Overview:

This Mardu legends-matter deck helmed by Dihada, Binder of Wills focuses on leveraging legendary permanents for value, recursion, and combat dominance. Dihada serves as both an enabler (protecting key creatures with indestructible/lifelink/vigilance and digging for legends) and a late-game bomb with her -11 steal-all ability. The deck combines incremental value engines like Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge with explosive recursion via Primevals' Glorious Rebirth and Ratadrabik of Urborg, while threatening combat wins through anthem effects like Flowering of the White Tree and finishers like Akroma's Will.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-4): Deploy mana rocks (Sol Ring, signets), value legends (Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff, Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire), and protection (Authority of the Consuls). Use Dihada's +2 to safeguard key creatures.
2. Midgame Value (Turns 5-7): Cast high-impact legends like Sheoldred, Whispering One or Drana and Linvala, using Dihada's -3 to refuel. Activate recursion engines (Celestine, the Living Saint, Rakdos Joins Up) and Bolas's Citadel for card advantage.
3. Endgame (Turns 8+):
   • Combat: Overwhelm with anthem-enhanced creatures, extra combats via Aurelia, the Warleader, and Odric, Lunarch Marshal keyword soup.
   • Recursion: Resurrect multiple legends with Primevals' Glorious Rebirth or Agadeem's Awakening.
   • Steal Win: Activate Dihada's -11 after establishing protection, then swing with stolen permanents.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 2-3 lands including color fixing (fetch lands, Command Tower).
• Prioritize early ramp (signets, Fellwar Stone) or low-CMC legends (Boromir, Warden of the Tower, Thalia, Heretic Cathar).
• Ensure at least one protection piece (Flawless Maneuver, Clever Concealment) in interaction-heavy metas.

Key Tips:

• Use Dihada's -3 before casting Primevals' Glorious Rebirth to stock the graveyard.
• Ratadrabik of Urborg creates non-legend clones of dying legends - pair with Kaya the Inexorable's ghostform for infinite sacrifice loops.
• Bolas's Citadel synergizes with Dihada's life-gain from +2 and Authority of the Consuls.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Crippled by mass exile (Farewell, Merciless Eviction) due to reliance on graveyard recursion and permanent-based value.
• Struggles against fast combo decks; lacks early stack interaction beyond Rebuff the Wicked.

Moderate

• Drannith Magistrate/Yasharn, Implacable Earth disrupts Dihada's -3 and sacrifice synergies.
• High mana curve (avg. 3.2 CMC) risks being outpaced by low-to-the-ground strategies if ramp is interrupted.

Minor

• Limited card draw outside legend triggers and Phyrexian Arena makes recovery from wipes challenging.
• The Grey Havens and Mines of Moria enter tapped frequently, slowing early mana development.

Most Important Cards:

• Dihada, Binder of Wills (Strategy enabler/protector/wincon)
• Primevals' Glorious Rebirth (Mass recursion engine)
• Bolas's Citadel (Card advantage powerhouse)
• Akroma's Will (Game-ending combat trick)
• Ratadrabik of Urborg (Recursion/value multiplier)
• Sheoldred, Whispering One (Recurring threat & disruption)
• Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge (Card draw engine)
• Flowering of the White Tree (Anthem/protection)
• Urza's Ruinous Blast (One-sided board wipe)
• Rakdos Joins Up (Recursion & burn synergy)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 5/10

• Can threaten wins via combat or Dihada's -11 around T8-10, but lacks fast mana or compact combos for earlier kills.

Resilience: 7/10

• Strong recursion (7+ sources), indestructible grants, and phasing protect against most removal, but folds to exile effects.

Consistency: 6/10

• Dihada's -3 and Search for Glory provide legend tutoring, but limited draw engines risk inconsistent midgame.

Interaction: 6/10

• Efficient targeted removal (Swords to Plowshares, Bedevil) and board wipes, but minimal counterspells/stax.

Rating Justification:

This deck operates as a tuned casual build with strong synergy and recursion, capable of T8-10 wins through combat or value engines. While resilient to conventional removal, its vulnerability to exile effects and moderate speed cap its power below optimized tiers.

Power level: 5.0 - 5.5