Serra Ascendant is great for life gain decks.

@Atony1400 Thank you!

No problem AmazingGrace15! I'll go through the deck later!

So there are some lower impact cards in this deck that could be replaced over time. I think I will start by listing the cards that I feel are the lowest impact, and then I will offer some possible additions. So, here are the cards I feel are weak:

Angelsong (low impact)

Annul (a bit on the specific side. Artifacts and enchantments are important in EDH most of the time, but creature, instant, and sorcery are also very important. I tend to prefer the slightly more expensive counterspells that deal with more broad spell types)

Countermand (expensive for a counterspell)

Crippling Chill (doesn't really deal with a threat)

Crypsis

Dispel (same reason as Annul)

Erase (I would prefer to run something like Return to Dust)

Glimpse the Sun God (same as Crippling Chill)

Lost in a Labyrinth (Temporary, and only affects power. Not something I'm super thrilled to run)

Shelter however it is nice to protect your commander sometimes so maybe it can stay

Thirst for Knowledge (not enough artifacts for this to be as good as it can be - I will suggest other card draw below)

Arctic Aven (very small, the life is mediocre, and it has no other effects)

Azorius Herald (that's overpaying for 4 life and a 2/1)

Graceful Adept (only because it is easy to remove creatures and then all of a sudden you have to discard a bunch of things. Nobody wants to discard their cards)

Guardians of Meletis (you don't need to be this defensive)

Mindscour Dragon (mill isn't in your gameplan, so why overpay for a 4/4?)

Student of Ojutai (not enough impact. I get that you want this deck to be about gaining life, but this may not even get value on any given turn)

Vedalken Engineer (not enough artifacts)

Arrest, Pacifism (if you want this kind of removal from enchantments, consider Oblivion Ring, Detention Sphere, and Banishing Light)

Evanescent Intellect (again, mill isn't your game plan)

Infiltrator's Magemark (I think this deck will want to play a lot of flying creatures and auras, thus the unblockable is a lot less relevant, however, it is good enough to keep for now, just worth replacing in the long run)

Aether Spellbomb, Sunbeam Spellbomb (neither effect from these is fantastic, but the blue one is better than the white one. could stay for now)

Angel's Feather and Kraken's Eye (1 life is very irrelevant in EDH and you aren't casting enough spells per turn for these to be gaining more than a couple life per turn)

Acid Rain (it's just so specific. Against some decks it will do actual nothing which will feel really bad when drawn)

Divination (It's weak card draw, but good enough to keep for awhile. Just think about replacing it in the long run)

Hopefully that wasn't too overwhelming. I don't mean for you to feel like I am tearing this thing apart. You have some strong stuff in here, but there is so much potential that you haven't leveraged yet. I know you want the deck to revolve around some lifegain, and I think one really good way to accomplish that may be to load up your commander and other creatures with auras and equipment to gain you life. Also, you seem to want to be the control deck, so there is that aspect there. You will want solid card draw, counterspells, etc. Here are some things I would suggest:

For lifelink:

You've already got Steel of the Godhead, so that's good news. I am a huge fan of Basilisk Collar. Also, Celestial Mantle is hilarious. Venser's Journal gets you no maximum hand size and life in the same card, so that's a worthy include. While it is on the pricey side, Wurmcoil Engine is a house. Loxodon Warhammer is pretty sweet too. Eternity Vessel is hilarious. Since we are going to add some card draw, you can change that into life with Words of Worship. Also, use that in conjunction with Well of Lost Dreams. True Conviction will help you gain some life as well. Victory's Herald does a similar effect but is on a beatstick of its own. To make your life total a lethal weapon, play Storm Herd. Since life matters, run Felidar Sovereign and Test of Endurance.

Other valuable cards to consider:

Sun Titan is an EDH staple. Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur is also amazing for a control-style build. I also love Silverblade Paladin. Rhystic Study is one of my favorite ways to draw cards. Dig Through Time has always been a great way to find cards. Brainstorm is also amazing, especially in combination with miracle cards like Terminus and Entreat the Angels, both of which are very good. Counterspells can be very useful for you too. I suggest Dissolve, Dissipate, Counterspell, and/or Swan Song. If this is going to be slightly more voltron-esque, then Divine Reckoning is very good. On that same note, Swiftfoot Boots/Lightning Greaves are very good, as is Darksteel Plate. I also like Champion's Helm. Finally, I advise artifact ramp. Sol Ring, Gilded Lotus, and Thran Dynamo are all pretty good. Going to wrap it up here, but if I think of more suggestions I will post them here. Sorry that this is super long, but I was told you would be happy with any and all recommendations. I also hope this isn't too intimidating. Let me know if you have any questions, just be sure to place my screen name enclosed in 2 sets of square brackets (like [.[evncrbch].] but without the periods).

evncrbch

Thank you so much for taking the time to really think about this and give awesome feedback. I really appreciate it, and trust me, it wasnt intimidating (maybe a little overwhelming but thats okay I still love you).

