I’m struggling to understand what this does, is the translation incomplete or am I just not smart enough?
Say they cast an Ancestral Vision, target themselves. You get their Ancestral Vision and give them some junk Myr token that's on the battlefield. Note you don't need a creature, it's just any creature out there.
Fun, but super mean, card.
It's an exchange, so the player whose creature was selected will get control of the spell.
I have a weird inquiry: what deck should I play if I want the 75 to be as singleton as possible in Modern and/or Legacy?
I am mainly a Commander and Canadian Highlander player, so I have a singleton collection and don't mind picking up new/powerful cards; just not multiples of them.
I have been an "avid" merfolk player (read as "on and off and have now built the deck 3+ times") for years, and prefer aggro strategies, but am open to anything for smaller/shorter events. I have recently considered a more singleton approach to Gifts, but it gets caught up in the graveyard-hate crossfire. I'm really just looking for something for FNMs and GP/MF side events.
I haven't yet. So far I have only proxied it up and played a few test games against a buddy of mine. When I have some actual games under my belt with it, I will report back.
There are a few things that come to my mind when browsing through your list from a few posts ago.
Your discard suite is all over the place, you want T1 discard almost all the time, hence maximize on Inquisition and Thoughtseize, the usual split is 3/2 with Raven's Crime and 4/2 without Raven's Crime. Brutality doubles as a discard spell but is in a different mana slot, that's the 7th piece alltogether. Note that it doesn't hit enchantments, artifacts, planeswalkers or creatures. Thought Erasure and Castigate sound nice on paper, but are too slow and hence low-impact for Modern.
For removal more or less the same applies, personally I like a couple of Fatal Push in the main as it is one of the most efficient answers we have. The go-to number for me always was 2, but feel free to toy around a little. Removal turn 1 can also free up turn 2 ramp in certain matchups. Similar to discard, I tend to play 8 spot removal pieces without counting LotV for either as she serves multiple roles. On top of this, Damnation and Engineered Explosives also act as removal.
Your utility only contains one Liliana? I have always considered her as one of the central pieces of the deck, I would not go below 3 if you are on the disruptive game plan with a heavy lean on discard. She makes assembling profitable Gifts piles much easier as well, you can just discard unwanted cards for later use and get the full 4 cards value in your pile. Do you need the 2 Spellbombs for your local meta?
While 3 utility lands are fine, I'd go up to 2 manlands, Creeping Tar Pit being the best option, otherwise Celestial Colonnade or Shambling Vent. You want black, green/blue mana in the early stages of the game and mainly in this sequence. White is a tertiary concern and mostly needed for the reanimation package or Path, which you don't want to cast too early anyway.
The ramp package is unfocused: While 6 pieces are in principle fine (if a little much for my personal taste), I would go with a playset of Caryatids as they almost always survive a turn. I used to play Birds in 2016/17, but they tend to die on sight even more often in the age of Izzet/Mono R Phoenix. An alternative could be Steve or most recently Paradise Druid, which guarantees at least ramp for the next turn. Lotus Cobra doesn't give you anything when it comes into play (unless in e.g. Saheeli Evolution decks off of a T1 Bird) and is easily removed, making it a tempo loss and hence terrible T2 play.
The mana base is a little off, you play 8 basics and only 6 fetchlands, the usual ratio is 4-5 basics and 9-10 fetchlands to ensure the hungry mana requirements are met properly, especially black on T1 is important. I would roughly follow this guideline, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth can further supply you with black mana, especially relevant with the double-B costs of Liliana and the Loam/Crime package, allowing you to retrace Crime the maximal amount of times.
I believe you missed the part that the reason I built the deck the way I did was because I wanted it to be as singleton as possible to coincide with my Highlander collection, so I took Trixster's list and went from there. Because of that, I have to try some weird things, but it has actually been a lot of fun. The singleton Thought Erasure was actually super useful in that regard.
