Skip to content
Commander Nexus
  1. Commander Nexus
  2. Archetypes
  3. Lifegain
Lifegain artwork

Lifegain

decks gain life over and over and use cards that reward each gain with extra cards, creatures or damage to opponents. Everyone starts at 40 life in , so the extra life also keeps you safe while you set up.

  • KindArchetype
  • Cards1,168
  • Good first deck?Yes

Gain life to stay out of danger, and play cards that reward you for it. Very forgiving while you learn the ropes.

An archetype is a whole game plan: the way a deck tries to win.

Find these cards in the app Commanders with this archetype

How it plays

You gain life, over and over, from creatures with and spells that heal. Then you play cards that reward each gain: a card drawn, a +1/+1 placed, or damage dealt to an opponent. Gaining two life six times is worth far more than gaining twelve once.

How it wins

By being too far ahead on life to race, and by turning that life into something. Cards that deal damage equal to the life you gained, or make a creature as big as your life total, finish the game.

What beats it

Cards that stop players gaining life, or make them lose life instead. Poison ignore your life total entirely. A deck that wins without attacking does not care how much life you have.

If this is your first deck

A great first deck. Having lots of life keeps you in the game while you learn, and the plan is easy to follow.

Commanders to Start With

The most played commanders where Lifegain is one of their two main plans, in order from EDHREC, a site that counts the Commander decks players post online.

Example Cards

LifegainLifegain decks gain life over and over and use cards that reward each gain with extra cards, creatures or damage to opponents. Everyone starts at 40 life in Commander, so the extra life also keeps you safe while you set up.Open the full glossaryCommanderThe legendary card that leads your deck, and the name of the format itself. Your commander starts the game in the command zone instead of in your deck, and you can cast it from there. If it leaves the battlefield you can send it back and cast it again, paying 2 more mana each extra time. It is usually a legendary creature; a few other cards say they can be your commander.Atraxa, Praetors' VoiceOpen the full glossaryLifelinkDamage dealt by a creature or spell with lifelink also makes its controller gain that much life.Vampire NighthawkOpen the full glossaryCounterTwo different things share this word. A counter is a small marker placed on a card, such as a +1/+1 counter. To counter a spell is to stop it resolving while it is still on the stack.Open the full glossary