The other deck I’ve been toying around with for the past couple of months is a fairly standard Meandeck Gifts build. I say fairly standard because when I built it, I could only find three of my four Merchant Scrolls. I have since found the fourth one (before the move anyway) but I haven’t updated my deck to reflect the addition of this awesome card.
Here’s my list as I recall it:
5x Island
1x Snow-Covered Island
3x Polluted Delta
2x Flooded Strand
2x Underground Sea
2x Volcanic Island
1x Tolarian Academy
1x Library of Alexandria
5x Moxes
1x Black Lotus
1x Sol Ring
1x Mana Vault
4x Gifts Ungiven
4x Force of Will
4x Mana Drain
3x Misdirection
3x Merchant Scroll
4x Brainstorm
1x Ancestral Recall
1x Time Walk
1x Tinker
1x Yawgmoth’s Will
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Fact or Fiction
1x Thirst for Knowledge
1x Burning Wish
1x Darksteel Colossus
1x Rebuild
1x Recoup
It’s not as complicated as I thought it would be.
Merchant Scrolls are excellent for finding counters first, then either Gifts or Ancestral, which pretty much sets up the win. Who would have guessed Homelands was tech?
Gifts is good in that way too. I’ve asked for mana (Delta, Strand, Island, Snow-Covered Island), drawing (Brainstorm, Fact or Fiction, Thirst, and Gifts), protection (Drain, Force, Misdirection, Merchant Scroll), and the win, all depending on the situation.
There are just so many insane plays available in this deck, and the wins are surprisingly simple to put together. I know the Tendrils kill is good, but it just seems so much harder than Tinker for Colossus, which is so much easier to have protection for. Plus, putting Time Walk in that mix makes it even better. In one test game against Fish, I Tinkered for Colossus, tutored and played Time Walk, played Yawgmoth's Will, played Time Walk again, then Wished for Time Walk to be able to take my fourth turn in a row. It was heinous.
Personally, I would love to make this deck two-colors and add Tendrils maindeck instead of Burning Wish, but red is so good out of the sideboard and Recoup is necessary for Gifts. I won one game against UB Fish by Wishing for a Pyroclasm. The game went on another eight turns or so, but it really wasn’t that much of a game after that point. Likewise, I’d hate to lose Red Elemental Blasts and Rack and Ruin (or similar) out of the board. Blue and black could provide similar cards, but they really wouldn’t be as strong.
Right now my sideboard looks about like this:
2x Pyroclasm
3x Pyroblast
2x Fire & Ice
3x Pithing Needle
2x Tormod’s Crypt
1x Rack and Ruin
1x Tendrils of Agony
1x Chain of Vapor
You can see that red a major feature, and one that keeps the deck alive. Also, Pithing Needles are awesome; they do so much out of the board. I would love to maindeck them, but I just don’t have the room and I like Merchant Scroll a lot better than Thirst for Knowledge.
Memory Jar might go in the deck in place of Fact or Fiction, but that’s about it. Seven cards is a lot better than two or three even if it isn’t permanent, and it only costs one more. I think my biggest gripe against Jar is that I can’t play it end of turn.
Anyway, these are the decks I’m playing around with right now. I’m still working on UB Fish, but all the hype around Jotun Grunt makes me wonder if I shouldn’t build something with white, if not just UW Fish. I still like UGW Fish as a concept, and might go that route if I get some time to do some testing.
Belcher still warms the first-turn cockles of my heart. I hate Living Wish, is pretty much all I have to say about it, though. It’s always the first card to get imprinted on Chrome Mox, and when I’m behind and would most like to use it, it either can’t get me anything useful or I can’t play it anyway. I’ve dropped one of the standard two for a Hurkyll’s Recall; I might drop the other for a Chain of Vapor or Tendrils.
Oath has unfortunately gotten put to the wayside for a while. I took the Chalices of the Void out for the UB Fish sideboard at the last Meandeck Open and haven’t gotten a chance to put them back in. The proxies I have made up right now are going into the Jester as soon as I figure out what I want on them artwise. I guess my enthusiasm for the deck has flagged some. If it didn’t push scantily clad women forward, it just wouldn’t be as cool. Poor Oath. It needs a resurgence.
Anyway, that's it for now. Thanks for reading!
Enjoy your pants!
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