Overview:

This Mardu (R/W/B) deck leverages Terra, Herald of Hope as a recursive engine for low-to-mid-power creatures, enabling a graveyard-centric combat strategy. Terra's Trance ability fuels the graveyard at each combat, while her damage trigger reanimates key utility creatures or combo pieces. The deck supplements this with potent reanimation spells (Animate Dead, Reanimate, Sister Hospitaller), discard/draw synergies (Faithless Looting, Big Score), and explosive finishers like Aurelia, the Warleader or Rise of the Dark Realms. Terra acts as the primary enabler and value generator, but the deck can function without her using its suite of standalone reanimation effects. Hidden commanders like Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate and Priest of Fell Rites provide redundancy.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Setup (Turns 1-4): Play mana rocks (Sol Ring, Signets), self-mill/discard enablers (Stitcher's Supplier, Faithless Looting, Azra Oddsmaker), or early reanimation targets (Anger, Stitcher's Supplier). Cast Terra ASAP to start milling. Prioritize filling the graveyard with key creatures like Blade Historian, Luminous Broodmoth, Priest of Fell Rites, or combo pieces.
2. Value & Setup (Turns 3-6): Attack with Terra to trigger reanimation (paying {2} for targets ≤3 power). Use tutors (Buried Alive, Entomb, Unmarked Grave) to place specific threats in the yard. Deploy secondary engines like Braids, Arisen Nightmare for sacrifice/value or Celes, Rune Knight for card advantage. Reanimate key pieces directly with spells like Reanimate or Animate Dead.
3. Win Condition Execution (Turns 5-9):
   • Combat Swarm: Recur multiple creatures per turn (via Terra, Alesha, Priest, Sister Hospitaller). Use Aurelia, the Warleader or Fear of Missing Out for extra combats. Amplify damage with Blade Historian (double strike) or Crackling Doom (forced sacrifice).
   • Mass Reanimation: Cast Rise of the Dark Realms or Breach the Multiverse to overwhelm the board. Rejoin the Fight provides targeted mass recursion.
   • Combo: Luminous Broodmoth + Sacrifice Outlet (e.g., High Market, Braids) + Creature without flying creates infinite death/ETB loops if Broodmoth is active. Pair with damage/death triggers (e.g., Gau, Feral Youth).

Mulligan Priorities:

• Essential: 3 lands (including R/W/B sources), 1-2 ramp pieces (Signet, Sol Ring, Wayfarer's Bauble).
• High Priority: Early enabler (Terra, Stitcher's Supplier, Faithless Looting, Entomb) or a reanimation spell (Animate Dead, Reanimate).
• Good: Value card draw/discard (Big Score, Valakut Awakening), protection (Swiftfoot Boots, Dawn's Truce), or a key creature to reanimate early (Anger, Priest of Fell Rites).
• Avoid: Hands lacking ramp, enablers, or color fixing; hands clogged with only high-CMC spells.

Key Tips:

• Protect Terra: Use Swiftfoot Boots, Dawn's Truce, Malakir Rebirth, or Akroma's Will to ensure Terra connects and survives. Her reanimation trigger is crucial fuel.
• Sequence Reanimation: Prioritize targets enabling further value (Priest of Fell Rites, Sister Hospitaller, Anger for haste) or combo pieces (Broodmoth). Save big reanimation spells (Rise, Breach) for decisive turns.
• Leverage Discard: Cards like Faithless Looting, Big Score, Snort, and Celes, Rune Knight turn unwanted cards into graveyard fuel or card advantage. Braids, Arisen Nightmare sacrifices creatures for value after they've been recurred.
• Manage Resources: Key to the City provides unblockable for Terra and card draw. Amulet of Vigor untaps your many tapped lands. The Warring Triad fuels mana and becomes a threat later.
• Combat Tricks: Akroma's Will is a devastating finisher/protection spell. Crackling Doom disrupts opponents while pressuring life totals.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Graveyard Hate: Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void, or Bojuka Bog cripple the core strategy by exiling the fuel and targets. Recovery is extremely difficult.
• Commander Focus: Repeated removal on Terra significantly slows the engine, forcing expensive recasts and delaying graveyard setup.

Moderate

• Board Wipes: Mass removal (Wrath of God, Blasphemous Act) before establishing recursion engines can set the deck back significantly, though it can rebuild from the yard.
• Stax Effects: Rule of Law/Archon of Emeria limit multiple spells/creatures per turn, hindering explosive reanimation turns. Torpor Orb shuts down crucial ETBs (Sister Hospitaller, Solemn Simulacrum, Meteor Golem).
• Combo Speed: The deck is slower than dedicated combo decks, struggling against T4-5 wins without disruption.

Minor

• Targeted Removal: Spot removal on key non-commander pieces (Aurelia, Broodmoth, Braids) is annoying but often replaceable via recursion.
• Mana Base: Several lands enter tapped, potentially slowing early plays. Color requirements are demanding.

Most Important Cards:

• Terra, Herald of Hope (Primary Engine: Mills & Recurs)
• Buried Alive (Tutor 3 key creatures to graveyard)
• Reanimate (Efficient single-target recursion)
• Aurelia, the Warleader (Primary Combat Finisher: Extra Combats)
• Luminous Broodmoth (Combo Enabler & Recursion)
• Priest of Fell Rites (Recursive Reanimation)
• Anger (Gives Haste from Graveyard)
• Entomb (Precision Graveyard Tutor)
• Akroma's Will (Game-winning Combat Trick/Protection)
• Braids, Arisen Nightmare (Sacrifice Outlet & Value Engine)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 5/10

• Can threaten wins via combat swarm or mass reanimation around turns 8-10 in ideal conditions. Slower setup than dedicated combo decks due to reliance on combat and incremental graveyard building.

Resilience: 5/10

• Features recursion (Terra, Priest, Broodmoth, spells) and protection (Akroma's Will, Dawn's Truce, Swiftfoot Boots) but remains highly vulnerable to graveyard exile and struggles to recover if key engines are removed early.

Consistency: 6/10

• Good density of enablers (self-mill, discard, tutors like Entomb/Buried Alive) ensures reliable access to the graveyard and key creatures. Mana base inconsistencies slightly hinder this.

Interaction: 6/10

• Runs efficient targeted removal (Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Anguished Unmaking, Legions to Ashes, Crackling Doom) and some protection. Lacks significant stack interaction (counterspells) and relies heavily on sorcery-speed plays.

Rating Justification:

The deck demonstrates a focused game plan leveraging graveyard recursion and combat, capable of threatening wins around T9-11 with reasonable consistency through tutors and enablers. However, its reliance on the graveyard makes it critically vulnerable to hate, and its mana base/speed prevent it from reaching optimized tiers. This aligns squarely with the Focused Casual (4.5) to Optimized Casual (5.0) range.

Power level: 4.5 - 5.0