Ajani's Lifegain (Standard MTG Deck)

Ajani's Lifegain

Standard* Lifegain Midrange

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Creature (24)

Land (22)

Planeswalker (3)

3x Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants

Enchantment (7)

Artifact (4)

4x Fountain of Renewal

Sideboard

Creature (5)

Enchantment (5)

Instant (5)

I really like the Ajani's Pridemate and am looking to make a playable standard deck that won't rotate out with the Devastation block. This does mean I'm missing out on some really good cards like Crested Sunmare and Sunscourge Champion.

I Also like this deck because it has a decent match-up against Goblin Chainwhirler Decks, because of that card I'm not running a bunch of token generators like Legion's Landing or Leonin Warleader in my main deck, however are on my sideboard should the need arise.

There also looks like a lot of black control incorporated in Goblin Chainwhirler and a rise in Esper control decks, this is one of the reasons I include Shalai, Voice of Plenty in my main deck as well as side boarding Knight of Grace. I also include Ashes of the Abhorrent as i can be really useful in shutting down a lot of graveyard play whilst providing another lifegain trigger. I also sideboard Card:Ixalan’s Binding and Invoke the Divine as they give me a more control in the right situations.

I've also included Revitalize as i'm a little worried about running out of steam and this can help me cycle a little better while also being a life gain trigger. As a replacement I'm Considering Ajani's Welcome or another two drop creatures. I'm also wondering if it might be worth splashing blue for Chart a Course or even Opt

I'd really appreciate any feedback on this deck or if you've played something similar let me know how you went and what cards worked best for you.

EDIT: Been play testing this deck quite a lot, like originally designed it did great against Mono-red Goblin Chainwhirler decks and has a decent time against anything with black in game 1 and after boarding even better. It didn't perform so well against similar white decks as they were often able to out ramp the original, adding Merfolk Branchwalker made a huge difference for pace and after boarding will usually come up on top. The most troublesome deck I play tested was G/U merfolk, after adding Settle the Wreckage they can occasionally steal a win but its much harder for them.

I considered adding Llanowar Elves but it makes it too difficult to hit a turn 3 Resplendent Angel which is a big loss. I dont really want to have Diamond Mare anymore, previously it was really strong with Famished Paladin but they take up too many slots together. If I were to replace them at the moment, i'm considering Martyr of Dusk or maybe Paladin of Atonement though with guilds of Ravnica we will see a lot of new selesnya cards and Emmara, Soul of the Accord isn't looking bad depending on what else might come out. I also decided to cut Leonin Warleader, while it does work when its out all the other four drops in the deck come first, even Resplendent Angel takes priority over it.

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Store Championship — Sept. 15, 2018

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Placed Top 8 with the deck, I think for the most part it performed well.

Round 1: 2-1 Vs Merfolk. Pretty straight forward games. The lack of removal played in the other deck let run over them with Ajani's Pridemate and Resplendent Angel. The Game I lost I was on the Draw and couldn't keep up with a stack of Deeproot Elites and Merfolk Mistbinders

Round 2: 2-0 Vs Merfolk. Merfolk again, pretty similar in performance, both games I curved into Resplendent Angels and their actives.

Round 3: 2-1 Vs Mono Red Aggro. First Round I lost pretty hard, despite hitting a couple of early drop creatures there a lot of removal and they couldn't really match up after losing stats from Soul-Scar Mage. Second two games went a lot better, owing a lot to Shalai, Voice of Plenty but the biggest name was probably Shield Mare with Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants, after pulling that off in the second match, opponent dropped removal onto the mare straight away, giving me life and giving breathing room for the flyers.

Round 4: 0-2 Vs Rakdos Mid-Range. This was bad, I played 3 creatures before I was dead, what I could play was dead before it could do anything. Tried to side in Knight of Grace, unfortunately I didn't draw into it. The pace of that deck is something else.

Round 5: 0-2 Vs Esper Control Shut down pretty badly in the First match, didn't make it to 5 mana or see any Shalai, Voice of Plenty. Second round I go a bit of pace up, dropped them down to 1 life twice before they just survived with life gain on Vraska's Contempt, Knight of Grace Did a lot of work but i didn't expect to see Entrancing Melody which turned things around for them.

Round 6: 2-0 Vs Esper Control (Same Deck as Before) Went a lot better for me, hit my curves just right into big threats. Turn 4 Ajani which they tapped out to remove into a free Lyra Dawnbringer.

Round 7: 0-2 Vs Mono Red Wizards. I performed so poorly, kept hands I shouldn't have got mana screwed once and flooded in the other. Opponent played really well shut down everything I could do and ran over the top.

Under Performers: Shanna, Sisay's Legacy, This card didn't quite do what I thought it did, i thought its ability was closer to a hexproof but its far from it, against red decks its too small cause everything else eats removal and then get steam rolled. Will likely replace it with Thorn Lieutenant for now.

Diamond Mare Not the worst, I could put it in front of a bunch of aggro creatures but a 1/3 is lackluster and its ability didn't help too often. I'm thinking of using this slot to finish the set of Thorn Lieutenants and maybe a few Seal Aways.

Sept. 2, 2018

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Date added	6 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is not Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 19 - 10 Rares 17 - 3 Uncommons 0 - 2 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.74
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W w/ Vigilance, Cat 1/1 W w/ Lifelink, Elf Warrior 1/1 G, Emblem Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants, Soldier 1/1 W w/ Lifelink, Vampire 1/1 W
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