Don't mourn for me. This is my destiny.
- Gerrard Capashen
My favourite colour is white (ok, technically it isn't really a colour, but whatever), and one of the things white does best is lifegain. Unfortunately, lifegain isn't a strategy seen frequently in EDH - there's the 21 general damage, now there's infect and you actually have to find some way to win, even with infinite life. Then again, someone has to make it work, and why not Gerrard? I mean, he sort of kamikaze-d Old Phyrexia into oblivion, so he must be some sort of a badass, right?
How to play:
1. Get some small but not too flashy lifegainers (Soul Warden, Sun Droplet etc) out
2. Scale into bigger lifegainers (Gerrard Capashen himself, Patron of the Kitsune) as the game progresses
3. Eventually, after your opponents are exhausted, drop a wincon
???
4. Profit!
Of course, it's never so simple. Simply placing Gerrard in the command zone means your opponents, if they are smart, will be anticipating Test of Endurance or something similar. Also, don't gain too much life too fast - if you are at 50 life while everyone else is at 35, people will start swinging for you, even though 15 extra life hardly does anything to win you the game. Which is why I run multiple wincons - I've seen builds which rely on getting out a Test of Endurance and hoping it sticks, but with the amount of exile-removal running around, I feel white's recursion can only get you so far. (Although Pull from Eternity does exist.) Cards to protect my wincons are also very important:
Why don't I run:
- Oloro, Ageless Ascetic: yes, he's probably a better lifegain commander than Gerrard, and blue gives protection and black gives tutoring for wincons. But Oloro (or most Esper generals) is a very big target in multiplayer - and 2 life isn't going to get you far when everyone is (or should be) gunning for you. Besides, Gerrard nuked Phyrexia. Oloro didn't.
- Atalya, Samite Master/Patron of the Kitsune/Treva, the Renewer are all other decent lifegain generals, if you're interested in the theme but Gerrard is too manly and badass for you.
- Phyrexian Processor: I used to run this, but after it got destroyed I would feel very sad since after paying half my life it's very hard to activate the other wincons. Whereas, if say Storm Herd eats a Wrath you can always try again with Test of Endurance. No biggie.
- Enlightened Tutor, Idyllic Tutor, Academy Rector: I could say it's because I'm principled and don't like to run tutors, but the truth is that I'm stingy and can't justify spending so much on pixels (I play on MTGO). Otherwise, if you have then, use then. If you do, you might want to go down the Test-focused route though.
- Boon Reflection: sounds good, but underwhelming for 6 mana.
- Purity: it's a good card, but I couldn't find anything to cut. It might find it's way in, probably in place of Dawn Elemental which I will admit I keep mainly because I love the card.
- Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker and other more punishment-oriented cards: nice, but within 100 cards I need to gain life and protect my wincons, and usually these were the first to be cut.
More wincons (I think I got all of them though, the only one that I didn't add is Phyrexian Processor).
More protection, particularly conditional counterspells (Lapse of Certainty is nice - maybe something cheaper, or that counters spells targeting your permanents?)
Recursion that isn't limited to card types (i.e. return a card or at least a permanent from your graveyard to your hand)
I'm rooting for Sunbond to finally see some play so I hope it finds a place into your deck. I'm working on a pretty terrible daxos of meletis deck and contemplating trying it out though you're deck seems like it would make better use of it.
You could also try replacing journeyer's kite with druidic satchel. You definitely benefit from all it's triggers, and it helps mono whits struggle to ramp by putting the land directly into play.
Cleansing is interesting, but I doubt it's on MTGO yet. Pretty good against all that green ramp (:
Crackdown is a nice find, but I think it goes more in a more pillowfort-ish deck. White has a ton of nice pillowfort effects, but I find I actually need to gain some life (:
I did try out True Conviction, but I don't think I have the creature density to make use of it properly. In place, I have Celestial Mantle which usually can cause a larger "surprise!" life swing with a higher starting life total.
I'm rooting for Sunbond to finally see some play so I hope it finds a place into your deck. I'm working on a pretty terrible daxos of meletis deck and contemplating trying it out though you're deck seems like it would make better use of it.
You could also try replacing journeyer's kite with druidic satchel. You definitely benefit from all it's triggers, and it helps mono whits struggle to ramp by putting the land directly into play.
