This is a lifegain deck for multiplayer EDH. I don't want to be [competitive] or survive the assault of the whole table, but I want to have a possibility to win.
- Invincible hymn, Beacon of Immortality and Sorin Markov second ability are considered life gain / life loss.
- Feudkiller's Verdict, Batterskull and Promise of Power give few extra creatures for the deck.
- Has few combos (evident in the list) with hexmage+convergence, words of worship + well, sangromancer + Jar.
- Sorin Markov is essential so that I have a backup if someone Knowledge exploits my invincible hymn etc.
- Spirit loop, Soul link and Noble purpose stack with each other and with lifelink (and lifelink does not stack with another lifelink). However, the auras were removed from deck.
- Celestial Convergence does not "win" you the game until next upkeep after you use Vampire Hexmage to clear the counters.
- Catastrophe is at the moment in instead of Martial Coup so that I have some way to keep felidar sovereign or Test of endurance somewhat safe for a round or two by killing lands.
- Has few combos (evident in the list) with hexmage+convergence, words of worship + well, sangromancer + Jar (other cards except Convergence are good on their own as well).
- General is not a mandatory part of the deck. It just happens to be BW and has lifelink. The other BW options are just worse.
- Assumption: Vampire Hexmage can be used on Celestial Convergence at any time to win the game, not just during upkeep.
- Assumption: Spirit loop, Soul link and Noble purpose stack with each other and with lifelink (and lifelink does not stack with another lifelink)
1) Nice. I never thought of the Hexmage/Convergence combo and I may need to borrow that idea for my Vish Kal deck. I already run Sovereign/Test of Endurance as my alt. win-cons, but this could work too since you are likely going to have alot of life (Unless of course you draw in hate. Oddly enough in my playgroup, people often ignore life gained in small increments.)
3) False. The omen counter ability occurs before the check to see if there are any counters left for someone to win the game. Even if you remove all the counters with Hexmage at EoT, you need to wait until your upkeep for the ability to remove counters (if any) and then check to see if there are any counters left on the Enchantment.
4) True. Lifelink + Spirit Loop Effect can stack. Spirit Loop + Spirit Loop effects can also stack. Lifelink + Lifelink cannot stack. For instance, say you have Exalted Angel (for the sake of example) out and you have Vampiric Link and Spirit Loop on it. You will gain 3x the amount of life equal to the damage dealt because instances of "Whenever ~ deals damage you gain that much life" effects stack on itself and with lifelink. Having the same setup on a Baneslayer Angel will give you a 2x bonus of lifegain because multiple instances of Lifelink on the same source is redundant.
As for your deck: It's rather nice and I like how it sticks to the theme. A couple of nitpicks though:
1) Your deck really seems to follow the theme quite well, but I get the feeling you were trying a little too hard to follow the theme. You shipped out Storm Herd, which is infact very powerful in a Vish Kal deck, in place of spells that have a less impactful effect. Don't put cards that exclusively say "gain" and put cards that can synergize with other parts of the deck (Ex: Spiritualize). The above three cards mentioned for Vish Kal's beat-fest is a great place to start. Don't be afraid of life-loss effects if they can help you win.
2) Zuran Orb is cool and all but it's actually a sub-par card in this sort of setup. It can be a damage suppressant later on in the game but I don't see a use of it in any other stage of the game. Bring back Venser's Journal.
3) With a small amount of creatures, I honestly don't think its worth running the Auras (with the exception of Spirit Loop).
4) Necropotence is fine in this deck. Phyrexian Arena works, heck, Ambition's Cost can fit the slot.
5) 36 lands that make mana and 4 mana rocks. How has your mana consistency been?
6) Consuming Vapors is ok, but I don't like to rely on it that much.
That's about all I got. My deck runs Aggro/Combo style with a focus on lifegain. Vish Kal has so much potential to be a big threat as long as he has dudes to eat.
