Overview:

This Henzie "Toolbox" Torre deck leverages a "blitz" aristocrats strategy, using the commander to cheat out high-value creatures with haste, then sacrificing them for card advantage and recursion loops. The deck focuses on midrange value engines, reanimation synergies, and explosive combat turns. Henzie is critical to the strategy, reducing blitz costs and enabling rapid deployment of threats like Protean Hulk, Archon of Cruelty, and Balefire Dragon. The deck has multiple layers of resilience through graveyard recursion (Chainer, Nightmare Adept, Riveteers Ascendancy) and sacrifice payoffs (Greater Good, Skullclamp).

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-3): Ramp with Ignoble Hierarch, Farseek, or Sol Ring. Cast Henzie ASAP to enable blitz discounts.
2. Midgame Value (Turns 4-6): Blitz high-impact creatures like Ravenous Chupacabra or Seedguide Ash, sacrificing them post-combat to Greater Good/Skullclamp for card draw. Use Birthing Pod/Industrial Advancement to chain blitzed creatures into threats like Protean Hulk.
3. Late Game Dominance: Recur key creatures with Living Death, Animate Dead, or Riveteers Ascendancy. Deploy game-enders like Archon of Cruelty or trigger Protean Hulk death searches for combo lines (e.g., Hulk → Karmic Guide + Vengeful Pharaoh).

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 3 lands, at least 1 ramp spell, and a 4+ MV creature.
• Prioritize early Henzie casts: Ignoble Hierarch, Sol Ring, or Nature's Lore.
• Avoid hands lacking sac outlets or blitz targets.

Key Tips:

• Blitz Protean Hulk to cheat death triggers while bypassing its mana cost.
• Use Prowling Geistcatcher to exile sacrificed creatures and rebuild your board explosively.
• Mikaeus, the Unhallowed gives undying to non-Humans, enabling repeated blitz/sacrifice loops.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Graveyard hate (Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void) cripples recursion and blitz value.
• Heavy countermagic disrupts Henzie casts and key creature deployments.

Moderate

• Board wipes reset momentum, though Living Death/Riveteers Ascendancy mitigate this.
• Tax effects (Thalia, Guardian of Thraben) slow blitz sequencing.

Minor

• Limited stack interaction beyond Deadly Rollick/Beast Within.
• Struggles against hexproof/shroud-protected threats.

Most Important Cards:

• Protean Hulk (Game-winning death trigger)
• Riveteers Ascendancy (Recurrence engine for blitz sacrifices)
• Chainer, Nightmare Adept (Graveyard recursion with haste)
• Greater Good (Sacrifice payoff and card draw)
• Birthing Pod (Tutor chain for threats)
• Living Death (Board reset + recursion)
• Archon of Cruelty (Persistent value engine)
• Skullclamp (Sacrifice-to-draw enabler)
• Mikaeus, the Unhallowed (Undying synergy)
• Industrial Advancement (Sacrifice-to-tutor engine)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10
Threatens board presence by T3-4 with blitz, but most game-ending plays (Hulk triggers, Archon loops) occur T6-8.

Resilience: 7/10
Strong recursion and redundancy via graveyard engines, but vulnerable to targeted hate.

Consistency: 7/10
Multiple tutors (Pod, Finale of Devastation) and card draw engines smooth out gameplay.

Interaction: 5/10
Efficient spot removal (Assassin's Trophy, Deadly Rollick) but lacks counterspells for stack battles.

Rating Justification:

This deck operates as a focused midrange strategy with T6-8 win potential through combat or Hulk combos, supported by robust recursion. While resilient to conventional removal, its reliance on the graveyard and slower combo assembly compared to cEDH decks caps its ceiling.

Power level: 6.0 - 6.5