"All his misfortune is punishment
He sings of gods that desert him
He falls again, but undeterred
He hides from the light."
-"Voorhees" by Oceansize
Hello all, and welcome to my Athreos, God of Passage midrange deck! First off, big thanks to everyone who offered their suggestions on what was a essentially a "WTF am I doing" post by me a little ways back; I tried to take all of your suggestions into account when whipping this list up. I've played a couple games with this list so far, and it's seemed fairly solid so far, but I'd still love some advice to help shore it up. I'll try to be as in depth as possible to explain my thought processes, and I'm hoping to create this deck irl in the near future.
A quick note before we get started: I was hesitant to put the "budget" tag on this list because I'm not exactly sure what my budget is going to be. I don't want to spend more than ten dollars per card, and I think I've stuck to that pretty well on this list, but if it seems absolutely necessary, I could make exceptions if the card is super good. Anyways, enough rambling, let me see if I can talk my way through this.
Athreos, in my eyes, is one of the four best gods to use as a commander (the other three being Purphoros, God of the Forge, Ephara, God of the Polis, and Karametra, God of Harvests). At 3 mana, he's incredibly cheap to cast, and he's difficult to remove once he sticks. His ability lends itself perfectly to a creature-based deck where you attempt to get utility through ETB and exit-the-battlefield shenanigans and sac outlets to continually recycle value effects. One thread I was reading noted that it's a lot better to avoid gigantic bombs like Ashen Rider or Angel of Despair that you will likely not get back over your dead body, and I can't help but agree with that. As such, the creatures in this deck are small and really only serve as means to a larger end, but they're more likely to grab you an advantage.
The one key to playing Athreos, I've found, is to know where to aim your triggers. If you're attempting to get your Bone Shredder back, it should stand to reason that you're a lot more likely to succeed if you point the trigger at the monoblack player over the guy with the big creature you're trying to kill. Point your smaller effects at players who they will be less significant to, and your bigger effects at the players who have less life to spare and force them to make a difficult choice. Remember, 3 life is not a lot to pay in EDH, and if you don't make the right choice, your value engine will be shut off before it even has a chance to get going. Of course, we have cards in our deck that can make the decision more one-sided for us, but if you're smart, you may not even need them.
Early game, focus on getting Athros out early and playing one or two small utility effects. Attempt to get them recurred once or twice, and try to maintain a low profile; we're not an aggressive deck, and we don't want undue attention pointed our way. This deck wins through attrition; we slowly grind out advantages and remove threats to us while our opponents throw Briberies and Terastodons at each other. Our goal is to weaken everyone enough so that a resolved Exsanguinate or Debt to the Deathless kills the table, or else leaves us so far ahead that we can win within the next turn or two. In a pinch, sometimes we can grind out wins with Bloodchief Ascension or a Kokusho, the Evening Star recurred multiple times, but it gets dicey if we do. This deck is all about playing a numbers game, and if we do it right, we can come out on top.
At first glance, the middle of the curve seems a bit wonky and I think I could possibly use a bit more ramp. Could be two good places to start.
High Priest of Penance - Fairly cheap removal for any problem permanent on board. I may not have the cards to make this more reliable, it doesn't have the synergy with Skullclamp that I'd like it to, and mass removal sucks for it, but it's a fairly unassuming creature that is a bit of a rattlesnake as a chump blocker. Its spot may go to Grand Abolisher at some point.
Blood Artist - This little guy pulls a lot of weight. 1 life isn't huge, but with the amount of times we make creatures die in this deck, it adds up slowly. Add in its recursive potential and you've got a card that can sometimes even close out games.
Apprentice Necromancer - A sac outlet that also lets us recover something that our opponents weren't willing to give us off Athreos. It's always good to have a few of these lying around in the deck.
Skirsdag High Priest - I haven't drawn into this card in any of my games yet, so I don't know how good it could potentially be. Morbid isn't too hard to trigger in this deck if things are running smoothly, but I'm not sure how often I'll want to have enough creatures out at one time to make it relevant. May have to test more to find out.
Wall of Omens - This is one of the easier cards to get back off of Athreos. A draw one isn't something an opponent is usually going to be stingy about, and it's not like it's attacking once it gets on the field. It's an advantage though, and this deck is all about those.
