I do have one parting curiosity - why is it that none of these lists run Emrakul, the Aeons Torn? I know he is never going to be castable if we draw him but we do have Izzet Charm to ditch him if needed, we will never keep a hand with him in our opener, and when he hits the board our opponent is going to need some miracle to not just auto-scoop. Just curious as to whether anyone thinks he can work here.
The problem with Emrakul the fact that as he hits the graveyard you have to shuffle your graveyard into your library, thus you have no chance to reanimate him.
So this is a list I've come up with, which is essentially a version of the newer American Gifts list, but with Geist, Finks and Sun Titan for a more aggressive strategy. I'm planning on running this list (or a modified version) at the PTQ I'm playing this weekend, and I would like any advice/comments, etc please. I'm expecting a lot of American Midrange, UR Tron, Infect, Affinity, Gruul Aggro, Splinter Twin, and probably even some of that Blistercoil Weird deck. I haven't actually tested since I was testing the normal 4 colour gifts and I got inspired to try brew up something which ended up looking like the American Gifts list with more creatures.
It opts for a a more control, less aggressive approach. I think the inclusion of Jace 4.0 is very interesting and I think it'll become clear in the next short while if he is indeed viable for Modern.
I like your list with Deathrite Shaman and Batterskull, I have been spending a bit of time testing out Deathrite Shaman and even trying to move this deck into 4C, adding in the green. Still testing out though, but the shamans are just awesome.
Just some of my opinions, it's just my views only. I still prefer to stick with 4 Geist of Saint Traft, he is just straight up a win-con, and he is also a removal against opponent's Geist of Saint Traft. I am still quite iffy about Lingering Souls without weapon support, I'd still prefer kitchen finks since he helps replenish the lifepoint loss from fetch and shocks and is a good persisting wall, or even 2-3 of restoration angel. Hmm this is something I did quite a few times with restoration angel and it is quite neat, I got a Deathrite Shaman in play, my opponent tries to maybe abrupt decay or throw a bolt or a removal at it, in response I activate Deathrite Shaman to "eat up" one of his/her fetches in the grave to get mana, flash in restoration angel and blink Deathrite Shaman out of harm's way, next turn my turn, my opoonent has got a 3/4 flier and a shaman staring at him/her
So wish you all the best for your Modern FNM, I look forward to hearing about your experience there
So after all the deck tweaking, I decided last minute to play 4C Gifts instead of Esper Midrange, and did rather horribly... Oh well
I've eventually decided that the Swords are a bit too slow for this deck and Spell Snare I'm still very iffy about. Thus, I have decided rather to put in more removal, that can deal with those annoying Hexproof guys as well as a Batterskull to help against Aggro and an Esper Charm as a useful 1-of.
Will let you know how it goes, but otherwise comments/criticisms/suggestions are alway appreciated.
The Sideboard has also undergone a severe renovation.
I've recently started to build Gifts Control and was reading through this entire thread. I wanted to ask what people's thoughts were on including Boseiju, Who Shelters All in the Sideboard vs Control to force through our Gifts?
Jund:
Some people say Jund may just die off, seriously I really don't think so. Jund has been a goodstuff deck that focused on the high power level/card quality of each independent spell rather than synergy and any "built-around" star cards. And so, the lost of a card or two isn't going to kill it. I have just tested against a version that simply replaced Bloodbraid Elf with Huntmaster of the Fells and I must say it is very very powerful.
The lost of Bloodbraid Elf seem to make countermagic much more viable again, especially if the Jund player replaced it with Huntmaster of the Fells, since countermagic is the best card to stop such ETB creatures and bin it. That being said, this deck, Esper Midrange may possibly take a sudden turn to increase the number of countermagic. What would you think?
Another solid replacement of Bloodbraid Elf is Thrun the Last Troll, countermagic is not going to work against this. The first strike of Blade Splicer tokens help to deal with via combat damage. However, Liliana of the Veil -2 is just perfect against the trolls. With Thrun as an emerging possibility to fill the void in Jund and the uprising of Geist of Saint Traft decks, Liliana of the Veil is very well-positioned in the current metagame.
