Overview:

This Chainer, Dementia Master deck is a synergistic black control/reanimator build focused on mass discard, graveyard manipulation, and value recursion. The commander serves as the primary reanimation engine, enabling repeated use of powerful ETB/death triggers from creatures like Archon of Cruelty and Kokusho, the Evening Star. The deck leverages Waste Not, Geth's Grimoire, and Tergrid, God of Fright to convert forced discard into board presence while deploying stax elements like Oppression and Bottomless Pit to disrupt opponents. Win conditions include incremental life drain via Syr Konrad, the Grim, explosive Torment of Hailfire/Exsanguinate casts enabled by Cabal Coffers, and recurring value engines like Sheoldred, Whispering One.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Disruption (Turns 1-4): Deploy mana rocks (Sol Ring, Jet Medallion), discard enablers (The Raven Man, Chain of Smog), and stax pieces (Oppression). Use Entomb/Dark Ritual to set up early reanimation targets.
2. Midgame Control (Turns 4-7): Activate mass discard (Delirium Skeins, Mindslicer) while recurring key creatures with Chainer. Use Toxic Deluge/Damnation to reset boards and refill graveyards.
3. Endgame Domination (Turns 7+): Loop Kokusho, the Evening Star with Chainer's ability for life swings, deploy Archon of Cruelty for repeated value, or close with Torment of Hailfire powered by Cabal Coffers/Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 2-3 Swamps and early mana acceleration.
• Prioritize opening with discard outlets (Chain of Smog, Arterial Flow) or reanimation setup (Entomb + Reanimate).
• Ensure access to at least one board wipe or protection piece (Imp's Mischief, No Mercy).

Key Tips:

• Use Necropotence/Necrodominance aggressively to refuel but manage hand size with Thought Vessel.
• Time Mindslicer sacrifices to maximize disruption during opponents' critical turns.
• Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth enables Cabal Coffers while negating Bojuka Bog's ETB-tapped drawback.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Graveyard hate (Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void) cripples recursion and Chainer's ability.
• Commander-dependent strategy: Losing Chainer exiles all reanimated creatures, requiring immediate recast protection.

Moderate

• Struggles against decks with innate graveyard synergy (e.g., Muldrotha).
• Limited instant-speed interaction for stack-based threats.

Minor

• High life payment costs (Necropotence, Reanimate) can become precarious.
• Some clunkiness with 6+ CMC reanimation targets without Buried Alive-style setup.

Most Important Cards:

• Chainer, Dementia Master (Primary recursion engine)
• Cabal Coffers (Mana amplification for X-spells)
• Archon of Cruelty (Recurrable value/drain engine)
• Tergrid, God of Fright (Discard-to-permanent conversion)
• Syr Konrad, the Grim (Passive life drain)
• Torment of Hailfire (Primary finisher)
• Necropotence (Card advantage)
• Waste Not (Discard payoff engine)
• Damnation (Board reset)
• Demonic Tutor (Consistency tool)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10

• Can threaten T5-7 wins via Coffers-fueled X-spells or Tergrid steals, but lacks fast combo lines.

Resilience: 5/10

• Redundant reanimation and card draw mitigate some disruption, but over-reliance on graveyard and commander leaves key strategies fragile.

Consistency: 7/10

• Strong tutor suite (Demonic Tutor, Entomb) and mass card draw (Necropotence) reliably access key pieces.

Interaction: 6/10

• Robust creature removal (Deadly Rollick, Toxic Deluge) and stack redirection (Imp's Mischief), but lacks countermagic for noncreature threats.

Rating Justification:

This deck demonstrates focused control elements and potent late-game engines but lacks the speed and redundancy of true cEDH builds. Its T6-8 win potential via mana amplification and recursive value places it in optimized casual tiers, while graveyard vulnerability caps resilience.

Power level: 6.0 - 6.5