In a sentence - Life gain abilities for massive effect.
Many synergistic cards here, two key cards are Ajani's Pridemate + any other card in the deck which has a life gain ability, of which there are 23.
The other key card is
Ethereal Armor
which massively pumps your creatures based on the number of enchantments, of which in this deck there is 22. The first strike ability is a massive plus here too.
Two other important cards here I am trying for extra synergy Spirit Bonds for the extra flyer, as well as the ability to make your creatures indestructible. There are 21 non-token creatures here to power this card up.
Finally
Eidolon of Countless Battles
gets in for even more synergy with Spirit Bonds and all aura's of which there are 10, with another 5 enchantment creatures you can bestow as aura's. Those 10 auras can be fetched with
Heliod's Pilgrim
to give you a flyer, a power up or an answer to a problem attacker/blocker when your Devouring Light isn't handy.
The lifegain should protect you from aggro decks of all kinds while you get your strategy together, which should still be pretty quick - aside from the bestow abilities every card is 3 mana or less, hence why you can run 22 lands, as well as it all being the one colour.
This is deck designed with the budget conscious in mind, and an eye towards rotation - no Archangel of Thune here, though it probably would be well worth considering.
I thought long and hard about Angelic Accord before leaving it out - it can be a dead draw if you aren't getting the four life a turn, or indeed the four mana cost to put it into play. However, if you can get it up and working, it can close out a game. Two copies in the sideboard as I keep testing :).
