The thing about the Rites backup plan is that it takes a lot less setup, so in the face of a lot of discard, such as against Aggro Loam, Jund, some U/B delver lists, some melira lists, etc. Against them, you just want to turn Gifts into a game win even if they have an active Liliana.
This deck really does not have any problem with most sideboard hate. I'm going to post an account of a game 3 against a teammates Mono-U Tezz list where I grapeshot-killed him from 16 when he had Trinisphere, Chalice of the Void set to 2, and Grafdigger's Cage all on the battlefield. The only cards this deck really hates are Extirpate and Leyline of the Void, as all the rest can be played around with sufficient skill and knowledge of the deck's capabilities. And yes, I don't have that much trouble playing around trickbind anymore.
As soon as you're done with your list (including sideboard, as I agree that that's crucial to the deck), I'll put it on the primer. I wouldn't recommend Merchant Scroll in your list: half of its strength is the ability to tutor for not just Gifts, but also any of a wide variety of countermagic and bounce that gets much wider post-board. I'm also going to add what you described about splice, as it's an entire set of synergies I'm skipping over right now.
I must say, I'm amused by how different our lists are from each other. It's like Meandeck Gifts and SSB in vintage all over again. They're both Gifts-based combo lists, but with two very different sets of synergies building around the Gifts.
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What I meant about Rites-->Iona was that I would rather play something which requires you to 1) stick a Gifts and 2) play a flashback spell to put something from your graveyard into play. If I'm playing a B-plan, I want it to work when my opponent stops me from resolving Gifts and/or play cards from my graveyard. I agree that it takes little setup, but that's not really what I have against the concept from a practical standpoint.
I've been mainly considering Merchant Scroll as a sideboard tool for stacking Gifts piles with an additional copy of a specific target. For instance, Gifts for Mindbreak Trap, Merchant Scroll, Noxious Revival, Past in Flames. However, I'm looking into cutting the Noxious Revival anyways, and I'm probably just going to play Mystical Teachings in my board instead. It's slow, but it does produce some serious inevitability. You can throw Teachings into a Gifts pile, and it will find you another Gifts or whatever you need, for those games when you have the time and want to sculpt. I also like that it gets Volcanic Fallout, which is a trick I am unable to teach my Merchant Scroll (all it does is play dead, sometimes). I definitely want some kind of direct tutor for post-board games because I really want to play some awesome singletons (especially COMMANDEER!!!!). I think Teachings is it.
I'm also still amused by the cataclysmic differences in our lists. I'm sure there's yet another way to build this deck...obviously, this is true, considering the Gifts Storm lists that have been placing in tournaments these days. But I bet there is a fourth way that remains undiscovered.
i think what's going on is a sliding scale of combo vs. Control. I think mine is a little more controllish than yours, but it could go either way. Currently, it's more pure combo that people are seeing. I'd guess something WAY more controllish could exist, though I'd worry about getting a critical mass of rituals to get a good Past in Flames. I like the idea of Teachings, but I really like the curve currently. It could do marvellously as a Gifts target though, in matchups like Twin, aggro decks with permission, Jund, etc. I'd already been trying out Mind Spring in place of Repeal in the main, as you don't need to bounce sideboard hate in many game ones, I've found.
The thing is, and this is just my experience, people just aren't using Graveyard Hate against you, and when they are, it's really easy to play around. Most people are just using Storm hate and discard, both of which are pretty easily beaten. The thing is, one of the benefits of Merchant Scroll is that you can use it to blank a crypt or Relic or Cage, and spell-based GY hate can be countered pretty easily. Bojuka Bog isn't effective against us generally, and no one is playing Extirpate. If they do, I'll probably need to figure out a new backup plan, but until then I'm gonna stick with Rites.
The way I think of it is that mine is basically an early version of Meandeck Gifts from Vintage, which would make yours SSB, with the caveat that mine isn't strictly better than yours. Both lists were viable and considered tier 1-1.5 for YEARS before Meandeck gifts proved to have more potential as a strategy and just evolved while SSB stood still.
Do you have enough blue cards to cast Commandeer? I tried it and I know I don't, but don't you have a higher blue count?