It's funny, a lot of the cards you picked out that were on the weaker side were ones I just threw in a couple weeks ago to see what would happen. Others (like Acid Rain) are there purely for my playgroup, since almost everyone uses green. I also saw Storm Herd in my brother's card collection a while ago and thought it was hilarious, so I'll have to get him to trade for that!

Originally, I had a lot of enchantments and some equipment, and I felt like all I was doing was drawing enchantments and I couldn't play them because I didn't have creatures to play them on. Another thing too is that when I was playing with more enchantments and creatures, the deck was slow (I'm talking nothing on the battlefield until at least turn 3 or 4) because most of my creatures were expensive and I just couldn't find the mana. I understand azorius isn't supposed to be crazy fast, but I felt like everyone else was playing the game and I was just kind of sitting there watching rather than participating. You suggested some amazing cards, but what worries me is their mana cost, and if I'll even get around to playing them. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can buff up my creatures like you're suggesting (giving them equipment with lifelink, +x/+x, etc.) without making the overall mana cost of my deck highly skewed? Or are you suggesting the deck should be geared toward countering my opponent's things so that way I last until late game where I have the mana to play stuff? (although I'm not quite sure if that last question is what we're going for).

Thanks again!

Your concern about mana cost is very relevant and a sign of great intuition when it comes to deck building. There definitely needs to be a good curve, even in EDH. If you do want to end up going the voltron/battlecruiser build with expensive auras and equipment, the things you want to be casting early are things that will either increase your survivability or things to ramp you up to high amounts of mana. I'm actually just about to start a class, but let me do some research when I have some time tomorrow and I will get back to you with some things to smooth out that curve and help you out early.

Also, there are plenty of players on this site more experienced than I am. One of the best pieces of advice I can give you here is deckcycle, deckcycle, deckcycle. People will eventually start to trickle in and give you some advice. Maybe not every piece of advice is useful, but if you take the time to respond to everyone and even if you don't like the suggestions they give at least give them a reason why. People will see that, respect that, and be more likely to comment. In addition, a creative title will help bring in more views. Let me toss you that +1 to get the deck moving. I'm eagerly awaiting seeing what beast you can make with this.

Alright, so I did some research, looked at some cards, and I built what I might try to build if I were to make Ojutai EDH. I did put the dragonlord as the commander because I feel it is much stronger than Ojutai, Soul of Winter. I have heard that you prefer to run Soul of Winter, however I think it is worthwhile to at least think about running the dragonlord. Cheaper mana cost, better ability, similar body. Overall just better value. Now obviously some of those cards may be out of your reach for now, but this was just to give you an idea of how I would build this. There isn't necessarily only one right build either. You mentioned issues with the curve, so I was attentive to that. Most cards in the deck are playable by turn 4. There are some early cards there to protect you from other players while you set up, and the artifacts can be played before your commander to prepare to beef it up on that first turn it can attack. Hopefully it helps. Here is the deck:

Lively Battlecruiser

Commander / EDH* evncrbch

1 VIEW

evncrbch

Thank you so much! You're the best. I'll definitely take a look and make some adjustments. I've already been planning out what I want to change, I just haven't made any edits to this deck quite yet. Thanks again!!!!

Any time. Glad I can help! Be sure to proxy up changes if you ever come up and play with Joe and I. I'm looking forward to playing against this.

evncrbch

I bought Tamiyo's Journal, and I'm planning on putting that in this deck. I also found Azorius Keyrune in my collection, so I'll be adding that. I just bought some new packs and drew some of the following cards. What do you think?

Pore Over the Pages

Open the Armory

Living Lore

Press for Answers

Strength of Arms This one might be good because I'll have equipment on the battlefield like you suggested.

Broken Concentration This might be overpaying for a counter, but I just figured I'd throw it in and see what you thought.

Open the Armory is an amazing card. I am putting one into my Narset deck. Living Lore also could be promising, especially if you can exile something like Storm Herd. Tamiyo's Journal is also good. The others seems a bit weak. Those are good finds though and could definitely find a spot in the final 100.

evncrbch Sweet. I'll keep the rest close by, just in case!

Sounds great. Keep me posted with new finds. Who knows, you may find the perfect card and I just had never heard of it before! I foresee a beast of a deck incoming.