Anybody playing Gifts Ungiven?
Modern forum
Posted on Feb. 16, 2015, 12:09 p.m. by kbarnhart
I'm looking to build an Esper Gifts Ungiven deck. Possibly splashing green.
I don't see many youtube videos of the deck and never see anybody talking about it on here.
Is there a reason why? Is it just not a good deck? I like the style of it, cheating out some 1 of win cons.
Opinions on the deck? Deck lists? Reasons for not playing it ?
slovakattack says... #3
Hi there, kbarnhart! I actually do play Gifts Ungiven in paper, and it is my preferred deck in Modern. My current four color list is here.
I consider Gifts to be tier 1.5, and it is liable to increase or decrease in viability as the meta shifts and turns. Expect to see more Gifts in the future, as the current meta favors it more than the Delver-focused meta of the past. If you have any questions regarding Gifts, lemme know!
February 16, 2015 12:18 p.m.
Theres two shells that really play the card: 4 color good stuff Gifts (
/
/
/
) and the / Tron lists. The reason 4 color gifts hasn't been seen around in a while is because the card that made it good (and also its hardest card to fight through) was Deathrite Shaman since it provided ramp, life gain, AND late game reach to steal a win. That being said I'd still call it a tier 1.5 deck, its not QUITE good enough to tack top tier but depending on the meta it can be really good.
As for the tron list, people just would rather play the 
/ list for all the red removal (Pyroclasm and Anger of the Gods) to deal with the horde of aggro and then plant a Wurmcoil Engine. The / list also is just better in the mirror match since it races to tron faster. I personally actually think that the mono- and / lists are better everywhere else EXCEPT the mirror, but because Tron is a relatively popular deck the mirror is actually an important consideration.
February 16, 2015 12:18 p.m.
As slovakattack said too, it was also bad against the Delver lists and is fairly favorable in the current meta. Midrange decks like 4C Gifts that aim to do slightly unfair things smack around midrange decks like Abzan that just want to play Rhinos and Goyfs, and Abzan is a pretty damn popular deck at the moment.
February 16, 2015 12:21 p.m.
I'm running gifts and it just feels clunky in the meta right now. Mind you i've exclusively been playing against Abzan it's always been an uphill battle for me.
Scavenging Ooze is a bitch too so once people figure out your on gifts it's usually a rough time.
But it could just be me.
Also, I think infect is going to start seeing a rise in play as some people are seeing new cards that can win them games ahem Become Immense so I'm not so sure how well gifts would hold it's own against that.
SB Melira?
February 16, 2015 1:47 p.m.
slovakattack says... #7
Caligula: It depends on your list, really. It's really easy to metagame with Gifts- it's one of the things I like so much about it :3
GlistenerAgent says... #2
slovakattack
February 16, 2015 12:13 p.m.