I feel like you really want Tarmogoyf in a list like this. With more Assassin's Trophy and less Abrupt decay in the metagame, as I predict, Tarmogoyf will get better because you can counter Trophy but not decay. My speculation:
I think you really, really want more copies of Assassin's Trophy in there. It answers pretty much everything.
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Common sense is the most fairly distributed thing in the world, for each one thinks he is so well-endowed with it that even those who are hardest to satisfy in all other matters are not in the habit of desiring more of it than they already have. - René Descartes
For FNM level, sure. I wouldn't bring it to a GP with hopes of placing well. I love this deck, I play it from time to time, but is just not good enough to be a competitive archetype.
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Common sense is the most fairly distributed thing in the world, for each one thinks he is so well-endowed with it that even those who are hardest to satisfy in all other matters are not in the habit of desiring more of it than they already have. - René Descartes
I'd say maybe in an aggressive shell, yes. But not in a control shell. UWx control is great right now but not in the form of Gifts Ungiven. We don't have DRS anymore but maybe Noble Hierarch could support an aggro Gifts list. Something like:
A setup like this could put early pressure on and potentially Gifts for Norn as a way to close the game, not just lock out the opponent's creatures. With no counterspells or discard spells, the control and combo match-ups might be difficult. I would definitely need Sun Titan/Fulminator Mage in the SB for control and probably Iona, Shield of Emeria for combo.
Hi everyone I've been away from modern for most of the last year. I'm getting back into the format and my favorite deck gifts. Here is my rough draft I'm going to test this FNM. Its a bit different in that it aims to smooth out the awkward, bad draws that seemed to plague my old builds and aims to ramp to a T3 gifts/4 unburial as consistently as possible via a 4/2 split of carytid and Steve. I've chose these 2 for ramps as they are guaranteed ramp and carytid goes a long way on blocking early aggressors and the hexproof means that we can unburial through a LOTV edict waiting for our target.
The Idea build would Have 1 Path be a Assassin's Trophy and The detention sphere should be a Maelstrom Pulse and baby jace should be a Snapcaster but they're not readily available locally.
I'm debating whether the Thirst should be a second champion as the eternalize is a late game threat/ refill your hand and it works to smooth out draws and as discard fodder to brutality. Right now I have it as a 1/1 split for names sake, but I could see going up to 2 as it does great with brutality. The manabase is really rough as I'm working on the numbers to up the basic count to allow for Steve and work with field of ruin and potential Trophy hits. The sideboard will probably change more in the future if I can get ahold of the knight of autumn
Edit: Did some trading today and after some thought I put in an E witt and a Sun titan. I dropped the thirst and moved settle to the board.
FNM Report: (2-1-1)
Round 1- Naya Ponza
Game one I get it with Iona
Game 2 he beats with a lucky 7th land to monstrous a stormbreath
Game 3- I get it with a Knight of reliquary, at one point I cast a loam with 0 lands in play and more that 3 lands in grave off carytids and target 0 lands as keeping the KOR being 5+ power was more important.
In all 3 games Caryitids and steves were instrumental in keeping me in the game. Carytids were able to keep me from being locked under a blood moon and let me play with only 1 or 2 lands in play most of the game.
Round 2 - U Tron (1-1-1W)
Game 1- he lands an Ugin, I'm not able to beat it bolting me every turn. I never saw a gifts.
Game 2- Damping sphere and ravens crime and removal allow Champion to beat down.
Game 3- We go to turns, he concedes as he is dropping after this round.
Round 3 - Naya Zoo w/ Pelt collector (1-2)
Game 1- he wins with fast beats.
Game 2- he has a fast hand but I survive and unburial Elesh while he floods out.
Game 3- I t3 a gifts in response to a thalia off a broodbraid. Then unburial with the tax on T4, wrathing his board. He paths my elesh norn and is able to squeek out the beats before I can recover.
Round 4 - Jund (1-1-1)
We agree to draw for prizes. We have done several test games throughout the week.
After game trading I've managed to pickup Trophy and 2 finks. 1 trophy replaced a Path and the Finks replace the Timely as its guaranteed body and life and works with Liliana and Sun Titan. Would Prefer to pickup a maelstrom pulse and use that to replace the D sphere in the main.
After Trades and working on the deck this morning this is how its now sitting, the only change I'm currently considering is dropping Elspeth for a second champion and picking up a maelstrom pulse to replace the MB d sphere.:
How was Champion of Wits? It's the card that seems most off-the-wall from your list (IMO). Personally I've found the Sun Titan + Fulminator mage package very useful against Tron
So far it has never been a dead draw. At worst it filters 2 cards then dies as a chump block late game I've externalized and its good to get some raw card advantage and the 4/4 body deters combat. I'm debating dropping the elspeth for a second copy. I have found elspeth to be a dead draw most games as either its too high cmc to be useful or the 3 chumps isn't enough to turn the game around. That coupled with Liliana can reanimate titan and champions is a better grind option. If I can pickup a Fulminator in trade it will definitely find a home in the SB probably over the d sphere.
I have been following this thread for about a year, whereas 4C Gifts Rock was picked up by me in early 2015 and occasionally played since then. Let me first comment on the above decklist, there are a few things that immediately come to mind:
You run only 6 fetchlands in a 4-colour deck, which is an extremely low amount (the 6 dorks already considered). The snow-covered lands could easily be additional fetchlands in the main colours, i.e. something like Verdant Catacombs or Windswept Heath I suppose, depending on what you have available at the moment.
The dorks seem to be a little too prevalent in this list. I can see that you include the basics because of Steve and make then snow-covered due to Gifts. Have you had any trouble hitting your mana requirements? Sure you can get basics with Steve, but I always found it quite challenging to meet the mana costs when trying to play around non-basic hate, it definitely slows you down quite a smidge.
I see that your build is more heavily leaning on W than other versions of this deck, however I always felt that Liliana of the Veil was an integral part of the strategy, providing disruption, self-discard and edict effects all at once while occasionally winning the game with her ultimate against slower, more control-ish decks. Have you considered running (at least) 2 exemplars?
Furthermore, I find your lack of discard a little disturbing, you only have 3 Duress effects in Brutality and no T1 hand disruption. How has this been working for you? I felt that I was always pretty heavily reliant on some sort of early interaction, be it discard, removal or possibly both.
