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Lathiel, Who Blots Out the Sun

Commander / EDH Counters GW (Selesnya) Lifegain Trample

rakdosrunner

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Land (32)

Draw (11)

Trample (9)

Lifegain (17)

Ramp (15)

Utility (9)

Commander (1)

Commander: foil Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn

+1/+1 Counters (15)

Removal (10)

Lathiel, Who Blots Out the Sun

Primer

This deck started off as a creative project to develop a budget deck that gains as much life as possible and turns it into massive creatures in a pillow fort style. However, after 1 or 2 games in the 500 life I found it had no way to win and was not fun to play against because it would create very long games. Slowly I have tuned this deck to find the fine line between enough life gain and power to help ensure when I do gain life I am able to turn it into a win. It has gotten more expensive over time but many of the keys components in the deck are under $10. Some of the more expensive cards can be replaced by similar cheaper options while still maintaining the integrity of the plan. This deck has a good win rate in a meta of power 7-8 decks. It creates a unique boardstate in which you can utilize your resources to find different wins cons each time.

New Focus: The new focus of the deck is growing our creatures over time through various effects then giving them trample to close out the game. The focus of the deck is to use Lifegain and Lathiel to make our board tall but various cards do not require the commander in order to do so.

Strengths

  • Large life pool allows you to withstand damage without the need to block or lose your creatures
  • Growth compounds in a snowball effect where it can quickly get out of hand
  • Creatures grow quickly and turn into player removal
  • Versatile with multiple win conditions
  • Ample amounts of removal and control to slow down opponents

Weaknesses

  • Weak to decks with heavy creature removal/board wipes
  • Lathiel's counters are end of turn and do not allow instant use

Main Strategy

The general strategy of the deck is to get early ramp out and get Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn out as quickly as possible to start beefing up creatures by gaining life. The idea is to gain enough life that you have no reason to block any opponents creatures in the early game and can focus on growing your creatures. Focus on adding the Lathiel counters to creatures with lifelink early to snowball out of control essentially doubling your creatures power and your life gained each turn. Finish up by using the massive lifegain to put counters on creatures with Trample to close out the game.

Other win conditions include:

Ramp

Cards like Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Jeweled Lotus, and mana dorks help create good speed out the gate.

First Plays

Early 1 drops such as Authority of the Consuls, Soul Warden, Essence Warden, and Soul's Attendant help start the lifegain train while also giving targets for Lathiel's counters. Specifically beefing up other dorks such as Kami of Whispered Hopes can provide a large amount of extra mana in the early game.

Early Mindset

  • Put enough +1/+1 counters on these creatures to protect them but not enough that your opponents feel the need to remove them, spread out the counters among creatures.
  • Only gain small amounts of life until you have a good foundation.
  • Don't be afraid to take damage, you will gain the life back.

After setting up your lifegain engines and creating a solid mana base it's time to get your best targets for counters.

Start Searching

The deck contains a good amount of card draw to ensure you are able to get one of your trample effects or your token generators in the early-mid game. Garruk's Uprising provides both draw and trample, or other effects such as Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist and cahmpion of lambholt can provide avenues to get damage through.

Premium Midgame Targets

Go For The Kill With Trample

If you don't already have a beefed up Tramplers like Primordial Hydra or Treebeard, Gracious Host you should have quite a few other creatures that are +20/+20 or more. Now is a great time to drop a Garruk's Uprising or Old One Eye to add Trample to your current board.

Make it easy

If you are unable to give your creatures trample just make it easy on yourself and swing out with your loaded board. Champion of Lambholt makes an easy win if your opponents cant block.

Recover

If you are unable to finish out the game or your board was removed cards utilize your large health pool to take of the heat while you rebuild. Don't trade creatures to save life.

Powerful Synergies

Lathiel, Who Blots Out the Sun is focused on synergy rather than infinite combos. Listed below are combos with spicy amounts of value.

My Horn Can Pierce the Sky

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98% Casual

Competitive