Hope this all helps. :] I thank you for choosing an awesome general like Vish Kal. Win them games for me!
I don't think this works this way. You can remove the counters whenever, but you still need to wait until your upkeep for the "I win" clause to trigger as a result of not being able to remove another counter.
Life gain certainly can be a viable strategy, but like all quantifiable things in Magic, it should be thought of as a resource - not an avenue to winning, itself.
Yes, I know you pack Felidar Sovereign, Test of Endurance, and Celestial Convergence... but each of those requires them to stick around until your next upkeep. In black and white, you really have no way to protect them from counterspells, destruction, theft, bounce, etc. Also, remember that simply gaining life will not protect you from taking 21 commander damage or ten poison counters (either of which can happen in one attack!).
If these are your main routes to victory you should consider Vedalken Orrery. That way you can tutor for a win con if it's out and then flash in your Sovereign/enchantment right before your upkeep (assuming people are tapped out and don't know what you're up to).
So, with that said, your current deck has too much life gain, and not enough ways to spend your life. Taking punches to the face from Kamahl, Fist of Krosa isn't the only way to spend life! Definitely put in Necropotence. Actually, any of the black spells that trade life for cards are worthwhile: Promise of Power, Moonlight Bargain, Ambition's Cost, Harrowing Journey... take your pick (though I listed them in my preferred order)! Also, Kuro, Pitlord is usually a good way to spend 30 or 40 life.
Cut some of your targeted removal, such as Consuming Vapors, Sever Soul, and Swallowing Plague. If you feel you must play Sever Soul, then substitute Weed Strangle for it. Clashing with possible life gain is much better than definite life gain but not hitting black creatures. A better option all together would be Tendrils of Corruption... after you add in Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. And once that's in, put in Cabal Coffers! Now you're ready to cast that Exsanguinate... Actually, if you add in those two lands, you might as well keep in Swallowing Plague.
Definitely cut Spirit Loop and Soul Link. You don't have enough creatures to run auras, and you have no way of protecting them, giving your opponents easy two-for-ones. Also, while Boon Reflection seems like a lot of life, it doesn't do anything on its own! I'd take something proactive, like Necromancer's Covenant, over it.
I'd find room for Transcendant Master. It can be risky to try and level him up, but indestructible is very good in a format of continual board wipes. And he's playable any time you draw him. You could cut Gerard Capashen.
Add in more BW good stuff - like Angel of Despair, Necrotic Sliver, Sheoldred, Whispering One, Debtors' Knell, Marytr's Bond, more board wipes (you list a few below the line - use whatever you've got around). Maybe more recursion, like Beacon of Unrest or Unburial Rites. My absolute favorite creature in black life gain decks is Minion of the Wastes. He pumps Vish Kal to crazy levels a la Wall of Blood, as the earlier poster mentioned, but also can attack on his own for a ton! If you're at 80-90 life, you can easily afford to pay 30 life and plop down a 30/30 trampler!
By all means play a life gain deck, but you don't need to over-commit to that theme!
I really like your deck!! But yeah Gurst has a point. BW goodstuff is quite strong in any deck with the right colours. Maybe consider some more recursion like revillark and karmic guide, and sun titan too!!
I truly thank thee for the insightful posts. I got more help in these few posts than I thought I would get overall :). Definitely appreciated.
Many excellent points. I knew I was going bit too much just for lifegain and it was one of the reasons I asked for help, to get some info what should I use it on and where I should cut unnecessary lifegain spells to put in something more worthwhile.
It will take a while to assess all the information and try to come up with a new list but here are some answers, sorry about the wall of text :).
Army of the damned seems a good idea with Vish Kal. And then Necromancer's Covenant might be good to include as well. I would love to use those just for the reason that I have never seen either played ever.
Boon Reflection is one of the biggest overall lifegainers in the deck, but it is true that it could be something that did something right away, not dependant on other cards.
