[SCD] Gifts Ungiven

[Mr. Safety]

I've been a big fan of Gifts Ungiven for a long time and I've been developing decks with the Unburial Rites combo lately. I feel that this is incredibly powerful, whether it be Iona, Griselbrand, Elesh Norn, or even something on the fringe like Tidespout Tyrant or a good old Angel of Despair. I know most decks that go for Gifts Ungiven are control-oriented for the 4-card control stack. This is fine as a secondary use in my opinion, as I see the most powerful interaction being Modern's 4-mana Entomb + Reanimate as a one-card combo.

Other thoughts? I think Gifts is an incredibly powerful tool right now and I wonder why more decks aren't taking advantage of it, especially decks like WUR mid-range/control, Esper, or even Grixis.

[Phoenix Ignition]

It costs 4 in a turn 4 kill format. Deathrite Shaman and Scavenging Ooze are now prevalent (as is sideboard hate for graveyards). Also, you have many dead cards to draw into while you're trying to stay alive for the first 4-5 turns in the game that you want to set it up for.

[YamiJoey]

Card is sweet and has put up decent results. Here (http://www.mtgpulse.com/event/13930#196265) is the most recent thing I can find, but you generally have to play perfectly or else you die, and it requires a huge amount of practise to understand the deck. You need to know what to Gifts for, how to play your Gifts, and how to not die to Shaman/Scooze. It's not too hard to play, but certainly harder than something like Patriot, purely because every other deck wants to land a T1 Deathrite. Your plan is heavily Life from the Loam-based, too, which makes it incredibly fun.

[Mr. Safety]

What I like about Gifts is that it can be a compact win condition (4x Gifts, 1-2x Unburial Rites, 1-2x Iona/Grizzle/etc.) For 8 or less slots in your deck you can have a pretty solid 'combo' that can win you the game. I think in particular the URW control lists could make good use of this. Their win conditions are typically Celestial Colonnade, Snapcaster Mage, or in some cases Ajani Vengeant or Thundermaw Hellkite. I've played the deck in an event and I went to time in two matches (one in the mirror.) Gifts does a pretty good job of setting up a fast win. Dispel out of the sideboard helps fight the countermagic and removal if you need it.

Gifts as a 4-card enabler, as most folks say, is incredibly challenging and skill testing. I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment. However, simply going for Rites/Iona isn't that challenging at all. Kill the deathrite, kill the ooze, EOT Gifts, your turn reanimate Iona or Griselbrand. It seems fairly easy to work around actually, mostly because you'll want to be killing Shamans/Ooze anyways. Rest in Peace is harder to work around, and Relic of Progenitus seems about the worst case scenario. It's cheap and can be easily activated at the right time for hosing.

[Phoenix Ignition]

It doesn't really just take up 6-8 slots though since you'd usually want to run something like Thirst for Knowledge alongside it in case you natural draw the Unburial or the target. Running doubles can make up for that if you aren't extremely unlucky at drawing, but that means running additional cards you never want to see in your hand.

It's great if you can live that long, which means the rest of your deck needs a higher concentration of disruption/removal than normal decks would who don't have 8/36ths of their playable card slots full of late game stuff. Most of the places it's seen play are in sideboards, against decks you know can't stop it from going off. Some of those decks though you could just full on hate with those sideboard slots. For example, Elesh Norn was a big one against affinity decks, but having a sideboard of 2-3 Gifts + 1 Unburial + 1 Elesh Norn might be just plain worse than running 5 dedicated slots against small creatures or artifacts.

It'll always be a flashy win, which makes it feel like it's doing more than the cards like Electrolyze you could be playing, but many times the less flashy games where you grind out the win are going to give you a higher win percentage than the soul crushing victories that sometimes are brought to you by Unburial + Fatty.

[Mr. Safety]

Hmmm...funny you should mention Thirst for Knowledge and a heavy-duty control package. I'm developing a deck right now with those elements, with Gifts as my win-condition. I haven't posted it yet because its still in development and I fear making a new thread (which I've done in the past and alas, it died.)

