Lifedrain strategies cause opponents to lose life while gaining life for their controller, converting the same effect into both offense and survival. They appear most commonly in black and white and frequently overlap with sacrifice or life-gain decks.
Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose can turn your life gain into additional life loss for foes, while Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim rewards creatures both entering and dying. Sanguine Bond provides a classic enchantment-based version of the effect, and the original card that gives this effect its name is Drain Life.