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42 non-blue cards in my maindeck, which means 18 blue cards by process of elimination. That's barely enough for a deck to handle Force of Will, but definitely not enough for Commandeer. However, Commandeeer is not in my maindeck. It's a sideboard card, and when I bring it in, I plan to be taking out a lot of non-blue cards for mostly more blue cards. In fact, I'm considering a full-blown transformation into a control deck for a sideboard plan. I'm currently assembling and testing it. I can just imagine someone bringing in Rule of Law, only to find that I've taken out a bunch of combo pieces for counter spells.
By the way, I put a Cryptic Command in my maindeck and I've been loving it. I have no real problems casting it with most 4-land configurations, and it fulfills a lot of roles. I remembered it being fantastic in High Tide as a 2-of because it was a solution to a resolved Counterbalance and a great Time Walk against aggro (especially Goblins), so I've been trying one out. It's not the greatest card to draw while comboing, but if you draw it before then, it's basically never dead.
I think that's where are lists diverge. Mine can't really handle UUU and a 4-cmc counterspell. It trades the ability to play cards like that for a bit more Gifts insanity and turning Merchant Scroll into something of its vintage self (I'm surprised it's ever a dead card, I've always found it to be useful, though not always searching for Gifts).
I feel like there is a slot in my deck that is open, as a target to make grinding gifts piles so much stronger. I think at the moment that will be teachings, but I could see going with Cryptic.
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I want about this much disruption in the main, I think 13 is still the right ritual count, and I'm about content with the draw suite (for the sake of combo turns). It's definitely still a combo deck, but with a solid 8 counters and 6 removal spells (counting the Cryptic and Grapeshot). I might shift a couple cards around, but this is about where I want things to stand.
What I'm looking at, as a sideboard plan, is this:
-4 Seething Song
-4 Desperate Ritual
-1 Mana Seism
-2 Past in Flames
-1 Increasing Vengeance
-3 ?
It's taking me some time to hash out, and I might just run a more traditional board instead...but it's definitely an interesting possibility. I think I need some Rune Snags in order to make this board work...maybe I'll put them in the main. (Or a split between main and board? Might be the first time in history that someone played less than 4 Rune Snags in a 60 when they had access to Mana Leak.) I'm hopefully going to get some serious testing in tomorrow and later this weekend, so I'll be able to see whether or not this works.
I want about this much disruption in the main, I think 13 is still the right ritual count, and I'm about content with the draw suite (for the sake of combo turns). It's definitely still a combo deck, but with a solid 8 counters and 6 removal spells (counting the Cryptic and Grapeshot). I might shift a couple cards around, but this is about where I want things to stand.
What I'm looking at, as a sideboard plan, is this:
-4 Seething Song
-4 Desperate Ritual
-1 Mana Seism
-2 Past in Flames
-1 Increasing Vengeance
-3 ?
It's taking me some time to hash out, and I might just run a more traditional board instead...but it's definitely an interesting possibility. I think I need some Rune Snags in order to make this board work...maybe I'll put them in the main. (Or a split between main and board? Might be the first time in history that someone played less than 4 Rune Snags in a 60 when they had access to Mana Leak.) I'm hopefully going to get some serious testing in tomorrow and later this weekend, so I'll be able to see whether or not this works.
So this is where you went. I'm glad this got moved. I just didn't know where it went. Since I think the eventual Storm deck in Modern will be Gift's based I think this is where I will hang my combo hat.
With all of the blue Storage lands wouldn't Gigadrowse be a good choice? Since you are running Remand you could also do the trick where you tap them down then Remand the original back to your hand. Love the posibilites that Gifts brings to the deck.
In case I didn't tell you, I don't care about your opinion I just want your facts. And not the facts that make you seem smart. I want the ones that are actual facts.
I keep moving Gigadrowse in and out of the main (and the deck in general). It's really lackluster in some match-ups...I know it can be full-blown Time Walk, but there are only so many spaces for non-combo elements.
I keep moving Gigadrowse in and out of the main (and the deck in general). It's really lackluster in some match-ups...I know it can be full-blown Time Walk, but there are only so many spaces for non-combo elements.
