This has nice synergy with Ajani's Mantra. I can see it getting huge with enough lifegain, but lifegain isn't exactly something you want to be devoting deck slots to.
Guest57443454
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(3 votes)
It's a nice little combo for limited though...
Jake1991
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Have multiple Ajani's Mantras on the field. Each trigger separately resulting in multiple +1/+1 counters. Also, Soul Warden and Soul's Attendant boost this when it hits the battlefield. Ajani himself boosts him too. What an awesome card in a lifegain deck.
Giant_Caterpillar
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(4 votes)
Digging these planeswalker-themed cards. This would make a nice 1-2 with Soul Warden; too bad she didn't make it into the set.
Doens't get +1/1 counters for every POINT of life gained, when when an effect makes you gain life. Rest for the weary is one effect: one +1/1 counter.
Don't go to prerelease tonight thinking otherwise :)
Vinifera7
★★☆☆☆ (2.4/5.0)(4 votes)
@mishta29: I hate to destroy your life-gaining dreams, but casting Rest for the Weary only gives Ajani's Pridemate one +1/+1 counter, not eight of them.
majinara
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.6/5.0)(8 votes)
ageless entity in bad. It's a bear that every once in a while gets a counter. Meh... How can people rate this so highly. In limited it can be a filler. Else it's a bad card (a bear) that gets mediocre if you play bad cards (lifegain).
Guntz1092
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(3 votes)
@mishta29 no, itd still be a 3/3; read the card for every time u gain life, u put a counter on it, not for every 1 life you gain
exterion
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
He's a 2/2 Soldier for 2, which is pretty solid (as good as say, Glory seeker) and if you happen to have a couple of soul wardens or Soul's attendant in your soldier deck, he has potential to grow big (huge if your opponent is low on removal)
Kryptnyt
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This guy is pretty good with things that gain you life several times instead of once. Majinara must have had a bad childhood, and the culprit of that is lifegain. Hence he is bitter, I guess. Not all life-gain cards are bad, with the proper triggers, they can prove to be a beast- as long as you have a reliable win condition too. I could see using this with Grazing Gladeheart and lots of fetchys.
blindley
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Played a guy on MWS last night. He had this guy out, and played Survival Cache. I wasn't paying attention to it because I had Vampire NIghthawk out, and Abyssal Persecutor was coming next turn. So I didn't notice that he put 2 counters on it instead of one. So I swing for 2, then put out my demon. He rebounds, then casts Rest for the Weary, taps Ajani's Pridemate, and I'm staring at 14/14. I'm like "Are you serious?".
TheMoustacheCame
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
i dont get it, they are launching magic 2011 in 2010?
Redigo
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
LIFEGAIN PRIDE. Thanks WotC, this is what we need. :D
Donovan_Fabian
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(5 votes)
Is it just me or could this actually be goyf 2.0? Consider for a moment this scenario.
t1 Leyline of vitality, and soul's attendant or serra ascendant.
t2 Play ajani's pridemate, the leyline activates, it gets +1/1, the soul's attendant ability activates seperately, it gets another +1/1.
So, I just got a 4/4 for 2 mana on turn 2? Obvious combos include survival cache, ajani's mantra, glazing gladheart, felidar sovereign, baneslayer angel, serra ascendant, sejiri merfolk, ondu cleric, talus paladin, soul's attendant, soul warden, rest for the weary, vampire nighthawk, consuming vapors, corrupt, blood tithe, vampire's bite, basilisk collar, living wish, leyline of vitality (especially with awakening zone), obstinate baloth, and pelakka wurm.
Quite fine, but not worth being an uncommon and even more, not worth a planeswalker creature. Ajani's lifegain ability doesn't really get better with this card. A Well of Lost Dreams would have been much better - as well as a Cradle of Vitality.
That I would use this card, it should have had a different creature type and it should have been a common card. Than, you could do similar things to the Squadron Hawk.
RichardJesperson
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
To those underrating this card, I suggest building a life gain deck, putting a few of these in and see what happens.
