Hey! What’s going on man? The Captain is, like, out with his wife doing all kinds of, like, tests and stuff for their coming seed. So, like, I’m here to fill in for him by bringing to you the second deck for his dual colored deck series. My name Harmony Love Jones, but you can just call me Jones, ok? Sweet. Well I got his notes here and he was going to do a Green/White deck for this entry. So I took the time to think about a deck that the two colors and his new family plans have in common. So this week we’ll be talking about the beauty of life, man... or in Magic terms Life gain.
Moments of Our Lives!
Green and White have a lot in common, but the things they share the most is life gain, tokens, and +1/+1 counters. While I’m all for giving to others and peaceful gathering of my rad people, none of it would be possible if it wasn’t for life, man. Being alive is the best gift in the world and it shouldn’t be like, taken for granted, bro. So this deck will be all about preventative measures, and who better to help us keep the peace then…
Daughter of Autumn! She’s a real down to earth kind of girl. She likes long walks in the plains, taking naps in the forest, and keeping the creatures around her safe. So I guess, like, this is the part where we go into cards for the deck. So let’s go for it.
Violence Is Not The Answer!
So if we’re going to start this deck we should start with a plan right? I mean we can’t just go in to a game of Magic and hope that no one attacks us. This game gets very violent very fast. I was attacked for playing the first land, holding a hand of cards greater than five, and looking at a dude’s graveyard. But I’m cool with it cause it’s a part of the game. So I’m going to use a part of the game to help keep my life total from looking like a tire.
Respite, Warning, Fog, Holy Day, Blunt the Assault, Angelsong, Tangle, Restrain, Lull, Pollen Lullaby, and Pay No Heed: Do you know how most people lose in this game? Combat Damage. Think about it. When was the last time you played? Did you win that game? Did you win by some alternate win condition or did the other guy’s life total drop to zero? It was the second one right? So here we have a group of life saving spells. Also, we could help someone else if they get attacked. They keep some life, we get a friend, and no one has to die.
Story Circle, Circle of Protection: Red, Circle of Protection: White, Circle of Protection: Green, Circle of Protection: Blue, Circle of Protection: Artifacts, and Circle of Protection: Black: In this game, we need to keep ourselves protected. Besides, I’m the kind of guy that likes sitting in a circle. Taking this time to ponder the meaning of life points sure does make me want a drink. Maybe I'll have some tea? These enchantments are great at keeping Commander damage in control. No one wants to lose to that. Not when we still have so much to live for.
Felidar Sovereign and Test of Endurance: These are our win conditions. All we have to do is keep our life above 50 or more until our next turn comes around and we can all live to see our loved ones again…
Hold on I think I hear someone coming…
What the HELL!!!
Hey man, what’s going…
Who the Hell are you and what are you doing on my ship!?
Easy there man, I was here filling in for you this week and I…
Is that MY page you’re playing with?!?!Well… yeah… I’m a huge fan and I figured…
Look here, you dirt-loving tree-hugger, you got 5 seconds to get the Hell out of here before I toss you overboard and give you your first bath in years! 1!
Woo man, there’s no need to get water involved in this…
2!
Okay, I get it, just let me roll up my flower blanket and I’ll be on my way…
Your WHAT!!! To Hell with this… 5!
…
…
…
Sorry about that. I guess that’s what I get for leaving myself logged in when I leave. So, I could easily try to do a different deck but the damage has already been done. At least that jerk didn’t do a token deck.
Well, I might as well go ahead and finish this thing, but I’m not going all peaceful like. I want life points and I’m going to get them!
Enjoying Life… One Point At A Time!
So, one of the best ways to get life points in this game is by taking them from your opponents. I was hoping to save Life gain for when I did Black and White, but it looks like I’ll just have to try something else. It’s not like Green is all that bad when it comes to getting a bump in your LP department. So let’s get to the creatures that will make our opponents stop attacking because they know it’s pointless… yes… that was a horrible pun… someone has to make it, right?
Perimeter Captain, Pride Guardian, Wall of Reverence, and Purity: These are here for the simple reason of gaining life just for blocking. Preventing damage is one of the best ways to keep from losing life in the first place. These, paired with a few of the fog effects can make it hard for your opponents to hit you. Effects that gain you a few points is a good place to start.
Baneslayer Angel, Engulfing Slagwurm, Serra Ascendant, Knight of Meadowgrain, Phantom Nishoba, Paladin of Prahv, and Oracle of Nectars: These are our heavy hitters. Baneslayer, Slagwurm, and Ascendant bring the pain and gain life like it was going out of style; the smallest one of the 3 is Baneslayer and she gains 5, has first strike, and pro demons and dragons. Knight of Meadowgrain gains only 2 points at a time, but she has first strike so she can take out dudes with 2 toughness easily. Nishoba is a 7/7 that loses +1/+1 when he takes damage; Nishoba and Paladin of Prahv’s abilities to gain life is not Lifelink, so they stack. Oracle of Nectars will gain you life without the need for battle so I guess there is something to that if you happen to have enough mana to gain life back as quickly as you lose it.
