Athreos seemed like an interesting god to build around ever since it first got spoiled. To me, at least, it seemed to be good for a control-ish build with a some focus on life loss, a bunch of board wipes, and enough creatures to capitalize on Athreos' effect.
Why devote to Athreos?
-You like wiping the board.
-You don't mind your stuff dying from time to time.
-You like playing control but don't always feel the need for counterspells.
-You like messing with people's hands and permanents.
Why you might not devote to Athreos.
-You like keeping your board as often as possible.
-You don't want to irritate your playgroup by messing with their boards relatively frequently.
-You prefer a more U-based control build(in which case, I'd recommend Oloro).
-You want to turn things sideways as often as possible and any turn in which you haven't attacked, burned somebody, or broken something is a turn you consider to be a waste(looking at you, R players).
Other WB Commander Options:
-Ghost Council of Orzhova-Needs to be built around a tad more. I've only personally seen this run once.
-Obzedat, Ghost Council-My commander for my Orzhov EDH deck prior to the release of JOU. Doesn't need to be built around, or even played. Run him if you want to play WB and don't want to worry about needing your commander.
-Selenia, Dark Angel-No.
-Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts-Seems somewhat high-costed, but potentially feasible. Not sure what kind of build would go with this version of her.
-Teysa, Orzhov Scion-Needs to be built around to some degree, enables various combos.
-Triad of Fates-No.
-Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter-Enables some silliness, but nothing overly useful.
-Athreos, God of Passage-This deck's commander. Not exactly a goodstuff commander, but at the same time does not demand a huge amount of "build around me". I mean, you could jam him in a deck full of Shadowborn Apostles, but nobody would ever do anything like that.
-Heliod, God of the Sun-Token generator, makes tokens for chumping and sacrificing. Also gives the deck's larger beaters vigilance.
Creatures:
-Grand Abolisher-A control card, helps keep the shenanigans of the opposition off my back.
-Aegis of the Gods-Another control card. Slightly more fragile than Leyline of Sanctity, but triggers Athreos and can be brought back by Sun Titan.
-Blood Scrivener-Helps get stuff back into my end if/when it happens to be empty. Somewhat weak, might get replaced later on.
-Pack Rat-Discards cards that are irrelevant at the time for progressively larger rat tokens.
-Reassembling Skeleton-Sacrifice fodder. Even with Athreos out, I still get to keep using it provided there are no Leyline of the Void effects around.
-Vizkopa Guildmage-Helps with cutting through life totals, but not a particularly strong card. It's on the chopping block.
-Flickerwisp-Gets an extra use out of an ETB trigger.
-Angel of Finality-3/4 beater that gets rid of an opponent's graveyard.
-Disciple of Bolas-Lifegain, card advantage, helps trigger Athreos, and can be used as sac fodder once its own trigger has been used.
-Karmic Guide-Reanimation for anything they paid 3 life to keep from coming back.
-Bloodgift Demon-Phyrexian Arena stapled to a 5/5 flying beater.
-Divinity of Pride-Just a really efficient beater here. 9 times out of 10, it is an 8/8 flying lifelink for 5 the turn it comes in. Seems good.
-Obzedat, Ghost Council-A beater that runs and hides from the opposition's counterattacks, but can drain life simply by coming back into play on your upkeep.
-Sun Titan-Reanimates all sorts of stuff, is a 6/6 beater, and can help wumbocombo. More on that later.
-Harvester of Souls-Card advantage. Draws you cards from your sac effects, and draws you cards when you kill stuff.
-Massacre Wurm-Completely murders token swarms and punishes their controllers. Drains 2 life from an opponent every time something of theirs dies.
-Sepulchral Primordial-Not having enough fun killing everyone's crap? Why not steal a couple creatures from the rest of the table's graveyards?
-Angel of Despair-And by Angel of Despair I mean Angel of Vindicate.
-Ashen Rider-Lets you have even more fun than Angel of Vindicate.
-Day of Judgment-General, bread-and-butter board wipe.
-Winds of Rath-Will soon be replaced by Wrath of God.
-Akroma's Vengeance-Breaks most things, and can be cycled if drawn before it's useful.
-Phyrexian Rebirth-Board wipe that can create a large token depending on the situation. At the absolute worst, it's 6 mana for Day of Judgement with at least a 1/1 token.
-Kirtar's Wrath-Another wrath effect, can leave 2 chump blockers for me if I have enough of a graveyard. Candidate for the chopping block.
-Extinguish All Hope-9 times out of 10 is a Day of Judgment for 6. Possibly to be replaced by Damnation at a later point.