Could you run a sideboard plan that went Iona/Unburial Rites? Seems reasonable to me that you could set that up.
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In case I didn't tell you, I don't care about your opinion I just want your facts. And not the facts that make you seem smart. I want the ones that are actual facts.
The whole point of boarding out the Past in Flames plan is to bring in something that doesn't care about grave hate and doesn't get wrecked by Extirpate. That's exactly why I will not play Iona. I'm not going to show up at the last PTQ of the season with a sideboard plan that says "You got me" when my opponent brings in things to hate out my maindeck.
Reanimating Iona is old news, anyways. Everybody knows about it. For crying out loud, people have been boarding in Gifts-->Iona in Delver/Scepter decks for a couple of months now. If my opponents don't expect any kind of reanimation plan from a Gifts deck, I don't really need to sideboard in switch tech to beat those kinds of bad players. Switch tech is for the players who are smart and will pose a challenge to me, later in the tournament.
I must say, I'm amazed at how far this has gone. The deck is really catching on. Thanks, everyone!
There's going to be another modern tourney at a local card shop. Basically my entire team (5 people) is packing Ritual Gifts. I'll be posting tournament reports from both myself and at least one or two others.
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The whole point of boarding out the Past in Flames plan is to bring in something that doesn't care about grave hate and doesn't get wrecked by Extirpate. That's exactly why I will not play Iona. I'm not going to show up at the last PTQ of the season with a sideboard plan that says "You got me" when my opponent brings in things to hate out my maindeck.
Reanimating Iona is old news, anyways. Everybody knows about it. For crying out loud, people have been boarding in Gifts-->Iona in Delver/Scepter decks for a couple of months now. If my opponents don't expect any kind of reanimation plan from a Gifts deck, I don't really need to sideboard in switch tech to beat those kinds of bad players. Switch tech is for the players who are smart and will pose a challenge to me, later in the tournament.
I was thinking about the RDW match-up. With it only being 2 cards I don't see why there isn't some logic to doing so.
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In case I didn't tell you, I don't care about your opinion I just want your facts. And not the facts that make you seem smart. I want the ones that are actual facts.
First, just to be clear, I never side out the Past in Flames plan. I always keep in one Grapeshot, and even when I bring in Rites I Grapeshot kill fairly often. The main thing is that it's a lot stronger in many matchups than Martial Coup, and my list really wants 2 finishers. Iona is just the strongest option I've managed to find. It's never to take them by surprise: It's to make it more versatile to a lot of the hate people run, and to help out a lot of matchups where Iona can be really useful.
The other thing is, it's actually really easy to use Iona as leverage to buy time and cards, so you can kill with Storm. Because it often takes a lot of mana and cards to kill an Iona (remember how much countermagic the deck packs), I've found that I can usually storm kill even after going for Iona and getting it killed.
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Well, if I resolve a gifts and untap, I don't really need Iona in order to close out the game. 3 rits and a PiF=game. Plus, red deck wins gets wrecked hard by tempo plays like remand and repeal anyways. I never feel like i'm out of control in that matchup.
Edit:
I realized that I muffed up some of my last couple of posts because of the combination of being exhausted and posting on my iPhone.
First of all, I want to add that I understand you don't board out past in flames for a 2 piece combo. Something does have to come out, and this means detracting from another aspect of the deck. But what I strongly dislike about the reanimate plan is that it often leads to drawing seriously dead cards. Rites is basically always dead when drawn, and Iona is hard to cast--even with rituals, manamorphose, and storage lands together. If the deck was built more like tron, with built-in thirst for knowledges to pitch these cards, then my opinion would change. I suppose a build with faithless looting and/or ideas unbound can do that, but then we're talking about playing more card disadvantage and pushing the envelope on how situational the deck is.
In any case, I feel like the Iona plan, if it is used, should be put into the main deck. Just build it in, along with discard outlets. If it's really worth running, just cut to the chase and put it main. That's what ended up happening with tinker-->colossus in gifts-era vintage. Might as well go all-out in a direction. Even if I don't particularly care for the Iona plan myself, I would rather see it supported more as a maindeck option, rather than a half-assed board plan.