EDIT: and I agree, sometimes its better to be good than flashy.

[JDK]

Well, UW Tron is my favourite pet deck for Modern, so I'm all ears when it comes to Gifts and TfK. ;)

[apple713]

What I like about Gifts is that it can be a compact win condition (4x Gifts, 1-2x Unburial Rites, 1-2x Iona/Grizzle/etc.) For 8 or less slots in your deck you can have a pretty solid 'combo' that can win you the game.

i really don't know what your talking about. you have failed to point out the combo. are you saying that you'd pick gris, iona, unburied rites and what? you only get 1 card with the same name and your opponent chooses.

im failing to see any combos here except with loam. Please point them out as I hope im wrong. It would probably also facilitate responses in the thread.

[JDK]

i really don't know what your talking about. you have failed to point out the combo. are you saying that you'd pick gris, iona, unburied rites and what? you only get 1 card with the same name and your opponent chooses.

im failing to see any combos here except with loam. Please point them out as I hope im wrong. It would probably also facilitate responses in the thread.


12/1/2004: You can choose to find fewer than four cards if you want, but your opponent will still put two of those cards into your graveyard.

Grab Unburial Rites + Random Fatty, gg.

[apple713]

Grab Unburial Rites + Random Fatty, gg.

ok the opponent chooses to put the fatty in your hand... now what? you have a fatty you cant cast..

[JDK]

You know Unburial Rites has flashback, right? The opponent HAS to choose two cards.

[apple713]

You know Unburial Rites has flashback, right? The opponent HAS to choose two cards.

but you have to pull 4 cards out of your library all with different names... if your opponent puts the fatty's in your hand then you are screwed...

give an example or two of amazing pile choices.

[Phoenix Ignition]

but you have to pull 4 cards out of your library all with different names... if your opponent puts the fatty's in your hand then you are screwed...

give an example or two of amazing pile choices.

You just pick the fatty and the unburial rights. The opponent has to pick 2 cards to put in the graveyard. You don't have to pick 4 cards, you can "fail to find" any more than just the fatty and unburial rights.

Then you get 2 cards (unburial rights + fatty) in the graveyard and go to town with em.

[apple713]

You don't have to pick 4 cards, you can "fail to find" .

the version of the card i was reading just said search for 4 cards not upto. the new wording clarifys. this is the piece of information i was missing.

[JDK]

You should just work on your reading comprehension skills, as I pointed that out in the first reply.

[Yellowsmiley]

the version of the card i was reading just said search for 4 cards not upto. the new wording clarifys. this is the piece of information i was missing.

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't need to say "upto". Since it has a requirement on the cards you can get (cards with different names) you can "fail to find a card" as stated above. You can do the same thing with something like Merchant Scroll, and just find nothing even though it doesn't say "upto". However you can't do this with something like Increasing Ambition (Flashbacked), since it has no requirement on the cards you can get, you have to get two cards (although i'm not sure what happens if you only have 1 card in your library).

I'm no Judge though.

[apple713]

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't need to say "upto". Since it has a requirement on the cards you can get (cards with different names) you can "fail to find a card" as stated above. You can do the same thing with something like Merchant Scroll, and just find nothing even though it doesn't say "upto". However you can't do this with something like Increasing Ambition (Flashbacked), since it has no requirement on the cards you can get, you have to get two cards (although i'm not sure what happens if you only have 1 card in your library).

I'm no Judge though.

I believe that it has to specifiy "up to" on the card because of the situation you could get into with intuiton.

[JDK]

"up to" is probably just there because people don't realise they are allowed to fail the search for specific cards in hidden zones on purpose.


701.15b If a player is searching a hidden zone for cards with a stated quality, such as a card with a certain card type or color, that player isn't required to find some or all of those cards even if they're present in that zone.
Example: Splinter says "Exile target artifact. Search its controller's graveyard, hand, and library for all cards with the same name as that artifact and exile them. That player then shuffles his or her library." A player casts Splinter targeting Howling Mine (an artifact). Howling Mine's controller has another Howling Mine in her graveyard and two more in her library. Splinter's controller must find the Howling Mine in the graveyard, but may choose to find zero, one, or two of the Howling Mines in the library.

