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« on: February 26, 2006, 05:09:06 pm » |
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Deck: AK Gifts
The purpose of this thread is to promote a relatively old, yet unexplored deck in Vintage: AK/Intuition based Gifts Ungiven Control. I am not the inventor of this deck, although I did come to my final decklist independent of other promoters of the deck . This deck has not soared to popularity, unlike other builds of Gifts, however, after testing this list for the past few months, I can say that it is the most versatile and adaptable Gifts deck I have ever played. I will discuss a few of the card choices and explain why I think this is more effective than other builds of Gifts that I have seen. I will guide you through the strategy you should take when faced against a few of the most popular decks in vintage. As a side note, this is my first thread as a TMD full-member, and this thread is required of me in order to gain my full membership. Before I go any further, here is my complete main-deck and sideboard.
AK Gifts
The Engine: 20
4 Brainstorm
4 Accumulated Knowledge
3 Merchant Scroll
3 Intuition
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Time Walk
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gifts Ungiven
Disrupt: 10
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
1 Hurkyl’s Recall/Echoing Truth
1 Rebuild
Kill: 5
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Tinker
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Burning Wish
1 Recoup
Mana: 25
9 SoLoMoxCryptPetal
5 Island
3 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
2 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
1 Tolarian Academy
Sideboard:
3 Red Elemental Blast
3 Pithing Needle
2 Razormane Masticore
2 Rack and Ruin
2 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Rushing River
1 Rolling Earthquake/Pyroclasm
1 Deep Analysis
The maindeck is sporting the combo of Intuition and AK. Other builds of Gifts have settled on TfK, Skeletal Scrying, 4 Scroll/4 Gifts, along with many permutations of those. This version of Gifts works on a the principal that by winning the “spell resolution” war by running more must-counter spells, you are able to overwhelm your opponent with card advantage much more effectively and consistently than other builds of Gifts.
The Intuition/AK engine provides the deck with something that until this point, Gifts lacked: significant card advantage. Older versions of Gifts attempted to gain a slight advantage by either casting TfK, or Merchant Scroll into Ancestral. By gaining this slight advantage, the Gifts player got to sit back and wait for his opponent to walk into a Mana Drain, and by following it up with a winning Gifts Ungiven. However, this plan’s faults are many; if you misjudge the state of the game, even slightly, you will lose. Meandeck Gifts is an incredibly unforgiving deck to play. Not only must you not make any technical errors, you must have an uncanny ability to read your opponent to know when and how to win.
By changing the plan of “Ancestral, Mana Drain, Gifts, Win” to “Ancestral, AK for 3, AK for 4, Gifts, Win” you are opening yourself up to a whole new array of options. The deck is admittedly slower than Meandeck’s version of Gifts… although by 1 turn at the very most. Considering the fact that Gifts *often* benefits from taking a more controlling role in matches, such as CS and the mirror match, Intuition/AK provides the necessary card advantage required to put itself in advantageous positions against every other Control deck in the format.
Only 1 copy of Gifts is required, because after drawing an insane amount of cards, you will either draw into it, Merchant Scroll for it, or simply not need it. Gifts isn’t good enough in the first 3 turns to warrant more than 1 copy, and it isn’t necessary enough in the late game to warrant more than 1 copy.
Mana Vault was not included because I don’t think the decks wants to run a colorless version of Dark Ritual. I know that boosting up 3 mana in a turn is very nice, however, I already have 4 Drains, 9 artifact accelerants and a helluva lot of basic lands to do that for me.
Rolling Earthquake acts as a bitching way to destroy aggro’s board. My problem with Pyroclasm is the fact that it only deals 2 damage, which isn’t always sufficient. Razormane Masticore acts as my giant kick in the nuts towards anyone who depends on creatures to win. Deep Analysis is my Burning Wish -> card draw that the deck totally needs. It is also useful if you ever board it in because it combos very well with Intuition. Pithing Needle is my super-efficient catch-all answer to pretty much everything, including Welders, Bazaars, Waste/Strip, Mindslaver, and other similar targets. Tormod’s Crypt is the best way I have at shutting down opposing Yawgmoth’s Wills.
