When a lifelink card finishes opponent, it doesn’t add life, so sometimes when I should have more health without using a healing potions I must start the next battle with less than full life.
Is this intended? I feel like lifelink should still work in this instance.
This has been brought up by other users and because of the order of operations it is considered working as intended.
…match gems.
…play cards.
…creature attacks.
…deal damage.
…check for win condition (i.e. opponent at 0 HP); if win, end match.
…apply Lifelink.
It fits the paper MtG model, but it’s also irrelevant in the card game because your life total doesn’t carry over. Even if it’s working as it should, it might be worth considering changing it to work the way the OP suggested.
I’m pretty ambivalent on how it works.
Doesn’t really seem like a big deal either way, it is something you play around.
FTR, I know this is ancient — and “This Is PQ, Not Paper” — but I just wanted to support the OP…
It’s maddening when my Garruk, Unleashed has, like, 30/128 Health and I’ve built up a Howling Giant with Shadowspear (Lifelink) and a bunch of reinforcements from the Hunting Pack and Predator’s Trail loyalty abilities, plus a number of Leyline Invocations that give me a Level ~50 Fractal, and I end up inflicting >100 damage in one blow, but then have to “Heal” anyway because I won too soon! :-\
Ironically, if this WERE paper (where it doesn’t matter, since life doesn’t carry over), it WOULD work the way everybody expects: the Lifelink would be applied after the damage is calculated/applied, but before the “check for win condition” ends the battle:
104.3b If a player’s life total is 0 or less, that player loses the game the next time a player would
receive priority. [Emphasis mine]
It also messes up objectives with “Win with X or more life”, which happened to me in the Revolt Against the Consulate event.
Hello guys,
Thank you for all the information provided, this issue will be investigated!
If you have any additional information that you consider relevant, please don’t hesitate to send me 
Rebeca.