[YamiJoey]

Can we continue to talk about Gifts properly now? You can search for two, end of discussion.

The best part about gifts is that it is in of itself a one-card combo. You play it to get guy + Unburial Rites on their End Step, untap and kill them, or you find Loam, Raven's Crime, two randomly good cards (Ghost Quarter & Tech Edge) or Damnation, Wrath, Infest, and Snapcaster Mage against the decks that do that. All of your sideboard plans consist of just two ofs of two different Spells that do similar things, that are good alongside Loam. The deck is super consistent, the downfall comes from a high skill threshhold, and it being poorly placed in the newly Scoozed format.

[Mr. Safety]

I really like this post, because I agree: one card combo. I play it in UWRb instead of the traditional BGwu setup, but it is the same idea. Play 4 copies of Gifts, turn 4 set up the win. In my case I end up almost always doing the 2-card setup with Rites/Iona because UWR provides a bunch of tools to hold off the early game (Mana Leak, Bolt, Helix, Spell Snare, Firespout, Pyroclasm, Path to Exile, etc.)

My gifts piles are usually wiper oriented (Supreme Verdict, Wrath of God, Day of Judgment, Firespout) or to set up an engine (Academy Ruins, Engineered Explosives, Thirst for Knowledge, Sphinx's Revelation.) Occasionally I will set up a counterspell suite against a combo deck (Negate, Counterflux, Cryptic, Mana Leak/Spell Snare) but that is really rare. If you can disrupt them off the combo long enough it's usually better to just Gifts for Iona/Rites and shut off their win condition.

[YamiJoey]

You should play Teachings in that list. Being able to find any Instant answer, or just grab your Gifts - twice - is stupid.

[Mr. Safety]

So right now for powerful library manipulation/draw i have:

3x Gifts Ungiven
4x Thirst for Knowledge
1x Sphinx's Revelation

How on earth do I squeeze in Mystical Teachings?!?!?! I guess a list is in order:

1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Griselbrand

3x Gifts Ungiven
4x Thirst for Knowledge
4x Pyrite Spellbomb
2x Engineered Explosives
4x Lightning Helix
3x Mana Leak
1x Negate
1x Spell Snare
1x Cryptic Command
1x Counterflux
2x Path to Exile
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Wrath of God
2x Firespout
1x Sphinx's Revelation
2x Unburial Rites
2x Detention Sphere

2x Academy Ruins
4x Arid Mesa
2x Misty Rainforest
1x Scalding Tarn
2x Hallowed Fountain
2x Steam Vents
2x Sacred Foundry
1x Watery Grave
1x Godless Shrine
1x Sulfur Falls
1x Glacial Fortress
1x Ghost Quarter
1x Celestial Colonnade
1x Island
1x Mountain
1x Plains

Sideboard

1x Ghost Quarter
1x Tormod's Crypt
1x Pithing Needle
1x Aether Spellbomb
1x Trinket Mage
2x Shatterstorm
4x Dispel
4x Lingering Souls


The sideboard needs work, but it has answers to most problematic matchups (Tron, control mirror mostly) and it does some good work against the metagame. I like the Spellbomb/Explosives/Ruins/Thirst engine quite a bit, fixing card quality while having a machine gun. I feel that Think Twice is a soft option in Modern, but most UWR Control decks use 2 copies. I'd rather play Spellbombs for value because they can create virtual card advantage while on the field and against matchups where they aren't good they can be cycled, just like Think Twice. It's also a secondary (but slow) win condition. Another route is to get up to 6-7 fatties into the deck and a full 4x Unburial Rites to go with the Thirsts. I can't help but think that Gifts is so compact it seems like a better avenue.

Would love feedback, but realize I started the thread for consistent Gifts discussion, not to promote my own jank build.

[YamiJoey]

That's a really weird list. I'm going to get some stuff made up. I've been playing Counterburn for a million years now so I fancy a change. You look to have too much going on, so I'm sure I can find something to cut.

