I'm sure we all come to the point where we think "hey, it might be cool to build a deck that just gains gigantic pile of life." Well, here I am. As such, I have a few questions that I would like to put out there regarding a gameplan and a general.
Who would make some good generals?
I'd like to avoid Oloro and Trostani because Oloro seems too boring and I already have a tokens deck.
Even if the general himself does not gain life, maybe someone knows of an interesting choice that gives synergy with large amounts of life.
I'm working on a deck kind of like this with Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter as the general. I'm including a lot of life payment cards along with Children of Korlis, Tainted Sigil, and Resolute Archangel to gain all the life I have paid back at once. Also including Near-Death Experience and Repay in Kind as ways to take advantage of putting myself on low life, and it avoids a lot of the risk if I can just go back up to 40 or whatever in response to someone trying to kill me. The deck is still in the works so I'll keep an eye on this thread as well for more ideas.
The most fun things to do with lifegain IMO involves Vizkopa Guildmage - who is actually pretty insane. You can activate her second ability multiple times.
Gerrard Capashen seems like a good option in mono white. With all the card draw in EDH you're getting at least ten life by the time your next turn comes around.
I have a particular fondness for my Obzedat, Ghost Council deck. It is built entirely of, and exclusively around, lifegain and lifedrain effects. If you want a non-Oloro lifegain deck I think he pretty much has to be your man. (Unless you really like sacrifice shenanigans from Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter.)
Most of the A+ cards I run in the deck have been mentioned already, though in a deck designed to drain the opponent as much as you gain life Roiling Horror and Blood Baron of Vizkopa are both all stars. Serra Avatar is, of course, amazing (this goes without saying, but I've gone and said it anyway) and Wall of Reverence can get out of hand when your life-pumped creatures get rolling.
I know it's janky, but some of my favorite things to do with exorbitant life gain is Phyrexian Processor and Hatred
With commander damage being a thing, Hatred is far from jank.
that had to be the first and only time i've ever seen anyone consider hatred to be jank! don't get me wrong though, i dont wanna come across as being a pain about it, but ive seen some pretty scary things done with hatred in my time.
Well, to be honest, the janky part was before I added Hatred. I was just going to leave it at phyrexian processor, which isn't the best card in the world.
Oloro is a good general because he is Esper and because you can activate Necropotence more. Outside of that specific case, lifegain is not nearly good enough. But hey man, live your life I guess! glhf
A great deck(that is Boros actually), is Brion stoutarm. You can play it as Giant tribal or Angel tribal and do pretty well by just attacking with said creatures and then flinging them at your opponents face.
Because Brion's ability says that HE does the damage to target opponent, you gain the life equal to its power.
Here's a good turn scenario, all your opponents are tapped out and can't cast any counterspells. You have Brion, Angelic Chorus, and Panharmonicon on the battlefield with Serra Avatar in your hand.
Let's say you have 40 life.
Serra hits the table, triggering angelic chorus and you gain 40 life. You're now at 80 life. Panharmonicon triggers off the angelic chorus and you gain another 40 life. You're now at 120 life. You fling Serra avatar at target opponent with Brion, and deal 120 damage at their face, Brion's lifelink triggers and you gain 120 life.
You are now at 240 life, and have every other player who's still in crapping themselves.
Heartless Hidetsugu
Now I know you're thinking that's a crazy idea but, if you can give him lifelink via equipment before using his tap ability, you're going to be rolling in lifepoints. It might not be the primary focus of such a deck, but it's fun to pull off and try to win with him.
Who would make some good generals?
What can I do with all that life?
What are some of your favorite/recommended lifegain cards?
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The most fun things to do with lifegain IMO involves Vizkopa Guildmage - who is actually pretty insane. You can activate her second ability multiple times.
False Cure + Beacon of Immortality is also a pretty good time.
I'm also a pretty big fan of Phyrexian Processor once you're at a healthy life total and you have something like True Conviction out.
UW Ephara Hatebears [Primer], GB Gitrog Lands, BRU Inalla Combo-Control, URG Maelstrom Wanderer Landfall
UW Ephara Hatebears [Primer], GB Gitrog Lands, BRU Inalla Combo-Control, URG Maelstrom Wanderer Landfall
Gerrard Capashen seems like a good option in mono white. With all the card draw in EDH you're getting at least ten life by the time your next turn comes around.
Vizkopa Guildmage/Exquisite Blood/Sanguine Bond is a thing.
