Overview:

This Dimir Rogue tribal deck led by Anowon, the Ruin Thief focuses on evasive combat damage to mill opponents while generating card advantage. The strategy leverages unblockable Rogues like Slither Blade and Invisible Stalker to trigger Anowon's mill-and-draw engine, supplemented by synergistic payoffs like Syr Konrad, the Grim, Teferi's Tutelage, and Psychic Corrosion. Secondary win conditions include stealing threats via Agent of Treachery or Rise of the Dark Realms, infect via Blighted Agent, and explosive turns with Notorious Throng. Anowon acts as a key enabler for card flow and tribal buffs but isn’t strictly essential to the deck’s function.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Evasion (Turns 1-3): Deploy unblockable Rogues (Changeling Outcast, Triton Shorestalker) or low-cost evasive threats (Merfolk Windrobber, Ghostly Pilferer). Use Frogtosser Banneret to reduce Rogue costs.
2. Engine Setup (Turns 3-5): Cast Anowon to amplify combat damage triggers. Drop mill enhancers like Teferi's Tutelage or Soaring Thought-Thief. Use Military Intelligence or Bident of Thassa to maintain card advantage.
3. Midgame Pressure (Turns 5-7): Activate Syr Konrad’s damage triggers via mill or recursion. Swing with buffed Rogues (Obelisk of Urd, Oona's Blackguard). Cast Notorious Throng post-combat for an extra turn and token swarm.
4. Late-Game Closers: Resolve Rise of the Dark Realms or Consuming Aberration for overwhelming board states. Steal key permanents with Zareth San, the Trickster or Whispersteel Dagger.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Prioritize hands with 1-2 evasive Rogues and a mana curve under 3 CMC.
• Keep at least one interaction piece (Drown in the Loch, Go for the Throat) or engine card (Reconnaissance Mission, Syr Konrad).
• Avoid hands lacking early plays or with excessive high-cost cards.

Key Tips:

• Use Rogue's Passage to ensure Anowon or key Rogues connect.
• Notion Thief punishes opponents’ draw-heavy strategies.
• Stolen Identity copied via Reflections of Littjara can overwhelm the board.
• Save Aetherize for critical combat steps to reset enemy boards.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Graveyard hate (Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void) cripples Syr Konrad, Consuming Aberration, and recursion tools.
• Board wipes devastate the creature-dependent strategy with minimal recovery outside Rise of the Dark Realms.

Moderate

• Artifact/Enchantment removal disrupts key engines (Teferi's Tutelage, Bident of Thassa).
• Shuffle effects (Kozilek, Butcher of Truth) negate mill progress.

Minor

• Limited answers to flyers outside Soaring Thought-Thief.
• Slow mill speed against 3 opponents without infinite loops.

Most Important Cards:

• Anowon, the Ruin Thief (Tribal synergy, card advantage)
• Syr Konrad, the Grim (Damage engine from mill/death)
• Notorious Throng (Token generation, extra turns)
• Teferi's Tutelage (Scaling mill trigger)
• Blighted Agent (Infect alternate wincon)
• Rise of the Dark Realms (Late-game recursion bomb)
• Soaring Thought-Thief (Mill amplifier, tribal buff)
• Oona's Blackguard (Discard pressure, +1/+1 counters)
• Drown in the Loch (Flexible interaction)
• Zareth San, the Trickster (Permanent theft)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 5/10

• Can apply early pressure but lacks fast combo finishers; wins typically require T8+ through incremental mill or combat.

Resilience: 4/10

• Vulnerable to board wipes and graveyard hate; limited protection outside Swiftfoot Boots and counterspells.

Consistency: 6/10

• Tribal synergy and card draw engines (Anowon, Bident) provide steady plays, but tutors are sparse.

Interaction: 5/10

• Targeted removal and counterspells exist but are reactive and not abundant; struggles against resolved hate pieces.

Rating Justification:

This deck operates at a Casual/Precon level (T10-12 wins via combat/mill) with focused tribal synergies but lacks the speed, redundancy, and interaction density for higher optimization. Its reliance on incremental damage/mill and vulnerability to common disruption caps its ceiling.

Power level: 4.0 - 4.5