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Too bad they won't let us target Gifts Ungiven for it anymore

Sure you can. For a few days until October 15th. at least.

I goldfished Snapcaster in my High Tide-pile for a while and even there the mage was nuts. It almost universally seems as if Gifts out --> Snapcaster in to replace.

Hehe my next tournament just happens to be ON the 15th

@ Mythrandir - I certainly agree with you on the power of Gifts Ungiven - no doubt there. But top is also extremely powerful and I feel it has more power late game then you're giving it credit for.  In my experiences, it's also just been SO much easier to beat an opponent without early top than it is to beat someone with early top.

I agree with you: TOP is an incredible card, but if you're screw/losing, top won't save your life, or at least won't save it very differently from, let's say a brainstorm... Gifts has the potential to win you the game on the spot, or at least save your neck for a couple more turns...
Anyways, not bashing TOP, love it, and hope it stays unbanned!

Yeah, in some situations Top's just doing a whole lot of nothing for ya.  But at the same time, that means there isn't very much that in general that would be helpful.

Two memories:

In one game, I was playing against zoo/aggro (I was on UWB control) - he had t2 sylvan library and it just didn't matter.  I Wrathed early, and then Vindicated his follow-up Goyf and the library was irrelevant.  Sure Library =/= Top, but it's the same idea.  The point was even the ability to draw extra cards and chose between 3 cards to draw each turn, it wasn't enough to even make it a close game.

In another game I played the UW control mirror match.  Literally, my opponent had early Top & that was the only thing that kept him in the game.  I had a much better list with better cards, but his ability to hit threats more often was extremely helpful to him.  After an hour, neither of us had any non-land permanents out and the life total was like 9 to 13, so we never actually finished that game (time was called).  We were actively getting nowhere fast, and he was going to win soon, but I cast Gifts Ungiven in one of the final turns.  

However, Top gives the player with Top such a huge advantage over the player without Top.  And the player without Top has to sit there every turn wishing he had a Top, too. 

That's right, but you could insert the name of nearly every Planeswalker here and it would be right too. If I use the second ability of Jace, the Mindsculptor every turn you wish you would have a Jace, the Mindsculptor on your side of the table.

Top costs 1 and can't really be answered effectively.  Jace is a bit different in this aspect costing 4 (with 2 blue) and dies to more types of removal more easily (nonetheless attacking).

@ Mythrandir - I certainly agree with you on the power of Gifts Ungiven - no doubt there. But top is also extremely powerful and I feel it has more power late game then you're giving it credit for.  In my experiences, it's also just been SO much easier to beat an opponent without early top than it is to beat someone with early top.

Snapcaster Mage is going to be fun for sure!

Too bad they won't let us target Gifts Ungiven for it anymore 

If anything, I would have predicted a Top ban before a Gifts ban. Gifts is a one time thing that doesn't *always* win the game.  However, Top gives the player with Top such a huge advantage over the player without Top.  And the player without Top has to sit there every turn wishing he had a Top, too. 

I was a hardcore UW player until I recently switched to 4CC as I acquired the duals necessary to run it.

You should play Aether Adept > Man O'War along with Riptide Laboratory because that's some awesome synergy, especially with your other Wizards.

You should play Decree of Justice & perhaps try some bigger ramping artifacts like Thran Dynamo and take out off-color talismans.

Vesuva is also a really cool land.

I personally took out Thopter/Sword - it's too difficult to assemble without a good amount of tutors/search and the cards are completely dead by themselves.

Jace Beleren should be in there.

I personally don't like Exalted Angel any more and just hate the vulnerability of Sower.

Definitely play Trench Gorger.

Try out Solemn Simulacrum, Memory Jar, Consecrated Sphinx, and Teferi.

Lightning Greaves/Swiftfoot Boots could also be pretty clutch for you.

Cheers!

I called them up and they said highlander was LAST week.

Dumb...

