Overview:

This Ilharg, the Raze-Boar deck focuses on cheating massive creatures into play during combat, leveraging extra combat phases and ETB damage triggers. While capable of explosive plays like T4 Blightsteel Colossus kills, it relies heavily on commander availability and has limited protection against disruption.

Primer:

Core Strategy: Deploy Ilharg by T3-4 using ramp (Generator Servant, Seething Song), then cheat game-ending threats like Blightsteel Colossus or Terror of the Peaks. Backup plans include extra combat enablers (Aggravated Assault + Neheb, the Eternal) and ETB damage amplifiers (Panharmonicon, Warstorm Surge).

Key Lines:

• T3 Ilharg via Generator Servant -> T4 attack with haste to deploy Blightsteel Colossus
• Sneak Attack/Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded + Terror of the Peaks for burst damage
• Infinite combats with Aggravated Assault + Neheb, the Eternal post-combat mana

Mulligan Priorities:

1. 3+ lands with red sources
2. 1-2 ramp pieces (Sol Ring, Ruby Medallion)
3. At least 1 cheat target or combat enabler Reject hands without early red mana or board development tools.

Protection Protocol:

• Equip Lightning Greaves before attacking
• Hold Deflecting Swat for critical interaction
• Use Sundial of the Infinite to keep cheated creatures

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• Commander-dependent strategy folds to repeated removal
• Limited card advantage engines

Moderate:

• Vulnerable to board wipes post-cheat
• Blood Moon conflicts with own utility lands

Minor:

• High average CMC without Ilharg

Most Important Cards:

• Blightsteel Colossus
• Aggravated Assault
• Terror of the Peaks
• Neheb, the Eternal
• Sneak Attack
• Ancient Copper Dragon
• Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded
• Panharmonicon
• Deflecting Swat
• Bloodthirster

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 7/10
Theoretical T4 win via Ilharg->Blightsteel. Average goldfish kill T5-6 with combat/ETB chains.

Resilience: 4/10
Dies to 2x commander removal. Limited recursion (only Ilharg's self-recovery). Protection concentrated on equipment.

Consistency: 5/10
8 cheat effects (Ilharg/Sneak/Purphoros) but only 2 tutors (Gamble, Jeska's Will). High variance in threat density.

Interaction: 5/10
10 targeted removal, 2 board wipes, 2 redirects. Lacks counterspells and graveyard hate.

Rating Justification:

This deck sits between Optimized Casual (5.0) and High-Power Casual (5.5). While capable of T4 kills, its commander reliance and interaction gaps prevent consistent performance against tuned decks. Matches rubric's T8-10 win benchmark through combat/cheated threats but struggles against early stax or focused removal.

Power level: 5.0 - 5.5