Overview:

This Sultai (BUG) deck helmed by The Master, Transcendent focuses on milling opponents, proliferating rad counters, and leveraging graveyard synergies. The strategy combines incremental mill via cards like Phenax, God of Deception and Mesmeric Orb with explosive payoffs like Breach the Multiverse and Maddening Cacophony. The Master enables reanimation of milled creatures, while rad counters (distributed by cards like Vexing Radgull and Glowing One) amplify damage and enable proliferate triggers. Secondary win conditions include zombie token swarms from Sidisi, Brood Tyrant and Screeching Scorchbeast, as well as direct damage via Syr Konrad, the Grim. The commander acts as a value engine but isn’t strictly essential, as the deck has redundancy in graveyard recursion (e.g., Muldrotha, the Gravetide) and mill payoffs.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-4): Deploy mill engines (Ruin Crab, Altar of the Brood, Skull Prophet) and ramp (Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Patriar's Seal). Use Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler to untap key creatures like Kiora's Follower.
2. Mid-Game Value (Turns 4-7): Cast The Master to reanimate milled threats (e.g., Consuming Aberration, Mirelurk Queen). Activate Phenax, God of Deception to mill with high-toughness creatures. Generate zombie tokens via Sidisi or Vault 12: The Necropolis.
3. Win Conditions (Turns 7+):
   • Mill Out: Amplify with Mindcrank, Court of Cunning, or kicked Maddening Cacophony.
   • Combat: Overwhelm with Roaming Throne-boosted mutants/zombies or Strong, the Brutish Thespian.
   • Damage Triggers: Syr Konrad, the Grim pings and Barrowgoyf lifedrain.
   • Reanimation Swings: Breach the Multiverse or Sheoldred // The True Scriptures to steal opponents’ threats.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Prioritize hands with 2-3 lands (including color-fixing like Command Tower).
• Seek early mill engines (Ruin Crab, Mesmeric Orb) or ramp.
• Keep interaction (Drown in the Loch, Slice from the Shadows) if facing aggressive metas.
• Avoid hands lacking mill payoffs or graveyard recursion.

Key Tips:

• Use Intruder Alarm with untappers (Kiora's Follower, Seedborn Muse) to mill opponents during their turns.
• Proliferate rad counters aggressively with Thrummingbird or Roalesk, Apex Hybrid to accelerate damage and mill triggers.
• Protect Syr Konrad and Phenax with Lightning Greaves or Mutational Advantage.
• Recycle key creatures with Journey to Eternity // Atzal, Cave of Eternity and Evolution Witness.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Graveyard Hate: Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void cripples recursion, mill payoffs, and Syr Konrad.
• Artifact/Enchantment Removal: Loses to Farewell or Bane of Progress destroying mill engines (Mesmeric Orb, Court of Cunning).

Moderate

• Board Wipes: Struggles to rebuild after Cyclonic Rift or Damnation without Muldrotha/The Master.
• Fast Combo Decks: Limited interaction to stop T4-5 wins (only 6 targeted removal spells).

Minor

• Rad Counter Synergy Reliance: Low rad payoff density makes proliferate less impactful.
• Mana Base: 12 tapped lands slow early setup.

Most Important Cards:

• Phenax, God of Deception (Primary mill engine)
• Syr Konrad, the Grim (Damage engine and mill payoff)
• Muldrotha, the Gravetide (Graveyard recursion backbone)
• Breach the Multiverse (Game-ending reanimation)
• Maddening Cacophony (Instant-speed mill bomb)
• Intruder Alarm (Untap synergy with mill/creatures)
• Seedborn Muse (Untap for Phenax/artifact activations)
• Mindcrank (Synergizes with Syr Konrad and mill)
• The Master, Transcendent (Reanimation engine)
• Mesmeric Orb (Passive mill acceleration)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 5/10
Can threaten mill wins by T7-9 with ideal hands (e.g., Phenax + Seedborn Muse), but lacks fast combos or early stax to race cEDH.

Resilience: 5/10
Recursion via Muldrotha and The Master provides recovery, but key pieces (Phenax, Syr Konrad) are removal magnets with limited protection.

Consistency: 6/10
Moderate tutor density (Diabolic Intent, Grim Tutor) and card draw (Guardian Project, Primal Empathy), but mill engines vary in reliability.

Interaction: 5/10
Efficient removal (Drown in the Loch, Slice from the Shadows) and counterspells are present but sparse compared to high-power decks.

Rating Justification:

This deck operates as a focused casual build with optimized elements, capable of winning via mill or combat around T8-10. While it has explosive turns with Breach or Syr Konrad, its reliance on incremental value and vulnerability to graveyard hate caps its power.

Power level: 5.0 - 5.5