Storm:
Unlike Jund, Storm relied heavily on the synergy of its cards to build a critical mass on spells leading to a kill. Seething Song though not being the engine, was the most important mana accelerator. The lost of it seems to be compelling most Storm players to play Goblin Electromancer now which contradicts the conventional non-creature characteristic of most storm decks in the history of Magic (not that it didn't see play before, but there were versions that could have easily and entirely not used it before), this however makes our removal spells more alive in this matchup. All in all, Storm was not a favorable matchup, in fact it was unfair and un-interactive (but that is Storm, an unfair deck), glad they are now slowed down (if not killed) giving us a better game 1 matchup against them.
The lost of song is also causing some combo players to flee to embrace other combo decks (the Modern format being unchecked by powerful blue countermagic like Force of Will is a party of combo decks, and combo players have abundant deck options) since their argument is that Storm is weakened to the point that it is just relatively ineffective when compared to other combo decks. Hard-core loyal Storm players would beg to differ, but will they "brew up a new epic storm" and prove that the present tranquility is just the eye of the storm and is temporary. Time will tell.
I think now, using more Counters Mainboard is a very logical way of stopping Jund since you won't be at card disadvantage as was the case with Bloodbraid Elf. Thus, the idea of Spell Pierces and Spell Snares MB becomes a serious consideration.
Storm IMO is just dead, but we will see in the near future if I am proven wrong.
Given the the popularity of removal/burn, I am rather hesitant to play Dark Confidant and Meddling Mage. Disfigure helps against most of the smaller creatures and it has a low mana cost, worth testing with, but if given a choice I'd prefer a more versatile removal. I am not that keen on Zealous Persecution, what do you think about it? Without any equipment to wield, I am less keen on Lingering Souls. Countersquall is an interesting idea, I may want to try it, would you think a 1 to 2-of is even viable mainboard?
Even though there is a lot of removal and burn I still think running 4 Deathrite Shamans is a good idea since their versatility is unrivalled. I'm also not completely sold on Disfigure (due to its narrowness) or Zealous Persecution, yes it has some nifty combat tricks and such, but I don't think it is good enough to be Mainboard IMO.
Overall, having gone without Restoration Angel, Thundermaw Hellkite, Baneslayer Angel etc, I can understand the lower curve, and I must say cheap and good spells are excellent. And that must have been a significant factor justifying your lower land counts as compared to more traditional versions. Just a question, has 22 Lands been sufficiently comfortable for you?
22 lands has actually been more than enough, and I'm frequently tempted to cut it down to 21 lands, although one of the guys I test with has advised against it.
I have always felt that one of the biggest reasons why Lingering Souls was so good in Legacy Esper Stoneblade was because they could wield an Umezza's Jitte, weapons work splendidly with the soul tokens, and I see your fair share of swords incorporated into your main. Jund Midrange was one of the biggest of users of Abrupt Decay, the biggest bane of the swords and some say perhaps the reason for the recent falling popularity of the swords, but Jund recently lost Bloodbraid Elf and their influence in the meta is now shrouded with many questions, but BUG is still strong and Junk may see an uprising and if they significantly play Abrupt Decay, I am quite concern for your swords. Thus, would you be expecting to see Abrupt Decay being heavily played in your upcoming PTQ meta? If so, would you be able to accept your swords being blown up? If yes, way to go, you can fight fearlessly. If not, what can you do either to prevent or recover from it (ie. possible to use Academy Ruins to "repair" the swords)?
Jund is reasonably popular deck in my meta, but especially after the banning of BBE I don't know if there will still be that many Jund decks. But yes, even though Abrupt Decay blows up Swords, your opponent still has to draw it while you have a Sword out and before their face is bashed in, which may mean mainboarding the SoFaF in place of one of the other Swords. I like the idea of Academy Ruins, except the manabase is rather tight, so I need to see if I can fit 1 in.