Soul Link and Spirit loop are not there just for my creatures. They also work as a soft-removal for opponent creatures. However... I think something like Necrotic Sliver and Angel of Despair would be much more useful in the long run.
Not sure If I should remove the Noble purpose then as well. (EDIT: Spirit loop is only for your own creatures. Would need to be Spirit link to work on other creatures as well, gonna remove both auras).
I was already thinking about changing Sever Soul to Swords to Plowshares. That way I can hit anything with only 1 mana, and if I need instant extra life, I possibly have an option to use it on my own creature to put me over some life limit (like 40 or 50 for the win-enchantments).
About land... I usually use 38 (mana producing) lands with 3-5 mana rocks. I think this deck could use at least 38 as well as it has some pretty hefty mana costs.
I will probably include necropotence. The gains for it are most probably much more than the loss. Venser's Journal wouldn't hurt either if I include Necro.
The idea for Zuran orb was to get fast high enough to reach some win-con life level if needed... but it is true that if I use it and someone foils the plan somehow, I have pretty much lost then. Also, it is not a surprise either. Now that I think of it, even Renounce would be better for the surprise factor. But I will dump both from the deck.
To be honest, instead of Ambition's Cost, I would be better off using Syphon Mind. It costs the same and generally draws me as many cards. Sometimes 1 less, sometimes up to 5 more and hurts the others as well. Promise of Power and Moonlight bargain seem definitely good as well. I'm using Promise in another deck as well, and it is nice as works like feudkiller and Batterskull, bringing extra monster on the table. Moonlight bargain seems good as well, just not sure if it beats Skeletal Scrying. Scrying is instant like Bargain, X cards, costs only X life, but requires stuff in your graveyard. This deck doesn't use graveyard that much though, so might work. I think I should have at least 4-5 cards in graveyard when I cast scrying. Bargain is maybe more reliable though.
Btw, if you want another Ambition's Cost, Ancient craving is better spell than Harrowing journey, unless you think the 3 damage you can do in a pinch to someone is worth the 1 extra mana you need to pay for the Journey. I think the 1 mana is worse than the 3 targetted damage. I believe Ancient is not misdirectable either as it is "you", not "Target".
Of course, maybe I should include Myojin of Night's reach in this deck as well... just hoping I would survive without it as it is already in my two other black decks. Myojin is a good way to make pretty sure that nobody is messing with your win-con enchantments, for example :). Just requires a lot of mana.
Sheoldred, Martyrs bond and Debtors would be awesome. Just not sure where to cut that much.
Beacon of Unrest and Unburial Rites are nice as well. I would probably put Debtors before Unburial though. Beacon is very nice as it can get an artifact too and can use opponents graveyards.
Vish Kal is nice that it can sac the creature instantly. Thus, even if I would make a 30/30 Minion of the wastes or something like that, the life is not lost as long as I have Vish there gobbling the creature if someone tries to remove it.
Not sure if I want to go the Urborg/Cabal coffers/Tendrils route. I don't have that many swamps normally and getting Urborg would require using tutor for it. And then I would have only few cards that really give me some use out of having full line of swamps. And I don't want to add spells that require lots of swamps, as then I'm playing my Xiahou Control again :).
I cut Storm herd as it was very expensive to cast. Army of the damned has the same problem though. You are correct that Storm Herd should be pretty big boom if I ever get to cast it though. If I would put these two cards into the deck, I think I should keep Noble purpose in deck or even change it to True Conviction... or just dump both and the Storm Herd and go with the zombies and necromancer's covenant.
I'm thinking if I should change Coalition Relic to Basalt Monolith or Grim Monolith and try to fit in Rings of Brighthearth. That would give me possibility to do infinite mana, and it might be even possible to arrange with several tutors. Armies, Storm herds and Exanguinates would be much easier after that.
(Combos are not banned in our gaming group. In fact, most of us uses some sort of combos in their decks.)
