Lifelink isn’t just the remit of dedicated lifegain decks, and it hasn’t been for a long time. Gaining life in Casual Commander is currently way more important than it ever was before, and all decks can and should be dipping in. Here’s the rundown.
THE ROLE OF LIFEGAIN IN CASUAL COMMANDER
Life is a resource, right? It’s one of the formative lessons of being a Magic player. What’s more, we learn that “only the last point of life matters”. This is one of the pillars of learning when getting good at 1v1 Magic, and it still extends to Commander. If you’re winning the game before your opponents, it doesn’t matter if you’re at one life.
When it comes to Casual Commander, though – and by this we mean anything before you get to B4 and B5 (cEDH) – life totals matter a little bit more. They matter because of how games tend to play out.
With fewer combo wins out of nowhere, and more telegraphed win conditions on the table, things tend to progress at a similar rate for multiple decks at the table. When at least some of those decks have combat or Commander Damage as a win condition, you will often find yourself at an impasse toward the latter part of the mid-game. Multiple decks might have lethal on board, with something of a “Mexican Standoff” occurring between two or more players.
Any player could outright kill one or more players, but is equally susceptible to being killed on the crackback by one or more players too. That’s just where we’re at in Commander now, and it happens on turns 6-8 much more often than it used to on turn 10+.
In these situations, combat tricks and fogs are great. There’s a reason why Teferi’s Protection, The One Ring and Cyclonic Rift are three of the most played Game Changers, after all. They buy you time.
THE ART OF BUYING TIME
One of my favorite articles I wrote way back in 2022 asked how much life an extra turn was worth in Commander. Most folks said 10-15 life was what they’d pay for an extra turn effect, and let me tell you – on average, gaining this much life in a turn does indeed net you an extra turn in Commander. I’d argue that that is even more true than it was three years ago, as decks have become more streamlined, more aggressive, and more consistent.
I think we can reframe lifegain by thinking of it like cracking a healing potion in a video game. You don’t crack them when you’re dying – you crack them when your health dips below half, so that you can keep out of one-shot range. I’d further this comparison by suggesting that lifegain is “comfy”; a quality of life term in gaming that indicates taking some pressure off of the need for a perfect run by augmenting your build. This “comfy”-ness can relieve some of your cognitive load, or just allow you to have a more relaxed experience achieving a goal.
How Much Life is an Extra Turn Worth in EDH? Kristen Gregory, February 2022
That analogy about healing out of one-shot range strikes true when you consider the prevalence of the stalemate aggressive decks can often find themselves in. Even when you’re breaking that stalemate with flyers, menace or other forms of evasion, you still might be soft to the crack-back.
As true now as it was then, using lifegain buys you time to enact your gameplan.
MAKE SURE TO PACK INCIDENTAL LIFEGAIN
When I think about adding lifegain to my decks, there are a few main ways to do it:
- Fog Effects: Fogs are cards that negate combat damage. Some are proactive, like Ghostly Prison, and some are reactive, like Portal Manipulator (which I have a big soft spot for, as it also redirects damage elsewhere). Packing protection like Flare of Fortitude or Teferi’s Protection also counts, but I still like to have a traditional fog or two in my back pocket when I don’t have access to more reliable lifegain effects. Even tasteful amounts of Goad, like a Kardur or Taunt from the Ramparts, counts here.
- Stapled to Common Effects: Getting some lifegain when you draw cards, like with Momentous Fall or Disciple of Bolas, is the foundation of what I mean. You can also get it on protection like Restoration Magic, and on removal like Noxious Gearhulk or reanimator creatures like Metamorphosis Fanatic.
- On Your Finishers/Anthems: Akroma’s Will is the posterchild for this, but previously we had True Conviction, and now we also have it on Commanders like Y’shtola from the Final Fantasy precons. This also counts if you’re putting some lifegain creatures into your suite of attackers in a combat deck, or adding a Soul Warden or two to your tokens build.
I’ve even found success adding an Auriok Champion to my Giada list, as it wears equipment well, gums up the ground with protection, survives damage wraths, and otherwise gains me a boat load of life during a game.
IF A CURVE TOPPER ISN’T WINNING, IT SHOULD BE STABILIZING
The next part of this conversation is about your curve toppers. If curve toppers aren’t winning you the game, then they need to be at the very least stabilizing you. That’s why Sun Titan is the Sun that Never Sets, and it’s why a deck full of two-for-one (or better!) bodies like Henzie can easily claw back tempo in a game.
When I last recommended six fantastic six-drops you should try in Commander, a good half of them had lifegain involved.
Metamorphosis Fanatic reanimates a key creature and gives it lifelink, while being a 4/4 lifelinker itself. Both it and Angel of Indemnity can give huge life total swings that make those stalemates more likely to end in your favor. These cards stabilize the board, and if they stick around, they can push life totals apart to make you way more comfortable. They fit the ideal of being a “health potion” that pulls you out of one-shot range.
The other card I mentioned was Vein Ripper, because it not only disincentivizes opponents from writhing you, but also makes any of your wraths a potential killing spell provided the board is wide enough.
Again, ask yourself how much your curve toppers are doing for you. If they aren’t pushing you toward a win, are they stabilizing you? How comfy do you feel after dropping one?
EVERY TABLE HAS A “BURN” DECK
The final thing to discuss when it comes to lifelink in Casual Commander is that every table seems to have at least one burn deck, and usually, at least one other deck at the table has an alternate wincon that involves burn or life drain, or just incidentally does so as the game progresses.
Three of the most popular Commanders of the past month have life drain/burn baked into their Commander and their main gameplan. Looking at the rest, Ashling the Limitless can play Champion of the Path and doubler effects; The Ur-Dragon has Terror of the Peaks, Scourge of Valkas and Dragon Tempest, at minimum; Krenko often packs Purphoros, God of the Forge, Impact Tremors and the like; and Edgar can use any number of Blood Artist effects and Vein Ripper.
Most of the popular decks are popular because they’re powerful and consistent, and one reason for this is how these types of win conditions are so consistent. They naturally complement combat damage to mop up survivors – or soften them up first.
The only way to shore up your win percentage against one of the more dominant Casual strategies is to make sure you pack plenty of healing, and to top up accordingly.
END STEP
Lifelink seems to be the King of Casual Commander these days, and it’s due to the environment we find ourselves in. Do you agree? What tools do you like to employ to stem the bleeding? Or would you rather just combo out before you die? Let us know on socials.
Kristen is Card Kingdom’s Head Writer and a member of the Commander Format Panel. Formerly a competitive Pokémon TCG grinder, she has been playing Magic since Shadows Over Innistrad, which in her opinion, was a great set to start with. When she’s not taking names with Equipment and Aggro strategies in Commander, she loves to play any form of Limited.