Players have been gaining life since Healing SalveHealing Salve was printed in Alpha. This spell let us gain three life or prevent three damage from being dealt to a given target. While it's a fun concept, Healing Salve pales in comparison to the lifegain cards we have access to nowadays.

We've got some fantastic ways to gain life in Commander. We get a few life points stapled on to removal spells (like Grapple with DeathGrapple with Death), powerful creatures that let us gain life when they deal damage (like Kinscaer SentryKinscaer Sentry), and even dedicated ways to gain tons of life, like Caduceus, Staff of HermesCaduceus, Staff of Hermes.

However, the five colors don't all have the same access to lifegain. is the best at gaining life, is second best, and is third best. White's life gain comes in all card types, while green's life gain is mostly restricted to creatures and sorceries, and black's life gain is largely limited to Drain LifeDrain Life-type effects.

and don't allow players to gain much life at all. In fact, red is more known for preventing life gain, with cards like Leyline of PunishmentLeyline of Punishment and Rampaging FerocidonRampaging Ferocidon.

Develop a Long-Term Plan

Gaining a lot of life doesn't just let us increment the counter on whatever app we're using to track the Commander game on. It also gives us the flexibility to play the long game.

If we're able to survive through opposing combat steps and noncombat damage, we can afford to play with slower, clunkier cards. Gaining life gives us the luxury of time. That's why it's such an effective way to counter aggressive decks!

With time on our side, we can reliably cast multiple spells each game that cost five or more mana. We'll also get to draw more cards than our opponents who get knocked out of the game early.

Life Is a Resource

We're able to let opposing attackers through without worrying as much. If our life total is high enough, we don't need to throw our valuable creatures in front of our opponents' attacking creatures and risk losing them in combat. When a Lifegain deck lands a powerful creature, it'll often stick to the board for a long time.

Additionally, many cards these days ask for some sort of life payment to achieve a powerful effect. We can turn life into card advantage with NecropotenceNecropotence, into board control with Toxic DelugeToxic Deluge, or into any number of things with Black Market ConnectionsBlack Market Connections.

The life point cost on these cards can be staggering, but Lifegain decks are able to cover those costs without an issue.

A Target on Your Back

Commander is a very political format, due to its multiplayer nature. When the goal of the game is to kill multiple opponents, instead of taking out just one, players frequently make deals with each other and gang up on whichever player looks the scariest.

Commander board states can be very hard to decipher. With four players each developing their own distinct game plan, it's tricky to understand which player is truly a threat. But having a higher life total than all the other players certainly stands out. If a player is unsure who to point their attackers at, or unsure where they should point their removal spells, having the most life makes us (and our permanents) juicy targets.

This may not be fair, but it's the way that many Commander games unfold. Threat assessment is hard! Players often point their ire at whoever seems to be in the most advantageous position at a glance, and that's often the Lifegain player.

"Durdling"

For the uninitiated, "durdling" refers to taking game actions that have little meaningful impact on the progress of the game. This could include drawing cards without a payoff for doing so, manipulating the top of one's library without reason, or gaining life without advancing our game plan.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as each of these game actions increases our odds of victory in some minor way.

But gaining tons of life without a payoff can elicit complaints from opposing players and be frustrating for us. Players often want to play quicker games, and don't feel like whittling down our life total over several turns.

Plus, in Commander, there are ways that we can lose beyond having our life total turned into a goose egg. If an opponent hits us for 21 commander damage, resolves an infinite combo, or just wins the game with Thassa's OracleThassa's Oracle, our life total won't matter.

Durdling isn't always the worst thing to do as a Lifegain deck, but it'll draw out some annoyance from our opponents and doesn't protect us from losing the game in any one of several alternative fashions.

Frodo, Adventurous HobbitFrodo, Adventurous Hobbit and Sam, Loyal AttendantSam, Loyal Attendant

This partner pairing is the most popular way to helm a Lifegain deck, leading 22,913 decks on EDHREC at the time of writing.

This pair lets us make Food tokens, draw cards, and gain tons of life throughout the game. They also fit very neatly on our mana curve, giving us a great early game.

Frodo and Sam provide us access to all three of the best colors for lifegain in Commander. That fact, combined with their release as the leaders of a popular precon, have likely led to their immense popularity

Oloro, Ageless AsceticOloro, Ageless Ascetic

Oloro is another super popular commander, sitting with 20,038 decks in EDHREC's database. His Esper () color identity gives us access to two of the best lifegain colors, and lets us access some interesting multicolor cards like Drogskol ReaverDrogskol Reaver.

