Also forgot to add Deathbringer Liege

h0ly_danc3r Board buff cards definitely have their place in some builds of the deck. In a more aristocrat style deck which is the direction I'm taking it, they're a bit win-more and provide little to the gameplan of the deck. However, in a version more built around tokens, board protection, and swarming, they would be a great wincon. Elesh-Norn though is powerful enough where it may find a way into either build.

Demon of Dark Schemes Is insane. After playing with it in my brew for a few days, it has shown itself to be a huge combo piece. Sacrificing any 2 of our creatures gives us the energy to activate, and if we have Pitiless Plunderer Phyrexian Altar Ashnod's Altar Pawn of Ulamog or Sifter of Skulls out, we can pretty much go infinite or abuse resurection for 1black until we run out of mana. Most of the time we won't though. If Treasure Keeper is the creature we are sac cycling, things get degenerate. He's also a decent board clear.

Also I don't see Shadows of the Past in the maybe board or main. Any creature, scry twice, 2 mana.

Materful i wouldn't count them as win-more i am playtesting this deck and the problem with her is that she is support and she doesn't have sack and you are out of win-con (drain life), you need backup. I found that archangel of thunes does wonder (better to remove her than piece you might need), also indestructible sacrifice is nice like yahenni, and they see him as threat so they will try to remove him (at least from my playtesting) and if they do you fill your board with other things. And also for more draw add Minds eye (works Wonders with Smothering Tithe) or any eldrazi scion.

And also what might be fun to try is Marionette Master / Disciple of the Vault and Mycosynth Lattice with counters from Archangel of Thune (for fun only)

Raikas Yeah Demon of Dark Schemes seems very powerful. I'll have to test it, and I'll definitely put it in the maybeboard. It is very slow but acts as a boardwipe on its own. Once its engine gets online it might pull off a win similar to the Reassembling Skeleton line.

I don't play Shadows of the Past for the same reason I don't play Ashes of the Abhorrent . Scrying is better than not, but I want to use my card slots for things with higher impact like engine pieces or very good utility. I should put the card in the maybeboard though, you're right about that.

h0ly_danc3r I've never had problems so far with lacking win-cons. If you think you need more, these buff cards would be fine includes, but currently I'd rather have more engine pieces.

Yahenni is good because he doubles as a threat, but I like cheaper sac outlets.

If you need more card draw, Mind's Eye is alright, but this deck can achieve so much more with its plentiful options. I would rather play cards like Stoneforge Mystic , Open the Armory , or Beseech the Queen to tutor for Skullclamp if I need more card draw. Otherwise Necrologia , Mentor of the Meek , and Corpse Augur are all great ways to draw massive amounts f cards for less mana than mind's eye.

Mycosynth Lattice with Marionette Master looks janky and fun.

I also found one card that would be great with her Minion Reflector since it creates a token and sacrifices at the end for 2 mana i think it could do nasty stuff.

h0ly_danc3r That does sound powerful. It is a bit slow, but it does double death triggers, stacks with Teysa, and creates a token. I'll add it to the maybeboard. Good find

Yeah but its colorless, it shouldn't be a problem with Ashnod's altar, Pawn of Ulamog, Pitiless... So with Teysa and this on board... i can only say RIP opponents.

And also if by any chance Anointed Procession is out... i don't even want to think about it.

h0ly_danc3r Those are good points. It reminds me of Lifeline in that it's a must-answer card. When I was referring to its slowness, I mainly meant the additional cost for playing creatures if you want the effect, but with an altar or plunderer, the mana is made back quite easily. However, without these synergies, the card can sometimes find itself as dead weight. Overall, like lifeline, I'd like to eventually find a place for it in the deck because it will end games.

Masterful Fair points. But at least in my opinion Minion Reflector synergies better than Lifeline Since you can swing with token and it gives you lifelink if it does dmg good if not you can sacrifice it or it can get sacrificed by itself, also Anointed Procession , Twilight Drover , Smothering Abomination ... (just to name few i know you are not playing them).. While Lifeline i think is more sacrifice/etb (plus at the end of turn) card in my opinion, but a great card for this deck also.

But in the end have to playtest them both to see, which would function better.

Well thought out! I am still staying true to Elenda. Elenda, a Rose as Sweet has been one of my favorite decks since conception.

TheNocholas Elenda, the Dusk Rose and Teysa Karlov could both work as commanders for this or similar aristocrat-style decks. Elenda provides sac fodder and payoff while Teysa is a value engine. It really does come down to personal preference, and neither choice is wrong. However, I suggest giving Teysa a try if not for just a few games. You may like how it turns out ;)

I did pick up a second copy of her in the guild kit. I built a kaya brawl deck [that may never see play...] that might work as a good framework for a teysa karlov deck.

