Since I saw Athreos spoiled, I have wanted to make a deck that maximizes him. I realize he isn't a game winner by himself, but makes your opponents squirm when they try to get rid of your creatures. So, I have tried to come up with creatures that force opponents to make very hard decisions, and most times force them to take 3 damage.
I leaned towards dega because of 3 cards.
First, Tyramet, The Murder King has obvious synergies with Athreos, God of Passage. He basically forms a very hard to break combo that just continually causes damage, and pulls creatures back to your hand. High Priest of Penance is an annoying creature by itself, but with the ability to continually come back, it acts like Vindicate and Lightning Bolt in one card when Athreos is out. With red being in this deck, you can even hit it with your own burn spell, to act as removal. Spark Trooper is the hardest sell here. The double R in a 3-color deck is always hard. He also, requires Athreos to be in play to become fully lethal. Even by himself he can cause a 12-life swing, and with athreos, tack on another 3 damage, or have him come back again.
Now what this deck needs is ways to win, without relying on Athreos. I have a few possible choices for that. Stormbreath Dragon is an obvious choice. Seraph of the Sword is another card I am kicking around. It is hard to kill, and forces opponents to waste removal on it and then hopefully forcing them to make a choice.
I don't have a complete deck list yet, but I wanted to post this here to see if we could get some brewing action together. I think the deck has some potential, but I am worried that it might be a bit forced and rely too much on Athreos being in play.
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earlier i had the idea to convert this deck http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/standard-type-2/standard-deck-creation/504892-tymaret-dec-aka-murder-post into a dega athreos & aristocrat deck creating damage loops with tymaret, athreos, and purphoros. i have an idea to include Springleaf Drum as well so you can tap dudes and float the mana before sacing to recast the ones returned to your hand by athreos or mitigate some of tymarets activation cost. then if the deck is loaded with 1 or 2 drop creatures there is Immortal Servitude to bring all the dudes back (if the pay the life for athreos, for example) triggering purphoros some more and probably killing them
The two cards that I have heard talked about the most when it comes to working with Athreos is Cartel Aristocrat and Xathrid Necromancer. If you're running red though Tymaret seems a better choice than the aristocrat, although the aristocrat is human if you decide to run the necromancer.
I personally I am running a build right now that features a ton of low cost enchantment creatures in black and white from the new set along with Sphere of Safety and underworld connections. Aegis of the Gods and Sphere of Safety seem like the perfect combo.
However, I suppose if I was aiming just to maximize resilience through Athreos' effect I would run an Orzhov midrange build that featured Obzedat, Ghost Council and Whip of Erebos.
I like your idea of Spark trooper too though. He's definitely one of my favorite creatures right now and I feel he's underrated, and is also a good target for the whip too. Post a decklist soon!
Boros reckoned is an auto include imo because you makes them take the boros damage and the athreos 3. Dpark trooprr is cool too I do like the idea of whiping spark trooper
I have been thinking about this deck more, and banisher priest is high on my list as well. Annoying in it's own right, but Athreos takes it to another level.
Boros Charm I am thinking is a two of. It prevents mass exile effects from anger of the gods and it protects from magma spray. 4 to the face is never a bad thing either. Also murder king helps protect against magma spray.
Purphoros, God of the Forge is a one of for me. With reckoners in play and creatures bouncing to your hand, it adds just a bit more damage.
I may work ATM, but my deck list is forming in my mind more.
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two suggestions; 1. you have too many 3 and 4cmc cards, you can afford to drop a copy or two of athreos and you sould have more 1's and 2's. 2. i would really like to see Purphoros, God of the Forge in your list as well since his ability synergizes so well with the brimaz and athreos.
two suggestions; 1. you have too many 3 and 4cmc cards, you can afford to drop a copy or two of athreos and you sould have more 1's and 2's. 2. i would really like to see Purphoros, God of the Forge in your list as well since his ability synergizes so well with the brimaz and athreos.
I agree with dropping Athreos down to three to add a Purphoros. I am not sure what other 1 drops I want, thoughtseize will likely be in the board. The murder king will drop to 2, but I am nott sure whatelse to cut and/or replace.