-Merciless Eviction-Used only when necessary, as it exiles everyone's creatures, preventing Athreos from doing what he does best.
-Black Sun's Zenith-A reusable board wipe with an added shuffle effect. Does require a large amount of mana for optimum use, but still helps limit creatures when smaller amount of mana are used.
-Decree of Pain-Expensive board wipe, but the attached card advantage helps make up for the cost.
-Fated Retribution-Instant speed board wipe, and gets rid of planeswalkers as well as creatures.
-Swords to Plowshares-Basic spot removal spell.
-Condemn-Spot removal for attacking creatures. Highly effective against commanders.
-Doom Blade-Simple removal spell, but all the multicolor creatures out there doesn't make this the most effective thing ever. Might be replaced by Path to Exile.
-Go for the Throat-Another basic spot removal spell.
-Victim of Night-Murder for BB a decent amount of the time.
-Oblation-Tucks opposing permanents at the drawback of giving them Inspiration, or saves one of your own permanents from, say, an exile effect, and gives you Inspiration.
-Abolish-Disenchant with a relatively easy to handle alternate cost.
-Murder-Good old-fashioned, all around kill spell.
-Unmake-Kind of like the above, only it exiles.
-Mortify-Removal spell with versatility.
-Return to Dust-Artifact/enchantment removal.
-White Sun's Zenith-Token generator, possible wincon.
Planeswalkers:
-Ajani Goldmane-Lifegain and can pump a force of tokens. Most likely won't want to ultimate.
-Sorin, Lord of Innistrad-Gradually grinds out lifelinking tokens and provides small anthem effects. Fairly useful ultimate, but most people won't let him get that big.
Artifacts:
-Sol Ring-Efficient mana production. EDH staple.
-Elixir of Immortality-Graveyard recursion.
-Nihil Spellbomb-Exiles an opponent's graveyard(and any potential shenanigans), cantrips.
-Orzhov Signet-Mana rock. Can make for fun hands with Land->Sol Ring->Signet.
-Darksteel Ingot-Another mana rock.
-Ashnod's Altar-Primary sacrifice outlet.
-Tower of Fortunes-Card advantage artifact.
-Gilded Lotus-Fairly efficient mana rock.
-Conjurer's Closet-Allows re-use of ETB triggers.
-Staff of Nin-Consistent extra cards. However, its high mana cost is not exactly something I look upon favorably. Currently on the chopping block.
Athreos seemed like an interesting god to build around ever since it first got spoiled. To me, at least, it seemed to be good for a control-ish build with a some focus on life loss, a bunch of board wipes, and enough creatures to capitalize on Athreos' effect.
Why devote to Athreos?
-You like wiping the board.
-You don't mind your stuff dying from time to time.
-You like playing control but don't always feel the need for counterspells.
-You like messing with people's hands and permanents.
Why you might not devote to Athreos.
-You like keeping your board as often as possible.
-You don't want to irritate your playgroup by messing with their boards relatively frequently.
-You prefer a more U-based control build(in which case, I'd recommend Oloro).
-You want to turn things sideways as often as possible and any turn in which you haven't attacked, burned somebody, or broken something is a turn you consider to be a waste(looking at you, R players).
Other WB Commander Options:
-Ghost Council of Orzhova-Needs to be built around a tad more. I've only personally seen this run once.
-Obzedat, Ghost Council-My commander for my Orzhov EDH deck prior to the release of JOU. Doesn't need to be built around, or even played. Run him if you want to play WB and don't want to worry about needing your commander.
-Selenia, Dark Angel-No.
-Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts-Seems somewhat high-costed, but potentially feasible. Not sure what kind of build would go with this version of her.
-Teysa, Orzhov Scion-Needs to be built around to some degree, enables various combos.
-Triad of Fates-No.
-Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter-Enables some silliness, but nothing overly useful.