Also, any deck playing Spellbombs is a good deck in my opinion. #Jaded

[nodahero]

4 Pyrite Spellbomb... That seems terrible. I don't care if it works well with Thirst... It is a terrible investment. There has to be something better in that slot. Even just diversify the 1 drop artifact slot.

[Mr. Safety]

4 Pyrite Spellbomb... That seems terrible. I don't care if it works well with Thirst... It is a terrible investment. There has to be something better in that slot. Even just diversify the 1 drop artifact slot.

I mean really, an artifact that can kill early relevant creatures like Deathrite Shaman, Delver of Secrets, Dark Confidant seems really bad. Then recurring it with Academy Ruins? Jeesh, that's just plain shit. I mean, if it could cycle for a card like Think Twice does maybe then it might be worth playing. It also doesn't create virtual card advantage by suppressing early creature plays either. [/sarcasm]

Seriously, it's good. It's the equivalent of Punishing Fire/Grove of the Burnwillows only without the lifegain clause and a little bit slower. I've killed plenty of planeswalkers with Pyrite Spellbombs recurred and it's easy chaff for Thirst for Knowledge (which can then be recurred with Ruins.)

I don't typically play conventional decks. I try to brew decks that prey on the conventional ones. I still play mainstream decks as well, but I get bored when a deck becomes 'solved.' So I go to the drawing board and see what I can do. This deck may be complete crap, but so far it has been testing well online and at the local level. That doesn't mean competitive, it just means I'm still willing to develop it.

[nodahero]

As you pointed out its basically a less optimal variation of Punishing Fire with the benefit of pitching to Thirst... I don't think the added mana investment plus drawstep is worth it.

[Mr. Safety]

Through extensive testing, I agree. It was dropped...and in fact I dropped the project in favor of BGUw Gifts instead. It's just a better deck, and I still get to Gifts for Ruins/Explosives, but now it includes Raven's Crime and Life from the Loam. I liked Butakov's deck from Worlds and I'm going to pursue that deck again.

[nodahero]

Was that the list that ran the GW and UB man lands? I also liked that version.

I am just shy on the gifts plan with the way Jund tore up the Top 8 this weekend.

[Mr. Safety]

I think the only manlands Butakov was using was Treetop Village, but I play 1x Treetop and 2x Creeping Tar Pit in my version. Tar Pit is such a beating against planeswalkers and it's a valid finisher.

Gifts Rock has about even odds against Jund actually. You are playing a similar game plan but you have a 4-mana combo you can pull off (Gifts, Rites, Elesh Norn.) I prefer a much more controlling version of Gifts as well (Mana Leak, Explosives, etc.) not focusing on Knight of the Reliquary quite so much. If I played Knight it would only be one, and then just as a value-based creature to nab with Gifts/Rites. Gifts is already a fantastic tutor and building around that one card is complexity enough without going for ANOTHER graveyard-based synergy.

What is really pushing Gifts out of range is Scavenging Ooze. I mean, you can play Spell Snare and load up on Abrupt Decay/removal but there will still be games where you can kill Ooze or Deathrite but not both.

[Phoenix Ignition]

Until the metagame shifts, I'm going to stick with this card being subpar. Like you said, with all of the Scavenging Ooze + Deathrites it's just not going to be giving you much value for as expensive as it is.

The combo is incredibly fun though, hopefully something changes to make it playable.

[Mr. Safety]

I agree, with sad face in tow...

For now it's Ad Nauseam, Jund, and Death Cloud for me. I'll have to shelve Gifts for a little while. Ad Nauseam and Death Cloud are fringe enough to keep from getting bored with netdecking and I can always compete with Jund.

[Megadeus]

i thought about maybe playing ground seal to stop ooze and shaman, but unfortunately that also stops loam and rites.

[Mr. Safety]

i thought about maybe playing ground seal to stop ooze and shaman, but unfortunately that also stops loam and rites.