Here are some tips and sideboarding strategies for playing against a few prominent archetypes in Vintage at the moment.
Vs. Control Slaver
The only way that Slaver can win is when it Mana Drains an early threat, TfKs into a Slaver, and activates it in the first 3-4 turns. Pentavus and Triskellion are not threats to me at all. Neither are Echoing Truth, Rack and Ruin or maybe Fire/Ice.
The role that you should assume when facing Control Slaver is Combo. CS has only two different threats that you should be worried about: Mindslaver and Gorilla Shaman. The Shaman is able to slow you down in the early game, which buys itself some time to get Slaver active. A key play against Slaver is the 1st mainphase Intuition on his turn. This forces him to use his Mana Drains in a terrible position on a card that could or could not lead to his doom. The good thing about this deck is that if your Intuition is countered, you can often follow it up with a Merchant Scroll for Ancestral or something similar. If CS doesn’t get a Slaver active immediately, the card advantage my deck has produced will be able to keep him from getting it online. The strength of this deck is being able to produce a steady stream of threats against an opponent who doesn’t have many threats against me. By playing aggressively, you are able to overwhelm the CS player, and eventually you will find yourself in a situation where you have 6 or 7 cards in your hand, and they will only have 2 or 3. This is obviously the game-state that are trying to achieve and it is the game-state that this deck is able to put you in extremely quickly and consistently. At this point, you either tutor up Yawgmoth’s Will to win, or cast Gifts Ungiven to set up your win.
SB against Control Slaver:
+3 Red Elemental Blast, +2 Pithing Needle +1 Tendrils of Agony
-1 Rebuild, -1 Darksteel Colossus, -1 Tinker, -1 Mystical Tutor, -1 Island, -1 Burning Wish
Game two plays out very much like game one. Your best SB card against Slaver is Red Elemental Blast. It helps you resolve early bombs such as AK for 3 or AK for 4 for a very cheap price. You might think that Pithing Needle is there to combat Goblin Welder, but I am not overly concerned with him. My Pithing Needles will always name Mindslaver, and if I get a second, it’s going on Gorilla Shaman.
Taking out Tinker/Colossus is my way to ignore Goblin Welder even further. One of the advantages of Intuition/AK is that because you draw so many cards, you will be able to cast enough spells to win with Tendrils very easily. The extra Rebuild and Island are unnecessary, so they move to the side to make room for the more aggressive REB. Mystical Tutor’s lack of card advantage makes it lose its place in the maindeck.
Keep in mind that Slaver running Mana Leak is a pretty bad match for you. Being able to stop your early assault will put them in great position against you. Make sure to play extra cautiously if your opponent is packing Leaks. Try to get a good read on your opponent to figure out if he has counter spells or not. This skill is extremely important in the control mirror.
I would say that Control Slaver is a favorable matchup.
Vs. Uba Stax
Vroman’s newest build of Uba Stax is very terrifying for a Gifts player to sit down across from. Packing a full set of Sphere of Resistances, along with all of the other incredibly potent lock-parts gives me such terrible headaches. However, the good news is that compared to other builds of Gifts, I feel that I am able to play through the hate more effectively, which gains me quite a few more game wins than other builds of Gifts.
As I mentioned before, one of the greatest things about this deck is that you don’t need more than 3 mana at one time in order to start and finish your draw engine. Not relying on a 4 mana spell to win in the early/mid turns lets me power through most of the lock parts that Uba Stax relies on.
To play effectively against Uba Stax, you must correctly define which lock parts are hard locks, and which are soft locks.