Despite what you said earlier I think Nether Traitor is much better than reassembling skeleton, even if you say the skeleton can be brought back anytime you can also do that with the traitor as long as you have other creatures and if you have no other then you have bigger problems than that, the traitor basically doubles any death trigger for 1 black mana (half the cost of the skeleton) and it can make infinite mana + death triggers with a single token on death card and Phyrexian Altar , the infinite mana is amazing because it let's you combo earlier and play other threats if you don't have a card like zulaport. I think both deserve a place in the deck.

Also Nim Deathmantle is too strong to ignore having so many ways to generate mana on death and create tokens. Have you tried Gate to the Afterlife ? its really good, even if it is a loot effect you usually just need something specific to combo out, I tested it in my shirei deck and I think it's much better than harvester of souls just because it gets earlier into play.

And maybe is because of my love of shirei but I think Lifeline is ridiculous in a deck like this even if your opponents can use it your deck is designed to abuse it more and it also protects your board against mass removal if you have a free sac outlet which is always a weakness in decks like this that try to stablish board presence and get your engine going.

Anyway, amazing primer! you gave me lots of ideas for my own teysa deck.

patrikl Nether Traitor is good for the reasons you mentioned, but that doesn't mean its better than reassembling skeleton. They're quite different, and neither is better than the other. I personally like skeleton more because it's more independent than traitor. Skeleton can go off with just a sac outlet and a mana-producer while traitor needs consistent other creatures. However, traitor does need less mana producers to go off, so I'm gonna find a place for it for consistency's sake. I've found that many wins come off of reassembling skeleton, so having another one will be helpful.

Nim Deathmantle is basically a more expensive reassembling skeleton that can loop other creatures instead of just itself. If I'm going to be looping something, the game is going to end soon, especially with the amount of death-trigger-card-draw in the deck. Personally, skeleton and traitor are preferable to deathmantle because they cost less to loop. However, deathmantle only requires generic mana which is a big plus, especially in terms of Ashnod's Altar . I'm not completely closed to the idea of deathmantle, but I currently I feel like its too specific in its needs for a combo. I understand its power though and if the maybeboard was ordered it would definitely be close to the top.

Gate to the Afterlife does actually seem a lot better than Harvester of Souls because finding specific combo pieces is very often the plan. I'll definitely include it instead of the ladder.

Yeah Lifeline is insane. I'm definitely gonna replace something for it. For now, I think its gonna be krav, regna, and harvester out for lifeline, traitor, and gate. I like krav and regna, and I'd like to find a place for them again, but for now, they're pretty slow to help the engine while the cards you mentioned do so much more efficiently.

Wow, thanks for addressing all my points and trying out most of the cards I suggested. I have tried to optimize my Shirei list and those are great performers there. Now I don't have much experience in white for this kind of deck so I wanted to ask you What are your thoughts on Enduring Renewal ? It can loop a 1 mana creature with Phyrexian arena but I don't know if the drawback is worth it or if it even adds enough to the deck.

patrikl Enduring Renewal is weird and I'm not too familiar with it. It does combo with phyrexian altar or a sac outlet and pitiless plunderer to death-loop a 1 mana creature, and it gives a lot of value when we already have an advanced board-state. However, it can easily backfire and disallow us from drawing into some creatures we need. It's similar to Reassembling Skeleton in that it loops creatures. From what I can tell at the moment, it seems worse because of its potential backside when the upside is only that it can loop for 1 mana less. I might be wrong however, and further testing might prove the upside is better than I thought. Another deck that has more recursion than mine might be able to take advantage of how it fuels the graveyard. It also might be funny to test it with Ornithopter for a free death loop.

How do you feel about Sadistic Hypnotist ? It's a bummer that it is only sorcery speed, but it can still give you card advantage along with a free sac outlet.

Spartin23 Sadistic Hypnotist is a pretty bad sac outlet but a good way to achieve card advantage. It's definitely a control-ey card, so it's comparable to Dictate of Erebos and Grave Pact , but since it's a creature, I'd say it's more along the lines of Butcher of Malakir . Because of its mana cost, it's probably better than butcher, and can be opted in instead of one of the Grave Pact effects, especially if your playgroup is heavier in the control department and plays less creatures. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll add it to the maybeboard.

Did regna prove useful? I was considering adding Regal Bloodlord and Crested Sunmare since our playgroup has a lot of wipes

h0ly_danc3r Regna was good but mainly to tutor and provide sac fodder to Krav. I ended up taking them out in my latest update, but I want to find a place for them again at some point. If you're going for more of a lifegain package, then bloodlord and sunmare definitely seem good, but I'd include some more consistent lifegain death triggers to make sure you can gain life each turn no matter what. Some cards I can suggest are: Ashes of the Abhorrent (especially if your playgroup has graveyard shenanigans), Gate to the Afterlife (which I've decided to include just for the looting), Pious Evangel  ^Flip, Proper Burial , and maybe Deathgreeter .

Night Incarnate could work as a possible wrath effect. Casting it for it's evoke cost should still trigger Teysa, giving all creatures -6/-6.