Felidar Sovereign is an interesting case because it is a 1 card win condition that you can technically stop in advance by punching the person who has it in the deck preemptively to reduce that player's life total below 40.
Of course, if they are focused on life gain, that task becomes harder, but the tradeoff for them is that lifegain is not a particularly strong engine to work with. The power level of the indivdual cards is rather low (with some exceptions, but those that pay life often are simply just strong overall) and even when combined they don't stand out too much from more powerful attrition engines and strategies.
I will end by stating that a high life total is probably the worst safety buffer that attempts to act like one in EDH. It can work if everyone is simply whittling each other down and lacks very high burst damage, but decks that combo, have high burst damage, or can supremely surpass your late game care less about your life total being at 70.
Of course, if they are focused on life gain, that task becomes harder, but the tradeoff for them is that lifegain is not a particularly strong engine to work with. The power level of the indivdual cards is rather low (with some exceptions, but those that pay life often are simply just strong overall) and even when combined they don't stand out too much from more powerful attrition engines and strategies.
I will end by stating that a high life total is probably the worst safety buffer that attempts to act like one in EDH. It can work if everyone is simply whittling each other down and lacks very high burst damage, but decks that combo, have high burst damage, or can supremely surpass your late game care less about your life total being at 70.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.