Overview:

This mono-black deck leverages Maha, Its Feathers Night's unique ability to reduce opponents' creatures to base toughness 1, enabling mass creature destruction through global -1/-1 effects and death-trigger payoffs. The strategy combines stax elements (Contamination, Grave Pact), reanimation (Reanimate, Animate Dead), and life-drain synergies to control the board while assembling combos like Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond or Revel in Riches for victory. Maha acts as a critical enabler—its toughness reduction amplifies damage-based removal and turns incidental damage into lethal threats, though the deck can function without it through alternative win conditions.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-4): Deploy mana acceleration (Sol Ring, Crypt Ghast), card advantage engines (Necropotence, Phyrexian Arena), or stax pieces (Contamination). Cast Maha ASAP to enable toughness reduction. Prioritize tutors (Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor) to find key pieces.
2. Board Control (Turns 3-6): Leverage Maha's toughness reduction with global -1/-1 effects (Night of Souls' Betrayal, Kaervek, the Spiteful, The Meathook Massacre) to wipe opponents' boards. Exploit death triggers via Blood Artist, Syr Konrad, the Grim, or Vein Ripper. Reanimate high-impact threats like Archon of Cruelty or Massacre Wurm.
3. Win Condition Execution (Turns 5-8):
   • Combo: Assemble Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond/Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose for an instant life-drain loop. Alternatively, generate 10+ Treasures with Revel in Riches for an upkeep win.
   • Big Mana: Use Cabal Coffers/Crypt Ghast to fuel Torment of Hailfire or Exsanguinate for lethal.
   • Grind: Overwhelm with recurring threats (Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, Whip of Erebos) and incremental life loss from death triggers.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 2-3 lands (including Bojuka Bog if graveyard decks are expected).
• Prioritize early ramp (Sol Ring, Cabal Ritual), card draw (Necropotence, Phyrexian Arena), or a tutor.
• Ensure interaction/protection (Deadly Rollick, Lightning Greaves) if Maha is in hand.
• Avoid hands lacking acceleration or with only high-CMC spells.

Key Tips:

• Protect Maha: Equip Lightning Greaves/Mithril Coat to bypass ward costs and counter removal. Use Imp's Mischief to redirect targeted spells.
• Maximize Death Triggers: Pair Grave Pact/Contamination with token generators like Revel in Riches for forced sacrifices. Necroskitter steals opponents' dying creatures.
• Leverage Life Payment: K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth enables explosive turns by paying life for mana. Necropotence draws aggressively to find combo pieces.
• Recursion Is Key: Reanimate Archon of Cruelty or Massacre Wurm repeatedly with Phyrexian Reclamation/Victimize for sustained value.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Graveyard Reliance: Graveyard hate (Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void) cripples reanimation, recursion, and Syr Konrad/Living Death synergies.
• Combo Vulnerability: Lacks protection for key enchantments (Exquisite Blood, Revel in Riches); easily disrupted by enchantment removal.
• Artifact/Enchantment Lockdown: Stony Silence/Collector Ouphe shuts down mana rocks, Skullclamp, and The Darkness Crystal.

Moderate

• Board Wipe Recovery: Slow to rebuild after mass removal; relies on reanimation from graveyards.
• Non-Creature Threats: Limited answers to resolved planeswalkers or indestructible artifacts/enchantments.
• Go-Wide Strategies: Struggles against token swarms that bypass toughness reduction (e.g., 1/1 tokens unaffected by -1/-1 effects).

Minor

• Life Total Pressure: Aggressive decks can exploit life payment from Necropotence/K'rrik.
• Mana Base Fragility: Cabal Coffers/Myriad Landscape are vulnerable to land destruction.

Most Important Cards:

• Exquisite Blood (Primary combo half)
• Sanguine Bond (Combo finisher)
• Necropotence (Unmatched card advantage)
• Cabal Coffers (Mana amplification)
• Demonic Tutor (Finds any combo piece)
• Grave Pact (Forced sacrifice synergy)
• Night of Souls' Betrayal (Board wipe with Maha)
• Revel in Riches (Alternate win condition)
• Archon of Cruelty (Recurring value/reanimation target)
• Crypt Ghast (Mana doubling)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 7/10

• Capable of T5-6 wins via fast combo (tutor into Exquisite Blood/Sanguine Bond) or explosive mana into Torment/Exsanguinate, but reliant on setup.

Resilience: 6/10

• Strong recursion (reanimation, Phyrexian Reclamation) and protection for Maha, but combos are fragile and graveyard dependency is a liability.

Consistency: 8/10

• Extensive tutors (7+), high card draw (Necropotence, Arena), and redundant win conditions ensure reliable access to key pieces.

Interaction: 7/10

• Efficient targeted removal (Feed the Swarm, Deadly Rollick), board wipes (Toxic Deluge, Black Sun's Zenith), and stack interaction (Imp's Mischief, Withering Boon), though lacks broad non-creature answers.

Rating Justification:

This deck operates at a high-power casual level, leveraging tutors and fast mana for T5-6 combo wins or overwhelming value, aligning with the "Focused Competitive" benchmark. Its resilience against disruption is solid but not cEDH-tier due to graveyard reliance and combo fragility.

Power level: 7.0 - 7.5