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I was leaning towrds dega athreos too, but hadnt thought too much on it yet. Ill say this though, wow with spark trooper!! I like your list a lot. You got my gears turning
I was leaning towrds dega athreos too, but hadnt thought too much on it yet. Ill say this though, wow with spark trooper!! I like your list a lot. You got my gears turning
Thanks. I have been thinking about this deck quite a bit too. From my above list, I think the weakest cards are Spear of Heliod and Banisher Priest. There reason I originally included the spear was I have a lot of */1 creatures and I wanted to give them a bit of toughness, if need be, because Athreos is a beast, but cannot be relied on since cards like Deicide, Glare of Heresy and such exist and will likely not be uncommon SB cards. Banisher Priest is a great card, that can clear the way for weenie decks, but of all the targets I really fear, she doesn't really help. Stormbreath Dragon and Blood Baron of Vizkopa have protection, I don't really care too much about Desecration Demon, I have no problems sacing creatures and I am already running 3x removal spells for him. She doesn't help against Pack Rats. She is useful against gods, but I think there are better SB tools for that, as mentioned above.
So, this gives me 3 more cards to play with. Here are the candidates I have found, after looking though almost all of the standard creatures available.
Rakdos Cackler - fast 2/2, that I have no problem doing early damage with and having die or recur with Athreos. Also, more importantly, helps Purphoros become active.
Spirit of the Labyrinth - 3/1 is good damage, but again low toughness. May be a better SB against control decks. R/G decks dodge the issue with their walkers though. They never really draw, but more look at the top card and then place in their hands.
Hellhole Flailer - Totally forgot about this guy. A little slower at 3CMC, but his ability is down right nasty with Athreos in play. A 4/3 for 3 isn't bad either. Also the red devotion is a help for Purphoros.
Aegis of the Gods - Cool card, not sure if it really helps your game plan though. Good for a pillow-fort deck, but not many cards in play target us outside of burn. Again may be a sideboard card.
Outside of the usual players (Deicide, Thoughtseize) Planar Cleansing looks like a really strong top end SB card for this deck. It wrecks so many other decks, but for us, our gods stay in play, and if we play it right, causes most of our creatures to bounce back to our hands, or our opponents take a big hit of damage. Other fun SB cards are Sire of Insanity and Underworld Cerberus. The dog is (in my opinion) an awesome 5 drop that is just a giant pain to deal with. Again, it keeps our creature onslaught going, but not clearly better than a hasty 4/4 flyer.
So currently this is what my list looks like. I will need to do some testing with it (been too busy as of late) but it looks like it has promise.
Edit: you know what card I forgot to mention, Slaughter Games. Hugely destructive card if you know what to name. Should probably be in the sideboard, but it really depends on the meta I think. Perhaps use instead of pithing needle or thoughtseize.
Nice, but wouldnt cartel aristocrat be a nice fit too? All these low counts, are you too spread out?- something I am guilty of all the time. I think i want to see mortars in here too. What do you feel is the base of the deck, I think it should be strengthened? Helix seems overpriced, but i like obzedat's aid in here.
Nice, but wouldnt cartel aristocrat be a nice fit too? All these low counts, are you too spread out?- something I am guilty of all the time. I think i want to see mortars in here too. What do you feel is the base of the deck, I think it should be strengthened? Helix seems overpriced, but i like obzedat's aid in here.
Most of the low counts are from legendary creatures. The base of the deck are relatively cheap creatures that force your opponent to play removal spells. Athreos's role is to generate additional damage or recur problem creatures.
I think Cartel Aristocrat is a good card for the B/w version, but I think murder king is better since we have acces to red. Only thing is murder king is legendary and cost mana to use his ability.
Helix is a big card. 4dmg and 4 life for 4 mana at instant speed is very good. Not amazing good like Lightning Helix, but it can take care of a lot of threats, or just go to the face an cause an 8 point life swing. The places where it is weak is against BBoV and Stormbteath. I put mortars in the board because against those threats it is better. The other place where Helix is strong is against decks with a lot if walkers.
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Cartel Aristocrat is a good answer to Anger of the Gods though. Sac everything to it before the damage is dealt and he has to deal with you getting everything back or losing life
Cartel Aristocrat is a good answer to Anger of the Gods though. Sac everything to it before the damage is dealt and he has to deal with you getting everything back or losing life
I finally understand her over high priest now! Thank you
Cartel Aristocrat is a good answer to Anger of the Gods though. Sac everything to it before the damage is dealt and he has to deal with you getting everything back or losing life
That is a good point. Boros charm is also a good answer. I think It will depend on the meta a bit. I haven't seen much anger of the gods in play recently, but I mostly just play FNM.