Lastly, Sun Titan feels a little outdated, although the synergies are of course nice. In addition to that, I am not a big fan of Noxious Revival as it is inherent card disadvantage and happens to be a horrible topdeck, besides the ones you already have. These were my 2 cents so far.
Regarding my own list, I added some additional spice (or jank, however you would like to call it) which I will outline below.
Things that might seem unusual are the following: Ensnaring Bridge as an additional artifact in the package together with Loam is in a sense a concession to Hollow One and alikes, as the relatively high power of those threats activates bridge more easily in recent times. Besides that, it tends to help against manlands of opposing control decks when drawn naturally. I moved Raven's Crime to the sideboard and added the 4th copy of LotV since I wanted to retain the amount of discard for my creatures while I felt that a naturally drawn Raven's Crime in the absence of Loam wasn't overwhelmingly good. Contrary to that, Loam is an integral piece of the list together in the denial plan with Tectonic Edge and the various packages including Engineered Explosives or the bridge. I have chosen Tec Edge over Field of Ruin since I run only 4 basic lands, which at some point gives the opponent an upside as soon as we ourselves can't find any more lands of it. Similar reasoning applies to Ghost Quarter, which does not allow us to keep our opponent from hitting 1UUU for Cryptics.
I decided to go with BoP for the T1 dork and possibly T2 LotV, which often is a great play and even if they eat a Lightning Bolt or a Fatal Push, it is tempo-neutral. Needless to say, in a 4C list with heavy colour requirements, the fixing is also a nontrivial thing to consider (aside from fringe cases such as EE on 5, which has happened though). The 1-of JtMS is nice to have against some opponents and mostly drawn naturally, although I have included him in Gifts piles already in order to get given the other options for sure. When both PWs hit the board, things become quite awesome as one would expect, bouncing a creature with Jace and letting it discard afterwards is an incredibly powerful play (and pretty fun, too!).
Lastly, the 3/1 split between Decay/Trophy is due to the drawback of an early-turn Trophy compared to a Decay, where the latter does the job most of the time. Also, Decay kills Death's Shadow through eventual Stubborn Denials, which is an additional upside. Also, this lets us Gift for very universal removal spells and Snapcaster Mage, having an out against most of the stuff that's happening in Modern right now. These were my additional 2 cents, I might at some point also share my take on 4C Azcanta Gifts, which is a little more U-centered and controlling without as many attrition as the Rock-style variant.
My deck is aiming for late game, where top decking disruption is a dead draw 95%+ of the time. I rely on spot removal as my disruption which is rarely a dead draw. The brutality are there for their flexibility and discarding for value not for hand disruption as their main reason.
The ramp on t2 is key to the my builds success, the games where I was able to ramp t2 I felt way more competitive. As I want to jump the curve from on T3 with 4 mana spells (wrath/ gifts) With many decks being so aggressive ramp that can block is important. The caryatids are helpful with mana denial and blocking any attacker with p2 or less and preventing edicts of Iona in LOTV decks.
Steve and Field of Ruin has forced the mana base to include more basics, while there are other ramp that wouldn't have this requirement I want to guarantee my ramp on t2, which is why other ramp like BOP were not used as I don't want to invest my turn in ramping to have it die to push/bolt/etc. I also considered and tested farseek- which would have the same t2 ramp and allow you to fetch a shock into play, but I've found Steve a better topdeck and chumping t2 to ramp before damage is great way to save 2-4 point of damage.
Noxious has always been great in my lists it allows you to tutor for 1 card and get a value card with your gift pile (snap/jace/ ewitt + noxious + target and value) Its also a way you can mess with a grave as you can top any card in any graveyard has in a pinch a way to fizzle a graveyard play (I once topped a unburial target in a mirror match).
My deck is aiming for late game, where top decking disruption is a dead draw 95%+ of the time. I rely on spot removal as my disruption which is rarely a dead draw. The brutality are there for their flexibility and discarding for value not for hand disruption as their main reason.
That is something I would associate to a meta call, spot removal is pretty bad against quite a few decks, UW Control and to some extent Burn or swarm strategies such as BW Tokens, while disrupting their hand preemptively is sometimes the way to go there. As often said, 4C Gifts is highly customisable to your local meta, so let's go with that.
The ramp on t2 is key to the my builds success, the games where I was able to ramp t2 I felt way more competitive. As I want to jump the curve from on T3 with 4 mana spells (wrath/ gifts) With many decks being so aggressive ramp that can block is important. The caryatids are helpful with mana denial and blocking any attacker with p2 or less and preventing edicts of Iona in LOTV decks.
Sure ramp on T2 is great, but the ramp cards are pretty bad topdecks to be fair (and since you mentioned this issue in your previous post), and you play quite a bunch of them. Sure Steve can chump, but this does not save the day in the end, in the best case (and only there) you buy yourself another turn. Noxious Revival is also a pretty bad topdeck as you need to wait an entire turn to use the card you wished for, plus you're down one card overall. I played quite some time with a 1-of Noxious Revival together with an Eternal Witness to guarantee a Gifts pile but it rarely was used and it even more rarely was useful. Secondly, do you sometimes get 'the wrong half of your deck'-draws? This occasionally happens when playing some air in the deck, I recall that issue from decks like Ponza with a bunch of ramp, although admittedly this is another category all by itself.
Regarding the rest I still have some comments, how did you find the performance of Elspeth, Sun's Champion and Liliana, Death's Majesty? They seem high-costed to be honest, does the ramp amount to making the jump from the crucial 4 lands to 6? Concerning the sideboard, against what matchups do you side Knight of the Reliquary and how did you find it so far?
I just finish FNM 2-2
Beat a different player/version of R/G Ponza again. and 1 arclight deck. Lost to 1 Esper control and 1 arclight deck.
I've actually moved Elspeth to the SB during the week. Most of modern has gotten extremely linear and fast so 6 mana is a bit much and the 3 soldiers don't always stablize you. Big Lili has been pretty good, it making a token and milling 2 is fine but its in there as a backup way to reanimate creatures. I am a bit biased as during the game I won against Esper control she milled Iona with an unburail already in grave.
