Why is Gifts Ungiven Banned in Commander?

While Commander’s grassroots origins make it different from many other Magic formats, it still has a ban list like the rest of them. However, since Commander is not a format with tons of tournament data to back up banning certain cards, some players are unsure why certain offenders end up on the list. Today, I’m going to take a look at Gifts Ungiven, explain why it’s banned in Commander and discuss whether or not it would be safe to unban it.

Gifts Ungiven lets you tutor up four cards with different names, then your opponent gets to put two of them into your graveyard, while you put the other two into your hand.

At first glance, Gifts Ungiven may not seem that impressive. After all, your opponent gets to choose which cards you get. However, it really isn’t very difficult to search up cards that put your opponent into a lose-lose situation. This power was quickly unlocked in 60-card formats. And, over the years, Gifts Ungiven has seen play in every 60-card format it has ever been legal in. This is something only a very small percentage of Magic cards manage to accomplish. It was so problematic in Vintage that it was restricted in the format from 2007 to 2015.

One of the ways you can abuse Gifts Ungiven is to search for only two cards. If you do that, those cards both go to the graveyard no matter what your opponent does. Normally that isn’t what you want to be doing, but if you grab Unburial Rites and a reanimation target, like Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, there’s really nothing your opponent can do to keep you from reanimating the massive Praetor on your next turn.

Why is Gifts Ungiven Banned in Commander?

As good as tutors are in traditional 60-card constructed formats, they are even better in a singleton format like Commander. You can view your tutors as additional copies of any card in your deck, and that’s especially true of Gifts Ungiven, which has no real restrictions in a singleton format. Combos should be difficult to get together in Commander, and obviously enough, a tutor that lets you grab four cards is an insane combo enabler.

While you can certainly search up Unburial Rites and a reanimation target in Commander, there are some even more insane possibilities in the format thanks to the fact that you have access to a much larger card pool. For example, you can grab Past in Flames and Yawgmoth’s Will, at which point there is nothing your opponents can do to keep you from casting your entire graveyard. It does take a little bit of set up, but you can bet that Storm decks would proliferate in Commander if it was this easy to cast everything in your graveyard.

There are plenty of four-card packages that effectively say “You lose the game” to your opponents too. If you really want to give everyone a headache, you can search up Life from the Loam, Strip Mine, Thespian’s Stage, and Dark Depths. Because Life from the Loam has dredge, no matter what your opponent gives you, you’re getting all three of those lands. Thespian’s Stage + Dark Depths gives you a Marit Lage token every turn, while Strip Mine can give you the ability to constantly disrupt your opponents’ mana.

You can also easily search up four cards with similar effects, so that no matter what your opponent does, you’re going to get two cards with the effect you’re looking for. For example, if you really need a four-mana board wipe – and you often do in Commander – you can just grab Supreme Verdict, Wrath of God, Day of Judgment, and Depopulate.

In addition to its ability to tutor up whatever you want and assemble insane combos, there are also some Commanders who can completely break Gifts Ungiven, regardless of what you search for. Kess (74th on EDHRec) and Muldrotha (17th) are the two most popular Commanders that would be completely insane with Gifts Ungiven. 

Kess lets you cast instants and sorceries from your graveyard, and Muldrotha lets you play lands and cast permanents from your graveyard. If you have a Commander like one of these, Gifts Ungiven gives you very easy access to four cards every time you cast it. You may need to grab cards with the right card types, but both of these Commanders are already going to have you leaning in that direction and you’ll be able to do something powerful every single time. Kess is particularly busted, because she can even let you cast Gifts Ungiven again.

Should Gifts Ungiven be Unbanned?

No. A single tutor that can grab any four cards is just a bad idea. Its ability to search up game-breaking combos for only 4 mana, and at instant speed, would make Commander a miserable format. Blue graveyard decks would be particularly adept at searching up four cards that make you want to pull your hair out. Even if you want to set aside its ability to help you assemble combos, the power level of the card is quite high. Commander is a better place without Gifts Ungiven. If that doesn’t mean that a card should remain banned, I don’t know what does.

It is often argued that if Intuition is legal in Commander, then Gifts Ungiven should be too. Intuition costs one less mana, and it has a similar effect. It lets you search up three cards, and your opponent chooses one, while the other two go to the graveyard. Despite these similarities, there is a very large gap in power between these two cards. 

While Intuition does cost one less mana, that isn’t enough to offset the power difference. After all, Gifts Ungiven tutors up one more card and gives you one more card in hand. That difference is absolutely massive. You get a 2-for-1 with Gifts Ungiven, you get a 1-for-1 with Intuition. On top of that, Intuition also doesn’t allow you to only search up two cards and put both of them into the graveyard, and that’s a big part of what makes Gifts Ungiven so good.

In short, I think Gifts Ungiven should remain banned in Commander, and Intuition should continue to be legal. 

End Step

What do you think? Should Gifts Ungiven be unbanned? Is it okay that it enables combos so easily? Do you want to give graveyard decks a huge leg up? Hit me up on X with your thoughts!