Why is Walking Ballista in Gift Decks?

Standard Deck Help forum

Posted on June 29, 2018, 12:35 a.m. by NotControlPlater

I've got the cash on hand to build myself an Esper Gifts deck however most lists and decks i've seen have had close to a play set of Walking Ballista. Why is it played since there are no counters when it is gifted?

multimedia says... #2

Hey, if you're playing Refurbish then Ballista is less needed (2 of or none is fine), but if your playing Gate to the Afterlife then it's a key piece to speed up the combo (4 of is what you want). You can play Ballista for no mana cost this does two things: first it triggers Gate's loot and then it puts a creature (Ballista) in the graveyard which you need six or more of them to sac Gate to tutor for Gift.

Ballista speeds up the process of getting Gift online. For no mana you can possibly put the sixth creature (Ballista) into your grave which can then let you tutor for Gift with Gate that same turn. With a Refurbish strategy then Ballista is just an efficient colorless creature who can do damage to any target. It's not part of the Gift combo and is honestly not needed at all in the deck.

Be aware that you can only play Ballista in Standard until Oct. 5th this gives you three months to play it. When Ballista rotates out of Standard it's price is going to plummet which is already happening dropping $5 in a month. In my opinion, money you spend on Ballista would be better spent on staple Esper cards from Dominaria (Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Lyra Dawnbringer), Ixalan (Search for Azcanta  ^Flip, Vraska's Contempt, Settle the Wreckage) and M19 (Cleansing Nova, Remorseful Cleric, Nexus of Fate, Chromium, the Mutable).

June 29, 2018 2:14 a.m.