What's The Right Place For Gifts Ungiven?

Gifts Ungiven is undoubtedly a powerful card. Once cast the game is essentially over in the next few turns, either with overwhelming control or a straight up win condition. The flexability is what makes the deck as a whole a powerhouse. What is the correct way to build a Gifts deck though? How much control is enough? What cards are auto-includes? These are all questions that a good player must take into consideration when making and playing against Gifts. The real question is: What is the best place for Gifts Ungiven?

These two decks were the highest placing decks with Gifts at Richmond.

Control Slaver
A Vintage deck, by Brian Fisher
1st place at a StarCityGames Power 9 Tournament tournament in Richmond, Virginia, United States on 2006-03-26
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maindeck:

Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
1 Crucible Of Worlds
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Tormod's Crypt

Artifact Creatures
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Triskelion

Creatures
3 Goblin Welder
1 Gorilla Shaman

Instants
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
1 Echoing Truth
1 Fact Or Fiction
4 Force Of Will
1 Gifts Ungiven
4 Mana Drain
1 Mystical Tutor
4 Thirst For Knowledge

Legendary Artifacts
1 Mindslaver

Sorceries
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Artifact Lands
1 Seat Of The Synod

Basic Lands
3 Island

Lands
2 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
1 Strip Mine
2 Underground Sea
4 Volcanic Island

Legendary Lands
1 Tolarian Academy

Sideboard:
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Duplicant
1 Solemn Simulacrum
2 Old Man Of The Sea
2 Rack And Ruin
4 Red Elemental Blast

Gifts Control
A Vintage deck, by Ben Kowal
2nd place at a StarCityGames Power 9 Tournament tournament in Richmond, Virginia, United States on 2006-03-26
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maindeck:

Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
2 Pithing Needle
1 Sol Ring
1 Time Vault

Artifact Creatures
1 Darksteel Colossus

Instants
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
1 Darkblast
4 Force Of Will
3 Gifts Ungiven
4 Mana Drain
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Rack And Ruin
4 Thirst For Knowledge
1 Vampiric Tutor

Sorceries
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Flame Fusillade
1 Imperial Seal
1 Recoup
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Basic Lands
4 Island

Lands
1 Flooded Strand
1 Library Of Alexandria
4 Polluted Delta
1 Strip Mine
2 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island

Legendary Lands
1 Tolarian Academy

Sideboard:
3 Chalice Of The Void
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Rack And Ruin
4 Red Elemental Blast
2 Rushing River
2 Pyroclasm

One could argue that Gifts is also best played in other decks. There were Slaver decks running gifts that took higher places Day 1 and 2.

The questions to be asked about Gifts decks are:
1. Will Gifts Control be the best place for Gifts?
2. If so, why, and if not then what deck is better suited for it?

If you feel that Gifts Control is the answer to those first questions, then we must dive deeper into the deck with:
3. What win conditions should you be running?
4. How many basics to keep a stable anti-stax manabase?
5. Should you focus on controlling for 3-5 turns and then dropping Gifts/bomb, or dropping Gifts/bomb ASAP with back-up? (Assuming a stable and varied metagame)
6. What Sideboard should you be packing? Transformational, hate, anti-hate, more control, etc.? (Assuming a stable and varied metagame)

If you feel that another deck is better suited for Gifts, then we must ask ourselves:
3. Should you be focusing on Gifts, or using it as a good tutor?
4. Would you use it mainly to stabilize or to fetch bombs?
5. Would it be worth running transformational Sideboard into Gifts Control?

With such a wide array of options available to T1, no option should be left unconsidered. When looking at pure statistics, Slaver seems to be more solid. It uses Gifts to tutor it's way out of tight spots, to dump fatties or to get more control. It does not rely on Gifts, and can easily win without it. Gifts Control however, seems to be the more solid control deck. It packs more draw spells, and more tutors. It does not rely on Gifts, but it uses Gifts as an utter bomb, in a way that Control Slaver or Burning Slaver cannot. Any number of things could have attributed to Gifts not making it into T8 as much as Slaver, so we cannot rely on two events for statistics.

In my opinion, Gifts is best placed in Gifts control. I do not feel that the deck will die, and few things can hate it, let alone hate it out of the metagame. Of course Gifts will see play in other decks but in terms of dropping Gifts and saying "good luck getting out of this one", Gifts Control seems to be the best deck to do that with. There is no doubt that an aggressive Gifts deck could emerge and start making T8s, but it seems to me that Control has the backup that makes Gifts Ungiven such a bomb.

Many Gifts players have opted to run FlameVault as the secondary win condition. I feel this is wrong, because of Null Rod. It already hurts when The Rod comes down, and enabling them to shut off 1/2 of your win conditions and mana with one card is bad. I opt to run Tendrils as my secondary win-condition. This is largely due to the fact that it doesn't have to hit for 20 damage to win, is good when sideboarding in Confidants (should you do so), abuses Mana Drain and Yawgmoth's Will further, and can win through most hate. I understand that once Fusillade resolves, you win. What happens should it not resolve though? When going to win with tendrils, you do what you normally except you leave 2BB open. This means that should a key spell be countered, you are not left with dead cards in hand. It also means that no 1 card (Barring Stifle) can stop your tendrils. Once welder comes down, or Null Rod or even artifact hate, then FlameVault becomes useless. Worst case scenario, Tendrils brings your opponent closer to either 1 hit K.O from DSC, or the next tendrils.

In terms of Basic Lands, most players agree that 4-5 is the best solution. I personally run 1 Snow-Covered Island to grab with Gifts should it become necessary. Thats just me however, and hopefully somebody will discuss a different number.

In terms of how to play Gifts, it is my opinion that personal playstyle is best left to this. I try to resolve Tinker ASAP, and usually use Tendrils as my kill if I slow it down to control-mode. My kill turn is usually turns 4-5, due to my aggressive way of playing control. This does not make my way correct, and I am sure many good players will suggest slowing down a few turns to ensure that your opponent is a steaming pile of nothing before dropping a win. I run 2 Gifts Ungiven, and I am lucky enough to see them only when I need them. 4-mana can be a slow drop in an aggressive hand, and I hardly ever want more Gifts in my deck.

That's all just my opinion. Maybe Gifts is better in other decks. Maybe other forms of control will adapt to the point where Gifts Control becomes a deck behind the shadows. I feel that this won't happen, though it can't be ruled out as a possibility. I am looking forward to reading other people's opinions on where Gifts Ungiven should be.