The evolution of Meandeck Gifts

[doylehancock]

On June 28th Steve Menendian unleashed Meandeck Gifts on the world.  He took Gifts from a Belcher deck to a tendrils/DSC deck.  From my point of view these changes have shaken up the type 1 scene.  The deck list in that first aticle (http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/9963.html) was the following:

Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

Artifact Creatures
1 Darksteel Colossus

Instants
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
1 Fact Or Fiction
4 Force Of Will
4 Gifts Ungiven
4 Mana Drain
3 Misdirection
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Rebuild
1 Vampiric Tutor

Sorceries
1 Burning Wish
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Merchant Scroll
1 Recoup
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Lands
3 Island
2 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
3 Underground Sea
3 Volcanic Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Snow-covered Island

Then Steve went over his sideboard:
 2 Rack and Ruin
1 Rebuild
3 Pithing Needle
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Eye of Nowhere
2 Pyroclasm
2 Old Man of the Sea
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast

This deck turned out to be a very broken one.  Many players picked up the deck and understood how broken it was.  It took all prior gifts deck and made them less then optimal. 

Next Steve had a great interview with Randy Buehler (http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/10179.html).  In that aricle Randy explained how he ran Gifts to win a Beta Mox Pearl.  He also explained how his deck changed (maybe to the better or maybe not).  The biggest difference was taking out two Merchant Scrolls for two Inpulse.  The deck made the gifts deck evolve into a bigger monster.  Here is the deck Randy ran to win the Mox:

5 Moxen
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
5 Fetchlands
3 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
3 Island
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Tolarian Academy

4 Gifts Ungiven
4 Brainstorm
2 Merchant Scroll
2 Impulse
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Burning Wish
1 Recoup
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Rebuild
1 Echoing Truth
1 Darksteel Colossus
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
2 Misdirection

Side:
3 Duress
2 Stifle
2 Pyroclasm
1 Old Man of the Sea
1 Rack and Ruin
1 Shattering Pulse
1 Pithing Needle
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast
1 Tendrils of Agony

I have heard of other slight changes in this deck and I was wondering what changes have you made.  Currently this is my list(almost exactly the same as Randy's):
5 Moxen
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
6 Fetchlands
2 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
3 Island
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Tolarian Academy

4 Gifts Ungiven
4 Brainstorm
2 Merchant Scroll
2 Impulse
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Burning Wish
1 Recoup
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Rebuild
1 Echoing Truth
1 Darksteel Colossus
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
2 Misdirection

I have thought of running Mind Twist main and was wondering what all of you thoughts are.  Is vamp tutor worth running?  What about echoing truth?  Is one rebuild main enough?

Thanks all in advance.

Doyle

[Whatever Works]

How is changing a couple cards to fit a players personal play style evolution??? I am not even sure that anyone has really made an improvement on steves original list which is a credit to the maker, and makes evolution difficult till the release of the set, or a major swing in the metagame.

[Darkmage]

I find this topic important, and I'm glad it was made.  I had entirely missed the article about the two Impulses.  I play the basic 6 Fetch/4 Dual Gifts list with -2 Misdirection +1 Gorilla Shaman +1 Disrupting Shoal which might become Pithing Needle (after reading the topic on Gifts vs. Uba Mask).  I'm still unsure about vamp tutor/truth, but I run 1 Truth and 0 v-tutor right now.  A guy who top 8'd at P9 Chicago ran 2 Rebuild, but I haven't tried it yet.  My sideboard is this:
3 Pithing Needle
1 Mind Twist
1 Rack and Ruin
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Seasinger
1 Old Man of the Sea
2 Pyroclasm
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Eye of Nowhere

@Whatever Works, everyone agrees that Steve's original 4 Fetch/6 Dual configuration is wrong, and most players run 6 Fetch/4 Dual.  Also, 3 Misdirection is often viewed as too many.  When a deck is this tight, changing 5 cards is an evolution.

[doylehancock]

@Whatever Works, everyone agrees that Steve's original 4 Fetch/6 Dual configuration is wrong, and most players run 6 Fetch/4 Dual.  Also, 3 Misdirection is often viewed as too many.  When a deck is this tight, changing 5 cards is an evolution.

I agree totally and that is what I was trying to get at.  Plus there could be other major changes made in one metagame but not known by others and this subject is to help with all of that.

[MaxxMatt]

When a deck is this tight, changing 5 cards is an evolution.

When a deck sees is born not more than a month ago, talking about evolution is nitpicking and nothing more.


Maxx

[doylehancock]

When a deck is this tight, changing 5 cards is an evolution.

When a deck sees is born not more than a month ago, talking about evolution is nitpicking and nothing more.


Maxx

dont you feel the deck has changed?  I was just wondering about other changes people have made.  Are you running meandeck gifts?  If so is it the same build as the one in Steve's first article?