Hi all! Found this forum recently and decided I ought to join proper. Apologies if this is the wrong place... I assume Legacy is right because pretty sure this deck has cards too old for Modern, although I'd love to get it into Modern.
Now, you've already read the title. I know, I know. Life Gain. Not very competitive. So this might almost be better suited for the Casual forum... but I'm convinced it can be at least somewhat viable! I've been playing around with the following...
So far it works fairly well. Once it gets going, it gets great momentum, but it can be slow to start. Earlier fliers in particular can be nasty. But it's got multiple win conditions:
-A big aggro smack. The Pridemates can get huge, as well as the Avatar of course. I added the Warhammer to give some trample so they don't just chump blocked.
-Chalice of Life (and Death) if I can't hit them for some reason.
-Lifegain itself with Test of Endurance or Felidar Soverign
A few questions off the top of my head...
Mother of Runes is great... but wasted here?
Should I have more removal (Swords, Path, etc)?
Should I bother with the Chalices?
Your deck most highly resembles a deck called Soul Sisters. You can google for something like "mtg legacy soul sisters" and get a good number of deck lists to check out. There should be a rather large primer in the modern section of these forums, and maybe here in legacy as well. Either way, you probably want to try and steer your list in that direction.
You can check out the soul sisters list I present in an old article of mine centered on white weenie decks. You can find a link to the article in my signature.
Good luck, this deck can be made good enough to at least take to a Legacy tournament and not embarrass yourself. It is not likely that you'll top 8 or win but that might be possible.
Now, you've already read the title. I know, I know. Life Gain. Not very competitive. So this might almost be better suited for the Casual forum... but I'm convinced it can be at least somewhat viable! I've been playing around with the following...
1 Ajani Goldmane
Creatures: 21
3 Soul's Attendant
3 Soul Warden
3 Mother of Runes
4 Ajani's Pridemate
2 Rhox Faithmender
2 Wall of Reverence
2 Felidar Sovereign
2 Serra Avatar
4 Survival Cache
2 Swords to Plowshares
Enchantments: 6
2 Test of Endurance
4 Oblivion Ring
Artifacts: 4
2 Chalice of Life
2 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
4 Kabira Crosscroads
17 Plains
So far it works fairly well. Once it gets going, it gets great momentum, but it can be slow to start. Earlier fliers in particular can be nasty. But it's got multiple win conditions:
-A big aggro smack. The Pridemates can get huge, as well as the Avatar of course. I added the Warhammer to give some trample so they don't just chump blocked.
-Chalice of Life (and Death) if I can't hit them for some reason.
-Lifegain itself with Test of Endurance or Felidar Soverign
A few questions off the top of my head...
Mother of Runes is great... but wasted here?
Should I have more removal (Swords, Path, etc)?
Should I bother with the Chalices?
Really.. any and all suggestions are welcome!
4 Mother of Runes
3 Soul Warden
3 Soul's Attendant
3 Martyr of Sands
4 Serra Ascendant
4 Ajani's Pridemate
4 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Jötun Grunt
3 Ranger of Eos
4 Swords to Plowshares
Equipments (3)
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Body and Mind
Lands
20 Plains
3 Oblivion Ring
3 Proclamation of Rebirth
2 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Jötun Grunt
2 Stony Silence
4 Silence
Jitte and Serra Ascendant (overpriced because Modern) are not budget friendly but maybe you can take some ideas from the deck :).
Legacy
GGElves!GG
BBNightmare EffectBB
WWSoul SistersWW
Rhox Faithmender, Wall of Reverence, Felidar Sovereign, and Serra Avatar are all kind of sub-par in legacy. You will really only see Serra Avatar in Life combo AKA Life.dec. Even then, she is rare.
You can check out the soul sisters list I present in an old article of mine centered on white weenie decks. You can find a link to the article in my signature.
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The deck can be very good against almost any Aggro or Control deck but it loses very had to combo. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Ethersworn Canonist, and Thorn of Amethyst can help to some degree. Other sideboard options that can help with poor match-ups include Leyline of Sanctity, Faerie Macabre and Ensnaring Bridge.
Good luck, this deck can be made good enough to at least take to a Legacy tournament and not embarrass yourself. It is not likely that you'll top 8 or win but that might be possible.
Standard: UWR
Modern: RDW, Twin
Legacy: I am 3 Candelabra of Tawnos from being able to build almost any tier 1 or 1.5 deck. Here are the ones I care about right now:
-Aggro: UWR/RUB/WUB/RUG/UR Delver; Affinity; Burn
-Control: Stoneblade; UWr Miracles; UB Tezzeret
-Combo: Hive Mind; Combo Elves; Omni Tell; T.E.S.
Vintage: Grixis Painter
EDH: Rith, the Awakener