Gifts Ungiven MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 10 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityRare
TypeInstant

Key Takeaways

  1. Gifts Ungiven excels in card selection, giving strategic access to crucial deck components, even at instant speed.
  2. Potential downsides include a specific mana requirement and the need to discard, which require careful play.
  3. Its ability to fetch combo pieces makes it a strong addition to control or combo decks in varied metas.

Text of card

Search your library for four cards with different names and reveal them. Target opponent chooses two of those cards. Put the chosen cards into your graveyard and the rest into your hand. Then shuffle your library.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Gifts Ungiven provides a unique way of garnering card advantage by allowing you to search for four cards and putting two into your hand indirectly. This selection process can significantly tilt the game in your favor, particularly when you can fetch cards that form a winning combination.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly accelerating resources, Gifts Ungiven speeds up your access to key components of your strategy. It effectively sifts through your deck to retrieve the crucial spells or combo pieces, thereby accelerating your game plan and putting pressure on your opponent.

Instant Speed: The ability to cast Gifts Ungiven at instant speed is a strategic advantage, as it can be used at the end of your opponent’s turn. This capability allows you to stay flexible, react to your opponent’s moves, and commit to the spell only when it’s most tactically advantageous.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Gifts Ungiven allows players to search for four cards, the need to discard two can backfire if not strategically played. This can particularly hurt if you’re forced to toss cards critical for your game plan.

Specific Mana Cost: The card demands a precise mana combination, one blue and three of any other color. This makes it challenging to cast in a multicolored deck that struggles with mana consistency.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of four mana, Gifts Ungiven can be a setback in fast-paced games where efficiency is key. This imposes a restriction especially when up against aggressive strategies that demand quicker responses.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Gifts Ungiven provides strategic depth to any deck that thrives on library manipulation and graveyard resources. Its ability to search for four different cards ensures it adapts to various situations, tailoring outcomes to the player’s current needs.

Combo Potential: This card excels in setups aiming to assemble specific combos. By fetching combo pieces directly into your hand or graveyard, it significantly increases the likelihood of executing game-winning strategies swiftly and efficiently.

Meta-Relevance: The ever-shifting nature of the MTG meta often sees control and combo-centric decks rise to prominence. Gifts Ungiven slots into such environments perfectly, allowing players to stay one step ahead by selectively curating their next moves amidst a competitive landscape.


How to beat Gifts Ungiven

Gifts Ungiven is a unique instant that allows you to search for four cards and an opponent chooses two to go into the graveyard, while the other two go into your hand – a delicate selection that often tilts the game in your favor. On the surface, it seems challenging to counter this advantage. Yet, overcoming the prowess of Gifts Ungiven isn’t insurmountable if you tactically pressure your opponent’s resources and decision-making.

Applying graveyard hate is exceptionally effective. Cards like Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void render half of Gifts Ungiven’s effect redundant, as any cards placed in the graveyard will simply cease to exist, or at least lose their potential potency. Hand disruption is another avenue to explore. Thrusting in the effect of Thoughtseize or Duress prior to your opponent casting Gifts Ungiven can dismantle their planned combo pieces, disrupt their strategy, and cause a significant swing in game progress.

Remember, while Gifts Ungiven can fetch powerful cards and enable complex strategies, it’s not unstoppable. A well-timed piece of disruption can turn the tide, making it essential to strategize and plan your responses to anticipate and navigate around this formidable spell.


Cards like Gifts Ungiven

Gifts Ungiven is an intriguing option within the strategic puzzle pieces of Magic: The Gathering, sitting comfortably among other selective tutoring cards. Similar to Intuition, another card with a choice mechanic, it allows a player to search for four cards in their library, however, where Intuition presents three options, Gifts Ungiven raises the stakes with four. The key difference lies in Gifts Ungiven’s simultaneous breadth and precision, offering up a quartet of cards from which your opponent must choose two to go into your graveyard.

Echo of Eons and Fact or Fiction also play into the mix of graveyard and hand dynamics. Echo of Eons has the potential to completely refresh a player’s hand and graveyard, while Fact or Fiction provides fewer options but comes with the possibility of receiving more cards directly into your hand. However, neither offers quite the same level of control over the game’s future state as Gifts Ungiven does, which can set up intricate plays by carefully selecting which cards are placed in each zone.

Ultimately, Gifts Ungiven’s unique selection process allows players to set up their next moves with unparalleled precision, making it a valuable asset for those crafting elaborate strategies in Magic: The Gathering.

Intuition - MTG Card versions
Echo of Eons - MTG Card versions
Fact or Fiction - MTG Card versions
Intuition - Tempest (TMP)
Echo of Eons - Modern Horizons (MH1)
Fact or Fiction - Invasion (INV)

Cards similar to Gifts Ungiven by color, type and mana cost

Deflection - MTG Card versions
Ray of Command - MTG Card versions
Inspiration - MTG Card versions
Turnabout - MTG Card versions
Quash - MTG Card versions
Foil - MTG Card versions
Thwart - MTG Card versions
Plagiarize - MTG Card versions
Fact or Fiction - MTG Card versions
Cryptic Command - MTG Card versions
Urza's Command - MTG Card versions
Fold into Aether - MTG Card versions
Part the Veil - MTG Card versions
Surging Aether - MTG Card versions
Careful Consideration - MTG Card versions
Gifts Given - MTG Card versions
Discombobulate - MTG Card versions
Permafrost Trap - MTG Card versions
Bone to Ash - MTG Card versions
Sudden Storm - MTG Card versions
Deflection - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Ray of Command - Commander 2011 (CMD)
Inspiration - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Turnabout - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Quash - Urza's Destiny (UDS)
Foil - Prophecy (PCY)
Thwart - World Championship Decks 2001 (WC01)
Plagiarize - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Fact or Fiction - The Brothers' War Commander (BRC)
Cryptic Command - Amonkhet Invocations (MP2)
Urza's Command - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Fold into Aether - Fifth Dawn (5DN)
Part the Veil - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Surging Aether - Coldsnap (CSP)
Careful Consideration - Modern Masters (MMA)
Gifts Given - Happy Holidays (HHO)
Discombobulate - Tenth Edition (10E)
Permafrost Trap - Worldwake (WWK)
Bone to Ash - Core Set 2020 (M20)
Sudden Storm - Born of the Gods (BNG)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Gifts Ungiven MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Magic Online Promos, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Gifts Ungiven and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Gifts Ungiven Magic the Gathering card was released in 7 different sets between 2004-10-01 and 2022-07-08. Illustrated by 3 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 709242015normalblackChris Rallis
22002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 1022392015normalblackDavid O'Connor
32004-10-01Champions of KamigawaCHK 622003normalblackD. Alexander Gregory
42009-08-28From the Vault: ExiledV09 42003normalblackD. Alexander Gregory
52013-06-07Modern MastersMMA 462003normalblackD. Alexander Gregory
62017-03-17Modern Masters 2017MM3 402015normalblackD. Alexander Gregory
72018-06-15Signature Spellbook: JaceSS1 52015normalblackChris Rallis
82022-07-08Double Masters 20222X2 512015normalblackChris Rallis
92022-07-08Double Masters 20222X2 3472015normalborderlessDavid O'Connor
102022-07-08Double Masters 20222X2 4302015normalblackChris Rallis

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Gifts Ungiven has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderBanned
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelBanned
PredhBanned
PennyLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Gifts Ungiven card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2017-03-14 You can choose to find fewer than four cards if you want. If you find one or two cards, your opponent must choose for them to be put into your graveyard, even if they don’t want to.

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