It appears this variant is dead for now... Spell Pierece is simply to prevalent and the number of aggressive decksh has increased enough to the point where you need access to Bolt to stay in the game. I will likely fiddle with card options on this list and see if anything really puts this deck back over the top once the Delver fad subsides. Hopefully it will die off sooner than later; until that point though I will be testing a more mainstream variant of Scapeshift featuring Dig Through Time as my pseudo Gifts tutor.
WOOHOO!!!
I can finally get back to testing this beautiful machine and not feel guilty about it!! I will be rebuilding this soon and testing again. Any feedback on card choices or counts is, as always appreciated!!
This looks really cool, but I guess one has to ask, Why no Unburial Rites combo? It only takes 2 slots and splashing a 4th colour shouldn't be that hard (especially with fetchlands; BUGW Gifts is a deck after all), shuts down several decks (depending on whether you run Elesh / Iona / both) and in that sense I think shores up a bunch of MUs; Scapeshift might act more as a late-game I-Win depending on how the game shapes up.
EDIT: Looking at the manabase I would suggest this as a start for a W splash:
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Scalding Tarn
4 Stomping Ground
4 Steam Vents
2 Breeding Pool
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Snow Covered Island
2 Island
1 Flooded Grove
2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
-1 Forest -1 Mountain, -1 Cascade Bluffs, -1 Breeding Pool
+2 Scalding Tarn +1 Hallowed Fountain, +1 Sacred Foundry
You still have the same number of Mountains (Moutain -> Foundry); swap 1 Pool for Fountain (I've always found 2 to be enough); and swap the Bluffs and a Forest for 2 extra fetches; Tarn can get any of the Shocks. Subbing out the Forest doesn't seem bad; there is far less G in this list than normal Scapeshift, and Flooded Grove stays anyway to fix for Scapeshift or Cryptic as need be, although it could be just better as a fetch so you don't get stuck with something weird like Foundry / Grove :P Not going to touch the basic Islands, they are always what I end up fetching first and 3 is nice to enable Cryptic under LD.
Blood Moon is obviously a problem regardless so I don't think you need the 2nd Forest for playing under it.
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Gigadrowse and Telling Time stand out strange to me and would cut those (keep Drowse in the board for U MUs, its totally sweet) for the Rites + Elesh Plan... Gonna take 'er for a spin, see how she rides!
I tested a gifts version pre KTK, and found it clunky and inconsistent.
You can't make good gifts piles without adding clunky/narrow cards to the deck, and once you add those clunky/narrow cards to make gifts good, you lower the consistency of the deck.
If one of your regrowth cards gets used/discarded, then your gifts piles are just glorified inspirations.
http://i.imgur.com/pXr5w6O.jpg
(i didn't have DTT when i made that screen shot. I think I eventually tried 2x snapcaster and 2x witness, to make gifts better, but the deck got more inconsistent).
I've thought about the unburial rites combo, but it is also clunky. Also the splash isn't really free. As your land searchers fetch out basics, and your misty rainforests don't fetch out basic plains/swamps.
As you can see above, I did test the Unburial Rights package.Originally Posted by nodahero
Also, Gigadrowse has been an insane card in the main for a long time. With all the blue mana laying around at worst you can use it as a makeshift timewalk by tapping ALL your opponents cards if need be. Otherwise it acts as preemptive counter protecting your combo turn; In all honesty Gigadrowse has done more work than most other cards in this list. I urge you to try it before trashing it.
As for Gifts turning into a poor inspiration I get the impression you haven't tested the deck. At worst assuming you can't access Noxious Revival/Snapcaster/X/Y, you can still get access to double counterspell which in a deck like this is a very powerful weapon and one not to be underestimated.
EDIT: Sorry if the above seemed rather counterproductive. I have put alot of testing into this deck and will continue to do so for the sake of enjoyment... She is my pride and joy and it has been a long time since I have built something that has been enjoyable to create and strong enough it had merits to maintain its growth and forward trajectory.
Please post your latest list! I'd like to test it out!
Always been onboard with Gigadrowse ;) It's insanely flexible, a mini-cryptic for sure, just never seemed like something I want in the MD (4 cryptics always struck me as just enough). I feel like I'd always want a piece of burn / hard removal MD over something soft like Drowse.
Derp, must have missed that. I wouldn't expect people to bring in GY hate against us, it seems... well, bad... Doesn't do anything to stop our inevitable Scapeshift plan. I guess with only 2 copies MD you are relying a little more on Gifts to set it up though, which opens up the potential hate.
Too bad Intuition isn't legal :P
The current list I am testing is as follows:
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Cryptic Comand
3 Gifts Ungiven
4 Remand
2 Electroylze
1 Into the Roil
1 Noxious Revival
2 Izzet Charm
1 Gigadrowse
1 Telling Time
1 Pact of Negation
1 Farseek
4 Search for Tomorrows
2 Scapeshift
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Stomping Ground
4 Steam Vents
1 Mountain
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Snow Covered Island
1 Forest
2 Island
3 Breeding Pool
1 Flooded Grove
1 Cascade Bluffs
2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
3 Misty Rainforest
SIDEBOARD
1 Gigadrowse
1 Dispell
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Echoing Truth
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Firespout
1 Combust
1 Shatterstorm
1 Creeping Corrosion
1 Sowing Salt
1 Counterflux
3 Obstinate Baloth
2 Destructive Revelery
The mainboard hasn't changed much however, with the printing of Siege Rhino the value of Electrolyze has begun to be questioned by me. Additionally, it occurred to me that at least one Electrolyze should be a different form of removal for Gifts sake. I am currently looking at subbing in a Courser in one of those, if not both to give us a better ground game and to generate incremental advantage on the board.
