Overview:

This Mardu (R/W/B) deck leverages Terra, Herald of Hope as a recursive engine for low-power creatures, enabling a synergistic graveyard-focused strategy. The primary game plan involves self-milling, targeted graveyard filling, and recurring value creatures (≤3 power) to generate incremental advantage through ETB effects, death triggers, and combat damage payoffs. Secondary themes include sacrifice outlets, treasure generation, and combat-phase extensions. Terra acts as the linchpin, enabling consistent recursion but making the strategy vulnerable to commander removal. Hidden commanders like Celes, Rune Knight and Chainer, Nightmare Adept significantly amplify the value engine.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Setup (Turns 1-4): Prioritize ramp (Sol Ring, Arcane Signet), graveyard filling (Faithless Looting, Buried Alive, Vile Entomber), and deploying key enablers like Pitiless Plunderer or Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim. Cast Terra early if possible.
2. Engine Activation (Turns 3-6): Attack with Terra to trigger mill and reanimation. Recur key pieces like Priest of Fell Rites, Imperial Recruiter, or Plaguecrafter for value. Leverage sacrifice outlets (Ashnod's Altar, Bartolomé del Presidio) to fuel death triggers and enable Rise of the Dark Realms.
3. Win Condition Execution (Turns 5-8):
   • Combat: Overwhelm with recursive threats amplified by Blade Historian (double strike) or Aurelia, the Warleader (extra combats). Use Rogue's Passage to ensure Terra connects.
   • Combo: Generate infinite mana with Pitiless Plunderer + Ashnod's Altar + a free sacrifice outlet (e.g., Warren Soultrader), enabling Rise of the Dark Realms or lethal Elas il-Kor triggers.
   • Value Overload: Flood the board with recursive creatures and finish with Fear of Missing Out or Celes, Rune Knight counters.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 2-3 lands (including color fixing), early ramp, and at least one graveyard filler (e.g., Faithless Looting, Unmarked Grave) or recursion enabler (e.g., Chainer, Nightmare Adept).
• Prioritize hands containing Terra protection (Swiftfoot Boots, Grand Abolisher) against interaction-heavy pods.
• Avoid hands lacking graveyard setup or with only high-CMC cards.

Key Tips:

• Sequence Reanimation: Use low-cost reanimation (Reanimate, Stitch Together) for key setup pieces before deploying Terra. Save Priest of Fell Rites for high-impact targets.
• Protect Terra: Equip boots or cast Grand Abolisher before attacking to ensure her trigger resolves. Flare of Fortitude protects against wipes.
• Maximize Triggers: Sacrifice creatures before blockers are declared to fuel Pitiless Plunderer/Elas il-Kor and enable instant-speed reanimation.
• Leverage Card Advantage: Black Market Connections and Morbid Opportunist offset discard costs. Use Dauthi Voidwalker to steal opponents' exiled threats.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Graveyard Hate: Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void cripples recursion, rendering Terra and key engines useless.
• Commander Removal: Repeatedly killing Terra stalls the primary engine, as recasting her becomes prohibitively expensive.
• Anti-Recursion Effects: Hushbringer/Torpor Orb nullify ETB/death triggers from key creatures like Plaguecrafter or Solemn Simulacrum.

Moderate

• Board Wipes: Recovering from mass removal is slow without immediate recursion or draw engines.
• Combo Disruption: Lacks stack interaction to stop faster combo decks; relies on Grand Abolisher for protection.
• Artifact/Enchantment Removal: Losing Ashnod's Altar or Black Market Connections slows the deck significantly.

Minor

• Hand Disruption: Discard effects can hinder setup but are mitigated by graveyard synergies.
• Flying Threats: Limited fliers make aerial defense challenging, though Luminous Broodmoth helps.

Most Important Cards:

• Terra, Herald of Hope (Primary recursion engine)
• Celes, Rune Knight (Scales the board with counters on reanimated creatures)
• Ashnod's Altar (Sacrifice outlet for infinite mana with Pitiless Plunderer)
• Pitiless Plunderer (Treasure generation enabling combos and ramp)
• Buried Alive (Tutors key creatures directly to graveyard)
• Chainer, Nightmare Adept (Recursion redundancy and haste enabler)
• Aurelia, the Warleader (Combat-phase multiplier)
• Rise of the Dark Realms (Late-game finisher)
• Grand Abolisher (Protects critical turns)
• Dauthi Voidwalker (Disrupts opponents and provides card advantage)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10

• Can threaten wins via combat or combo by turns 7-8 with optimal sequencing, but lacks turbo-reanimation for earlier kills.

Resilience: 5/10

• Recursion provides recovery from spot removal, but graveyard hate or repeated wipes cripple the strategy. Protection is limited outside combat phases.

Consistency: 7/10

• Multiple tutors (Buried Alive, Imperial Recruiter), self-mill, and card-draw engines ensure reliable access to graveyard setup and key pieces.

Interaction: 6/10

• Efficient targeted removal (Swords to Plowshares, Bedevil) and wipes (Damn, Vandalblast), but minimal stack interaction beyond Grand Abolisher.

Rating Justification:

The deck demonstrates focused speed and consistency, leveraging tutors and recursion to threaten wins by T7-8 through combat or synergistic combos. However, its critical vulnerability to graveyard hate and reliance on an unprotected commander limit resilience, preventing higher optimization. This aligns with the "Focused" tier (T7-8 wins) on the rubric.

Power level: 6.0 - 6.5