I was thinking more about your suggestion of Viridian Emissary over Lotus Cobra and Kiora's Follower. This may very well be my inexperience with the deck, but I'm leaning more towards the latter than the former for the following reason:
Cobra and Follower entice your opponent to remove the creature to keep you from untapping with more mana; spending their removal on it rather than on our win condition. Emissary entices your opponent to actively leave it alone; they will hold their removal to not ramp you.
1. I have a general Sideboard idea in mind (more or less the same one in your list), but im focusing on getting a maindeck hammered out/acquired.
2. Kiora and Cobra were last second include to get up to 8 ramps spells; I do like the Emissary though.
3. I do have a Raven's Crime and Loam, they were a part of the general sideboard plan, but I can certainly move them mainboard.
It is a take on trixster87's list, but taken in a more singleton direction. Since this would just be for casual FNMs and MF side events, and because I am largely a Commander and Canadian Highlander player with a singleton collection, it just makes more sense for me to build in this type of direction. The duplicates are cards that I already own multiple copies of. I would love to get some feedback and some possible alternatives for the less powerful choices I made.
Sideboard is still a work in progress since I need to get a mainboard to play before a sideboard.
I've been playing a Golos deck for a few weeks now and have been loving it. I took a quick look at your list and there are three cards I think should be added, if you so choose:
1. Alchemist's Refuge is the hidden commander of my deck. It allows you to use Golos's activated ability on your opponent's turn; you can't play any lands off of if when you do so, but I feel that's a small downside.
2. Field of the Dead is extremely easy to trigger in this deck (especially if you change 1 of each basic to the snow version).
3. Avenger of Zendikar
Ever spend $40 in the middle of a game AS PART OF THE GAME? My playgroup allows Un-cards as long as they don't break the game, so my buddy played a Summon the Pack. I responded by activating my Alchemist's Refuge to cast my Commander and followed it up with a Fury Storm on the StP for 4 total copies.
It's an exchange, so the player whose creature was selected will get control of the spell.
I am mainly a Commander and Canadian Highlander player, so I have a singleton collection and don't mind picking up new/powerful cards; just not multiples of them.
I have been an "avid" merfolk player (read as "on and off and have now built the deck 3+ times") for years, and prefer aggro strategies, but am open to anything for smaller/shorter events. I have recently considered a more singleton approach to Gifts, but it gets caught up in the graveyard-hate crossfire. I'm really just looking for something for FNMs and GP/MF side events.
I believe you missed the part that the reason I built the deck the way I did was because I wanted it to be as singleton as possible to coincide with my Highlander collection, so I took Trixster's list and went from there. Because of that, I have to try some weird things, but it has actually been a lot of fun. The singleton Thought Erasure was actually super useful in that regard.
Cobra and Follower entice your opponent to remove the creature to keep you from untapping with more mana; spending their removal on it rather than on our win condition. Emissary entices your opponent to actively leave it alone; they will hold their removal to not ramp you.
Is this incorrect?
2. Kiora and Cobra were last second include to get up to 8 ramps spells; I do like the Emissary though.
3. I do have a Raven's Crime and Loam, they were a part of the general sideboard plan, but I can certainly move them mainboard.
So, here is a list that I am trying to put together/attempt: https://archidekt.com/decks/148666#4C_Gifts_"Singleton"
It is a take on trixster87's list, but taken in a more singleton direction. Since this would just be for casual FNMs and MF side events, and because I am largely a Commander and Canadian Highlander player with a singleton collection, it just makes more sense for me to build in this type of direction. The duplicates are cards that I already own multiple copies of. I would love to get some feedback and some possible alternatives for the less powerful choices I made.
Sideboard is still a work in progress since I need to get a mainboard to play before a sideboard.
1. Alchemist's Refuge is the hidden commander of my deck. It allows you to use Golos's activated ability on your opponent's turn; you can't play any lands off of if when you do so, but I feel that's a small downside.
2. Field of the Dead is extremely easy to trigger in this deck (especially if you change 1 of each basic to the snow version).
3. Avenger of Zendikar
I might have Queen Marchesa and .hack//ATRAXA, but those two are more up in the air since Im not sure how much Commander I'll be playing.