Overview:

This Orzhov Vampire tribal deck helmed by Clavileño, First of the Blessed focuses on generating Vampire tokens, leveraging death triggers, and incremental life drain. Clavileño transforms attacking Vampires into Demons that replace themselves with 4/3 flyers upon death, creating a self-sustaining engine. The deck combines aristocrat payoffs (Blood Artist, Cruel Celebrant), token synergies (Cathars' Crusade, Felisa, Fang of Silverquill), and recursive threats (Oathsworn Vampire, Bloodghast) to grind out value. While capable of combat wins with scaled Vampires, its primary win conditions are attrition through life drain and token swarms.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-4): Deploy mana rocks (Sol Ring, Orzhov Signet) and low-CMC Vampires like Dusk Legion Zealot or Viscera Seer. Prioritize establishing sac outlets (Ashnod's Altar, Spawning Pit) and token generators (Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle, Sorin, Lord of Innistrad).
2. Midgame Engine (Turns 4-7): Cast Clavileño to transform attacking Vampires into Demons. Attack aggressively to trigger Clavileño’s ability, sacrificing transformed Demons to Vampiric Rites or Ashnod's Altar for card draw or mana. Use Cathars' Crusade or Necropolis Regent to grow your board exponentially.
3. Win Conditions (Turns 6-9):
   • Life Drain: Amplify Blood Artist/Cruel Celebrant triggers with mass token sacrifices.
   • Token Overrun: Use Cathars' Crusade + Mirror Entity or Kindred Dominance to clear the way for lethal.
   • Recursive Combos: Loop Oathsworn Vampire with Ashnod's Altar and lifegain (e.g., Blood Artist) for infinite sacrifices.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 2-3 lands, a mana rock, and at least one sac outlet or engine piece (e.g., Viscera Seer + Dusk Legion Zealot).
• Prioritize early plays that enable Clavileño’s transformation ability (e.g., Charismatic Conqueror for token generation).
• Avoid hands lacking Vampire synergy or with only high-CMC cards.

Key Tips:

• Use Vault of the Archangel to give deathtouch/lifelink to Demon tokens for combat dominance.
• Sacrifice transformed Demons before combat ends to maximize Clavileño’s death triggers.
• Felisa, Fang of Silverquill turns +1/+1 counters from Cathars' Crusade into Inkling tokens when creatures die.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Board Wipes: Lacks mass recursion; rebuilds depend on Bishop of Rebirth or Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher.
• Commander Reliance: Clavileño’s absence halts Demon generation, and its 4 CMC becomes prohibitive after repeated removal.

Moderate

• Graveyard Hate: Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void disrupts Bloodghast, Oathsworn Vampire, and recursion.
• Anti-Token Tech: Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or Cursed Totem nullifies key strategies.

Minor

• Spot Removal: Targeted removal on key engines (e.g., Cathars' Crusade) slows the deck but doesn’t cripple it.

Most Important Cards:

• Clavileño, First of the Blessed (Engine enabler/token generator)
• Cathars' Crusade (Scales board exponentially)
• Ashnod's Altar (Sac outlet for mana/combo potential)
• Blood Artist (Primary life drain payoff)
• Felisa, Fang of Silverquill (Converts counters into tokens)
• Sorin, Lord of Innistrad (Token generation and anthem emblem)
• Kindred Dominance (One-sided board clear)
• Oathsworn Vampire (Recursive combo piece)
• Cruel Celebrant (Secondary life drain)
• Mirror Entity (Overrun finisher)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 5/10

• Threatens wins via combat or drain around turns 7-9 but lacks fast mana for explosive starts.

Resilience: 6/10

• Recursive creatures and sac-for-value engines mitigate removal, but board wipes remain a critical weakness.

Consistency: 7/10

• High Vampire density and card draw (e.g., Champion of Dusk, Welcoming Vampire) ensure reliable access to synergies.

Interaction: 5/10

• Efficient spot removal (Swords to Plowshares, Anguished Unmaking) but limited stack interaction or stax.

Rating Justification:

This deck operates at a Focused Casual level, leveraging cohesive tribal synergies and multiple win paths but lacking the speed (T9-11) and resilience of optimized lists. Its reliance on board presence and incremental value aligns with the 4.5-5.0 tier.

Power level: 4.5 - 5.0