Overview:

This Tergrid, God of Fright deck is a mono-black stax/control build focused on forcing opponents to sacrifice permanents and discard cards, leveraging Tergrid’s ability to steal their resources. The deck employs symmetrical sacrifice effects (e.g., Smallpox, Death Cloud), discard engines (Necrogen Mists, Bottomless Pit), and punishing attrition tools (Grave Pact, Contamination) to grind opponents into topdecking while accumulating stolen permanents. Tergrid is the linchpin, enabling explosive value from opponents’ losses, but the deck also includes alternative win conditions like Torment of Hailfire and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-3): Deploy mana acceleration (Cabal Coffers, Crypt Ghast, Dark Ritual), discard/sacrifice enablers (Necrogen Mists, Ophiomancer), or protection for Tergrid (Lightning Greaves).
2. Midgame Pressure (Turns 4-6): Cast Tergrid, then trigger her ability with forced sacrifices (Plaguecrafter, Innocent Blood) or discard (Dark Deal, Liliana of the Veil). Use Waste Not and Geth's Grimoire to generate card advantage and mana.
3. Lock/Finisher (Turns 6+):
   • Attrition: Overwhelm opponents with stolen permanents and recurring sacrifice loops (Smokestack, Braids, Arisen Nightmare).
   • Torment of Hailfire: Leverage Cabal Coffers/Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx to cast an X=10+ Torment.
   • Sheoldred, the Apocalypse: Drain life via forced draws (e.g., Necropotence activations).

Mulligan Priorities:

• Prioritize hands with early ramp (Sol Ring, Cabal Ritual) and a Tergrid enabler (Smallpox, Necrogen Mists).
• Ensure access to at least 3 lands, ideally including Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth or Cabal Coffers.
• Avoid hands lacking interaction (e.g., Deadly Rollick, Feed the Swarm) if opponents are likely to deploy early threats.

Key Tips:

• Sacrifice Sequencing: Use Phyrexian Altar or Phyrexian Tower to sacrifice tokens (from Ophiomancer/Waste Not) for mana to fuel larger plays.
• Recursion: Reanimate key pieces like Mindslicer with Reanimate or Animate Dead to maintain pressure.
• Protect Tergrid: Cast Tergrid only when you can immediately trigger her ability or protect her with Imp's Mischief or Greaves.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Commander Dependency: Tergrid is the primary engine; repeated removal cripples the deck’s ability to capitalize on sacrifices/discards.
• Graveyard Hate: Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void nullifies Tergrid’s recursion and key cards like Reanimate.
• Anti-Synergy Stax: Torpor Orb blocks Tergrid’s triggers; Rule of Law slows the deck’s ability to chain spells.

Moderate

• Board Wipes: Recovering from Farewell or Merciless Eviction is difficult without Tergrid active.
• Fast Combo Decks: Struggles to disrupt non-creature-based combo decks that operate under its stax pieces.

Minor

• Mana Base Fragility: Relies heavily on Cabal Coffers/Urborg; land destruction (Strip Mine) can delay key plays.
• Life Loss: Necropotence, Bolas's Citadel, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse can drain the pilot’s life rapidly.

Most Important Cards:

• Tergrid, God of Fright (Primary value engine)
• Waste Not (Mana/card advantage from discards)
• Cabal Coffers (Mana scaling for Torment/Sheoldred)
• Torment of Hailfire (Primary finisher)
• Grave Pact (Forced sacrifice multiplier)
• Necropotence (Card advantage engine)
• Contamination (Lock piece vs. non-black decks)
• Demonic Tutor/Vampiric Tutor (Consistency for key pieces)
• Mindslicer (Asymmetric discard enabler)
• Smokestack (Long-game attrition tool)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10

• Can lock the game or deploy a lethal Torment by turns 7-9 with optimal mana, but relies on setup.

Resilience: 5/10

• Vulnerable to commander removal and graveyard hate, but has recursion (Volrath's Stronghold, Animate Dead) and protection (Greaves, Imp's Mischief).

Consistency: 7/10

• High tutor density (7+ tutors) and card draw (Necropotence, Phyrexian Arena) ensure access to key pieces.

Interaction: 8/10

• Robust removal suite (Toxic Deluge, Sheoldred's Edict, Deadly Rollick) and stack interaction (Imp's Mischief).

Rating Justification:

This deck operates at a 6.5 - 7.0 power level. It can establish locks or win via Torment by turns 7-8 with strong consistency and interaction, but its reliance on Tergrid and vulnerability to common hate keep it below cEDH tiers. Resilience issues offset its high interaction and tutor density.

Power level: 6.5 - 7.0