I got a few games in tonight against UW tron and splinter twin. I really dont see twin winning this matchup post-board. Per-board, even, it was so easy for me to play the patient game plan because of storage lands. Eventually, they aren't going to be able to use their tempo advantage to outmuscle me in counter wars, and that's when the card advantage and the forks and flashback cards just power through those remands and dispels.
Tron honestly seems tougher, simply because I find myself more challenged by an opposing gifts deck. I think it's totally easy to win with the right sideboard, but that deck is dangerous in that it does what we are trying to do and creates a pseudo-mirror. Both decks play gifts and other draw spells in an attempt to set up broken mana counts and bonkers plays.
What I found against tron is that you're approximately one bajillion times more explosive than they are, and usually have more and better early counterspells. They have to spend more turns turtling than you do to go bonkers. I use that to my advantage, and kill them around turn 5, usually. They can only rarely stop me.
And, for the record, I'm switched to Inkwell Leviathan for the backup plan, and moved it to the main. I've been loving it all the while. I'll update my list when I post the tournament report.
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You're definitely a vintage player for running inkwell, lol. I think it's a great bomb, regardless of the tinker nostalgia. I'm glad it's main in your build.
I put a slaughter pact in my maindeck because it seems to be the nuts in a lot of matchups. I originally had it in the board to kill hate bears and exarchs, but I basically want it in 90% of my match ups, so it was promoted.
It does kinda show, doesn't it? It's actually incredibly strong. I've been really impressed with it. The thing is, the only card that can deal with it that people actually play is Liliana, and if you don't know how to deal with Liliana with this deck, why are you playing it in the first place?
Slaughter Pact's an interesting possibility. I'm already playing Dreadship Reefs to deal with Mystical Teachings flashback, so I could definitely see it.
How do you beat bant, by the way? In my testing, it's been quite difficult to deal with.
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I have to find a bant list that doesn't suck and put that together for testing. I don't feel too threatened by it because I can race it pretty well; I guess it's mostly a matter of them bringing in he hate and me bringing in the right solutions. Right now, I board in a death mark and some more hard removal, so it's pretty good for my build.
Ok, I think I've cracked it. Not too hard. I'll add a matchup for it tomorrow.
Edit: Just barely beat a Tron list that basically played Stax, with Thorns, Lodestone Golem, 3Sphere, Chalice, and some counterspells. Is that a thing? Because it looks really annoying.
Go to my blog, Musings of the False God, for in-depth guides playing the game, from the building blocks of deck design to deceiving your opponent through clever game play!
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
I'm very interested in playing this deck for an upcoming PTQ. I've read through the primer, and understand that the deck is very difficult to play. Do you guys think the deck is viable as two-colour? Or have you found that three colour is without a doubt the best approach? Does the sideboard have any key pieces to it? Or are you guys always shifting it to what you expect the metagame to be - and if you are, what specific cards have you found fantastic?
On another note, have you guys considered Venarian Glimmer as a sort of vendilion clique that you can grab with scroll? it doesn't seem amazing, but it's a card that no one's ever heard of, so it's always worth asking.
It's probably viable as 2-color, but I really like being able to use Unburial Rites. Basically, you want to have a second finisher that isn't a storm card and doesn't require as much setup. There's no real key card in the sideboard, I'm always shifting based on what decks the current version has a hard time beating. In building a sideboard for the deck, you want to be very careful: the core of the deck is pretty important and takes up a lot of slots, so make the sideboard cards count. Good luck with the PTQ!
I won the tournament today. We put 2 players into the top 8. I'll be posting tournament reports from the 2 of us who made top 8 some time in the next few days.
Edit: updated primer to current list
EDIT: Should I add something about the history of the deck? My version at least has a tendency to play a bit like Meandeck Gifts from Vintage. I could write a section about the inspiration for the deck, link to some articles about the Vintage version of it, and so on. Would it be helpful to people to know how the deck came to be?
Go to my blog, Musings of the False God, for in-depth guides playing the game, from the building blocks of deck design to deceiving your opponent through clever game play!
