Overview:

This mono-black deck revolves around Maga, Traitor to Mortals, leveraging massive mana generation to fuel X-cost spells and life-drain effects. The strategy focuses on accelerating into Cabal Coffers-style mana doublers, then deploying Maga with a lethal X value or casting game-ending spells like Exsanguinate and Torment of Hailfire. Secondary themes include forced discard synergies (e.g., Waste Not, Necrogen Mists) and incremental life loss via Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Kokusho, the Evening Star, and Sanguine Bond. Maga acts as a scalable finisher and mana sink, while cards like K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth and Crypt Ghast turbocharge the deck’s explosive potential.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Mana Setup (Turns 1-4): Prioritize ramping with Sol Ring, Wayfarer's Bauble, Burnished Hart, and land tutors like Expedition Map. Use Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth to supercharge Cabal Coffers/Cabal Stronghold and deploy mana doublers (Crypt Ghast, Nirkana Revenant).
2. Midgame Value (Turns 4-6): Cast Maga, Traitor to Mortals with X=10+ using accumulated mana, draining a player for 10+ life. Use Profane Command for recursion or direct damage. Activate Dread Presence or Twilight Prophet for incremental advantage.
3. Win Conditions (Turns 6-8+):
   • Maga Burst: Cast Maga repeatedly via recursion (e.g., Sheoldred, Whispering One) or flicker effects.
   • X-Spell Finishers: Resolve Exsanguinate/Torment of Hailfire with X=15+ to wipe the table.
   • Synergy Loops: Pair Sanguine Bond with lifegain triggers (e.g., Gray Merchant, Kokusho) for double damage.
   • Discard Payouts: Leverage Waste Not and Megrim to convert forced discards into zombies, mana, and direct damage.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 2-3 Swamps and at least one ramp piece (Sol Ring, Wayfarer's Bauble).
• Prioritize early Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth or land tutors to enable mana doublers.
• Avoid hands without a clear path to 6+ mana by turn 5.

Key Tips:

• Use K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth to cheat costs for critical spells, but monitor life total.
• Thespian's Stage can copy Cabal Coffers for exponential mana.
• Protect key pieces with Lethal Vapors or Grave Pact to stall opponents.
• Sorin Markov’s -3 sets a player to 10 life, enabling quick Maga/X-spell kills.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Mana dependency: Relies heavily on Cabal Coffers/Urborg; land destruction (e.g., Strip Mine) cripples the deck.
• Slow setup: Minimal fast mana outside Sol Ring/Dark Ritual; struggles against early aggression.
• No stack interaction: Lacks counterspells to protect combos or stop opposing wins.

Moderate

• Graveyard reliance: Recursion via Sheoldred/Crucible of Worlds is vulnerable to Rest in Peace.
• Discard theme backfire: Opponents with graveyard synergies (e.g., reanimator) benefit from forced discards.

Minor

• High CMC: Clunky hands with multiple 6+ cost cards can stall the game plan.
• Artifact fragility: Key artifacts (Jet Medallion, Nyx Lotus) are soft to mass removal.

Most Important Cards:

• Cabal Coffers (Mana engine)
• Exsanguinate (Primary finisher)
• Torment of Hailfire (Game-ending X-spell)
• Crypt Ghast (Mana doubler)
• Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth (Mana enabler)
• Sanguine Bond (Damage amplifier)
• Gray Merchant of Asphodel (Life-drain staple)
• K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth (Cost cheat)
• Waste Not (Discard payoff)
• Profane Tutor (Tutor for critical pieces)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10

• Capable of threatening wins via Maga/X-spells by turn 7-8 with ideal ramp, but slow to stabilize against faster decks.

Resilience: 5/10

• Limited protection for key pieces; relies on recursion (e.g., Sheoldred) but folds to graveyard hate.

Consistency: 7/10

• Strong tutor density (Grim Tutor, Scheming Symmetry) ensures access to mana engines and finishers.

Interaction: 4/10

• Spot removal (Snuff Out, Defile) and board wipes (Damnation) are present but lack versatility against noncreature threats.

Rating Justification:

This deck has a focused game plan with explosive mana and potent finishers, but its reliance on slow setup and vulnerability to disruption caps its speed. While tutors and redundancy boost consistency, the lack of interaction and fragility to land hate place it in the optimized casual tier.

Power level: 5.5 - 6.0