1 Athreos, God of Passage
Creatures:
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Aegis of the Gods
1 Blood Scrivener
1 Pack Rat
1 Reassembling Skeleton
1 Vizkopa Guildmage
1 Flickerwisp
1 Angel of Finality
1 Disciple of Bolas
1 Karmic Guide
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Divinity of Pride
1 Obzedat, Ghost Council
1 Sun Titan
1 Harvester of Souls
1 Massacre Wurm
1 Magister of Worth
1 Angel of Despair
1 Ashen Rider
Gods:
1 Heliod, God of the Sun
Enchantments:
1 Angelic Renewal
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Banishing Light
1 Karmic Justice
1 Nevermore
1 Aura of Silence
1 Dictate of Erebos
Sorceries:
1 Revoke Existence
1 Council's Judgment
1 Day of Judgment
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Winds of Rath
1 Rout
1 Diabolic Revelation
1 Increasing Ambition
1 Akroma's Vengeance
1 Phyrexian Rebirth
1 Kirtar's Wrath
1 Extinguish All Hope
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Decree of Pain
1 Black Sun's Zenith
1 Death Grasp
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Condemn
1 Doom Blade
1 Go for the Throat
1 Victim of Night
1 Oblation
1 Abolish
1 Murder
1 Unmake
1 Mortify
1 Return to Dust
1 White Sun's Zenith
Planeswalkers:
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Artifacts:
1 Sol Ring
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Ashnod's Altar
1 Tower of Fortunes
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Conjurer's Closet
Lands:
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Encroaching Wastes
1 Mana Confluence
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Command Tower
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Godless Shrine
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Scrubland
1 Temple of Silence
1 Tainted Field
1 Scoured Barrens
1 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Vivid Meadow
1 New Benalia
1 Secluded Steppe
7 Plains
1 Vivid Marsh
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Barren Moor
8 Swamp
Card Choices
Gods:
-Athreos, God of Passage-This deck's commander. Not exactly a goodstuff commander, but at the same time does not demand a huge amount of "build around me". I mean, you could jam him in a deck full of Shadowborn Apostles, but nobody would ever do anything like that.
-Heliod, God of the Sun-Token generator, makes tokens for chumping and sacrificing. Also gives the deck's larger beaters vigilance.
Creatures:
-Grand Abolisher-A control card, helps keep the shenanigans of the opposition off my back.
-Aegis of the Gods-Another control card. Slightly more fragile than Leyline of Sanctity, but triggers Athreos and can be brought back by Sun Titan.
-Blood Scrivener-Helps get stuff back into my end if/when it happens to be empty. Somewhat weak, might get replaced later on.
-Pack Rat-Discards cards that are irrelevant at the time for progressively larger rat tokens.
-Reassembling Skeleton-Sacrifice fodder. Even with Athreos out, I still get to keep using it provided there are no Leyline of the Void effects around.
-Vizkopa Guildmage-Helps with cutting through life totals, but not a particularly strong card. It's on the chopping block.
-Flickerwisp-Gets an extra use out of an ETB trigger.
-Angel of Finality-3/4 beater that gets rid of an opponent's graveyard.
-Disciple of Bolas-Lifegain, card advantage, helps trigger Athreos, and can be used as sac fodder once its own trigger has been used.
-Karmic Guide-Reanimation for anything they paid 3 life to keep from coming back.
-Bloodgift Demon-Phyrexian Arena stapled to a 5/5 flying beater.
-Divinity of Pride-Just a really efficient beater here. 9 times out of 10, it is an 8/8 flying lifelink for 5 the turn it comes in. Seems good.
-Obzedat, Ghost Council-A beater that runs and hides from the opposition's counterattacks, but can drain life simply by coming back into play on your upkeep.
-Sun Titan-Reanimates all sorts of stuff, is a 6/6 beater, and can help wumbocombo. More on that later.
-Harvester of Souls-Card advantage. Draws you cards from your sac effects, and draws you cards when you kill stuff.
-Massacre Wurm-Completely murders token swarms and punishes their controllers. Drains 2 life from an opponent every time something of theirs dies.
-Sepulchral Primordial-Not having enough fun killing everyone's crap? Why not steal a couple creatures from the rest of the table's graveyards?
-Angel of Despair-And by Angel of Despair I mean Angel of Vindicate.
-Ashen Rider-Lets you have even more fun than Angel of Vindicate.
Enchantments:
-Angelic Renewal-Reanimation card, can be recurred with Sun Titan.
-Oblivion Ring-General permanent removal.
-Banishing Light-Another Oblivion Ring.
-Karmic Justice-Punishes people trying to break my stuff. I like how it lets you break ANY kind of permanent they control.
-Nevermore-Tech against annoying generals(or Relentless Rats.dec
-Aura of Silence-Taxes artifacts and enchantments, slowing decks that rely heavily on either down somewhat. Can be sacrificed as a Disenchant, and can be recurred with Sun Titan.
-Dictate of Erebos-Grave Pact with flash.
Board Wipes:
-Day of Judgment-General, bread-and-butter board wipe.
-Winds of Rath-Will soon be replaced by Wrath of God.
-Akroma's Vengeance-Breaks most things, and can be cycled if drawn before it's useful.
-Phyrexian Rebirth-Board wipe that can create a large token depending on the situation. At the absolute worst, it's 6 mana for Day of Judgement with at least a 1/1 token.
