Overview:

This Sultai graveyard/delve deck leverages Teval's cost reduction and lifelink to fuel reanimation, mill synergies, and control elements. The primary win conditions involve overwhelming value through recursive threats like Archon of Cruelty, Hullbreaker Horror locks, and Thassa's Oracle alt-win backed by extensive self-mill. While lacking infinite combos, it uses efficient interaction and graveyard recursion to maintain pressure.

Primer:

Core Strategy:

1. Graveyard Setup: Use Mesmeric Orb, Doom Whisperer, and cheap cantrips to rapidly fill the graveyard.
2. Delve Payoffs: Cast high-impact spells like Villainous Wealth and Treasure Cruise at reduced cost via Teval's ability.
3. Recursive Threats: Reanimate Archon of Cruelty or loop spells with Yawgmoth's Will/Lier, Disciple of the Drowned.
4. Control Finishers: Deploy Hullbreaker Horror to lock opponents out of resolving spells or use Thassa's Oracle as a mill-based wincon.

Key Lines:

• T3 Mesmeric Orb into T4 Teval enables explosive delve turns.
• Incarnation Technique + Archon of Cruelty creates immediate board impact.
• Hullbreaker Horror + cantrips creates a soft lock on opponents' permanents.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with early mill (Thought Scour, Mental Note) or ramp (Birds of Paradise, Llanowar Elves).
• Prioritize fixing for Sultai colors. Avoid hands lacking graveyard enablers.

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• Graveyard hate (Rest in Peace) shuts down 70% of the strategy.
• Relies on resolving key sorcery-speed enablers like Yawgmoth's Will.

Moderate:

• Life loss from Teval requires careful sequencing.
• Limited protection for combo turns beyond Force of Will.

Minor:

• Slow starts if early mill is disrupted.

Most Important Cards:

• Yawgmoth's Will
• Thassa's Oracle
• Hullbreaker Horror
• Archon of Cruelty
• Force of Will
• Reanimate
• Tasigur, the Golden Fang
• Mesmeric Orb
• Teval, the Balanced Scale
• Lier, Disciple of the Drowned

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10

• Can establish Hullbreaker Horror locks or reanimate game-enders by T6-7. Delve enables earlier high-impact plays than mana costs suggest.

Resilience: 5/10

• Vulnerable to graveyard hate but runs counterspells and redundant threats. Struggles against multiple disruption spells.

Consistency: 7/10

• 15+ cantrips/mill effects ensure graveyard setup. Limited tutors but strong card draw.

Interaction: 7/10

• Runs S-tier counters (Force of Will) and flexible removal (Assassin's Trophy). Lacks board wipes for wide strategies.

Rating Justification:

This deck sits between Optimized Casual (5.0) and Focused (6.0):

• Faster than precons with T6-7 wins but lacks cEDH-speed combos
• Strong interaction suite but folds to dedicated graveyard hate
• Comparable to upgraded Muldrotha decks with better tempo

Power level: 5.5 - 6.0