Overview:

This Kozilek, the Great Distortion deck is a high-powered colorless ramp strategy focused on accelerating into devastating Eldrazi titans and leveraging artifact synergies. Kozilek serves as both a card advantage engine and a potent counterspell outlet, enabling the deck to deploy massive threats early while disrupting opponents. The primary win conditions involve overwhelming combat damage from annihilator triggers, commander damage, and value engines like Walking Ballista supported by explosive mana generation (e.g., Basalt Monolith + Forsaken Monument). Artifact recursion loops and land destruction provide secondary control elements.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Explosive Ramp (Turns 1-4): Prioritize fast mana (Mana Vault, Grim Monolith, Sol Ring, Mox Opal) and land-based acceleration (Ancient Tomb, Eldrazi Temple). Use Expedition Map/Inventors' Fair to find key lands like Eye of Ugin or Sanctum of Ugin.
2. Deploy Kozilek/Value Engines (Turns 3-6): Cast Kozilek to refill hand and threaten counterspells. Alternatively, establish Unwinding Clock with mana rocks, Mystic Forge for card advantage, or Torpor Orb to disrupt opponents. Geode Golem can cheat Kozilek into play.
3. Overwhelm or Control (Turns 5-8):
   • Combat: Attack with titans (Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, Kozilek, Butcher of Truth) to force sacrifices via annihilator. Equip Lightning Greaves/Shadowspear for protection/trample. Use Rogue's Passage for unblockable commander damage.
   • Artifact Loops: Recur Spine of Ish Sah with Scrap Trawler/Myr Retriever for repeated removal. Generate infinite mana with Basalt Monolith + Forsaken Monument to fuel Walking Ballista.
   • Control: Lock opponents with Tangle Wire/Portcullis and destroy key lands via Dust Bowl/Field of Ruin.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with ≥2 lands (including utility lands) and ≥2 ramp pieces (e.g., Sol Ring + Thran Dynamo).
• Prioritize early interaction (Voltaic Key, Torpor Orb) against fast metas.
• Avoid hands lacking ramp or exceeding 8+ CMC without acceleration.

Key Tips:

• Counter Wisely: Use Kozilek’s ability to protect game-winning plays, not minor threats. Not of This World defends titans for free.
• Recursion Loops: Krark-Clan Ironworks + Myr Retriever/Scrap Trawler sacrifices artifacts for mana while recurring key pieces.
• Land Synergy: Crucible of Worlds + Dust Bowl/Tectonic Edge cripples mana bases. Buried Ruin retrieves combo pieces.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Artifact/Stax Hate: Vandalblast or Collector Ouphe cripples mana and combos.
• Graveyard Hate: Rest in Peace shuts down Scrap Trawler, Myr Retriever, and Buried Ruin recursion.
• Early Aggro: Struggles against fast swarm decks before establishing defenses.

Moderate

• Mass Land Destruction: Resets ramp-heavy strategy; limited recovery outside Crucible.
• Tax Effects: Thalia, Guardian of Thraben delays key artifact plays.
• Countermagic: Disrupts Kozilek casts or combo assembly; limited protection beyond his ability.

Minor

• Single-Target Removal: Redundant threats and recursion mitigate this.
• Enchantment-Based Removal: Limited answers to cards like Darksteel Mutation.

Most Important Cards:

• Kozilek, the Great Distortion (Card draw, counterspell engine)
• Mana Vault (Critical fast mana)
• Walking Ballista (Primary win condition)
• Forsaken Monument (Mana doubler, lifegain, anthem)
• Eye of Ugin (Tutor and cost reduction for Eldrazi)
• Scrap Trawler (Artifact recursion loop piece)
• Basalt Monolith (Infinite mana with Forsaken Monument)
• Darksteel Forge (Makes artifacts indestructible)
• Mystic Forge (Card advantage engine)
• Crucible of Worlds (Land recursion for utility lands)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 8/10

• Can deploy Kozilek by turn 3-4 and threaten wins via combat or Ballista by turn 5-6 with optimal draws.

Resilience: 6/10

• Recursion (e.g., Buried Ruin, Scrap Trawler) and protection (Darksteel Forge, counterspells) offer recovery, but heavy artifact reliance creates vulnerabilities.

Consistency: 7/10

• Abundant ramp and tutors (Expedition Map, Sanctum of Ugin) ensure access to key pieces, but high curve can cause clunky draws.

Interaction: 7/10

• Strong permanent removal (All Is Dust, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon) and stack interaction via Kozilek, but lacks instant-speed answers outside counters.

Rating Justification:

The deck achieves T5-6 wins through explosive ramp into Eldrazi or infinite mana combos, aligning with High-Power tiers. However, its susceptibility to artifact hate and slower setup compared to top cEDH decks caps its ceiling.

Power level: 8.0 - 8.5