Overview:

This Karador, Ghost Chieftain deck is a graveyard-centric Abzan midrange list leveraging creature recursion, stax elements, and value engines. It aims to overwhelm opponents through persistent threats from the graveyard while disrupting their gameplans with tax effects and efficient removal.

Primer:

Core Strategy: The deck focuses on filling the graveyard with creatures (via Hermit Druid, Buried Alive, and Survival of the Fittest) to enable Karador's cost reduction and recursion. Key lines involve reanimating value engines like Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or assembling combos with Karmic Guide/sac outlets. Stax pieces like Archon of Emeria and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben slow opponents while the deck sets up.

Key Lines:

1. Hermit Druid Engine: Mill ~30 cards with Hermit Druid, then recur key creatures like Vorinclex or Maha, Its Feathers Night via Loyal Retainers/Necromancy.
2. Karmic Guide Loops: Pair with Phyrexian Altar and Corpse Knight for infinite death/ETB triggers (requires Loyal Retainers to recur Karmic Guide).
3. Stax Lock: Deploy Deafening Silence + Archon of Emeria to restrict spellcasting while recurring threats.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 3 lands + 1 ramp creature (e.g., Birds of Paradise)
• Prioritize early enablers (Entomb, Hermit Druid) over high-cost bombs
• Avoid hands without graveyard filling or creature recursion

Key Tips:

• Use Volrath's Stronghold to recycle key creatures
• Survival of the Fittest can tutor combo pieces like Fiend Artisan or protection like Dauthi Voidwalker
• Teferi's Protection protects against board wipes during critical setup turns

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• Foldsto graveyard hate (Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void)
• Relies on fragile 2-card combos without infinite mana backup

Moderate:

• Slow recovery from multiple commander removals
• Limited card draw outside creature recursion

Minor:

• Weak to flying-heavy strategies despite Archon of Emeria

Most Important Cards:

• Survival of the Fittest
• Hermit Druid
• Phyrexian Altar
• Karmic Guide
• Loyal Retainers
• Entomb
• Buried Alive
• Dauthi Voidwalker
• Archon of Emeria
• Vorinclex

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 7/10

• Can assemble Karmic Guide loops by T5-6
• Hermit Druid enables T4 Vorinclex/Elesh Norn

Resilience: 6/10

• 8 recursive effects (e.g., Necromancy, Priest of Fell Rites)
• Vulnerable to graveyard exile but runs Dauthi Voidwalker mitigation

Consistency: 7/10

• 7 tutors (Survival, Entomb, Birthing Pod)
• Redundant recursion engines

Interaction: 8/10

• 14 targeted removal spells (S-Tier Force of Vigor, A-Tier Swords to Plowshares)
• 4 stax pieces that disrupt opponents' tempo

Rating Justification:

This deck sits between "Focused Competitive" (7.0) and "Highly Optimized" (7.5) on the rubric. Its Hermit Druid lines and stax package enable T5-6 effective wins through board locks or combo kills, comparable to T5-6 win benchmarks. While lacking free counterspells and cEDH-fast mana, it exceeds typical "Optimized" (6.5) decks through redundancy and layered disruption. Graveyard dependency prevents it from reaching 8.0+ tiers.

Power level: 7.0 - 7.5