The wrong half of the deck problem, and bad ramp top decks kind of go hand in hand. I have tried to mitigate that with ways to discard to value or get pseudo redraws through brutality and champion but variance is still a thing It does feel bad to draw ramp you don't need but to me drawing a chump blocker is better than drawing discard when your both in a topdeck war. Carytid is good at blocking what would otherwise be free damage for the opponent and steve can at least deck thin in the late game to mitigate your odds of drawing a land.
Champion has performed so well that I've gone up to 2 copies, though I don't think it warrants more. Eternalizing and drawing four is back breaking against decks when you have stabilized. Or in the Case of an elesh norn drawing 6 is basically game ( which I did tonight against the arclight deck) It allows you to keep hands that are mostly ok but could be better. In some ways/ boardstates its better than brutality and works amazing with sun titan, filtering your hand and preparing for the next attack trigger.
KoR actually got dropped tonight after FNM as I managed to trade for 2 copies of Autumn between rounds. KoR came in as a way to go lower on the curve and apply pressure, so decks like ponza, control,and tron. Autumn is able to fill that role and be more versatile. KoR in my build is no where near as versatile as I have way fewer utility lands. With Autumn in the SB I'm debating dropping the 2 Finks from the SB for more answers, like nihil spellbomb,and maybe a geist of st traft as autumn has the 4 life that finks would bring and that with the 3 copies of Brutality means I have a good amount of life gain for it.
You don't actually wait the whole turn for Noxious with a gift pile, you pay 2 life and make whatever you want your next draw. But with this build I'm starting to question it's slot. I may change it up in the future.
Edit:
After some thinking this is the new sideboard I'm going to toss in
2x Damping Sphere- storm, arclights, tron
1x Detention Sphere- exile maelstrom pulse for dredge, Arclight, phoenix and tron that runs a lot of non creatures
2x Flaying Tendrils- small wrath to handle dredge, affinity, Arclight, infect and phoenix also hits most of human and spirits
2x Knight of Autumn – versatile creature simple enough, life gain for aggressive decks, 4/3 better for decks like u/w and tron, rec sage for kci, affinity and blood moons/rips.
1x Life from the Loam/ 1x Raven's Crime- crime loam package for Tron and UW control, loam is also useful against ponza decks
1x Settle the Wreckage exile wrath for all the decks that hate flaying tendrils.
2x Stony Silence- KCI Affinity tron
1x Terastodon- alt reanimator for Tron
1x Tormod's Crypt/ 1x Nihil Spellbomb- grave hate
Dropped:
1x Abrupt Decay- I have 2 AB and 1 trophy main the 3rd seems redundant and is better served as a detention sphere to exile threats in mass.
1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion – too high costing of a finisher rarely good to see now that abzan and jund midrange decks both run trophy as part of their removal package
2x Kitchen Finks – is basically defunct for life gain by knight of Autumn
1x Sphinx of the Steel Wind- looking at the majority of the meta Sphinx wins combat but most of those combat heavy decks where his many clauses would be useful an elesh norn basically locks combat out for the opponent.
I just finish FNM 2-2
Beat a different player/version of R/G Ponza again. and 1 arclight deck. Lost to 1 Esper control and 1 arclight deck.
I've actually moved Elspeth to the SB during the week. Most of modern has gotten extremely linear and fast so 6 mana is a bit much and the 3 soldiers don't always stablize you. Big Lili has been pretty good, it making a token and milling 2 is fine but its in there as a backup way to reanimate creatures. I am a bit biased as during the game I won against Esper control she milled Iona with an unburail already in grave.
The wrong half of the deck problem, and bad ramp top decks kind of go hand in hand. I have tried to mitigate that with ways to discard to value or get pseudo redraws through brutality and champion but variance is still a thing It does feel bad to draw ramp you don't need but to me drawing a chump blocker is better than drawing discard when your both in a topdeck war. Carytid is good at blocking what would otherwise be free damage for the opponent and steve can at least deck thin in the late game to mitigate your odds of drawing a land.
Well, you did considerably better at your FNM than I did at my last attempt with Bant Knightfall Gifts, it was a carnage. Yes, the linearity has become an issue for me, too, I feel that especially Tron is a matchup to pass on and possibly not even worth dedicating too much slots to, since games 2 and 3 don't seem to be worth the effort if we still only make it to a 40/60 against them. Elspeth to the side seems a good idea overall. I might try big Lili at some point, but at 5 mana I could imagine more powerful effects. Occasionally winning games sounds of course fine, the question is what the overall ratio is and how much more consistent the reanimation plan gets with her, precisely on that I'm not quite sure.
I thought so, yes. This a commitment one has to make with running 6 ramp cards, I found for myself that 3 is the right number to go in the above build, not terribly altering the topdeck ratio and being able to swing for 2 with Elesh or chump some opposing fliers (looking at Spirits, which isn't great to play against either). Sure a blocker is (often) more valuable than discard when topdecking, it is however nice to draw a discard spell to keep in hand until some bigger spell comes around you need to protect. Might as well be a thing of personal taste in the end, but in this regard I think being proactive is the better way currently, especially since removal is often more expensive than just B. In the end, your matchup against Burn might be better though due to Caryatids.
Champion has performed so well that I've gone up to 2 copies, though I don't think it warrants more. Eternalizing and drawing four is back breaking against decks when you have stabilized. Or in the Case of an elesh norn drawing 6 is basically game ( which I did tonight against the arclight deck) It allows you to keep hands that are mostly ok but could be better. In some ways/ boardstates its better than brutality and works amazing with sun titan, filtering your hand and preparing for the next attack trigger.
KoR actually got dropped tonight after FNM as I managed to trade for 2 copies of Autumn between rounds. KoR came in as a way to go lower on the curve and apply pressure, so decks like ponza, control,and tron. Autumn is able to fill that role and be more versatile. KoR in my build is no where near as versatile as I have way fewer utility lands. With Autumn in the SB I'm debating dropping the 2 Finks from the SB for more answers, like nihil spellbomb,and maybe a geist of st traft as autumn has the 4 life that finks would bring and that with the 3 copies of Brutality means I have a good amount of life gain for it.
You don't actually wait the whole turn for Noxious with a gift pile, you pay 2 life and make whatever you want your next draw. But with this build I'm starting to question it's slot. I may change it up in the future.