Yeah, for some reason, when I fill the initial box, everything just goes nuts on me. Anyway:

R3 - UBG Control: I stabilize at dangerously low life after an awkward game occurs. He beats me over ~5 turns with mishra's factory and I'm just drawing dead. Eventually, I stick an elspeth, but he has both Mishra's and Urza's Factories. I topdeck a tezz and immediately go for a needle. When the needle is killed, I kill Tezz by getting Shackles and shutting off his plans. Faerie Conclave + Crucible gets me the win, along with elspeth that had >10 counters on it by the time the game was over. It was a really close match that went to time and 5 turns. I made an oversight in this match, that was pointed out to me afterwards, because instead of making tokens with elspeth, I could have just made everything indestructible (including faerie conclave) and then swung over for the win. This wasn't THAT simple because I knew he had a diabolic edict, but the point stands nonetheless.

After seeing how nuts he is, I'm definitely adding Gideon to the deck.

I did consider a different creature, but you had such a developed board that I needed the biggest thing that would have the fastest impact.  Exalted angel serves to effectively grind your offensive to a standstill because you can no longer make a profitable attack.  If I chose the cavalier, it wouldn't have the same effect.

General overview, at least what I remember:

R1 - B/W Aggro: He has an early Gerrard's Verdict followed up with a levelup creature and some other things. His only white source is Caves of Koilos for many turns, and it denies him access to most of what is in his hand.  I find a Kor Haven and eventually stabilize, despite falling to a low life total. T1 Library of Alexandria is incontrovertibly busted; I secured victory with a Mana Drain + Stick.

R2 - U/R Control: I built my friend this deck and it had the same exact blue core as mine, except it used red cards instead of white cards. I undoubtedly prefer the list with white because of the way they compliment each other (the ally color thing helps out too with the new manland + increased fixing). He's never really in this game because I keep him on the back foot with a t2 scepter he is forced to daze and then follow that up with a gifts ungiven (wasteland, crucible, glen elendra archmage, venser) - I had riptide laboratory in hand - and he's never able to resolve anything again.
IDK why my computer hates this forum software but im going to make a double post because this isn't working once it filled this txtbox once

Round 4: Sam, playing WU control. Sam has a very good control deck and he's a careful player; the best way to win against such a situation is to play very fast aggro. Unfortunately, my deck - although it didn't play poorly per se â€" didn't roll out quickly enough to do what it needed. I was able to get him down to 10 but it took too long, and by then he'd set up too many control elements and had too many mana resources. Critical plays: (a) he countered my Wilt-Leaf
Liege which right there might have won the game for me, (b) Pithing Needled my Elspeth, and (c) kept taking creatures with Vedalken Shackles; all while I had trouble drawing additional creatures (kind of annoying, with 41 of them in the deck). Oh yeah, a Wrath of God was a big pothole in my roadway also.

Hey Grizzledmage! Although you managed an early wasteland, the pressure you brought, as you mentioned, just wasn't enough to counteract my game plan. I feel that cryptic command countering the liege was a turning point in the game because I was able to time walk you and then bribery next turn (target exalted angel). From that point you did manage to aggro out enough, but I had WoG + Shackles to wipe the board and make sure stuff didn't really come back. Elspeth did help you, until it was shut down after a little bit. Jace Beleren -> Jace the Mind Sculptor -> Future Sight ultimately enabled me to drown you in card advantage and set up, in 2 turns, a 2 turn clock, that consisted of Teferi + Man-O-War + Kitchen Finks + V.Clique + V. Shackles target of some shadow creature. It was definitely a great game - I need to figure out how to make my deck operate faster because it takes me SO long to stabilize.

Perhaps I'll see you at the end of this month

I ended up being unable to go to the tournament but my friend went 3-1.  The only match he lost was against goblins when he got greedy and learned the hard way that Goblin Piledriver has protection from blue...when he could have just Wrathed instead and secured his late game survival.