About the swords, have you tried out Mutavault, a cheap activation manland capable of bearing a sword makes an opponent with mana leaks in his/her hands scream in his/her head lol.
I haven't actually tried Mutavault since I don't possess the card and it seems a bit narrow, and I much rather prefer Celestial Collonade and Creeping Tar Pit; especially the fact that Creeping Tar Pit is unblockable
On the discard spells, how was your experience with Duress? Would it be better for you if they were Thoughtseize? Granted that I understand that Thoughtseize is an expensive card (in terms of money), would you then not prefer just a full set of 4 Inquisition of Korzilek instead. I don't know about your experience with Modern, but I always felt that Duress is better than Inquisition of Korzilek in Legacy, while Inquisition of Korzilek is better than Duress in Modern. The reason being that the Modern format seems more dominated by creature spells (particularly exhibited by creature-based combo decks like Twin, Pod, Infect), and cheap spells we all like in such a non-rotating format.
So far Duress has proven to be quite effective. Thoughtseize would be the ideal replacement (if I possessed them), but Duress hits combo pieces, counters, as well as 4cc removal such as Supreme Verdict which Inquisition does not. I'm still trying to decide if I want the full set of Inquisitions or not.
How has Remand been working out for you? The debate of Remand vs Mana Leak is one that is common in Modern, Correct if I am wrong but I read that some people say that Remand fits in better to a tempo deck, do you agree? And if so, would you think that your plan for this deck is heavily focus on tempo plays? And more interestingly, what are your thoughts on any countermagic alternatives?
Ah, the Remand vs Mana Leak debate :P. I agree that Remand is usually found in more tempo-based decks, and even though this deck is more mid-rangy I'm still a Tempo player at heart and that's why Remand is still there. I may end up testing with Mana Leaks though, but the draw effect is just so powerful.
How has Spell Pierce and Spell Snare been coming along for you? Personally, as I have explained about the restrictions of Blue Magic in my thread, I would prefer to use more discard or removal in place of soft or narrow countermagic in Modern
That being said, since your deck is splashing in Green, would it be to mana-greedy to consider replacing Spell Pierce and Spell Snare with spells like Abrupt Decay and/Or Maelstrom Pulse. If Spell Pierce and Spell Snare helps to prevent non-land non-creature threats (which creature removal could otherwise not have dealt with) from resolving, wouldn't Abrupt Decay and/Or Maelstrom Pulse be hard (destruction) and less narrow answers to non-land cards inclusive of both creatures and non-creatures.
Spell Pierce and Spell Snare are personal favourites, Spell Pierce for it's ability to stop most removal as well as Planeswalkers, particularly Lili; while Spell Snare stops a lot of relevant things in Modern, Snapcaster, Goyf, and Bob. Currently, the only splash for Green is for Deathrite's ability once in a while. I don't think making the deck 4 colours is quite what we want to be doing at the moment. Although the mention of Maelstrom Pulse did make me consider the possibility of Detention Sphere.
Shizo, Death's Storehouse is very interesting and one that I have not thought of, could you please share with us on how effective it has been for you?
Most of the times Shizo is just a swamp, but once in a while it makes Geist basically unblockable, virtually guaranteeing 6 points of damage. It basically fulfils a similar purpose to what Eiganjo Castle does/did in American Delver lists.
Aura of Silence: Yes indeed, speed is the biggest question if you get it and could cast it out before Affinity builds their board presence. I would also consider Artifact hate to also help us against the Tron Matchup, against artifacts like Expedition Map and Mindslaver, and I don't know about you but I felt taxing to pay extra mana didn't really help to deter them, neither does a spot destruction on an artifact since they play Academy Ruins. Thus I have personally preferred to lock them down and therefore concluded on Stony Silence as my artifact hate of choice
Hurkyl's Recall: Against Affinity, my apologies but I find Hurkyl's Recall questionable. Affinity is very fast, and they can play things like Memnites, Ornithopters and Mox Opal for free. Ever since their Legacy days till now in Modern, they are notorious for that with a god hand, they can drop their entire hand or reasonably around 75% of their hand out in just 1 turn, therefore I question the effectiveness of returning artifacts back to hand. Afterall, you wouldn't want to bounce all the Affinity's toys back to his/her hand and have him/her drop in all down before you in one turn.
