(Editor's Note: Frequently we will get submissions that try to tell us how good a"bad deck" is. Sometimes they are right, and sometimes they are completely off-base. With that in mind, I'm starting a new article tag called"Food For Thought." These articles will still be published as strategy, but when you read them you should recognize that they are testing wild, rogue ideas that work according to the author, or the decks that are discussed provide interesting builds that may not be rigorously tested, but perhaps exhibit a decent foundation for future decks.

(Doing this allows us to continue publishing crazy decks like the one below while acknowledging that they may not be ready for primetime. After all, you never know when the next Trix deck will be discovered, or when Dream's Grip and Twiddle will become the catalysts for the latest rendition of Mind's Desire decks.)

Before I begin, I would just like to say that the deck idea I present to you is from the far reaches of the term"Janky" and is not going to see the light of tier 1 (and perhaps not even tier 4) any day soon. However, I feel that in the monotony of our current Type Two format (with the closest new idea to break out in awhile being Elf and Nail), there should be those who should not give up the idea of creating an innovative new deck, even if there are decks that are obviously more powerful.

With that explanation out of the way, I can now submit my attempt to create a halfway viable life gain deck. Wizards seemingly gave us the hint of the foundation for such a deck with such cards as Ageless Entity, Well of Lost Dreams, and Nourish. Most ideas that sprung from this were a G/W Life Gain deck or a combo piece with Words of Worship and Well of Lost Dreams.

However, I have taken the deck in a completely new direction, or should I say color. I have kept Green in the deck due to the knock-out power of Ageless Entity and the cheap life gain of Nourish, but I have dropped White from the mix. Although White contains powerful life gain like Renewed Faith and Exalted Angel, it just doesn't prove to have a stable win condition. One Wrath of God and you're done.

Now for some controversy. Before anyone jumps me on this one, I have dropped Ravenous Baloth from the deck. Furthermore, I have designated the second color as Red.

As silence fell upon the land and the sound of torches kindled and an angry mob of net critics gathered...

Alright, here is the method behind my madness. First of all, I added Red to stabilize the deck a little bit more. With burn like Magma Jet and Wrath-proof win conditions like Shrapnel Blast at its disposal, I felt it might give the deck a stronger foundation to survive.

Ravenous Baloth, on the other hand, was a hard card to cut. Sure, it is a 4/4 beat stick for four. Sure, it gains you life. It is an excellent card, but with the emergence of creature sweepers coming back with the banning of Skullclamp, I would rather use the big beat stick of Ageless Entity to force a Wrath.

This deck uses many artifacts mostly to make it harder for artifact hate to dominate you. The problem with most rogue decks in the Mirrodin block is they rely on one or two artifacts that can easily be handled with most sideboards currently built for Ravager Affinity. This way, with many different artifacts, you aren't reliant on just one or two. Each one can help you win the game, but you don't completely rely on any one in particular. With that, I submit to you my own spin on life gain: Firewater.

Firewater
9 Forest
9 Mountain
4 Wooded Foothills

4 Ageless Entity

4 Magma Jet
4 Shrapnel Blast
4 Clearwater Goblet
4 Sun Droplet
4 Dismantle
4 Pentad Prism
4 Nourish
3 Well of Lost Dreams
3 Beacon of Destruction

Sideboard
4 Stone Rain
4 Molten Rain
4 Naturalize
3 Pyroclasm

Ageless Entity
The entity was the saving throw that life gain needed to stand a chance. This guy provides great synergy with the upkeep effects of Clearwater Goblet and Sun Droplet and puts the heat on many decks to take him out. He also answers the Timmy in all of us. Come on, who has always wanted to cast a double Green spell to put six +1/+1 counters on a creature?

Magma Jet
Simply put, it's Shock with scry slapped on for one additional mana. Not a bad cost for the ability. With little say in what cards you draw with R/G, any filter to get you what you need is a great addition.

Shrapnel Blast
When I mentioned the addition of Red for that extra knock-out power, this spell comes in first in my mind. Shrapnel Blast is there to take out creatures like Exalted Angel or deliver a pounding on your opponent. Either way, it spells good news for you.

Clearwater Goblet
One of the major life gain cards in the deck, the Goblet provides you with life at your upkeep, free of charge. With the Pentad Prism to speed up your mana and provide a spectrum of colors, you should be able to get three or four counters on your Goblet, no problem, You might even be able to get five counters or more on it with the right combination of spells.

Sun Droplet
Technically, you can't really have a positive net gain in life with just one Sun Droplet. This card, for the most part, will slowly cancel out damage you've taken, and fuel your Ageless Entity with counters or let you draw an extra card during your upkeep with Well of Lost Dreams. It is also a part of the deck's extra combo trick with Clearwater Goblet and the next card.

