Overview:

This Sultai (BUG) deck helmed by Teval, the Balanced Scale focuses on graveyard synergies, land recursion, and token generation. The strategy revolves around milling cards to fuel reanimation effects, leveraging Teval's ability to create Zombie Druid tokens whenever cards leave the graveyard. Key themes include landfall triggers, creature recursion (via Meren of Clan Nel Toth, The Scarab God, and Living Death), and token swarms amplified by Doubling Season and Craterhoof Behemoth. Teval acts as an enabler for incremental value, providing ramp via land recursion and token generation to support both attrition-based and explosive combat wins.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-4): Deploy ramp (e.g., Sol Ring, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Cultivate) and mill engines like Hedron Crab or Diviner of Mist. Use Teval’s attack trigger to mill and recur lands for acceleration.
2. Graveyard Stocking (Turns 3-6): Mill aggressively with cards like Colossal Grave-Reaver and River Kelpie, then reanimate key threats (e.g., Avenger of Zendikar, Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus) via Victimize, Meren, or The Scarab God.
3. Win Conditions (Turns 5-8+):
   • Combat Overkill: Flood the board with Zombies/Plants from Field of the Dead/Avenger of Zendikar, then finish with Craterhoof Behemoth, Triumph of the Hordes, or Zopandrel’s doubling effect.
   • Infinite Combos: Sacrifice tokens to Phyrexian Altar/Ashnod's Altar for mana, looping Living Death or Colossal Grave-Reaver to generate infinite tokens/damage.
   • Infect: Triumph of the Hordes turns a moderate board into a lethal poison threat.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 2-3 lands (including color-fixing), early ramp, and at least one mill/reanimation engine.
• Prioritize Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, or Hedron Crab for speed.
• Avoid hands lacking graveyard interaction or ramp.

Key Tips:

• Use Tortured Existence to cycle creatures and trigger Teval’s token generation.
• Necropotence and The One Ring refill your hand to assemble combo pieces.
• Glacial Chasm buys time against aggressive decks while you set up.
• Command Beacon ensures Teval isn’t taxed if removed repeatedly.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Graveyard hate (e.g., Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void) cripples recursion and token generation.
• Board wipes reset token armies, and recovery relies on limited recursion (e.g., Living Death).

Moderate

• Artifact/enchantment removal disrupts key engines like Doubling Season, Phyrexian Altar, or Necropotence.
• Inconsistent early pressure leaves the deck vulnerable to faster combo/aggro strategies.

Minor

• Limited stack interaction (only Negate, Tear Asunder).
• High mana costs for finishers (e.g., Craterhoof Behemoth) can lead to clunky hands.

Most Important Cards:

• Phyrexian Altar (Sac outlet for infinite loops)
• Living Death (Mass reanimation/reset)
• Craterhoof Behemoth (Primary combat finisher)
• The Scarab God (Recurrence engine and win condition)
• Necropotence (Card advantage)
• Field of the Dead (Token generation)
• Avenger of Zendikar (Token swarm + scaling)
• Triumph of the Hordes (Infect finisher)
• Colossal Grave-Reaver (Mill + reanimation synergy)
• Doubling Season (Amplifies tokens/counters)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10

• Can threaten wins via combat or combo by turns 6-8, but lacks early-game explosiveness.

Resilience: 5/10

• Recursion tools (e.g., Meren, Shigeki) mitigate removal, but heavy graveyard reliance creates fragility.

Consistency: 7/10

• Strong card draw (Necropotence, The One Ring) and tutors (Finale of Devastation) ensure access to key pieces.

Interaction: 5/10

• Limited removal suite (Putrefy, Cyclonic Rift) and few counterspells (Negate).

Rating Justification:

This deck operates at a 6.0 - 6.5 power level. It combines focused graveyard synergies and combo potential with strong late-game scaling, but its reliance on the graveyard and moderate interaction keep it below optimized tiers. Wins typically occur around turns 6-8 via combat or combo, aligning with the "Focused" tier.

Power level: 6.0 - 6.5