You may be right there, I haven't had much chance to test against Affinity, I'm still trying to decide the best way of sideboarding for them, but I think you underestimate Hurkyl's Recall; you slow them down a turn, you also have the potential to counter relevant spells (Spell Snare stops Cranial Plating as well). And sometimes that extra turn or 2 is all you need.
Pithing Needle: I thought about it, but passed it for other SB cards (afterall 15 cards isn't too much of a space ) Just like to find out from you, which are the matchups the needle helped you against?
It's useful vs Eggs, Tron (you can name Karn), Jund (naming Treetop Village, since naming Liliana hurts us too), Affinity (naming Cranial Plating)
Another thing, what are your thoughts on Esper Charm and Mortify sideboard, or maybe even mainboard?
This is currently the list I'm testing for the upcoming Modern PTQ.
Deathrite Shamans are all-stars in this deck, whether it is for enabling a T2 Geist or removing reanimation/Snappie targets, or even just being Sword-bearers. Lingering Souls provides that much needed board presence in a deck with not many creatures. The spirit tokens can also carry Swords which is a plus.
For the sideboard, Aura of Silence is traditional Artifact/Enchantment hate, but I' hoping it's fast enough to slow Affinity/Robots down (haven't tested much against them yet).
Actually I was thinking that same thought. It might be time to bring him back in light of all the Zoo and Gruul Aggro popping up.
Haha, you're forgiven, he's the kind of guy you either ramp to or Goryo's Vengeance or Into the Breach into play.
There seems to be much debate over how good Iona is. I honestly think she's pretty solid vs most decks except Robots, but others seem to disagree.
The problem with Emrakul the fact that as he hits the graveyard you have to shuffle your graveyard into your library, thus you have no chance to reanimate him.
So this is a list I've come up with, which is essentially a version of the newer American Gifts list, but with Geist, Finks and Sun Titan for a more aggressive strategy. I'm planning on running this list (or a modified version) at the PTQ I'm playing this weekend, and I would like any advice/comments, etc please. I'm expecting a lot of American Midrange, UR Tron, Infect, Affinity, Gruul Aggro, Splinter Twin, and probably even some of that Blistercoil Weird deck. I haven't actually tested since I was testing the normal 4 colour gifts and I got inspired to try brew up something which ended up looking like the American Gifts list with more creatures.
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
3 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
4 Kitchen Finks
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Sun Titan
Instants (20)
1 Boros Charm
4 Gifts Ungiven
1 Izzet Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Lightning Helix
3 Mana Leak
3 Path to Exile
2 Spell Snare
Sorceries (4)
1 Pyroclasm
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Unburial Rites
1 Wrath of God
4 Arid Mesa
1 Blood Crypt
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
2 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
2 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
1 Batterskull
1 Damping Matrix
2 Disenchant
2 Phantasmal Image
1 Pithing Needle
2 Pyroclasm
1 Rule of Law
2 Sowing Salt
1 Stony Silence
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Torpor Orb
So this deck seems to be popping up more often now since the bannings, and I think that Esper Midrange and Esper Control are virtually the same thing.
Here's a decklist I found from MODO:
chepa (3-1)
Modern Daily #5019711 on 02/14/2013
2 Jace, Architect of Thought
3 Liliana of the Veil
Creatures (3)
3 Snapcaster Mage
Artifacts (1)
1 Batterskull
Instants (16)
1 Disfigure
1 Dismember
3 Esper Charm
3 Mana Leak
3 Path to Exile
2 Remand
1 Spell Pierce
2 Spell Snare
Sorceries (10)
2 Damnation
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Lingering Souls
1 Thoughtseize
1 Celestial Colonnade
3 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Darkslick Shores
1 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
4 Marsh Flats
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Plains
1 Swamp
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Watery Grave
1 Batterskull
1 Damnation
2 Disenchant
1 Dismember
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Path to Exile
2 Shadow of Doubt
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Thoughtseize
2 Timely Reinforcements
1 Wurmcoil Engine
It opts for a a more control, less aggressive approach. I think the inclusion of Jace 4.0 is very interesting and I think it'll become clear in the next short while if he is indeed viable for Modern.
