Overview:

Rowan, Scion of War leverages life loss to enable explosive turns with massive cost reduction on red/black spells. The deck focuses on rituals, life-for-mana effects, and X-spells like Torment of Hailfire to close games. Key synergies include Ad Nauseam/Necropotence for card advantage and Underworld Breach recursion lines.

Primer:

Core Strategy:

1. Life Payment Engine: Activate Treasonous Ogre, K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth, and pain lands to rack up life loss for Rowan's cost reduction.
2. Mana Burst: Use rituals (Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual) and sacrifice outlets (Sacrifice, Culling the Weak) to generate explosive mana.
3. Win Conditions:
   • Cast X-spells (Exsanguinate, Crackle with Power) with Rowan's discount
   • Storm lines via Tendrils of Agony + recursion (Mizzix's Mastery, Finale of Promise)
   • Underworld Breach + Lion's Eye Diamond-like effects (missing LED reduces consistency)

Key Interactions:

• K'rrik enables life-to-mana conversion while buffing Rowan's discount
• Necropotence provides card velocity while contributing to life loss
• Bolas's Citadel chains spells while bypassing mana costs

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 2+ mana sources and early life payment (Treasonous Ogre, pain lands)
• Prioritize rituals and tutors over generic value

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• Heavily commander-reliant (3+ removals cripple strategy)
• Minimal protection (only Pyroblast/Red Elemental Blast)
• Graveyard dependency (Rest in Peace shuts off Breach/recursion)

Moderate:

• Life total fragility vs aggressive decks
• Limited non-combo interaction

Minor:

• Painland damage mitigated by lifegain from Exsanguinate

Most Important Cards:

• Underworld Breach
• Ad Nauseam
• Necropotence
• Dark Ritual
• Cabal Ritual
• Torment of Hailfire
• Tendrils of Agony
• K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
• Treasonous Ogre
• Mizzix's Mastery

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 7/10

• T4-5 wins via ritual chains + Rowan discount (T3 Rowan → T4 Exsanguinate X=15+). Lacks T1-2 fast mana.

Resilience: 5/10

• Dies to early commander removal. Limited recursion (Finale of Promise/Mizzix's Mastery help).

Consistency: 7/10

• 5+ tutors (Beseech the Queen, Tainted Pact) and card engines (Necropotence). Redundant ritual effects.

Interaction: 4/10

• Reactive spells (Dismember, Fire Covenant) but no free counters. Focused on protecting combos over policing opponents.

Rating Justification:

This deck operates at high-power casual levels (rubric 6.0-7.0) due to:

• Speed: Matches T5-7 "Focused Competitive" benchmarks but lacks cEDH fast mana
• Resilience: Worse than cEDH-tier protection but better than precon recovery
• Consistency: Tutor density comparable to optimized casual decks
• Interaction: Below cEDH interaction standards

Power level: 6.0 - 7.0