<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ajani&#039;s Pridemate" href="#" target="_blank">Ajani&#039;s Pridemate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | <a href="https://www.artstation.com/velinov">Art by Svetlin Velinov</a>)</h6>
<h1>Got Pride, Mate?</h1>
<p>Hello, and welcome back to <em>Singleton Shmingleton</em>, where I bend the singleton rules of Commander by building decks with as many functional reprints of a certain card as possible. This week, I'm talking about a kitty that loves a healthy lifestyle. Dude gets <strong>hyped</strong> when you eat your spinach, because when you gain health, he gets swole. Of course I am talking about <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ajani&#039;s Pridemate" href="#" target="_blank">Ajani&#039;s Pridemate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a fan favorite since <em>Magic 2011</em>. For more than a decade, this card is the go-to answer whenever some killjoy asks, "But how does your lifegain deck <em>win</em>?"</p>
<p>And at this point in the game, there are enough nearly-identical cards that get bigger whenever we gain life that we can rely on them as our only win conditions. Here is a list of cards that gain counters whenever we gain life.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Life---&gt;Counters" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Enchantments]
*1 Cleric Class
*1 Cradle of Vitality
*1 Light of Promise
*1 Sunbond
[/Enchantments]
[Creatures]
*1 Ageless Entity
*1 Ajani&#039;s Pridemate
*1 Archangel of Thune
*1 Blood Researcher
*1 Bloodbond Vampire
*1 Bloodthirsty Aerialist
*1 Celestial Unicorn
*1 Cleric of Life&#039;s Bond
*1 Gideon&#039;s Company
*1 Heliod, Sun-Crowned
*1 Karlov of the Ghost Council
*1 Nykthos Paragon
*1 Scion of the Swarm
*1 Serene Steward
*1 Treebeard, Gracious Host
*1 Trelasarra, Moon Dancer
*1 Twinblade Paladin
*1 Vampire Scrivener
*1 Voice of the Blessed
*1 Wall of Limbs
[/Creatures]
[Planeswalkers]
*1 Ajani, Strength of the Pride
[/Planeswalkers]"></span></div>


<p>Since when are there twenty-five of these cards? This is an example of a phenomenon that has been happening more and more often lately; critical mass redundancy sneaks up on me through supplemental releases. In this case, there's <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gideon&#039;s Company" href="#" target="_blank">Gideon&#039;s Company</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> from a planeswalker deck, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Treebeard, Gracious Host" href="#" target="_blank">Treebeard, Gracious Host</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> from a Commander release stapled to a <em>Universes Beyond</em> release, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nykthos Paragon" href="#" target="_blank">Nykthos Paragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> from <em>Modern Masters 2</em>, and some other cards that have just slipped under my radar. But this mass is critical!</p>
<p>The most-played Pridemate is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archangel of Thune" href="#" target="_blank">Archangel of Thune</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> with 40,552 decks. What a classic feel-good card. I remember when this Angel dominated Standard, and it hasn't gotten any worse since. Buffing our whole team is just real good. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cleric Class" href="#" target="_blank">Cleric Class</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> comes in a close second with 40,504 decks, and it sure offers a whole lot of good things if you have mana. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ajani&#039;s Pridemate" href="#" target="_blank">The OG cat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is our triumphant third finisher with 21,572 decks, showing that despite being outclassed by a decade of power creep, simplicity and name recognition are still powerful.</p>
<p>The least-played Pridemate is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Treebeard, Gracious Host" href="#" target="_blank">Treebeard, Gracious Host</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> with 529 decks. I know he's new, but show him some love! He is one of the more powerful Pridemates, growing in proportion to the amount of life we gain, not just the frequency, and that can get out of hand fast. All the others see play in over a thousand decks, so these are all definitely cards with a place in the world. There aren't the usual stinkers like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Endure" href="#" target="_blank">Endure</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Frankenstein&#039;s Monster" href="#" target="_blank">Frankenstein&#039;s Monster</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Archangel of Thune"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cleric Class"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Treebeard, Gracious Host"></div></div>
<h2>How To Swole-Up Your Kitties</h2>
<p>While a couple Pridemates like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cleric of Life&#039;s Bond" href="#" target="_blank">Cleric of Life&#039;s Bond</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nykthos Paragon" href="#" target="_blank">Nykthos Paragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> only trigger once per turn, most of our creatures get a counter whenever we gain life. This means that to maximize them, we should find effects that generate a lot of instances of lifegain as opposed to cards that just gain a large amount of life. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soul Warden" href="#" target="_blank">Soul</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soul&#039;s Attendant" href="#" target="_blank">Sisters</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, creatures that gain life whenever a creature comes into play, are classic pieces to fill this niche, and they work perfectly. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sun Droplet" href="#" target="_blank">Sun Droplet</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a personal favorite of mine, keeps our life total from ever going too low and can generate a point of life on every player's upkeep. It even has a cat in the art! <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sunscorch Regent" href="#" target="_blank">Sunscorch Regent</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> goes absolutely nuts, gaining life (and getting huge) whenever our opponents do anything at all.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Impassioned Orator"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sun Droplet"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sunscorch Regent"></div></div>
