Lifegain has been my favorite playstyle ever since I moved my first steps into the MtG Multiverse. As a result, I’ve been experimenting with Mono-White for 14 years, and this deck is the end product of this process.
The deck has two main purposes: staying above the key threshold of 27 life and gaining life with consistency.
Martyr of Sands’s ability is by far the fastest way to reach the first goal, while the Soul Sisters, Guide of Souls and Righteous Valkyrie all help achieve the second one. The last mentioned group of cards really appreciates low mana cost creatures, hence the weenie aggro playstyle.
The win conditions all benefit from the achievement of either one or the other aim of the deck: Speaker of the Heavens as well as Righteous Valkyrie appreciate staying at 27 life or above, and Voice of the Blessed works the best when gaining life constantly. These three cards are all supported by Ocelot Pride, which doubles the Angel tokens summoned by Speaker of the Heavens after ascending, gives Righteous Valkyrie an army of Cats to buff and multiplies the +1/+1 counters Voice of the Blessed can get by opening up life gain opportunities.
The limited access to the win conditions and the late game management are two critical points for the deck. Giver of Runes protects key creatures, Recruitment Officer gives the excess lands a proactive role and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire can act as an instant when drawn in the late game.
Finally, Path to Exile grants some sort of field control, while 20 Plains+Flagstones of Trokair complete the set of 22 lands, the ideal number for a 1.32 CMC deck according to channelfireball.com.
Overall, this list has proven to be extremely solid. It can certainly win matches in a few turns but it doesn’t have to, since all the life it gains gives the deck a nice dose of resilience.
