If I was desperate for defence and lifegain I might look to the likes of Jaddi Offshoot, or more likely than that some sort of more rounded Kitchen Finks
It was fun to dial up the Phyrexian influence here, including working on the design for something as special as Tamiyo
However, Magic was heavily influenced by popular tabletop role-playing games of its time, and trading cards had already existed for over a hundred years in the form of sports cards and collectible bubblegum cards
Similarly, prepare your counterspells, killspells, and hand attacks
When I saw Tiamat spoiled I knew I would either have to add it in the deck, or make it a deck of its own
Deflecting Swat has made a big impact on the format, giving Red decks a free counterspell to work with as well as having other utilities