[Premium Article] "The Return of Meandeck Gifts" MDG got 1st at Vintage Champs

[Smmenen]

http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/12496.html

here was the blurb:

With the recent changes to Time Vault, Stephen feels that Meandeck Gifts - his most treasured creation - is once again viable in Magic's most powerful format. Today's article is a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of certain cards and matchups. Looking for an edge in your local Vintage metagame? Look no further!

This article was published last week.  I defend and rearticulate the reasons to play Meandeck Gifts.  It is written more as a re-introduction piece for the more recent player.   Travis Spero won the Vintage Championship with the deck yesterday.   

[LotusHead]

Seriously, decklists are not premium.  Steven's insight into the deck is.

May we have a non-premium decklist? Pretty please? With a cherry on top? 

[Disburden]

The article isn't really about a particular decklist but a reason why Meandeck Gifts is really frigging good vs everything in the format except Fish (game 1). The list which is shown in the article is one that Nate Pease won with a few events ago. Steve then compares some choices in that list with the default list of MDG (Which I'm sure you've seen before) and then says why he doesn't agree or has no problem with Nate Pease's changes to his deck invention. One of the changes Steve agreed on being OK was the cutting of one Misdirection (bringing the count to two) and replacing it with a Vampiric tutor. But like I said, there isn't any super new tech or list revealed by Steve here.

This article pleases me because it was about my favorite drain deck ever. But like Steve said it was meant for a introductory piece on a deck in Vintage when you really were just finding interest in the format.

[Smmenen]

Seriously, decklists are not premium.  Steven's insight into the deck is.

May we have a non-premium decklist? Pretty please? With a cherry on top? 

Here is one version of the decklist:

http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=27994.0

[Moxlotus]

MDG seriously shits in PitchLong's cereal.  The matchup is just brutal.  Due to my team's new hatred of combo I would love it if MDG became one of the most popular decks because that would crush PitchLong back into check.

[Whatever Works]

I dont know if this was covered in the article since I dont have premium at the moment, but I might as well ask it anyway. Do you believe that w/Coldsnap gifts might take a large hit do to Jontun Grunt?

Jontun grunt is unaffected by almost all of meandeck gifts sideboard cards (REB in particular), makes yawgmoth's will horrible if played early enough, and forces gifts to win through DSC which can be very difficult with cards like stormscape apprentice, meddling mage (on tinker), and StP.

I am concerned that the fish matchup which has never been great will become awful with the inclussion of this card. Flametongue Kavu is very clunky, and the only really good answer is having the counter or racing (and overextending is very dangerous) for MDG in my experience vs. fish.

Just curious on your thoughts. Honestly, it seems like jontun grunt will be a format defining card because of its massive affects on the viability of ALOT of decks in not just type 1, but legacy etc. (Threshold RIP).

Kyle L.

[PipOC]

I dont know if this was covered in the article since I dont have premium at the moment, but I might as well ask it anyway. Do you believe that w/Coldsnap gifts might take a large hit do to Jontun Grunt?

Jontun grunt is unaffected by almost all of meandeck gifts sideboard cards (REB in particular), makes yawgmoth's will horrible if played early enough, and forces gifts to win through DSC which can be very difficult with cards like stormscape apprentice, meddling mage (on tinker), and StP.

People are making way too big a deal out of grunt against gifts, the reality is that most of the cards that are important to actually winning the game in gifts, will hit the grave at the end of turn before going off, leaving the fish player without an opportunity to eat them.  Grunt will likely be eating fetchlands, brainstorms and counterspells in the early game, but nothing important to the storm kill.

[Whatever Works]

I dont know if this was covered in the article since I dont have premium at the moment, but I might as well ask it anyway. Do you believe that w/Coldsnap gifts might take a large hit do to Jontun Grunt?

Jontun grunt is unaffected by almost all of meandeck gifts sideboard cards (REB in particular), makes yawgmoth's will horrible if played early enough, and forces gifts to win through DSC which can be very difficult with cards like stormscape apprentice, meddling mage (on tinker), and StP.

People are making way too big a deal out of grunt against gifts, the reality is that most of the cards that are important to actually winning the game in gifts, will hit the grave at the end of turn before going off, leaving the fish player without an opportunity to eat them.  Grunt will likely be eating fetchlands, brainstorms and counterspells in the early game, but nothing important to the storm kill.

Grunt makes a huge impact on the longer games. Fish is not the deck that it used to be that would just roll over and die to combo. null rod can be ennoying the deck runs alot of very hard cards to beat, and the deck has no significant drain targets.

Also those brainstorms that hit the yard for yawgs will etc. can be important, and with the decks billion shuffle affects all those cards that go to the bottom of your library are commonly drawn again so the deck loses its ability to thin out over the course of the game.

I am not just going off theory. I am going off testing. NE tournements have been playing with coldsnap legal for over a month now. The card has an impact like it or not, and instead of denying it or downplaying it now... It might be better to just try and find a logistical answer maindeck or sideboard.

Kyle L

[SonataOfTheCathedral]

Elias says, Threads of Disloyalty! Beat them at their own game! Might be better in CS though.

Just a thought that was worth mentioning.

[Goblin Nabob]

The Grunts are evil.

A blue instant would be the best choice for removal in this amazing deck.
You have a full set of Merchants Scrolls to look for it.

Maybe silly ideas – but i thought about Psionic Blast?

Stealing the Grunt and not paying the upkeep could also work.
Dominate is a blue instant (would cost 3UU) or Seasinger could do the job.