-Kirtar's Wrath-Another wrath effect, can leave 2 chump blockers for me if I have enough of a graveyard. Candidate for the chopping block.
-Extinguish All Hope-9 times out of 10 is a Day of Judgment for 6. Possibly to be replaced by Damnation at a later point.
-Merciless Eviction-Used only when necessary, as it exiles everyone's creatures, preventing Athreos from doing what he does best.
-Black Sun's Zenith-A reusable board wipe with an added shuffle effect. Does require a large amount of mana for optimum use, but still helps limit creatures when smaller amount of mana are used.
-Decree of Pain-Expensive board wipe, but the attached card advantage helps make up for the cost.
-Fated Retribution-Instant speed board wipe, and gets rid of planeswalkers as well as creatures.
Sorceries:
-Revoke Existence-Artifact/enchantment removal.
-Diabolic Tutor-Basic tutor effect.
-Diabolic Revelation-Mass tutor spell. Essentially this deck's version of a mass card draw effect.
-Increasing Ambition-Repeatable tutor effect.
-Death Grasp-Removal and life drain. Capable of being a wincon.
Instants:
-Swords to Plowshares-Basic spot removal spell.
-Condemn-Spot removal for attacking creatures. Highly effective against commanders.
-Doom Blade-Simple removal spell, but all the multicolor creatures out there doesn't make this the most effective thing ever. Might be replaced by Path to Exile.
-Go for the Throat-Another basic spot removal spell.
-Victim of Night-Murder for BB a decent amount of the time.
-Oblation-Tucks opposing permanents at the drawback of giving them Inspiration, or saves one of your own permanents from, say, an exile effect, and gives you Inspiration.
-Abolish-Disenchant with a relatively easy to handle alternate cost.
-Murder-Good old-fashioned, all around kill spell.
-Unmake-Kind of like the above, only it exiles.
-Mortify-Removal spell with versatility.
-Return to Dust-Artifact/enchantment removal.
-White Sun's Zenith-Token generator, possible wincon.
Planeswalkers:
-Ajani Goldmane-Lifegain and can pump a force of tokens. Most likely won't want to ultimate.
-Sorin, Lord of Innistrad-Gradually grinds out lifelinking tokens and provides small anthem effects. Fairly useful ultimate, but most people won't let him get that big.
Artifacts:
-Sol Ring-Efficient mana production. EDH staple.
-Elixir of Immortality-Graveyard recursion.
-Nihil Spellbomb-Exiles an opponent's graveyard(and any potential shenanigans), cantrips.
-Orzhov Signet-Mana rock. Can make for fun hands with Land->Sol Ring->Signet.
-Darksteel Ingot-Another mana rock.
-Ashnod's Altar-Primary sacrifice outlet.
-Tower of Fortunes-Card advantage artifact.
-Gilded Lotus-Fairly efficient mana rock.
-Conjurer's Closet-Allows re-use of ETB triggers.
-Staff of Nin-Consistent extra cards. However, its high mana cost is not exactly something I look upon favorably. Currently on the chopping block.
Lands:
-Reliquary Tower-Makes sure I keep my hand in the occasional instance it gets a bit large.
-Vault of the Archangel-Best used in tandem with a major token offensive to get maximum use from the deathtouch.
-Command Tower, Godless Shrine, Isolated Chapel, Scrubland, Temple of Silence, Tainted Field, Orzhov Guildgate, Vivid Meadow, Vivid Marsh-Multicolor sources.
-New Benalia-OG scryland.
-Secluded Steppe, Barren Moor-Think Twice lands.
-Bojuka Bog-Makes graveyards go away.
-Plains, Swamp-Fills out the rest of the manabase.
Changelog:
Winds of Rath-->End Hostilities (10-2-2014)
Return to Dust-->Utter End (10-2-2014)
Reassembling Skeleton-->High Priest of Penance (10-2-2014)
Ajani Goldmane-->Council's Judgment (9-30-2014)
Butcher of Malakir-->Magister of Worth (9-30-2014)
Plains(2x)-->Reflecting Pool and Scoured Barrens (9-30-2014)
Fated Retribution-->Rout (9-30-2014)
Sepulchral Primordial-->Butcher of Malakir (9-29-2014)
Staff of Nin --> Encroaching Wastes (6-12-2014)
Archangel's Light --> Mana Confluence (6-12-2014)
WU Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
RWU Numot, the Devastator
WUB Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
WB Athreos, God of Passage
WU Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
RWU Numot, the Devastator
WUB Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
WB Athreos, God of Passage