[SCD] Gifts Ungiven

[lordofthepit]

This is probably one of the most skill-testing cards in the format from either side of the table. Obviously, in Vintage, with so many powerful singletons, every game plays out differently and you'll have to evaluate your matchup and the game situation.

That being said, are there "default" Gifts piles you resort to more often than another? I'm pretty new to Vintage, so I'm a bit inexperienced.

When playing with Jace/Snap Control, I tend to like to go for the following:

- Yawgmoth's Will
- Snapcaster Mage
- Ancestral Recall
- Tinker

I will replace one of the cards with Force of Will if I expect my opponent to play a big bomb, and alternatively, a Repeal if I also have a Snapcaster Mage on board.

When playing with Gush Storm, I usually set up the same pile, although replacing Tinker with a Time Walk for value or a bomb like Talrand. If I have a Fastbond on the table, Gush is always in my pile.

I'm pretty sure I'm only scratching the surface of what this card is capable of. Any advice?

[JUNI0R]

With my snap control deck my default picks are:

Snapcaster Mage
Yawgmoth's Will
Time Vault
Voltaic Key

No matter what pair they pick, you end up being able to assemble Key/Vault.

[Koby]

I've been going with:

Time Walk
Snapcaster Mage
Yawgmoth's Will
<broken win-now spell>

Will and SCM provide the recursion, Time Walk provides the bad decision for your opponent to choose whether you get one or two extra turns; and the <broken> card splits that different down the middle. It obviously gets better when you already have SCM in hand, and so you can revise the pile accordingly:

Time Walk
Yawgmoth's Will
Ancestral Recall
<broken card>

Which again forces a non-good decision for your opponent.

This all assumes you have a lot of mana to pull off the YWill turn without effort. Thus, sometimes you just need mana:

Tolarian Academy
Black Lotus
Y.Will
Tinker

(preferably with SCM in hand to fuel the Will)