That sounds like a test-worthy subject tbh., but to be fair, with an Elesh out you do not need to worry too much, the draw 6 just seals the deal that was almost done anyway. I also agree on KoA replacing KotR, the versatility is key in this deck and you might even be able to cast it through a Blood Moon with the amount of dorks you run (how was your experience with Moon so far? Steve seems to help a little). Regarding your GY hate slots I'm not sold on that, Crypt and Spell Bomb are too narrow I think, Dredge can rather easily recover from a single blow like this and you need to hold up mana permanently. Have you considered Surgical Extraction?
I might post a newly built, more streamlined version of my previous build that durdles a little less (although that's of course what we all like to some extent). The focus is more towards midrange with Tasigurs and Anglers as early beaters that help stabilise and apply pressure. I put out the ramp, the EE/Loam Engine and instead added a bunch of cantrips in Thought Scour. I need to get it onto here, then I'll link it.
Thanks for the feedback and the updated article. I'll update my spreadsheet with the better numbers and look to adjust as needed.
I did consider surgical and it may be right to use over a crypt. I looked at crypt/spellbomb as they are permanents that can be recurred and nihil works well with sun titan as a durdly draw engine. The tendrils is in their for dredge, arclight, hollow one among others. Since it has the exile clause, its also nice that my caryatids will survive it too.
Honestly both the ponza decks and both Arclights tried to color screw me with blood moon and with the caryatids I didn't even notice it. The last arclight match he got it out twice and I didn't have caryatids and it left me unable to cast most of my deck even with steve getting a basic. Steve is less adept at handling the moon as it limits the colors more.
The numbers did not change so much, at some point he now even requires a land less to 'consistently cast' your spells. In the case of my list, the bottleneck mostly is the 1BB cost of LotV and to some extent the 2UU of JtMS, but he does not need to come down as early as possible, the primary 4-drop is of course Gifts, so that's mostly fine I guess.
It is true that non-Snapcaster lists usually run the permanent versions of GY hate, however, have you considered a 1-of Snapcaster? It is neither a bad topdeck nor bad when included in a Gifts pile for additional value, it could for example replace the Noxious Revival in your current build. Another option I have sometimes run is Wheel of Sun and Moon, which would be a natural fit due to your tendency towards W. Of course, it does not remove anything that is already in the GY and somewhat competes in the 2-drop slot in your list, but I nevertheless wanted to mention it. Speaking of toying around a little, I came up with a more streamlined list which is essentially UBwg and has a Delve sub-theme. Possibly cutting G and adding more counters (e.g. Negate, Mana Leak, eventually Logic Knot) is a valid option, but I need to do some fine-tuning still.
Sadly I don't have a FNM update this week as I didn't play with the holiday.
I have considered Snapcaster, and do want him in the list but have not been able to pick one up in trade. I have my fingers crossed that I'll be able to get a copy of snap and maelstrom pulse once UMA drops. Tormod's crypt is getting dropped for a surgical as it will help the tron match-up some in the case where I get to trophy a tron land and surgical it away. I think the pile would be something like noxious, snap,surgical, trophy as if they bin both surgical and trophy you immediately noxious the trophy then trophy and snap+ surgical on your turn.
I haven't had time to playtest in ages (that is, months in fact), so I can't provide any data either.
Might be a good call right after release. Surgicals, however, seem to spike a little bit at the moment, possibly a good call to let everything calm down a bit. Temporarily, you could play Extirpate instead of the single Snapcaster, which lets you still perform the Gifts pile you suggested above.
Another FNM another Report
This week’s theme: Iona, Game?
Round 1 – Runaway Red (2-1)
Games 2 and 3 I stick Iona he concedes. Game 1 he hit double Arclight off faithless on turn 1, just way too fast of a start.
Round 2 – Mono Black Devotion (1-2)
Game 1 I lock him with Iona at 2 1 life, I use lingering souls to chump block his Geralf's Messenger. I got too greedy and swung with my last soul token and casted a champion of wits as a blocker forgetting messenger has 2 power. Game 3 I never see a 3rd land or mana dork after 6 draws.
Round 3 – Traverse Jund (2-0)
Game 1 he floods and get mana screwed but I dig out and win with Iona + souls. Game 2 I use knight and back to back to back lingering souls to beat him down.
Round 4 – Grishoalbrand (2-1)
Game 1 T3 Gifts for Iona locking out black. Game 2 he blood moons me and He through the breaches bob, and double combat + land pitch to close the game. Game 3 I turn 3 gifts for Iona and double brutality to pull his hand and drain to speed the clock up.
Here is the version I'm going to run tomorrow for a store event. The only changes from tonights version is fulimator and bojuka bog. Which I picked up after the FNM.
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Snapcaster mage
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Thragtusk
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Spells:
4 Serum Visions
4 Gifts Ungiven
3 Lingering Souls
3 Liliana of the veil
1 Liliana, the last hope
2 Logic Knot
2 Spell Snare
1 Sultai Charm
3 Fatal Push
1 Assassin's Trophy
1 Path to exile
1 Mission Briefing
1 Unburial Rites
24 Lands (including 1-2 manlands)
Draft My Cube!
4 Noble Hierarchs
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Death's Shadow
4 Street Wraith
2 Architects of Will
1 Snapcaster mage
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Spells (21)
4 Thoughtseize
3 Fatal Push
3 Assassin's Trophy
3 Stubborn denial
3 Gifts Ungiven
1 Unburial Rites
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Mausoleum Secrets
4 Verdant catacombs
4 Polluted Delta
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Marsh flats
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Godless Shrine
1 Breeding Pool
2 Watery Grave
1 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Island
Mausoleum Secrets allows for nice toolbox tech out of the SB, such as:
Draft My Cube!
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Grim Flayer
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
4 Gifts Ungiven
4 Lingering Souls
3 Liliana of the veil
1 Liliana, the last Hope
3 Assassin's Trophy
1 Fatal Push
1 Path to Exile
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Unburial Rites
24 Lands (including Creeping Tar Pit)
A setup like this could put early pressure on and potentially Gifts for Norn as a way to close the game, not just lock out the opponent's creatures. With no counterspells or discard spells, the control and combo match-ups might be difficult. I would definitely need Sun Titan/Fulminator Mage in the SB for control and probably Iona, Shield of Emeria for combo.
Draft My Cube!
The Idea build would Have 1 Path be a Assassin's Trophy and The detention sphere should be a Maelstrom Pulse and baby jace should be a Snapcaster but they're not readily available locally.