How is Geth's Verdict going to be worse than Devour Flesh? Since, Geth's makes your opponent lose 1 life, while Devour Flesh gains them life.
So after all the deck tweaking, I decided last minute to play 4C Gifts instead of Esper Midrange, and did rather horribly... Oh well
4 Liliana of the Veil
Creatures (11)
3 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Deathrite Shaman
Artifacts (1)
1 Batterskull
Instants (13)
2 Geth's Verdict
2 Smother
3 Path to Exile
3 Mana Leak
2 Spell Pierce
1 Esper Charm
Sorceries (9)
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Duress
4 Lingering Souls
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Marsh Flats
2 Watery Grave
2 Godless Shrine
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Moorland Haunt
1 Celestial Colonnade
2 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Breeding Pool
2 Disenchant
3 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Pithing Needle
2 Spell Pierce
2 Stony Silence
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Timely Reinforcements
2 Surgical Extraction
This is the decklist that I've sleeved up for a Modern FNM tonight.
Notable changes from my previous build include:
+ 2 x Geth's Verdict
+ 1 x Batterskull
+ 1 x Esper Charm
- 2 x Spell Snare
- 1 x Sword of Feast and Famine
- 1 x Sword of War and Peace
I've eventually decided that the Swords are a bit too slow for this deck and Spell Snare I'm still very iffy about. Thus, I have decided rather to put in more removal, that can deal with those annoying Hexproof guys as well as a Batterskull to help against Aggro and an Esper Charm as a useful 1-of.
Will let you know how it goes, but otherwise comments/criticisms/suggestions are alway appreciated.
The Sideboard has also undergone a severe renovation.
I've recently started to build Gifts Control and was reading through this entire thread. I wanted to ask what people's thoughts were on including Boseiju, Who Shelters All in the Sideboard vs Control to force through our Gifts?
I think now, using more Counters Mainboard is a very logical way of stopping Jund since you won't be at card disadvantage as was the case with Bloodbraid Elf. Thus, the idea of Spell Pierces and Spell Snares MB becomes a serious consideration.
Storm IMO is just dead, but we will see in the near future if I am proven wrong.
Even though there is a lot of removal and burn I still think running 4 Deathrite Shamans is a good idea since their versatility is unrivalled. I'm also not completely sold on Disfigure (due to its narrowness) or Zealous Persecution, yes it has some nifty combat tricks and such, but I don't think it is good enough to be Mainboard IMO.
4 Dark Confidant
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Meddling Mage
3 Snapcaster Mage
Enchantments (1)
1 Detention Sphere
Instants (8)
2 Disfigure
4 Path to Exile
2 Zealous Persecution
Sorceries (9)
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Lingering Souls
3 Thoughtseize
2 Celestial Colonnade
4 Darkslick Shores
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
4 Marsh Flats
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Plains
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1 Swamp
1 Temple Garden
1 Watery Grave
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Baneslayer Angel
1 Batterskull
2 Countersquall
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
2 Spell Pierce
2 Spellskite
2 Stony Silence
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Zealous Persecution
This is fundamentally Esper Midrange as well.
Comments/thoughts?
22 lands has actually been more than enough, and I'm frequently tempted to cut it down to 21 lands, although one of the guys I test with has advised against it.
Jund is reasonably popular deck in my meta, but especially after the banning of BBE I don't know if there will still be that many Jund decks. But yes, even though Abrupt Decay blows up Swords, your opponent still has to draw it while you have a Sword out and before their face is bashed in, which may mean mainboarding the SoFaF in place of one of the other Swords. I like the idea of Academy Ruins, except the manabase is rather tight, so I need to see if I can fit 1 in.