Loam is mostly a sideboard card to recur Tec Edges. I've found Liliana to be far and away better than Raven's Crime as a discard engine. (See what I did there?) I've come to the conclusion that most Gifts decks want Deathrite Shaman themselves, too. The deck has greedy mana costs, hoping to get to the late game or luck into a Gifts/Rites/Fatty. My experience is that Gifts is more often used as a control engine than a combo.

[nodahero]

I agree completely, Gifts is a control engine first and a combo engine second (by a large margin).

[Arsenal]

Although DRS was often used in decks running Gifts, I suspect that the absence of DRS will give dedicated Gifts decks a shot in the arm. Or is a 4 mana engine card, even at instant speed, too slow now that Zoo is possibly making a comeback?

[Phoenix Ignition]

It's good again in the hard control decks using it to reanimate stuff. I think it fools people into playing bad decks, though, if they are going to pick 4 cards with it.

[Arsenal]

I've always liked this shell: http://www.tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=10444&iddeck=76193

It basically is just a control deck running permission, removal, sweepers, Snapcaster flashback value, then can just "in response/eot, Gifts" and setup brutal Loam piles or just reanimate a fatty. This deck ran off the back of 4 DRS to give it access to turn 2 Liliana, turn 3 Gifts. Maybe run more 1cc discard or removal/counters in those 4 vacant slots?

[firebadmattgood]

I've been having some pretty good luck with this:

4 bop
4 goyf
2 kotr
1 elesh norn
3 lingering souls
3 abrupt decay
3 path to exile
1 darkblast
1 maelstrom pulse
1 life from the loam
1 engineered explosives
3 lotv
4 gifts
3 thoughtsieze
8 fetches
6 shocks
1 tar pit
1 academy ruins
1 tec edge
1 ghost quarter
1 horizon canopy
1 gavony township
4 basics

partial sideboard
2 spellskite
1 thrun
2 pithing needle
2 golgari charm
1 clique
1 batterskull
1 linvala
2 stony silence


Zoo isn't much of an issue with goyf, knight, souls and 6 removal spells. Faeries and UWR are good matchup, just gifts for loam, crime, ghost quarter and tec edge in response to their sphinx's reveletation/mistbind. Pod's winable with rites/norn.

Affinity and twin can be tough if you don't hit your hate pieces.

[Mr. Safety]

Unburial Rites is missing, but I assume its in there.

I know its old tech, but I always liked including eternal witness/profane command to make winning gift piles for grinding games.

[Timber]

I put together an Esper Gifts deck, tested against (non-Kikki) Pod and tweeked a bit. It's still under construction because I'm still working on obtaining Iona, Colonnades and Cryptic Commands. I'm also playing around with the spot removal slots. I think it needs 2 more lands.

Anyone else working on Gifts without green?

2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Darkslick Shores
1 Godless Shrine
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Island
2 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Plains
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Sunken Ruins
3 Swamp
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Watery Grave

4 Gifts Ungiven
1 Mystical Teachings
2 Unburial Rites
1 Makeshift Mannequin

2 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Path to Exile
2 Spell Snare
4 Mana Leak
1 Devour Flesh
1 Doom Blade
1 Smother
1 Damnation
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Wrath of God

2 Serum Visions
1 Lingering Souls

2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Inkwell Leviathan

2 Liliana of the Veil

SIDEBOARD
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Disenchant
2 Stony Silence
1 Banishing Light
1 Detention Sphere
1 Drown in Sorrow
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Consume the Meek
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Zealous Conscripts

[Qweerios]

Now that DRS is banned, all fetches are available, and Sultai Charm has been spoiled, does anybody else feel like 4c Gifts is a contender?

[nodahero]

I think with DRS gone Gifts is a viable spell however, I question the value of playing it over a Tron list with Gifts. Particularly if you are esquing the Life from the Loam Raven's Crime engine. Personally I have been playing Gifts in Scapeshift for a while and I am in love with it. It allows me to drastically cut back on the dead card (scapeshift) and provide access to numerous bullets with Snapcaster and Noxious Revival. I have been thinking of trying to fit in the Loam/Crime package there as well with Urborg as the obvious black source.