I'm debating whether the Thirst should be a second champion as the eternalize is a late game threat/ refill your hand and it works to smooth out draws and as discard fodder to brutality. Right now I have it as a 1/1 split for names sake, but I could see going up to 2 as it does great with brutality. The manabase is really rough as I'm working on the numbers to up the basic count to allow for Steve and work with field of ruin and potential Trophy hits. The sideboard will probably change more in the future if I can get ahold of the knight of autumn
Edit: Did some trading today and after some thought I put in an E witt and a Sun titan. I dropped the thirst and moved settle to the board.
1x Champion of Wits
3x Collective Brutality
1x Creeping Tar Pit
1x Day of Judgment
1x Detention Sphere
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1x Field of Ruin
2x Forest
1x Ghost Quarter
1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
4x Gifts Ungiven
2x Godless Shrine
2x Hallowed Fountain
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Island
1x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
1x Liliana, Death's Majesty
4x Lingering Souls
1x Noxious Revival
2x Overgrown Tomb
3x Path to Exile
2x Plains
2x Polluted Delta
2x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Settle the Wreckage
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Swamp
4x Sylvan Caryatid
2x Temple Garden
1x Thirst for Knowledge
1x Unburial Rites
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Watery Grave
2x Windswept Heath
1x Wrath of God
2x Damping Sphere
1x Detention Sphere
2x Knight of the Reliquary
1x Life from the Loam
1x Raven's Crime
2x Spell Pierce
1x Sphinx of the Steel Wind
2x Stony Silence
1x Terastodon
2x Timely Reinforcements
Link to deck @ TappedOut.net
4c Gifts Deck Stats: https://bit.ly/2XMPrlY
https://pucatrade.com/invite/gift/120495
Round 1- Naya Ponza
Game one I get it with Iona
Game 2 he beats with a lucky 7th land to monstrous a stormbreath
Game 3- I get it with a Knight of reliquary, at one point I cast a loam with 0 lands in play and more that 3 lands in grave off carytids and target 0 lands as keeping the KOR being 5+ power was more important.
In all 3 games Caryitids and steves were instrumental in keeping me in the game. Carytids were able to keep me from being locked under a blood moon and let me play with only 1 or 2 lands in play most of the game.
Round 2 - U Tron (1-1-1W)
Game 1- he lands an Ugin, I'm not able to beat it bolting me every turn. I never saw a gifts.
Game 2- Damping sphere and ravens crime and removal allow Champion to beat down.
Game 3- We go to turns, he concedes as he is dropping after this round.
Round 3 - Naya Zoo w/ Pelt collector (1-2)
Game 1- he wins with fast beats.
Game 2- he has a fast hand but I survive and unburial Elesh while he floods out.
Game 3- I t3 a gifts in response to a thalia off a broodbraid. Then unburial with the tax on T4, wrathing his board. He paths my elesh norn and is able to squeek out the beats before I can recover.
Round 4 - Jund (1-1-1)
We agree to draw for prizes. We have done several test games throughout the week.
After game trading I've managed to pickup Trophy and 2 finks. 1 trophy replaced a Path and the Finks replace the Timely as its guaranteed body and life and works with Liliana and Sun Titan. Would Prefer to pickup a maelstrom pulse and use that to replace the D sphere in the main.
1x Creeping Tar Pit
1x Field of Ruin
2x Forest
1x Ghost Quarter
2x Godless Shrine
2x Hallowed Fountain
1x Island
2x Overgrown Tomb
2x Plains
2x Polluted Delta
1x Swamp
2x Temple Garden
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Watery Grave
2x Windswept Heath
Enchantment (1)
1x Detention Sphere
Creature (12)
1x Champion of Wits
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Eternal Witness
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy Flip
2x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Sun Titan
4x Sylvan Caryatid
3x Collective Brutality
1x Day of Judgment
4x Lingering Souls
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Unburial Rites
1x Wrath of God
Planeswalker (2)
1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1x Liliana, Death's Majesty
Instant (11)
2x Abrupt Decay
1x Assassin's Trophy
4x Gifts Ungiven
1x Noxious Revival
3x Path to Exile
2x Damping Sphere
1x Detention Sphere
1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2x Kitchen Finks
2x Knight of the Reliquary
1x Life from the Loam
1x Raven's Crime
1x Settle the Wreckage
1x Sphinx of the Steel Wind
2x Stony Silence
1x Terastodon
After Trades and working on the deck this morning this is how its now sitting, the only change I'm currently considering is dropping Elspeth for a second champion and picking up a maelstrom pulse to replace the MB d sphere.:
1x Creeping Tar Pit
1x Field of Ruin
1x Forest
1x Ghost Quarter
1x Godless Shrine
2x Hallowed Fountain
1x Island
2x Overgrown Tomb
1x Plains
2x Polluted Delta
1x Snow-Covered Plains
1x Snow-Covered Swamp
2x Temple Garden
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Watery Grave
2x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Foothills
Reuse (4)
1x Eternal Witness
1x Liliana, Death's Majesty
1x Noxious Revival
1x Sun Titan
1x Champion of Wits
3x Collective Brutality
1x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy Flip
4x Lingering Souls
Spot Removal (7)
2x Abrupt Decay
1x Assassin's Trophy
1x Detention Sphere
3x Path to Exile
Wrath Package (3)
1x Day of Judgment
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Wrath of God
Finisher (1)
1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Gifts (4)
4x Gifts Ungiven
Unburial Package (3)
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Unburial Rites
Ramp (6)
2x Sakura-Tribe Elder
4x Sylvan Caryatid
1x Abrupt Decay
2x Damping Sphere
2x Kitchen Finks
2x Knight of the Reliquary
1x Life from the Loam
1x Liliana, the Last Hope
1x Raven's Crime
1x Settle the Wreckage
1x Sphinx of the Steel Wind
2x Stony Silence
1x Terastodon
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/10-11-18-NJm-4c-gifts/?cb=1541865238
4c Gifts Deck Stats: https://bit.ly/2XMPrlY
https://pucatrade.com/invite/gift/120495
Draft My Cube!
4c Gifts Deck Stats: https://bit.ly/2XMPrlY
https://pucatrade.com/invite/gift/120495
Regarding my own list, I added some additional spice (or jank, however you would like to call it) which I will outline below.
