I'm 26 years old and have been playing Magic since about 8th edition. My first experience with magic was when my brother and I bought the mono-red goblin precon deck. We would split the deck in half and battle it out for hours. Whoever drew that Goblin King definitely had the bigger grin. Slamming cardboard against buddies, barely being able to play the game, believeing Worms were overpowered, those are some of my fondest memories about this game. I would take long breaks from the game and come back, but I finally fully reappeared again for Theros block.
A lot of my experience comes from the Modern format. I am an avid URG player and Scapeshift (in all its iterations) is my current favorite deck. In my eyes Modern is a great format to develop a competitive strategy that you love and to watch it grow.
Around this time is when I fully understood my love for control and the EDH format. In previous card games that I used to play I always loved the idea of having one creature be your “leader”. I immediately began brewing edh decks that fit me. Whether it was with my beloved mono-blue combo/control Memnarch edh deck, my Jaya Ballard, Task Mage mono-red control. Or my new love: Athreos, God of Passage critter stax control/combo; EDH has and will always be my favorite format.
I work a lot with destination marketing as a Information Specialist, with current aspirations to eventually join Wizards of the Coast. In my free time I enjoy working out and I am the current Varsity Soccer Coach for my local high school.
I am currently writing this primer as a way for me to branch out of my comfort zone as a UR mage. I take criticism lightly and I would love more ideas from my peers. See you down below.
Athreos is the God of Passage on Theros. In his role of easing the passage from life to death, he is associated with white and black mana. The shrouded Athreos is the River Guide, the divine ferryman of the dead across the Rivers That Ring the World to the Underworld. Silent, bent, and tattered, he patiently fulfills his role. Athreos is never without his signature staff, a gnarled length of dark wood.
I have been brewing, tweaking, and playing Athreos since he was released on May 2 2014 in the Journey into Nyx set. At heart this deck uses stax/tax creatures to control, slow down the game, and eventually either win through a combo or combat damage. I’ve played around with the Shadowborn Apostle version and the cleric version; but I always seem to come back to my original somewhat stax build. This means we will be playing our hatebears (usually 2/2 creatures with abilities that slow or tax the game) early and setting up a nice kushy board for when Athreos finally comes down.
Athreos lends himself very well to a attrition based style of play. For the most part we want him staying an enchantment as that will allow him to stick around longer. However, there have been times when he has served as a great blocker or even a big beater himself. One of my favorite things to do with Athreos is to play at first glance “underwhelming” creatures. Creatures like Burnished Hart etc. Grinding out value from our utility creatures is something we will be doing a lot in this deck.
Our natural way to win will be through an infinite combo or creature based combat damage. Different games will require different strategies but for the most part this is how we will be winning the game.
Now that you know our game plan and our opponents are stressed out. It's time we massage those knots out with plenty of beats, synergies, and combos. Unfortunately for our opponents we do not offer hot towelettes.
You like obscure commanders that can fly under the radar.
Seriously, Athreos lends his unique talents to a special kind of player. You won't always get that special critter back but giving your opponents a headache is music to your ears.
You want a deck that does not rely on its commander to win.
You enjoy competitive games that allow us to play the best removal colors and tutors in magic,WB.
With a good number of WB generals, Athreos isn't for everyone. You may not want to play Athreos if any of these apply to you.
You hate playing creature strategies. Especially strategies that involve WB and sacrificing.
You want a hyper competitive commander (Athreos is definitely a niche card and can be made to compete...but he will struggle against tier 1 commanders).
Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim – She is a solid life gain and control theme. Removal and a sac engine on a stick. She can also be seen at the helm of a cleric tribal strategy. Probably the strongest WB commander when compared to her colleagues.
Karlov of the Ghost Council – There seems to be a theme here. Life gain is plentiful in WB and Karlov is no stranger to it. Lists range from goodstuff life gain, control, and a Voltron style build. I would say Karlov and Ayli are the two current most powerful build around me generals in WB.
Daxos the Returned – He usually lends his talents to an enchantress theme build. He is great for turning those previously casted Enchantments (experience counters) into an army for a somewhat cheap mana cost.
Teysa, Orzhov Scion – Another decent control shell. She is also somewhat known for her infinite combos.
Kambal, Consul of Allocation – Just like Athreos, Kambal can be seen at the helm of an anti-combo hatebear style build. There are some faint similarities between these two generals. Usually the other is featured in the 99.
