This is Gifts Tezzerator. There are a lot of one of's to make impossible to make a good choice Gifts Ungiven piles. The deck really wants to discard turn one like Thoughtseize into a mana rock like Talisman of Dominance turn 2 to a powerful turn 4 play like Gifts Ungiven, but getting the Sword of the Meek Thopter Foundry combo in your opener is always nice .
Gifts Ungiven Piles
The goal of a Gifts Ungiven pile is to make your opponent not have a good choice. This works well in this deck because we can many times guarantee we get what we want. If there is an X in the list this notates that you can put a super powerful card there that you are almost guaranteed to get in your hand.
Need a Removal Spell?
Pile: Snapcaster Mage, Fatal Push, Path to Exile, X
This pile works because if they don't give you a removal spell you get Snapcaster Mage which means you can flash it back. Torrential Gearhulk also works in this pile.
Need a Discard Spell?
Pile: Snapcaster Mage, Thoughtseize, Inquisition of Kozilek, Collective Brutality
This follows the same logic as the need for a removal spell except Torrential Gearhulk doesn't work.
Lands giving you Trouble?
Pile: Academy Ruins, Ghost Quarter, Crucible of Worlds, Extirpate
This pile is my favorite pile. With this pile they either give you the Crucible of Worlds Ghost Quarter Lock or they give you Ghost Quarter and Extirpate and tron can never be assembled.
Why is Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Iona, Shield of Emeria, and Unburial Rites on the sideboard?
Pile: Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or Iona, Shield of Emeria, Unburial Rites, Fail to Find, Fail to Find
Yes you can fail to find on cards for gifts ungiven! This forces the player to put those cards in your graveyard making this pile is a free reanimation of one of those awesome targets! Playing a mono colored deck? Make sure they never cast another spell! Playing vs. a ton of small creatures? Make sure they are always dead to state based actions!
There are several other piles that are possible. Just look for three cards that do the same thing or a way to get the cards back from the graveyard and 2 cards that do something you want and you have a pile. Other value piles can be made that guarantee you get a threat of some kind.
In conclusion, Gifts Ungiven is a very skill based card, and making your piles correctly is very important. Try to think of it like what would my opponent do, and if they do what you think you would do in their situation then you get what you wanted out of the situation, but if they give you something you didn't expect be prepared to play around cards or effects they might have that mess your plan up.
First to explain. The combo works like this: Sword of the Meek and Thopter Foundry are on the field. You sack the Sword of the Meek to the Thopter Foundry and a 1/1 Thopter token enters. The sword sees this and wants to come back from the graveyard, so you let it happen. Repeat this process based on how much mana you have, and you have a giant army at instant speed!
Great! I got my combo, but wait they have a Nihil Spellbomb on the field... I can't combo...
But you can! (If you have another artifact). As long as you are willing to sacrifice another artifact you can put the trigger back on the stack in response to their exile effect and you get to keep your sword! Just make sure you keep enough mana open to play around exile effects.
