Overview:

This Mardu (R/W/B) deck leverages Caesar, Legion's Emperor as a central engine for a token-focused aristocrats/aggro strategy. The primary plan involves generating numerous creature tokens (especially Soldiers), attacking aggressively, and sacrificing tokens to Caesar's attack trigger for card draw, more tokens, or direct damage. The deck amplifies token production with doublers like Anointed Procession and Mondrak, Glory Dominus, while leveraging attack triggers from cards like Purphoros, God of the Forge, Warleader's Call, and Professional Face-Breaker for incremental damage and value. Caesar acts as both a payoff and an enabler, providing card advantage and board presence while demanding a steady stream of creatures to sacrifice. Secondary commanders like Isshin, Two Heavens as One significantly amplify the strategy by doubling Caesar's trigger and other attack-based abilities.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-3): Prioritize deploying fast mana (Sol Ring, Mox Amber, Chrome Mox, Lotus Petal, Dark Ritual), token generators (Bitterblossom, Esper Sentinel, Hanweir Garrison), or value pieces (Smothering Tithe, Authority of the Consuls). Use tutors (Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Enlightened Tutor, Imperial Recruiter) to find key engines or doublers.
2. Engine Deployment & Board Development (Turns 3-5): Cast Caesar or a token doubler (Anointed Procession, Mondrak, Glory Dominus). Deploy engines like Purphoros, God of the Forge, Warleader's Call, Grim Hireling, or Pitiless Plunderer. Utilize efficient token makers like Adeline, Resplendent Cathar, Myrel, Shield of Argive, Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon, or Horn of Gondor.
3. Attack & Sacrifice Phase (Turns 4+): Attack with Caesar and other creatures. Sacrifice a token to Caesar's trigger, prioritizing:
   • Card Draw: If lacking resources or key pieces.
   • More Tokens: To maintain sacrifice fodder and fuel Purphoros/Warleader damage.
   • Direct Damage: To pressure life totals, especially if Caesar's power is high or opponents are low.
4. Win Condition Execution:
   • Combat Swarm: Overwhelm opponents with a massive token army, potentially boosted by Iroas, God of Victory (menace, damage prevention) or Voice of Victory (opponent silence).
   • Incremental Burn: Win through repeated Purphoros triggers, Warleader's Call pings, and Caesar's damage ability amplified by token count.
   • Combo Finishers: Breath of Fury on a creature with evasion can enable infinite combat phases if Caesar's token creation mode is chosen each time. Professional Face-Breaker + Lotus Petal/Treasures + Aggravated Assault offers another potential infinite combat line.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Essential: 2-3 lands (including color sources), at least one early play (mana rock, 1-2 CMC creature, Bitterblossom).
• High Priority: A token generator (Hanweir Garrison, Adeline, Anim Pakal), Caesar enabler (sacrifice fodder source), or a key engine/doubler (Purphoros, Anointed Procession, Mondrak).
• Strong Keeps: Hands containing fast mana + a key 3-4 CMC piece, or a tutor + sufficient mana.
• Avoid: Hands lacking early plays, lands, or a clear path to deploying Caesar/engines by turn 4-5.

Key Tips:

• Protect Key Engines: Prioritize protecting Caesar, doublers, Purphoros, and Smothering Tithe with Teferi's Protection, Plaza of Heroes, Boromir, Warden of the Tower, or Dawn's Truce. Drannith Magistrate protects against opposing commanders.
• Sequence Sacrifices: Sacrifice tokens before damage to ensure Caesar's trigger resolves and potentially creates new attackers. Prioritize card draw early if missing key pieces; prioritize tokens later to fuel Purphoros or Caesar damage.
• Maximize Isshin: Casting Isshin, Two Heavens as One doubles Caesar's trigger and all other attack triggers (Purphoros, Warleader's Call, Face-Breaker, Grim Hireling, Adeline, Myrel), creating explosive turns.
• Leverage Treasures: Treasures from Professional Face-Breaker, Grim Hireling, Smothering Tithe, and Kellogg, Dangerous Mind fuel spells, activate abilities (Face-Breaker draw, Kellogg theft), and can be sacrificed to Caesar.
• Find Breach Points: Tutor for Breath of Fury when you have an evasive creature and sufficient tokens to sacrifice for Caesar's token-making mode to chain combats. Shizo, Death's Storehouse grants Fear.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Severe Board Wipe Vulnerability: The strategy relies heavily on maintaining a board presence for tokens, attacks, and sacrifices. Wipes cripple the deck's engine and win conditions, requiring significant resources to rebuild.
• Graveyard Hate: Disrupts recursion from cards like Takenuma, Abandoned Mire and Season of the Burrow, limiting recovery options after disruption.
• Torpor Orb Effects: Shut down crucial ETB triggers from Adeline, Resplendent Cathar, Imperial Recruiter, Loran of the Third Path, Eternal Witness (implied), Purphoros, God of the Forge (enters as creature), and Guide of Souls, severely hampering value generation.

