Licia Sanguine Tribal

Commander / EDH Lifegain Lifelink Primer RBW (Mardu) Theme/Gimmick Vampires

Immortalys

Land (32)

• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Castle Embereth
• 1x Castle Locthwain
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Eiganjo Castle
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Field of Ruin
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Kabira Crossroads
• 1x Luxury Suite
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Nomad Outpost
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 2x Plains
• 1x Radiant Fountain
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Savai Triome
• 1x Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
• 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 1x Slayers' Stronghold
• 1x Spectator Seating
• 1x Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
• 2x Swamp
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Vault of Champions
• 1x War Room

Instant (4)

• 1x Fire Covenant
• 1x Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip
• 1x Mortify
• 1x Sejiri Shelter  ^Flip

Creature (24)

• 1x Arvad the Cursed
• 1x Blood Baron of Vizkopa
• 1x Bloodline Necromancer
• 1x Champion of Dusk
• 1x Cordial Vampire
• 1x Drana's Emissary
• 1x Gifted Aetherborn
• 1x Henrika Domnathi  ^Flip
• 1x Indulging Patrician
• 1x Markov Purifier
• 1x Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle
• 1x Nighthawk Scavenger
• 1x Nullpriest of Oblivion
• 1x Patron of the Vein
• 1x Sanctum Seeker
• 1x Stromkirk Captain
• 1x Tithe Drinker
• 1x Twilight Prophet
• 1x Vampire Cutthroat
• 1x Vampire Nighthawk
• 1x Vampire of the Dire Moon
• 1x Verrak, Warped Sengir
• 1x Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
• 1x Vona, Butcher of Magan

Artifact (14)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Blade of the Bloodchief
• 1x Bontu's Monument
• 1x Fountain of Renewal
• 1x Heraldic Banner
• 1x Pristine Talisman
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Sword of the Animist
• 1x Talisman of Conviction
• 1x Talisman of Hierarchy
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence
• 1x Vanquisher's Banner
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak

Commander (1)

Enchantment (17)

• 1x Ajani's Mantra
• 1x Arguel's Blood Fast  ^Flip
• 1x Cleric Class
• 1x Collapsing Borders
• 1x Cover of Darkness
• 1x Dega Sanctuary
• 1x Ferocity of the Wilds
• 1x Font of Agonies
• 1x Honden of Cleansing Fire
• 1x Legion's Landing  ^Flip
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Radiant Destiny
• 1x Recumbent Bliss
• 1x Righteous Cause
• 1x Sanctum of Stone Fangs
• 1x Spiteful Visions
• 1x Stensia Masquerade

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Chandra's Ignition
• 1x Hex
• 1x In Garruk's Wake
• 1x Kindred Dominance
• 1x Painful Truths
• 1x Phyrexian Purge
• 1x Ruinous Ultimatum
• 1x Winds of Abandon

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Maybeboard

Enchantment (34)

• 1x Authority of the Consuls
• 1x Axis of Mortality
• 1x Black Market Connections
• 1x Blind Obedience
• 1x Boon Reflection
• 1x Burning Anger
• 1x Call the Bloodline
• 1x Campaign of Vengeance
• 1x Contemplation
• 1x Cradle of Vitality
• 1x Dawn of Hope
• 1x Dragon Breath
• 1x Dragon Scales
• 1x Dragon Shadow
• 1x Duelist's Heritage
• 1x Exquisite Blood
• 1x Glory of Warfare
• 1x Honden of Infinite Rage
• 1x Ill-Gotten Inheritance
• 1x Mana Echoes
• 1x Palace Siege
• 1x Path of Bravery
• 1x Proper Burial
• 1x Retreat to Hagra
• 1x Righteous War
• 1x Searing Meditation
• 1x Shared Animosity
• 1x Spirit Loop
• 1x Subversion
• 1x Tainted Remedy
• 1x The Meathook Massacre
• 1x Tocasia's Welcome
• 1x Triskaidekaphobia
• 1x Unspeakable Symbol

