The 40 Best Lifegain Cards in Magic Ranked

Last updated on May 19, 2024

Sheoldred, the Apocalypse | Illustration by Joe Esposito

Lifegain strategies are rarely the strongest archetype in the game but among its most popular. Some people always try and make Ajani's Pridemate work, no matter how hostile the format is.

The main drawback to these strategies is that gaining life doesn’t impact the board, which can lead to a bunch of dead draws. The solution is to use the best lifegain cards, ones that provide more than just life—or at least enough life to offset the card disadvantage.

Let’s figure out what the best ones are together!

What Are Lifegain Cards in Magic?

Captured Sunlight | Illustration by Nils Hamm

Lifegain cards are cards that gain life, either as their entire effect or incidentally while you take game actions. I chose not to rank lifelink creatures on this list; when I think about adding lifegain cards to my decks, I’m looking for this kind of incidental or burst lifegain, not lifelink creatures.

Lifegain is an ability primarily seen on white cards, with black cards and green cards coming in a close second and third. Red has practically no lifegain, instead focusing on preventing lifegain. This heavily biases this list towards white and gold cards that include white while red doesn’t feature on the list (sorry, goblin players).

Lifegain effects fall into two categories: big bursts of lifegain from cards like Feed the Clan and incidental lifegain from cards like Soul Warden and Kambal, Consul of Allocation. I generally favor the incidental ones because they impact the board. The issue with burst spells is that you effectively discard a card to gain some life, which doesn’t progress your board state. I also value the incidental lifegain because many payoffs just care about you gaining life; Heliod, Sun-Crowned triggers the same off 1 life or 20.

This list is geared towards Commander, though some of these cards have been prominent parts of Constructed decks.

#40. Blossoming Wreath

Bursty lifegain needs to gain a bunch of life, and Blossoming Wreath has potential. Paired with Hermit Druid and similar self-mill cards, I can see this green instant gaining 8 or more life.

#39. Planewide Celebration

Planewide Celebration gives you the option to gain life, even if you won’t choose it often. But the option is always nice!

#38. Crypt Incursion

Crypt Incursion can be dicey since it relies on your opponents having creatures in the graveyard, but you only need to hit three or four creatures for this black instant to be a worthwhile investment, plus you get some incidental graveyard hate.

#37. Treacherous Greed

You need to be interested in attacking and sacrificing creatures for Treacherous Greed to be worthwhile, but I’ll jump through a troubling number of hoops to draw three cards with this Orzhov instant.

#36. Faithful Mending

Faithless Looting has long been a staple of graveyard-based strategies and Faithful Mending extends that value further into the color pie. I’d only put this instant in decks that utilize the discard element.

#35. Captured Sunlight

Captured Sunlight synergizes with the wealth of “cast from exile” cards we’ve seen lately like Rocco, Street Chef and The War Doctor. You’ll never play this sorcery outside that archetype or perhaps a hyper-focused lifegain deck, but cascade is an inherently broken ability, so this warrants consideration.

#34. Feed the Clan

I’d never play Feed the Clan in a deck that can’t reliably enable ferocious. If you can, then this green instant has an incredible ratio of life gained to mana spent.

#33. Glorious Sunrise

I love this green enchantment, maybe more than it deserves. Glorious Sunrise works beautifully in a lifegain deck because you have a load of other options to choose from if you lack lifegain synergies to trigger.

#32. Herald of the Pantheon

You need to play an enchantress deck for Herald of the Pantheon to work, but there’s a heavy overlap between enchantments and lifegain thanks to cards like Sigarda's Splendor and Trudge Garden, plus this green creature offers great ramp via cost reduction.

#31. Shadowgrange Archfiend

You’ll rarely play Shadowgrange Archfiend explicitly for the lifegain but this black demon is a fantastic grindy tool. The biggest creatures tend to be the scariest, so killing off two or three threats while gaining a chunk of life can swing games in your favor.

#30. Brutal Hordechief

Brutal Hordechief makes lifegain aggressive thanks to a powerful attack trigger that encourages flooding the board with tokens. If you like this effect, you can find similar effects in Campaign of Vengeance and Mishra, Claimed by Gix.

#29. Disciple of Bolas

I enjoy Disciple of Bolas because it plays differently than other sacrifice cards. Most sacrifice outlets want you to sacrifice cheap tokens, but this black human wizard encourages getting rid of the biggest bois for cards and life and I enjoy the dynamic.