Hard Lock Pieces (the ones that make you lose):
Chalice of the Void @ 2, and Smokestack
Soft Lock Pieces (the ones you can play around):
Null Rod, Chalice @ 0 or 1, Sphere of Resistance, Crucible of Worlds, Trinisphere and Uba Mask
Additionally, there are a few combinations of cards that will end your game, such as Uba + Welder, or often Uba + Bazaar. Because of this, I’m tempted to move Uba into the “hard lock” category, however, on it’s own, while incredibly effective at stopping your AK engine, it does nothing to stop one of your best tools in this match: Tinker. Often you can play the “counter Welder, Tinker, you lose” game against them. In fact, Welder is often the card that spells your doom in game one, so you should consider countering any Welder your opponent plays, even if it isn’t an immediate threat.
Knowing what to counter and what to let resolve is the key to winning this match. My rule of thumb is this: if you can still play something relevant after a lock piece resolves, you probably don’t need to counter it. The only must-counter in the deck, game 1, that Uba has is Chalice @ 2. Do your best to maximize your resources while minimizing theirs and you will win games that you may have considered lost causes. The MD Hurkyl’s Recall is a huge bomb against Uba.
SB against Uba Stax
+2 Rack and Ruin, +2 Pithing Needle
-1 Intuition, -1 Merchant Scroll, -1 Fact or Fiction, -1 Gifts Ungiven
The strategy in the second game is to cut down on the amount of spells that they can play that will make you lose. By bringing in Rack and Ruins and Pithing Needle, Chalice @ 2 and Goblin Welder become much less significant threats. By turning their Hard-Locks into Soft-Locks, you are able to play a completely different game, and believe me, the amount of games you win post-board will be much higher than pre-board ones.
Unless your opponent has Ubazaar going, your first Pithing Needle should name Goblin Welder. I really wish Rack and Ruin wasn’t red, or I wish I could run a Mountain in the MD, because Wasteland becomes a little bit more relevant if I have to be cast a red spell. However, Rack and Ruin’s effect completely changes the board and should put you in a very improved situation, even if your land gets Wasted.
Uba has a slight advantage in the first game, but after SB, I think the advantage swings in my direction. However, out of any deck, Uba is probably the deck I fear most when playing Gifts, other than maybe a well-built version of Dragon. If your opponent is still running green, be very afraid of Choke in the sideboard.
Vs. OFM/UW Fish
Once again, you get to put on your Combo face against OFM because that is the best role to take. You need to worry about these cards: 4 Force of Will, 4 Meddling Mage, 3 Null Rod, 4 Chalice of the Void and perhaps 3 Daze and a Misdirection in OFM’s case. Be very afraid of Meddling Mage if you cut Echoing Truth. Looking at it from OFM’s perspective, Tinker is probably the best card to name with the first Mage. However, for me, naming Yawgmoth’s Will is much more disruptive. I can see reasons for naming either of those cards, but I’m pretty sure that anything else is just a waste because I will be able to play around it. If Mage names Tinker, you can just combo them out as normal with Tendrils. If they name Will, you need to completely re-asses how you plan on winning the game. It is definitely not impossible and I have pulled out many wins in this manner, even without being able to cast Yawgmoth’s Will. Generally, you want to turn into Mono Blue control. Draw lots of cards, counter their key spells, and when you are perfectly comfortable, Tinker up a DSC, hopefully with multiple counters to back it up. Don’t be afraid to Scroll into a Mana Drain or FoW in this case because you can’t afford to lose your DSC.
One of the awesome things about this deck is that Null Rod/Chalice doesn’t really slow me down that much. When my card drawing engine is just starting up, I only have to use 3 mana at most to draw mass amounts of cards. Not relying on Gifts Ungiven in the early game against fish gives it quite a boost and can often put itself in a position to win in the first 5-6 turns, even in the face of a resolved Null Rod or Chalice @ zero. This deck’s non-reliance on moxen is a very nice thing in a field of Null Rods, Chalices and Gorilla Shaman. Of course, you will probably want to bounce Null Rod before you Yawgmoth’s Will, but Merchant for Hurkyl’s or Rebuild will clear the way at a very efficient price. I favor Hurkyl’s over both Echoing Truth and Chain of Vapor. I was using Echoing Truth at first, but I found its effect pretty underwhelming. It didn’t clear my opponent’s board and it didn’t help me combo off. Chain of Vapor is pretty nice and I definitely like it better than Echoing Truth. People say that Truth is good because it dodges Chalice @ one, however, Chalice for 1 is not that big of a threat. It shuts off only 7 cards (4 Brainstorm, 1 Recall, 1 Chain, 1 Mystical). Hurkyl’s in the MD is great against Stax because it clears their whole board for a ridiculously low cost, and it cuts down on a mana if you need it to set up a winning Tendrils.
SB against Fish/OFM:
+2 Razormane Masticore, +1 Rushing River, +1 Rolling Earthquake
-1 Mana Drain, -1 Fact or Fiction, -1 Merchant Scroll, -1 Intuition
I am siding out some of my extra draw spells in favor of some specific hate against their deck. Razormane Masticore is a huge bomb. If OFM doesn’t get a Sword to Plowshares or a Seal of Cleansing really quickly, the game will be over. Rolling Earthquake is an awesome way to wipe out a horde of your opponent’s Meddling Mages and Ninjas. I play earthquake over Pyroclasm because I occasionally face Old Men of the Sea and Serendib Efreet. If you expect a more standard build of fish, Pyroclasm would work just fine. Rushing River is some insurance against Meddling Mage, which can become very annoying, especially in multiples. Being able to hit a Meddling Mage and Null Rod make it a better SB option than Echoing Truth.
OFM and other fish decks have a sneaky way of winning lots of games that they shouldn’t, but I feel that I have the advantage in this matchup.
Vs. Shortbus Gifts
Game one entirely depends on who gets their draw engine going first. Luckily, they run 3 MD Pithing Needle, which are completely dead against me game 1. I have a few more draw spells in the maindeck, which I feel gives me a slight advantage. I also think that Intuition is a lot more powerful than Thirst for Knowledge, even though the significant card advantage comes about 1 turn after it would with Thirst. Because of this, resolving Intuition becomes your first priority; not only does it give you a spell that costs 1U to draw 3 cards, it creates a card in your deck that draws 4 cards for only 1U.
One of the developments in Probasco’s newest list is that it includes Time Vault and Flame Fusillade. Generally, I don’t worry about these cards because on their own, they are pretty much useless. The issue arises when he gets a quicker start than you, and is able to back up both halves of the combo with more than one counter. In this match, Vault/Fusillade is definitely a very good win condition; I almost wish that I had one copy of each as opposed to Tinker/DSC/Burning Wish. However, I think it’s much less versatile against the rest of the field, so that is why I’m sticking to what I have.
Once again, you have to do your best to make him waste his Mana Drains in his first mainphase. Maximizing your own Mana Drains is also a very important skill with this deck. If you read that your opponent has double counters to stop your assault, consider saving your Mana Drain for his FoW instead of his Mana Drain. By FoWing his first spell, you are able to generate a crazy amount of mana with your Drain, or you leave the Drain in your hand for a better opportunity. Just because you have UU open doesn’t mean that Mana Drain is always the first counter to go for when you are making one of your spells resolve.
SB against SB Gifts
+3 Red Elemental Blast, +2 Tormod’s Crypt
-1 Tinker, -1 DSC, -1 Rebuild, -1 Island, -1 Mystical Tutor
Once again, you are bringing REBs into the maindeck. I have to stress how important this card is; resolving your threats in the early game will generate a game win. REB will make this happen. The first land you should be fetching out in this match is always going be a Volcanic after SB. Tormod’s Crypt moves to the maindeck also. In the Gifts mirror, playing Crypt is very similar to casting a Meddling Mage naming Yawgmoth’s Will that only affects them. Unfortunately, SB Gifts packs Flame/Vault, so they can play around Crypt pretty easily, but hopefully the slight advantage you gain with Crypt will give you enough time to finish them off.
