Overview

Eternal Bargain is a lifegain deck built around a commander that is useful even in the command zone. Oloro, Ageless Ascetic gains you 2 life at the beginning of your upkeep, including from the command zone, and once it is on the battlefield, whenever you gain life you may pay {1} to draw a card and make each opponent lose 1 life. Every lifegain trigger drains the table, and every drain draws a card.

The 99 cards are 27 creatures, 10 artifacts, 9 enchantments, 4 instants, 8 sorceries and 41 lands. Lifegain payoffs include Sanguine Bond, Well of Lost Dreams, Ajani's Pridemate, Cradle of Vitality, Divinity of Pride and Serra Avatar, and lifegain sources include Azorius Herald, Wall of Reverence, Death Grasp, Survival Cache and Vizkopa Guildmage. Esper artifact creatures such as Sharuum the Hegemon, Tower Gargoyle, Sphinx of the Steel Wind and Filigree Angel provide the top end.

Key Cards

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Sanguine Bond
Combo · Drain
An enchantment for {3}{B}{B}. Whenever you gain life, target opponent loses that much life. Together with Oloro, each lifegain trigger hurts an opponent twice.
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Well of Lost Dreams
Card Draw · Artifact
An artifact for {4}. Whenever you gain life, you may pay {X}, where X is less than or equal to the amount of life you gained, to draw X cards. It turns lifegain into cards.
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Divinity of Pride
Lifelink · Flying
A 4/4 for {W/B}{W/B}{W/B}{W/B}{W/B}. It has flying and lifelink, and it gets +4/+4 as long as you have 25 or more life. In this deck you often have 25 life, so it is an 8/8 flying lifelinker for five mana.
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Wall of Reverence
Lifegain · Defender
A 1/6 for {3}{W}. It has defender and flying, and at the beginning of your end step you may gain life equal to the power of target creature you control. It is a flying blocker that triggers Oloro each turn.

Playing the Deck

The early game is about mana and lifegain. Sol Ring, Obelisk of Esper, Pristine Talisman and Command Tower ramp you, Ajani's Pridemate, Azorius Herald and Disciple of Griselbrand start the lifegain, and Tidehollow Strix and Augury Adept are early creatures. Crawlspace limits how many creatures attack you.

The middle of the game is about triggering Oloro. Oloro, Ageless Ascetic draws and drains with each gain, Wall of Reverence, Vizkopa Guildmage and Pristine Talisman gain life repeatedly, Cradle of Vitality and Ajani's Pridemate grow your creatures, and Greed and Phyrexian Gargantua turn life into cards. Kongming, "Sleeping Dragon" pumps the team.

The late game is about huge threats and drain. Sphinx of the Steel Wind, Sharuum the Hegemon, Filigree Angel and Myr Battlesphere end games, Serra Avatar grows with your life total, and Sanguine Bond and Death Grasp finish. Toxic Deluge, Famine and Nevinyrral's Disk reset the board.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths: The deck has a huge amount of lifegain and card draw, and its commander keeps gaining life from the command zone. It also has plenty of interaction, including Reckless Spite, Dromar's Charm, Spinal Embrace, Darksteel Mutation, Act of Authority and Stormscape Battlemage.

Weaknesses: The deck is three colours and has a lot of expensive cards, so it can be slow, and its win conditions need either a lifegain engine or a big creature. Toxic Deluge and Famine also hurt you, and a lot of the lifegain is small, so it relies on triggers adding up.

Want to improve it? See the Eternal Bargain upgrade guide: ten swaps with the data behind each one.

Verdict
Eternal Bargain is a smooth and inevitable lifegain deck that is easy to learn and fun to refine. It is a good choice for players who like gaining life, drawing cards and draining the table over a long game.

Want to see what a fully optimised Oloro, Ageless Ascetic build looks like? Try the Oracle.

✦ Build with The Oracle

Frequently Asked Questions

What cards are in the Eternal Bargain decklist?
The Eternal Bargain precon is a 100-card Commander deck led by Oloro, Ageless Ascetic. The full Eternal Bargain decklist, with every card, current prices and a button to copy the list into your deck builder, is on this page.

When was Eternal Bargain released?
Eternal Bargain was released on November 1, 2013 as part of Commander 2013.

Who is the commander of Eternal Bargain?
Eternal Bargain is led by Oloro, Ageless Ascetic, a Esper (W/U/B) legendary creature.

How many creatures are in Eternal Bargain?
The 99 cards besides Oloro, Ageless Ascetic include 27 creatures.

How many lands does Eternal Bargain have?
Eternal Bargain has 41 lands in the 99 cards besides Oloro, Ageless Ascetic, including basic lands.

Full Decklist

All 100 cards from the out-of-the-box Eternal Bargain precon, with current prices. Click any card to expand it.

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