Overview:

This Orzhov deck helmed by Liesa, Shroud of Dusk combines life-drain synergies, stax elements, and combo potential to pressure opponents. The strategy leverages Liesa's punishing tax effect (2 life per spell cast) alongside lifegain triggers to fuel drain effects like Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose and Exquisite Blood. The deck can win via infinite life-drain combos, incremental attrition, or overwhelming value from engines like Bolas's Citadel and Necropotence. Liesa acts as both a persistent threat and a tax enabler, though the deck includes redundancy with cards like Kambal, Consul of Allocation and Blind Obedience to maintain pressure if she’s removed.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-3): Deploy mana rocks (Sol Ring, Mox Amber), stax pieces (Blind Obedience, Drannith Magistrate), and lifegain engines (Soul Warden, Auriok Champion). Use tutors to find key pieces like Exquisite Blood or Necropotence.
2. Midgame Pressure (Turns 4-6): Cast Liesa to amplify spell-tax effects. Activate Smothering Tithe for mana advantage. Deploy combo enablers (Vito, Archangel of Thune) or value engines (The One Ring, Black Market Connections). Use Toxic Deluge or Damnation to reset boards.
3. Win Conditions (Turns 5-8):
   • Infinite Drain: Resolve Exquisite Blood + Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose or Enduring Tenacity for an instant win.
   • Burst Damage: Cast Exsanguinate or Bolas's Citadel with Alhammarret's Archive to drain the table.
   • Combat: Overwhelm with Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Serra Ascendant, or Liesa, enhanced by Vault of the Archangel.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 2-3 lands and at least one ramp or stax piece.
• Prioritize early lifegain (Soul Warden, Auriok Champion) or tutors.
• Avoid hands lacking interaction or lifegain triggers.

Key Tips:

• Use Teferi's Protection or Clever Concealment to protect your board during critical turns.
• Necropotence and The One Ring enable explosive draws but require careful life management.
• Whip of Erebos and Liesa, Forgotten Archangel provide recursion for combo pieces.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Enchantment Removal: Exquisite Blood, Blind Obedience, and Necropotence are irreplaceable and vulnerable to Disenchant effects.
• Graveyard Hate: Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void shuts down recursion from Whip of Erebos and Agadeem's Awakening.

Moderate

• Artifact Destruction: Losing Smothering Tithe or Bolas's Citadel slows mana generation.
• Fast Combo Decks: Limited counterspells make pre-turn-6 wins difficult to disrupt.

Minor

• Life Total Pressure: Aggressive decks can exploit the life payment from Necropotence or Ancient Tomb.

Most Important Cards:

• Exquisite Blood (Primary combo piece for infinite drain)
• Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose (Combo finisher and life-drain amplifier)
• Necropotence (Unmatched card advantage engine)
• Demonic Tutor (Fetches combo pieces or answers)
• Bolas's Citadel (Massive value and win condition)
• Smothering Tithe (Mana acceleration and stax)
• Teferi's Protection (Board protection and combo safeguard)
• Blind Obedience (Slows opponents and drains life)
• Sheoldred, the Apocalypse (Passive life drain and threat)
• The One Ring (Card draw and temporary immunity)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10

• Can threaten wins via combo or Exsanguinate by turns 6-7, but lacks fast mana for earlier explosive plays.

Resilience: 7/10

• Strong recursion (Liesa, Forgotten Archangel, Whip of Erebos), protection spells, and redundancy in lifegain engines mitigate disruption.

Consistency: 7/10

• Multiple tutors (Demonic Tutor, Enlightened Tutor) and card draw engines (Necropotence, The One Ring) reliably assemble key pieces.

Interaction: 6/10

• Efficient removal (Swords to Plowshares, Anguished Unmaking) and board wipes, but limited stack interaction outside Grand Abolisher.

Rating Justification:

This deck operates efficiently in the mid-to-late game with robust combo lines and stax elements, capable of winning by turn 6-7 in optimal conditions. While resilient and consistent, its reliance on vulnerable enchantments and slower mana base compared to top-tier decks caps its power.

Power level: 5.5 - 6.5