Overview:

This Abzan (W/B/G) deck helmed by Betor, Ancestor's Voice is a sophisticated life-gain/life-loss engine with dual win conditions: infinite drain combos and +1/+1 counter proliferation. Betor serves as a critical synergy piece, enabling both reanimation (via life loss) and counter distribution (via life gain). The deck leverages powerful stax elements (Authority of the Consuls, Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar), fast mana, and high-impact enchantments to create explosive turns. Key combos like Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond and Heliod, Sun-Crowned + Walking Ballista provide instant-win potential, while Betor's recursion and counter mechanics offer resilient backup plans.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-3): Deploy fast mana (Mana Vault, Chrome Mox), life-gain engines (Soul Warden, Authority of the Consuls), and card advantage tools (Esper Sentinel, Necropotence).
2. Midgame Synergy (Turns 4-6): Activate Betor's triggers using targeted life loss (Dark Confidant, Darkstar Augur) and mass life gain (Rhox Faithmender, Beledros Witherbloom). Tutor for combo pieces or key enablers like Doubling Season.
3. Win Condition Execution:
   • Infinite Drain: Resolve Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond/Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose for immediate table kill.
   • Ballista Combo: Pair Heliod, Sun-Crowned with Walking Ballista for infinite damage.
   • Overwhelming Counters: Use The Ozolith, Branching Evolution, and Betor’s trigger to create massive threats like Kami of Whispered Hopes.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 2-3 lands, including at least one pain land/dual.
• Prioritize fast mana, a life-gain engine, and a tutor or card draw piece.
• Avoid hands lacking early plays or color fixing.

Key Tips:

• Use Children of Korlis to offset life loss from Bolas's Citadel/Necropotence while triggering Betor’s reanimation.
• Teferi's Protection protects against board wipes while letting Betor’s end-step triggers resolve.
• Imp's Mischief can redirect critical removal targeting your combo pieces.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Extreme vulnerability to enchantment removal (Exquisite Blood, Doubling Season, Necropotence are irreplaceable).
• Relies heavily on resolving 4+ CMC enchantments with minimal counterspell protection.

Moderate

• Graveyard hate (Rest in Peace) disrupts Betor’s reanimation and Animate Dead.
• Struggles against Stony Silence/Collector Ouphe shutting off artifact mana and Walking Ballista.

Minor

• Life-gain prevention (Erebos, God of the Dead) slows the engine but doesn’t stop combo wins.
• Limited answers to resolved planeswalkers outside Anguished Unmaking.

Most Important Cards:

• Exquisite Blood (Primary combo piece)
• Necropotence (Unmatched card advantage)
• Doubling Season (Amplifies counters and tokens)
• Demonic Tutor/Vampiric Tutor (Tutors for combo pieces)
• Heliod, Sun-Crowned (Combo finisher with Ballista)
• The Ozolith (Counter redundancy and threat multiplier)
• Smothering Tithe (Mana acceleration in multiplayer)
• Teferi's Protection (Board wipe immunity)
• Bolas's Citadel (Life-loss engine and free spells)
• Beledros Witherbloom (Token generation and mana untap)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 8/10

• Capable of T3-T5 wins with fast mana into Exquisite Blood/Sanguine Bond or Bolas's Citadel chains.

Resilience: 6/10

• Strong recursion (Betor, Animate Dead) and protection (Teferi's Protection), but core combos are fragile to targeted removal.

Consistency: 9/10

• 10+ tutors, Necropotence, and redundant life-gain/drain effects ensure reliable access to win conditions.

Interaction: 5/10

• Efficient spot removal (Swords to Plowshares, Deadly Rollick) and board wipes (Toxic Deluge), but minimal stack interaction beyond Imp's Mischief.

Rating Justification:

This deck operates at cEDH-adjacent speeds with T3-T5 combo potential but lacks the interaction density and compact wincons of true cEDH lists. Its reliance on high-CMC enchantments and vulnerability to common removal place it just below tiered competitive decks.

Power level: 7.5 - 8.0