Overview:

This Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer deck is a high-velocity artifact-centric stax/combo build leveraging Ragavan's early aggression and Treasure generation to accelerate into disruptive elements and game-ending combos. The commander serves as both an early threat and critical ramp engine, enabling explosive artifact mana deployment. Primary win conditions include the Painter's Servant + Grindstone mill combo, overwhelming Treasure-fueled spells like Insurrection or All Is Dust, and combat damage amplified by equipment. Stax pieces like Winter Orb, Blood Moon, and Mana Web disrupt opponents while the deck operates under its own artifact mana base.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Ragavan Pressure (Turns 1-3): Deploy Ragavan via Dash or hardcast ASAP. Prioritize protection like Lightning Greaves or Deflecting Swat. Attack to generate Treasures and exile/cast opponent's cards. Use Treasures to fund artifact ramp (Mana Vault, Grim Monolith, Chrome Mox).
2. Stax Deployment & Combo Setup (Turns 2-5): Use accelerated mana to deploy key stax pieces (Winter Orb, Blood Moon, Defense Grid) to hinder opponents. Simultaneously, assemble combo pieces: Tutor Painter's Servant/Grindstone via Gamble, Imperial Recruiter (for Goblin Engineer), or Goblin Engineer's entomb ability. Protect critical artifacts with Deflecting Swat or recursion (Buried Ruin).
3. Win Condition Execution (Turns 3-7):
   • Combo: Activate Grindstone with Painter's Servant naming blue to mill opponents' libraries.
   • Treasure Overload: Generate massive Treasures via Xorn, Ancient Copper Dragon, or Mana Geyser. Cast Insurrection to steal all creatures for lethal, All Is Dust to clear boards, or Hell to Pay/Spiteful Banditry for direct damage.
   • Combat: Equip Ragavan with Commander's Plate, Diamond Pick-Axe, or Beamtown Beatstick for enhanced damage and Treasure generation. Use Trailblazer's Boots or Manifold Key to ensure hits.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Essential: 2-3 lands (including Great Furnace/Buried Ruin), Ragavan, and at least one piece of fast mana (Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Chrome Mox, Mox Opal).
• Strong: Hands with protection (Deflecting Swat, Lightning Greaves), a stax piece (Winter Orb, Blood Moon), or a tutor/combo piece (Gamble, Imperial Recruiter, Goblin Engineer).
• Avoid: Hands lacking Ragavan, lands, or acceleration; hands clogged with high-CMC spells without ramp.

Key Tips:

• Sequence Stax Carefully: Deploy mana rocks BEFORE Winter Orb/Mana Web. Cast Blood Moon only after fetching non-basics (via Bloodstained Mire). Use Defense Grid proactively before comboing off.
• Maximize Treasures: Xorn, Academy Manufactor, and Professional Face-Breaker exponentially increase Treasure output. Sacrifice Treasures to Professional Face-Breaker or Crime Novelist for card advantage/ramp.
• Protect the Combo: Deflecting Swat protects Grindstone activation. Goblin Engineer/Buried Ruin can recur pieces. Pyroblast/Red Elemental Blast counter key blue interaction.
• Leverage Asymmetry: Smokestack is potent with your Treasures acting as fodder. Candelabra of Tawnos untaps lands under Winter Orb.
• Dash Wisely: Use Ragavan's Dash to avoid sorcery-speed removal and rebuild after wraths. Prioritize equipping Dashed Ragavan for immediate impact.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Artifact & Stax Hate: Collector Ouphe, Stony Silence, Karn, the Great Creator, or Vandalblast cripple mana, combos, and stax engines. Limited answers beyond Abrade/Smash to Smithereens.
• Graveyard Hate: Rest in Peace/Leyline of the Void shut off Goblin Engineer/Buried Ruin recursion critical for combo recovery.
• Commander Reliance: Repeated Ragavan removal significantly slows Treasure generation and stax deployment due to escalating commander tax.

Moderate

• Board Wipes: Blasphemous Act/Damnation reset Ragavan pressure and Treasure enablers like Captain Lannery Storm. Recovery relies on topdecking threats/ramp.
• Combo Disruption: Instant-speed artifact removal (Abrade, Force of Vigor) or counterspells disrupt the fragile Grindstone combo. Limited protection beyond Deflecting Swat.
• Rule of Law Effects: Deafening Silence/Eidolon of Rhetoric severely limit the deck's ability to chain spells and deploy multiple threats per turn.

Minor

• Land Destruction: Non-basic land hate (Field of Ruin) can disrupt utility lands but doesn't cripple the artifact mana base.
• Flying Threats: Can struggle against evasive creatures if combat becomes necessary, though removal suite is reasonable.

Most Important Cards:

• Painter's Servant (Primary Combo Piece - Enables Grindstone)
• Grindstone (Primary Combo Wincon)
• Goblin Engineer (Tutor/Recur Combo Pieces & Key Artifacts)
• Winter Orb (Core Stax Piece - Mana Denial)
• Blood Moon (Core Stax Piece - Mana Disruption)
• Mana Vault (Critical Fast Mana)
• Grim Monolith (Critical Fast Mana)
• Imperial Recruiter (Tutor for Engineer/Key Creatures)
• Gamble (Primary Tutor)
• Deflecting Swat (Essential Protection)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 8/10

• Capable of T3-4 wins with perfect hands (e.g., T1 Ragavan -> T2 Engineer -> T3 Grindstone/Servant) via explosive artifact mana and efficient tutors. Average goldfish win ~T5-6.

Resilience: 5/10

• Heavily reliant on artifacts vulnerable to widespread hate. Some protection (Deflecting Swat) and recursion (Engineer, Buried Ruin) exists, but recovery from dedicated hate is difficult. Commander reliance adds fragility.

Consistency: 6/10

• Strong density of fast mana and key stax pieces. Limited tutors (Gamble, Imperial Recruiter) hinder combo assembly reliability. Card draw is sparse beyond Ragavan/Professional Face-Breaker exiling.

Interaction: 7/10

• Efficient targeted removal (Abrade, Lightning Bolt, Smite the Deathless), stack interaction (Deflecting Swat, Pyroblast, Tibalt's Trickery), and potent stax (Winter Orb, Blood Moon). Lacks broad board wipes beyond Blasphemous Act.

Rating Justification:

This deck achieves high-power speed (T3-4 potential) through explosive artifact mana and a compact combo, aligning with Tier 2 cEDH benchmarks. However, critical vulnerabilities to artifact hate and commander reliance significantly reduce resilience, preventing it from reaching true cEDH robustness. Its stax elements provide disruption but require precise sequencing.

Power level: 8.0 - 8.5