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Temple Garden
1 Watery Grave
1 Godless Shrine
1 Breeding Pool
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Academy Ruins
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Forest
1 Island
2 Marsh Flats
3 Misty Rainforest
1 Plains
1 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Celestial Colonnade
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Tectonic Edge
Creature
3 Birds of Paradise
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Ensnaring Bridge
Instant
4 Gifts Ungiven
1 Path to Exile
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Fatal Push
2 Assassin's Trophy
Sorcery
1 Life from the Loam
1 Damnation
1 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Unburial Rites
2 Lingering Souls
2 Thoughtseize
1 Collective Brutality
Planeswalker
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Liliana of the Veil
3 Stony Silence
2 Torpor Orb
1 Batterskull
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Spellskite
1 Extirpate
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Raven's Crime
2 Liliana, the Last Hope
Things that might seem unusual are the following: Ensnaring Bridge as an additional artifact in the package together with Loam is in a sense a concession to Hollow One and alikes, as the relatively high power of those threats activates bridge more easily in recent times. Besides that, it tends to help against manlands of opposing control decks when drawn naturally. I moved Raven's Crime to the sideboard and added the 4th copy of LotV since I wanted to retain the amount of discard for my creatures while I felt that a naturally drawn Raven's Crime in the absence of Loam wasn't overwhelmingly good. Contrary to that, Loam is an integral piece of the list together in the denial plan with Tectonic Edge and the various packages including Engineered Explosives or the bridge. I have chosen Tec Edge over Field of Ruin since I run only 4 basic lands, which at some point gives the opponent an upside as soon as we ourselves can't find any more lands of it. Similar reasoning applies to Ghost Quarter, which does not allow us to keep our opponent from hitting 1UUU for Cryptics.
I decided to go with BoP for the T1 dork and possibly T2 LotV, which often is a great play and even if they eat a Lightning Bolt or a Fatal Push, it is tempo-neutral. Needless to say, in a 4C list with heavy colour requirements, the fixing is also a nontrivial thing to consider (aside from fringe cases such as EE on 5, which has happened though). The 1-of JtMS is nice to have against some opponents and mostly drawn naturally, although I have included him in Gifts piles already in order to get given the other options for sure. When both PWs hit the board, things become quite awesome as one would expect, bouncing a creature with Jace and letting it discard afterwards is an incredibly powerful play (and pretty fun, too!).
Lastly, the 3/1 split between Decay/Trophy is due to the drawback of an early-turn Trophy compared to a Decay, where the latter does the job most of the time. Also, Decay kills Death's Shadow through eventual Stubborn Denials, which is an additional upside. Also, this lets us Gift for very universal removal spells and Snapcaster Mage, having an out against most of the stuff that's happening in Modern right now. These were my additional 2 cents, I might at some point also share my take on 4C Azcanta Gifts, which is a little more U-centered and controlling without as many attrition as the Rock-style variant.
Cheers!
The ramp on t2 is key to the my builds success, the games where I was able to ramp t2 I felt way more competitive. As I want to jump the curve from on T3 with 4 mana spells (wrath/ gifts) With many decks being so aggressive ramp that can block is important. The caryatids are helpful with mana denial and blocking any attacker with p2 or less and preventing edicts of Iona in LOTV decks.
Steve and Field of Ruin has forced the mana base to include more basics, while there are other ramp that wouldn't have this requirement I want to guarantee my ramp on t2, which is why other ramp like BOP were not used as I don't want to invest my turn in ramping to have it die to push/bolt/etc. I also considered and tested farseek- which would have the same t2 ramp and allow you to fetch a shock into play, but I've found Steve a better topdeck and chumping t2 to ramp before damage is great way to save 2-4 point of damage.
Noxious has always been great in my lists it allows you to tutor for 1 card and get a value card with your gift pile (snap/jace/ ewitt + noxious + target and value) Its also a way you can mess with a grave as you can top any card in any graveyard has in a pinch a way to fizzle a graveyard play (I once topped a unburial target in a mirror match).
4c Gifts Deck Stats: https://bit.ly/2XMPrlY
https://pucatrade.com/invite/gift/120495
That is something I would associate to a meta call, spot removal is pretty bad against quite a few decks, UW Control and to some extent Burn or swarm strategies such as BW Tokens, while disrupting their hand preemptively is sometimes the way to go there. As often said, 4C Gifts is highly customisable to your local meta, so let's go with that.
Sure ramp on T2 is great, but the ramp cards are pretty bad topdecks to be fair (and since you mentioned this issue in your previous post), and you play quite a bunch of them. Sure Steve can chump, but this does not save the day in the end, in the best case (and only there) you buy yourself another turn. Noxious Revival is also a pretty bad topdeck as you need to wait an entire turn to use the card you wished for, plus you're down one card overall. I played quite some time with a 1-of Noxious Revival together with an Eternal Witness to guarantee a Gifts pile but it rarely was used and it even more rarely was useful. Secondly, do you sometimes get 'the wrong half of your deck'-draws? This occasionally happens when playing some air in the deck, I recall that issue from decks like Ponza with a bunch of ramp, although admittedly this is another category all by itself.
Regarding the rest I still have some comments, how did you find the performance of Elspeth, Sun's Champion and Liliana, Death's Majesty? They seem high-costed to be honest, does the ramp amount to making the jump from the crucial 4 lands to 6? Concerning the sideboard, against what matchups do you side Knight of the Reliquary and how did you find it so far?
Beat a different player/version of R/G Ponza again. and 1 arclight deck. Lost to 1 Esper control and 1 arclight deck.
I've actually moved Elspeth to the SB during the week. Most of modern has gotten extremely linear and fast so 6 mana is a bit much and the 3 soldiers don't always stablize you. Big Lili has been pretty good, it making a token and milling 2 is fine but its in there as a backup way to reanimate creatures. I am a bit biased as during the game I won against Esper control she milled Iona with an unburail already in grave.
The wrong half of the deck problem, and bad ramp top decks kind of go hand in hand. I have tried to mitigate that with ways to discard to value or get pseudo redraws through brutality and champion but variance is still a thing It does feel bad to draw ramp you don't need but to me drawing a chump blocker is better than drawing discard when your both in a topdeck war. Carytid is good at blocking what would otherwise be free damage for the opponent and steve can at least deck thin in the late game to mitigate your odds of drawing a land.
