If you want to reach The Inventor immediately, it's actually possible, but you'll need to take the hardest route - through the tar. Yes, even though you sink into the tar like quicksand, there is actually a 'safe' path.
While Lightning's toughness is lower than we'd like, the combo of keywords will be able to mitigate it in direct combat--first strike will let her damage a blocking creature first, excess damage will reach the player and activate the second ability, and lifelink will gain us life no matter where her damage is going.
A little more than two years ago, Daniil Medvedev was working his way through the early rounds of the Miami Open when he noticed a distinct shift in his opponents' tactics.