Counting on Life

Commander / EDH Budget Casual Counters Enchantment Lifegain Lifelink Proliferate RGW (Naya) Theme/Gimmick

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Creature (28)

• 1x Ageless Entity
• 1x Ajani's Pridemate
• 1x Aragorn, Hornburg Hero
• 1x Ascendant Acolyte
• 1x Bright-Palm, Soul Awakener
• 1x Byrke, Long Ear of the Law
• 1x Envoy of the Ancestors
• 1x Exemplar of Light
• 1x Forgotten Ancient
• 1x Halana and Alena, Partners
• 1x Hamletback Goliath
• 1x Kalonian Hydra
• 1x Kami of Whispered Hopes
• 1x Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn
• 1x Loyal Guardian
• 1x Managorger Hydra
• 1x Mikaeus, the Lunarch
• 1x Nykthos Paragon
• 1x Phytohydra
• 1x Primordial Hydra
• 1x Quilled Greatwurm
• 1x Railway Brawler
• 1x Selfless Squire
• 1x Shalai, Voice of Plenty
• 1x Sovereign Okinec Ahau
• 1x Treebeard, Gracious Host
• 1x Trelasarra, Moon Dancer
• 1x Vigor

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Fangs of Kalonia
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Thirsting Roots

Land (36)

• 1x Bretagard Stronghold
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Command Tower
• 8x Forest
• 1x Gavony Township
• 1x Guildmages' Forum
• 1x Jungle Shrine
• 1x Karn's Bastion
• 1x Legion Stronghold  ^Flip
• 1x Mossfire Valley
• 2x Mountain
• 1x Opal Palace
• 1x Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 8x Plains
• 1x Rugged Prairie
• 1x Sheltering Landscape
• 1x Sunscorched Divide
• 1x Temple of Abandon
• 1x Temple of Plenty
• 1x Temple of Triumph

Artifact (11)

• 1x Aetheric Amplifier
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Basilisk Collar
• 1x Behemoth Sledge
• 1x Caduceus, Staff of Hermes
• 1x Fractal Harness
• 1x Loxodon Warhammer
• 1x Mask of Avacyn
• 1x Mirror Shield
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots

Commander (1)

Enchantment (16)

• 1x Alpha Authority
• 1x Annie Joins Up
• 1x Branching Evolution
• 1x Court of Garenbrig
• 1x Cradle of Vitality
• 1x Felidar Umbra
• 1x Hydra's Growth
• 1x Keen Sense
• 1x Light of Promise
• 1x Mayael's Aria
• 1x Resourceful Defense
• 1x Sheltered by Ghosts
• 1x Snake Umbra
• 1x Sunbond
• 1x True Conviction
• 1x Uncivil Unrest

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Ajani, Mentor of Heroes

Instant (1)

• 1x Solidarity of Heroes

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Maybeboard

Artifact (1)

• 1x Basilisk Collar

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Aim

The idea is to weaponise life gain by turning it into a means with which to add lots of counters to creatures, Shalai and Hallar then turns that into damage. With the amount of life the deck can gain it hopefully ensures the deck regularly gets running by extending games due to constantly increasing your life total.

This was primarily inspired by my modern deck The Exponential Wurm Of Life

The ideal scenario is to give Shalai and Hallar lifelink with something having the ability to gain counters when life is gained. Thus when S&H deals damage to an opponent through its ability life is gained, adding a counter to a creature and going infinite.

Creatures such as Ajani's Pridemate, Ageless Entity, and Treebeard, Gracious Host go infinite once S&H has lifelink with numerous options being provided to facilitate this with both equipment and enchantments (e.g. Behemoth Sledge). In addition Light of Promise and Sunbond allow the same infinite damage loop to be added to any other creature.

Due to the importance of S&H and the often 2 or 3 heavy hitters the deck creates multiple lasting protection options have been added (Swiftfoot Boots, Mask of Avacyn, Mirror Shield, Alpha Authority) to prevent spot removal.

Ramp and mana fixing are also a must so a mix of instant, sorcery and artifacts have been included to facilitate this along with dual/filter lands. This allows the deck to set up fast and get S&H on the board to get the game plan going.

The backup strategy is counter doubling effects provided through cards such as Branching Evolution, Hydra's Growth, Court of Garenbrig, Solidarity of Heroes etc as these are often enough to deal sufficient damage to end the game through non-infinite means. This is complemented by an array of creatures which establish or additionally double up counters quickly, most notably threats such as Kalonian Hydra, Aragorn, Hornburg Hero, Bright-Palm, Soul Awakener and Quilled Greatwurm

Top Ranked	Achieved #24 position overall 1 year ago Achieved #22 position in Commander / EDH 1 year ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Lifelink 1 year ago
Date added	1 year
Last updated	1 day
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 38 - 0 Rares 23 - 0 Uncommons 10 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.39
Tokens	Food, Fractal 0/0 GU, Plot, The Monarch
Folders	edh, Commander Night, EDH Gauntlet, Cool Ideas, Budget first decks, Favorites, Other Peoples Dope Decks, maybe, Commander Decks, inventory decks