[Phoenix Ignition]

I feel like this discussion could be held in the 4c gifts control thread. I've been posting updates in there and I see that Qweerios has picked up the deck as well. I'm not a huge fan of Sultai Charm as normally you don't need to cantrip with your removal and the extra :u: cost for that makes it much more difficult. It's kind of weird how that deck is a WBgu deck that really mostly focuses on the WB aspect (though qweerios list uses BoPs so is a bit more 3-color heavy).

Gifts is incredible right now. 1/2 of the time I go for a reanimated fatty and win instantly, 1/2 of the time I go for value and usually end up winning from that.

And as for 4c vs. tron I don't think tron is better. You don't need 7+ mana to reanimate a fatty, and as a control deck you don't need to be dropping stuff like Wurmcoil Engines if your gameplan is already working (keep the board clear, win later). I do think 4c control is very underplayed right now, but at the same time the manabase makes decisions very difficult (do I fetch a shockland turn 1 when I don't need that color for any cards in my hand?), and control decks always need to be reactive to the local metagame to be able to control properly, so it's more difficult to build a good list.

[YamiJoey]

The Tron version's nut draw outraces Storm on the play. T2 Signet, T3 put a fatty directly onto the battlefield. The Tron version also does generally more powerful stuff. I would be playing Sylvan Caryatid in regular Gifts at this point. An unboltable Bird is very powerful.

[nodahero]

Don't you mean turn 4 fatty? Turn 2 signet into turn 3 Gifts followed by turn 4 reanimate?

Additonally 4C while better at grindy games isn't the best at winning a game quickly with any consistency---- the threat density of 4C is significantly lower then the Tron variant with Karn.Wurmcoil et al.

[YamiJoey]

T2 Signet, T3 Tap for 7 mana, then Signet. 6UW.

Ux Tron decks generally only play 5(ish) threats. 1 Wurmcoil, 1 Emrakul, 2 Reanimator targets, 1 Flex thing, such as Mindslaver. There's the the 4 Gifts which you could count to edge us up to 9, but you're playing that anyway. The reason the two Reanimator targets count more in UW Tron is because we can actively cast an Elesh Norn on T4/5 quite consistently.

[TheyCallMeTim]

I'm curious about Gifts Ungiven specifically as a sideboard strategy, or "Gifts Board", similar to familiar "Wish Boards". Granted, such a board would have less slots to use having 3-4 devoted to the namesake card, but as readers of this thread know, the card is very powerful. The following is a sideboard I am testing for my Instant Reanimator deck:

1 Echoing Truth
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
4 Gifts Ungiven
1 Godless Shrine
1 Into the Roil
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Noxious Revival
1 Raven's Crime
1 Silence
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Unburial Rites
1 Void Snare

I know this isn't a unique idea, yet I found very little to nothing about it. Let me know what you guys think.

[TheyCallMeTim]

Take this one, for example, in a Jeskai Ascendancy deck that went 3-1 at Worlds:

http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=8670&d=249534&f=MO

[zachinflames]

Gifts Ungiven should be in everyone's hearts and minds. What a card, what a card! 2 Gifts Ungiven per deck per format for forever.

I want to talk about 2 things Gifts Ungiven has taught me.

1.) Gifts Ungiven presupposes certain deckbuilding constraints, and even rewards them.
2.) There are exactly 2 things that can happen when Gifts Ungiven resolves in Modern.

Gifts Ungiven presupposes certain deckbuilding constraints, and even rewards them.

Fun-ofs have become the norm in competitive Magic theory and deck building. Gifts Ungiven revs up the presence of the Fun-of because of how the card reads. For instance, you might suppose that the stock 1 of Spellsnare & 2 of Spell Pierce might be a package you wish to include in your deck. Gifts Ungiven presupposes that a mixture of 3 cards with different names is even better. Therefore, your deck might benefit from a package of the following : 1 Spell Pierce 2 Spellsnare 1 Dispel 1 Swan Song. This is a sort of imposition on deck building that if we spend the time reckoning, might allow us to optimize our deck. Now it is a given that we are leaning on Gifts Ungiven resolving to gain access to the awesome tutoring power of this card. A very basic Gifts Ungiven pile could be: Gifts Ungiven #2 Snapcaster Mage X & Y. Card X & Y are up to you and I. Furthermore these values depend entirely on timing, and the situation, content of our hand, contour of the game, etc.

