ChiefWannaHacka: Ugh, regarding the tier thing, I totally hear that. But with proper piloting, Gifts can make em' bleed, and win LGS tourneys, which is really what I'm going for. Not looking to win Star City with it, just to have fun with a deck that gives you back as much as you put skill into it.

In terms of the 3 mana leak... that's actually not accurate. I forgot to update my deck, it should be 1x Mana Leak , 1x Cryptic Command and 1x Dismember . It should be fixed now.

Now, as for why so few counterspells... I feel like the deck should have them, but I don't like the idea of actually searching up counters, as they can be pretty easy to workaround when you know they're coming.

@ChiefWannaHacka Some cards are just the best at what they do. An example of this is Path to Exile . You can Gifts for four different removal spells, but Path is something that is always great against a creature deck.

@slovakattack Yeah, I agree with that. Gifts allows you to run answers as opposed to counters. Counters are really just for the control/combo matchups.

@ GlistenerAgent I understand that, but Gifts allows you flexibility. I ran 2x Path to Exile in my old gifts list, cause it's that good, but sometimes you just want to find 4 instant speed removal spells. Playing 3x path over say 2x path and 1x Go for the Throat , Disfigure , or Kill it dead spell allows you to work that flexibility more.

GlistenerAgent: Wow, what a week. My internet's been down for the last 3 freaking days @.@

To comment on what you said earlier, I actually pulled a few Flooded Strand at my prerelease (yay!), so I'm good for that :D

I'm currently mulling over just mainboarding a set of boardwipes, taking out the Mana Leak , Cryptic Command and a Path to Exile . Where their spot would be in the sideboard would probably be taken up with a set of Leyline of Sanctity ...

But yeah, that art. I heard some people complaining, but I personally love what they've done with the dragon remains...

GlistenerAgent: I'm actually pretty torn on the boardwipes thing. What do you think?

Test it out yourself! You have enough removal that dealing with creatures shouldn't be too hard, but the insurance is nice. It's your choice as to whether or not the meta is suitable for the wraths.

GlistenerAgent: Heheh, that's fair, that's fair. My internet's been completely bonkers the past few weeks, so I'm just wigging out >.<

New cards that might work for you!

Despise

Murderous Cut

Sultai Charm - Extremely versatile in terms of targets

Possibly Treasure Cruise as you could cast it for dirt cheap with all the spell slinging you got going on.

Just some things to mull over =)

Caligula: A lot of these are interesting, but I don't really think I need cards dedicated to card advantage in this build, as Gifts generates card advantage directly through it's copies of Gifts Ungiven . That being said, I like Murderous Cut ... I may need to try and find a place for it.

Caligula: A lot of these are interesting, but I don't really think I need cards dedicated to card advantage in this build, as Gifts generates card advantage directly through it's copies of Gifts Ungiven . That being said, I like Murderous Cut ... I may need to try and find a place for it.

Thanks!

Touche!

Yeah Murderous Cut I think is pretty under-rated right now, I think it'll trickle it's way down to modern soon enough

Shrink and destroy opposing Goyfs? What's not to like?

@Jp3ngu1nb0y Exactly, This card is worth it's weight, especially in that circumstance.. Which is alot.

GlistenerAgent: Hey man, I know it's been awhile, but I've just been gathering all the cards I need. The good news is that I only have a small amount of cards left! .

I'd like your thoughts on my rationale for the mainboard changes.

In playtesting, I actually found it really handy to have a set of Wraths aboard. I threw 2 in, my reasoning being that Engineered Explosives functions as it's own mini-wrath. This has been proven in testing, although with various degrees of effectiveness versus certain decks, obviously.

I don't think playing Day of Judgment in the sideboard is worth it if you already mainboard wraths. That frees up a slot.

If at all possible, try finding room for a third Snapcaster Mage . Cutting a Path to Exile sounds fine.

GlistenerAgent: An easy slot for a 3rd Snapcaster Mage could be freed up by kicking Maelstrom Pulse . An issue I'm having is that I'm not really sure what to fill my sideboard with now.

Nah. Maelstrom Pulse is so much gas. It's your only answer to a lot of things. Path to Exile is cuttable.

For the sideboard: Negate is played a lot, and is surprisingly good against blue decks. Consider Batterskull , possibly even in the maindeck.

GlistenerAgent On the subject of Maelstrom Pulse, I found myself agreeing. I don't really know how I'd feel completely cutting Path, to be honest. I like the idea of having a few 1 mana answers to powerful creatures. Good call on Negate, I may just throw a playset in the sideboard.

I thought a lot about Batterskull ... and I found myself comparing it to Wurmcoil Engine . I'd obviously need to test them, but I find myself leaning towards the idea that Wurmcoil is better. Is there enough room for them both, you think?

Oh sorry, I meant to cut one Path to Exile to fit the third Snapcaster Mage , not all of them.

I think you want to pick one of Wurmcoil and Batterskull . I'd rather be playing Wurmcoil Engine alongside Academy Ruins , but the decision should be based on which performs better in control/midrange matchups.

GlistenerAgent Ah, I didn't even notice I still had 3 Path. I thought it was down to 2...

I'm going to think heavily on this. I personally like the Snapcasters as just more Gift Package value, but a 3rd one certainly wouldn't hurt (anything but my wallet, that is. Ha! I kill me.)

looks like an excellent deck but id drop a few of the 1 ofs for 2 and 3 of others

@shadow63 What one-ofs? He's playing at least five of every card except Gifts Ungiven .

ok?

shadow63: What GlistenerAgent means is that Gifts Ungiven can fetch any card, and can therefore be counted toward an amount of, well, any card in the game. I often only need the 1-ofs for a single use, and cutting things like Slaughter Pact and Dismember in favor of just a set of Go for the Throat or filling out my sets of Path to Exile or Abrupt Decay would actually harm me, as I would not be able to search for them. (remember, Gifts Ungiven requires that you search for cards with different names. Since your opponent can dump 2, you really need at least 3 in order to consistently have an answer to what your opponent is doing.

Other single cards, such as Life from the Loam work well when fetched with other cards, such as (in the case of Life from the Loam utility lands.