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yeah, high priest of male anatomy has never been very good
It is great with Ath though, destroying one if their permanents and likely making them lose three life, because they wont want to gave u recur it. That tethmos priest would be great with him
That is a good point. Boros charm is also a good answer. I think It will depend on the meta a bit. I haven't seen much anger of the gods in play recently, but I mostly just play FNM.
Boros charm doesn't protect you against curse of the swine though. That's the other card that can really screw a deck like this over. And with battlefield thaumaturge in play he can exile the entire board for just UU
That tethmos priest would be great with him
There's not a lot of enablers though. Ajani's presence makes the most sense.
Have you considered Ashen Rider? That's a card that enters play, exiles a permanent, gets sac-ed, exiles a permanent, and your opponent will have no problems paying 3 life to keep it from going back to your hand.
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Have you considered Ashen Rider? That's a card that enters play, exiles a permanent, gets sac-ed, exiles a permanent, and your opponent will have no problems paying 3 life to keep it from going back to your hand.
If it was 6cmc I think it would see play, but at 8cmc that is just too much.
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Considering one or the other of Cartel Aristocrat or Tymaret, the Murder King plus both Purphoros, God of the Forge and Athreos, God of Passage being in the deck, I feel like maybe a copy (or more) of Tenacious Dead would be okay. It could end up being the same as a shock to the face per untapped swamp per turn with both gods out. Though I think it's a little better with Purphoros than Athreos given just one god out (and a sack outlet).
Just saw this in another thread, but Spiteful Returned is very good with Athreos, God of Passage. Could be interesting as a two drop and definitely gives you options as a bestow card. That on Boros Reckoner could be a funny combo.
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I leaned towards dega because of 3 cards.
First, Tyramet, The Murder King has obvious synergies with Athreos, God of Passage. He basically forms a very hard to break combo that just continually causes damage, and pulls creatures back to your hand. High Priest of Penance is an annoying creature by itself, but with the ability to continually come back, it acts like Vindicate and Lightning Bolt in one card when Athreos is out. With red being in this deck, you can even hit it with your own burn spell, to act as removal. Spark Trooper is the hardest sell here. The double R in a 3-color deck is always hard. He also, requires Athreos to be in play to become fully lethal. Even by himself he can cause a 12-life swing, and with athreos, tack on another 3 damage, or have him come back again.
Now, the DEGA colors give us options for lots of other fun cards too. We have great removal, only possibly second to JUNK colors. Dreadbore, Hero's Downfall, Deicide, Banishing Light, Revoke Existence, Glare of Heresy to name a few.
Now what this deck needs is ways to win, without relying on Athreos. I have a few possible choices for that. Stormbreath Dragon is an obvious choice. Seraph of the Sword is another card I am kicking around. It is hard to kill, and forces opponents to waste removal on it and then hopefully forcing them to make a choice.
Other cards likes Warleader's Helix, Elspeth, Sun's Champion or even Obzedat, Ghost Council can help round out the deck. Boros Reckoner is another great choice as it adds to devotion for Athreos.
I don't have a complete deck list yet, but I wanted to post this here to see if we could get some brewing action together. I think the deck has some potential, but I am worried that it might be a bit forced and rely too much on Athreos being in play.
I personally I am running a build right now that features a ton of low cost enchantment creatures in black and white from the new set along with Sphere of Safety and underworld connections. Aegis of the Gods and Sphere of Safety seem like the perfect combo.
However, I suppose if I was aiming just to maximize resilience through Athreos' effect I would run an Orzhov midrange build that featured Obzedat, Ghost Council and Whip of Erebos.
I like your idea of Spark trooper too though. He's definitely one of my favorite creatures right now and I feel he's underrated, and is also a good target for the whip too. Post a decklist soon!
Boros Charm I am thinking is a two of. It prevents mass exile effects from anger of the gods and it protects from magma spray. 4 to the face is never a bad thing either. Also murder king helps protect against magma spray.
Purphoros, God of the Forge is a one of for me. With reckoners in play and creatures bouncing to your hand, it adds just a bit more damage.
I may work ATM, but my deck list is forming in my mind more.