Dismantle
Any maindeck artifact destruction in this format will be effective. Even though it is a sorcery, it will force a sacrifice out of an Arcbound Ravager or effectively picks off an early Ironworks, Myr Enforcer, etc. However, you will find the best use for it in the deck is when you combine it with Clearwater Goblet and Sun Droplet. Since you have little physical defense with the deck, you will find the Sun Droplet will become filled with counters as you survive off life gain and burn. Using Dismantle on your Sun Droplet can be a game breaker if your opponent doesn't have a response to you laying all those counters on your Clearwater Goblet.

Pentad Prism
This mana artifact can usually give you a boost on turn 3 or 4 to cast one of your high casting cost spells like Clearwater Goblet or Ageless Entity. It can give you any color mana to add to the Goblet's sunburst, increasing your life gain potential. Plus, after it is spent, it is perfect fodder for Shrapnel Blast.

Nourish
It's cheap, efficient, and works well with all the synergy of a life gain deck. Any questions? [Ah, I can hear the forums saying"Why are you playing such a bad card" right now, can't you? - Knut]

Well of Lost Dreams
The well provides you with your only outlet for card advantage. It works well with your upkeep effects for gaining life to refill your hand or use it in conjunction with Nourish to fill up your hand at the end of your opponent's turn. If you find it isn't doing anything in a game, send it at your opponent's head with a Shrapnel Blast. However, there is another combo trick with this card and the next and last card in the deck.

Beacon of Destruction
Alright, here is another point for criticism. A lot of you are wondering why I didn't just go with White and Beacon of Immortality, and honestly you would be justified in saying that. I just thought that it was a bit redundant in that it does gain you life, but gaining life doesn't win games. Beacon of Destruction can pick off a creature or deliver damage to your opponent. The Well of Lost Dreams can give you an engine to continually draw into the Beacon after you shuffle it back in. In the late game, this can almost translate to dealing five damage per turn, even if you don't draw any more burn in the meantime.

Sideboard
The sideboard for this deck contains Stone Rain and Molten Rain to give you a better chance against almost any control matchup. The Naturalize in the deck gives you another option versus Ravager and stops Worship, if they are playing Pristine Angel, or a Circle of Protection: Red in the U/W matchup. Pyroclasm should be brought in against Goblins, considering most of them are switching from Goblin Bidding to splashing Green for Oxidize (though that may change now that Control decks are coming back).

Match-up versus Goblins: 40% Pre-sideboard, 40-45% Post-sideboard
Alright, the first game versus Goblins you can most likely stall out gaining life. Your main concern is killing the Goblin Piledriver or the Goblin Warchief, considering they can pound out extreme damage very quickly. Post-sideboard could be a problem if your opponent brings in Sulfuric Vortex. When you bring in Pyroclasm (probably for Dismantle), you might also considering throwing in a Naturalize or two, just in case.

Match-up versus Ravager Affinity: 50% Pre-sideboard, 45-55% Post-sideboard
This matchup is a bit more stable than the Goblin menace. Since Ravager involves being able to count down from twenty to zero while the deck does the rest, making them have to count upwards is always a pain. You should have a decent chance against this deck if you play right. On the post-sideboard, they probably will add in more artifact destruction, while you should employ Naturalize. This matchup will be determined by whether they get a quick hand and if you have at least one or two big burn or life gain spells early and follow that up with more.

Match-up versus U/W control, 30-35% Pre-sideboard, 45-55% Post-sideboard
You should abandon hope in winning the first game, because a few well placed Rewinds and a Wrath of God or two will ruin your day. Take out the Dismantle and Magma Jet, and lay down the land destruction on them, it will make the world of difference. If you can stall out their land quickly, you should be able to lay down some of your hard hitters to get the momentum swinging in your favor.

Match-up versus Tooth and Nail, 40-50% Pre-sideboard, 50-60% Post-sideboard
This match will be entirely based on the other player's choice on the Tooth and Nail. I am making an assumption here that with the ban of Skullclamp, the number of original Tooth and Nail decks will increase. You might be able to survive for a bit, even if they grab double Darksteel Colossus. God, I love life gain. If you can drop an Ageless Entity for the block, you can definitely recover. However, if they grab Leonin Abunas and Platinum Angel, you will have to employ Shrapnel Blast and Beacon of Destruction to exterminate the problem. If they grab the dreaded Mephidross Vampire/Triskelion combo, you will have to abandon the Ageless Entity until you can land a burn spell on the Vampire. Grab your land destruction for this match and set your cross hairs on the Cloudpost and the match-up will become a whole lot easier.

Hopefully this attempt at trying to finally do something with a life gain deck inspires more deck builders to think outside the box and use good old trial and error to find brand new possibilities for decks. Tooth and Nail was a brand new idea, and I have reason to believe that there is a great new deck out there still waiting to be discovered (since this isn't really it). Until next time, there is only one way to find these decks, and that is to break through the jank.