Felidar sovereign, transcendent master and this guy. Lifegain just keeps getting more and more fun.
lyle685
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ blindley:So I swing for 2, then put out my demon. He rebounds, then casts Rest for the Weary, taps Ajani's Pridemate, and I'm staring at 14/14. I'm like "Are you serious?".
Ajani's pridemates only get =+1/+1 for each time it gains not for each life gained
This guy is very good for only a two mana comitment, with soul warden, ajani's mantra, and angels feather v.s. another white deck this guy gets big fast
Troutz
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Reminds me a bit of Lorescale Coatl, but gaining life instead of drawing cards. Just get a couple of the right things in position (Ajani's Mantra, Ajani Goldmane, Soul Warden), and this guy will get very big very fast. Very fun casual card!
@WeenieMaster: Indeed, your Crib Swap will boost Ajani's Pridemate if you also have Soul Warden on the battlefield. Your opponent's creature will first be exiled, he or she will put the 1/1 on the battlefield, and then you gain the life, and finally Ajani's Pridemate gets his counter. During all this, your opponent has plenty of time to respond to you pumping your Pridemate, though.
On to the card itself: I think they should print at least one more card like this, an efficient beater that cares about lifegain. In the right deck, I agree that it can pose as Goyf 2.0 (And goes on to grow even bigger!) Conley Woods took a mono-W deck with the Pridemate to the US nationals this year and did quite well. In fact, there were THREE such decks at the tournament. I don't think I agree with mono-W as much, since simply splashing green gives you Knight of the Reliquary, another incredibly effective card, and Dauntless Escort to fight board sweepers like Day of Judgment. Those two cards are also both white, so Brave the Elements still work effectively with them. They could come in replacing Kor Firewalker, which I believe is too much of a metagame call and shouldn't be included in the main deck.
theis999
★★☆☆☆ (2.1/5.0)(5 votes)
the problem with this card is that we can't have 12 of them in the same deck. if we could, then i would make the deck... but for now this is almost useless.
I mean it is a good card, great actually... but it dies to removal xD as people say. and therefor we can't devote a whole deck to make it work. So maybe if wizard makes us a 0/1 for 1 and 2/3 for 3 and 1/3 for 2 all with the same ability, then it might see play in constructed.
Until then, Kitchen Finks and Vampire Nighthawk is going to be his best allies.
One note, this card is easy to splash. and is a fine card even if you don't gain any life... so if you were to put him in a deck, then just don't dedicate it to life gain.
GIZMO2606
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Just checking on this, so when I play Ajani's Pridemate and say I have Ajani's Mantra and a Angel Feather on the field. Since I just gained life for 2 different cards does that mean I get +2/+2(1+/+1 from Ajani's Mantra and another +1/+1 from Angel Feather)or do I just get +1/+1 even though I have more than 1 card given me life?
Dezconocido
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Muy buena carta y hace el mazo life una buena opción para jugar FNM
Xaxas
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
There are a number of people who seem to think that this card is broken due to its(supposed) effect of getting +X/+X, where X is the amount of life you gain. For those people, I would advise you to read the reminder text. That said, it's a good card in a format with little removal.
Shell_shockkun
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Wow... kinda awesome? This and Serra Ascendant are some of the funniest win conditions ever really surprised though with all the "dies to removal" though because Sun Titan is kinda friggin awesome, and deserves a spot in anything monowhite
Selez
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
On constructed: When I saw the "Soul Sisters" deck (so named because is runs Soul Warden and Soul's Attendant), I was ecstatic. I love good old synergy beating down on the best decks in standard, and this deck was a perfect example of how successful the strategy can be. Unfortunately, Soul Warden will be rotating out of standard in a couple of weeks, so the Pridemate's ideal deck is not long for the world.
On limited: I've found myself taking it as early as fourth pick. This may seem odd until you step back and realize that you're taking a potentially combotastic card that at its worst will also be an always useful curve filler. It's even surprisingly easy to build around. Ajani's Mantra always tables, as do the sideboardable life gain artifacts, one of which, Angel's Feather, actually becomes playable with enough pridemates. And Child of Night is always good. Note, however, that I'd only take it this early if I knew I was going white.