2x Boros Charm
2x Warleader's Helix
Sorcery
1x Obzedat's Aid
3x Dreadbore
Land
3x Plains
2x Mountain
4x Sacred Foundry
4x Godless Shrine
2x Temple of Triumph
3x Blood Crypt
2x Temple of Silence
4x Mana Confluence
3x High Priest of Penance
4x Soldier of the Pantheon
4x Boros Reckoner
2x Stormbreath Dragon
3x Spark Trooper
2x Banisher Priest
2x Brimaz, King of Oreskos
3x Tymaret, the Murder King
4x Athreos, God of Passage
1x Spear of Heliod
I agree with dropping Athreos down to three to add a Purphoros. I am not sure what other 1 drops I want, thoughtseize will likely be in the board. The murder king will drop to 2, but I am nott sure whatelse to cut and/or replace.
Thanks. I have been thinking about this deck quite a bit too. From my above list, I think the weakest cards are Spear of Heliod and Banisher Priest. There reason I originally included the spear was I have a lot of */1 creatures and I wanted to give them a bit of toughness, if need be, because Athreos is a beast, but cannot be relied on since cards like Deicide, Glare of Heresy and such exist and will likely not be uncommon SB cards. Banisher Priest is a great card, that can clear the way for weenie decks, but of all the targets I really fear, she doesn't really help. Stormbreath Dragon and Blood Baron of Vizkopa have protection, I don't really care too much about Desecration Demon, I have no problems sacing creatures and I am already running 3x removal spells for him. She doesn't help against Pack Rats. She is useful against gods, but I think there are better SB tools for that, as mentioned above.
So, this gives me 3 more cards to play with. Here are the candidates I have found, after looking though almost all of the standard creatures available.
Outside of the usual players (Deicide, Thoughtseize) Planar Cleansing looks like a really strong top end SB card for this deck. It wrecks so many other decks, but for us, our gods stay in play, and if we play it right, causes most of our creatures to bounce back to our hands, or our opponents take a big hit of damage. Other fun SB cards are Sire of Insanity and Underworld Cerberus. The dog is (in my opinion) an awesome 5 drop that is just a giant pain to deal with. Again, it keeps our creature onslaught going, but not clearly better than a hasty 4/4 flyer.
So currently this is what my list looks like. I will need to do some testing with it (been too busy as of late) but it looks like it has promise.
4x Boros Reckoner
3x High Priest of Penance
3x Rakdos Cackler
4x Soldier of the Pantheon
3x Spark Trooper
2x Stormbreath Dragon
2x Brimaz, King of Oreskos
2x Tymaret, the Murder King
2x Purphoros, God of the Forge
3x Athreos, God of Passage
Spells - 8
3x Dreadbore
1x Obzedat's Aid
2x Boros Charm
2x Warleader's Helix
3x Blood Crypt
4x Godless Shrine
4x Sacred Foundry
4x Mana Confluence
2x Temple of Silence
2x Temple of Triumph
3x Plains
2x Mountain
2x Banishing Light
2x Deicide
3x Thoughtseize
2x Spirit of the Labyrinth
3x Mizzium Mortars
1x Pithing Needle
2x Planar Cleansing
Edit: you know what card I forgot to mention, Slaughter Games. Hugely destructive card if you know what to name. Should probably be in the sideboard, but it really depends on the meta I think. Perhaps use instead of pithing needle or thoughtseize.
Most of the low counts are from legendary creatures. The base of the deck are relatively cheap creatures that force your opponent to play removal spells. Athreos's role is to generate additional damage or recur problem creatures.
I think Cartel Aristocrat is a good card for the B/w version, but I think murder king is better since we have acces to red. Only thing is murder king is legendary and cost mana to use his ability.
Helix is a big card. 4dmg and 4 life for 4 mana at instant speed is very good. Not amazing good like Lightning Helix, but it can take care of a lot of threats, or just go to the face an cause an 8 point life swing. The places where it is weak is against BBoV and Stormbteath. I put mortars in the board because against those threats it is better. The other place where Helix is strong is against decks with a lot if walkers.
I finally understand her over high priest now! Thank you
That is a good point. Boros charm is also a good answer. I think It will depend on the meta a bit. I haven't seen much anger of the gods in play recently, but I mostly just play FNM.
It is great with Ath though, destroying one if their permanents and likely making them lose three life, because they wont want to gave u recur it. That tethmos priest would be great with him
There's not a lot of enablers though. Ajani's presence makes the most sense.
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If it was 6cmc I think it would see play, but at 8cmc that is just too much.
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Here is a naming list: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-general/331933-the-quasi-official-mtg-color-naming-guide
Anyone else have a list they are kicking around?