Archon of Redemption, Pelakka Wurm, Shattered Angel, Pious Kitsune, and Celestial Force: These are your other more static life gain effects. Archon gains you life for every flyer you cast. Pelakka Wurm will gain you only 7 life when it comes in, but it will draw you a card when it dies. It’s also a 7/7 trampler so it should get in there for some serious damage. Shattered Angel gains you 3 life for every land that an opponent plays, so remember the more people at the table equals that many more points for free! Pious Kitsune can gain you 1 point a turn, but depending on how long it’s allowed to stay, could easily gain you way more with a Eight-Tails out to protect it. Celestial Force gains you three life at every upkeep. Every upkeep! Do the math. In one turn around he gains you 12 life. That’s enough to take an attack from two titans and when your turn starts, you’re life total is what it was on your last turn. Let it sit for too long and you could gain 24 or more without trying.
Suture Priest, Essence Warden, Soul's Attendant, and Soul Warden: Ok, you can’t make a deck about life gain without the Soul Sisters. These are just four copies of the same girl from 4 different worlds. The only one that’s kind of different is the Priest, who pings your opponents for playing creatures. Just drop these girls on the field and watch your opponent’s faces as they think hard about every creature that comes into play.
Serra Avatar, Victory's Herald, Windbrisk Raptor, and Ageless Entity: These will be our other finishers. Serra Avatar will be huge with all this life gain. Even without it, she could be a 40/40 if no one attacks you before you drop it, making it a one shot kill to an open player. Herald and Raptor will give our whole team lifelink and Victory’s Herald will give all our attackers flying making it easy to finish off a player while gaining enough life to live though an open attack from another. Ageless Entity is another huge beater for when we have the chance to get in one solid hit.
Loxodon Hierarch, Dauntless Escort, and Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant: These can keep our creatures safe from the grave. The Hierarch can regenerate the whole team so our attacks and defenses can be a little safer. Dauntless Escort makes our team Wrath proof and fills the same role as Hierarch in that respect. Rune-Tail should always come in flipped, or you’re just playing this deck wrong. That was wrong of me. I’m sorry. Well any way, Rune-Tail should do a great job of keeping your creatures safe in battle, so with it out you could just keep attacking without fear; just hold back enough blockers and maybe one with lifelink and you should live through anything.
The Seed of Life!
So now we need a few ways to keep the lands coming because a few of these things are up there in the mana cost department. Here are our key land search cards.
Safewright Quest, Far Wanderings, Seek the Horizon, Search for Tomorrow, Cultivate, Untamed Wilds,
Collective Voyage, Skyshroud Claim, Journey of Discovery, Explosive Vegetation, and Kodama's Reach: What can I say, other then play these when you get a chance to. They will pump your land count up and thin your deck at the same time, making every draw that much more effective. With this much land fetching you should never be in need of mana.
Spiritualize, Congregation at Dawn, and Dawn Charm: Spiritualize is an interesting card here. Let an opponent attack someone else and use it as a way to gain some life in the exchange and draw a card. It can also negate an attack on you while replacing itself. Congregation at Dawn can find your win condition creatures and a life gainer to help them go off when you cast them. Dawn Charm brings us full circle with its Fog effect, but also can counter a spell aimed at us like, a Fireball effect. It also can regenerate a creature in a pinch.
Daughter of Autumn, Tolsimir Wolfblood, and Kei Takahashi: Okay, I had nothing to do with Daughter of Autumn being the Commander for this deck. I think Kei Takahashi is better, but I’m sure Autumn can help you win a few games because people will be too busy laughing at you. Tolsimir Wolfblood could also take a good chance at the top of the deck.
From here we put in 18 Forests and 18 Plains and we are ready to outlive the others! Like I always advise, play around with your mana base here. I’m sure you can find more lands with other cool things, like ways to bring creatures back from the grave, protection, and even more life gain. Well, that does it for this week, next week I lock my computer with a new password and my door with a better pad lock. Oh, and I also hit White and Blue up for some money.
Before I go I have one more thing I would like to say. I want to take this quick moment to send a shout out to my boy Andy and his Crew over at CommanderCast.blogspot.com; they just finished their 3rd season of their awesome Podcast. When the next season starts, they’re going from that site to CommanderCast.com! I have been a big fan of the show from the beginning and can’t wait to see the new site. I hope they enjoy their 3 week vacay!
Hope you had fun and please leave any comments or suggestions. Until next time,
This is your Captain speaking… We’re heading into the Red Zone!!!
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