Land (14)

• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Bonders' Enclave
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Contested War Zone
• 1x Daru Encampment
• 1x Forge of Heroes
• 1x Graven Cairns
• 1x Guildmages' Forum
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 1x Lantern-Lit Graveyard
• 1x Silent Clearing
• 1x Spectator Seating
• 1x Sunbaked Canyon

Creature (32)

• 1x Adanto Vanguard
• 1x Anowon, the Ruin Sage
• 1x Astarion, the Decadent
• 1x Bishop's Soldier
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Bloodline Keeper  ^Flip
• 1x Bloodsworn Steward
• 1x Bloodthirsty Aerialist
• 1x Bloodtracker
• 1x Captivating Vampire
• 1x Chancellor of the Dross
• 1x Creeping Bloodsucker
• 1x Crossway Troublemakers
• 1x Cruel Celebrant
• 1x Edgar, Charmed Groom  ^Flip
• 1x Elenda, the Dusk Rose
• 1x Indulgent Aristocrat
• 1x Inspiring Cleric
• 1x Legion Lieutenant
• 1x Malakir Bloodwitch
• 1x Mathas, Fiend Seeker
• 1x Nyx-Fleece Ram
• 1x Oathsworn Vampire
• 1x Paladin of Atonement
• 1x Pawn of Ulamog
• 1x Rakish Heir
• 1x Rodolf Duskbringer
• 1x Sangromancer
• 1x The Haunt of Hightower
• 1x Vengeant Vampire
• 1x Vraan, Executioner Thane
• 1x Welcoming Vampire

Instant (16)

• 1x And They Shall Know No Fear
• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Bedevil
• 1x Crackling Doom
• 1x Heliod's Intervention
• 1x Invoke the Divine
• 1x Light of Hope
• 1x Lightning Helix
• 1x Rakdos Charm
• 1x Sanguine Sacrament
• 1x Scout's Warning
• 1x Snuff Out
• 1x Spoils of Evil
• 1x Stinging Study
• 1x Stunning Reversal
• 1x Urge to Feed

Sorcery (22)

• 1x Blood Tribute
• 1x Call to the Feast
• 1x Crippling Fear
• 1x Damn
• 1x Essence Harvest
• 1x Feast of Blood
• 1x Fumigate
• 1x Hellfire
• 1x Mass Calcify
• 1x New Blood
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Overwhelming Forces
• 1x Pact of the Serpent
• 1x Pain's Reward
• 1x Peach Garden Oath
• 1x Plague Wind
• 1x Queen's Commission
• 1x Rain of Daggers
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Righteous Confluence
• 1x Righteous Fury
• 1x Sevinne's Reclamation

Artifact (22)

• 1x Alhammarret's Archive
• 1x Battlemage's Bracers
• 1x Clearwater Goblet
• 1x Cosmos Elixir
• 1x Crown of Doom
• 1x Eternity Vessel
• 1x Haunted Cloak
• 1x Herald's Horn
• 1x Illusionist's Bracers
• 1x Jet Medallion
• 1x Liar's Pendulum
• 1x Luxa River Shrine
• 1x Mazemind Tome
• 1x Paradise Plume
• 1x Sun Droplet
• 1x Surestrike Trident
• 1x Tablet of the Guilds
• 1x The Ozolith
• 1x Urza's Incubator
• 1x Vedalken Orrery
• 1x Venser's Journal
• 1x Whip of Erebos

Planeswalker (6)

• 1x Sorin Markov
• 1x Sorin the Mirthless
• 1x Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord
• 1x Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
• 1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
• 1x Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord

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This is a Licia, Sanguine Tribune deck that I've been trying to make work for a long time now. This version is Vampire Tribal with a Lifegain subtheme, or maybe Lifegain Tribal with a Vampire subtheme? Anyway, there is a lot of lifelinking Vampires in here

