I've noticed that some users here are interested in this archetype, but are also unsure, if they want to add it to there cube. So I thought I could share my experiences a little bit and list the upsides and downsides of this archetype, and how it can be realized successfully.
Basically, the archetype wants two things from your cube. First, cards that gain you life, and second, cards that reward you for many life gain effects. Here I'll give you a few examples for both of different power levels:
Enablers
Lifegain is everywhere and finding cards that do it and fit into your environment is easy. You have it as EtB effects on creatures:
You have it on attacking creatures:
You have it on removal spells:
You have it triggering from all kinds of things you might do anyway:
Harder than finding lifegain effects, it is to find the perfect amount to support the archetype without having it be in every deck and weakening aggro heavily, but more to that later. Let's first focus on the other half, that makes an archetype out of this:
The payoffs.
The best payoffs, like always, are the ones, that can enable themselves. But there are only a few cards, that fit that criteria:
I personally run the latter two, since Archangel and Ajani are above my power level and I don't run PWs. I can recommend Path and have yet to find out if Dawn is good. But I run more payoffs. Here are a few more narrower ones, that I can still recommend in that they at least do their job very well:
I am also pretty sure, that the new Bloodthirsty Aerialist will be a homerun. But if you tell me no, that you don't like these payoffs, since they don't do enough without any life gain effects (except maybe the Familiar), then you are right. At this point, we don't have enough cards to go completely without narrow payoffs. But there are cards like this:
The (mostly black) lifepay card are a great way to get more flexible payoffs in your cube and also shape the lifegain deck to be more proactive. While all of them being flexible in nature, the more controllable and expensive ones are better as life gain payoffs. A regular deck might cast Slaughter twice. The Lifegain deck can do it many times more.
Upsides of the archetype:
- Good and fun theme for
(If you're not into tribal, it can be hard to find an orzhov theme)
- Enablers are super flexible (They are natural fits for dozens of other archetypes)
- Clear identity (Easy to grasp for your players, even newbies, makes attractive)
Downsides of the archetype:
- Might become to slow (Solution: Make the deck proactive and more aggressive, add lifepay effects)
- Payoffs are sometimes narrow (Solution: Tell wizards to print more flexible ones)
- Can damage aggro (Solution: reduce the numbers of cards that gain you life and the amount of life they give you - Syndic of Tithes instead of Lone Missionary. Also, again, add more lifepay effects.)
Cross pollination:
- Blink (A lot of EtB life gainers like Lone Missionary, Kitchen Finks, Soul Warden ...)
- Tokens (Lifegain for tokens like Soul Warden/Blood Artist and lifelink tokens like from e.g. Martyr of Dusk)
- Landfall (A bunch of card gain life for lands like Retreat to Kazandu, Jaddi Offshoot, Grazing Gladehart)
- Sacrifice (A lot of cards give life for sacrificing like Falkenrath Noble or synergize with it like Oathsworn Vampire)
- Artifacts (Also many colorless cards have life gain, eg. Vault Skirge or Sylvok Lifestaff, also payoffs exist in Well of Lost Dreams)
- Control (Mostly because control likes life gain to stabilize. There is also a sweet finisher in Drogskol Reaver)
- Aggro (There is a serious amount of aggressive creature with incidental life gain. Also, Path of Bravery!)
- Vampires (There are many Vampires in those colors that gain you life and also some payoffs are vampires. Easy to create a tribal sub theme here.)
- I bet there are more!
All in all, I can recommend trying the archetype out. Me and my group, we had a lot of fun with it!
Basically, the archetype wants two things from your cube. First, cards that gain you life, and second, cards that reward you for many life gain effects. Here I'll give you a few examples for both of different power levels:
Enablers
Lifegain is everywhere and finding cards that do it and fit into your environment is easy. You have it as EtB effects on creatures:
You have it on attacking creatures:
You have it on removal spells:
You have it triggering from all kinds of things you might do anyway:
Harder than finding lifegain effects, it is to find the perfect amount to support the archetype without having it be in every deck and weakening aggro heavily, but more to that later. Let's first focus on the other half, that makes an archetype out of this:
The payoffs.
The best payoffs, like always, are the ones, that can enable themselves. But there are only a few cards, that fit that criteria:
I personally run the latter two, since Archangel and Ajani are above my power level and I don't run PWs. I can recommend Path and have yet to find out if Dawn is good. But I run more payoffs. Here are a few more narrower ones, that I can still recommend in that they at least do their job very well:
I am also pretty sure, that the new Bloodthirsty Aerialist will be a homerun. But if you tell me no, that you don't like these payoffs, since they don't do enough without any life gain effects (except maybe the Familiar), then you are right. At this point, we don't have enough cards to go completely without narrow payoffs. But there are cards like this:
The (mostly black) lifepay card are a great way to get more flexible payoffs in your cube and also shape the lifegain deck to be more proactive. While all of them being flexible in nature, the more controllable and expensive ones are better as life gain payoffs. A regular deck might cast Slaughter twice. The Lifegain deck can do it many times more.
Upsides of the archetype:
- Good and fun theme for
(If you're not into tribal, it can be hard to find an orzhov theme)- Enablers are super flexible (They are natural fits for dozens of other archetypes)
- Clear identity (Easy to grasp for your players, even newbies, makes
attractive)Downsides of the archetype:
- Might become to slow (Solution: Make the deck proactive and more aggressive, add lifepay effects)
- Payoffs are sometimes narrow (Solution: Tell wizards to print more flexible ones)
- Can damage aggro (Solution: reduce the numbers of cards that gain you life and the amount of life they give you - Syndic of Tithes instead of Lone Missionary. Also, again, add more lifepay effects.)
Cross pollination:
- Blink (A lot of EtB life gainers like Lone Missionary, Kitchen Finks, Soul Warden ...)
- Tokens (Lifegain for tokens like Soul Warden/Blood Artist and lifelink tokens like from e.g. Martyr of Dusk)
- Landfall (A bunch of card gain life for lands like Retreat to Kazandu, Jaddi Offshoot, Grazing Gladehart)
- Sacrifice (A lot of cards give life for sacrificing like Falkenrath Noble or synergize with it like Oathsworn Vampire)
- Artifacts (Also many colorless cards have life gain, eg. Vault Skirge or Sylvok Lifestaff, also payoffs exist in Well of Lost Dreams)
- Control (Mostly because control likes life gain to stabilize. There is also a sweet finisher in Drogskol Reaver)
- Aggro (There is a serious amount of aggressive creature with incidental life gain. Also, Path of Bravery!)
- Vampires (There are many Vampires in those colors that gain you life and also some payoffs are vampires. Easy to create a tribal sub theme here.)
- I bet there are more!
All in all, I can recommend trying the archetype out. Me and my group, we had a lot of fun with it!
