Overview:

Karador, Ghost Chieftain pilots an Abzan graveyard recursion deck focused on cheating creatures into play via self-mill, reanimation, and sacrifice synergies. The deck combines stax elements (Archon of Emeria, Thalia variants), creature-based combos (Corpse Knight loops), and overwhelming value from persistent recursion. Key threats emerge from the graveyard via Karador's ability, Birthing Pod chains, and Survival of the Fittest tutoring.

Primer:

Core Strategy:
This deck aims to disrupt opponents with stax effects while filling its graveyard with creatures like Hermit Druid and Buried Alive. Key combo lines involve sacrificing creatures with Phyrexian Altar to generate infinite death/ETB triggers via Karmic Guide/Loyal Retainers loops, winning through Corpse Knight or Elas il-Kor. Backup plans include value recursion with Karador and overwhelming boards with Elesh Norn or Vorinclex.

Key Lines:

1. Infinite Drain:
   • Phyrexian Altar + Karmic Guide + Loyal Retainers + Corpse Knight/Elas il-Kor
   • Sacrifice Karmic Guide to Altar, retainers revives Guide, Guide revives Retainers. Repeat for infinite death triggers.
2. Stax Lock:
   • Archon of Emeria + Deafening Silence + Thalia, Heretic Cathar restricts spellcasting and land tempo.
3. Reanimation Overload:
   • Survival of the Fittest/Eldritch Evolution into Elesh Norn + Ashen Rider recursion.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 3 lands + ramp (Llanowar Elves, Utopia Sprawl) or self-mill (Hermit Druid).
• Prioritize early stax (Esper Sentinel, Dauthi Voidwalker) or enablers (Buried Alive).

Critical Interactions:

• Karador enables recasting Necromancy or Fiend Artisan from the graveyard for repeated value.
• Hermit Druid mills key combo pieces while thinning the deck.

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• Graveyard hate (Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void) cripples the primary strategy.
• Overreliance on fragile combo pieces (Phyrexian Altar, Hermit Druid).

Moderate:

• Limited board wipe recovery outside Karador recursion.
• Stax pieces like Deafening Silence also restrict the deck's noncreature spells.

Most Important Cards:

• Survival of the Fittest
• Hermit Druid
• Birthing Pod
• Phyrexian Altar
• Loyal Retainers
• Karmic Guide
• Corpse Knight
• Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim
• Fiend Artisan
• Buried Alive

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 7/10

• T5-6 deterministic wins via combos. Early stax (T2 Thalia) delays opponents.

Resilience: 6/10

• Recursion from Karador and Survival mitigates single removals, but folds to graveyard exile. Limited free protection (Veil of Summer only).

Consistency: 8/10

• 10+ tutors (Entomb, Eldritch Evolution, Vivien) and redundancy in combo enablers (Karmic Guide/Reveillark-like loops).

Interaction: 7/10

• S/A-tier removal (Swords, Assassin's Trophy) and stax. Lacks free counterspells for combo protection.

Rating Justification:

This deck operates at cEDH-adjacent levels with fast combo potential (T5 wins) and high consistency but lacks the robustness of top-tier lists. It outpaces casual decks (rubric 6.0-7.0) with efficient combos and stax but isn’t resilient enough against tuned hate. Comparable to "Focused Competitive" (7.0) in speed but held back by Critical Weaknesses.

Power level: 6.5 - 7.0