[Deck] Gifts TPS

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With the recent attention given to the power of Gifts Ungiven, I think it will only be a matter of time before it begins to fit in more and more decks. At the moment, it is being used in TPS as a powerful tutor and in BS2 as a combo enabler. The power of playing Gifts Ungiven for Yawgmoth's Will and Recoup makes it an obvious choice for a card that could be absolutely incredible in a storm-based combo deck.

I am not pretending to have optimized the deck. Honestly, I have only been testing it for the past few hours in goldfish mode and a few games against Oath and Control Slaver. However, I felt that the deck is very powerful, so some discussion around it should be warranted. My lack of serious testing is the reason I am posting this in the Newbie forum and not the open forum. I hope quality discussion can take place. Firstly, the decklist I've been testing so far (edited after discussion):

// Set-up
 Â       4 Brainstorm
 Â       4 Duress
 Â       4 Force of Will
 Â       3 Gifts Ungiven
 Â       1 Chain of Vapor/Echoing Truth
 Â       1 Rebuild
        1 Recoup
        1 Cunning Wish

// Broken
 Â       1 Yawgmoth's Will
 Â       1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
 Â       1 Necropotence
 Â       1 Ancestral Recall
 Â       1 Time Walk
        1 Timetwister
        1 Demonic Tutor
        1 Mystical Tutor
        1 Vampiric Tutor
        1 Tinker
        1 Memory Jar

// Kill
 Â       1 Tendrils of Agony
        1 Darksteel Colossus

// Mana
 Â       4 Dark Ritual
 Â       1 Black Lotus
 Â       1 Mox Sapphire
 Â       1 Mox Ruby
 Â       1 Mox Pearl
 Â       1 Mox Jet
 Â       1 Mox Emerald
 Â       1 Mana Vault
 Â       1 Mana Crypt
 Â       1 Sol Ring
 Â       1 Lotus Petal

// Land
 Â       4 Polluted Delta
 Â       1 Flooded Strand
 Â       3 Underground Sea
 Â       2 Volcanic Island
        2 Island
        1 Swamp
        1 Tolarian Academy
       
Okay, I think, of the established decks right now, Gifts TPS most resembles Mean Death. It does seem to have a very TPS base, but the inclusion of 4 ways to get Yawgmoth's will makes this deck very different. I think a common Criticism of this would be that playing 4 Gifts Ungiven is total overkill. However, when a card reads "3U, Win the game," I think running a full compliment of them is totally appropriate.

I think this deck is better than TPS for a few reasons. Firstly, it will not stall-out on you. A big problem that I have with TPS is that whenever you try to win on the first or second turn, the deck often just craps out. Playing a Mind's Desire for 5 or 6 should normally win the game, but in TPS, often a Desire for that size will not win the game. This deck will not stall out like that; you only really need to resolve 1 spell to have every tool you need to win.

The deck's mana base is definitely NOT very stable, however, I think that the restriction of Trinisphere will cause a Metagame shift away from Workshops, so Crucible will be much less of a problem. (Edit: The manabase has been fixed)

I think the real question about this deck is why would I play it over Mean Death. The answer to this question is the fact that it can reliably run Force of Will as disruption. The ability to use Death Wish does give Mean Death more of a Toolbox to deal with hate, but overall, I think this deck has all of the strengths of TPS and adds the consistancy and resilience of Mean Death. Gifts Ungiven provides a TPS base with a powerful 4-of that ensures wins.

I have included 1 copy of both Chain of Vapor and Rebuild. I am not so sure how important these cards will be, so as the Meta stabilizes, it will be interesting to see if Artifact removal is actually important. Something will definitely need to be in the MD to deal with Platinum Angel, however, maybe running something like 1 Chain and 1 Cunning Wish, like some TPS decks are doing lately would be the best option because it would allow the MD to be very versetile.

I really don't know what an appropriate sideboard would include. Firstly, I think 3 Copies of Old Man of the Sea would be very helpful if Aggro Control starts to make a comeback. I'm not sure how great of a plan this is, though, because it could be possible to just win before they can do anything to disrupt.

Anyways, I'd be interested to hear some feedback about the deck.