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
That makes sense. And yeah, the meandeck stuff sounds like it could be enlightening to those of us that didn't play vintage through those days, and thus don't really know how to play the deck xD. On that note - is there a general trend to look for in hands as far as keeping them goes? I understand that this isn't a goldfish deck, but I have no idea if a sample hand is a keeper or not most of the time.... is there a trick to it?
P.S. Was the second U/R storm deck listed one of you two? http://mtgpulse.com/event/6377#85852
If not, there may be more interest in the thread than just the people posting in it
edit: jk, it's basically a net-deck of the deck that came in 18th place at GP Hoth
Well, you definitely want to have a few lands, preferably 3. Also, you want to have at least a couple ways to interact or get ways to interact fairly early.
A fairly standard hand will be something like:
Land
Land
Merchant Scroll
Counterspell
Ritual
Ritual
Gifts target of some kind.
That's an excellent hand, but not one that's easy to play.
Also, land-heavy hands are quite good in the deck. You have a lot of very strong business, and even a single Merchant Scroll in a land-heavy hand can win games.
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Hmm.. sounds good. Is the main deck 61 cards because that's the best set-up, or because you can't figure out what card to cut? (I've definitely been there xD)
Both. Basically, what I found is that, because of the tutor power in the deck, it's better suited to operate with 61 cards than most decks in the format. That said, I'm sure an optimal 60-card list would still function more effectively.
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This deck really does not have any problem with most sideboard hate. I'm going to post an account of a game 3 against a teammates Mono-U Tezz list where I grapeshot-killed him from 16 when he had Trinisphere, Chalice of the Void set to 2, and Grafdigger's Cage all on the battlefield. The only cards this deck really hates are Extirpate and Leyline of the Void, as all the rest can be played around with sufficient skill and knowledge of the deck's capabilities. And yes, I don't have that much trouble playing around trickbind anymore.
As soon as you're done with your list (including sideboard, as I agree that that's crucial to the deck), I'll put it on the primer. I wouldn't recommend Merchant Scroll in your list: half of its strength is the ability to tutor for not just Gifts, but also any of a wide variety of countermagic and bounce that gets much wider post-board. I'm also going to add what you described about splice, as it's an entire set of synergies I'm skipping over right now.
I must say, I'm amused by how different our lists are from each other. It's like Meandeck Gifts and SSB in vintage all over again. They're both Gifts-based combo lists, but with two very different sets of synergies building around the Gifts.
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
I've been mainly considering Merchant Scroll as a sideboard tool for stacking Gifts piles with an additional copy of a specific target. For instance, Gifts for Mindbreak Trap, Merchant Scroll, Noxious Revival, Past in Flames. However, I'm looking into cutting the Noxious Revival anyways, and I'm probably just going to play Mystical Teachings in my board instead. It's slow, but it does produce some serious inevitability. You can throw Teachings into a Gifts pile, and it will find you another Gifts or whatever you need, for those games when you have the time and want to sculpt. I also like that it gets Volcanic Fallout, which is a trick I am unable to teach my Merchant Scroll (all it does is play dead, sometimes). I definitely want some kind of direct tutor for post-board games because I really want to play some awesome singletons (especially COMMANDEER!!!!). I think Teachings is it.
I'm also still amused by the cataclysmic differences in our lists. I'm sure there's yet another way to build this deck...obviously, this is true, considering the Gifts Storm lists that have been placing in tournaments these days. But I bet there is a fourth way that remains undiscovered.
The thing is, and this is just my experience, people just aren't using Graveyard Hate against you, and when they are, it's really easy to play around. Most people are just using Storm hate and discard, both of which are pretty easily beaten. The thing is, one of the benefits of Merchant Scroll is that you can use it to blank a crypt or Relic or Cage, and spell-based GY hate can be countered pretty easily. Bojuka Bog isn't effective against us generally, and no one is playing Extirpate. If they do, I'll probably need to figure out a new backup plan, but until then I'm gonna stick with Rites.
The way I think of it is that mine is basically an early version of Meandeck Gifts from Vintage, which would make yours SSB, with the caveat that mine isn't strictly better than yours. Both lists were viable and considered tier 1-1.5 for YEARS before Meandeck gifts proved to have more potential as a strategy and just evolved while SSB stood still.
