I wanted to make a lifegain deck but I knew I wanted it to have a fun playstyle and I wanted to take a different approach to gaining life. I have also been trying to find a way to play some of my favorite green cards without having it be a generic green creature ramp deck (because I tend to not like winning by just smashing face). So after a lot of different ideas, this deck eventually came to be what it is now.
Finally, this deck is extremely fun in Emperor formats (that would be when you sideboard Soul Conduit in). Because you can heal your emperor, or you can be the emperor and heal your generals.
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Main forms of lifegain:
-
Grazing Gladehart
and some form of land retrieval, mainly Karametra, God of Harvests but also Dawntreader Elk
-
Tree of Redemption
and Sheltering Word
- To a lesser extent, a game changing
Beacon of Immortality
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Explanation on how I like to use
Tree of Redemption
:Ideally, you get it out there turn 4, if at all possible turn 3, and exchange your life as soon as possible. It gives you a massive wall to block damage and lets you start using Sheltering Word to pump up your own life. As soon a your life total gets to be more than the tree, exchange it again. Also, if you need to, get multiple trees down and pump them up to be a bit bigger. This gives you options and makes you harder to hit. Meanwhile, you should have some
Grazing Gladehart
s down that are also giving you life, and you should be using your land retrieval. Finally, Vigor is a fun card to drop because not only does it allow you to pump everything else up, but it also lets your
Tree of Redemption
gain counters, which means that it in turn gives you more life.
Let me know what you think! I understand this deck is still a bit weird, and I recognize that, but I think I'm okay with it so far. I've thought about it a lot and playtested it a lot and I like how it feels and the general idea behind it (hide behind a bunch of trees while I have a bunch of Elk running around, a badass God, and an adorable little Troll hermit ascetic dude.)