If you think they are leaving Pithing Needle in the MD, Tormod’s Crypt loses some of its utility, so I suggest leaving the Crypts in the SB, and instead, take out Burning Wish and add Tendrils and Deep Analysis to the MD. If you are expecting them to bring in Tormod’s Crypt, I would suggest leaving Tinker/DSC in the maindeck instead of the Crypts, just so you have a few outs in case they nuke your graveyard. One of the advantages of AK > Gifts # 2-4 is that AK will put the cards in your hand, where your opponent doesn’t always have a good opportunity to disrupt. Gifts puts a few bombs in your graveyard, which leave then in a great place to be removed from the game.
This is a very tight matchup because your decks are so similar. In game one, I feel that I have a slight edge because of my additional threats. Games 2 and 3 are pretty much dead-even because your decks become almost identical. If you can resolve your AK 3 and 4 you should be in very good position to win this match.
Vs. GWS Choke Oath
GWS has done a spectacular job tuning Oath into a well-oiled wrecking ball that had a fairly decent game against lots of the field. When you sit down across from an Oath player, you have to be aware of a few of his biggest threats: Duress, Force of Will and Chalice of the Void/Mana Leak. I’m pretty sure that Mana Leak is a bigger threat to worry about unless they get one of those “Chalice for zero, chalice for one” hands.
You should look at Oath a lot like you look at Fish. They both have a moderate amount of disruption, and a moderately fast clock. Occasionally, Oath will be able to surprise you with a turn 3 kill, but that happens rarely enough that I would consider the match fairly favorable.
Unless you think your opponent has “the nuts” and is going to kill you very quickly, you should definitely save your counters for your opponent’s Duresses/FoWs/Mana Leaks. Chalice of the Void is pretty easy to play around whether it is set at zero or one. My biggest tool against Oath is the fact that they are simply not consistently fast enough to keep me on my heels. If Oath could win by turn 4-5 every game, I would be much more fearful of it and I would definitely dedicate more SB spots for it. However, you can count on winning about 30% of your games against Oath, simply because it doesn’t produce the nuts.
SB against GWS Oath
+1 Rushing River
-1 Fact or Fiction
After side boarding, you have to expect to face the brutally powerful Choke. This card is a total car crash straight into the nuts for any deck that resembles this one. If it resolves (assuming you don’t lose on the spot), your plan turns into “find Rushing River, ASAP.” If you play a green deck that doesn’t rely on Islands (Wild Zombies, for example), stick 2-3 of these into your sideboard because I guarantee that any Gifts player who catches a glimpse of Choke will not be happy. Comparing Null Rod to Choke - Null Rod does shut off the 8-10 artifacts that make your deck unfair. Choke shuts off the 14 lands that make your deck function. Null Rod can be played around fairly easily. Choke… well, not so much.
Otherwise, your game plan against Oath doesn’t change very much. Try not to let Duress wreck your hand and ideally, you should be able to goldfish them faster than they can goldfish you, just because your combo is so much more redundant than theirs. They are using tutors while trying to find 2 specific cards, which put you on a 2-3 turn clock; you have a 20 card engine that propels you into such a lead that your opponent will have no hope of keeping up, even if he gets Oath/Orchard to resolve.
Hopefully I have illustrated the strengths of AK/Intuition in Gifts better than any other piece of literature on the deck so far. I am very happy with the work that I have done with the deck, and I think more people should test this deck because it is incredibly consistent and powerful. I would appreciate comments and criticism on any of my arguments because I feel that discussion is the best way to make this deck even better.
Thanks so much for your time
-Dan Griffin
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