Thanks,
Dan

[emo_basher]

Is crop rotation really all that necessary? :\
and if you're gonna run green, and you think 4 gifts is too much... maybe, Regrowth(?)

also... for SB, if you're thinking of playing wish MD, then Brain Freeze might be worth playing :\

[Moxlotus]

There is no reason to include green.  Cut green and play Seas, a Volcanic, basics, and fetchlands.  One of TPS's best qualities is its stable mana base as a combo deck.  Also, you're playing Brainstorms without fetchlands-something not many decks can do, and TPS can't.

Also, 4 Gifts is way too many.  What happens when you draw 2 in your opening hand?  I think 3 should be the max, probably best at 2.  You could add a Cunning/Burning Wish and a Timetwister.

[Revvik]

definitely 2.  A friend of mine runs a 3-color TPS list using basics and duals and (first time I ever saw a Beta of these) Wheel of Fortune.

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Also, 4 Gifts is way too many.  What happens when you draw 2 in your opening hand?  I think 3 should be the max, probably best at 2.

Well, when you draw 2 of them, if the first one resolves, you should probably win the following turn. If they try to counter it, you can Pitch the extra to Force of Will, or let it go and play the second one. Having extra Gifts should never be a problem because you will always win the turn of, or the turn after it resolves. In a worst-case situation, you can also play 2 Gifts and stock up your graveyard if you don't have everything you need to win.

Saying I only need 2 or 3 seems completely random. You give no justification to this suggestion, so why would I do it? When Gifts wins the game for you after it resolves, with this deck, why wouldn't I play with 4? Long played with 4 burning wishes because Burning Wish = Yawgmoth's Will. Well, in this deck, Gifts Ungiven = Yawgmoth's Will.

There is no reason to include green

I agree -- the 5 Colour Mana base was only used because I was using Wheel of Fortune and other Draw 7s, but I decided that I don't really want to be using draw 7s because the card Gifts Ungiven is simply better. Not only does it definitely get you all of the tools you need to win, but it doesn't fill up your opponents hand in the process.

So, the Mana base should be changed, I agree.

I think the thing about posting a new deck and not having cred to my name is that it will really tricky to get quality discussion regarding this deck, so I will do my best to get actual results. If anyone else has comments, post away, but I will not post new advances on the deck until I have a tournament report to include with them.

Dan

[rvs]

Long played with 4 burning wishes because Burning Wish = Yawgmoth's Will. Well, in this deck, Gifts Ungiven = Yawgmoth's Will.

that's not entirely accurate. Burning wish was 1R to cast yawg's will. Gifts is 3U and then 3R and then Will. I think there is a distinct difference. I agree with the previous poster that you don't really want to see a lot of Gifts in your hand, since 1 is simply enough to get the job done if you play it out properly.

Also, one of the strenghts of TPS is a solid manabase, and the 5c manabase is totally not needed. Crop Rotation is a pretty bad card. You can easily get a stable manabase going with 5-6 fetch, 4 sea, 2 island, 1 swamp and like 1-2 Volcanic.
I will admit I haven't really played a lot with TPS lately, but as one of the first designers/players of the deck, I think I have a pretty good idea of what it is trying to do.
As you mentioned a lack of testing, once you start playing more games with it, I'm sure you will start to agree with these ideas.

I'm also not convinced Cabal Ritual is right in this deck, but 2 seems like an ok number if it is working out for you. I also think you should run Timetwister and Wheel of Fortune, and I myself am a big fan of running Tinker + Collosos + Jar, but I'll leave all of that up to you.

[einlanzer625]

as a big tps player, id consider only 1 gifts, and urge you to try dream halls.  if i was anywhere where i could post my list, i would and will later when i get back from class.

[tito del monte]

I'm currently running a TPS deck with the full complement of 4 gifts based on a deck Ump posted here:

http://www.themanadrain.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21570

I really think if you're planning to build the deck around maximizing the power of gifts ungiven, its well worth running mana drain over duress. I also splash red for recoup and burning wish, both of which have been really useful. I did try running 1 cabal ritual, as a couple gifts will get you to threshold quickly, but am not convinced personally.

I also run twister and tinker + jar as a ssecond route for more traditonal draw 7/TPS wins when gifts doesn't work out - works well and let you run some nice stuff in the sideboard.