Overview:

Teysa Karlov leads an aristocrats strategy focused on sacrificing creatures for incremental value, leveraging death triggers to drain opponents via cards like Blood Artist and Zulaport Cutthroat. The deck generates tokens through afterlife, Bastion of Remembrance, and Elenda, the Dusk Rose, using them as fodder for sac outlets like Ashnod's Altar while doubling triggers with Teysa. While lacking infinite combos, it grinds opponents down through redundancy in drain effects and token generation. The deck operates at a midrange pace, relying on synergistic value over explosive wins.

Primer:

Core Strategy:
This deck aims to flood the board with disposable creatures and tokens, sacrificing them to fuel life-drain effects amplified by Teysa Karlov. Key phases:

1. Setup (Turns 1-5): Deploy early sac outlets (Marionette Apprentice, Orzhov Enforcer), death-trigger payoffs (Cruel Celebrant, Elas il-Kor), and token generators.
2. Value Engine (Turns 6+): Sacrifice afterlife spirits, Servos, and other tokens to Ashnod's Altar or Altar's Reap, triggering doubled drain effects from Teysa. Use recursion like Haunted Crossroads to reuse key creatures.
3. Closing: Overwhelm opponents with cumulative life loss from multiple Blood Artist-style effects and wide token swings enhanced by Ethereal Absolution.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 3 lands (prioritize untapped sources).
• Ensure at least 1 sac outlet (Village Rites, Orzhov Enforcer) and 1 payoff (Zulaport Cutthroat).
• Favor redundancy over high-cost bombs.

Key Tips:

• Prioritize protecting Teysa with Inkshield or Despark against removal-heavy metas.
• Chain afterlife deaths with Sifter of Skulls for mana to fuel Bolas's Citadel.
• Use Helm of the Host on Elenda, the Dusk Rose to exponentially grow vampire tokens.

Avoid Traps:

• Don't overextend into board wipes without Athreos, God of Passage recursion.
• Save Cry of the Carnarium for opposing token swarms rather than minor threats.

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• No infinite combos or fast wincons; struggles against life-gain decks.
  Moderate:
• Slow recovery from mass exile (Farewell, Merciless Eviction).
• Limited tutor density for key pieces.
  Minor:
• Tap-heavy mana base delays early setup.

Most Important Cards:

• Ashnod's Altar
• Blood Artist
• Zulaport Cutthroat
• Elenda, the Dusk Rose
• Bastion of Remembrance
• Cruel Celebrant
• Athreos, God of Passage
• Bolas's Citadel
• Kambal, Profiteering Mayor
• Open the Graves

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 4/10

• Wins via incremental damage typically around T9-11. No fast mana beyond Sol Ring/Arcane Signet.

Resilience: 6/10

• Recursion (Pit Keeper, Haunted Crossroads) and redundancy in drain effects mitigate single removals. Folds to repeated board wipes.

Consistency: 5/10

• Moderate card draw (Mentor of the Meek, Sign in Blood) but only 3 tutors (Mastermind's Acquisition, Pit Keeper).

Interaction: 5/10

• Targeted removal (Path to Exile, Mortify) and board wipes (Kaya's Wrath) but lacks counterspells.

Rating Justification:

The deck aligns with Focused Casual (4.5) on the rubric:

• Wins via T9-11 combat/drain without infinite loops.
• Outperforms precons through synergistic redundancy but lacks the speed (T8-10) and protection of Optimized Casual (5.0).
• Struggles against faster combo decks but holds its own in mid-power pods.

Power level: 4.0 - 4.5