Overview:

This Sultai deck leverages mill, rad counters, and graveyard recursion as its core strategy, with The Master, Transcendent acting as a potent reanimation engine. The deck mills itself and opponents aggressively to fuel graveyard-based value, reanimate threats, and enable combo finishes or overwhelming board states. Rad counters amplify mill payoffs and unlock synergies with cards like Mirelurk Queen and Tato Farmer. The Master is essential for recurring key creatures efficiently but can be vulnerable to removal, making protection and alternative reanimation crucial.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-3): Deploy mana rocks (Sol Ring, Arcane Signet), mill engines (Ruin Crab, Deranged Assistant, Mesmeric Orb), or ramp (Cultivate, Three Visits). Prioritize establishing mill sources or Hermit Druid for self-mill acceleration.
2. Mid-Game Value (Turns 4-6): Cast The Master to reanimate key creatures milled this turn (e.g., Agent Frank Horrigan, Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur). Spread rad counters via attacks/ETBs to enable Nightkin Ambusher evasion or Mirelurk Queen draws. Utilize Muldrotha, the Gravetide for sustained graveyard recursion.
3. Win Condition Execution (Turns 5-7+):
   • Combo: Generate infinite mana via Freed from the Real + Kiora's Follower/Ioreth of the Healing House + mana dork, then mill out opponents with Cut Your Losses or win with Thassa's Oracle/Laboratory Maniac.
   • Mass Mill: Amplify mill with Bruvac the Grandiloquent + Cut Your Losses or Syr Konrad, the Grim triggers.
   • Combat/Value: Overwhelm with reanimated threats like Massacre Wurm or Lord of Change, leveraging rad counter synergies for card advantage and board growth.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 2-3 lands (including color fixing), at least one early play (ramp, mill engine, or interaction like Ertai Resurrected).
• Prioritize hands containing Hermit Druid, a mill engine + The Master, or a combo piece with protection.
• Avoid hands lacking early plays, color sources, or win condition enablers.

Key Tips:

• Protect Key Engines: Use Malevolent Hermit, Tishana's Tidebinder, or Swiftfoot Boots (not in list but implied by protection needs) to shield Hermit Druid, The Master, or combo pieces.
• Sequence Mill Wisely: Mill yourself before casting The Master for targeted reanimation. Cast mass mill spells (Cut Your Losses) only after establishing payoffs like Syr Konrad or Mirelurk Queen.
• Leverage Rad Counters: Use Tato Farmer to reanimate lands milled by Hedge Shredder or Kagha, Shadow Archdruid. Mariposa Military Base becomes a potent draw engine mid-late game.
• Food Chain Lines: Exile Eternal Scourge (from exile) with Food Chain for infinite mana to fuel Walking Ballista (not in list) or Thassa's Oracle.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Graveyard Hate: Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void, or Bojuka Bog cripple recursion, reanimation, and combo lines reliant on the graveyard.
• Anti-Search Effects: Opposition Agent counters tutors like Demonic Tutor and Worldly Tutor, disrupting combo assembly.
• Combo Disruption: Counterspells or instant-speed removal targeting key combo pieces (Freed from the Real, mana dorks) can halt wins.

Moderate

• Board Wipes: Recovering from mass removal is slow without a stocked graveyard or active draw engine.
• Stax Pieces: Cursed Totem shuts down mana dorks and Ioreth, while Torpor Orb nullizes ETB value from creatures like Eternal Witness and Agent Frank Horrigan.
• Rad Counter Removal: Sunburst or proliferate removal reduces synergy efficiency.

Minor

• Artifact/Enchantment Focus: Targeted removal can hit key pieces like Food Chain or Freed from the Real, but recursion provides some mitigation.
• Slow Mana Base: Multiple tapped lands (e.g., Temples, Guildgates) can delay early plays against faster decks.

Most Important Cards:

• Hermit Druid (Self-mill engine enabling graveyard strategies)
• The Master, Transcendent (Primary reanimation engine)
• Food Chain (Infinite mana/combo enabler with Eternal Scourge)
• Freed from the Real (Combo piece for infinite mana)
• Thassa's Oracle (Primary self-mill win condition)
• Muldrotha, the Gravetide (Graveyard recursion backup)
• Bruvac the Grandiloquent (Mass mill amplifier)
• Syr Konrad, the Grim (Passive damage/mill payoff)
• Demonic Tutor (Tutor for combo pieces/answers)
• Mesmeric Orb (Asymmetric mill acceleration)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 7/10

• Capable of T3-T4 wins with perfect hands (Hermit Druid + reanimation/Thoracle) or T5-7 wins via combos/mass mill. Slower without key enablers.

Resilience: 5/10

• Recursion (Muldrotha, Eternal Witness) and protection (Malevolent Hermit) offer recovery, but heavy graveyard hate or stack interaction cripples the strategy.

Consistency: 7/10

• Multiple tutors (Demonic, Worldly, Ringsight), mill engines, and redundancy in reanimation (Master, Muldrotha, Tato Farmer) ensure reliable access to core pieces.

Interaction: 6/10

• Efficient removal (Drag to the Roots, Casualties of War), counterspells (Ertai Resurrected, Tishana's Tidebinder), and stax (Opposition Agent) provide disruption, but density is moderate.

Rating Justification:

The deck achieves T5-7 wins consistently through efficient tutors, combo potential, and explosive mill/reanimation lines, aligning with Focused Competitive benchmarks. However, its critical vulnerability to graveyard hate and reliance on key unprotected creatures reduce resilience, preventing higher-tier placement.

Power level: 6.5 - 7.0