About Board wipes. I now have 4 in my deck. Something like Oblivion Stone might be nice as well, but there is a limit how many wipes one can put to the deck. There are probably over 20 wipes in W+B, have to draw a line somewhere.
And to be honest.... I never thought about killing someone with Vish Kal. Thanks for helping me see the light there :). I had kinda forgotten general damage ><. I only thought that Vish might be useful removing some pesky creatures and getting some life for me when it attacks or blocks.
Although, as we have had games with up to 9 participants, our wincons usually try to handle as many players at the same time as possible. Just killing 1 with general doesn't usually do you much good in the long run... Thats why Exanguinate and the enchantment wincons are preferred.
Thanks once more for the comments. Gonna try to figure out how to fit things and what to dump. Might take a while as after two days, I'm away from computer for at least a week or possibly two. Also, I do not have this deck yet, trying to figure out what it should look like before I buy the cards for it.
1 Vish Kal, blood arbiter
Creatures (17)
1 Felidar Sovereign
1 Baneslayer Angel
1 Serra Ascendant
1 Divinity of Pride
1 Wurmcoil engine
1 Rune-tail, kitsune ascendant
1 Peacekeeper
1 Serra Avatar
1 Exalted Angel
1 Elesh norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Ashen Rider
1 Necrotic Sliver
1 Magus of the Moat
1 Vizkopa Guildmage
1 Archangel of Thune
1 Gisela, the broken blade
1 Bruna, the fading light
Spells (23)
1 Exsanguinate
1 Debt to the Deathless
1 Beacon of immortality
1 Invincible Hymn
1 Consuming Vapors
1 Tribute to Hunger
1 Chastise
1 Swords to plowshares
1 Spiritualize
1 Intervention pact
1 Vindicate
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Demonic tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Austere Command
1 All is dust
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Terminus
1 Promise of Power
1 Wretched Confluence
1 Storm Herd
1 Entreat the Angels
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 Test of endurance
1 Sanguine Bond (with Exquisite blood)
1 Exquisite Blood (with Sanguine bond)
1 Words of Worship (with well of lost dreams)
1 Divine Presence
1 Solitary Confinement
1 Necropotence
1 Dictate of Erebos
1 Moat
Artifacts (9)
1 Well of lost dreams (with Words of worship)
1 Tainted Sigil (with Sorin, Exsanguinate etc)
1 Batterskull
1 Forcefield
1 Sol ring
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Gilded lotus
1 Expedition Map
1 Aetherflux Reservoir
Planeswalkers (1)
1 Sorin Markov (with Tainted sigil)
Lands (37+3)
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Glacial Chasm
1 Maze of Ith
1 Miren, the moaning well
1 Strip mine
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Spawning pool
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Kor Haven
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Command Tower
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Fetid Heath
1 Marsh Flats
1 Godless Shrine
1 Scrubland
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Leechridden Swamp
1 Orzhova, the Church of Deals
8 Swamp
8 Plains
Nice extra cards:
1 Angel of Despair
1 Academy Rector
1 Wall of Reverence
1 Rhox Faithmender
1 Sangromancer (with Memory Jar)
1 Blazing Archon
1 Purity
1 Chancellor of the Dross
1 Gerrard Capashen
1 Minion of the Wastes
1 Vampire Hexmage (with Celestial Convergence)
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Windbrisk Raptor
1 Victory's Herald
1 Transcendent Master
Spells
1 Terashi's Grasp
1 Feudkiller's Verdict
1 Catastrophe
1 Death Grasp
1 Hallowed Burial
1 Army of the Damned
