Overview:

This Golgari deck helmed by Dina, Soul Steeper focuses on life-gain triggers and life-drain synergies to execute both incremental damage and explosive combo finishes. The strategy leverages Pest token generation, sacrifice outlets, and powerful two-card combos with Dina as a critical enabler. The commander serves as both a value engine (converting life gain into damage) and a combo piece with Exquisite Blood, while fast mana and premium tutors enable rapid deployment of threats.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Acceleration (Turns 1-3): Deploy fast mana (Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Dark Ritual) and dorks (Elvish Mystic, Deathrite Shaman) to power out key pieces. Prioritize Exquisite Blood, Witherbloom Apprentice, or token generators like Sedgemoor Witch.
2. Establish Engines (Turns 2-4): Use Bolas's Citadel, Phyrexian Arena, or The Meathook Massacre to generate value. Deploy Pest generators (Blight Mound, Beledros Witherbloom) to build a board that feeds Dina’s drain triggers.
3. Combo Execution (Turns 3-5):
   • Infinite Drain: Resolve Exquisite Blood + Dina. Trigger any life gain (e.g., Pest death) to loop opponents to 0.
   • Chain of Smog: Pair Chain of Smog with Witherbloom Apprentice to copy repeatedly, draining the table via magecraft triggers.
   • Ad Nauseam: Use fast mana to cast Ad Nauseam, draw into combo pieces, and win the same turn.
4. Backup Plan: Overwhelm with Pest swarms amplified by Bastion of Remembrance or Zulaport Cutthroat, leveraging sacrifice outlets like Village Rites for value.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with fast mana (≥1 piece) and a tutor/combo piece.
• Prioritize green sources for early ramp; avoid hands without acceleration.
• Favor hands with interaction (Assassin's Trophy, Deadly Rollick) in unknown metas.

Key Tips:

• Use Diabolic Intent to sacrifice a Pest token, tutoring for missing combo pieces.
• Imp's Mischief can redirect counterspells targeting Exquisite Blood or Dina.
• Veinwitch Coven recurs combo creatures like Witherbloom Apprentice.
• Heroic Intervention protects your board before a critical The Meathook Massacre sweep.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Relies heavily on Dina for the Exquisite Blood combo; her removal disrupts the primary wincon.
• Minimal stack interaction (only 4 counterspell-redirect effects) leaves combos vulnerable.

Moderate

• Board wipes reset Pest token progress; recovery depends on topdecking engines like Bolas's Citadel.
• Graveyard hate (Rest in Peace) nullifies Reanimate, Veinwitch Coven, and Animate Dead.

Minor

• Limited answers to enchantments/artifacts post-sideboard (only Nature's Claim, Assassin's Trophy).
• High life-payment tools (Bolas's Citadel, Ad Nauseam) risk self-damage against aggressive decks.

Most Important Cards:

• Exquisite Blood (Primary combo piece with Dina)
• Chain of Smog (Combo enabler with Witherbloom Apprentice)
• Ad Nauseam (Draws entire deck with low-CMC shell)
• Mana Vault (Enables explosive early turns)
• Demonic Tutor (Fetches any combo piece)
• The Meathook Massacre (Board control + drain synergy)
• Bolas's Citadel (Unlocks topdeck wins)
• Witherbloom Apprentice (Secondary combo piece)
• Beledros Witherbloom (Token generation + mana untap)
• Dark Ritual (Accelerates critical early plays)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 9/10

• Capable of T3-4 wins via Exquisite Blood + Dina or Ad Nauseam, supported by fast mana and tutors.

Resilience: 6/10

• Tutoring and recursion mitigate some disruption, but combos are fragile to targeted removal on Dina/Exquisite Blood.

Consistency: 8/10

• 7 tutors and robust draw engines (Bolas's Citadel, Phyrexian Arena) reliably assemble wincons.

Interaction: 5/10

• Limited to targeted removal and a few protection spells; struggles against stacked combo decks.

Rating Justification:

This deck operates at cEDH-adjacent speeds (T3-4 wins) with explosive mana and tutor density but lacks the interaction and redundancy of top-tier lists. Its reliance on Dina as a combo piece and vulnerability to removal place it just below cEDH viability.

Power level: 8.0 - 8.5