This deck was originally the Life Drain deck from Eventide I picked up when I first started in the summer of 2009. As you can tell... it's changed a bit:
Any life gain deck with a chance of accessing B should have at LEAST:
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain. GOLD in these decks once you mid-game.
1 Necropotence. Again...Gold. You have the manabase to support it.
X Greed. Put that life gain to good use.
Just my opinion...but when you add B to lifegain, you must add some pay life/draw that black offers. If in black, life=cards :).
Drop the Marsh flats for terramporphic! Please! You have no reason to be hampering your progress with that card!
To be fair, the Marsh Flats immediately puts stuff into play untapped. Terramorphic Expanse(and his younger bro Evolving Wilds) puts stuff into play tapped. This makes the deck much slower.
Also, the Flats can act as a 5-8th copy of Godless Shrine. Yeah, it costs 3 life to put it into play untapped, but with a deck focusing on life gain, it shouldn't be a problem.
Also, thoughts on Serra Ascendant? He can act as another finisher, and he is a one drop.
Maybe?:
-1 Knight of Meadowgrain(2 :W: isn't bad, but I figure you could use some more cheaper drops.)
-1 Martyr of Sands(Meh, I don't think she's bad, but I would rather have some aggressor that can become bigger late game, than possibly drawing into someone who only nets you more life.)
-1 Vampire Nighthawk(Again, just to make room for cheaper dudes.)
+3 Serra Ascendant(One drop life linker, and can become really big once you get enough life.)
No Sanguine Bond? Dropping some of the higher end stuff like divinity of pride and baneslayer will help your mana curve. It's already been suggested, but check out serra ascendant and maybe the Soul Sisters deck in general for a few more ideas.
Martyr of sands is weaker here with mono-black cards in the deck, which limits the life you can gain with it.
Bargain and co certainly aren't bad additions (greed is debatable), but Sign in Blood or something similar is a better place to start.
I used to run Sanguine Bond in place of Baneslayer Angel. The problem was, if I got into a lock with an opponent, I wasn't able to stall and folded. An untapped BSA combined with the rest of the deck lets me stall forever. By the time I resolve whatever the problem is I've got 50+ life and enough room to fool around a bit.
As for Serra Ascendant... I'm just not sure what to take out. If anything, probably Soul Warden. The Knights, Vampires and Martyrs gain a nice amount of life early game. I'll have to do some MWS testing with Serra Ascendant.
Also, Martyr's not weak at all with only eight mono-black cards. I typically get 9-12 life out of one Martyr early game.
4x Marsh Flats
4x Godless Shrine
4x Fetid Heath
6x Plains
6x Swamp
4x Martyr of Sands
4x Soul Warden
4x Knight of Meadowgrain
4x Tidehollow Sculler
4x Vampire Nighthawk
4x Baneslayer Angel
4x Divinity of Pride
4x Go for the Throat
4x Path to Exile
DECKS
:symw::symb: Life Gain :symb::symw:
Building (eventually)...
:symb::symr::symg: Dragon-Ramp :symg::symr::symb:
If he has them, use them. the 1 life is negligible in a life gain deck, and the new land comes into play untapped.
so in essence...um, what?
--- Meren of Clan Nel Toth --- Jhoira of the Ghitu --- Prime Speaker Zegana ---
--- Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief --- Ghoulcaller Gisa --- Akroma, Angel of Fury --- Titania, Protector of Argoth ---
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain. GOLD in these decks once you mid-game.
1 Necropotence. Again...Gold. You have the manabase to support it.
X Greed. Put that life gain to good use.
Just my opinion...but when you add B to lifegain, you must add some pay life/draw that black offers. If in black, life=cards :).
DRum
Old school group, sometimes more beer than cards. Revised thru Tempest block (and a little of Urza), sorry if I don't know all the new cards
Ye' Olde Schoole Casual Decks: BUReanimate -- GRAggro -- BWPestilence -- G10-land Stompy -- GRElfball -- GWEnchantress -- RAnkh Sligh -- BDiscard -- MUC "Draw-go" -- BRSuicide -- UWSkies -- UHigh Tide Mill -- WWeenie -- UMutated Bombers -- URThe great land-toss -- UB Molasass
To be fair, the Marsh Flats immediately puts stuff into play untapped. Terramorphic Expanse(and his younger bro Evolving Wilds) puts stuff into play tapped. This makes the deck much slower.
Also, the Flats can act as a 5-8th copy of Godless Shrine. Yeah, it costs 3 life to put it into play untapped, but with a deck focusing on life gain, it shouldn't be a problem.
Also, thoughts on Serra Ascendant? He can act as another finisher, and he is a one drop.
Maybe?:
-1 Knight of Meadowgrain(2 :W: isn't bad, but I figure you could use some more cheaper drops.)
-1 Martyr of Sands(Meh, I don't think she's bad, but I would rather have some aggressor that can become bigger late game, than possibly drawing into someone who only nets you more life.)
-1 Vampire Nighthawk(Again, just to make room for cheaper dudes.)
+3 Serra Ascendant(One drop life linker, and can become really big once you get enough life.)
Special thanks to XenoNinja of Heroes of the Plane Studios for the awesome avy!
Martyr of sands is weaker here with mono-black cards in the deck, which limits the life you can gain with it.
Bargain and co certainly aren't bad additions (greed is debatable), but Sign in Blood or something similar is a better place to start.
Lyzolda, the Blood Witch | Maga, Traitor to Mortals | Mayael the Anima | Rafiq of the Many | Rhys the Redeemed
Sasaya, Oorochi Ascendant | Sygg, River Cutthroat | Thada Adel, Acquisitor | Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
As for Serra Ascendant... I'm just not sure what to take out. If anything, probably Soul Warden. The Knights, Vampires and Martyrs gain a nice amount of life early game. I'll have to do some MWS testing with Serra Ascendant.
Also, Martyr's not weak at all with only eight mono-black cards. I typically get 9-12 life out of one Martyr early game.
DECKS
:symw::symb: Life Gain :symb::symw:
Building (eventually)...
:symb::symr::symg: Dragon-Ramp :symg::symr::symb: