Life Gain concept

[Galroth]

I've had a multiplayer life-gain deck for some time now, but it was always cute at best and never competitive. With some of the new cards from M11, I was hoping to take the deck to the next step. This thread is purely for development, as I'm uncertain what direction to take things.

Here's the cards I want to build around:

Auriok Champion
Soul Warden
Soul's Attendant
Knight of Meadowgrain
Ajani Pridemate
Serra Ascendant

There are a number of other potential cards that could be used, but I don't know if they're just cute, rather than actually useful. Here are some thoughts:

Ivory Tower
Well of Lost Dreams
Searing Meditation
Test of Endurance

So what kind of deck would this fit in? Do something similar to Death&Taxes? Bring in some Aether Vial and include some equipment and Stoneforge Mystic

[Hanni]

Stoneforge Mystic and equipment sounds like a great idea, especially when alot of equipment choices out there have lifegain. Equipment is going to improve your 1/1 dorks immensely.

Umezawa's Jitte, Sword of Light and Shadow, and Basilisk Collar are the ones that come to mind.

[chokin]

Loxodon Warhammer and Behemoth Sledge make your guys bigger and have lifegain too. I'm not saying they're the best, but they are options to consider.

[DukeDemonKn1ght]

With this many white cards, and this many creatures that cost already in the list of stuff you want to use, Martyr of Sands and Proclamation of Rebirth should absolutely make any list that goes with this theme. Figure of Destiny is probably also worth looking into, since he gives you a nice recurring dude/win-con, although I doubt he should be a four-of. I would start with something like 4 Martyr, 2 Proclamation, 1 Figure, as far as those cards.

[Mystical_Jackass]

Divinity of Pride & Exalted Angel work really well with Dark Ritual. I've seen B/W work well as a lifelink deck, you'd get swords, Hymn, and Vindicate if you wanted too which is pretty good.

[Vacrix]

With this many white cards, and this many creatures that cost already in the list of stuff you want to use, Martyr of Sands and Proclamation of Rebirth should absolutely make any list that goes with this theme. Figure of Destiny is probably also worth looking into, since he gives you a nice recurring dude/win-con, although I doubt he should be a four-of. I would start with something like 4 Martyr, 2 Proclamation, 1 Figure, as far as those cards.

Yes you are much better off going this route. It was half decent back in the day. Now with a decent finisher, it might see some play, especially since you can also return your win conditions to play via Proc.

[Pastorofmuppets]

Martyr of Sands and AEther Vial both seem to be doing me a fair amount of good.

[Vacrix]

Martyr of Sands and AEther Vial both seem to be doing me a fair amount of good.

Whats your list look like?

[Pastorofmuppets]

// Deck file for Magic Workstation

// Lands
2 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Karakas
21 Plains

// Creatures
4 Martyr of Sands
2 Eternal Dragon
2 Student of Warfare
4 Weathered Wayfarer
2 Reveillark
1 Mangara of Corondor
4 Serra Ascendant

// Spells
3 Proclamation of Rebirth
4 Wrath of God
1 Moat
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Path to Exile
3 AEther Vial

// Sideboard
4 Ghostly Prison
4 Tormod's Crypt
4 Thorn of Amethyst


This list has a few inherent issues, as one might assume. I commonly don't have both Karakas and Mangara, which makes me want to cut them for something else. And I keep flip-flopping between 'Lark and Ranger of Eos

[Combo Winter]

Is there any reson that this deck is better than http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=33402 other than not needing 4 diamond valley's. On that note though i think Life could be very powerful in this new aggro/aggro control heavy format.

[Pastorofmuppets]

Is there any reson that this deck is better than http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=33402 other than not needing 4 diamond valley's. On that note though i think Life could be very powerful in this new aggro/aggro control heavy format.

well, it doesn't fold to Wasteland, doesn't run subpar crap like Daru Spiritualist, and it powers out a 6/6 lifelink flier on turn 2.

[Benjammn]

well, it doesn't fold to Wasteland, doesn't run subpar crap like Daru Spiritualist, and it powers out a 6/6 lifelink flier on turn 2.

How do you intend to gain 10 life by T2? How do you intend to beat Zoo or Goblins or any aggressive deck when you can't get above 30 life?

[Pastorofmuppets]

How do you intend to gain 10 life by T2? How do you intend to beat Zoo or Goblins or any aggressive deck when you can't get above 30 life?

Obviously it doesn't happen very often, but Martyr with 4 white cards in hand has happened in testing. And I'm thinking Wall of Omens might assist here, and Cataclysm in place of Wrath. Also, Ascendant isn't my only wincon.

[Combo Winter]

Most versions of life are straight g/w so in no way do they fold to wasteland. Also it's insane to call daru spritulist when it can't be bolted and leads to a turn 3 infinate life with insane consistancy and can be vialed in. I think it's subpar to gain life one by one to power up a bad boltable 1/1. I mean even in your god hand turn 2 6/6 kills slower and puts the game out of reach slower than a really sub par life hand. So none of those reasons have stated why martyr proc which uses the graveyard and is turns slower while still manging to have a worse aggro matchup is better than life combo.

[EssKay]

Felidar Sovereign? Also you might want to pack some combat damage prevention like Holy Day, Angelsong, etc. You could basically stall and chump with lifelink guys until you drop a Sovereign, but it wouldn't be very consistent unless you had a way to tutor up Sovereign and/or cheat it into play.

[Nidd]

Seeing so many creatures suggested, how about Survival of the Fittest?

[Pastorofmuppets]

Most versions of life are straight g/w so in no way do they fold to wasteland. Also it's insane to call daru spritulist when it can't be bolted and leads to a turn 3 infinate life with insane consistancy and can be vialed in. I think it's subpar to gain life one by one to power up a bad boltable 1/1. I mean even in your god hand turn 2 6/6 kills slower and puts the game out of reach slower than a really sub par life hand. So none of those reasons have stated why martyr proc which uses the graveyard and is turns slower while still manging to have a worse aggro matchup is better than life combo.

What do you mean it doesn't fold to Wasteland? Sanctum and Valley are both nonbasics. And it dies to Needle. Martyr proc has 2-6 grave dependant cards, so it's not solely dependant on the graveyard. If people board in grave hate, they're just wasting slots.
And what do you mean "how do I intended to beat Goblins or Zoo"? 6 1cc removal, Martyr, Mangara, Moat, Wrath. Also, Sovereign is a bad idea.

[EssKay]

Ok, ok, how about this:

Black splash, lifegain + removal, Celestial Convergence + Vampire Hexmage!

[Combo Winter]

dimond valley doesn't make mana you play it on the turn you go off so its not like you walk into wasteland not to mention worthy cause also i never said anything about your matchups with goblins and zoo just that your aggro matchups are worse than life.deck. So can you please stop inventing stuff I said. Also You haven't responded to my original question Why is this better than life?

[Pastorofmuppets]

dimond valley doesn't make mana you play it on the turn you go off so its not like you walk into wasteland not to mention worthy cause also i never said anything about your matchups with goblins and zoo just that your aggro matchups are worse than life.deck. So can you please stop inventing stuff I said. Also You haven't responded to my original question Why is this better than life?

I wasn't talking to you for that one, cool your jets. You're getting so angry. If Life was a better-performing deck, you'd have a point in saying that this deck is worse than life. But as it stands, let's keep this thread on-topic to keep it from being Peter-Rottened.
Does anyone have any constructive comments on the list I posted?
And it's better than life because it's built around a 3-card combo, where all of its pieces do very little on their own.