The thing that amazed both of us the most is how many cards don't actually matter.  For example, he didn't do thopter/depths at all the whole tournament and never drew library of alex!

Thank you all for your help!

Imo Dust Bowl > Edge.

- kor haven (maze of ith is better)

Of course it is but this is highlander why not play both?
I hate Maze for not producing mana.

yeap, but you'll hate it more when you have to waste 3 manas every turn to prevent damage from 1 creature.
Buy, yes, you can play both. But in terms of maze VS kor. maze is way better, IMO.

Part of the issue was a high non-basic land count...especially non-basic lands that don't tap for any mana, let alone colored mana.

I've taken all things into consideration and updated my original post.

Some of the changes include:

-GAAIV
-Blink
-Looter Il-Kor
-Kor Haven
-Skycloud Expanse
-O Stone
-Nev's Disk

+Wasteland
+Cycle Lands
+Maze of Ith
+E Explosives
+Sword/Thopter
+Martial Coup, Condescend, Misdirection, Scepter
+Aven Mindcensor
+Crucible

Thank you very much, Myth!

I'm currently contemplating the addition of Tectonic Edge.

Thanks Tabris!

I can find myself agreeing easily with most of your suggestions, except for the fact that tolarian academy is banned and you meant tolaria west  

One thing that doesn't seem so obvious to me is why cut the Karoo and the Temple of the False God?  Also, is 37 lands good?

EDIT: I saw that deck Pyy...and it just seemed bad to me.  First and foremost, there are lands missing.  Second, a lot of the cards are narrow and were suggested in other threads here to be removed from their respective decks (annul and stifle for example).  Third, a lot of seemingly good cards are simply missing - Decree of Justice, Exalted Angel, and Eternal Dragon just to name a few.

I don't really know too much about highlander...all I know is that a store near me plays highlander once a month and I decided to put a deck together in preparation for the upcoming tourney.

Lands (37)
9 Island
4 Plains
Academy Ruins
Adarkar Wastes
Arid Mesa
Celestial Collonade
Faerie Conclave
Flagstones of Trokair
Flooded Strand
Glacial Fortress
Halimar Depths
Hallowed Fountain
Karakas
Library of Alexandria
Lonely Sandbar
Marsh Flats
Maze of Ith
Mishra's Factory
Mystic Gate
Polluted Delta
Riptide Laboratory
Scalding Tarn
Secluded Steppe
Tolaria West
Tundra
Wasteland

Mana Artifacts (3)
Talisman of Progress
Everflowing Chalice
Mind Stone

Other Artifacts (10)
Crucible of Worlds
Engineered Explosives
Isochron Scepter
Pithing Needle
Phyrexian Furnace
Sensei's Top
Solemn Simulacrum
Sword of the Meek
Thopter Foundry
Vedalken Shackles

Creatures (14)
Aven Mindcensor
Baneslayer Angel
Court Hussar
Eternal Dragon
Exalted Angel
Glen Elendra Archmage
Kitchen Finks
Man-O-War
Mulldrifter
Sower of Temptation
Teferi, Mage of Awesomeness
Trinket Mage
Vendillion Clique
Venser, Shaper Savant

Other Busted Things (9)
Bribery
Control Magic
Cryptic Command
Decree of Justice
Elspeth, Knight Jesus
Jace Beleren
Jace, the Second Coming of Christ
Tezzeret, the 1337
Treachery

White Removal (
Day of Judgment
Disenchant
Faith's Fetters
O-Ring
Martial Coup
Path to Exile
Swords to Plowshares
Wrath of God

Card Advantage/Selectivity (5)
Ancestral Vision
Brainstorm
Fact or Fiction
Gifts Ungiven
Ponder

Counters (9)
Condescend
Counterspell
Daze
Force of Will
Mana Drain
Mana Leak
Miscalculation
Misdirection
Remand

Other Utility (5)
Future Sight
Into the Roil
Merchant Scroll
Muddle the Mixture
Repeal

Thanks for any and all comments!