1 Beacon of Unrest
1 Swallowing Plague
1 Martial Coup
1 Akroma's Vengeance
1 Honor the fallen
1 Sever Soul
1 Exile
1 Solemn Offering
1 Kiss of the Amesha
1 Mass Calcify
1 Final Judgment
1 Syphon mind
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Idyllic tutor
1 Soul's Grace
1 Righteous Fury
1 Renounce
1 Sorin's Vengeance
1 Suffer the past
1 Heroes remembered
1 Reverse the sands
1 Drain Life
1 Serene Offering
1 Divine offering
1 Debtors' Knell
1 Noble Purpose
1 Cradle of Vitality
1 Necromancer's Covenant
1 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Celestial Convergence (with Vampire hexmage)
1 Boon reflection
1 Greed
1 Spirit loop
1 Soul link
1 True conviction
1 Land Tax
1 Spirit Link
1 Vampiric Link
1 Celestial Mantle
1 Subversion
1 Polluted Bonds
1 Bloodchiefs Ascension
1 Proper Burial
1 Vigil for the lost
Artifacts
1 Memory Jar (with Sangromancer)
1 Venser's Journal
1 Mind's Eye
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Zuran orb
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Ivory Tower
1 Sun Droplet
1 Oblivion stone
1 Eternity Vessel
1 Tower of Eons
1 Vesuva
1 Forbidding Watchtower
1 Tainted Field
1 Salt Flats
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Shizo, Death's storehouse
- Invincible hymn, Beacon of Immortality and Sorin Markov second ability are considered life gain / life loss.
- Feudkiller's Verdict, Batterskull and Promise of Power give few extra creatures for the deck.
- Has few combos (evident in the list) with hexmage+convergence, words of worship + well, sangromancer + Jar.
- Sorin Markov is essential so that I have a backup if someone Knowledge exploits my invincible hymn etc.
- Spirit loop, Soul link and Noble purpose stack with each other and with lifelink (and lifelink does not stack with another lifelink). However, the auras were removed from deck.
- Celestial Convergence does not "win" you the game until next upkeep after you use Vampire Hexmage to clear the counters.
- Catastrophe is at the moment in instead of Martial Coup so that I have some way to keep felidar sovereign or Test of endurance somewhat safe for a round or two by killing lands.
CHANGES:
-Celestial Convergence
-Vampire Hexmage
(Combo took two spots in the deck and didn't give any synergies outside the combo.)
-Honor the fallen
(I'm hoping Bojuka Bog is enough.)
-Sorin, lord of innistrad +Debtors' knell
-Swallowing Plague +Necrotic Sliver
(No life but more versatile.)
-Leyline of Sanctity +Martyr's Bond
22.4.2012
-Nercomancer's Covenant +Moat
-Army of the Damned +Storm Herd
(Concentrating on flying stuff and preventing other creatures from attacking.)
1.6.2012
-Gerrard Capashen +Griselbrand
-Death Grasp +Entreat the Angels
-Chancellor of the Dross +Exquisite blood
-Purity +Forcefield
11.6.2012
-Swamp +Ancient Tomb
-Plains +Phyrexian Tower
-Coalition Relic +Expedition Map
-Cradle of Vitality +Glacial Chasm
20.6.2012
-Griselbrand +Magus of the Moat
2.7.2012
-Phyrexian Tower +Isolated Chapel
26.7.2012
-Boseiju, Who Shelters All +Leechridden Swamp
-Flagstones of Trokair +Orzhova, the Church of Deals
13.11.2012
-Sangromancer+Peacekeeper
-Memory Jar+Skeletal Scrying
-Noble Purpose+Cabal Coffers
-Forbidding Watchtower+Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
-Wall of Reverence+Academy Rector (Testing)
16.2.2013
-Academy Rector+Vizkopa Guildmage
-Vesuva+Thespian's Stage
11.6.2013
-Terashi's Grasp+Debt to the Deathless
-Catastrophe+Merciless Eviction
-Feudkiller's Verdict+Obzedat, Ghost council
28.10.2013
-Angel of Despair+Ashen Rider
Couldn't find room for Rise of the Dark Realms. I still think Storm Herd is better for this deck.