These next few thoughts are specifically related to Mono U Tron with Gifts Ungiven.
What keeps me up sometimes is the quandary about whether Pongify + Rapid Hybridization is better than Vapor Snag + Dismember (along with Gifts and Snapcaster). I then start to wonder if the perfect pile is really Pongify, Rapid Hybridization, Dismember and Vapor Snag. The perfect Gifts pile indeed! Sadly U Tron is hard-pressed for a decent suite of removal not named Oblivion Stone or Repeal. I've been playing Gifts Ungiven (A lot!) in U Tron and yet, I cannot overpower the Modern Poison Deck. I lost in the Top 8 of an IQ, in which I was undefeated in Swiss Rounds, to a fairly good draw, and even better pilot of that Infect deck. I stole away a game on the play with Gifts Ungiven for Treasure Mage, Exp. Map, Academy Ruins, Mindslaver; he gives me the Mage and the Map which facilitate a Platinum Angel on Turn 5. If he gives me Mindlsaver I lose. If he give me Ruins, I lose. But yet, putting these really powerful cards in a pile together was enough to make him choose the less threatening option and he lost because of that.
Here's that list : http://www.mtgdecks.net/decks/view/228929
Note the 1 of Spell Pierce 1 of Dispel and 2 Spellsnare.

So if you're building a deck with Gifts Ungiven, start by building your deck with some of this theory behind it. You'll be rewarded greatly and possibly have nightmares about 3/3 apes.

There are exactly 2 things that can happen when Gifts Ungiven resolves in Modern.

Of course the first of these 2 things has been mentioned above. It's the value Gifts. You can Gifts your way into up to 4 of the same thing, get 2 of it and then be up by a card, or more. Let me explain. I think the clearest example is UWx Tron's ability to Gifts for about 4 Wraths to stabilize. This is an incredible amount of value, because Gifts just netted a card, that in turn has the potential to net an even greater number of cards in your favor. The same can be done with counter-magic, removal, creatures and just about anything you want. U Tron has a simple Gifts Pile of 4 really, really big, expensive, fat, hard-to-deal-with threats. Wurmcoil Engine, Sundering Titan, Ugin the Spirit Dragon and Batterskul. Please pick 2.

So what's the other thing that can happen? Potentially more valuable than the Value Gifts is the I Win gifts. I'm talking about Unburial Rites + Creature that makes Baneslayer Angel look bad. And let me be clear, Baneslayer Angel is a hell of a Magic card. There's not much to say that hasn't been said. Between Elesh Norn and Iona, most linears can be gobbled up by these completely reasonable 4 mana creatures. I think if you go back to Mystical Tutor-legal, Legacy Reanimator decks, you can get a really good idea of what a tool-box looks like. Modern-legal cards like Sphinx of the Steel Wind or Tidespout Tyrant have the capability to cold a great number of decks in the format today. This is my least favorite Gifts Ungiven, but building your deck around this bustedly powerful package is up to you and I. I don't care how you Gifts, just as long as you are also Ungivening.

In conclusion, it is probably because Delve has been the flavor of the month for almost a year now, that Gifts Ungiven decks are not finding a place in the metagame right now. The uptick of GY hate might make the environment more hostile still for Gifts Ungiven strategies in Modern. But, with all that, it is virtually inarguable that Gifts Ungiven is one of the more powerful things to be doing on a number of levels and for those of you that share my love of resolving Gifts Ungiven, I welcome a greater discussion of how we can be using this extremely under-appreciated card. Ty for reading.

[for reference, here's a GP winning Reanimator deck like that mentioned above: http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=461&f=LE ]