EDIT:
Additionally, I did try play Cryptic 3 and 4 however, it often felt rather clunky. I can't count the number of times I would draw my 7 and have double Cryptic there over something more impactful early game. Snapcaster acts as pseudo Cryptic 3 and 4 with Gigadrowse being a makeshift anything depending on needs.
While playing this build I have never felt the need to answer a threat often enough where playing something that doesn't cantrip or or advance my game plan as valuable enough. Electrolyze was barly hanging on and is next on the chopping block in place of as noted Courser or otherwise possibly another accelerant/dig spell to fuel the deck.
It's not a time walk when your opponent draws a card for their turn. It's more of a fog + mana short.
I don't need to torture myself playing gigadrowse when i've never wanted that effect. I'd play a 4th cryptic command before i'd play the 1st gigadrowse.
Gifts for 4x counter spells is sweet, but then you have to put pact of negation into your deck. That's not very appealing.
The aggro decks are a problem for scapeshift (burn, affinity). I don't get all the main deck blue hate. I guess if that's your meta it's fine. But I play on mtgo which is a bit more open and has a bit more aggro.
The GP Minneapolis list is my pride and joy. I've had my highest mtgo rating playing it. That list is super smooth and consistent. If the GP Minneapolis is the baseline for consistency, then you can see why I would not want to play the gifts version.
@rickster: Can you post your GP Minneapolis list? I would love to compare notes. As for the blue hate, I may be a tad arroganst in my analysis however, I would much rather shave points in an aggro match then a blue matchup any day. I think I can often out play an aggro deck however, control is a different story.
Additionally, here is a list from SCG DC.... Creatures (7)
1 Eternal Witness
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Snapcaster Mage
Lands (25)
2 Forest
3 Island
2 Mountain
2 Breeding Pool
1 Cascade Bluffs
1 Flooded Grove
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Steam Vents
4 Stomping Ground
2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
Spells (28)
3 Cryptic Command
2 Electrolyze
3 Gifts Ungiven
2 Izzet Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Noxious Revival
4 Remand
1 Spell Snare
4 Scapeshift
4 Search for Tomorrow
Sideboard
1 Batterskull
1 Spellskite
3 Obstinate Baloth
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Krosan Grip
2 Negate
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Shatterstorm
1 Sowing Salt
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
A few obvious upgrades can be made such as adding snow-variants for rare yet, potential gift use.
Is Noxious Revival better than Down // Dirty? Cards for Scapeshift matter a lot, so I feel like drawing noxious revivial is just kind of meh.
Depending on the new meta we see, I think Life from the Loam, Raven's Crime, Tomb of Yawgmoth would be definitely worthwhile to consider for the SB. It's just so crushing against other blue and combo decks. (Since while this deck would like to go off early, having 7 lands + the combo does not always come immediately--having these earlier options might be worthwhile).
I think we kind of need to see what the new meta is to really tune anything.
I think their is merit to revisiting the Loam/Crime as a gifts engine to be sure.
Down//Dirty however, can't be cast on my opponent's end step so they will see the line coming whereas noxious revival will allow me to endstep whatever to the top of my library to draw and finish them off. If I wanted a sorcery speed regrowth, I think I would opt for Eternal Witness since she can also get in for 2 or block as needed. I may be able to fit in an additional regrowth effect potentially though to compliment the Noxious Revival and Snapcaster Mage.
The current list I am going to begin testing is as follows:
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Snapcaster Mage
2 Cryptic Comand
3 Gifts Ungiven
4 Manaleak
1 Into the Roil
1 Noxious Revival
4 Izzet Charm
1 Gigadrowse
2 Anticipate
1 Pact of Negation
1 Farseek
4 Search for Tomorrows
2 Scapeshift
4 Serum Visions
4 Stomping Ground
4 Steam Vents
1 Mountain
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Snow Covered Island
1 Forest
2 Island
3 Breeding Pool
1 Flooded Grove
1 Cascade Bluffs
2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
3 Misty Rainforest
SIDEBOARD
1 Dispell
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Firespout
1 Rending Volley
1 Shatterstorm
1 Creeping Corrosion
1 Crumble to Dust
1 Counterflux
4 Obstinate Baloth
2 Seal of Primordium
Not to much of this list has shifted from my prior variants. The major shift is the shift from Remand/Slight of Hand to Mana Leak/Serum Visions; I feel this shift is appropriate given the adjustments to the meta over the last year. A year ago we were locked in a race with other decks to just kill first, now we are tasked with stopping other decks from killing us first such as Bloom and Vengeance.
An additonal adjustment to note was the additional copies of Izzet Charm to supplement Mana Leak- additionally Charm also acts as a removal spell for the various X/2s burn packs.
I've been playing Scapeshift with Gifts since 2014.
Manabase: The 2nd Mountain doesn't do anything for you. You rarely fetch these with STE or SFT, and Misty can't fetch them. I Recommand switch it for a Cinder Glade. You should play the full sett of Mistys. Lately I've been trimming the numbers of Breeding Pools to avoid taking to much damage, and I've been happy with the result. For RUG Scapeshift the common manabase used to be:
2 Valakut
4 Steam
4 Stomping
2 Breeding Pool
4 Misty
2 Mountains
2 Forest
3 Islands
2 Flooded Grove / Flex
After printing of Cinder Glade I've changed: -1 Mountain, -1 Breeding Pool, +1 Island, +1 Cinder Glade (same amount of each color as before). Hopefully they will print Battleland (like Cinder Glade) in UR colors as well. When they do I'll change: -3 Steam, -1 Flooded / Flex, +4 UR Battelands.
Regarding the spells I would not play below 3 Scapeshifts, even with Gifts. I would also cut some of the 1-ofs; the only 1-of you need is Noxious Revial. Also, play more Snapcasters, they're good with Gifts.
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