4.3.2014
Nothing to report, Archangel of Thune could be good but I don't own one yet.
5.6.2014
-Debtors' Knell+Dictate of Erebos Debtor is slow, will try erebos to keep opponent minions better in check.
3.7.2014
-Obzedat, Ghost Council+Archangel of Thune
16.5.2015
No changes. Thought about Rally the ancestors and Arcane Lighthouse.
23.4.2016
-Moonlight Bargain+Wretched Confluence
19.7.2018
-Martyr's Bond+Aetherflux Reservoir
-Diabolic tutor+Gisela, the broken blade These cards are not the greatest choice, but I want to try them out just for the fun of it :).
-Increasing Ambition+Bruna, the fading light
1) Nice. I never thought of the Hexmage/Convergence combo and I may need to borrow that idea for my Vish Kal deck. I already run Sovereign/Test of Endurance as my alt. win-cons, but this could work too since you are likely going to have alot of life (Unless of course you draw in hate. Oddly enough in my playgroup, people often ignore life gained in small increments.)
2) Vish Kal is no sloche. You can one-shot with him by using Hatred, Army of the Damned, and Wall of Blood .
3) False. The omen counter ability occurs before the check to see if there are any counters left for someone to win the game. Even if you remove all the counters with Hexmage at EoT, you need to wait until your upkeep for the ability to remove counters (if any) and then check to see if there are any counters left on the Enchantment.
4) True. Lifelink + Spirit Loop Effect can stack. Spirit Loop + Spirit Loop effects can also stack. Lifelink + Lifelink cannot stack. For instance, say you have Exalted Angel (for the sake of example) out and you have Vampiric Link and Spirit Loop on it. You will gain 3x the amount of life equal to the damage dealt because instances of "Whenever ~ deals damage you gain that much life" effects stack on itself and with lifelink. Having the same setup on a Baneslayer Angel will give you a 2x bonus of lifegain because multiple instances of Lifelink on the same source is redundant.
As for your deck: It's rather nice and I like how it sticks to the theme. A couple of nitpicks though:
1) Your deck really seems to follow the theme quite well, but I get the feeling you were trying a little too hard to follow the theme. You shipped out Storm Herd, which is infact very powerful in a Vish Kal deck, in place of spells that have a less impactful effect. Don't put cards that exclusively say "gain" and put cards that can synergize with other parts of the deck (Ex: Spiritualize). The above three cards mentioned for Vish Kal's beat-fest is a great place to start. Don't be afraid of life-loss effects if they can help you win.
2) Zuran Orb is cool and all but it's actually a sub-par card in this sort of setup. It can be a damage suppressant later on in the game but I don't see a use of it in any other stage of the game. Bring back Venser's Journal.
3) With a small amount of creatures, I honestly don't think its worth running the Auras (with the exception of Spirit Loop).
4) Necropotence is fine in this deck. Phyrexian Arena works, heck, Ambition's Cost can fit the slot.
5) 36 lands that make mana and 4 mana rocks. How has your mana consistency been?
6) Consuming Vapors is ok, but I don't like to rely on it that much.
That's about all I got. My deck runs Aggro/Combo style with a focus on lifegain. Vish Kal has so much potential to be a big threat as long as he has dudes to eat.
Hope this all helps. :] I thank you for choosing an awesome general like Vish Kal. Win them games for me!
I don't think this works this way. You can remove the counters whenever, but you still need to wait until your upkeep for the "I win" clause to trigger as a result of not being able to remove another counter.
stuff
Yes, I know you pack Felidar Sovereign, Test of Endurance, and Celestial Convergence... but each of those requires them to stick around until your next upkeep. In black and white, you really have no way to protect them from counterspells, destruction, theft, bounce, etc. Also, remember that simply gaining life will not protect you from taking 21 commander damage or ten poison counters (either of which can happen in one attack!).
