Most people seem okay with it as it's the only way to play 4 colors in EDH aside from running a 5 color general and just not using one of the colors. And it is possible to have a unifying theme in 4 colors, depending on which colors and what theme. That being said, they do tend to be a lot of goodstuff.
Honestly, aside from people trying to do tribal myr, there are just better things to be doing in artifacts, and there are several cheaper manadorks. Don't let me rain on your parade if you think you can make it work, though.
It's probably because Inquisition and Thoughtseize allow for a wider range of targets to rip from your opponent's hand than Despise does. I'd think 8Rack would use it.
If Stoneforge Mystic was unbanned, we would probably see some form of Modern Caw Blade or Stoneblade running swords. As it stands, they're too slow. Even the decks that use Batterskull are pushing it, as while it does come with a body, it costs 5 and can be broken for R.
This is great, if you already have decks together ready for Modern. Trying to get in? Barrier to entry just got higher. I'm not overly happy about this.
If I remember correctly, when I started playing Magic, I still went to church from time to time. Never saw anything wrong with it. I also didn't tell anyone, but I don't think the pastor there would have seen it as evil. He was a pretty down to earth guy, and wasn't one of those "everything that isn't the Bible is evil" types that I feel like Christians occasionally get unfairly stereotyped as being.
Well, I started Magic in mono-W. I was constantly getting my rear handed to me on a platter by a somewhat-durdley Kamigawa-based spirit deck that went infinite late game. I had problems with other decks, but this was the worst. Eventually I did manage to beat it with a faster WB token deck.
I started to pick up interest in blue by looking over Caw-Blade lists during Mirrodin Besieged standard, and later by trying to build WU Haunted Humans when Innistrad block popped in. Nowadays, all decks I build usually contain either W or U. W because I've gotten used to the value I can get from the removal, the boardwipes, and stuff like Sun Titan. U because it helps me stop other people's degenerate nonsense whilst helping my degenerate nonsense get online, especially in EDH.
I'm okay with this. I'll probably pick it up and mod it heavily. Not the best list ever, but hey, it has IoKs, so that's something.
I don't know, I have mixed feelings about this. I'm glad it isn't something speculators aren't going to snatch up completely, but it's still lightly disappointing considering what could have been put into it.
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.
Yep, want pretty much all of these.
I'm slightly upset that this is most likely the only time in the remotely near future there's going to be a Modern frame Force of Will in paper and they're going to be so exceedingly rare that a lot of us may never even see one.
This deck does extremely well played politically against multiple opponents. If there are more glaringly obvious threats around like Mimeoplasm decks or established combo players, people will usually be just fine with letting you sit there gaining life and fiddling around with planeswalkers. Well, they'll try to prevent your planeswalkers from actually going ultimate, but we have plans to stop them.
I started to pick up interest in blue by looking over Caw-Blade lists during Mirrodin Besieged standard, and later by trying to build WU Haunted Humans when Innistrad block popped in. Nowadays, all decks I build usually contain either W or U. W because I've gotten used to the value I can get from the removal, the boardwipes, and stuff like Sun Titan. U because it helps me stop other people's degenerate nonsense whilst helping my degenerate nonsense get online, especially in EDH.
I don't know, I have mixed feelings about this. I'm glad it isn't something speculators aren't going to snatch up completely, but it's still lightly disappointing considering what could have been put into it.
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)
Is there any potential for growth from cards like Aegis of the Gods and Spirit of the Labyrinth?
I'm slightly upset that this is most likely the only time in the remotely near future there's going to be a Modern frame Force of Will in paper and they're going to be so exceedingly rare that a lot of us may never even see one.
Regarding the thread name, look at the guy. He looks really bored and unamused.
Without further ado, here's my decklist.
1x Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
Creatures
1x Restoration Angel
1x Archaeomancer
1x Peregrine Drake
1x Mnemonic Wall
1x Sun Titan
1x Frost Titan
1x Grave Titan
1x Deadeye Navigator
1x Massacre Wurm
1x Ashen Rider
Enchantments
1x Act of Authority
1x Oblivion Ring
1x Propaganda
1x Detention Sphere
1x Sphere of Safety
1x Heliod, God of the Sun
1x Ephara, God of the Polis
1x Athreos, God of Passage
Planeswalkers
1x Ajani Goldmane
1x Jace, Architect of Thought
1x Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1x Gideon Jura
1x Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1x Vender, the Sojourner
Artifacts
1x Lotus Bloom
1x Elixir of Immortality
1x Nihil Spellbomb
1x Sol Ring
1x Darksteel Ingot
1x Pristine Talisman
1x Quicksilver Amulet
1x Gilded Lotus
1x Mind Spring
1x Black Sun's Zenith
1x Death Grasp
1x Diabolic Tutor
1x Diabolic Revelation
1x Increasing Ambition
1x Walk the Aeons
1x Day of Judgment
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Winds of Rath
1x Akroma's Vengeance
1x Extinguish All Hope
1x Merciless Eviction
1x Decree of Pain
Instants
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Ghostly Flicker
1x Jace's Ingenuity
1x Opportunity
1x Fated Retribution
1x Swan Song
1x Counter spell
1x Stoic Rebuttal
1x Dissipate
1x Dissolve
1x Render Silent
1x Undermine
1x Psychic Strike
1x Rewind
1x Punish Ignorance
1x Command Tower
1x Arcane Sanctum
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Encroaching Wastes
1x Vivid Creek
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Temple of Enlightenment
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Glacial Fortress
1x Azorius Guildgate
1x Tundra
1x Sejiri Refuge
1x Temple of Silence
1x Godless Shrine
1x Isolated Chapel
1x Scrubland
1x Tainted Field
1x Temple of Deceit
1x Watery Grave
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x Underground Sea
1x Jwar Isle Refuge
5x Plains
6x Island
3x Swamp
This deck does extremely well played politically against multiple opponents. If there are more glaringly obvious threats around like Mimeoplasm decks or established combo players, people will usually be just fine with letting you sit there gaining life and fiddling around with planeswalkers. Well, they'll try to prevent your planeswalkers from actually going ultimate, but we have plans to stop them.