Lifegain Show

So lets first discuss the Lifegain in this deck. The goal of the Lifegain in this deck is to discount Licia so you can easily and often (if needed) cast her for just {R}{W}{B}. This means certain Lifegain cards are better than others. Cards you want to be on the lookout for are those that 1) gain life repeatedly, 2) don't need an additional mana investment, and 3) gain life either during your Upkeep, 1st Main Phase and/or Combat. Gaining life in your 2nd Main Phase is also acceptable, but I doubt any card exists that specifically gains life in your 2nd Main. Cards that easily fit these three criteria are Ajani's Mantra, Collapsing Borders, Dega Sanctuary, Honden of Cleansing Fire, Sanctum of Stone Fangs, Recumbent Bliss, Fountain of Renewal, and Pristine Talisman. Other cards to consider here are Clearwater Goblet, Venser's Journal, Ill-Gotten Inheritance, Palace Siege, Subversion, and Triskaidekaphobia. Aside from these cards that automatically gain you life, there are more conditional cards that still work very well like Righteous Cause. Other cards like this one to consider are Campaign of Vengeance, Path of Bravery, and Retreat to Hagra. The latter one needs a land drop, while the other three require a board of attacking creatures. On the topic of creatures, requirements for creatures are discussed below (Vampire Tribal).

Now that we have the good fits for the deck, what are some traps you could fall into? First up, a card like Cosmos Elixir fits the first two requirements, but fails at the third -and maybe most important- one. Healing at your End Step does not help you cast Licia and this deck does not have enough Lifegain Synergy to benefit from this healing. Even when taking the card draw into account, the card is not worth it, as this deck has better ways to draw cards. Other cards that definitely do not fit because of this reason are Authority of the Consuls and Revenge of Ravens as gaining life during your opponents turn is wasted. Then there are cards that fit the last two criteria, but not the first one. Usually these cards are Instants or Sorceries. Examples are Chaplain's Blessing, Light of Hope, Revitalize, Peach Garden Oath, Beacon of Immortality, Heliod's Intervention, Sanguine Sacrament (this one is very on-flavor though), Exsanguinate, Righteous Confluence, Feast of Blood, Invoke the Divine,Lightning Helix, and Mazemind Tome. These cards do have merit, especially the last six, as casting Feast of Blood will net you a discount of 2 for Licia, but you do gain a free removal out of it as well. The problem is that they are a one-shot, meaning that if you want/need to cast any of these spells without also casting Licia the same turn, the Lifegain is basically useless. Lastly there is the class of cards that fit criteria 1 and 3, but not 2. Examples are Bontu's Monument, who is more so in the deck because of its creature cost discount than its Lifegain capabilities, Paradise Plume, Tablet of the Guilds, Contemplation, and any card with the Extort mechanic like Blind Obedience or Life Insurance. Although again not unplayable cards in this deck, they have a requirement for their Lifegain, which is a mana investment. Now, that is not bad in and of itself: if you can pay less mana than you get life out of it. So casting Vampire of the Dire Moon and paying for the Extort cost costs 2 mana, but nets you 3 life, and on top of that you get a Vampire of the Dire Moon on the battlefield. The problem is though, that you might not easily have a card to play to trigger the lifegain, even if it does not cost extra mana like with Extort. The chance of getting a significant discount is also rather small, if you play even a 3-drop and you gain a single life for it, you still need 10 mana to play both that card and Licia, instead of the regular 11.

Finally there are some cards that have Lifegain synergy that work pretty well. Cleric Class is the most obvious one, but a much less obvious one would be Spiteful Visions. The extra card draw is very nice and damage hurts you very little compared to your opponents. Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose is also a Lifegain synergy card instead of a pure Lifegain card, but he is lucky he is a Vampire, as we'll see in the next category. Cards that would work pretty well, like Boon Reflection and Alhammarret's Archive are a little bit too expensive. By the time you can cast a 5 or 6 mana spell, you should be able to have Licia out already.