Do you have enough blue cards to cast Commandeer? I tried it and I know I don't, but don't you have a higher blue count?
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13 Rituals
2 Past in Flames
1 Grapeshot
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Volcanic Fallout
2 Increasing Vengeance
42 non-blue cards in my maindeck, which means 18 blue cards by process of elimination. That's barely enough for a deck to handle Force of Will, but definitely not enough for Commandeer. However, Commandeeer is not in my maindeck. It's a sideboard card, and when I bring it in, I plan to be taking out a lot of non-blue cards for mostly more blue cards. In fact, I'm considering a full-blown transformation into a control deck for a sideboard plan. I'm currently assembling and testing it. I can just imagine someone bringing in Rule of Law, only to find that I've taken out a bunch of combo pieces for counter spells.
By the way, I put a Cryptic Command in my maindeck and I've been loving it. I have no real problems casting it with most 4-land configurations, and it fulfills a lot of roles. I remembered it being fantastic in High Tide as a 2-of because it was a solution to a resolved Counterbalance and a great Time Walk against aggro (especially Goblins), so I've been trying one out. It's not the greatest card to draw while comboing, but if you draw it before then, it's basically never dead.
I feel like there is a slot in my deck that is open, as a target to make grinding gifts piles so much stronger. I think at the moment that will be teachings, but I could see going with Cryptic.
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Steam Vents
1 Watery Grave
1 Blood Crypt
1 Island
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Mountain
3 Cascade Bluffs
1 Calciform Pools
1 Dreadship Reef
1 Molten Slagheap
1 Fungal Reaches
1 Spell Pierce
1 Dispel
4 Remand
1 Cryptic Command
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Volcanic Fallout
1 Repeal
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Mana Seism
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Seething Song
4 Manamorphose
4 Gifts Ungiven
1 Mystical Teachings
2 Past in Flames
1 Increasing Vengeance
1 Grapeshot
I want about this much disruption in the main, I think 13 is still the right ritual count, and I'm about content with the draw suite (for the sake of combo turns). It's definitely still a combo deck, but with a solid 8 counters and 6 removal spells (counting the Cryptic and Grapeshot). I might shift a couple cards around, but this is about where I want things to stand.
What I'm looking at, as a sideboard plan, is this:
-4 Seething Song
-4 Desperate Ritual
-1 Mana Seism
-2 Past in Flames
-1 Increasing Vengeance
-3 ?
+1 Spell Spare
+2 Volcanic Fallout
+1 Consume the Meek
+1 Mindbreak Trap
+1 Commandeer
+1 Spell Burst
+2 Mystical Teachings
+2 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
+1 (Bomb Creature)
+2 Dimir Aqueduct
+1 Rakdos Carnarium
It's taking me some time to hash out, and I might just run a more traditional board instead...but it's definitely an interesting possibility. I think I need some Rune Snags in order to make this board work...maybe I'll put them in the main. (Or a split between main and board? Might be the first time in history that someone played less than 4 Rune Snags in a 60 when they had access to Mana Leak.) I'm hopefully going to get some serious testing in tomorrow and later this weekend, so I'll be able to see whether or not this works.
So this is where you went. I'm glad this got moved. I just didn't know where it went. Since I think the eventual Storm deck in Modern will be Gift's based I think this is where I will hang my combo hat.
With all of the blue Storage lands wouldn't Gigadrowse be a good choice? Since you are running Remand you could also do the trick where you tap them down then Remand the original back to your hand. Love the posibilites that Gifts brings to the deck.
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Could you run a sideboard plan that went Iona/Unburial Rites? Seems reasonable to me that you could set that up.
Cockatrice username: Blackcat77
Reanimating Iona is old news, anyways. Everybody knows about it. For crying out loud, people have been boarding in Gifts-->Iona in Delver/Scepter decks for a couple of months now. If my opponents don't expect any kind of reanimation plan from a Gifts deck, I don't really need to sideboard in switch tech to beat those kinds of bad players. Switch tech is for the players who are smart and will pose a challenge to me, later in the tournament.
There's going to be another modern tourney at a local card shop. Basically my entire team (5 people) is packing Ritual Gifts. I'll be posting tournament reports from both myself and at least one or two others.