Obzedat, Ghost Council – Great for a flicker-style life gain. Getting any incremental value out of the Ghost Council is where you would want to be with them as the boss.
Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts – Pillow fort control seems to be the best route for Teysa 2.0. Excellent ability that will hopefully deter her opponents from attacking her.
Tymna the Weaver/ Ravos, Soultender –The new kids on the block, partner brought some really exciting new builds to EDH. These two can generate tons of value and can both be seen in either a creature good stuff build or a low to ground go-wide strategy.
Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter – Vish Kal can be built in a couple different ways. He can be utilized as a solid Voltron option and then very easily convert to a control build. He's a sac engine on a stick but one of his biggest cons is how expensive his CMC is.
Selenia, Dark Angel – Probably my personal second favorite WB commander. I love the combo elements of repeatedly paying her bounce to hand cost to then switching life totals with an opponent. It near breaks my tiny combo heart. Good option for a pure combo based build.
Triad of Fates – Here we have a trio that is most definitely best in a control build. However her ability is slow and you cannot activate multiples unless you have an untap ability. They do not see much play.
X = Still worth a try! The card was tested at one point and is currently not in the list.
Creatures:
Hatebears:
Aven Mindcensor - Perfect little hatebear that stops (to some degree) efficient searches. Having flash is icing in the cake. I normally find myself stopping game winning searches or messing with people's fetchlands
XChildren of Korlis - Being able to synergize with Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos, and Necropotence is why this band has found its spot in the list. Block and sac'ing so our opponents to not gain lifelink or a damage trigger has always been great. For the most part people will let this return to your hand. Kami of the False Hope is currently in their spot.
Containment Priest - We have a few reanimating effects but this doesn't mean the Priest won't be effective. Being able to shutdown other reanimation strategies is too good to pass up. Especially when it is on a creature with flash.
Eidolon of Rhetoric - Great way to slow down the game. Shuts down some of those multi-card combos and lets us breath a little why we slowly piece things together. We can always get rid of this through a sac outlet when we are ready to do our own combos. Always happy to see the spirit.
Ethersworn Canonist - Nearly the same thing as above but instead it slows the game down in a much more obvious way. With the large number of sacrifice outlets we should be able to get rid of this when we need to. Great way to slow down the game.
Glowrider/Thalia, Guardian of Thraben/Vryn Wingmare - With a list varying from 38-40 creatures, these guys are perfect for giving opposing combo lists grief. We run anywhere from 23-27 noncreature spells. There may be a time when we have to pay that extra 1 but usually this is hurting our opponents much worse than us.
Grand Abolisher - I guess the theme is to hate on the blue decks, funny how that works out? This human cleric gives us the perfect protection to have free reign on our own turns. Wheither if we are comboing off or we are making our opponents get rid of their board. Grand Abolisher is a staple for any edh decks with white in it.
Kami of False Hope - Underrated all-star in this deck. Just like Children of Korlis he is able to legitimately fog our opponent (combat damage). in a multiplayer game I love singling out the big aggro player at the table. With enough politics we can get someone on our side and completely fog that player every turn. Not as strong against combo decks but I highly underrated card and I couldn't recommend it enough.
Leonin Arbiter - Cat Jesus loves to cause havoc on deck searches. 2 isn't a steep price, but it is always annoying for our opponents who are not entirely ready to pay for the ability. This hatebear is going to hate, and he was one of the greats for a reason.
Peacekeeper - I know what you are thinking, "Don't we play a lot of creatures that want to attack?" Yes and no. Because of its 1W clause, this allows us to kill it at our upkeep for an alpha strike on one of our opponents. Can be cut if not in a heavy creature meta.
Spirit of the Labyrinth - Perfect way to shut down those pesky blue decks and their card draw engines. Yes we have a few of those, but being able to slow down the game is what we are in the market for.
Tutors/Ramp:
Burnished Hart - Not a competitive card, right? As you can see nothing is very intimidating about the elk at first glance. But what happens when we are able to recur him with Athreos, God of Passage? See where I am getting at. If left unchecked and if opponents are willing to let us have him back, Burnished Hart offers a great source of ramp.
Knight of the White Orchid - Great piece of ramp stapled onto a creature. Some of my favorite plays is sandbagging this for a turn three play of fetching a Scrubland or a Godless Shrine, into playing a land for turn. I think this little guy is a staple in an heavy white deck. Being able to recur him with Athreos is always a plus.