RareCardHunter
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
You are forgetting about a possible combo that involves the following cards:
Deceptively good. At 2 CC, this thing is a decent beater that has nice synergy with Ajani Goldmane and decks that assist soldiers. Captain of the Watch is a great fit.
Obviously very solid with any deck that features Lifelink as a mechanic. Also works well in Scars with Kemba's Skyguard.
4/5
Demoncollecter
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
A good card, a very good card if u have the planeswalker Ajani Goldmane because u can activate his first ability which is "u gain 2 life" and this card will get stronger and stronger and better yet ajani goldmanes first ability doesnt cost a loyalty counter so ajani wont die from using that ability alot
one of the best cards in m11 it is not at all uncommon for him to be a 16/16 or bigger by my forth turn in my green white lifegain deck and even bigger in multi player.
dberry02
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This thing wins games. Primary attacker in my bounce lifegain deck. Put whispersilk cloak on this thing and if your opponent's leave it unchecked, they'll be dying one by one.
Belz_
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
A nice card. It forces the opponent to use removal on a 2 CMC card or face a juggernaut.
And, it's amazing to me: WotC actually printed a reminder text to make sure it was clear that it's ONE counter per trigger, and people still think they get more. Some people's children...
pigknight
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
2/2 for 1W with two good creature types. Ok.
Effect. Nice considering a lot of white weenie runs Soul Warden/Attendant.
Solid card 4.5/5
Condor_96
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Amazing with Ajani's Mantra and Wall of Reverence. It's pretty much +2/+2 every turn, and your Wall of Reverence gives you increasingly more life each turn. A must-have for any lifegain deck.
Zoah
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
First, I don't like this card, and I think that it's a bit super powered. (I have a friend who makes this an 8/8 by turn four)
Put simply I think most of you are underestimating it.
Now, I checked. Jenara, Asura of war has a higher rating. This is perplexing to me. The only real advantage she has is flying.
Think about it. Two soul wardens, their abilities trigger and are put on the stack separately. Thus they will separately trigger the pridemate's ability. So that's +2/+2 anytime anyone plays a creature.
Then there's the fact that he himself activates their abilities. On an average day, when my friend plays this card, it will come out as a 4/4, if I'm lucky. And he only gets bigger. If he isn't a 10/10 after being on your side of the field for longer than three turns, your not playing him right.
iSlapTrees
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A simple lifegain beat stick <3
chaoticlivi
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Excellent card. He's another guy that makes lifegain much less weak. In a good deck, he can pound your opponent's face in with disturbing speed. While he can certainly be worked around in numerous ways (as are most creatures), used properly he's a force to be reckoned with so don't overlook or underestimate him!
xanderao
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Turn 1: Soul's Attendant Turn 2: Ajani's Pridemate (3/3)
Turn 3: Soul's Attendant x 3. Ajani's Pridemate now 9/9.
stille_nacht
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
but my soul sisters never ran more than 4x of either soul warden or soul's attendant :O, i put in suture priest instead...
@scumbling: He's not necessarily wrong. In the soul sisters deck it would be do-able since each sister's trigger is a different lifegain event.
Voriki
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This alongside 1 to 2 Soul Warden / Soul's Attendant and an early game Shrine of Loyal Legions can net you one of the biggest creatures in a lifegain deck I've every seen. I pulled it out after the shrine only hit about 9, paid 3 then: Gained 18 life and received a 21/21 that would just keep getting stronger as turns progressed. O_O
This combo was sadly beaten by an even bigger hit given by Sarkahn the Mad's ultimate plus all the dragons attacking at once.
Lief098
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This thing is insane in chaos multiplayer. Here was the scenario today:
I had 2 of these guys on the field, 3 Soul's Attendants, and 2 Soul Wardens. My friend somehow managed to play 3 Seed the Lands (his Sensei's Divining Top probably helped). Thus, every time anyone played a land, I gained 15 life and each of these guys got 15 +1/+1 counters. I got the pridemates to about 181/181 each when I dropped True Conviction. Talk about overkill.
