Overview:

Ayara, Widow of the Realm pilots an artifact/creature recursion deck focused on sacrificing high-value permanents for damage triggers and recurring threats. The strategy leverages Ayara's front-face sacrifice ability and back-face reanimation engine, supported by artifact synergies and graveyard recursion. While capable of explosive plays with big artifact creatures, the deck lacks deterministic combos and folds to graveyard hate.

Primer:

Core Strategy: This deck aims to flood the board with high-mana-value artifacts/creatures (e.g., Triplicate Titan, Phyrexian Triniform), sacrifice them via Ayara/Braids/Altars for damage and card advantage, then recur them using Ayara's transformed state and recursion engines like Feldon of the Third Path and Chainer, Nightmare Adept. Key phases:

1. Setup: Ramp with fast mana (Mox Diamond, Mana Vault) and self-mill (Faithless Looting, Entomb).
2. Sacrifice Engine: Activate Ayara's front-face ability or Ashnod's Altar to convert large creatures into direct damage and resources.
3. Recurrence Loop: Use transformed Ayara's combat trigger and Daretti, Scrap Savant to rebuild boards after sacrifices.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 3+ mana sources including fast artifacts
• Prioritize early enablers like Braids, Arisen Nightmare or Feldon of the Third Path
• Avoid hands without graveyard setup or payoff cards

Key Tips:

• Time Ayara's transformation after establishing sacrifice fodder
• Chain Phyrexian Triniform deaths into Triplicate Titan recursion for exponential board presence
• Use Deflecting Swat to protect critical combo turns

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• Graveyard hate (Rest in Peace) cripples recursion engines
• Relies on commander for recurring value (weak to repeated removal)

Moderate:

• Limited instant-speed interaction for fast combos
• High average CMC slows recovery after wipes

Minor:

• Some air in artifact land count

Most Important Cards:

• Ashnod's Altar
• Phyrexian Triniform
• Triplicate Titan
• Buried Alive
• Feldon of the Third Path
• Braids, Arisen Nightmare
• Grave Pact
• Chainer, Nightmare Adept
• Daretti, Scrap Savant
• Bolas's Citadel

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10

• Can goldfish wins via Bolas's Citadel/big recursion by T7-8
• Fast mana enables early big plays but lacks T4-5 kill lines

Resilience: 5/10

• Recursion provides some recovery, but graveyard dependency creates fragility
• Limited protection beyond Deflecting Swat

Consistency: 5/10

• 5 tutors (Entomb, Buried Alive etc.) plus card selection
• High redundancy in sacrifice outlets but key payoffs are singleton

Interaction: 4/10

• Mostly sorcery-speed removal (Chaos Warp, Blasphemous Act)
• Minimal stack interaction beyond 1x Deflecting Swat

Rating Justification:

This deck sits between Optimized Casual (5.0) and High-Power Casual (5.5). It exceeds precons with explosive artifact recursion and fast mana but lacks cEDH staples/consistency. Comparable to rubric's 5.5 "T8-9 via combos/value" benchmark but held back by graveyard fragility. The transformational Ayara back-face provides recurring value but requires setup turns.

Power level: 5.0 - 5.5