Overview:

A unique mono-red control-aggro deck centered around Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos, utilizing equipment and fast mana to turn the commander's "hot potato" effect into a powerful win condition through commander damage and combat tricks.

Primer:

This deck aims to leverage Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos's forced attack clause and control-passing ability to create a dangerous weapon that opponents must deal with each turn. The strategy involves equipping Alexios with powerful equipment like Sword of Feast and Famine and Excalibur, Sword of Eden before it changes hands, making it increasingly threatening with each upkeep trigger adding +1/+1 counters.

The deck runs significant fast mana and ritual effects to deploy equipment quickly and maintain control over the board state. Secondary win conditions include Jeska, Thrice Reborn for triple damage, and Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar to spread commander damage across multiple opponents. The deck includes stax pieces like Blood Moon and Stranglehold to slow down opponents while executing its strategy.

Weaknesses:

The deck is heavily reliant on its commander and equipment strategy, making it vulnerable to artifact removal and effects that prevent equipping. The mana base is somewhat light for a deck running numerous expensive equipment pieces. The strategy can backfire if opponents find ways to prevent Alexios from attacking or if they can leverage the commander against its original controller.

Top 10 Most Impactful Cards:

• Jeska, Thrice Reborn
• Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar
• Sword of Feast and Famine
• The One Ring
• Grim Monolith
• Mox Diamond
• Blood Moon
• Excalibur, Sword of Eden
• Commander's Plate
• Lightning Greaves

Attribute Ratings:

• Speed: 7/10
• Resilience: 6/10
• Consistency: 7/10
• Interaction: 6/10

Rating Justification:

This deck operates at a higher power level than typical casual decks due to its fast mana package and efficient interaction suite, but falls short of truly competitive builds. It can threaten wins around turns 6-7 through commander damage, especially with Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar in play. The presence of stax pieces and efficient interaction puts it above focused casual decks (5.5), but its reliance on combat damage and vulnerability to removal keeps it from reaching the higher competitive tiers (7.0+).

Final power level rating: 6.3 - 6.7