Pilgrim's Eye - On the subject of cards that most anyone will let you have back...I prefer this over Burnished Hart in this deck because early game, the bronze elk usually takes two turns of taking up most of my mana to fetch up lands, while Eye lets me have them immediately.
Teysa, Orzhov Scion - We have a lot of black creatures that we'll want to have dying, and the Spirits she makes provide a little damage as well as some spot removal if we have enough of them. She may be a little too slow though.
Fleshbag Marauder - Repeatable saccing of everyone's stuff is always nice. Athreos makes the drawback of having to sacrifice him or something else almost negligible if you're doing it right. If he survives, he makes good fodder for Skullclamp.
Vampire Nighthawk - An old standard mainstay who's part of the "goodstuff" package. His lifelink synergizes well with a few cards here, and he's good for removing a problem flying creature or three.
Big Game Hunter - The best gift for that pesky green mage with that bothersome Asceticism lying around. Sometimes randomly gets played for B, which is nice.
Bone Shredder - The most metal card in the deck he's great spot removal, kills himself so we don't have to, and you can usually get him back easily by pointing him at the black or artifact player.
Doomed Necromancer - A strict upgrade over the Apprentice. He also provides a little more immediacy since our card gets recurred right back to the field instead of going to our hand.
Solemn Simulacrum - An EDH staple that is particularly well utilized in this deck. He gets something on both entering and exiting, so you get max value out of playing and then saccing him, and he's unassuming enough to get back easily as well.
Sangromancer - A mainstay for most black decks in my opinion. Discard and death are the two things that black excels at, so why not play something to benefit from that? Also helps us tip the scales for Phyrexian Arena and its ilk, and combos well with Sanguine Bond.
Crypt Ghast - Ramp for black that also helps us with our slight burn theme. What's not to like?
Disciple of Bolas - Both an ETB card and a sac outlet, oh boy! Even drawing one or two cards off him is usually acceptable in my eyes, and if your board is unassuming enough, you can get him back easily enough too.
Archon of Justice - Reliable spot removal for animated gods, pesky enchantments, etc. Flying is a decent plus too.
Kagemaro, First to Suffer - It's usually fairly easy to keep this guy at a decent power in this deck, as we're not too lacking on draw power. He can also sac himself, which is always a nice plus.
Karmic Guide/Reveillark/Sun Titan - Getting back anything we may have lost in trying to get our engine going is always a nice bit of insurance to have. The former two form an infinite combo with any ETB effect, but there aren't too many relevant ETB effects other than Kokusho, the Evening Star to be concerned with it, and I don't generally want to have too many creatures on board in the first place.
Shriekmaw - A cheaper version of Bone Shredder (metal riff) with more immediacy. Same things that I said about BS are true here.
Harvester of Souls - Turns our saccing and everyone else's suffering into card advantage. Expensive, but effective.
Kokusho, the Evening Star - This card is absolutely nasty, and is one of those cards that can sometimes make Athreos' ability hard to pay for as soon as it hits the field. The upsides only get better if the card you sac it to happens to be Disciple of Bolas...
Massacre Wurm - Easily one of the best bombs this deck has to offer. Against other toolbox decks and token decks, this can often be a back-breaker.
Sheoldred, Whispering One - Recursion card that's directly detrimental to our opponents while refueling our engine. He's one of my favorite creatures to play with.
Skullclamp - An absolute gem in this list. Used with Athreos, it very occasionally nets us a +3. I'm pretty certain I have enough cards to really abuse this with.
Crystal Ball - The poor man's Sensei's Divining Top. Doesn't have nearly the same amount of upsides, and needing to come in on the turn I play Athreos is fairly annoying, but it's the best I can do atm.
Phyrexian Altar - A great sac outlet that also provides us with mana, the one thing that can really slow this deck down sometimes.
Bloodchief Ascension - I've become a big fan of this card as of late. It further incentivizes people to give you cards back of Athreos for fear of turning it online sooner, and it's not hard for an opponent to take 2 damage as is. Once it's online, your opponents will really know what pain is.
Blind Obedience - This is to slow the game down if I'm facing decks that are fairly aggressive. The lifegain is pretty nice too.
Oversold Cemetery- Our "oh sh!t" button. If you find yourself against a stingy group of people or you make bad choices on Athreos triggers, this can help you cut your losses.