If these are your main routes to victory you should consider Vedalken Orrery. That way you can tutor for a win con if it's out and then flash in your Sovereign/enchantment right before your upkeep (assuming people are tapped out and don't know what you're up to).
So, with that said, your current deck has too much life gain, and not enough ways to spend your life. Taking punches to the face from Kamahl, Fist of Krosa isn't the only way to spend life! Definitely put in Necropotence. Actually, any of the black spells that trade life for cards are worthwhile: Promise of Power, Moonlight Bargain, Ambition's Cost, Harrowing Journey... take your pick (though I listed them in my preferred order)! Also, Kuro, Pitlord is usually a good way to spend 30 or 40 life.
Cut some of your targeted removal, such as Consuming Vapors, Sever Soul, and Swallowing Plague. If you feel you must play Sever Soul, then substitute Weed Strangle for it. Clashing with possible life gain is much better than definite life gain but not hitting black creatures. A better option all together would be Tendrils of Corruption... after you add in Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. And once that's in, put in Cabal Coffers! Now you're ready to cast that Exsanguinate... Actually, if you add in those two lands, you might as well keep in Swallowing Plague.
Definitely cut Spirit Loop and Soul Link. You don't have enough creatures to run auras, and you have no way of protecting them, giving your opponents easy two-for-ones. Also, while Boon Reflection seems like a lot of life, it doesn't do anything on its own! I'd take something proactive, like Necromancer's Covenant, over it.
I'd find room for Transcendant Master. It can be risky to try and level him up, but indestructible is very good in a format of continual board wipes. And he's playable any time you draw him. You could cut Gerard Capashen.
Add in more BW good stuff - like Angel of Despair, Necrotic Sliver, Sheoldred, Whispering One, Debtors' Knell, Marytr's Bond, more board wipes (you list a few below the line - use whatever you've got around). Maybe more recursion, like Beacon of Unrest or Unburial Rites. My absolute favorite creature in black life gain decks is Minion of the Wastes. He pumps Vish Kal to crazy levels a la Wall of Blood, as the earlier poster mentioned, but also can attack on his own for a ton! If you're at 80-90 life, you can easily afford to pay 30 life and plop down a 30/30 trampler!
By all means play a life gain deck, but you don't need to over-commit to that theme!
Kuro, Pitlord - Life Gain/Drain MBC
Malfegor - Discard and Punishment
Ghave, Guru of Spores - Fungus Tribal
building Dralnu, Lichlord - Arcane Draw-Go
Many excellent points. I knew I was going bit too much just for lifegain and it was one of the reasons I asked for help, to get some info what should I use it on and where I should cut unnecessary lifegain spells to put in something more worthwhile.
It will take a while to assess all the information and try to come up with a new list but here are some answers, sorry about the wall of text :).
Army of the damned seems a good idea with Vish Kal. And then Necromancer's Covenant might be good to include as well. I would love to use those just for the reason that I have never seen either played ever.
Boon Reflection is one of the biggest overall lifegainers in the deck, but it is true that it could be something that did something right away, not dependant on other cards.
Soul Link and Spirit loop are not there just for my creatures. They also work as a soft-removal for opponent creatures. However... I think something like Necrotic Sliver and Angel of Despair would be much more useful in the long run.
Not sure If I should remove the Noble purpose then as well. (EDIT: Spirit loop is only for your own creatures. Would need to be Spirit link to work on other creatures as well, gonna remove both auras).
I was already thinking about changing Sever Soul to Swords to Plowshares. That way I can hit anything with only 1 mana, and if I need instant extra life, I possibly have an option to use it on my own creature to put me over some life limit (like 40 or 50 for the win-enchantments).
About land... I usually use 38 (mana producing) lands with 3-5 mana rocks. I think this deck could use at least 38 as well as it has some pretty hefty mana costs.
I will probably include necropotence. The gains for it are most probably much more than the loss. Venser's Journal wouldn't hurt either if I include Necro.
