The EDH Evolution Series memorializes the life of an EDH deck. It starts with the initial build, continues through gameplay in the pod, and ends when the deck is dismantled. Listening to Licia series focuses on the Mardu Commander Licia, Sanguine Tribune.
Why Licia, Sanguine Tribune
I wanted to play a life gain deck. Specifically, I wanted interactive, in-your-face life gain. I didn't want to collect one and two points of life here and there. I wanted my life total to jump by numbers so large it would elicit panicked whispers from my opponents. I thought I could accomplish that with Licia, Sanguine Tribue. I was correct.
Building Licia, Sanguine Tribune for Speed
The full and current Deckstats page is here. I also keep my personal notes there. Hopefully, this series is a less boring consolidation of those notes.
After assembling Mardu the shell, I started with the following deck building cores.
Life Gain Effects
Spending Life
Effects on Life Gain
I started with life gain core by selecting a basic "staples" from the Licia and Life gain EDHRec pages. I quickly came to the conclusion that my own understanding and the examples were wrong. The deck wasn't casting Licia quickly enough. (If you would like to follow along in Deckstats, I started computer goldfishing the deck by at revision 15.)
To bring Licia out earlier, I removed effects that wouldn't always occur in my first main or combat phase. These removals included Sangromancer; Suture Priest, and Blood Artist. I brought in cards that gained life anytime on my turn prior to my second main phase. These additions included Agent of Masks; Danitha Capashen, Paragon; and Gisela, the Broken Blade.
After even more computer goldfishing, I determined my changes still were not enough. I wanted Licia on the board on turn 5 or earlier. To achieve that, I started looking for life gain on turns three, four, and five. It was also clear that the mana base needed updating.
The next set of substitutions corrected the mana fixing problem and dialed up the early game life gain even more. This time I stuck my hand deep into the ScryFall barrel and pulled out non-creature effects too. In came Chaplain's Blessing; Healing Grace; Healing Salve; Lightning Helix, and my new favorite Hide//Seek. I started goldfishing the deck on the computer again at revision 17.
The benchmarks from revision 17 were much better. The average turn Licia hit the board dropped from 6.9 to 4.5. I even saw a few turn 3 casts. The initial build was ready, I loaded up a TCGPlayer cart for the cards I didn't own. Play testing would tell me where I needed to go next.
Licia's First Game - 12/01/18
No paper goldfishing prior to its maiden run. It came off the shelf unexpectedly. It was one of those games that really shouldn't have even started. You know the type. The game that starts at 2:00 am because everyone has had just enough alcohol to convince themselves that starting one more game is a good idea.
A friend borrowed my Arahbo, Roar of the World deck for this game. (Deckstats link) I don't normally enjoy lending out my decks for multiple reasons, but it did mean that I wouldn't be playing the fastest deck at the table. My Arahbo deck hits opponents fast, hard, and immediately. An Edgar Markov and Odric, Lunarch Marshal deck took the other two seats.
Seated across from me, piloted by my friend, my Arahbo deck almost took out the Edgar Markov deck to my left with infect. He drew into the Lost Leonin, Sword of Feast and Famine, Rogue's Passage combo.
Rather than wait to be his next victim, I used a Boros Charm to knock him out with commander damage. After the dust settled, both my remaining opponents teamed up and pulled me from the top of the mountain. Licia stood tall for a bit . Even with an Edgar and Odric deck bearing down upon her, Licia was able to hold them back 3 turns by gaining around 40, 60, and 80 life on consecutive turns. I just couldn't find the combo pieces to close the game out with that kind of life pool. No Aetherflux Reservoir, no combo pieces, no trample. After the Odric deck took me out my opponents high fived each other and scooped up their cards.
Licia is going to be a fun deck to pilot. There are going to be several ways to close out games. The fun will be figuring out which is most effective to the current situation.
I'll keep you posted on how it goes,
Benjamin Thomas
