Merchant Scroll just replaces itself with Ancestral or AK #4 without loosing a card. If you'd mystical or vamp for any of those, then you would end up with card disadvantage. So Merchant Scroll acts like a Demonic Tutor for blue instants. "-3 cards for +3 cards" isn't correct, since this would mean that there wouldn't be any card advantage at all. It's actually UU1 and one card (Ancestral itself) to get three new. Advantage of two cards, just like Intu/AK.


If you cast Scroll instead of leaving UU open (what you shouldn't do), that's true. But just like in Gift decks, Scroll can really protect you on Turn 1. Imagine a hand without Duress or Mox Sapphire / Lotus to get UU on Turn 1. Scrolling for Force ensures that you are well protected until you have Mana Drain online.


But unlike in Gifts, Merchant's application range is rather limited (Draw / Force only), so that's a good point. Maybe one Merchant Scroll would be justified to maximize the chance of finding that "golden" Ak # 4 after resolving the AK #3


Concerning Fling, you're right. It isn't needed with Bobs & Tendrils.

I can only encourage you to run that maindeck swamp. It dodges wasteland whenever you cast one of your FOUR "librarys with legs" (Confs), what makes it superior to the very situational and wasteable Library of TRASH

Hi, I got some questions concerning your decklist:

You only run 21 mana sources - did you test the amount of mana sources in this deck? Or is the low mana-count justified by the massive load of draw? I know that a resolved confidant fixes mana problems easily, but to get the Intu/AK-Engine rolling, you need to have some mana right from the beginning, or to rely on Drain-Mana entirely.

You're also running 14 black maindeck cards (including Tog). Did you ever consider cutting one Uground in favor of a maindeck swamp, like Dark Gifts? I know that this is controversial, due to Mana Drains UU requirement - but playing Duress Turn 1 is quite a bad play, if your opponent (staxx, oath, fish) just wastes one of your (few) lands.. in that case, you won't have mana drain online by turn 2 anyway.

So why do you prefer lava dart over darkblast in the board? Dredge has a lot of synergie with tog, and i think you can rather spend a draw in this deck than a land to replay your removal.

You also don't run Fling in the Sideboard. Fling can really speed up your kill with tog, if you have a Cunning Wish available.. but Gush does as well. Is that due to the Fact that you only run two wishes ?

What about maindeck Merchant Scroll ? You can tutor up Ancenstral, Ak # 4 or Cunning Wish, if needed. Another potent draw spell that didn't make the cut is FoF, obviously. Any insights?

Sorry for that many questions, I'm just interested in this deck ..

He was talking about Buried Alive. Up to three creatures. 1 Dragon 2 Win Conditions, like Caller or Ambassador, you can generate Mana with that single Swamp so you are able to kill. You probably thought of Buried Alive as an Entomb or sth.

I'm a big fan of merchant scroll as well, but Vampiric isn't only there to find Tinker. If you get an early game Vampiric, you can really start playing Gifts as an aggressive combo deck. Vampiric maindeck means having another direct Will / Lotus Tutor, who is also quite important to find the tendrils in your early Will Turns with limited access to Mana (Goldfishing Turn2/3). In traditional Gifts, you'd have to merchant for Mystical, and the Mystical for Tendrils, followed by a Brainstorm / whatever. Vampiric perfectly fits in the 3-Black that your Lotus is going to produce after you replayed it from your Graveyard in Will-Turns. It saves you 2 Blue, which you can use to Merchant for Chain of Vapor, and generate that critical storm..

Vampiric gives you the possibility to switch to a very agaggressivelaystyle, if your hand allows it, and to goldfish just as fast as other pure storm decks.

Hi, I just registered to give you guys some feedback on this deck

I'm the one who placed 3rd in the top8 Phele is referring to, and I actually did the meta-tuning on this deck for me and my 2nd placed friend.

I was inspired by this discussion going on here on TMD, so I'd like to contribute some thoughts of mine:

Like Phele, I'm quite happy with three confidants. You aren't reliant on Confidants, you're still playing Gifts. But with confidants, you don't have to play crap like Thirst for Knowledge (and start discarding Moxen which you would have wanted to go broken). Confidants get you another broken First-Turn Play - or how would you describe this attacking / blocking Library of Alexandria, that doesn't require you to play slowly and to expose yourself to Wastelands? (I even maindecked a swamp in place of LoA. I thought, why playing a wasteable LoA effect - LoA itself -, which requires me to play slowly, when I could cast my three running LoA without fearing wastelands..)

Without Thirst for Knowledge and with three Confidants, you really don't want to play Senseis Divining Top, they are a waste of maindeck slots. A resolved & active Confidant should give you enough boost to be able to win before you get killed by confidant.

With the maindeck swamp, I decided to play an aggressive Gifts Build. I maindecked Duress, Vampiric and Tendrils, and cut Burning Wish and one Merchant Scroll. While knowing how useful Burning Wish can be to have recurring Time Walks etc., Burning Wish can quite often delay your Yawgmoths Win / Tendrils, and urges you to get Red Mana in your Gifts or by fetching out non-basics prior YawgWin..

Tendrils is also a threat on its own. In this version, you can tutor bounce (Chain of Vapor is even preferred) quite easily - in the tournament, I was in topdeck mode (late game) with an active Confidant. I revealed Tendrils, my opponent was quite happy that I had to take four damage and had drawn nothing of relevance, at least in his opinion. Well, the next card was Merchant Scroll, and after my attack I scrolled for Chain, bounced some Moxen and Confidant, replayed Confidant, and won with Tendrils. The maindeck Swamp is also sometimes important to ensure your black mana needs, especially when comboing without YawgWin, aka without Lotus.

People also don't really expect Gifts to have maindecked Tendrils, they are quite used to Burning Wish. It's very amusing to lose your maindeck counterwar about ancestral in the mid-game, just to gain storm, and to play your held-back Moxen and Tendrils for the Win, regardless of their new broken hand

Another huge Plus of maindeck Swamp: it makes your Darkblast in the Sideboard a reliable welder / shaman / fish.dec-Confidant / annoyance removal, in addition to Pithing Needle. This was quite important for me in the tourney, I underestimated this fact..

The land issue.. I know 14 Lands are few, probably I should be playing 15. But when you can play your matches without having to fetch out non-basics once (Swamp, and no Burning Wish needed), even without Library, you obviously get away with 14. Confidant helps to get a steady flow of mana, too


If you expect your meta to be about 3/5 combo/control, do not hesitate to maindeck two Duress. This way, you won't have to scroll for Force against combo that often, win Counterwars against opposing Control and even get away against Fish/Staxx if you're running that praised basic swamp