Overview:

This mono-black deck helmed by Evin, Waterdeep Opportunist focuses on Treasure generation, sacrifice synergies, and life drain. The strategy revolves around creating disposable creatures (Zombies, Faeries, Servos) and sacrificing them for value through cards like Pitiless Plunderer and Grim Hireling, while draining opponents via Blood Artist/Zulaport Cutthroat effects. Evin serves as both a payoff (growing with Treasures) and enabler (creating Treasures on opponents' sacrifices), with secondary win conditions including Revel in Riches and Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER emblem triggers. The deck leverages black's recursion (Whip of Erebos, Gravecrawler) and explosive mana (Cabal Coffers, Crypt Ghast) to maintain pressure.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (T1-3): Deploy cheap creatures (Shambling Ghast, Gravecrawler, Jadar, Ghoulcaller) and Treasure generators (Deadly Dispute, Greedy Freebooter). Use Dark Ritual/Culling the Weak for explosive plays.
2. Midgame Engine (T4-6): Activate sacrifice payoffs with Braids, Arisen Nightmare, Fleshbag Marauder, or Village Rites. Amplify Treasure production via Academy Manufactor and Pitiless Plunderer.
3. Win Condition Triggers (T5+):
   • Life Drain: Stack death triggers with Mirkwood Bats, Marionette Apprentice, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse.
   • Treasure Victory: Use Revel in Riches with mass sacrifice (Blood Money) or Grim Hireling combat damage.
   • Recursion Loops: Reanimate key creatures with Whip of Erebos or Ruthless Technomancer while draining via Zulaport Cutthroat.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 2-3 lands (prioritize Cabal Coffers/Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth).
• Require at least 1 early creature/sac outlet (Shambling Ghast, Ophiomancer, Village Rites).
• Prioritize Treasure synergy cards (Pitiless Plunderer, Academy Manufactor) in opening hands.
• Avoid hands without black mana sources or high-CMC clumps.

Key Tips:

• Sacrifice Sequencing: Time sacrifices to maximize Evin's +2/+0 per Treasure and trigger multiple Pitiless Plunderer/Mirkwood Bats effects.
• Protect Critical Mass: Use Skullclamp on 1-toughness tokens for card advantage. Necropotence enables explosive refuels.
• Leverage Politics: Braids, Arisen Nightmare forces opponents to sacrifice permanents or lose life, creating table-wide pressure.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Heavy reliance on creature-based strategies makes it vulnerable to board wipes (especially exile effects like Farewell).
• Academy Manufactor and Pitiless Plunderer are single-point failures for Treasure generation.

Moderate

• Limited answers to enchantments/artifacts (only Feed the Swarm/Force of Vigor equivalents missing).
• Graveyard hate (Rest in Peace) disrupts Gravecrawler/Whip of Erebos recursion.

Minor

• Struggles against flying-heavy boards without deathtouch enablers.
• Life loss from Necropotence/Sign in Blood can become risky against aggressive decks.

Most Important Cards:

• Pitiless Plunderer (Treasure engine/sacrifice enabler)
• Academy Manufactor (Treasure multiplier)
• Revel in Riches (Alternate win condition)
• Necropotence (Card advantage engine)
• Sheoldred, the Apocalypse (Life drain amplifier)
• Braids, Arisen Nightmare (Forced sacrifice pressure)
• Crypt Ghast (Mana doubling)
• Cabal Coffers (Mana scaling)
• Gravecrawler (Recursive sacrifice fodder)
• Mirkwood Bats (Drain payoff)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10
Can threaten wins via Revel in Riches or stacked drain triggers by T7-8, but requires setup turns for engine assembly.

Resilience: 5/10
Multiple recursion options (Whip of Erebos, Gravecrawler) but critically dependent on fragile creature-based engines.

Consistency: 7/10
Strong card draw (Necropotence, Dark Confidant) and tutors (Demonic Tutor) compensate for variance in engine pieces.

Interaction: 5/10
Focused on creature removal (Doom Blade, Sheoldred's Edict) but lacks stack interaction and artifact/enchantment answers.

Rating Justification:

This deck demonstrates focused synergy with T7-8 win potential through combat-agnostic drain effects and Revel in Riches, but its creature dependency and moderate interaction place it below optimized combo tiers. The balance between engine consistency and fragility aligns with high casual play.

Power level: 5.0 - 5.5