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
I was thinking about the RDW match-up. With it only being 2 cards I don't see why there isn't some logic to doing so.
Cockatrice username: Blackcat77
The other thing is, it's actually really easy to use Iona as leverage to buy time and cards, so you can kill with Storm. Because it often takes a lot of mana and cards to kill an Iona (remember how much countermagic the deck packs), I've found that I can usually storm kill even after going for Iona and getting it killed.
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
Edit:
I realized that I muffed up some of my last couple of posts because of the combination of being exhausted and posting on my iPhone.
First of all, I want to add that I understand you don't board out past in flames for a 2 piece combo. Something does have to come out, and this means detracting from another aspect of the deck. But what I strongly dislike about the reanimate plan is that it often leads to drawing seriously dead cards. Rites is basically always dead when drawn, and Iona is hard to cast--even with rituals, manamorphose, and storage lands together. If the deck was built more like tron, with built-in thirst for knowledges to pitch these cards, then my opinion would change. I suppose a build with faithless looting and/or ideas unbound can do that, but then we're talking about playing more card disadvantage and pushing the envelope on how situational the deck is.
In any case, I feel like the Iona plan, if it is used, should be put into the main deck. Just build it in, along with discard outlets. If it's really worth running, just cut to the chase and put it main. That's what ended up happening with tinker-->colossus in gifts-era vintage. Might as well go all-out in a direction. Even if I don't particularly care for the Iona plan myself, I would rather see it supported more as a maindeck option, rather than a half-assed board plan.
I got a few games in tonight against UW tron and splinter twin. I really dont see twin winning this matchup post-board. Per-board, even, it was so easy for me to play the patient game plan because of storage lands. Eventually, they aren't going to be able to use their tempo advantage to outmuscle me in counter wars, and that's when the card advantage and the forks and flashback cards just power through those remands and dispels.
Tron honestly seems tougher, simply because I find myself more challenged by an opposing gifts deck. I think it's totally easy to win with the right sideboard, but that deck is dangerous in that it does what we are trying to do and creates a pseudo-mirror. Both decks play gifts and other draw spells in an attempt to set up broken mana counts and bonkers plays.
And, for the record, I'm switched to Inkwell Leviathan for the backup plan, and moved it to the main. I've been loving it all the while. I'll update my list when I post the tournament report.
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
I put a slaughter pact in my maindeck because it seems to be the nuts in a lot of matchups. I originally had it in the board to kill hate bears and exarchs, but I basically want it in 90% of my match ups, so it was promoted.
Slaughter Pact's an interesting possibility. I'm already playing Dreadship Reefs to deal with Mystical Teachings flashback, so I could definitely see it.
How do you beat bant, by the way? In my testing, it's been quite difficult to deal with.
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
Edit: Just barely beat a Tron list that basically played Stax, with Thorns, Lodestone Golem, 3Sphere, Chalice, and some counterspells. Is that a thing? Because it looks really annoying.
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
On another note, have you guys considered Venarian Glimmer as a sort of vendilion clique that you can grab with scroll? it doesn't seem amazing, but it's a card that no one's ever heard of, so it's always worth asking.
I won the tournament today. We put 2 players into the top 8. I'll be posting tournament reports from the 2 of us who made top 8 some time in the next few days.
Edit: updated primer to current list
EDIT: Should I add something about the history of the deck? My version at least has a tendency to play a bit like Meandeck Gifts from Vintage. I could write a section about the inspiration for the deck, link to some articles about the Vintage version of it, and so on. Would it be helpful to people to know how the deck came to be?
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
P.S. Was the second U/R storm deck listed one of you two?
http://mtgpulse.com/event/6377#85852
If not, there may be more interest in the thread than just the people posting in it
edit: jk, it's basically a net-deck of the deck that came in 18th place at GP Hoth
A fairly standard hand will be something like:
Land
Land
Merchant Scroll
Counterspell
Ritual
Ritual
Gifts target of some kind.
That's an excellent hand, but not one that's easy to play.
Also, land-heavy hands are quite good in the deck. You have a lot of very strong business, and even a single Merchant Scroll in a land-heavy hand can win games.
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.