I haven't actually tried Mutavault since I don't possess the card and it seems a bit narrow, and I much rather prefer Celestial Collonade and Creeping Tar Pit; especially the fact that Creeping Tar Pit is unblockable
So far Duress has proven to be quite effective. Thoughtseize would be the ideal replacement (if I possessed them), but Duress hits combo pieces, counters, as well as 4cc removal such as Supreme Verdict which Inquisition does not. I'm still trying to decide if I want the full set of Inquisitions or not.
Ah, the Remand vs Mana Leak debate :P. I agree that Remand is usually found in more tempo-based decks, and even though this deck is more mid-rangy I'm still a Tempo player at heart and that's why Remand is still there. I may end up testing with Mana Leaks though, but the draw effect is just so powerful.
Spell Pierce and Spell Snare are personal favourites, Spell Pierce for it's ability to stop most removal as well as Planeswalkers, particularly Lili; while Spell Snare stops a lot of relevant things in Modern, Snapcaster, Goyf, and Bob. Currently, the only splash for Green is for Deathrite's ability once in a while. I don't think making the deck 4 colours is quite what we want to be doing at the moment. Although the mention of Maelstrom Pulse did make me consider the possibility of Detention Sphere.
Most of the times Shizo is just a swamp, but once in a while it makes Geist basically unblockable, virtually guaranteeing 6 points of damage. It basically fulfils a similar purpose to what Eiganjo Castle does/did in American Delver lists.
You may be right there, I haven't had much chance to test against Affinity, I'm still trying to decide the best way of sideboarding for them, but I think you underestimate Hurkyl's Recall; you slow them down a turn, you also have the potential to counter relevant spells (Spell Snare stops Cranial Plating as well). And sometimes that extra turn or 2 is all you need.
It's useful vs Eggs, Tron (you can name Karn), Jund (naming Treetop Village, since naming Liliana hurts us too), Affinity (naming Cranial Plating)
Another thing, what are your thoughts on Esper Charm and Mortify sideboard, or maybe even mainboard?
4 Liliana of the Veil
Creatures (11)
3 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Deathrite Shaman
Artifacts (2)
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
Instants (12)
2 Smother
3 Path to Exile
3 Remand
2 Spell Pierce
2 Spell Snare
Sorceries (9)
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Duress
4 Lingering Souls
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Marsh Flats
2 Watery Grave
2 Godless Shrine
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Moorland Haunt
1 Celestial Colonnade
2 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Breeding Pool
2 Aura of Silence
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Pithing Needle
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Hurkyl's Recall
3 Relic of Progenitus
This is currently the list I'm testing for the upcoming Modern PTQ.
Deathrite Shamans are all-stars in this deck, whether it is for enabling a T2 Geist or removing reanimation/Snappie targets, or even just being Sword-bearers. Lingering Souls provides that much needed board presence in a deck with not many creatures. The spirit tokens can also carry Swords which is a plus.
Other cards that are being considered/were in previous builds include: Cryptic Command, Meddling Mage and Restoration Angel.
For the sideboard, Aura of Silence is traditional Artifact/Enchantment hate, but I' hoping it's fast enough to slow Affinity/Robots down (haven't tested much against them yet).
Leyline of Sanctity is for RDW, Eggs, Scapeshift, even Jund.
Pithing Needle is for Swords as well as Planeswalkers.
Supreme Verdict is board wipe vs aggro, tokens, Affinity
The Sword of Fest and Famine is mainly for Jund, although it helps vs Maverick, Hatebears, Elves.
Hurkyl's Recall is meant for Affinity.
Relic of Progenitus is tradional graveyard hate, although Tormod's Crypt is also a possibility.
So far this deck has proven to be rather resilient, and it can beat UWR Midrange, Tron and Scapeshift.
Your thoughts?