The approach couldve been way more in a gruesome direction and lost all humor
(11/10/2020) Once you've chosen both modes for the spell, it doesn't matter whether you continue to control a commander
He worked a lot differently back in the day before the rules changes, but he is still just as strong (some might even argue stronger!)
Lifegain is also technically a payoff but mostly it is an incidental one, it isn't a route to victory and shouldn't be the focus of a plan
You could double-trigger Braids, Conjurer Adept or one of the five Bringers (l like Bringer of the Blue Dawn , Red Dawn, and White Dawn in particular for this)
But Red/White wants to attack, using Equipment and combat abilities - such as Giott, King of the Dwarves double strike - to make it very difficult for your opponent to block