MindAblaze
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This guy is an allstar in a build with the right amount of early life gain. Say turn one Soul Warden, turn two Ajani's Pridemate, turn three Lingering Souls and voila, an easy, on curve, 5/5 swinging on turn three. Make the lingering souls a Stoneforge Mystic and drop another soul warden or Soul's Attendant for even more fun. Then drop Ajani Goldmaneand you're ready for severe beats. From a life gain deck. On a related note, Sarkhan the Mad's dragon tokens activate the Soul Warden's ability don't they? It would make sense to me.
alphagprime
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I can't believe no one has mentioned True Conviction yet. First hit nets 1 life trigger for a +1/+1 making the second strike stronger than the first and netting a second +1/+1 counter. This works similar to the Markov Blademaster.
Go and use this with Soul's Warden/Attendant/both and use thatcher revolt with this. three +1/+1 counters in one turn.
DoragonShinzui
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Stupidly powerful kitty. Printed in the same set as Silvercoat Lion.
Wizards, you need to stop this shit.
Lord_of_Gelectrodes
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Why on EARTH did they print Silvercoat Lion in the same set? Apart from the strictly worse aspect, the Lion is a bear you can use in draft while the Pridemate is a terrifying and destructive force of death.
Crimeo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Question: If I have a soul warden out on the field, and then Ajani enters, does the lifegain from him entering give him a token? Or is it considered part of the act of him entering and he isn't available to get a token yet or something?
Kanine_of_Elmo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Why has nobody mentioned this card for a modern extortion deck? You can start putting counters on it right away and by mid-end game pack on 7-10 counters a turn. Liliana of the Dark Realms + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth + Crypt Ghast + Pontiff of Blight + general extortion cards + rebound cards + etc... you get the point. He's a crazy big threat in that arena and should be mentioned
BoBoCTiberius
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Dropping this guy against a Tarmogoyf player always makes me smile. Both of our two drops required roughly the same amount of design space, mine has a chance to get bigger, and with the cost of Goyf, I could buy enough of these to build a house.
Not saying that's the best way to view this card, but damn if that doesn't make it fun.
Comments (58)
Don't go to prerelease tonight thinking otherwise :)
I hate to destroy your life-gaining dreams, but casting Rest for the Weary only gives Ajani's Pridemate one +1/+1 counter, not eight of them.
It's a bear that every once in a while gets a counter. Meh... How can people rate this so highly. In limited it can be a filler. Else it's a bad card (a bear) that gets mediocre if you play bad cards (lifegain).
for every time u gain life, u put a counter on it, not for every 1 life you gain
Majinara must have had a bad childhood, and the culprit of that is lifegain. Hence he is bitter, I guess.
Not all life-gain cards are bad, with the proper triggers, they can prove to be a beast- as long as you have a reliable win condition too. I could see using this with Grazing Gladeheart and lots of fetchys.
t1 Leyline of vitality, and soul's attendant or serra ascendant.
t2 Play ajani's pridemate, the leyline activates, it gets +1/1, the soul's attendant ability activates seperately, it gets another +1/1.
So, I just got a 4/4 for 2 mana on turn 2? Obvious combos include survival cache, ajani's mantra, glazing gladheart, felidar sovereign, baneslayer angel, serra ascendant, sejiri merfolk, ondu cleric, talus paladin, soul's attendant, soul warden, rest for the weary, vampire nighthawk, consuming vapors, corrupt, blood tithe, vampire's bite, basilisk collar, living wish, leyline of vitality (especially with awakening zone), obstinate baloth, and pelakka wurm.
Yeah, life gain is viable, there's a shocker.
Leyline of Vitality
Turn 1- Soul's Attendant
Turn 2- Ajani's Pridemate
Turn 3- Rest for the Weary + Serra Ascendant
Turn 4- Ajani Goldmane, +1/+1 and vigilance everything.
That I would use this card, it should have had a different creature type and it should have been a common card. Than, you could do similar things to the Squadron Hawk.
Felidar sovereign, transcendent master and this guy. Lifegain just keeps getting more and more fun.
Ajani's pridemates only get =+1/+1 for each time it gains not for each life gained
On to the card itself: I think they should print at least one more card like this, an efficient beater that cares about lifegain. In the right deck, I agree that it can pose as Goyf 2.0 (And goes on to grow even bigger!)
