Can't get this B/W Lifegain deck to work

Deck Help forum

Posted on Sept. 30, 2016, 4:31 a.m. by GolgariGravedigger

Hey guys,

I made this B/W lifegain deck for casual play but it just just feels underpowered. I'm looking for some suggestions to improve it without driving up the cost too much.

Souljacker says... #2

I would strongly suggest putting in the Soul Sisters (Soul Warden &Soul's Attendant) as they provide the best incidental lifegain basis for a deck around lifegain. They might pressure your budget a bit, but if that's a problem you could replace Nyx-Fleece Ram and or Vampire Nighthawk with they. Otherwise Suture Priest functions the same.

They work better with tokens, so you focus on that. You'll need a way to buff the many small creatures, and Honor the Pure is perfect for that. If you keep these 3 cards as your core, you only need cheap token producing spells to complete your deck and have great synergy.

Good cards to get multiple creatures:

Spectral Procession

Doomed Traveler

Lingering Souls

Squadron Hawk

Secure the Wastes

Other options you could consider:

Martyr of Sands

Zealous Persecution

Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim

Mentor of the Meek

Brave the Elements against sweepers or to get Pridemate through

Return to the Ranks

Windbrisk Heights

Keep Ajani's Pridemate and Serene Steward, but you can basically drop every other permanent.

September 30, 2016 5:16 a.m.

GolgariGravedigger says... #3

Souljacker

I like the idea, however it seems to want to be mono white, and it honestly feels like a completely different deck. The idea behind the original deck was to use the life gain from the white cards to pay the cost of black cards, as well as buff the creatures. Anyways, this is what I built from your suggestions:

I had considered going the token route before, but I thought it would cost me a bit too much. After optimizing my cart on TCGplayer, I was able to get this deck for about $20. It actually came out cheaper than I expected, but it's still a bit above my budget. If I end up loving this mono white deck I will probably build it, but I would still like to get my original idea to work somehow.

Another thing I was trying to do with Guildmage of Immortality was use the reoccurring Elixir of Immortality with Vizkopa Guildmage, Sunbond and/or Angelic Accord. Basically, I want to use Elixir of Immortality as a weapon.

September 30, 2016 3:30 p.m.

Souljacker says... #4

I hope you like it, I think it's a lot more streamlined and efficient this way but thats no guarantee for fun. If you like it, you have the core for a more competitive deck if you like one later on.

If you want to get recurring value over multiple turns, you need to start with a control shell to make sure you survive enough turns to make use of the value. It's tough to play an expensive card that doesnt always give you value right away.

Good luck in any case!

September 30, 2016 5:41 p.m.

Souljacker says... #5

I understand it's a pretty different deck but I think it's nice to have a streamlined deck to start from, and add fun cards gradually and see if they work well in the deck. It can be frustrated to not get a deck to work, and you can overlook cards that do work but not in that deck.

You can keep the Black instants and sorceries and the Guildmage, as they dont mess with Honor of the Pure. Lingering souls and zealous persecution also need Black so the deck doesnt need to be Mono White if you dont like that.

September 30, 2016 6:16 p.m.

GolgariGravedigger says... #6

I don't mind it being mono white, Mono decks are nice because you don't ever have to worry about meeting different colored mana costs. I might be able to splash black in there, but I don't see it adding much value to the deck. Guildmage is cool but it doesn't seem like he would be super effective in Smokin' and Token. I'll probably still try splashing black in there eventually, just for fun.

So you don't think Elixir of Immortality can be used offensively? I thought it was a neat idea. I still really want to make it work.

September 30, 2016 7:10 p.m.

Souljacker says... #7

If you only use it for the lifegain, I think there are better options. With tokens, you can think of cards like Path of Bravery, Vault of the Archangel (1 or 2), Tenacity, Ready / Willing, Whip of Erebos. If you want to try other colors and tokens, there's also Azorius Charm and Jeskai Charm that give all your creatures lifelink.

If you want to abuse Angelic Accord, maybe Bubbling Cauldron works nice if you have a lot of tokens. If you add Green, Brindle Boar is an easy way to trigger it, and Voracious Wurm likes all the lifegain too. Ordeal of Heliod is also a fun way to add a lot of life, and works well with creatures that can get counters on their own.

October 1, 2016 6:06 a.m.

GolgariGravedigger says... #8

What if I tried adding some green into Smokin' and Token. I like the looks of Wayfaring Temple. Voracious Wurm would be cool too. I've tried making Angelic Accord work before but It didn't trigger very often. If I added some populate cards I might be able to get more out of it.

October 1, 2016 3:04 p.m.

GolgariGravedigger says... #9

It's a bit expensive but Trostani, Selesnya's Voice would be helpful.

October 1, 2016 3:08 p.m.

This discussion has been closed