<p>All of the Pridemates fall into the Abzan (white, black, green) color combination, so we have a lot of support for +1/+1 counter synergies as well. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hardened Scales" href="#" target="_blank">Hardened Scales</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can double up our counters, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Conclave Mentor" href="#" target="_blank">Conclave Mentor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can even gain us life if it gets killed! And while we're talking counters synergies, there's a perfect Abzan commander for this deck in <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tayam, Luminous Enigma" href="#" target="_blank">Tayam, Luminous Enigma</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. We run a whole bunch of creatures with mana value three or less, so <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tayam, Luminous Enigma" href="#" target="_blank">Tayam</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> lets us grind for value, trading counters for extra creatures, many of which will get their own counters. In a deck that relies on synergies between individually small creatures, the ability to rebuild our pieces after removal gives us a deadly resilience.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hardened Scales"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Conclave Mentor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tayam, Luminous Enigma"></div></div>
<p>And since we have repeatable recursion on our commander, we can put include some wonderful utility creatures. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Haywire Mite" href="#" target="_blank">Haywire Mite</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> acts both as removal and as lifegain, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sakura-Tribe Elder" href="#" target="_blank">Sakura-Tribe Elder</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can help us ramp, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Knight of Autumn" href="#" target="_blank">Knight of Autumn</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is also removal while intersecting both of our themes. In addition, cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Spore Frog" href="#" target="_blank">Spore Frog</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Martyr of Sands" href="#" target="_blank">Martyr of Sands</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are infamous for their power alongside repeatable recursion, and they can make us virtually invincible while our Pridemates grow larger and larger.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kami of Whispered Hopes" href="#" target="_blank">Kami of Whispered Hopes</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is exactly the same as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Spore Frog" href="#" target="_blank">Spore Frog</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> but in white, but a lot of people don't seem to know about it. It's played in less than a third the number of decks as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Spore Frog" href="#" target="_blank">Spore Frog</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, in spite of white having plentiful ways to recur small creatures. In this package, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ranger-Captain of Eos" href="#" target="_blank">Ranger-Captain of Eos</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> pulls double duty as both a tutor for our annoying creatures and a repeatable way to stop our opponents from casting spells.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ranger-Captain of Eos"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kami of False Hope"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Martyr of Sands"></div></div>
<h2>Card Spotlights</h2>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tenured Inkcaster" href="#" target="_blank">Tenured Inkcaster</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>: I love finding the exact niche a card needs to thrive. This card can get out of hand. For each Pridemate we attack with, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tenured Inkcaster" href="#" target="_blank">Tenured Inkcaster</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> drains our opponents and puts a ton of counters on our Pridemates. It's a must-kill threat.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Disciple of Bolas" href="#" target="_blank">Disciple of Bolas</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>/<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Momentous Fall" href="#" target="_blank">Momentous Fall</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>: Card advantage <em>and</em> lifegain? It must be Christmas! These cards are classics and still pull their weight in any deck looking to make big beaters. Having recursion in the command zone only helps.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heliod, Sun-Crowned" href="#" target="_blank">Heliod, Sun-Crowned</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Walking Ballista" href="#" target="_blank">Walking Ballista</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>: <a href="https://commanderspellbook.com/combo/1370/">Just a sneaky little infinite combo</a>. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heliod, Sun-Crowned" href="#" target="_blank">Heliod&#039;s</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ability can target <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Walking Ballista" href="#" target="_blank">Walking Ballista</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and then every counter removed will gain us a life, do a damage, and put a counter back. Rinse and repeat. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heliod, Sun-Crowned" href="#" target="_blank">Heliod</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> was on-theme anyways, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Walking Ballista" href="#" target="_blank">Walking Ballista</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can get tutored up with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ranger-Captain of Eos" href="#" target="_blank">Ranger-Captain of Eos</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, so the combo is basically free value.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tenured Inkcaster"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Heliod, Sun-Crowned"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Walking Ballista"></div></div>
<h2>The Decklist</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Ajani&#039;s Pridemate" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Tayam, Luminous Enigma
[/Commander]
[Planeswalkers]
*1 Ajani, Strength of the Pride
[/Planeswalkers]
[Creatures]
*1 Ageless Entity
*1 Ajani&#039;s Pridemate
*1 Archangel of Thune
*1 Auriok Champion
*1 Blood Researcher
*1 Bloodbond Vampire
*1 Bloodthirsty Aerialist
*1 Celestial Unicorn
*1 Cleric of Life&#039;s Bond
*1 Conclave Mentor
*1 Crested Sunmare
*1 Daxos, Blessed by the Sun
*1 Dina, Soul Steeper
*1 Disciple of Bolas
*1 Distinguished Conjurer
*1 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim
*1 Essence Warden
*1 Gideon&#039;s Company
*1 Haywire Mite
*1 Heliod, Sun-Crowned
*1 Impassioned Orator
*1 Kami of False Hope
*1 Kami of Whispered Hopes
*1 Karlov of the Ghost Council
*1 Knight of Autumn
*1 Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn
*1 Lunarch Veteran // Luminous Phantom
*1 Martyr of Sands
*1 Prosperous Innkeeper
*1 Ranger of Eos
*1 Ranger-Captain of Eos
*1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
*1 Serene Steward
*1 Soul Warden
*1 Soul&#039;s Attendant
*1 Spore Frog
*1 Sunscorch Regent
*1 Suture Priest
*1 Tenured Inkcaster
*1 The Gaffer
*1 Treebeard, Gracious Host
*1 Trelasarra, Moon Dancer
*1 Twinblade Paladin
*1 Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root
*1 Voice of the Blessed
*1 Walking Ballista
*1 Winding Constrictor
[/Creatures]
[Enchantments]
*1 Cleric Class
*1 Hardened Scales
*1 Light of Promise
[/Enchantments]
[Artifacts]
*1 Ozolith, the Shattered Spire
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Sun Droplet
[/Artifacts]
[Sorceries]
*1 Council&#039;s Judgment
*1 Damn
*1 Sevinne&#039;s Reclamation
[/Sorceries]
[Instants]
*1 Assassin&#039;s Trophy
*1 Momentous Fall
*1 Mortality Spear
*1 Path to Exile
*1 Stroke of Midnight
*1 Swords to Plowshares
[/Instants]
[Lands]
*1 Arctic Treeline
*1 Arid Mesa
*1 Canopy Vista
*1 Command Tower
*1 Concealed Courtyard
*1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
*1 Flooded Strand
*2 Forest
*1 Godless Shrine
*1 Idyllic Grange
*1 Indatha Triome
*1 Isolated Chapel
*1 Marsh Flats
*1 Murmuring Bosk
*1 Obscura Storefront
*1 Overgrown Tomb
*8 Plains
*1 Scattered Groves
*1 Snowfield Sinkhole
*1 Sunlit Marsh
*1 Sunpetal Grove
*3 Swamp
*1 Temple Garden
*1 Verdant Catacombs
*1 Windswept Heath
*1 Woodland Cemetery
[/Lands]"></span></div>


<p>This is a deck for people who love dice and keeping track of triggers. I like this kind of deck because it makes me pay attention to the board state and keeps me engaged in the game. Lifegain decks also just activate a feel-good part of my brain, making me feel invincible when everyone else is at fifteen life and I'm at fifty. I had worried this deck would feel too similar to <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/singleton-shmingleton-servant-of-the-scale/">the <em>Modular</em> deck I built this spring</a>, but the lifegain theme and reanimation package give it its own flavor, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ajani&#039;s Pridemate" href="#" target="_blank">Ajani&#039;s Pridemate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and friends truly are the stars of the show. No opponent will ever underestimate <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gideon&#039;s Company" href="#" target="_blank">Gideon&#039;s Company</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> again.</p>
<h2>Until Next Time</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fleshbag Marauder"></div></div>
<p>Who loves <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Attrition" href="#" target="_blank">Attrition</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? This card is just asking to be broken. It's a powerful but symmetrical ability on a cheap body: endless potential. Come back next time to figure out how a deck can profit from running nine functional reprints of this disgustingly-named card.</p>
<h3>Read More:</h3>
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="0PSJpLaTLf"><p><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/archetune-up-licia-durdle-less-lifegain/">Archetune-Up - Licia, Durdle-less Lifegain</a></p></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="nHG3JxgT28"><p><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/singleton-shmingleton-servant-of-the-scale/">Singleton Shmingleton - Servant of the Scale</a></p></blockquote>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; visibility: hidden;" title="&#8220;Singleton Shmingleton - Servant of the Scale&#8221; &#8212; EDHREC" src="https://edhrec.com/articles/singleton-shmingleton-servant-of-the-scale/embed/#?secret=wbBTDbaYiY#?secret=nHG3JxgT28" data-secret="nHG3JxgT28" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p>


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