My Gifts Ungiven Optimization (no welders build)

[cryolyte]

I have been playing Carl's build for about a month, and I feel comfortable enough to make some changes. I would like any input/constructive criticism that anyone has to offer, especially concerning my sideboarding plans, which I feel is the weakest part of my game.

Here is Carl Winter's 4th Place Waterbury build for reference:

Top Four:  Carl Winter, SSB

4 Brainstorm
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
2 Thirst for Knowledge
3 Gifts Ungiven
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Mana Severance
1 Recoup
1 Burning Wish
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Yawgmoth's Will
3 Phyrexian Furnace
1 Demonic Tutor
2 Duress
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 Goblin Charbelcher
3 Underground Sea
2 Snow Covered Island
2 Island
2 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
3 Volcanic Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire

-------------------------------------------------------

Here is the build I am currently running:

Maindeck: 60 cards

4 Brainstorm
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
2 Thirst for Knowledge
3 Gifts Ungiven
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mana Severance
1 Recoup
1 Burning Wish
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Yawgmoth's Will
2 Phyrexian Furnace
1 Rushing River
1 Demonic Tutor
3 Duress
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 Goblin Charbelcher
3 Underground Sea
2 Snow Covered Island
2 Island
1 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
2 Volcanic Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Swamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire

Changes I have made are as follows:

-1 Mystical Tutor
+1 Vampiric Tutor

I never have pitched mystical to force anything except in the most dire of circumstances, and would prefer to have more options when tutoring. Sometimes I want an Academy, or belcher. I feel the flexibility will pay off.

-1 Phyrexian Furnace
+1 Duress

While the Furnace has been quite useful, I feel it may be a bit too situational to warrant 3 of them.

-1 Flooded Strand
+1 Polluted Delta
-1 Volcanic Island
+1 Swamp

With the addition of Duress #3, and the Vampiric Tutor, I felt another black source was needed. Furthermore, I wanted to wasteproof it. I think that 3 Volcanic Islands may be a bit too much, since I only have 2 red cards maindeck, and in my sideboarding plans I would go up to 5 red cards maximum.

-1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
+1 Rushing River

I wanted maindeck bounce, as I have been screwed many times by the evil Null Rod. Also, this could prove useful against Oath and Stax (although the 3 mana required is difficult to pull out sometimes in the Stax matchup). Chain of Vapor I think is hindered by a) having a casting cost of 1, which is popular for chalice settings, and b) it could bounce my own things (if I had a belcher out already, for instance)

-1 Mana Vault
+1 Lotus Petal

I like the ability to have drain mana up on turn one, and petal has great synergy with Yawgmoth's Will and Academy.

Carl's Sideboard for reference:
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Coffin Purge
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Pyroclasm
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Rushing River
1 Political Trickery
1 Lava Dart
1 Pyroblast
1 Duress
1 Mind Twist
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Tendrils
1 Cranial Extraction

My Sideboard: 15 cards: 7 Sorcery Wish targets

Normal:
2 Lava Dart (Control Slaver)
1 Red Elemental Blast (Bird Shit, Oath, Storm, Standstill Decks)
1 Pyroblast (Bird Shit, Storm, Standstill Decks)
2 Rack And Ruin (stax sans welders)
1 Pyroclasm (Wish: Aggro)
1 Chainer's Edict (Wish: Oath, welderless Stax)
1 Cranial Extraction (Wish: Oath, Null Rod Aggro, Storm, Control Slaver)
1 Primitive Justice (Wish: Stax, Null Rod Aggro, maybe Control Slaver)
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All (any control deck)

Odd Choices:

1 Extract (Wish: Oath, Storm, Control Slaver)
Some decks only have one win-condition, and I feel this could wreck them.

1 Platinum Angel (storm, Stax sans welders, Aggro possibly)
I think maybe adding this as an alternate tinker target could prove useful in these matchups.

1 Turbulent Dreams (Wish: bounce)
I wanted a wishable bounce spell in the board.

1 Drafna's Restoration (Wish: welder deck)
I have always wanted to use this card and think it could prove useful against control slaver.


Mana Sources:

24 Mana Sources
18 ways Blue
9 ways Red
11 ways Black
4 ways strictly colorless/off-color
9 Artifact Mana : Solomoxencryptpetal

Card Color Breakdown:

23 Blue Cards
4 Artifacts that don't produce mana
2 Red Cards (up to 5 post sideboard)
7 Black Cards

Cards that Net Card Advantage: 8
   3 Gifts Ungiven
   1 Fact or Fiction
   1 Ancestral Recall
   2 Thirst for Knowledge
   1 Skeletal Scrying

Tutors and Filters: 8
   1 Tinker
   4 Brainstorm
   1 Burning Wish
   1 Demonic Tutor
   1 Vampiric Tutor

Other Bombs: 5
   1 Time Walk
   1 Yawgmoth's Will
   1 Goblin Charbelcher
   1 Darksteel Colossus
   1 Recoup

Hard Counters: 8
   4 Force of Will
   4 Mana Drain

Other Disruption: 6
   2 Phyrexian Furnace
   3 Duress
   1 Rushing River

Sideboard Plans:

Control Slaver:
-1 Vampiric Tutor
-1 Duress
+2 Lava Dart

I wouldn't mind bringing in Boseiju and the red blast/pyroblast in this matchup but I can't really find things to cut and two lava dart seems better. I am the beatdown in this matchup, right?

Bird Shit:
-1 Skeletal Scrying
-1 Mana Crypt
+1 ReB
+1 Pyroblast

I hate this deck and there's a good one in my metagame. They have swords and null rods. Yuck.

Oath: Any help here would be appreciated. There are a couple different types of Oath decks in my meta. The Meandeck one and one that runs battlefield scrounger to stack a giant yawgmoth's will for a tendrils kill.

Storm Combo:
-1 Skeletal Scrying
-2 Phyrexian Furnace
+1 Pyroblast
+1 Red Elemental Blast
+1 Platinum Angel

Stax, Transmute, or 7/10 without Welders:
-2 Phyrexian Furnace
-1 Skeletal Scrying
+2 Rack and Ruin
+1 Platinum Angel

Standstill Decks:
-2 Phyrexian Furnace
-1 Vampiric Tutor
+1 Rack and Ruin
+1 Pyroblast
+1 Red Elemental Blast

Control Decks (BBS, 3CC, and Tog even):
-2 Phyrexian Furnace
-1 Vampiric Tutor
+1 Red Elemental Blast
+1 Pyroblast
+1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All

Once again, sideboarding is my weakest link. I made a chart with the decks I am likely to face,  then wrote down what cards I think would improve my matchup against that deck. Then I decided what could come out comfortably in that matchup and what I could board in, and constructed my sideboard from those numbers.

Any comments welcome. Thanks for reading.

[Revvik]

one that runs battlefield scrounger to stack a giant yawgmoth's will for a tendrils kill

d00d, you so gave away my tech...  :lol:
I'd like to point out that I ddin't see Furnace doing too much for you yesterday, aside from forcing me to kill you with a Berserk'd Gorilla Shaman.
If you're free Sunday for testing, lemme know.  We'll most likely be getting Cici's.

Are you sticking with your proposed changes from yesterday, dropping the swamp back for the Volcanic?

[cryolyte]

And here I thought none of the esteemed drain-iati would respond  :lol:

Yes I'm going back to the Volcanic Island over the basic swamp, when this deck needs red it needs it NOW. And you never killed me with the berserked gorilla shaman!! While I did lose the match, you must admit I handed your tog over to you in a bodybag game 1. Damned Ground Seal!