Phyrexian Arena - EDH staple in black. It's pretty obvious why this card is good.
Grave Pact - Why should our opponents lose out on the fun of saccing lots of creatures? This may be the most expensive card price-wise that I'll need to get.
Proper Burial - Yet another advantage to be gained off of saccing creatures. It seems a little slow and unwieldy at times though.
Exquisite Blood - This provides a nice little upside for you if your opponents aren't letting you have your creature back off of Athreos. It's pretty nice to have.
Sanguine Bond - There are enough cards in this list that gain us life for this card to be worth playing. It also accidentally kills the table sometimes with Exquisite Blood out.
Liliana of the Dark Realms - I'm playing her over Vess largely because I already own a copy of LotDR in any case, Vess often only ends up being a tutor for one before she bites it, and Dark Realms helps the deck ramp nicely.
Mortify - Strictly better than Murder, especially considering that some of the biggest cards that can ruin Athreos are enchantments.
Condemn/Oblation - Your standard answer to most commanders in white. Sometimes just outright screws over some decks.
Enlightened Tutor - Most of our bigger enablers are enchantments, and it's always great to use this as an artificial way to find ramp.
Return to Dust - As I mentioned earlier, we need ways to deal with stuff like Rest in Peace if someone should run it. This does the job nicely.
Diabolic Intent/Diabolic Tutor/Beseech the Queen - Not the best tutor set, but I can't really afford to splurge on any more than this. I don't usually have a problem fetching what I need though, and the former is pretty good as a sac outlet in a pinch too.
Day of Judgment/Rout/Decree of Pain - Same deal as above in terms of price. Usually foots the bill for what I need, plus Rout has the added benefit of sometimes ruining a game-winning swing and Decree of Pain is disgustingly good for card advantage late.
Living Death = Triggers anyone? This is nice to flip-flop the board state if things are getting too wacky for your taste. Just be careful not to use this when Athreos is a creature.
Exsanguinate/Debt to the Deathless - Our two main wincons. Make sure you are absolutely safe before resolving these; you usually don't get a second try at it.
Cards I may be considering: Austere Command - A larger wrath that can be aimed so as not to target you as hard as it does your opponents. I have a bit of a sordid history with this card though; 6 mana is awkward for a wrath, and it never seems to get as much value for me as it does for my opponents.
Pillowfort cards: I already have Blind Obedience in this list, but I thought a few of these could help me with the deck's strategy so that I'm not being actively pummeled by trying to gain ground on my opponents. What do you guys think?
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I hope you guys have enjoyed the list. I look forward to reading your insight!
I saw a fun deck someone in my playgroup piloted using Shadowborn Apostle to fun effect. Pile in a bunch of Apostles, and with Athreos out ... either they take 18 life or they let you get your combo ready to go again. Then its just a matter of sticking in some fun Demons to tutor. For example, you could get Rune-Scarred Demon and then use that to tutor up any card, even something like Butcher of Malakir or your friendly neighborhood Kokusho. Fun stuff, indeed.
Hello all, and welcome to my Athreos, God of Passage midrange deck! First off, big thanks to everyone who offered their suggestions on what was a essentially a "WTF am I doing" post by me a little ways back; I tried to take all of your suggestions into account when whipping this list up. I've played a couple games with this list so far, and it's seemed fairly solid so far, but I'd still love some advice to help shore it up. I'll try to be as in depth as possible to explain my thought processes, and I'm hoping to create this deck irl in the near future.
A quick note before we get started: I was hesitant to put the "budget" tag on this list because I'm not exactly sure what my budget is going to be. I don't want to spend more than ten dollars per card, and I think I've stuck to that pretty well on this list, but if it seems absolutely necessary, I could make exceptions if the card is super good. Anyways, enough rambling, let me see if I can talk my way through this.
Athreos, in my eyes, is one of the four best gods to use as a commander (the other three being Purphoros, God of the Forge, Ephara, God of the Polis, and Karametra, God of Harvests). At 3 mana, he's incredibly cheap to cast, and he's difficult to remove once he sticks. His ability lends itself perfectly to a creature-based deck where you attempt to get utility through ETB and exit-the-battlefield shenanigans and sac outlets to continually recycle value effects. One thread I was reading noted that it's a lot better to avoid gigantic bombs like Ashen Rider or Angel of Despair that you will likely not get back over your dead body, and I can't help but agree with that. As such, the creatures in this deck are small and really only serve as means to a larger end, but they're more likely to grab you an advantage.
