Overview:

This Simic deck leverages Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty as a cascade engine, focusing on casting high-mana-value creatures (primarily Krakens, Leviathans, Serpents) to generate overwhelming value and board presence. Imoti enables cascades for itself and all spells MV 6+, turning each big spell into a potential two-for-one. Partners Gilanra, Caller of Wirewood (ramp/draw) and Brinelin, the Moon Kraken (bounce) supplement the strategy. The deck wins through combat with massive threats like Koma, World-Eater, token swarms from Spawning Kraken, or lockdowns via Stormtide Leviathan/Archetype of Imagination. Imoti is central but not irreplaceable; the deck functions through sheer density of high-impact spells.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Ramp & Setup (Turns 1-4): Deploy mana rocks (Sol Ring, Arcane Signet) or land-fetching creatures (Sakura-Tribe Elder, Fierce Empath for Aesi/Tatyova). Prioritize casting Gilanra early for ramp and future card draw. Use land tutors (Nature's Lore, Three Visits) to hit land drops and enable landfall engines.
2. Deploy Commander/Value Engines (Turns 4-6): Cast Imoti (ideally with ramp discounters like Goreclaw or Krosan Drover). Follow with MV 5+ creatures to trigger cascades. Prioritize card advantage engines like Tatyova, Benthic Druid, Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait, Guardian Project, or Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner.
3. Establish Dominance (Turns 6-8): Resolve game-warping threats: Koma, World-Eater for tokens and protection, Stormtide Leviathan + Archetype of Imagination for evasion/lockdown, or Spawning Kraken for exponential tokens. Leverage cascade chains off Imoti/Big spells to flood the board. Use bounce effects (Brinelin, Kederekt Leviathan, Whelming Wave) selectively to disrupt opponents while preserving your board.
4. Win Condition Execution:
   • Combat: Overrun with massive creatures enhanced by End-Raze Forerunners, Overwhelming Stampede, Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus, or Goreclaw. Evasion is provided by Archetype of Imagination, Serpent of Yawning Depths, or Rogue's Passage.
   • Token Swarm: Generate numerous 9/9 Krakens via Spawning Kraken or Koma's coils attacking.
   • Control Lock: Combine Stormtide Leviathan (limits attackers) with Archetype of Imagination (grants flying, removes opponents' flying) to create a soft lock.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 3-4 lands, including at least one blue and one green source.
• Prioritize early ramp: Sol Ring, mana dorks (Ilysian Caryatid), land tutors (Nature's Lore, Farseek), or Gilanra.
• Look for at least one early play (T1-T3) and one MV 6+ payoff or cascade enabler (Imoti, Thryx).
• Hands with card draw engines (Tatyova, Guardian Project) or protection (Heroic Intervention, Swiftfoot Boots) are strong.
• Avoid hands overloaded with high-CMC spells without sufficient ramp.

Key Tips:

• Sequence Cascades: Cast lower MV spells first to avoid whiffing on cascade triggers from bigger spells. Thryx, the Sudden Storm makes your big spells uncounterable and cheaper.
• Protect Key Pieces: Use Swiftfoot Boots, Mithril Coat, Heroic Intervention, and Temur Sabertooth (to bounce/recast Imoti or value creatures) to safeguard engines and finishers.
• Leverage Bounce Wisely: Time Brinelin, Kederekt Leviathan, or Whelming Wave to reset opponents while preserving your board of Krakens/Leviathans/Serpents. Temur Sabertooth enables repeated ETB triggers.
• Maximize Land Drops: Abuse Aesi and Tatyova for extra land plays and card draw. Fetch lands enable landfall triggers.
• Combat Tricks: Use Zopandrel's combat doubling ability proactively. Constant Mists with land sacrifice can stall indefinitely late-game.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Severe Vulnerability to Board Wipes: Lacks mass recursion; relies heavily on recovering via card draw engines. Wipes reset progress catastrophically.
• Graveyard Hate Cripples Recursion: Shuts down Eternal Witness, Kederekt Leviathan unearth, Bala Ged Recovery, and Diluvian Primordial.
• Anti-ETB Effects: Torpor Orb/Hushbringer nullify crucial ETBs (Scourge of Fleets, Prime Speaker Zegana, Spawning Kraken, draw engines, removal like Apex Altisaur).

Moderate

• Targeted Removal on Ramp/Engines: Killing Gilanra, Tatyova, Aesi, or Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner significantly slows the deck's momentum and card flow.
• Stack Interaction: Limited counterspells (only Counterspell, Cryptic Command, Decisive Denial); struggles to protect key spells against focused disruption.
• Rule of Law Effects: Severely limits the deck's ability to chain multiple spells/cascades per turn.

Minor

• Artifact/Enchantment Reliance: Key pieces like Greater Good, Guardian Project, and mana rocks are vulnerable to targeted removal.
• Mana Base Fragility: Limited color fixing; relies on basics and slow fetches. Can stumble on colors if key duals are destroyed.

Most Important Cards:

• Gilanra, Caller of Wirewood (Early ramp, enables card draw on big spells)
• Tatyova, Benthic Druid (Core card draw and life gain engine)
• Koma, World-Eater (Primary finisher, generates tokens, hard to remove)
• Temur Sabertooth (Protection, enables ETB recursion, combos with mana dorks)
• Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait (Card draw and extra land plays)
• Greater Good (Massive card draw engine, especially with large creatures)
• Spawning Kraken (Creates overwhelming board presence quickly)
• End-Raze Forerunners (Game-ending combat buff)
• Stormtide Leviathan (Creates a powerful combat lockdown)
• Archetype of Imagination (Enables evasion and synergizes with Islandwalk/Stormtide)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10

• Can deploy threatening boards or win via combat/stompy effects around turns 7-9 consistently. Faster wins require perfect cascade chains or early Koma/Spawning Kraken.

Resilience: 5/10

• Has some protection (boots, intervention, Sabertooth) and strong card draw for recovery, but is fundamentally vulnerable to board wipes and graveyard hate. Recursion is limited.

Consistency: 7/10

• High density of ramp (17 sources) and card draw engines ensures land drops and access to big threats. Cascade provides inherent card advantage, but lacks tutors for specific combo pieces.

Interaction: 4/10

• Interaction is sparse and expensive. Relies heavily on bounce effects tied to creatures and a few counterspells/removals. Struggles against non-creature permanents and stacked disruption.

Rating Justification:

This deck leverages cascade value and big threats to consistently threaten wins around T7-9, aligning with the "Focused" tier (T7-8 wins). Its resilience is hampered by critical vulnerabilities to common disruption like board wipes, placing it below optimized lists despite good consistency.

Power level: 6.0 - 6.5