I've seen some other W/G Hardened Scales decks around, and I wanted to see if I could make a more budget friendly version that still produced the desired effect. To this end, I wanted to explore a lifegain-into-counters strategy alongside the heroic triggers also in the deck. Below is an explanation of the purpose of each card within the deck.
Ajani's Pridemate- An integral aggro card which accumulates counters directly from life gain.
Hardened Scales- The foundation of the deck, which significantly accelerates the counters your creatures can obtain
Herald of Anafenza- This card proved in testing to be very useful. Given the low curve of this deck (almost everything being under three-mana) Herald's outlast ability is useful on turns where you might not have other things to do, generating both a counter and a token.
Lagonna-Band Trailblazer- Trailblazer has a high toughness, which I hope will head off more aggressive decks in the first few turns, as well as being out of range for most damage-based removal spells. The heroic trigger is also helpful in generating counters
Launch the Fleet- This is a very straightforward heroic trigger for Lagonna-Band Trailblazer and Phalanx Leader, which also generates helpful tokens!
Nyx-Fleece Ram- Similar to Lagonna-Band Trailblazer, I've found that NFR's high toughness as well as it's life-gain generation makes it useful.
Ordeal of Heliod- Ordeal of Heliod serves both as a heroic trigger as well as a lifegain generator, and can be devastating if it happens to pop while Sunbond is on the field.
Phalanx Leader- In combination with Hardened Scales, even a single trigger of Phalanx Leader's heroic ability can dramatically increase the power of the creatures on your board.
Reap What is Sown- A solid heroic trigger that directly distributes counters. Especially effective with a Hardened Scales on the board.
Solidarity of Heroes- This card is basically a finisher, serving both as a heroic trigger which DOUBLES the already large amount of counters on your creature.
Soulmender- Soulmender fuels both Ajani's Pridemate as well as a Sunbond-ed creature.
Sunbond- Although this is the highest mana cost card in the deck, Sunbond can generate a significant amount of counters with only small lifegain coming from soulmender, NFR and especially ordeal of heliod.
I would appreciate recommendations!
Cheers!
