Overview:

This mono-red deck helmed by Neheb, the Eternal focuses on aggressive life loss triggers and explosive mana generation to fuel high-impact damage spells and dragon synergies. Neheb's afflict ability and post-combat mana generation enable massive plays like Fiery Emancipation-enhanced X-spells or Terror of the Peaks burn chains. The deck leverages combat damage, direct life loss effects, and recursion tools like Underworld Breach to pressure opponents, while dragons like Parapet Thrasher and Hellkite Courser amplify damage output and provide redundancy. Neheb is critical as the primary mana engine, but the deck includes backup plans via treasure generation and combat-phase multipliers like Karlach, Fury of Avernus.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Damage Setup (Turns 1-4):
   • Cast low-CMC damage dealers (Lightning Bolt, Tectonic Giant) and mana rocks (Ruby Medallion, Sol Ring) to trigger Neheb's afflict and prepare for his casting.
   • Use Curse of Opulence and Seize the Spoils to accelerate while pressuring life totals.

2. Neheb Activation (Turns 4-6):

   • Deploy Neheb post-combat after chip damage, generating 5-10+ red mana. Use this to:
     • Cast dragons like Inferno of the Star Mounts or Red Dragon for immediate damage triggers.
     • Fuel X-spells like Explosive Singularity or Call Forth the Tempest.
     • Enable Underworld Breach/Past in Flames recursion loops.

3. Win Condition Execution:

   • Combat Overkill: Use Karlach, Fury of Avernus and World at War for extra combats, amplified by Torbran, Thane of Red Fell or Twinflame Tyrant.
   • Burn Spikes: Fiery Emancipation triples damage from Terror of the Peaks, Fanatic of Mogis, or Sunspine Lynx.
   • Mana Dump: Storm King's Thunder copied with Lithoform Engine to chain massive spells.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 2-3 lands, at least one ramp piece (Ruby Medallion, Arcane Signet), and an early damage source (Lightning Bolt, Tectonic Giant).
• Prioritize Lightning Greaves or Deflecting Swat if expecting removal-heavy pods.
• Avoid hands without red mana sources or excessive high-CMC cards.

Key Tips:

• Time Neheb casts post-combat to maximize mana generation.
• Use Underworld Breach with cheap spells (Thrill of Possibility, Bolt Bend) to cycle through the deck.
• Lithoform Engine copies Neheb’s post-combat trigger for double mana.
• Hellkite Courser reanimates Neheb for surprise mana bursts.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Commander Reliance: Repeated removal on Neheb cripples mana generation (no innate protection beyond Lightning Greaves).
• No Graveyard Protection: Underworld Breach and Past in Flames are vulnerable to exile effects.

Moderate

• Life Gain Decks: Struggles against Authority of the Consuls or Aetherflux Reservoir without Sunspine Lynx.
• Artifact/Enchantment Hate: Fiery Emancipation, Dragon's Hoard, and mana rocks are soft to mass removal.

Minor

• Limited Card Draw: Relies on situational engines like Endless Atlas and impulsive draw.
• Fliers Defense: Few answers to evasive threats beyond Steel Hellkite.

Most Important Cards:

• Neheb, the Eternal (Mana engine)
• Fiery Emancipation (Damage tripler)
• Underworld Breach (Recursion engine)
• Terror of the Peaks (Burn amplifier)
• Hellkite Courser (Commander cheat)
• Karlach, Fury of Avernus (Combat multiplier)
• Jeska's Will (Mana/card burst)
• Lithoform Engine (Trigger/damage copier)
• Storm King's Thunder (Spell multiplier)
• Chaos Warp (Universal answer)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10

• Can threaten lethal via combat or burn around T7-9, but lacks fast mana for cEDH-level starts.

Resilience: 5/10

• Limited protection for key pieces and heavy reliance on Neheb’s survival. Some recursion via breach/graveyard.

Consistency: 6/10

• Moderate card draw and tutors (Backdraft Hellkite, Ignite the Future), but no guaranteed combo lines.

Interaction: 5/10

• Efficient spot removal (Abrade, Chaos Warp) but minimal stack interaction and no board wipes.

Rating Justification:

This deck has focused damage amplification and explosive mana potential but lacks the speed (T7-9 wins) and redundancy of higher-tier lists. Its reliance on Neheb and vulnerability to common disruption anchors it in optimized casual tiers.

Power level: 5.0 - 5.5