteeing tricks, yet conveniently sufficient amounts of trick-hate.
There's still really cool stuff you can do with the card, Bant Gifts is a thing, and in that deck playing against an aggro deck and doing a gifts pile like Day of Judgment/Supreme Verdict/Wrath of God/Eternal Witness Or playing against burn and doing a pile like Timely Reinforcements/Kitchen Finks/Aven Riftwatcher/Eternal Witness can be absolutely back breaking for the opponent.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
Say you're on 4cc Gifts, you're staring down both a Scavenging Ooze and a Deathrite Shaman, but it's Game 1 so you left two of your board wipes in the sideboard. The pile you're searching for comes out like this:
Damnation-Gifts Ungiven-Path to Exile-Abrupt Decay
I can either give you both PtE and Decay and at least see both my yard hate guys die but give you no further gas, or I can give you Decay and Gifts and force you to try more Gifts piles at least one turn later, with the restriction this time that you can no longer search for board wipes.
As Melira Pod, the hand-you-Gifts-and-spot-removal plan is surprisingly good in Game 1 because you get to Time Walk yourself casting Gifts. It's especially good if my first guy is Deathrite, you cockily think that the Gifts I hand over will produce Unburial Rites + Elesh Norn, you kill Deathrite, then I Chord of Calling for Ooze in response to Rites.
There is also the slim chance that you die the turn you try to cast Gifts a second time after you spend half of Turn 5 killing Deathrite. Melira Pod has a pretty decent aggro game against heavy control like 4cc Gifts.
Not to mention that I have had to churn out get-me-out-of-colour-screw piles like the below (when I had Abrupt Decay in hand and no green mana sources, but I was staring down another Deathrite):
Misty Rainforest-Path to Exile-Maelstrom Pulse-Verdant Catacombs
This guarantees that Deathrite is toast but at the cost of not finding more answers.
Deathrite and Ooze tend to turn Gifts into a mere Draw 2-class spell instead of a powerful monster.
If you try constructing your Gifts deck such that you're not horridly Deathrite- and Ooze-weak, you suddenly just get the 3rd best and the worst cards in each Gifts pile you make. Playing redundant, uniform-quality removal is fine, but it's harder to find redundant, uniform-quality counterspells or targeted discard, and devoting 4 slots for finishers just might be 2 slots too many (I have only seen 0-2 planeswalkers in UWR Wafo-Tapa Control decks because walkers are huge sorcery-speed mana sinks in that deck).
Devoting 3-4 sideboard spots for the Burn match-up is also rather ugly. It's great if hate overlaps (e.g. Fulminator Mage hurts both Scapeshift and Tron, Kitchen Finks hurts both Burn and Zoo, Stony Silence hurts both Affinity and Tron), but it's hard to find 15 sideboard cards that interlock well as Gifts silver bullets without sacrificing match-ups.
This is one of the most powerful plays in modern, and is in fact seeing play. If you think gifts isn't seeing much play then you should trawl the threads harder.
No self-respecting Gifts player ever searches for another Gifts. It's a complete waste of time, especially in a fast format. They're just going to give you the Gifts which stalls you longer.
Deathrite and Ooze definitely hurt a dedicated Gifts strategy. However, I do not believe 4 color control gifts is the way to go. Gifts needs to be a value card amongst a deck built of other value cards (see: Junk Gifts). Ideally you want your fatties castable such as Linvala or Baneslayer and don't rely too much on your graveyard.
Draft My Cube!
I've heard quite a few posters in Gifts-playing decks' threads saying that they often search for another Gifts just so opponents won't pick it (or get enormous value from the next Gifts).
All I see in this thread are people who refuse to adapt to a metagame, and expect a deck to build itself for them. Look at UWR control for example - most of the deck is removal. Gifts decks would be smart to follow suit, especially considering every card that supposedly causes them problems is a creature (ooze, shaman, etc).
I understand there is a limited amount of adaptability for a deck like UW tron when using gifts, but seriously - ooze and deathrite shaman shouldn't stop you from making use of gifts. Gifts decks play removal and disruption. Use that removal and disruption to kill and disrupt what would be problematic. Beyond that, any deck playing gifts ideally should be able to choose a non-GY dependent pile exclusively for card advantage. A pile of Bolt, Helix, Path and Electrolyze for example provides both card advantage, and answers any of the aforementioned problematic cards.
My previous post touched on the get-enough-Deathrite-and-Ooze-removal issue:
Removal Gifts piles come with flaws, as I have mentioned above. They tend to stop the gas chain at the first Gifts. A 3 board wipes-X pile is no doubt better than the above piles I mentioned, but the 3 board wipes pile means that my next Gifts can't search for more board wipes reliably.
But most often that is not the case. Let's put it this way; instead of including 4 Gifts, you play some combination of counters/removals. In early game what would you rather draw? The control decks can stabilize after an early game. Instead of drawing the answers right away, you want to draw a Gift? Or even see a gift in your opening hand instead of another counter?
First-able, Gift is not Sphinx's Revelation. They are different cards that serve different purposes. If Gift was so great as to everyone makes out to be, it would be played as 4 of in UWR. But even Sphinx's gets played 2-3 of, not an automatic 4.
The second part of your comment is exactly why I want more disruptions in my control deck, not a card to go search for it so I can answer a turn later. Sphinx is there to help me stabilize in late games.
However having said that, if you are playing a 'dedicated' Gifts deck, then you have a potential win-off a resolved Gift. Now, that is totally different discussion all together. But like many people said, graveyard is easy to hate out.
Also, you really never gifts for another gifts ungiven. When you do its pretty much just desperation mode and you're just hoping your opponent has a brain aneurysm and puts the extra gifts ungiven in the graveyard. As someone mentioned in this thread, you really don't have a ton of time to just chain gifts into gifts. Most decks can just untap and kill you by t4/t5 so its not a good play except for maybe 1% of the time.
I shelved the deck after playing it online for 6 months but will probably go back to it to see how it plays once (if) ooze starts seeing less play.
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
The problem is you're playing tons of subpar cards to make your gifts playabe. I mean, day of judgement? Aven riftwatcher? Timely is strictly a sideboard card, but you'd have to mainboard it.
You could jump through hoops to make gifts good... or, y'know, play a deck already packed with good cards.