Moderate

• Anti-Token Strategies: Cards like Cursed Totem (shuts off Caesar's sacrifice ability), Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, or Rakdos Charm can severely punish the token swarm plan.
• Targeted Removal on Engines: Removing Caesar, Purphoros, doublers, or Smothering Tithe significantly slows the deck's momentum and damage output.
• Rule of Law Effects: Limit the deck's ability to deploy multiple threats/tokens per turn and chain spells/abilities efficiently.

Minor

• Mana Base Consistency: While featuring good duals and fetches, the inclusion of several ETB-tapped lands (Triome, MDFCs, surveil lands) can occasionally slow down critical early turns.
• Limited Stack Interaction: Relies heavily on Pyroblast, Red Elemental Blast, and protection spells; lacks broader counterspell suite for non-blue threats.

Most Important Cards:

1. Caesar, Legion's Emperor (Commander, engine, card draw, token generation, win condition)
2. Anointed Procession (Doubles token generation, critical mass enabler)
3. Purphoros, God of the Forge (Primary incremental damage engine)
4. Mondrak, Glory Dominus (Token doubler, indestructible potential)
5. Smothering Tithe (Massive mana generation, fuels explosive turns)
6. Isshin, Two Heavens as One (Doubles Caesar trigger and all attack triggers)
7. Adeline, Resplendent Cathar (Efficient token generation on attack)
8. Professional Face-Breaker (Treasure generation, card advantage)
9. Demonic Tutor (Finds any critical piece)
10. Breath of Fury (Primary combo finisher for infinite combat)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 7/10

• Capable of threatening wins via Purphoros/Warleader damage or overwhelming combat as early as T4-5 with optimal draws (fast mana, Caesar, doublers, Purphoros), consistently aiming for T5-7 wins through incremental damage or the Breath of Fury combo.

Resilience: 6/10

• Features protection spells (Teferi's Protection, Boromir, Dawn's Truce), recursion (Takenuma, Season of the Burrow), and strong card draw (Caesar, Face-Breaker, Chivalric Alliance). However, heavy reliance on board presence makes it inherently vulnerable to wipes and targeted hate against engines.

Consistency: 8/10

• Excellent tutor density (Demonic, Vampiric, Enlightened, Imperial Recruiter, Final Showdown), strong card draw engines (Caesar, Face-Breaker, Chivalric Alliance), and functional redundancy in token generation ensure reliable access to the core strategy.

Interaction: 5/10

• Runs efficient targeted removal (Swords, Path, Anguished Unmaking, Fell the Profane, Loran) and protection. Includes specific stack interaction (Pyroblast, REB) and stax pieces (Drannith, Authority). Lacks broader counterspells and struggles against resolved non-creature permanents outside artifact/enchantment removal.

Rating Justification:

This deck exhibits high-speed potential (T5-7 wins) through explosive token generation amplified by doublers and Purphoros/Warleader damage, supported by excellent consistency via tutors and draw. While possessing solid protection and recursion, its critical vulnerability to board wipes and reliance on maintaining a board presence prevent it from reaching higher competitive tiers, placing it firmly in the Optimized/Focused range.

Power level: 6.5 - 7.0