Vampire Tribal Show

For the creatures I decided on a Vampire Tribal theme. This has its benefits and losses. The losses might be obvious: you miss out on strong Lifegain cards like the Soul Sisters Soul Warden and Soul's Attendant, Rhox Faithmender, Heron of Hope, Angel of Vitality, Archangel of Thune, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Griffin Aerie, Felidar Sovereign and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, among a slew of other cards. Then why still the Vampire Tribal theme? First of all, because Vampires are quite good at gaining life. In fact, any creature card with Lifelink fits all the three criteria laid out above for the Lifegain cards in this deck. 17/25 "creature" cards in this deck have Lifelink, or can make a creature with Lifelink like Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle and Legion's Landing  . Because sending creatures into battle is kind of dangerous, I also opted for a small subtheme of Deathtouch on my creatures, with 7 out of the 24 actual Creature cards having Deathtouch. This is also 7 out of 10 eligible Vampire cards with both Lifelink and Deathtouch. The other three; Astarion, the Decadent, Crossway Troublemakers, and Rodolf Duskbringer incidentally each cost 6 mana, which is a lot for this deck, yet the latter two would be in serious consideration for a spot in the deck. Aside from Lifegain via Lifelink, there are also Vampires with other ways of consistantly gaining life, like Drana's Emissary, Sanctum Seeker, and Twilight Prophet. I should mention that, although not officially in this deck yet, Creeping Bloodsucker is also an incredible fit. Vampire Creatures in the category of Lifegain that might be traps are cards that trigger on the death of a creature, like Blood Artist, Cruel Celebrant, Sangromancer and Mathas, Fiend Seeker. They could be included in the hopes that enemy creatures die during combat on your turn, but this is not at all reliable, especially since this strategy is telegraphed, meaning that your opponents are even less likely to throw a creature in front of your Deathtoucher now that they know what you are doing. The other category of traps are those of the one-shots, like Chancellor of the Dross (especially useless when you can't cast Licia turn 1), Inspiring Cleric, Malakir Bloodwitch, Paladin of Atonement, and Vengeant Vampire, because of the same reason stated above in the "Lifegain" section.

Aside from this broad class of Lifegain synergy creature cards, the next class is that of the Vampire Tribal itself. Pumping our Vampires means more Lifegain per swing, hence the inclusions of Cordial Vampire, Patron of the Vein, and Stromkirk Captain. Although not in the deck, I would also be remiss not to mention Rakish Heir here as well. On top of this I want to mention the synergy between Stromkirk Captain's First Strike and the relative abundance of Deathtouch in this deck. Cards like Bloodline Necromancer and Champion of Dusk synergize well with their card advantage. Aside from these creatures, there are some other cards that buff our Licia, and almost incidentally also the rest of our Vampires, like Cover of Darkness to give Licia Fear, Radiant Destiny to give her Vigilance, and Stensia Masquerade and Blade of the Bloodchief to buff her even more.

Additional Support Show

The cards mentioned above help out Licia most of all, she is the focal point of this deck after all. To add to these swathe of cards, there are also some cards that aid her, without being specific to the Vampire Tribal theme. These cards are Ferocity of the Wilds to give her Trample. Now, this isn't strictly a Vampire Tribal card, but with its mention of non-humans, it might as well be in this deck. The other two cards are Whispersilk Cloak, because you want Licia to be Untargetable and Unblockable, and Swiftfoot Boots, because you want your Licia to have Hexproof and Haste. Another two Equipment cards not in this deck, but certainly deserve a mention are Illusionist's Bracers and especially Battlemage's Bracers, as they double up Licia's triggered ability and the latter one even gives Haste, quite the coveted Keyword in this deck, for its ability to make Licia swing as a 7/7 right out of the gate. Also with regards to Haste, Haunted Cloak (also not in the deck) gives Licia three very relevant key-words, among which Haste, so is definitely worth considering.