#28. Sigarda’s Splendor

Sigarda's Splendor is exactly what I want out of my incidental lifegain cards: a steady stream of life plus additional effects. You need to be heavy into white/lifegain to leverage this white enchantment properly but it’s a bundle of fun.

#27. Approach of the Second Sun

The lifegain on Approach of the Second Sun provides essential time to reach the second cast of the card. This white sorcery is one of my favorite alternate win conditions, even if it gets trickier in Commander with a single copy.

#26. Ezzaroot Channeler

Ezzaroot Channeler provides lifegain decks stellar ramp and even a bit of self-enabling. I wouldn’t run this treefolk druid in every green deck, but I’d almost consider running green lifegain for this card.

#25. Shamanic Revelation

Rather like Feed the Clan, I’d want a plethora of ways to enable ferocious to play Shamanic Revelation, but it’s not as necessary this time around. Any deck that floods the board with creatures can cash in this green sorcery for a couple cards, but gaining 8 life while you do it adds a lot of value here.

#24. Twilight Prophet

Twilight Prophet requires you to ascend and gain the city’s blessing to partake in the lifegain, but it’s far easier than it sounds, especially if your deck creates tokens or puts extra lands into play. The reward of damage, lifegain, and card advantage makes this a surprisingly impactful black creature.

#23. Kitchen Finks

Let’s be honest: People play Kitchen Finks as a combo piece. Pair it with something that removes -1/-1 counters or adds +1/+1 counters when it comes into play and a free sacrifice outlet like Ashnod's Altar and this creature goes infinite in so many ways.

#22. Obzedat, Ghost Council

Obzedat, Ghost Council has lost much luster with the passage of time and rise of power creep, but I still love this Orzhov card dearly. It has a narrow window to interact with and puts a clock on your opponents, especially when paired with effects like Sanguine Bond and Bloodletter of Aclazotz.

#21. Fumigate

I have fond memories of Fumigate in Standard. This works best in controlling strategies. Board wipes are meant to catch you up from behind; tacking on a burst of lifegain doubles down on the catch up mechanics.

#20. Cosmos Elixir

Cosmos Elixir is exactly what lifegain decks want, at least in the slower Commander format: a reliable source of life triggers or card draw. Not needing to choose would be even better but you can only have so much.

#19. Zuran Orb

You need to game Zuran Orb to get the most use from it, which often looks like The Gitrog Monster or Titania, Protector of Argoth. It also works alongside Urza, Lord High Artificer and other cards that want loads of cheap artifacts.

#18. Queza, Augur of Agonies

The wheels in the Commander deck go round and round…. Queza, Augur of Agonies often sees at least some wheels in its lists, but you could run it like a group hug commander with Howling Mine effects. Of course, it doesn’t need to be the commander; all flavors of control decks can use this to gain a little life and pressure their opponents.

#17. Omnath, Locus of Creation

One could argue that gaining life is the least of what Omnath, Locus of Creation can do and that would be fair. But you shouldn’t overlook that element of this busted elemental. Most cards that look for a certain threshold of life gained check for 3 or 4 life, so this is right on the money.

#16. Kambal, Consul of Allocation

I have played against Kambal, Consul of Allocation multiple times and the lifegain is incredible! The pod blinks and the Kambal player has 60 life. 2 life doesn’t seem like much but that only encourages players to jam all their spells.

#15. Exquisite Blood

You rarely see Exquisite Blood without Sanguine Bond for the insta-kill combo, but it’s perfectly respectable on its own. A little costly, perhaps, but it takes little effort to gain a ton of life each turn.

#14. Courser of Kruphix

Landfall: Gain a life approaches the pinnacle of incidental lifegain. Throw in the potential for “card draw” by playing lands off the top and you’ll see how Courser of Kruphix earned staple status in multiple formats.

#13. Deathrite Shaman

It turns out one of the best mana dorks in the game is also one of the best lifegain cards! The combination of mana production, pressure, lifegain, and graveyard hate makes this elf shaman wildly versatile. It’s weaker in Commander than 60-card formats, and I’d want some sort of self-mill or other ways to fuel Deathrite Shaman.

#12. Case of the Uneaten Feast

There’s a handful of “gain a life when a creature you control enters” effects that broadly fall under this ranking, but I want to give the spotlight to Case of the Uneaten Feast. Solving this case takes work, but the solved ability offers absurd card advantage, especially since lifegain decks tend to focus heavily on permanents.

#11. Blossoming Bogbeast

Blossoming Bogbeast offers a powerful payoff for lifegain strategies. Not to call it Craterhoof Behemoth but… this green beast does a pretty good impression if you partake in lifegain payoffs that create tokens.

