Overview:

This Astarion, the Decadent deck is a high-powered Orzhov combo/control build leveraging life manipulation synergies and explosive reanimation. The primary strategy revolves around assembling infinite life-drain combos (Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond/Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose/Astarion's "Feed" trigger) or utilizing Thassa's Oracle + Demonic Consultation/Tainted Pact for instant wins. Astarion serves as both a combo facilitator and value engine, enabling life-gain payoffs while threatening commander damage. The deck employs fast mana, extensive tutors, and graveyard recursion to consistently access win conditions by turns 3-5, backed by stax elements like Drannith Magistrate and Opposition Agent to disrupt opponents.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Acceleration (Turns 0-2): Deploy fast mana (Mana Crypt, Lion's Eye Diamond, Dark Ritual) and tutors (Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor) to find combo pieces or setup engines like Necropotence/Ad Nauseam. Use Entomb to position key reanimation targets (e.g., Vilis, Broker of Blood).
2. Combo Assembly/Disruption (Turns 2-4): Cast Demonic Consultation/Tainted Pact to exile your library and win with Thassa's Oracle, or reanimate K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth/Sheoldred, the Apocalypse for cost reduction/value. Deploy stax pieces (Drannith Magistrate, Grand Abolisher) to protect your turn.
3. Win Execution (Turns 3-5):
   • Infinite Drain: Resolve Exquisite Blood + any lifegain/loss payoff (Sanguine Bond, Astarion's "Feed," Vito).
   • Thoracle: Cast Thassa's Oracle after exiling your library with Demonic Consultation.
   • Aetherflux Storm: Use Bolas's Citadel/Necropotence to chain spells into Aetherflux Reservoir for lethal.
   • Reanimation Beatdown: Cheat Vilis/Sheoldred via Reanimate or Animate Dead for pressure.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 1-2 lands + fast mana (Mana Crypt, Lion's Eye Diamond, Chrome Mox).
• Prioritize hands containing a tutor (Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Grim Tutor) or engine (Necropotence, Ad Nauseam).
• Ensure interaction/protection (Silence, Orim's Chant, Teferi's Protection) if expecting disruption.
• Avoid hands lacking acceleration or win-condition access.

Key Tips:

• Life as Resource: Leverage K'rrik and Necropotence aggressively; use Astarion's "Friends" to offset life payments.
• Flash Wins: Emergence Zone enables end-step Peer into the Abyss or Tainted Pact for surprise Thoracle wins.
• Graveyard Setup: Entomb finds Leonin Relic-Warder to loop with Animate Dead for infinite ETB/death triggers.
• Stax Sequencing: Deploy Opposition Agent in response to fetches/tutors, and Drannith Magistrate before casting key spells.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Graveyard hate (Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void) cripples reanimation lines and Yawgmoth's Will.
• Enchantment removal disrupts combo pieces (Exquisite Blood, Sanguine Bond, Necropotence) with limited recursion.
• Drannith Magistrate/Opposition Agent effects counter tutor-dependent strategy if unprotected.

Moderate

• Rule of Law effects hinder spell-chaining for Aetherflux Reservoir/storm wins.
• Life-gain prevention negates Astarion/K'rrik synergy and combo payoffs.

Minor

• Aggressive decks can pressure life total before combos stabilize.
• Limited artifact recursion makes fast mana vulnerable.

Most Important Cards:

• Demonic Consultation (Primary win enabler for Thoracle)
• Thassa's Oracle (Primary win condition)
• Necropotence (Engine for card advantage/combo assembly)
• Exquisite Blood (Core combo piece)
• Ad Nauseam (Massive draw for combo/recursion)
• K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth (Mana acceleration/life synergy)
• Mana Crypt (Critical fast mana)
• Dark Ritual (Early mana for turbo starts)
• Vampiric Tutor (Key tutor for consistency)
• Reanimate (Cheats high-impact threats)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 9/10

• Capable of T2-3 wins with perfect draws (e.g., T1 Entomb + Reanimate Vilis → T2 Ad Nauseam → combo) and consistently threatens T3-5 wins via tutors.

Resilience: 6/10

• Protection spells (Teferi's Protection, Silence) and stax pieces provide disruption defense, but heavy reliance on graveyard and enchantments creates exploitable vulnerabilities.

Consistency: 9/10

• 10+ tutors, extensive draw engines (Necropotence, Peer into the Abyss), and functional redundancy (multiple combo payoffs) ensure reliable access to win conditions.

Interaction: 7/10

• Targeted removal (Swords to Plowshares, Anguished Unmaking), hand disruption (Thoughtseize), and stack control (Orim's Chant, Silence) are efficient but lacks board wipes for wide threats.

Rating Justification:

This deck operates at cEDH-viable speeds with T2-3 win potential through optimized fast mana, tutors, and compact combos, aligning with the rubric's T2-3 benchmark. However, its reliance on fragile enchantments and graveyard synergy prevents it from achieving Tier 1 cEDH resilience, placing it in the upper High Power to cEDH fringe range.

Power level: 8.5 - 9.0