Conley Woods took a mono-W deck with the Pridemate to the US nationals this year and did quite well. In fact, there were THREE such decks at the tournament. I don't think I agree with mono-W as much, since simply splashing green gives you Knight of the Reliquary, another incredibly effective card, and Dauntless Escort to fight board sweepers like Day of Judgment. Those two cards are also both white, so Brave the Elements still work effectively with them. They could come in replacing Kor Firewalker, which I believe is too much of a metagame call and shouldn't be included in the main deck.
I mean it is a good card, great actually... but it dies to removal xD as people say. and therefor we can't devote a whole deck to make it work. So maybe if wizard makes us a 0/1 for 1 and 2/3 for 3 and 1/3 for 2 all with the same ability, then it might see play in constructed.
Until then, Kitchen Finks and Vampire Nighthawk is going to be his best allies.
One note, this card is easy to splash. and is a fine card even if you don't gain any life... so if you were to put him in a deck, then just don't dedicate it to life gain.
This and Serra Ascendant are some of the funniest win conditions ever
really surprised though with all the "dies to removal" though
because Sun Titan is kinda friggin awesome, and deserves a spot in anything monowhite
On limited: I've found myself taking it as early as fourth pick. This may seem odd until you step back and realize that you're taking a potentially combotastic card that at its worst will also be an always useful curve filler. It's even surprisingly easy to build around. Ajani's Mantra always tables, as do the sideboardable life gain artifacts, one of which, Angel's Feather, actually becomes playable with enough pridemates. And Child of Night is always good. Note, however, that I'd only take it this early if I knew I was going white.
Any card that causes you to gain life
Ajani's Pridemate
Doubling Season
Gilder Bairn
Paradise Mantle
Obviously very solid with any deck that features Lifelink as a mechanic. Also works well in Scars with Kemba's Skyguard.
4/5
And, it's amazing to me: WotC actually printed a reminder text to make sure it was clear that it's ONE counter per trigger, and people still think they get more. Some people's children...
Effect. Nice considering a lot of white weenie runs Soul Warden/Attendant.
Solid card 4.5/5
(I have a friend who makes this an 8/8 by turn four)
Put simply I think most of you are underestimating it.
Now, I checked. Jenara, Asura of war has a higher rating.
This is perplexing to me. The only real advantage she has is flying.
Think about it. Two soul wardens, their abilities trigger and are put on the stack separately. Thus they will separately trigger the pridemate's ability. So that's +2/+2 anytime anyone plays a creature.
Then there's the fact that he himself activates their abilities.
On an average day, when my friend plays this card, it will come out as a 4/4, if I'm lucky.
And he only gets bigger. If he isn't a 10/10 after being on your side of the field for longer than three turns, your not playing him right.
Turn 2: Ajani's Pridemate (3/3)
Turn 3: Soul's Attendant x 3. Ajani's Pridemate now 9/9.
Yeah, easily broken combo, but hey, infinite life and an infinite/infinite beatstick in Standard is always a welcome choice.
I pulled it out after the shrine only hit about 9, paid 3 then: Gained 18 life and received a 21/21 that would just keep getting stronger as turns progressed. O_O
This combo was sadly beaten by an even bigger hit given by Sarkahn the Mad's ultimate plus all the dragons attacking at once.
I had 2 of these guys on the field, 3 Soul's Attendants, and 2 Soul Wardens. My friend somehow managed to play 3 Seed the Lands (his Sensei's Divining Top probably helped). Thus, every time anyone played a land, I gained 15 life and each of these guys got 15 +1/+1 counters. I got the pridemates to about 181/181 each when I dropped True Conviction. Talk about overkill.
On a related note, Sarkhan the Mad's dragon tokens activate the Soul Warden's ability don't they? It would make sense to me.
Also:
Soul Warden + Darien, King of Kjeldor
Wizards, you need to stop this shit.
Apart from the strictly worse aspect, the Lion is a bear you can use in draft while the Pridemate is a terrifying and destructive force of death.
Not saying that's the best way to view this card, but damn if that doesn't make it fun.