Recruiter of the Guard - Great tutor on a stick. Since most of our creatures our hatebears they have a toughness of 2 or less. 7 Times out of 10 I am usually going for a Weathered Wayfarer. But the recruiter allows us to go for a variety of different plays, Vampire Hexmage combo etc.
Sidisi, Undead Vizier - 3BB Mana tutor on a stick. Rune-Scarred Demon is another choice but I like Sidisi for being 2 mana cheaper. Most times we will be sac'ing Sidisi but there are other times when the correct choice is to sac something else. Great card, great for Athreos.
Apprentice Necromancer - A little bit of reanimation can go a long way. I wanted to make sure they we had one creature that had this sort of ability strapped to it. Granted we have to wait one turn to activate its ability, I have never been sad to see it. Instant speed grab that Fleshbag Marauder? Yes, please. Being a 1/1 means he is able to be Skullclampd.
XDoomed Necromancer – Similar to Apprentice Necromancer, I chose the former because of the lower CMC cost. There may be a day where I switch the Necromancers.
Karmic Guide - Great combo enabler. Pairing this with Reveillark, Viscera Seer, Blood Artist, etc. gives us access to all sorts of combos. Getting us back a creature in exchange for the Angel is a great deal. Especially when dying isn't the worst thing you can be doing in an Athreos deck.
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed - Combos excellently with Triskelion. However, if you stack the triggers right with Athreos, God of Passage on the field we are able to generate tons of value with Mikaeus. Athreos trigger on the stack, then place Mikaeus' after. We will get the creature back and all the benefits with our little hatebears. people forget that he is a 5/5 and he knows how to swing his booty.
Reveillark - See Karmic Guide above. If stacked right we can create an infinite loop with these two creatures. All we need is a sac outlet and we are savvy. Great value otherwise. We don't mind if our cloud with wings blocks.
Sun Titan - Combos great with most of our creatures and at some times even fetchlands. Being able to recur pieces for our Dark Depths combo is another great use. By far the best titan in this list, and in my opinion, the best besides the banned Primeval Titan. So much to love with this big guy.
Removal:
XCapashen Unicorn - This little guy used to serve a special slot. His main reason for inclusion is because his ability needs him to be sacrificed (great Athreos fodder) and that he can hit BOTH artifacts and enchantments. There are other etb creatures that deal with Enchantments and Artifacts if you are not sold here. As of right now he is not in the list.
Fleshbag Marauder/Merciless Executioner - The life blood of this deck. More often than not our opponents make the mistake of giving this guy back to us. If left uncheck and we get our engines running, he can essentially wipe our opponents boards of creatures. Pairing this with Grave Pact or Dictate of Erebos makes this guy straight deadly. If he's not in hand, fine. Leave him in the grave to be reanimated later. Great card for Athreos strategies.
XHigh Priest of Penance -Being able to Vindicate a nonland permanent when he blocks has been an awesome feature in this deck. However, he is too slow to have an immediate effect on the board state. Especially when our opponents are comboing off.
Leonin Relic-Warder - Just like the unicorn this guy is great for removing problematic artifacts/enchantments. Being able to sac him in response to his trigger is also great.
Necrotic Sliver - Definitely the second reason why I started putting Athreos together. This card screams value if you are able to convince someone to give it back to you in order to blow up another target permanent. Being a Vindicate on a stick makes this sliver the perfect specimen for this deck.
Shriekmaw - Most times we will be casting this for its evoke cost. Being a blocker is always great, but the ability to blow up a nonblack/nonartifact creature for 1B is greeat. A great political play is to ask an opponent for help and in return you will blow up multiple problematic creatures.
Triskelion - Bee-Boo-Bop. This guy loves hanging out with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. The whole purpose of these two creatures is to combo. I love the fact that they are creatures so the heavy cost of 6 mana each is not the biggest problem. Use the counters to shoot people, with the last +1+1 counter make sure it kills itself, Mikaeus will see this, reanimate it and then proceed to loop.
Vampire Hexmage - The soul purpose of this card is to destroy planeswalkers and combo out for that sweet 20/20 with Dark Depths.
Protection:
Mother of Runes - Bonus points for OG Mom. Great for protecting our creatures/combo pieces. Another white staple if you run a lot of creatures.
Selfless Spirit - Trust me, we want our creatures to die. But that doens't mean there are times when we would like to keep our happy field of bears. This lil' guy doesn't mind taking one for the team. Being able to sacrifice without any cost is great.