Champion has performed so well that I've gone up to 2 copies, though I don't think it warrants more. Eternalizing and drawing four is back breaking against decks when you have stabilized. Or in the Case of an elesh norn drawing 6 is basically game ( which I did tonight against the arclight deck) It allows you to keep hands that are mostly ok but could be better. In some ways/ boardstates its better than brutality and works amazing with sun titan, filtering your hand and preparing for the next attack trigger.
KoR actually got dropped tonight after FNM as I managed to trade for 2 copies of Autumn between rounds. KoR came in as a way to go lower on the curve and apply pressure, so decks like ponza, control,and tron. Autumn is able to fill that role and be more versatile. KoR in my build is no where near as versatile as I have way fewer utility lands. With Autumn in the SB I'm debating dropping the 2 Finks from the SB for more answers, like nihil spellbomb,and maybe a geist of st traft as autumn has the 4 life that finks would bring and that with the 3 copies of Brutality means I have a good amount of life gain for it.
You don't actually wait the whole turn for Noxious with a gift pile, you pay 2 life and make whatever you want your next draw. But with this build I'm starting to question it's slot. I may change it up in the future.
EoTGifts- you mentioned earlier some concerns about my manabase, its not perfect but considering the article from (https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/frank-analysis-how-many-colored-mana-sources-do-you-need-to-consistently-cast-your-spells/) its not to far off from where it needs to be-
19 16 12 13
White Black Blue Green
Here is my updated list, I don't have the finks out as I need to spend more time debating the SB changes.
1x Creeping Tar Pit
1x Field of Ruin
1x Forest
1x Ghost Quarter
1x Godless Shrine
2x Hallowed Fountain
1x Island
2x Overgrown Tomb
1x Plains
2x Polluted Delta
1x Snow-Covered Plains
1x Snow-Covered Swamp
2x Temple Garden
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Watery Grave
2x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Foothills
Reuse (5)
1x Eternal Witness
1x Liliana, Death's Majesty
1x Liliana, the Last Hope
1x Noxious Revival
1x Sun Titan
2x Abrupt Decay
1x Assassin's Trophy
1x Detention Sphere
3x Path to Exile
Self Discard (9)
2x Champion of Wits
3x Collective Brutality
4x Lingering Souls
Wrath Package (3)
1x Day of Judgment
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Wrath of God
Gifts (4)
4x Gifts Ungiven
Unburial Package (3)
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Unburial Rites
Ramp (6)
2x Sakura-Tribe Elder
4x Sylvan Caryatid
1x Abrupt Decay
2x Damping Sphere
1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2x Kitchen Finks
2x Knight of Autumn
1x Life from the Loam
1x Raven's Crime
1x Settle the Wreckage
1x Sphinx of the Steel Wind
2x Stony Silence
1x Terastodon
Edit:
After some thinking this is the new sideboard I'm going to toss in
2x Damping Sphere- storm, arclights, tron
1x Detention Sphere- exile maelstrom pulse for dredge, Arclight, phoenix and tron that runs a lot of non creatures
2x Flaying Tendrils- small wrath to handle dredge, affinity, Arclight, infect and phoenix also hits most of human and spirits
2x Knight of Autumn – versatile creature simple enough, life gain for aggressive decks, 4/3 better for decks like u/w and tron, rec sage for kci, affinity and blood moons/rips.
1x Life from the Loam/ 1x Raven's Crime- crime loam package for Tron and UW control, loam is also useful against ponza decks
1x Settle the Wreckage exile wrath for all the decks that hate flaying tendrils.
2x Stony Silence- KCI Affinity tron
1x Terastodon- alt reanimator for Tron
1x Tormod's Crypt/ 1x Nihil Spellbomb- grave hate
Dropped:
1x Abrupt Decay- I have 2 AB and 1 trophy main the 3rd seems redundant and is better served as a detention sphere to exile threats in mass.
1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion – too high costing of a finisher rarely good to see now that abzan and jund midrange decks both run trophy as part of their removal package
2x Kitchen Finks – is basically defunct for life gain by knight of Autumn
1x Sphinx of the Steel Wind- looking at the majority of the meta Sphinx wins combat but most of those combat heavy decks where his many clauses would be useful an elesh norn basically locks combat out for the opponent.
4c Gifts Deck Stats: https://bit.ly/2XMPrlY
https://pucatrade.com/invite/gift/120495
Well, you did considerably better at your FNM than I did at my last attempt with Bant Knightfall Gifts, it was a carnage. Yes, the linearity has become an issue for me, too, I feel that especially Tron is a matchup to pass on and possibly not even worth dedicating too much slots to, since games 2 and 3 don't seem to be worth the effort if we still only make it to a 40/60 against them. Elspeth to the side seems a good idea overall. I might try big Lili at some point, but at 5 mana I could imagine more powerful effects. Occasionally winning games sounds of course fine, the question is what the overall ratio is and how much more consistent the reanimation plan gets with her, precisely on that I'm not quite sure.
I thought so, yes. This a commitment one has to make with running 6 ramp cards, I found for myself that 3 is the right number to go in the above build, not terribly altering the topdeck ratio and being able to swing for 2 with Elesh or chump some opposing fliers (looking at Spirits, which isn't great to play against either). Sure a blocker is (often) more valuable than discard when topdecking, it is however nice to draw a discard spell to keep in hand until some bigger spell comes around you need to protect. Might as well be a thing of personal taste in the end, but in this regard I think being proactive is the better way currently, especially since removal is often more expensive than just B. In the end, your matchup against Burn might be better though due to Caryatids.
That sounds like a test-worthy subject tbh., but to be fair, with an Elesh out you do not need to worry too much, the draw 6 just seals the deal that was almost done anyway. I also agree on KoA replacing KotR, the versatility is key in this deck and you might even be able to cast it through a Blood Moon with the amount of dorks you run (how was your experience with Moon so far? Steve seems to help a little). Regarding your GY hate slots I'm not sold on that, Crypt and Spell Bomb are too narrow I think, Dredge can rather easily recover from a single blow like this and you need to hold up mana permanently. Have you considered Surgical Extraction?