The one key to playing Athreos, I've found, is to know where to aim your triggers. If you're attempting to get your Bone Shredder back, it should stand to reason that you're a lot more likely to succeed if you point the trigger at the monoblack player over the guy with the big creature you're trying to kill. Point your smaller effects at players who they will be less significant to, and your bigger effects at the players who have less life to spare and force them to make a difficult choice. Remember, 3 life is not a lot to pay in EDH, and if you don't make the right choice, your value engine will be shut off before it even has a chance to get going. Of course, we have cards in our deck that can make the decision more one-sided for us, but if you're smart, you may not even need them.
Early game, focus on getting Athros out early and playing one or two small utility effects. Attempt to get them recurred once or twice, and try to maintain a low profile; we're not an aggressive deck, and we don't want undue attention pointed our way. This deck wins through attrition; we slowly grind out advantages and remove threats to us while our opponents throw Briberies and Terastodons at each other. Our goal is to weaken everyone enough so that a resolved Exsanguinate or Debt to the Deathless kills the table, or else leaves us so far ahead that we can win within the next turn or two. In a pinch, sometimes we can grind out wins with Bloodchief Ascension or a Kokusho, the Evening Star recurred multiple times, but it gets dicey if we do. This deck is all about playing a numbers game, and if we do it right, we can come out on top.
2 High Priest of Penance
2 Blood Artist
2 Apprentice Necromancer
2 Skirsdag High Priest
2 Wall of Omens
3 Pilgrim's Eye
3 Teysa, Orzhov Scion
3 Fleshbag Marauder
3 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Big Game Hunter
3 Bone Shredder
3 Doomed Necromancer
3 Spike Cannibal
4 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Sangromancer
4 Crypt Ghast
4 Disciple of Bolas
5 Archon of Justice
5 Baneslayer Angel
5 Bloodgift Demon
5 Kagemaro, First to Suffer
5 Karmic Guide
5 Reveillark
5 Shriekmaw
6 Harvester of Souls
6 Kokusho, the Evening Star
6 Massacre Wurm
6 Sun Titan
7 Butcher of Malakir
7 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Skullclamp
2 Orzhov Signet
3 Chromatic Lantern
3 Crystal Ball
3 Darksteel Ingot
3 Phyrexian Altar
1 Bloodchief Ascension
2 Blind Obedience
2 Oversold Cemetery
3 Phyrexian Arena
4 Grave Pact
4 Proper Burial
5 Exquisite Blood
5 Sanguine Bond
1 Path to Exile
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Condemn
1 Enlightened Tutor
3 Mortify
3 Oblation
4 Return to Dust
2 Diabolic Intent
2x Exsanguinate
4 Day of Judgment
4 Diabolic Tutor
4x Debt to the Deathless
5 Living Death
5 Rout
6 Beseech the Queen
8 Decree of Pain
0 Command Tower
0 Evolving Wilds
0 Godless Shrine
0 Isolated Chapel
0 Orzhov Basilica
0 Reliquary Tower
0 Tainted Field
0 Temple of Silence
0 Temple of the False God
0 Terramorphic Expanse
0 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
0 Plains (12)
0 Swamp (12)
At first glance, the middle of the curve seems a bit wonky and I think I could possibly use a bit more ramp. Could be two good places to start.
High Priest of Penance - Fairly cheap removal for any problem permanent on board. I may not have the cards to make this more reliable, it doesn't have the synergy with Skullclamp that I'd like it to, and mass removal sucks for it, but it's a fairly unassuming creature that is a bit of a rattlesnake as a chump blocker. Its spot may go to Grand Abolisher at some point.
Blood Artist - This little guy pulls a lot of weight. 1 life isn't huge, but with the amount of times we make creatures die in this deck, it adds up slowly. Add in its recursive potential and you've got a card that can sometimes even close out games.
Apprentice Necromancer - A sac outlet that also lets us recover something that our opponents weren't willing to give us off Athreos. It's always good to have a few of these lying around in the deck.
