Orzhov Lifegain Control

An Orzhov midrange-control deck that grinds opponents down with heavy removal while gaining life to stabilize and drain them out with lifegain payoffs and an infinite combo.

Sanguine Savior + Dazzling Angel + Starscape Cleric: The lifelink creatures gain you life, which triggers Starscape Cleric to make each opponent lose 1 life. This repeated drain adds up quickly while your creatures also chip away at their life total.

Angel of Vitality: It increases all lifegain by 1, so every lifelink hit and Starscape Cleric trigger drains for more, accelerating your clock and buffer.

Zoraline, Cosmos Caller: Gains you 2 life on entry and can return a cheap creature (like Sanguine Savior or Starscape Cleric) from your graveyard to the battlefield, rebuying lifegain triggers and threats.

Bloodthirsty Conqueror + Enduring Tenacity: Enduring Tenacity makes a target opponent lose life whenever you gain life, and Bloodthirsty Conqueror makes you gain life whenever an opponent loses life. Together they form an infinite drain loop that wins the game once any life is gained.

Restless Fortress: A land that can attack as a 2/4 with lifelink and also drains opponents when it enters, adding to the lifegain/drain theme while fixing your mana.

Sheltered by Ghosts + Parting Gust + Bitter Triumph + Shoot the Sheriff + Day of Judgment: A dense removal suite that answers threats efficiently, buying time to set up your lifegain engine and combo. Parting Gust replaces Get Lost as a white instant that exiles a problem creature or blinks one of your own lifegain creatures to re-trigger its enters-the-battlefield ability.

Keep hands with 2-4 lands, at least one cheap lifelink creature (Sanguine Savior or Dazzling Angel), and at least two pieces of cheap interaction. Mulligan any hand with fewer than 2 lands, more than 5 lands, or no early play. Do not keep a hand that only functions if you draw into a 5-drop.

Early: Deploy lifelink creatures like Sanguine Savior or Dazzling Angel, then use cheap removal (Parting Gust, Bitter Triumph, Shoot the Sheriff) to keep the board clear and start gaining life to trigger Starscape Cleric.

Mid: Amplify lifegain with Angel of Vitality, recur key creatures with Zoraline, and use Sheltered by Ghosts and Day of Judgment to answer larger threats. Stay above burn range and drain opponents with Starscape Cleric.

Late: Assemble Bloodthirsty Conqueror + Enduring Tenacity for an infinite drain win. If the combo is answered, win with evasive lifelinkers and a growing life total while continuing to trade removal one-for-one.

• Fast aggro that goes wider than your removal can handle before lifegain stabilizes you.
• Draw-go control decks that hold up counterspells for Bloodthirsty Conqueror or Enduring Tenacity.
• Instant-speed removal for the combo pieces, breaking the loop.
• Limited card advantage; if you run out of removal and threats you can be out-valued.
• Planeswalker/land-based value engines that ignore your lifegain and go over the top.