Regarding the mana base, there is an updated article from Frank Karsten in which he updates and refines some of his assumptions, leading to slightly different numbers. Just follow the link for the updated version: https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/how-many-colored-mana-sources-do-you-need-to-consistently-cast-your-spells-a-guilds-of-ravnica-update/. However, 13 sources for G sound a little sketchy concerning that you require GG in your list for Witness, although it is a 1-of of course.
I might post a newly built, more streamlined version of my previous build that durdles a little less (although that's of course what we all like to some extent). The focus is more towards midrange with Tasigurs and Anglers as early beaters that help stabilise and apply pressure. I put out the ramp, the EE/Loam Engine and instead added a bunch of cantrips in Thought Scour. I need to get it onto here, then I'll link it.
I did consider surgical and it may be right to use over a crypt. I looked at crypt/spellbomb as they are permanents that can be recurred and nihil works well with sun titan as a durdly draw engine. The tendrils is in their for dredge, arclight, hollow one among others. Since it has the exile clause, its also nice that my caryatids will survive it too.
Honestly both the ponza decks and both Arclights tried to color screw me with blood moon and with the caryatids I didn't even notice it. The last arclight match he got it out twice and I didn't have caryatids and it left me unable to cast most of my deck even with steve getting a basic. Steve is less adept at handling the moon as it limits the colors more.
4c Gifts Deck Stats: https://bit.ly/2XMPrlY
https://pucatrade.com/invite/gift/120495
It is true that non-Snapcaster lists usually run the permanent versions of GY hate, however, have you considered a 1-of Snapcaster? It is neither a bad topdeck nor bad when included in a Gifts pile for additional value, it could for example replace the Noxious Revival in your current build. Another option I have sometimes run is Wheel of Sun and Moon, which would be a natural fit due to your tendency towards W. Of course, it does not remove anything that is already in the GY and somewhat competes in the 2-drop slot in your list, but I nevertheless wanted to mention it. Speaking of toying around a little, I came up with a more streamlined list which is essentially UBwg and has a Delve sub-theme. Possibly cutting G and adding more counters (e.g. Negate, Mana Leak, eventually Logic Knot) is a valid option, but I need to do some fine-tuning still.
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
3 Gurmag Angler
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
Enchantment
2 Search for Azcanta
Land
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Temple Garden
1 Watery Grave
1 Godless Shrine
1 Breeding Pool
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Forest
2 Marsh Flats
4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
2 Shambling Vent
1 Swamp
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Field of Ruin
4 Gifts Ungiven
1 Path to Exile
4 Thought Scour
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Fatal Push
Sorcery
2 Duress
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Unburial Rites
2 Lingering Souls
2 Collective Brutality
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
Planeswalker
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Liliana of the Veil
3 Wheel of Sun and Moon
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Damping Sphere
1 Celestial Purge
1 Life from the Loam
1 Raven's Crime
1 Supreme Verdict
As always, feel free to comment.
I have considered Snapcaster, and do want him in the list but have not been able to pick one up in trade. I have my fingers crossed that I'll be able to get a copy of snap and maelstrom pulse once UMA drops. Tormod's crypt is getting dropped for a surgical as it will help the tron match-up some in the case where I get to trophy a tron land and surgical it away. I think the pile would be something like noxious, snap,surgical, trophy as if they bin both surgical and trophy you immediately noxious the trophy then trophy and snap+ surgical on your turn.
4c Gifts Deck Stats: https://bit.ly/2XMPrlY
https://pucatrade.com/invite/gift/120495
Might be a good call right after release. Surgicals, however, seem to spike a little bit at the moment, possibly a good call to let everything calm down a bit. Temporarily, you could play Extirpate instead of the single Snapcaster, which lets you still perform the Gifts pile you suggested above.
This week’s theme: Iona, Game?
Round 1 – Runaway Red (2-1)
Games 2 and 3 I stick Iona he concedes. Game 1 he hit double Arclight off faithless on turn 1, just way too fast of a start.
Round 2 – Mono Black Devotion (1-2)
Game 1 I lock him with Iona at 2 1 life, I use lingering souls to chump block his Geralf's Messenger. I got too greedy and swung with my last soul token and casted a champion of wits as a blocker forgetting messenger has 2 power. Game 3 I never see a 3rd land or mana dork after 6 draws.
Round 3 – Traverse Jund (2-0)
Game 1 he floods and get mana screwed but I dig out and win with Iona + souls. Game 2 I use knight and back to back to back lingering souls to beat him down.
Round 4 – Grishoalbrand (2-1)
Game 1 T3 Gifts for Iona locking out black. Game 2 he blood moons me and He through the breaches bob, and double combat + land pitch to close the game. Game 3 I turn 3 gifts for Iona and double brutality to pull his hand and drain to speed the clock up.
Here is the version I'm going to run tomorrow for a store event. The only changes from tonights version is fulimator and bojuka bog. Which I picked up after the FNM.
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Creeping Tar Pit
1x Field of Ruin
1x Flooded Strand
1x Forest
1x Ghost Quarter
1x Godless Shrine
2x Hallowed Fountain
1x Island
2x Overgrown Tomb
1x Plains
2x Polluted Delta
1x Snow-Covered Plains
1x Snow-Covered Swamp
2x Temple Garden
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Watery Grave
2x Windswept Heath
Spot Removal (8)
2x Abrupt Decay
1x Assassin's Trophy
1x Detention Sphere
1x Maelstrom Pulse
3x Path to Exile
1x Eternal Witness
1x Liliana, Death's Majesty
1x Liliana, the Last Hope
1x Sun Titan
Self Discard (9)
2x Champion of Wits
3x Collective Brutality
4x Lingering Souls
Wrath Package (3)
1x Day of Judgment
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Wrath of God
Gifts (4)
4x Gifts Ungiven
Unburial Package (3)
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Unburial Rites
Ramp (6)
2x Sakura-Tribe Elder
4x Sylvan Caryatid
2x Damping Sphere
1x Detention Sphere
2x Flaying Tendrils
1x Fulminator Mage
2x Knight of Autumn
2x Knight of the Reliquary
1x Life from the Loam
1x Raven's Crime
2x Stony Silence
1x Terastodon
Link to deck @ TappedOut.net
4c Gifts Deck Stats: https://bit.ly/2XMPrlY
https://pucatrade.com/invite/gift/120495