Sunbond...hmmm. A cheaper Cradle of Vitality but which gets 2-for-1ed by removal? It could fit, but I think it's rather risky.
Druidic Satchel is nice, I'll swap the kite out. Thanks!
Archangel of Thune is one of the best cards to take advantage of lifegain, even with just it or it and a friend on the board. She makes a very quick clock, particularly with the number of small triggers you have here. She also still swings over Moat/Magus of. Auriok Champion is normally better than Warden/Attendant. The extra mana isn't significant, but having two protections is frequently relevant.
Second Sword of War and Peace. Card advantage is a defining characteristic of this format, and people frequently have large hands. It can turn your little guys into quick clocks. One of my favorite equips, despite it's less than stellar reputation in EDH.
Not lifegain, but all of my mono-W lists and most of my multicolored white lists start off with Knight of the White Orchid, Tithe, and Gift of Estates. Ramp and hitting your land drops is very helpful, and seeing either of the latter two makes finding enough plains for Emeria a breeze.
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Archangel of Thune is one of the best cards to take advantage of lifegain, even with just it or it and a friend on the board. She makes a very quick clock, particularly with the number of small triggers you have here. She also still swings over Moat/Magus of. Auriok Champion is normally better than Warden/Attendant. The extra mana isn't significant, but having two protections is frequently relevant.
Second Sword of War and Peace. Card advantage is a defining characteristic of this format, and people frequently have large hands. It can turn your little guys into quick clocks. One of my favorite equips, despite it's less than stellar reputation in EDH.
Those aren't in due mainly to price. Also, why is Auriok Champin so expensive?!
To continue Weebo's comments on ramping, also consider Oath of Lieges, as well as a Scroll Rack to run alongside that Land Tax.
Angelic Chorus? While you haven't many creatures, this loves Serra Avatar and Storm Herd.
Cheers!
Scroll Rack...maybe if I liked monowhite in EDH enough then I could justify splashing on it, yup :s
I feel Angelic Chorus is somewhat "win-more", once I get either Storm Herd or Serra Avatar out I need to protect them and win. Unfortunately, infinite lifegain still doesn't win you the match :s
I should have a section for "cards I would add if money was no object", haha.
Changes:
-1 Luminarch Ascension +1 Rebuff the Wicked
Most of the time I'm not preventing damage so much as gaining enough life to make up for it... The Ascension is awesome in a pillowfort style of deck, but I'm trying to move away from "pillowfort-y" and towards "lifegain-y", if that makes sense.
Those aren't in due mainly to price. Also, why is Auriok Champin so expensive?!
I was guessing that might be it, but it's hard to say based on some of the other stuff in the deck. I think Champion is mostly pricey because of modern - it's a good sideboard (and sometimes mainboard) card that was a rare a decade ago. Small supply, reasonable demand. I'd still keep your eye out for an Archangel, because it's an incredible threat.
If you consistently get 4 life in a turn, Angelic Accord is a pretty steady supply of threats.
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I play on MTGO (mainly due to price and having a limited card pool where I live), so things like Moat and Mana Crypt are actually pretty affordable at below 5 tix apiece. Archangel is still pricey though. I think the only thing I ever bought which was >10 tix was Avacyn, because angel. Hopefully with the Birthing Pod ban, maybe I can finally get a Linvala and an Archangel of Thune if prices drop enough (:
Angelic Accord is nice, and usually if things are going well I can make the 4 life. But if they're not - it doesn't really help me.
Re the testing - I haven't seen Rebuff the Wicked yet, but I keep wishing I had it. Anything similar? I had high hopes for Druidic Satchel but I don't like the randomness and opponents seeing my next draw - I prefer reliable mana ramp. Probably Journeyer's Kite will come back in.
EDH Lifegain
My favourite colour is white (ok, technically it isn't really a colour, but whatever), and one of the things white does best is lifegain. Unfortunately, lifegain isn't a strategy seen frequently in EDH - there's the 21 general damage, now there's infect and you actually have to find some way to win, even with infinite life. Then again, someone has to make it work, and why not Gerrard? I mean, he sort of kamikaze-d Old Phyrexia into oblivion, so he must be some sort of a badass, right?