This Giant Soldier also led a preconstructed deck, but it came out quite a while ago and likely isn't contributing too much to his ongoing popularity.

Oloro lets us gain a steady stream of life on each turn. This means that once-per-turn effects like Exemplar of LightExemplar of Light and Nykthos ParagonNykthos Paragon get supercharged. The lifegain that he provides can really add up over the course of a match, and we can reach a triple-digit life total before anyone realizes just how far out of reach we've become.

Liesa, Shroud of DuskLiesa, Shroud of Dusk

Liesa leads 12,062 decks at the time of writing. She's a 5/5 lifelinker, but won't be gaining us much life outside of combat.

Her strength comes from the way she lowers life totals. When every player at the table is losing life rapidly, Lifegain players that can outlast their opponents can find their way to victory. She also lets us skirt around paying commander tax, which is very helpful given how frequently she'll draw out opposing removal spells.

Dina, Soul SteeperDina, Soul Steeper

Dina leads 8,967 decks. She's one of the most popular Lifegain commanders because of her combo potential. She drains our opponents life total whenever we gain life, which lets us win the game on the spot with a copy of Exquisite BloodExquisite Blood or Bloodthirsty ConquerorBloodthirsty Conqueror.

While Dina pilots often generate value throughout the game by gaining life incrementally, they'll usually go for a combo finish.

Aurelia, the Law AboveAurelia, the Law Above

While isn't known for gaining life well, this Boros () commander sure is. We can flood the board with small creatures using cards like Krenko, Mob BossKrenko, Mob Boss and attach a super-charged Lightning HelixLightning Helix to each of our attacks.

The best part is that Aurelia triggers on our opponents' big attacks too, making them choose between not attacking and giving us some value. That's a great Commander catch-22!

Vraan, Executioner ThaneVraan, Executioner Thane

Slow and steady wins the race! Vraan has a souped-up Blood ArtistBlood Artist-style ability. Sadly, he only triggers once per turn. But if we manage to trigger him on each of our opponents' turns too, we can drain each opponent for a total of eight life every turn rotation.

Paired with cards like Viscera SeerViscera Seer and OphiomancerOphiomancer, Vraan shines as the commander of an Aristocrats deck focused on gaining life.

Judith, Carnage ConnoisseurJudith, Carnage Connoisseur

Judith is often paired with End the FestivitiesEnd the Festivities-style spells to wipe opposing boards. Getting rid of all our opponents' creatures is super strong, but this combination of cards actually gains us a ton of life too.

While Judith isn't often considered as a Lifegain commander, she does wonderfully in the position. If we cast a Blasphemous ActBlasphemous Act with her on the battlefield, we might very well gain several hundred life.

Gray Merchant of AsphodelGray Merchant of Asphodel

"Gary," as this creature is sometimes affectionately called, is a lifegain powerhouse. The Merchant's ability scales extremely well in Commander, and will frequently let us gain scores of life when it enters the battlefield.

Plus, decks that use Gary well can loop it in and out of the graveyard repeatedly to maximize its value.

Soul WardenSoul Warden

This is just one of several one-mana creatures that let us gain life whenever any creature enters the battlefield. Soul Warden's effect really stacks up over time, and this simple effect can often let us gain dozens of life over the course of a few turns.

Plus, the incremental nature of this lifegain works very well with Marauding Blight-PriestMarauding Blight-Priest-style cards.

There are 11 versions of this effect that can hit the board on turn one, and many Lifegain decks will include a few of them to maximize their chances of seeing at least one during a game.

Whip of ErebosWhip of Erebos

This card could have been placed in a few different categories, but I wanted to talk about it as soon as possible. This four-mana enchantment artifact provides all of our creatures with lifelink, turning every combat step into a huge boost to our life total.

We also get to reanimate any creature from our graveyard for a turn, which is a great ability for Aristocrats decks. The Whip of Erebos shines in -based decks that sacrifice creatures to gain life!

The Great HengeThe Great Henge

This artifact provides an immense amount of value, and can often be cast for just . We get to make mana, gain life, put +1/+1 counters on our creatures, and draw cards. What more could we ask for from a single card?

The Great Henge may be one of the best artifacts in all of Commander, and it does very well as a passive lifegain engine too.

Sanguine BondSanguine Bond

While this sort of effect is notorious for ending games when played alongside Exquisite BloodExquisite Blood, it's a fantastic card regardless of that combo.