Exsanguinate, Debt To The Deathless, and Gray Merchant of Asphodel are things.
Serra Ascendant and Divinity of Pride are always happy to join the party.
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
Most of the A+ cards I run in the deck have been mentioned already, though in a deck designed to drain the opponent as much as you gain life Roiling Horror and Blood Baron of Vizkopa are both all stars. Serra Avatar is, of course, amazing (this goes without saying, but I've gone and said it anyway) and Wall of Reverence can get out of hand when your life-pumped creatures get rolling.
Storm Herd is a fun finisher, and both Polluted Bonds and Wound Reflection do some dirty work. (Also worth noting if you pick Vish-Kal, Wound Reflection and Blood Tribute represent a two card kill, to say nothing of similar shenanigans with Tribute and the usual Sanguine Bond or Exquisite Blood.)
With commander damage being a thing, Hatred is far from jank.
that had to be the first and only time i've ever seen anyone consider hatred to be jank! don't get me wrong though, i dont wanna come across as being a pain about it, but ive seen some pretty scary things done with hatred in my time.
but in terms of generals, Atalya, Samite Master, Kiyomaro, First to Stand, Patron of the Kitsune, Rashida Scalebane, Selvala, Explorer Returned, Treva, the Renewer are kinda the ones i'd consider at least, since they contain white, and range from janky to quite alright. some, like selvala, are surprisingly good; rashida on the other hand, are more meta-dependant (though having seen how many dragons have popped up round here, seems like it'd be a good lifegain strategy either way).
green lifegain COULD be a thing, though it'd be tougher to do (without white) Bounteous Kirin
Legacy - Solidarity - mono U aggro - burn - Imperial Painter - Strawberry Shortcake - Bluuzards - bom
The big things I've found that haven't been mentioned are Celestial Convergence, and Venser's Journal.
I've thought about building a deck like this.
If I do it'll be junk colors, either Teneb, Karador, or Ghave. None of those generals do anything related to lifegain, but I do think those are the best colors to support the strategy. White and black are the obvious colors, but green is just such a great support color for ramping and creature tutors.
Green spells relevant to lifegain that come to mind are:
Spike Feeder + Archangel of Thune = infinite life
Lifegift
Ageless Entity
Sylvan Library
Kitchen Finks
Thragtusk
Loxodon Hierarch
Pelakka Wurm
Obstinate Baloth
Essence Warden
Grim Feast
Primal Command
Scavenging Ooze
Momentous Fall
Armadillo Cloak
Unflinching Courage
Behemoth Sledge
Dragonlord Dromoka
Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
Deathrite Shaman
Garruk, Apex Predator
Modern
RBig RedR
GMean GreenG
WWW AlliesW
BGScavengeBG
WUVenser SilenceWU
EDH
RWAurelia 1 vs 1RW
GWURoonGWU
GWSaffiGW
Oloro is a good general because he is Esper and because you can activate Necropotence more. Outside of that specific case, lifegain is not nearly good enough. But hey man, live your life I guess! glhf
cEDH: [G(U/R) Animar] - [(U/B)(G/W) Redless Wheels] - [(G/U)(W/B) Redless Pod] - [(B/G)W Ghave Metapod]
Lin Sivvi.
She tutors up protection and combo pieces. Gain a boat load of life while controlling the game.
that's absolutely brutal
right up there with Living Plane and deathbringer thoctar
makes me wana play jund enchant
never mind missread roots of life
Because Brion's ability says that HE does the damage to target opponent, you gain the life equal to its power.
Here's a good turn scenario, all your opponents are tapped out and can't cast any counterspells. You have Brion, Angelic Chorus, and Panharmonicon on the battlefield with Serra Avatar in your hand.
Let's say you have 40 life.
Serra hits the table, triggering angelic chorus and you gain 40 life. You're now at 80 life. Panharmonicon triggers off the angelic chorus and you gain another 40 life. You're now at 120 life. You fling Serra avatar at target opponent with Brion, and deal 120 damage at their face, Brion's lifelink triggers and you gain 120 life.
You are now at 240 life, and have every other player who's still in crapping themselves.
Now I know you're thinking that's a crazy idea but, if you can give him lifelink via equipment before using his tap ability, you're going to be rolling in lifepoints. It might not be the primary focus of such a deck, but it's fun to pull off and try to win with him.
Beating Face with Bane
Beatrice, the Golden Witch
Feel free to ask any questions as well.
I think he would be a good lifegain general.
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