Here's my list:
1 Gerrard Capashen
Creatures:
1 Ajani's Pridemate
1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1 Battlegrace Angel
1 Commander Eesha
1 Dawn Elemental
1 Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
1 Eternal Dragon
1 Felidar Sovereign
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Magus of the Moat
1 Patron of the Kitsune
1 Rhox Faithmender
1 Serra Avatar
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Soul Warden
1 Soul's Attendant
1 Sun Titan
1 Wall of Reverence
Artifacts:
1 Caged Sun
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Expedition Map
1 Forcefield
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Journeyer's Kite
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mind's Eye
1 Mimic Vat
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Ring of Three Wishes
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Sun Droplet
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Well of Lost Dreams
1 Vedalken Orrery
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Ajani Goldmane
Instants/Sorceries:
1 Akroma's Vengeance
1 Austere Command
1 Beacon of Immortality
1 Lapse of Certainty
1 Oblation
1 Planar Cleansing
1 Return to Dust
1 Storm Herd
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Wrath of God
Enchantments:
1 Aura of Silence
1 Celestial Mantle
1 Cradle of Vitality
1 Endless Horizons
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Indestructibility
1 Land Tax
1 Luminarch Ascension
1 Moat
1 Test of Endurance
1 Spirit Loop
Lands:
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Drifting Meadow
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Forbidding Watchtower
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Homeward Path
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 Mystifying Maze
1 New Benalia
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Secluded Steppe
1 Strip Mine
1 Temple of the False God
1 Terrain Generator
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Thespian's Stage
17 Plains
Wincons:
- Storm Herd
- Test of Endurance
- Felidar Sovereign
Less likely wincons, maybe if you're lucky?
- Serra Avatar/Ajani Goldmane avatar and smash face
- Cradle of Vitality and Gerrard Capashen
How to play:
1. Get some small but not too flashy lifegainers (Soul Warden, Sun Droplet etc) out
2. Scale into bigger lifegainers (Gerrard Capashen himself, Patron of the Kitsune) as the game progresses
3. Eventually, after your opponents are exhausted, drop a wincon
???
4. Profit!
Of course, it's never so simple. Simply placing Gerrard in the command zone means your opponents, if they are smart, will be anticipating Test of Endurance or something similar. Also, don't gain too much life too fast - if you are at 50 life while everyone else is at 35, people will start swinging for you, even though 15 extra life hardly does anything to win you the game. Which is why I run multiple wincons - I've seen builds which rely on getting out a Test of Endurance and hoping it sticks, but with the amount of exile-removal running around, I feel white's recursion can only get you so far. (Although Pull from Eternity does exist.) Cards to protect my wincons are also very important:
Storm Herd: Boseiju, Who Shelters All gives uncounterability, Vedalken Orrery gives flash to dodge wraths, Avacyn, Angel of Hope makes everything indestructible.
Test of Endurance: Orrery gives flash, Indestructibility and Avacyn give indestructible, Eight-and-a-Half-Tails and Lapse of Certainty dodge spot removal
Felidar Sovereign: Again, Orrery and indestructible help. Cavern of Souls gives uncounterable, and Lightning Greaves/Swiftfoot Boots are additional ways to dodge spot removal.
Why don't I run:
- Oloro, Ageless Ascetic: yes, he's probably a better lifegain commander than Gerrard, and blue gives protection and black gives tutoring for wincons. But Oloro (or most Esper generals) is a very big target in multiplayer - and 2 life isn't going to get you far when everyone is (or should be) gunning for you. Besides, Gerrard nuked Phyrexia. Oloro didn't.
- Atalya, Samite Master/Patron of the Kitsune/Treva, the Renewer are all other decent lifegain generals, if you're interested in the theme but Gerrard is too manly and badass for you.
- Phyrexian Processor: I used to run this, but after it got destroyed I would feel very sad since after paying half my life it's very hard to activate the other wincons. Whereas, if say Storm Herd eats a Wrath you can always try again with Test of Endurance. No biggie.
- Enlightened Tutor, Idyllic Tutor, Academy Rector: I could say it's because I'm principled and don't like to run tutors, but the truth is that I'm stingy and can't justify spending so much on pixels (I play on MTGO). Otherwise, if you have then, use then. If you do, you might want to go down the Test-focused route though.
- Boon Reflection: sounds good, but underwhelming for 6 mana.
- Purity: it's a good card, but I couldn't find anything to cut. It might find it's way in, probably in place of Dawn Elemental which I will admit I keep mainly because I love the card.
- Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker and other more punishment-oriented cards: nice, but within 100 cards I need to gain life and protect my wincons, and usually these were the first to be cut.
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
More wincons (I think I got all of them though, the only one that I didn't add is Phyrexian Processor).
More protection, particularly conditional counterspells (Lapse of Certainty is nice - maybe something cheaper, or that counters spells targeting your permanents?)
Recursion that isn't limited to card types (i.e. return a card or at least a permanent from your graveyard to your hand)
Comments welcome (:
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
Righteous Fury after a timely Blinding Light or Ivory Giant. Crackdown makes for an interesting lockdown in some metas.
Cheers!
Krichaiushii on PucaTrade.
BGGRock
Modern
BRGJund
BBGRock
You could also try replacing journeyer's kite with druidic satchel. You definitely benefit from all it's triggers, and it helps mono whits struggle to ramp by putting the land directly into play.
Cleansing is interesting, but I doubt it's on MTGO yet. Pretty good against all that green ramp (:
Crackdown is a nice find, but I think it goes more in a more pillowfort-ish deck. White has a ton of nice pillowfort effects, but I find I actually need to gain some life (:
I did try out True Conviction, but I don't think I have the creature density to make use of it properly. In place, I have Celestial Mantle which usually can cause a larger "surprise!" life swing with a higher starting life total.
Sunbond...hmmm. A cheaper Cradle of Vitality but which gets 2-for-1ed by removal? It could fit, but I think it's rather risky.
Druidic Satchel is nice, I'll swap the kite out. Thanks!
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
Celestial Mantle is fun, especially on Commander Eesha or shadow creatures.
Bummer about some cards not being on MTGO.
Cheers!
Krichaiushii on PucaTrade.
Oh, Rebuff the Wicked could actually be quite nice. Anything similar that helps protect my wincons?
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
Auriok Champion is normally better than Warden/Attendant. The extra mana isn't significant, but having two protections is frequently relevant.
Second Sword of War and Peace. Card advantage is a defining characteristic of this format, and people frequently have large hands. It can turn your little guys into quick clocks. One of my favorite equips, despite it's less than stellar reputation in EDH.
Not lifegain, but all of my mono-W lists and most of my multicolored white lists start off with Knight of the White Orchid, Tithe, and Gift of Estates. Ramp and hitting your land drops is very helpful, and seeing either of the latter two makes finding enough plains for Emeria a breeze.
Angelic Chorus? While you haven't many creatures, this loves Serra Avatar and Storm Herd.
Cheers!
Krichaiushii on PucaTrade.
Those aren't in due mainly to price. Also, why is Auriok Champin so expensive?!
Scroll Rack...maybe if I liked monowhite in EDH enough then I could justify splashing on it, yup :s
I feel Angelic Chorus is somewhat "win-more", once I get either Storm Herd or Serra Avatar out I need to protect them and win. Unfortunately, infinite lifegain still doesn't win you the match :s
I should have a section for "cards I would add if money was no object", haha.
Changes:
-1 Luminarch Ascension +1 Rebuff the Wicked
Most of the time I'm not preventing damage so much as gaining enough life to make up for it... The Ascension is awesome in a pillowfort style of deck, but I'm trying to move away from "pillowfort-y" and towards "lifegain-y", if that makes sense.
-1 Journeyer's Kite +1 Druidic Satchel - as above.
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU
If you consistently get 4 life in a turn, Angelic Accord is a pretty steady supply of threats.
Angelic Accord is nice, and usually if things are going well I can make the 4 life. But if they're not - it doesn't really help me.
I also want to find space for Council's Judgment, planeswalkers OP.
Re the testing - I haven't seen Rebuff the Wicked yet, but I keep wishing I had it. Anything similar? I had high hopes for Druidic Satchel but I don't like the randomness and opponents seeing my next draw - I prefer reliable mana ramp. Probably Journeyer's Kite will come back in.
Retired: WUEphara, God of the PolisWU blink | WGerrard CapashenW lifegain | WUB Ertai, the CorruptedWUB combo | WAvacyn, Angel of HopeW
mono-white controlangel tribalPauper: UBDimirKittyUB | RBG Deathcycle RBG
Modern: GWUEnchantressGWU | GWUTurbofogGWU