Skirsdag High Priest - I haven't drawn into this card in any of my games yet, so I don't know how good it could potentially be. Morbid isn't too hard to trigger in this deck if things are running smoothly, but I'm not sure how often I'll want to have enough creatures out at one time to make it relevant. May have to test more to find out.
Wall of Omens - This is one of the easier cards to get back off of Athreos. A draw one isn't something an opponent is usually going to be stingy about, and it's not like it's attacking once it gets on the field. It's an advantage though, and this deck is all about those.
Pilgrim's Eye - On the subject of cards that most anyone will let you have back...I prefer this over Burnished Hart in this deck because early game, the bronze elk usually takes two turns of taking up most of my mana to fetch up lands, while Eye lets me have them immediately.
Teysa, Orzhov Scion - We have a lot of black creatures that we'll want to have dying, and the Spirits she makes provide a little damage as well as some spot removal if we have enough of them. She may be a little too slow though.
Fleshbag Marauder - Repeatable saccing of everyone's stuff is always nice. Athreos makes the drawback of having to sacrifice him or something else almost negligible if you're doing it right. If he survives, he makes good fodder for Skullclamp.
Vampire Nighthawk - An old standard mainstay who's part of the "goodstuff" package. His lifelink synergizes well with a few cards here, and he's good for removing a problem flying creature or three.
Big Game Hunter - The best gift for that pesky green mage with that bothersome Asceticism lying around. Sometimes randomly gets played for B, which is nice.
Bone Shredder - The most metal card in the deck he's great spot removal, kills himself so we don't have to, and you can usually get him back easily by pointing him at the black or artifact player.
Doomed Necromancer - A strict upgrade over the Apprentice. He also provides a little more immediacy since our card gets recurred right back to the field instead of going to our hand.
Spike Cannibal - This is a meta choice, as one person plays an Azusa, Lost but Seeking deck with a ton of Hydras, and at least one person is playing a Prime Speaker Zegana. What better way to deal with them than this?
Solemn Simulacrum - An EDH staple that is particularly well utilized in this deck. He gets something on both entering and exiting, so you get max value out of playing and then saccing him, and he's unassuming enough to get back easily as well.
Sangromancer - A mainstay for most black decks in my opinion. Discard and death are the two things that black excels at, so why not play something to benefit from that? Also helps us tip the scales for Phyrexian Arena and its ilk, and combos well with Sanguine Bond.
Crypt Ghast - Ramp for black that also helps us with our slight burn theme. What's not to like?
Disciple of Bolas - Both an ETB card and a sac outlet, oh boy! Even drawing one or two cards off him is usually acceptable in my eyes, and if your board is unassuming enough, you can get him back easily enough too.
Archon of Justice - Reliable spot removal for animated gods, pesky enchantments, etc. Flying is a decent plus too.
Bloodgift Demon - A Phyrexian Arena on a decent body that we can occasionally recur. Seems okay.
Kagemaro, First to Suffer - It's usually fairly easy to keep this guy at a decent power in this deck, as we're not too lacking on draw power. He can also sac himself, which is always a nice plus.
Karmic Guide/Reveillark/Sun Titan - Getting back anything we may have lost in trying to get our engine going is always a nice bit of insurance to have. The former two form an infinite combo with any ETB effect, but there aren't too many relevant ETB effects other than Kokusho, the Evening Star to be concerned with it, and I don't generally want to have too many creatures on board in the first place.
Shriekmaw - A cheaper version of Bone Shredder (metal riff) with more immediacy. Same things that I said about BS are true here.
Harvester of Souls - Turns our saccing and everyone else's suffering into card advantage. Expensive, but effective.
Kokusho, the Evening Star - This card is absolutely nasty, and is one of those cards that can sometimes make Athreos' ability hard to pay for as soon as it hits the field. The upsides only get better if the card you sac it to happens to be Disciple of Bolas...
Massacre Wurm - Easily one of the best bombs this deck has to offer. Against other toolbox decks and token decks, this can often be a back-breaker.
Butcher of Malakir - Grave Pact on a creature. Like Bloodgift Demon, having an opportunity to bring this card back is a big plus.
Sheoldred, Whispering One - Recursion card that's directly detrimental to our opponents while refueling our engine. He's one of my favorite creatures to play with.
