Overview:

This Karador, Ghost Chieftain deck is a resilient Abzan graveyard-stax hybrid, leveraging creature recursion, stax pieces, and incremental value to outgrind opponents. It combines early mana acceleration, disruptive creatures, and powerful reanimation engines to control the board while assembling win conditions through attrition or synergistic loops.

Primer:

Core Strategy: The deck aims to deploy early stax pieces (Deafening Silence, Archon of Emeria) to slow opponents, then abuse Karador’s graveyard recursion to generate value from creatures like Priest of Fell Rites and Karmic Guide. Key lines include:

• Stax Setup: Use 1–2 mana dorks (Birds of Paradise, Elvish Mystic) to accelerate into T2–3 stax pieces, restricting opponents’ spellcasting.
• Graveyard Engine: Mill or discard key creatures (via Hermit Druid, Survival of the Fittest), then recur them with Karador, Necromancy, or Loyal Retainers.
• Win Conditions:
  • Drain via Corpse Knight, Poison-Tip Archer, or Kokusho, the Evening Star paired with sac outlets (Phyrexian Altar).
  • Overwhelm with reanimated threats like Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or Ashen Rider.
  • Finale of Devastation for lethal with haste-enabled boards.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 2–3 lands (including fetches), 1–2 mana dorks, and at least one stax piece or tutor.
• Prioritize hands with Survival of the Fittest, Hermit Druid, or Buried Alive for explosive starts.
• Avoid slow hands lacking early interaction or graveyard setup.

Key Tips:

• Sequence Stax First: Delay Karador until stax pieces are secure. Use Grand Abolisher to protect combo turns.
• Leverage Sac Outlets: Phyrexian Altar and Phyrexian Tower enable loops with Karmic Guide and Loyal Retainers for infinite death/ETB triggers.
• Tutor Wisely: Survival of the Fittest prioritizes Hermit Druid for mill or Fiend Artisan for targeted recursion.

Avoid Traps:

• Overextending into board wipes without Teferi's Protection or Flawless Maneuver.
• Wasting tutors on non-critical creatures before establishing stax.

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• Graveyard hate (Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void) cripples recursion engines.
• Overreliance on Hermit Druid/Survival of the Fittest with limited protection.

Moderate:

• Slow recovery from mass land destruction (weak to Armageddon-style effects).
• Limited instant-speed interaction for stacked combos.

Minor:

• Some stax pieces (Deafening Silence) hinder the deck’s noncreature spells.

Most Important Cards:

• Hermit Druid
• Survival of the Fittest
• Phyrexian Altar
• Buried Alive
• Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• Grand Abolisher
• Teferi's Protection
• Archon of Emeria
• Finale of Devastation
• Loyal Retainers

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10

• Can deploy stax locks by T3–4 and threaten wins via Finale of Devastation or drain loops by T7–8. Lacks T1–3 "oops I win" combos.

Resilience: 7/10

• Redundant recursion (Karador, Volrath's Stronghold, Necromancy) and protection (Grand Abolisher, Flawless Maneuver) mitigate disruption. Fold to grave hate but can pivot to beatdown.

Consistency: 8/10

• 10+ tutors (Survival of the Fittest, Birthing Pod, Eldritch Evolution) and graveyard-filling engines ensure key pieces are accessible.

Interaction: 7/10

• A-tier removal (Swords to Plowshares, Assassin's Trophy) and stax to disrupt opponents. Lacks free counterspells but uses Force of Vigor for artifact/enchantment blowouts.

Rating Justification:

This deck sits between Focused (6.0) and Optimized (6.5). It consistently locks games via stax by T5–6 and can win through resilient value engines, but lacks the ultra-efficient combo lines or free interaction seen in higher tiers. Its graveyard dependency and vulnerability to hate keep it below cEDH viability.

Power level: 6.0–6.5