Dina, Soul Steeper

Gameplan

Dina turns every lifegain trigger into a Drain effect, so you build a board of cheap lifegain engines and recurring sacrifice fodder to bleed all opponents simultaneously. You play a value-oriented Golgari aristocrats game in the early turns, then convert incremental lifegain into lethal damage across the table.

Key Cards

• Soul Warden — Each creature entering triggers lifegain, which Dina converts into table-wide drain.
• Essence Warden — A second Soul Warden effect that doubles your per-creature drain triggers.
• Blood Artist — Stacks with Dina so each death drains and gains, multiplying triggers in token decks.
• Cathars' Crusade — Pairs with Soul Sisters and tokens to amplify both bodies and lifegain triggers.
• Bolas's Citadel — Lets you play off the top while paying life, and combos with lifegain loops.
• Pitiless Plunderer — Generates Treasure on each death, fueling sacrifice loops and combo mana.

Upgrade Path

Lean into a dedicated infinite combo such as Kitchen Finks or Murderous Redcap with a persist enabler and a Soul Sister to drain instantly. Add fast mana and tutors (Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Diabolic Intent) to assemble pieces consistently, and include protection like Lightning Greaves to keep Dina online. Tighten the curve with efficient sac outlets (Viscera Seer, Carrion Feeder) and recursion (Phyrexian Reclamation) for a resilient, lower-to-the-ground engine.