Sol Ring - Duh.
Skullclamp - An absolute gem in this list. Used with Athreos, it very occasionally nets us a +3. I'm pretty certain I have enough cards to really abuse this with.
Darksteel Ingot/Orzhov Signet/Chromatic Lantern - These all provide me with some degree of mana fixing. I'm almost thinking I could use one or two more of these.
Crystal Ball - The poor man's Sensei's Divining Top. Doesn't have nearly the same amount of upsides, and needing to come in on the turn I play Athreos is fairly annoying, but it's the best I can do atm.
Phyrexian Altar - A great sac outlet that also provides us with mana, the one thing that can really slow this deck down sometimes.
Bloodchief Ascension - I've become a big fan of this card as of late. It further incentivizes people to give you cards back of Athreos for fear of turning it online sooner, and it's not hard for an opponent to take 2 damage as is. Once it's online, your opponents will really know what pain is.
Blind Obedience - This is to slow the game down if I'm facing decks that are fairly aggressive. The lifegain is pretty nice too.
Oversold Cemetery- Our "oh sh!t" button. If you find yourself against a stingy group of people or you make bad choices on Athreos triggers, this can help you cut your losses.
Phyrexian Arena - EDH staple in black. It's pretty obvious why this card is good.
Grave Pact - Why should our opponents lose out on the fun of saccing lots of creatures? This may be the most expensive card price-wise that I'll need to get.
Proper Burial - Yet another advantage to be gained off of saccing creatures. It seems a little slow and unwieldy at times though.
Exquisite Blood - This provides a nice little upside for you if your opponents aren't letting you have your creature back off of Athreos. It's pretty nice to have.
Sanguine Bond - There are enough cards in this list that gain us life for this card to be worth playing. It also accidentally kills the table sometimes with Exquisite Blood out.
Liliana of the Dark Realms - I'm playing her over Vess largely because I already own a copy of LotDR in any case, Vess often only ends up being a tutor for one before she bites it, and Dark Realms helps the deck ramp nicely.
Path to Exile/Swords to Plowshares - Exiling cards is always nice. This deck appreciates all the spot removal it can get.
Mortify - Strictly better than Murder, especially considering that some of the biggest cards that can ruin Athreos are enchantments.
Condemn/Oblation - Your standard answer to most commanders in white. Sometimes just outright screws over some decks.
Enlightened Tutor - Most of our bigger enablers are enchantments, and it's always great to use this as an artificial way to find ramp.
Return to Dust - As I mentioned earlier, we need ways to deal with stuff like Rest in Peace if someone should run it. This does the job nicely.
Diabolic Intent/Diabolic Tutor/Beseech the Queen - Not the best tutor set, but I can't really afford to splurge on any more than this. I don't usually have a problem fetching what I need though, and the former is pretty good as a sac outlet in a pinch too.
Day of Judgment/Rout/Decree of Pain - Same deal as above in terms of price. Usually foots the bill for what I need, plus Rout has the added benefit of sometimes ruining a game-winning swing and Decree of Pain is disgustingly good for card advantage late.
Living Death = Triggers anyone? This is nice to flip-flop the board state if things are getting too wacky for your taste. Just be careful not to use this when Athreos is a creature.
Exsanguinate/Debt to the Deathless - Our two main wincons. Make sure you are absolutely safe before resolving these; you usually don't get a second try at it.
Cards I may be considering:
Austere Command - A larger wrath that can be aimed so as not to target you as hard as it does your opponents. I have a bit of a sordid history with this card though; 6 mana is awkward for a wrath, and it never seems to get as much value for me as it does for my opponents.
Sensei's Divining Top/Vampiric Tutor/Demonic Tutor/Wrath of God/Damnation- These will replace their lesser counterparts if ever I feel like I can afford them.
Pillowfort cards: I already have Blind Obedience in this list, but I thought a few of these could help me with the deck's strategy so that I'm not being actively pummeled by trying to gain ground on my opponents. What do you guys think?
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I hope you guys have enjoyed the list. I look forward to reading your insight!
IRL: Patron of the Moon
IRL: Patron of the Moon
GOOD LUCK
IRL: Patron of the Moon
IRL: Patron of the Moon