#10. Blood Artist Effects

We all know Blood Artist and its many imitators like Zulaport Cutthroat and Bastion of Remembrance. All of them are great ways for creature-based decks to gain life.

#9. Authority of the Consuls

Authority of the Consuls rivals Rhystic Study for its annoyance, but I can’t deny the value. This white enchantment gains tons of life in Commander unless your opponents are all on combo or control, and tapping creatures gives aggressive decks a window to attack.

#8. Creeping Bloodsucker

I was unimpressed when I first saw Creeping Bloodsucker but this black vampire quickly exceeded expectations. This card has you covered whether you need the incidental lifegain for cards like Drogskol Reaver and Dawn of Hope or to chip in for damage for Rakdos, Lord of Riots or Belbe, Corrupted Observer.

#7. Oloro, Ageless Ascetic

Isn’t eminence fun? Isn’t it great how Oloro, Ageless Ascetic triggers Heliod, Sun-Crowned and Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose and Karlov of the Ghost Council with 0 mana invested or ways to interact with this giant soldier short of killing the player?

#6. The Great Henge

The Great Henge is kinda crazy. Actually, really crazy. It’s a mana rock that gains life, draws cards, and puts counters on creatures. You’d think that this green artifact would cost like 9 mana, but it usually costs 3 or 4. One of the very best green cards in Magic, it’s amazingly strong and shockingly scarce; it really needs a proper reprint.

#5. Soul Sisters

The classic soul sisters are Soul Warden and Soul's Attendant, but Essence Warden works as well as a colorshifted version. These are vastly superior to the Case of the Uneaten Feast effects because they count your opponents’ creatures as well. These often gain 5 or more life apiece, especially when played early.

#4. Weather the Storm

Cards that just gain life are weaker than cards that impact the board but Weather the Storm gains enough life to overcome that weakness. It’s kind of crazy what it’ll do in the late game once Commander players have tons of mana to spend and cast multiple spells a turn.

#3. Gray Merchant of Asphodel

Gray Merchant of Asphodel is just silly. Each opponent loses 6 life, you gain 18 life? That’s a pretty good exchange but your devotion's never just six. It’s like 20. Pair this black zombie with Saw in Half for the best results.

#2. Aetherflux Reservoir

Aetherflux Reservoir doesn’t need to be in a combo deck to be useful. It’s a fantastic win condition for lifegain decks and gains tons of life with little effort to enable other win conditions.

#1. Sheoldred, the Apocalypse

The queen of incidental lifegain was in Phyrexia all along. Sheoldred, the Apocalypse demonstrates that cards don’t need a complex wall of text to be powerful. A few choice lines are all it takes. Punishing your opponents' card draw makes this a lovely addition to black lifegain decks.

Best Lifegain Payoffs

Lifegain decks have a ton of support, with token generation being a notable payoff. Cards like Valkyrie Harbinger, Griffin Aerie, and Crested Sunmare flood the board with tokens.

Once you have all these tokens in play, you can buff them! +1/+1 counters are another common reward. Cards like Ajani's Pridemate only buff themselves, but others like Nykthos Paragon and Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn spread counters around the team.

Black payoffs trend towards damage. Cards like Sanguine Bond and Cliffhaven Vampire go right for the jugular without worrying about combat. Card draw is another reward, often connected to paying mana like with Shanna, Purifying Blade, Well of Lost Dreams, or Dawn of Hope.

A slightly more roundabout way to leverage lifegain is by paying life. Cards like K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth and Vona, Butcher of Magan offer powerful abilities that cost loss of life to activate; bumping your life total lets you use them over and over.

How Do Lifegain Decks Win?

Lifegain decks win with any of the above payoffs. I find focusing on tokens and counters to be the most effective route to victory though a more controlling deck using them to reach the late game has its own appeal.

If your lifegain deck struggles to close things out, you probably need more payoffs. I also advise steering clear of most cards that only gain life, like Feed the Clan and Natural Spring. They can be fine in small doses, especially if they gain a lot of life, but they don’t meaningfully impact the board or advance you game plan. They might buy you an extra turn but that's often meaningless without a way to turn it into a win.

Wrap Up

Soul Warden | Illustration by Randy Gallegos

Lifegain strategies have plenty of support and enablers, even if it isn’t the most competitive archetype in the game. Commander, home of all manner of casual brews, has plenty of options for players looking to gain life and explore the rich depths of support the archetype boasts.

What’s your favorite lifegain card? Who would you run as a lifegain Commander? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord!

Stay safe and keep padding that life total!