Dear Gifts Ungiven, 

<3

In 2005 I played my first tournament outside of my LGS: The 2004 Dutch Junior Super Series. The owner of my local LGS, Patrick, told me about this qualifier he was running and that I should attend. I did, made top 8, got my foil Slith Firewalker promo that I still run in my Peasant Cube till this day, and went on to play the JSS. 

I was such a bad Magic player back then. I didn’t know anything about a meta, I just played decks that looked cool. Of course me and my brother tried to look decks up online, talk to the other players at our LGS, and try to trade up for some important cards. I really liked the Gifts Ungiven decks that had been roaming Block Constructed. You were a really cool cool card, and still are till this day. Let’s be honest, you are one of the coolest cards ever made. I was really enthusiastic to play you. 

You could have been a really good choice. Frank Karsten got 2nd place at Worlds with you after the JSS. I wasn’t playing that deck unfortunately. My build, more mirrored to the Block Constructed builds, wasn’t as good. But I can’t imagine I’ve played you correctly a single time that day. Because these days, every time I cast you, I still have the feeling I don’t know what to do with you. That was until the other day. 

I drafted you in my 2nd cost reduction emblem Cube, making you a mere 2 mana. I’m not even going to start to try and explain how overpowered you are at only 2 mana. I drafted you in my OverPowered-2 Cube. The pitch for this Cube is easy: imagine you shuffle the 2 better halves of 2 MTGO Vintage Cubes together and get this awesome overpowered pile of cards. The only thing is, there are so many new and funky infinite combo’s. I drafted (among others) an infinite mana combo. And when I had infinite mana I casted you, and in true fashion, only found 2 cards: Dryad’s Revival and Zoanthrope. Because when only finding 2 cards is enough, one should make a little homage to the Gifts master himself. 

With love, 

Hanjo