Overview:

This Tergrid, God of Fright deck is a ruthless discard/sacrifice stax build focused on forcing opponents into resource depletion while stealing their permanents. The strategy leverages symmetrical sacrifice effects like Smallpox and Death Cloud paired with discard engines like Necrogen Mists to trigger Tergrid's permanent-stealing ability. The deck can establish early locks with Contamination/Bubbling Muck or Smokestack, using fast mana like Mana Vault and Cabal Ritual to accelerate into its gameplan. Tergrid serves as the linchpin - while not strictly required, her presence dramatically amplifies the deck's threat level by converting forced discards/sacrifices into overwhelming board advantage.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Acceleration (Turns 1-3): Deploy fast mana (Mana Vault, Dark Ritual, Cabal Coffers with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth) to power out Tergrid or key stax pieces. Use Demonic Tutor/Imperial Seal to find critical components.
2. Resource Denial (Turns 2-5): Activate symmetrical sacrifice/discard engines - Smallpox, Braids, Arisen Nightmare, Rankle, Master of Pranks. Pair with Grave Pact/Contamination to lock opponents out of colored mana.
3. Value Conversion: Leverage Tergrid's trigger to steal opponents' best permanents. Use Waste Not and Geth's Grimoire to convert discards into zombies/mana/cards.
4. Closing the Game:
   • Overwhelm with stolen permanents and zombie tokens
   • Torment of Hailfire with massive mana from Cabal Coffers/Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
   • Tinybones, Trinket Thief's 10-life drain ability
   • Phyrexian Obliterator beats with sacrifice triggers

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 2-3 lands including swamp sources
• Prioritize fast mana (Mana Vault, Dark Ritual) or early stax (Necrogen Mists, Ophiomancer)
• Ensure at least one sacrifice/discard outlet or tutor
• Avoid hands without black mana or pure high-CMC spells

Key Tips:

• Sequence discard before sacrifice effects to maximize Tergrid triggers
• Use Phyrexian Altar to convert stolen creatures into mana for Torment of Hailfire
• Imp's Mischief protects Tergrid from removal or redirects key counterspells
• Volrath's Stronghold recurs Mindslicer for repeated discard waves
• Activate Tergrid's Lantern mode strategically to pressure life totals

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Commander-dependent strategy: Repeated removal on Tergrid cripples the deck's engine
• Vulnerable to graveyard hate (Bojuka Bog, Rest in Peace) disrupting recursion and stolen permanent targets
• Struggles against artifact/enchantment-heavy decks that ignore creature sacrifice

Moderate

• Limited answers to resolved planeswalkers or indestructible threats
• Life loss from Necropotence/Bolas's Citadel compounds with pain lands
• Weak to fast combo decks pre-lock establishment

Minor

• High mana curve (avg 2.8) risks stalling without fast mana
• Torment of Hailfire vulnerable to counterspells
• Smokestack can backfire if not properly managed

Most Important Cards:

• Tergrid, God of Fright (Engine centerpiece)
• Contamination (Mana lockdown)
• Cabal Coffers (Mana amplification)
• Torment of Hailfire (Primary finisher)
• Waste Not (Discard payoff engine)
• Necropotence (Card advantage)
• Mindslicer (Mass discard enabler)
• Demonic Tutor (Consistency tool)
• Smokestack (Sacrifice lock)
• Phyrexian Altar (Mana conversion)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10

• Can establish stax pieces by T2-3 and threaten wins via Torment/combat by T6-8, but relies on setup turns.

Resilience: 5/10

• Strong recursion (Animate Dead, Volrath's Stronghold) and protection (Lightning Greaves), but over-reliance on Tergrid creates fragility.

Consistency: 7/10

• 10 tutors and robust draw engines (Necropotence, Phyrexian Arena) ensure key pieces are accessible.

Interaction: 6/10

• Excellent permanent removal (Damnation, Toxic Deluge) but minimal stack interaction beyond Imp's Mischief.

Rating Justification:

This deck demonstrates optimized stax elements and strong synergy but lacks the speed and redundancy of top-tier lists. Its T6-8 win potential through locked boards and Torment escalations aligns with Focused tiers, while commander dependency limits resilience against disruption.

Power level: 6.0 - 6.5