Card Advantage/Sac Engines:
XAyli, Eternal Pilgrim – Currently she is not in the list. She is a sacrifice outlet on a stick. This strategy has some lifegain (but not enough) so being able to exile a nonland permanent gives us a nice source of control. Helps us get rid of pesky enchantments or artifacts.
Blood Artist - Our creatures will be dying a lot. Doesn't matter if its by our opponents, our own boardwipes, sacrificint etc. He will allows us to grind out any advantage out of our critters dying. He also is a way to do infinite damage with Karmic Guide, Reveillark, and sac outlet. Good card in this deck, but allowing us to kill with the infinite combo is a highly underrated use for him.
Carrion Feeder - A sac outlet for our Karmic Guide/Reveillark combo. Allows us to get infinite +1+1 counters on him. He is also great for just growing a gigantic beater for when we need to push damage through.
Dark Confidant - Our deck has an average of 2.61 cmc. This means Bob will be doing minimal damage to us. Being easy to kill is great as well. In any case where our life total is getting lean we can find a way to sac Bob.
Viscera Seer - Can generate some good dig in the face of a boardwipe or if we just want to kill our creatures. Infinte scry with Karmic Guide and Reveillark. In a pinch most people will give you back the Seer unless you are plotting to go infinte.
Zulaport Cutthroat - Great synergy with boardwipes when we have a massive board. But this also gives us an outlet to deal infinite damage/gain infinite life with Karmic Guide and Reveillark. Basically he is another Blood Artist.
Beatsticks:
XGrave Titan - Big ol' beater with some token production. Grave Titan allows us to get for large swings of damage. Able to go infinite with Nim Deathmantle and a mana producing sac outlet, etc. However we are not playing that combo and are instead going in for the beats. Currently he is not in the list.
Serra Ascendant - Nothing feels better in this deck than going turn 1, 6/6 flying, lifelink, human monk. Great beater for the early game and in some cases with our ability to gain life great in the late game as well. Be prepared to be a target if you drop this early.
Instants:
Anguished Unmaking - One of the better removal cards recently printed for WB. The nonland clause does come up, but being instant speed we are more than happy to see this in an opener. The 3 life clause is a very little drawback in EDH.
Path to Exile - W mana removal spell. Ramping your opponents isn't the best thing to do but being unconditional removal is a highly wanted card in commander. Worst case scenario we can also hit our own creatures in the face of removal to ramp ourselves. Either way, Path is a staple for any white deck.
Swords to Plowshares - Primo creature removal in W. I think every deck playing white should be on board with this. There is a reason why this is a house in Legacy. The lifegain drawback is nothing. Getting rid of indestructible creatures is some of the best uses I have seen for these types of removal.
Vampiric Tutor - Instant speed tutor for one measly B mana. A little spendy but this is completely worth the price. Some play groups do not like tutors...my group loves them.
Enlightened Tutor - Another instant speed tutor. Great for finding that Artifact or Enchantment you need to combo off with. Because I play a small amount of both my lists go back and forth between this cards inclusion. Either way, you won't go wrong with this
Sorceries:
Austere Command - A little spendy at 6 mana but being able to hit multiple things at once is amazing. I like this over Merciless Eviction because we are able to blow up our own creatures in order to get Blood Artist, Athreos, Cutthroat triggers etc. This slot can be used for a different type of removal that suits your meta/needs.
Damnation/Wrath of God - Cheap functional board wipes. The contrasting art is one of my favorite parts, but being able to control the board is WB's strong point. I like to run multiple board wipes in my control lists. Although we have a lot of creatures, we are able to recur them quite easily.
Toxic Deluge - By far my favorite creature board wipe to date. Paying life is an easy task in EDH and the -1-1 counters mean we are able to get rid of pesky indestructible creatures. At 2B mana this is a hard board wipe to outclass.
XDebt to the Deathless - Late game resources are spent, everyone is low life and combos have been disrupted means this guy can sneak by and at least take out a few players. This list used to run Exsanguinate but I feel a list like this only has room for 1. I chose Debt because it doubles the amount of mana spent. Can be cut in favor of other things, I am in the camp that this card is ok.
Demonic Tutor - My favorite part of black tutors is that we don't need to show our opponent. These tutors allow us to go in for the kill with our multiple card combos or find that silver bullet for the current boardstate. I don't leave the house without it.
