Overview:

This Sultai graveyard/delve deck leverages Teval, Arbiter of Virtue to cheat mana costs while balancing life loss through incremental lifegain. The strategy focuses on self-mill, graveyard recursion, and X-spell finishers like Exsanguinate and Villainous Wealth. While it has strong value engines and some combo potential, its reliance on graveyard mechanics and moderate interaction density limit its competitive viability.

Primer:

Core Strategy: The deck aims to fill its graveyard through dredge (Golgari Grave-Troll), self-mill (Magus of the Bazaar), and discard outlets to fuel delve discounts from Teval. Key wincons involve massive X-spells enabled by mana acceleration (Greater Good/Skullclamp sac outlets) or Laboratory Maniac with mill/draw engines. Secondary value comes from recursive creatures (Whip of Erebos, Shigeki, Jukai Visionary) and incremental lifegain to offset Teval's drawback.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 3 lands including at least 1 green source
• Prioritize early mill/dredge enablers (Stinkweed Imp, Golgari Thug)
• Acceptable to keep slow starts with cycling lands (Barren Moor) or land tutors (Sakura-Tribe Elder)

Key Tips:

• Sequence Teval casts carefully - cast high MV spells first to minimize life loss
• Use Life from the Loam to recur utility lands like Cephalid Coliseum
• Protect Syr Konrad, the Grim as primary damage engine against board wipes
• Counterpoint serves dual duty as protection and graveyard recursion

Avoid Traps:

• Don't overcommit to graveyard without Nyx Weaver recursion
• Platinum Emperion requires precise timing to avoid life loss blowouts
• Open the Way should target X=3+ to justify inclusion

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• Graveyard hate (Rest in Peace) cripples core mechanics
• No protection for Laboratory Maniac wincon

Moderate:

• Slow mana base (11 tapped lands)
• Limited stack interaction (only 4 counterspells)

Minor:

• Life total management challenges
• Redundant mill effects lack scaling

Most Important Cards:

• Greater Good
• Life from the Loam
• Syr Konrad, the Grim
• Whip of Erebos
• Golgari Grave-Troll
• Skullclamp
• Villainous Wealth
• Exsanguinate
• Frantic Search
• Shigeki, Jukai Visionary

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 5/10

• Goldfish win around T8-9 via X=10+ Exsanguinate
• No fast mana outside Teval discounts
• Slow land base delays key plays

Resilience: 4/10

• Multiple graveyard recursion engines
• Vulnerable to common sideboard cards
• Limited protection for key pieces

Consistency: 6/10

• 8+ dredge/mill effects
• 5 land tutors
• Multiple X-spell redundancies

Interaction: 4/10

• 4 counterspells (2 with transmute)
• 5 targeted removal spells
• Mostly sorcery-speed answers

Rating Justification:

This deck sits between "Optimized Casual" (5.0) and "Focused" (6.0) on the rubric. While it has strong graveyard synergies and multiple wincons, its T8-9 goldfish speed, vulnerability to common hate cards, and lack of free interaction place it below true optimized builds. The mana base and interaction suite resemble upgraded precons, but the dredge engine provides above-precon consistency. It lacks the fast combos or stax elements of higher tiers but can compete in casual pods through incremental value.

Power level: 4.5 - 5.0