Most Lifegain decks try to win the game by lowering opposing life totals as their own life total rises. This five-mana enchantment speeds up the process, and can let us take opponents out with ease.

Cleric ClassCleric Class

This enchantment does a little bit of everything. It boosts our lifegain's effectiveness, letting us reach higher life totals with a bit more ease. Cleric Class also puts +1/+1 counters on our creatures, ensuring that we're advancing our board state while we increase our life total.

Finally, this enchantment lets us reanimate a creature and gain a small chunk of life. While that last mode isn't always necessary, this is a solid card that props up our game plan well. It also costs just , making it easy to cast even in multicolored decks.

Pest InfestationPest Infestation

We'll always need to remove artifacts and enchantments throughout a Commander game. This spell lets us get rid of some powerful permanents while also putting some potent Pests into play!

We'll need to get our Pests to die in order to gain life, but we can do that through combat if we don't have a sacrifice outlet available.

Akroma's WillAkroma's Will

Whether we're closing out a game or just swinging in for big damage, Akroma's Will allows us to gain a huge amount of life while protecting our creatures from harm.

Protection spells like this are great to include in lower-Bracket Commander decks, where clogged board states represent ripe opportunities for Akroma's Will.

Ajani, Strength of the PrideAjani, Strength of the Pride

This iteration of Ajani lets us gain life with his , make a super strong token with his , and clear the way towards a combat-based victory with his .

decks that include Ajani will likely also be able to flood the board with creatures, making his ability stronger and letting us attack for more damage after using his ability.

Professor OnyxProfessor Onyx

For decks that include a few extra instant or sorceries, this planeswalker is a fantastic inclusion. All three of her loyalty abilities are powerful, but her ultimate ability can cripple our opponents' chances of willing.

It's also of note that this card goes infinite with Chain of SmogChain of Smog! As a consistent way to draw cards, remove problematic creatures, and to gain a few extra points of life, Professor Onyx is a great planeswalker.

Radiant FountainRadiant Fountain

I don't love lands that only produce . Decks that utilize more than one color of mana can't afford to run many lands that produce colorless mana. But this land is worth it in Lifegain decks. While two life isn't game-breaking on a land, it does allow something as simple as a land drop to trigger all of our synergy pieces.

As an example, we can get Ocelot PrideOcelot Pride's end step trigger without attacking if we've played Radiant Fountain.

This land isn't meant for every deck, but it can do great work in the right Lifegain list.

Glasswing GraceGlasswing Grace

I'm cheating a bit here, because this MDFC (modal double-faced card) isn't just a land: it's also an Aura that gives one of our creatures flying and lifelink! The land half of this card provides us with two colors of mana, and the spell half lets one of our creatures crash through for some lifegain and damage every turn.

MDFCs are fantastic ways to fill out a Commander deck's mana base, and Glasswing Grace should slot right in to tons of Lifegain decks' 99s.

White Decks

Using Archangel of ThuneArchangel of Thune, we can suit our creatures up with tons of +1/+1 counters and swing in for victory. We can also hit opponents a few times with Serra AscendantSerra Ascendant, taking big chunks out of their life total each combat.

Finally, we can flood the board with tokens by making use of Valkyrie HarbingerValkyrie Harbinger.

Black Decks

We can drain our opponents' life totals out over time using Creeping BloodsuckerCreeping Bloodsucker. Or, for a more immediate victory, we can cast a copy of ExsanguinateExsanguinate with a huge value.

Finally, we can turn our lifegain into life loss by using Vito, Thorn of the Dusk RoseVito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose.

Green Decks

Blossoming BogbeastBlossoming Bogbeast will buff up all of our creatures when we gain life. Trudge GardenTrudge Garden will let us make a battlefield full of 4/4 tokens.

And, finally, Accomplished AlchemistAccomplished Alchemist will give us enough mana to cast any spell we'd like.

There's tons of other ways to win the game that center around us having a high life total.

Felidar SovereignFelidar Sovereign, Angel of DestinyAngel of Destiny, and Test of EnduranceTest of Endurance will each win us the game soon after hitting the battlefield if we've got enough life. These cards are a bit expensive to cast, but we'll be gaining life to buy ourselves time to build up a solid cache of lands.

Aetherflux ReservoirAetherflux Reservoir is another great choice. This four-mana artifact lets us gain heaps of life throughout the game, and converts that life into a player-killing activated ability.

Fifty life may seem like a lot on its face, but this win condition's triggered ability makes it easier to reach that threshold.