The idea for Zuran orb was to get fast high enough to reach some win-con life level if needed... but it is true that if I use it and someone foils the plan somehow, I have pretty much lost then. Also, it is not a surprise either. Now that I think of it, even Renounce would be better for the surprise factor. But I will dump both from the deck.
To be honest, instead of Ambition's Cost, I would be better off using Syphon Mind. It costs the same and generally draws me as many cards. Sometimes 1 less, sometimes up to 5 more and hurts the others as well. Promise of Power and Moonlight bargain seem definitely good as well. I'm using Promise in another deck as well, and it is nice as works like feudkiller and Batterskull, bringing extra monster on the table. Moonlight bargain seems good as well, just not sure if it beats Skeletal Scrying. Scrying is instant like Bargain, X cards, costs only X life, but requires stuff in your graveyard. This deck doesn't use graveyard that much though, so might work. I think I should have at least 4-5 cards in graveyard when I cast scrying. Bargain is maybe more reliable though.
Btw, if you want another Ambition's Cost, Ancient craving is better spell than Harrowing journey, unless you think the 3 damage you can do in a pinch to someone is worth the 1 extra mana you need to pay for the Journey. I think the 1 mana is worse than the 3 targetted damage. I believe Ancient is not misdirectable either as it is "you", not "Target".
Of course, maybe I should include Myojin of Night's reach in this deck as well... just hoping I would survive without it as it is already in my two other black decks. Myojin is a good way to make pretty sure that nobody is messing with your win-con enchantments, for example :). Just requires a lot of mana.
Sheoldred, Martyrs bond and Debtors would be awesome. Just not sure where to cut that much.
Beacon of Unrest and Unburial Rites are nice as well. I would probably put Debtors before Unburial though. Beacon is very nice as it can get an artifact too and can use opponents graveyards.
Vish Kal is nice that it can sac the creature instantly. Thus, even if I would make a 30/30 Minion of the wastes or something like that, the life is not lost as long as I have Vish there gobbling the creature if someone tries to remove it.
Not sure if I want to go the Urborg/Cabal coffers/Tendrils route. I don't have that many swamps normally and getting Urborg would require using tutor for it. And then I would have only few cards that really give me some use out of having full line of swamps. And I don't want to add spells that require lots of swamps, as then I'm playing my Xiahou Control again :).
I cut Storm herd as it was very expensive to cast. Army of the damned has the same problem though. You are correct that Storm Herd should be pretty big boom if I ever get to cast it though. If I would put these two cards into the deck, I think I should keep Noble purpose in deck or even change it to True Conviction... or just dump both and the Storm Herd and go with the zombies and necromancer's covenant.
I'm thinking if I should change Coalition Relic to Basalt Monolith or Grim Monolith and try to fit in Rings of Brighthearth. That would give me possibility to do infinite mana, and it might be even possible to arrange with several tutors. Armies, Storm herds and Exanguinates would be much easier after that.
(Combos are not banned in our gaming group. In fact, most of us uses some sort of combos in their decks.)
About Board wipes. I now have 4 in my deck. Something like Oblivion Stone might be nice as well, but there is a limit how many wipes one can put to the deck. There are probably over 20 wipes in W+B, have to draw a line somewhere.
And to be honest.... I never thought about killing someone with Vish Kal. Thanks for helping me see the light there :). I had kinda forgotten general damage ><. I only thought that Vish might be useful removing some pesky creatures and getting some life for me when it attacks or blocks.
Although, as we have had games with up to 9 participants, our wincons usually try to handle as many players at the same time as possible. Just killing 1 with general doesn't usually do you much good in the long run... Thats why Exanguinate and the enchantment wincons are preferred.
Thanks once more for the comments. Gonna try to figure out how to fit things and what to dump. Might take a while as after two days, I'm away from computer for at least a week or possibly two. Also, I do not have this deck yet, trying to figure out what it should look like before I buy the cards for it.