Has the potential to get Banned because it's just so Combo-able. Look for all the cards in the Tinker-Family, like Sneak Attack and this- the mana-cheaters and the tutors-into-play stuff, to at least be criticized in Modern and Legacy, though the DCI might leave them there.
Very Glad this got a reprint, it's DCI status could indeed change some more, and with too many bannings, WOTC would consider it very low priority for Reprint.
RetroGamer3
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This card is just straight up stupid power.
Salient
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(5 votes)
Holy crap, they reprinted the best instant spell ever* and it's currently the top-rated instant on Gatherer. o_o It probably won't last forever, but high-five, everybody! .... All twelve of you! All thirteen of us! :)
This card and Doomsday are the most mind-bogglingly sophisticated contraptions in all of Magic. Playing a round of speed chess blindfolded is easier than deciding what to fetch with this thing, or deciding which two opponent's cards to put in the 'yard. But when you get it right, oh man. Pretty much every Vintage player has a story about some crazy game they won from -- or lost to -- a wildly creative Gifts. When Yawgmoth's Will or Tinker resolves, you know the game just got won. When Wheel of Fortune or Ancestral Recall resolves, you know you're probably screwed. But when Gifts Ungiven resolves, you know shit just got real.
This card can find a way out from anywhere. It can find combos in places where your other cards don't even see places. It can win games in situations where your other cards are already itching to get scooped already. It opens up opportunities where Opportunity itself would shake its head and sigh with resignation. It is the fifth copy of everything. Ever.
This card is probably the pinnacle achievement for goldfish Magic. The moment it hits the stack is the crux around which the entire round, and your memories of it, will coalesce. It may not be the best card, or the most brilliant card, but it is certainly the card through which many of the finest geniuses of Magic play have accomplished their best and most brilliant feats. In any deck that can cast it, it opens up new and unexpected chances to be brilliant, or to become brilliant -- a Modern Master? And if that's the principal joy you find in Magic, then, well, your favorite card should be this card.
This card.
This.
*Mana Drain is an interrupt and always will be. :)
The_AC
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Semi-interesting that they added "...up to..."
Ferlord
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Realms Uncharted attempted to be this. It's pretty obvious where is fell flat (besides the fact that you could search for those cards with this anyway?)
This became unbanned in modern for the reasons that Dredge and Reanimator were banned (I think). I mean, what could you benefit from getting two tutored cards in your hand and two in your grave, other than for boosting Tarmogoyf, supporting Snapcaster, abusing Crucible of Worlds, assisting Tombstalker, enabling Bridge from Below, helping Living End, aiding Past in Flames...
Wait a second...
Xycolian
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
The_AC - Semi-interesting that they added "...up to..."
Nothing about the card has changed due to the new wording as evidenced by the rulings on older versions of this card:
"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."
The_Trendkill
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(7 votes)
This is a hideously powerful card that has led to many unfortunate opponents holding their head in their hands as they struggle to choose which way they would most like to have their back broken.
I actually already thought this was banned for some reason. A favorite card, especially in U/B or U/W. Get some fat you can afford, some reanimation, and some removal. They lose no matter what they do, which is how this card works when it works best
Splizer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Traded a Grand Arbiter Augustin IV for this, all nice and ready to put it with The Mimeoplasm. Then someone told me it was illegal in Commander.
FFFFFUUUUUUUU- aah, never mind, into the trades folder you go, awesomely powerful card. I do not have another blue deck you can go into.
Continue
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Glad they added "up to" to patch up the odd ruling.
Jitteryowl
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Wait... This card is restricted in vintage, the format that allows black lotus, yet is legal in all other formats.
Banned in EDH, but not too powerful for any other format. Sounds about right.
jonrds
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You lose a card as compared to Fact or Fiction and don't have the potential for multiples, but that its any four you want and your opponent has to choose 2 and 2 rather than two piles puts this way over the top.
As a side note, since no one else notices due to the sheer power of this card, I really like the art. Seems almost post-impressionist.
casual_melvin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You could always use gifts as a single/double entomb by failing to find more than 2 cards with different names.
However,the current ruling lets you search for 0 cards whereas the old wording required finding at least 1 As far as I know.
And yes, instant speed tutoring does seem rather useful, even if it's only to your graveyard unless you let your opponent make a choice.
This could have been worded a little less broken, by stating "Target opponent chooses up to two of those cards..."
zeniongames
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is just straight up good.
I've seen it do everything from put tricky little combo pieces in the grave (it works especially well in u/b zombies to just dump stuff that reanimates itself, for example), to dropping earth shattering bombs, to digging up four cards that would all be equally bad in the opponents hand, to simply dropping an eldrazi in the grave for the free shuffle against mill. While it was legal I never once saw a "bad" play with Gifts.
LordRandomness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
What we need is a version that exiles the other two cards instead of graveyarding them. That might be a little more interesting rather than "two card combo, two cards that recover said combo"
Comments (20)
Very Glad this got a reprint, it's DCI status could indeed change some more, and with too many bannings, WOTC would consider it very low priority for Reprint.
This card and Doomsday are the most mind-bogglingly sophisticated contraptions in all of Magic. Playing a round of speed chess blindfolded is easier than deciding what to fetch with this thing, or deciding which two opponent's cards to put in the 'yard. But when you get it right, oh man. Pretty much every Vintage player has a story about some crazy game they won from -- or lost to -- a wildly creative Gifts. When Yawgmoth's Will or Tinker resolves, you know the game just got won. When Wheel of Fortune or Ancestral Recall resolves, you know you're probably screwed. But when Gifts Ungiven resolves, you know shit just got real.
This card can find a way out from anywhere. It can find combos in places where your other cards don't even see places. It can win games in situations where your other cards are already itching to get scooped already. It opens up opportunities where Opportunity itself would shake its head and sigh with resignation. It is the fifth copy of everything. Ever.
This card is probably the pinnacle achievement for goldfish Magic. The moment it hits the stack is the crux around which the entire round, and your memories of it, will coalesce. It may not be the best card, or the most brilliant card, but it is certainly the card through which many of the finest geniuses of Magic play have accomplished their best and most brilliant feats. In any deck that can cast it, it opens up new and unexpected chances to be brilliant, or to become brilliant -- a Modern Master? And if that's the principal joy you find in Magic, then, well, your favorite card should be this card.
This card.
This.
*Mana Drain is an interrupt and always will be. :)
This became unbanned in modern for the reasons that Dredge and Reanimator were banned (I think). I mean, what could you benefit from getting two tutored cards in your hand and two in your grave, other than for boosting Tarmogoyf, supporting Snapcaster, abusing Crucible of Worlds, assisting Tombstalker, enabling Bridge from Below, helping Living End, aiding Past in Flames...
Wait a second...
Nothing about the card has changed due to the new wording as evidenced by the rulings on older versions of this card:
"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."
Ways to abuse - search for:
- Eternal Witness, Noxious Revival, and any two-card combo (such as Splinter Twin + Deceiver Exarch). Other variations on this idea exist, such as Kiki-Jiki, Pestermite, Body Double, and Reveillark.
- Life from the Loam, Raven's Crime, Lingering Souls, and Darkblast (cards with Retrace, Dredge, or Flashback are good with Gifts in general)
- Crucible of Worlds, Academy Ruins, Mindslaver, and Life from the Loam (or another Gifts Ungiven)
- Wrath of God, Damnation, Day of Judgment, and Supreme Verdict
- Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Light and Shadow, Sword of Feast and Famine, Sword of War and Peace
Maximum trolling - the "double Entomb" option:
- Iona, Unburial Rites, and nothing else (any good reanimation target works with Unburial Rites)
- Haakon, Nameless Inversion, and nothing else
FFFFFUUUUUUUU- aah, never mind, into the trades folder you go, awesomely powerful card. I do not have another blue deck you can go into.
Arcanum Wings
Mine Excavation
Auramancer
Have fun watching them squirm c:
As a side note, since no one else notices due to the sheer power of this card, I really like the art. Seems almost post-impressionist.
However,the current ruling lets you search for 0 cards whereas the old wording required finding at least 1 As far as I know.
And yes, instant speed tutoring does seem rather useful, even if it's only to your graveyard unless you let your opponent make a choice.
This could have been worded a little less broken, by stating "Target opponent chooses up to two of those cards..."
I've seen it do everything from put tricky little combo pieces in the grave (it works especially well in u/b zombies to just dump stuff that reanimates itself, for example), to dropping earth shattering bombs, to digging up four cards that would all be equally bad in the opponents hand, to simply dropping an eldrazi in the grave for the free shuffle against mill. While it was legal I never once saw a "bad" play with Gifts.