Boardwipes Show

Finally there is an important class of cards I focussed on; the boardwipes. Specifically, I focussed on one-sided boardwipes. The reason for this is two-fold: 1) I don't want to wipe my own board after investing mana and possibly life into multiple Vampires and/or a big beefy Licia, and 2) Because somehow one-sided boardwipes go very well with this Lifegain and Vampire Tribal deck. As mentioned above, playing Vampire Tribal enables the use of the one-sided boardwipe Kindred Dominance. The Lifegain theme enables the one-sided boardwipes Fire Covenant and Phyrexian Purge. Other one-sided boardwipes that are included are In Garruk's Wake, Ruinous Ultimatum and Winds of Abandon. Cards that aren't strictly "one-sided" or strictly "boardwipes" are Chandra's Ignition for the former and Hex for the latter. Cards that are not included in this deck but could be a good fit are Plague Wind, Overwhelming Forces, and especially Crippling Fear. Cards like Kaya's Wrath and Fumigate might be considered, as boardwipes are usually cast a little later in the game, where you could have 7 or 8 mana to cast the boardwipe and gain enough life to recast Licia for {R}{W}{B}, but you lose all the value from your other creatures.

Game Play Show

So now the question remains, how does this deck play? As with any deck, you hope to have enough lands in your opening hand, but what also really helps is getting a lifegaining early drop. Fountain of Renewal, Ajani's Mantra and Sanctum of Stone Fangs are excellent opening cards, as well as Cleric Class of course. When it comes to creatures, any creature with Deathtouch gives you great defense until you start to swing to get Licia out. The general idea is simple: 1) gain life 2) cast Licia for cheap 3) buff Licia 4) kill via commander damage. You can keep gaining life until you get a card like Whispersilk Cloak, Rogue's Passage, Cover of Darkness or Ferocity of the Wilds that help you push her damage through. Other cards that help push through damage are the boardwipes. As they are largely one-sided, your board and especially Licia will stay intact, leaving you free to swing at your opponent with your giant commander and any other creatures. Because of the focus on boardwipes, this deck has very little targeted removal; Mortify being the most obvious one. Why not Anguished Unmaking you ask? Well, because some of the creatures in this deck trigger on death, and Anguished Unmaking exiles. Other cards like Vona, Butcher of Magan and Font of Agonies are repeatable targeted removal, whereas Patron of the Vein is ETB only and Recumbent Bliss will not remove the target, but will stop it from attacking and blocking. If anything drops into the Graveyard, you have Bloodline Necromancer and Nullpriest of Oblivion to get them out again. You can protect Licia from targeted removal with Whispersilk Cloak, Swiftfoot Boots, Sejiri Shelter   and Malakir Rebirth  , and the latter will even protect against boardwipes (although you will lose any counters), but generally boardwipes are the Achilles heel of this deck. The only buffer this deck has is that the repeatable lifegain comes from sources other than just creatures, that is, if they don't play a boardwipe that removes every non-land permanent, but lets be honest, if someone wipes that hard, you're not the only one in trouble. I will mention here the card And They Shall Know No Fear, as despite not being in the deck, it is a very good protection not just for Licia, but your entire board (of creatures that is).

Finally some formalities

Card Draw: 1) Champion of Dusk, 2) Markov Purifier, 3) Twilight Prophet, 4) Vanquisher's Banner, 5) Arguel's Blood Fast  , 6) Phyrexian Arena, 7) Spiteful Visions, 8) Painful Truths, and 9) War Room

Other Card Draw to consider: Pact of the Serpent, Stinging Study, Welcoming Vampire and Bonders' Enclave

Ramp: 1) Talisman of Conviction, 2) Talisman of Hierarchy, 3) Talisman of Indulgence, 4) Pristine Talisman, 5) Sword of the Animist, 6) Sol Ring, 7) Heraldic Banner, 8) Arcane Signet, and 9) Bontu's Monument

Other Ramp to consider: Jet Medallion, Paradise Plume, and Black Market Connections

Date added	2 years
Last updated	3 months
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 0 Mythic Rares 44 - 0 Rares 33 - 0 Uncommons 11 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.21
Tokens	City's Blessing, Vampire 1/1 W
Folders	Inspiration and Ideas, commander, Decks