[cssamerican]

The first thing I would try is siding in a couple of extra Chain of Vapors. The Grunts have to stay in play a couple of turns to be effective, so bounce and smart play could be good enough in many cases. I haven't done any testing, but having your Ancestral recycled in a deck with with four Merchant Scrolls doesn't seem THAT bad. If that didn't work I would try Psionic Blasts. They seem pretty good because you do not have to dilute your deck too much to run them. Two would likely be more than enough since you could pretty much get them at will. The problem with non-blue solutions is you would need to run four of them to ensure you can have them in hand when needed. I would rather not do that because I think the deck wants to stay focused on its own gameplan and only deviate from that plan if absolutely necessary.

[Whatever Works]

The problem with things like psonic blast and threads of disloyalty etc. is that they all make the deck significantly worse. Besides the fish matchup gifts has a slight advantage to a large advantage on basically every other deck in the format. This isnt even really argued.

Their is nothing you can really do but perhaps add 1 more bounce card to the maindeck, but then that even seems a little silly, because the deck runs so many tutors to find them need be. The more troubling thing about fish is that Gifts.dec still has the same # of threats, and same large # of tutors. While fish is slowly stockpiling more and more effective creatures that all have some extremely usful ability vs. Control/Combo.

Generally people talk about how portal might have blown vintage over the edge by finally causing there to be to many tutors in the came causing the existence of decks like pitch long (7-8 TUTORS + 10 game ending bomb cards BOMBS + 7 Counters), or even decks like stax that have replaced Smokestack for tutors to create the same exact lock with strip mine/crucible + gorrilla shaman... HOWEVER, people forget that while these decks get better fish decks have been gaining just as much momentum recently with new cards that have affects that directly impact these tier 1 decks. Fish doesnt play creatures that do nothing... Every card must have an ability, and all these abilitys affect the format and meandeck gifts is no acception to this rule.

Kyle L

[TimeWizzle]

Another advantage to Psionic Blast is that if you go the tendrils route, Blasting your opponent is essentially 3 storm counts (in terms of lethality).  

Although it is red, Shrapnel blast could be an option also, for the reason above and that it also gives you an extra mox to play out of a Will later.  

Also off-color, but i don't think smother is a bad card to be running these days.  it takes care of most everything you would care about other than big artifact monsters and angels (kills grunt, welder, confidant, x-bees, cutpurse, meddlers, etc.)

[ashiXIII]

Smother isn't bad. Ghastly isn't bad, either. These don't make terrible sideboard cards for Gifts because not only do they kill Grunt, but they kill everything else in Fish. They also fill Darkblast's role and answer Welders/Swarms and in Smother's case, Confidants. Granted, I'd rather have Darkblast against those cards, but just because it's better against Fish, I would probably run Ghastly Demise, or more likely Smother, but only because it can kill Bobs.

[bigstudlysherm]

Smother isn't bad. Ghastly isn't bad, either. These don't make terrible sideboard cards for Gifts because not only do they kill Grunt, but they kill everything else in Fish. They also fill Darkblast's role and answer Welders/Swarms and in Smother's case, Confidants. Granted, I'd rather have Darkblast against those cards, but just because it's better against Fish, I would probably run Ghastly Demise, or more likely Smother, but only because it can kill Bobs.

I like this analysis and I thought about giving smother a few sideboard slots and then 2 things occured to me:

1) I haven't seen enough proof that current sideboard plan of clasm/reb doesn't solve the matchup with or without Grunt.
Is Jotun Grunt really a threat? Others in the thread strongly feel that way but I don't buy it quite yet.

The Grunts are evil.

A blue instant would be the best choice for removal in this amazing deck.
You have a full set of Merchants Scrolls to look for it.

Not only for Merchant Scroll, but actually because the card is blue. Your sources of black in this deck are 1-2 Sea, 1 Jet, 1 Petal, and 1 Lotus

Playing your Sea into a wasteland just to kill Grunt is not worth it.

Chain of Vapor still wins in this argument.

[LordHomerCat]

If chain is best, how does repeal compare?  Haven't people already tried it in Gifts, seems like repealing a grunt is plenty efficient and resets his graveyard-eating count.

[magus888]

Why not run Engineered Explosives against fish? All their creatures are 1-2 cc. Gifts doesn't run any permanents that will interfier with EE's effectiveness. And it can get rid of chalice at 0. (Drain mana, strip mine, sol ring, vault) Most of today's fish decks run Confidant, Meddling Mage, and Grunt. They're all 2cc. You can wipe their board with 1 spell.

[Disburden]

If chain is best, how does repeal compare?  Haven't people already tried it in Gifts, seems like repealing a grunt is plenty efficient and resets his graveyard-eating count.

The biggest thing that sucks about Repeal is the casting cost. Grunt costs 2 mana and therefore it makes repeal cost 2U. I would much rather just use a U bounce spell in Chain of Vapor than a 3cc spell that gets me a card in resolving. Gifts is already a mana hungry deck, especially Meandeck Gifts, which is why you want a fast efficient bounce spell to cast on threats.

[diopter]

Why not run Engineered Explosives against fish? All their creatures are 1-2 cc. Gifts doesn't run any permanents that will interfier with EE's effectiveness. And it can get rid of chalice at 0. (Drain mana, strip mine, sol ring, vault) Most of today's fish decks run Confidant, Meddling Mage, and Grunt. They're all 2cc. You can wipe their board with 1 spell.

Null Rod shuts down Engineered Explosives, and the mana from Drain/CMC1 accelerants is better used to play Gifts (thereby circumventing the mana-denial that Chalice@0 imposes).