Gifts Ungiven

Looks like I've found my new favourite non-Tamiyo card. =D

That moment when the usual picks completely lock the opponent.

I love the way it forces both players to actually think.

There are the obvious choices for it, but in most situations you can't even go for those without another plan in mind.

I personally dislike just going Rites + Target and "failing" to find a third and fourth target unless it's absolutely necessary. At worst, I like dropping a Raven's Crime into the yard as well.

All of the Life of the Loam combos.

Gifts Ungiven Package. So fun.
4 Gifts Ungiven.
1 Elesh Norn
1 Unburial Rites.
2 Other Fatties.

Not 2 other Fatties

Life From the Loam and Raven's Crime

Fatties are the idea of many Gifts Ungiven Package from before, the power of that sideboard.. It is meant to solve any problem if a fatty is what can stop it usually. I have seen many with Sphinx of the Steel Wind, Iona, Bogarden Hellkite.

Why do you need more than just 2 fatties with Gifts?

Most of the time, Elesh Norn and Iona cover everything. Beyond that, you just use it as a tutor card.

Heck, I've used it to search Abrupt Decay, Snappy, Path to Exile and Dismember before.

Usually because of the different situations done in their own metas. Just how I see it done before. Been actually attempting. I really haven't been doing too much use of Iona. Just plop in a Fatty and Rites and it stops them during the time.

Most builds I've seen (and my own) just have Elesh Norn and Iona as fatties. Elesh Norn beating creatures and Iona beating spells. It's easy enough to side in other threats like Wurmcoil if you expect them to try to disrupt the main strategy of using Rites, especially since Wurmcoil is realistically castable.

From the testing I've done, the only truly dead card in the main deck is Iona, since if you control the field well enough you can hardcast an Elesh Norn against non-Affinity creature decks. There doesn't seem to be any reason to run a 3rd Rites target, especially since it's not like anyone's playing maindeck Slaughter Games which should just be calling Rites regardless.

Of course, this is for a broad metagame, and not maybe a more narrow one that others adapt to and thus can use more specific answers (Sphinx of the Steel Wind and Terastadon come to mind) since Elesh Norn and Iona are very general in what they beat.

Gifts are one of the most fun decks I've ever played TBH...time to remake it in Legacy~