Overview:

This Grixis enchantress deck leverages Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor to create a resilient Curse-focused strategy. The primary game plan involves attaching disruptive Curses to opponents to drain life, force attacks, generate tokens, and draw cards. Lynde acts as the engine, enabling constant curse recursion from the graveyard and facilitating card draw by redistributing curses each turn. Threats are deployed via enchantment casting and token generation, with secondary Constellation triggers providing incremental value and control. The win condition relies on stacking multiple curses for cumulative life loss, amplified by cards like Curse of Bloodletting and Grim Guardian, while forced attacks enable combat wins.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-4): Prioritize ramping with signets (Arcane Signet, Dimir Signet, etc.) and deploying low-cost curses like Curse of Opulence, Curse of Disturbance, or Trespasser's Curse. Protect Lynde with Propaganda or Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs. Use card selection (Read the Bones, Thirst for Meaning) to find key pieces.
2. Mid-Game Engine (Turns 5-7): Cast Lynde and leverage her death trigger to recur sacrificed/destroyed curses. Use her upkeep trigger to move curses, drawing 2 cards per activation. Deploy high-impact curses like Torment of Scarabs, Cruel Reality, or Curse of Misfortunes (which tutors more curses). Copy key curses with Mirrormade or Estrid's Invocation.
3. Win Condition Execution (Turns 8+):
   • Life Drain: Stack multiple curses (e.g., Torment of Scarabs + Grim Guardian + Wicked Visitor) and amplify with Curse of Bloodletting. Curse of Thirst scales with curse count.
   • Combat: Force attacks via Curse of Nightly Hunt and create tokens with Curse of Shallow Graves/Curse of Disturbance. Use Curse of Stalked Prey to grow attackers.
   • Value Overload: Leverage Sphinx of the Second Sun for extra untap/upkeep/draw steps to accelerate curse triggers and Lynde activations.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 3 lands, including at least two colored sources. Prioritize lands that enter untapped (e.g., Command Tower).
• Ensure at least one early ramp artifact (Signet/Sol Ring) or low-CMC curse (Curse of Opulence, Trespasser's Curse).
• Look for Lynde protection (Propaganda, Kazuul) or card draw (Read the Bones).
• Avoid hands with only high-CMC curses or no interaction.

Key Tips:

• Sacrifice Curses Strategically: Use Perilous Research or Saw to intentionally put curses into the graveyard for Lynde's recursion. Time sacrifices before your end step.
• Maximize Lynde's Upkeep Trigger: Prioritize moving curses that trigger on attack (e.g., Curse of Verbosity) to incentivize opponents to attack each other. Always draw 2 cards when possible.
• Protect Your Engine: Crystal Chimes and Ashiok's Reaper recover from enchantment wipes. Use targeted removal (Bedevil, Terminate) on enchantment hate creatures like Bane of Progress.
• Copy Wisely: Mirrormade/Copy Enchantment should target high-impact curses (Curse of Misfortunes, Cruel Reality) or value engines (Extravagant Replication).

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Mass Enchantment Removal: Cards like Cleansing Nova or Farewell devastate the deck, removing all curses and key synergy pieces simultaneously. Limited recursion beyond Lynde/Crystal Chimes.
• Commander Reliance: Lynde is essential for recursion and card draw. Repeated removal (especially exile) cripples the deck's engine and slows curse redeployment.
• Fast Aggro Decks: Struggles against early creature swarms before curses like Propaganda or Kazuul are established.

Moderate

• Enchantment Hate: Targeted removal like Aura Shards or Bane of Progress disrupts key curses and Constellation triggers. Limited answers beyond counterspells (none in deck).
• Graveyard Hate: Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void shuts off Lynde's recursion ability and cripples Crystal Chimes.
• Slow Setup: The deck takes several turns to establish meaningful curse pressure, leaving it vulnerable to faster combo decks.

Minor

• Artifact Ramp Dependency: Relies heavily on signets for mana fixing. Artifact destruction can slow early development.
• Limited Board Interaction: Few answers to resolved non-creature permanents (e.g., planeswalkers) outside Bedevil/Chaos Warp.

Most Important Cards:

• Curse of Misfortunes (Tutors curses directly onto an opponent)
• Torment of Scarabs (Powerful life drain and disruption)
• Crystal Chimes (Mass enchantment recursion)
• Bitterheart Witch (Tutors a curse on death)
• Sphinx of the Second Sun (Doubles upkeep triggers and accelerates the game)
• Grim Guardian (Scales with enchantments for consistent life loss)
• Curse of Bloodletting (Doubles all damage from curses)
• Extravagant Replication (Copies key curses or value engines)
• Propaganda (Essential defense against early aggression)
• Ashiok's Reaper (Draws cards when enchantments die)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 4/10

• Wins typically occur around turns 10-12 through accumulated curse damage or forced combat. No fast combos; relies on incremental value.

Resilience: 5/10

• Lynde and Crystal Chimes provide recursion, but heavy reliance on enchantments makes the deck vulnerable to mass removal. Limited protection for key pieces.

Consistency: 6/10

• Multiple curse tutors (Curse of Misfortunes, Bitterheart Witch) and card draw (Lynde, Thirst for Meaning) help find key pieces, but lacks universal tutors.

Interaction: 6/10

• Efficient targeted removal (Terminate, Feed the Swarm, Bedevil) and board wipes (Extinguish All Hope), but lacks counterspells and struggles with non-creature permanents.

Rating Justification:

This deck operates at a Casual/Focused Casual level, leveraging curses for incremental advantage but lacking the speed or protection for higher tiers. Its T10-12 win benchmark via life drain/combat aligns with the "Casual/Precon" to "Focused Casual" rubric descriptions, while vulnerability to enchantment removal caps resilience.

Power level: 4.0 - 4.5