So, let's talk about our strategy then. Beginning with our Threats, the things that will win us the game.
Voracious Wurm. An uncommon printed in a single set (that's how deep we need to dig for things that interact with lifegain) which can enter as a boring bear, or, if you gain a lot of life in a turn fast and cheap, a turn three 7/7. It is our biggest creature, and though vanilla, it can get huge.
Lone Rider
. Similar to Voracious Wurm in that it is a underwhelming 2-drop until you begin to gain life, after which it becomes much larger and scarier. Usually you want to put this down before gaining life though, so that the unassuming threat is able to resolve and a lifegain spell turns into a threatening attack, and is countered. It That Rides as One serves a dual purpose. It is first and foremost, a big ol' first-strike and trample creature that dodges lightning bolt. Secondarily, it is a method to repeatedly gain 4 life each turn it attacks or blocks, which also makes it an enabler for other threats.
Resplendent Angel. I used to run Angelic Accord in a similar slot, but I feel that Resplendent Angel has some worthwhile benefit compared to its enchantment cousin. It is cheaper by a mana, filling out our curve nicely, in addition adds a respectable body with flying immediately. It's activated ability is its own enabler, as well as a fine mana-sink and protection/pump. The 5 life gained is actually somewhat difficult to achieve easily, but even one trigger granting us an angel makes the fewer enablers worth it.
Knight of Autumn. This creature actually serves more as a hybrid between enabler and threat, and then, more of the former than the latter. The flexibility of the card is excellent, and gives us an enabler for bigger threats, a 4/3 for 3, or main deck artifact/enchantment removal. All at our choice. And even if we choose the utility options, we always get at least 2/1
Thragtusk. Oh yes, the king is still the king. Not only is Thragdaddy a card that is naturally powerful, it synergizes with our life gain strategy beautifully. The 5 life gain triggers even our highest pre-requisite, so that's huge.
Crested Sunmare. An excellent way to close a game up, even a single point of life gain, from even our smallest sources, nets us a free 5/5 with indestructible to boot. If unanswered, this can put dozens of points of power onto the field in no time, stonewalling attacks, or forcing chump blocks.
Next, the purely enabling cards. In other words, cards that do essentially nothing on their own.
Chaplain's Blessing You got the spiel on this one.
Sunspring Expedition A T1 play that, once active, costs no mana to activate, allowing us to spend our resources on payoffs for gaining such a large amount of life. Not incredible late game, but if the game is slow, those land drops are inevitable.
I'll include Pulse of Murasa here. Six life is good, and returning our cheap threats is always nice.
Blossoming Sands I intentionally included these bad boys purely for the sake of surprising people when we're a point short of a trigger, also, we generally don't need untapped mana T1, so it isn't crushing to have always tapped duals.
Let's talk about utility. Card draw, removal, etc.
Survival Cache is actually an all-star in this deck. I frequently read it as "Gain 4, draw 2." It enables itself, and since most decks happily shock themselves or thoughtseize, all but the most aggro decks actually turn the card draw on for us anyways. Worst case, we gain a little life and it's hopefully enough to surprise flip a Lone Rider
we've attacked with. Side it out against burn and the like though.
Dawn of Hope A brand new addition to the arsenal, and damn am I thankful for it. Repeatable draw for a pretty reasonable price, and it also enables itself with its little lifelink tokens. 4 mana can be a little awkward for the deck, so having a mana sink is lovely.
Path to Exile Premium removal.
Condemn + Oust + Sunlance
Less incredible removal, but I find that Sunlance gets the job done in most cases.