Diabolic Intent - Another Demonic Tutor for us. We don't mind sacrificing our creatures and quite frankly we are happy to.
Vindicate - The mother of WB removal. I am sorry to say that the only correct way to play this is with the "Star Wars" art. This card is the sole purpose why I decided to branch out of my comfort zone and play WB. Great unconditional removal and being sorcery speed to kill almost anything is the teeniest of drawbacks. I wouldn't leave the house playing WB without this or Anguished Unmaking.
Enchantments:
Animate Dead - Definitely my favorite reanimation card. Because this card isn't limited to our own graveyard I felt that this was an easy inclusion. Reanimate would be another great card to find a spot but this enchantment barely beats it out. It could be correct to also run Necromancy if you are looking for a conditional instant speed reanimation. So far this one is my favorite.
Attrition - Another great sacrifice outlet that doubles as removal. Yes we won't be able to hit nonblack creatures but there are tons of problematic green and red fatties that we don't mind hitting. Also helps turn on devotion for Athreos if we are ever in the market for it.
Blind Obedience – Underwhemling at first glance but this is a great card against ramp creatures/artifacts. The extort ability has been very underrated in my current testing. Pinging everyone for 1 and then gaining 3 has been quite nice. I could see arguments for keeping this card or cutting. Depends on your mood.
XDictate of Erebos - Dictate was a great card while it was in the list. I decided to cut this additional Grave Pact effect in favor of a tutor. Great card if you want to run two of these effects. My list only needs one currently.
Grave Pact - Our creatures will be dying. When they do...our opponents creatures will be dying. One of my favorite things to do in this deck is to combo this with Fleshbag Marauder/Merciless Executioner making our opponents sacrifice multiple creatures (if not their whole board) or Helm of Possession stealing their creature and possibly sac'ing it as well.
Land Tax - Not ramp but any sort of card advantage is greatly appreciated. In a list with 36 lands this allows us to run a little light. One of my favorite things to see in a opening hand. Plus that art is extremely ridiculous.
Necropotence – BBB is not even a problem in this deck. One of the best if not the best black card ever printed. Combos awesome with the Children of Korlis. Sometimes I'll pay 10-20 just to sculpt the best 7. If this card is landing and doing work the game is near the end for your opponents.
Phyrexian Arena - A lot of people do not like the fact that we have to wait a turn to get any use out of it. But I find that to be a little drawback. Drawing two cards a turn for the cost of 1 life seems like a no brainer. Being an enchantment makes it hard for our opponents to get rid of it and just like our other enchantments is good for Athreos devotion if we want it.
Phyrexian Reclamation - At 1 B and 1B for activation this card was an easy inclusion in the deck. Sometimes there will be creatures our opponent will not let us have back, think Shriekmaw, etc. Reclamation makes it so our opponent either gives it to us now...or later. Great way to cause headaches.
XStony Silence - Shuts down opposing rocks. Great little bit of hate. Not in the list currently.
Artifacts:
Helm of Possession - Definitely a pet card. Goes hand and hand with the sacrifice theme and I feel that creature theft is one of the strongest forms of removal (coming from a Memnarch main). Whenever I play this card there is always someone who has to stop, pick it up, and read it.
Orzhov Signet - 2 Mana ramp. Gives us both of our colors as well.
XFellwar Stone - Another two mana ramp that can give us our colors potentially. My list doesn't currently utilize these as much because of the low CMC but there may be a world in which I put these in.
Sol Ring - I feel like every EDH deck in the game should play this.
XNull Rod - In a heavy artifact meta I would definitely run this. Because we use not as many rocks we would definitely be ahead when this is in play.
Skullclamp - This card is great in our deck. We can slap it on a plethora of our 1/1's to get two cards immediately or place it on an card you know won't live long like Eidolon of Rhetoric/Grand Abolisher. The clamp is a must in any weeny or heavy creature strategy.
XPariah's Shield - Cute card is cute. This once found a home in my early lists as a way to abuse Athreos, God of Passage' indestructibility when devotion is activated. Unfortunately I think the card is to gimmicky for what this deck is now trying to accomplish
Lands:
Bojuka Bog – Great piece of graveyard hate. Not costing us a spell frees up other slots. Coming into play tapped isn’t the worst thing.
Dark Depths – One piece of a two card combo. Being able to create a 20/20 by comboing with Vampire Hexmage or Thespian's Stage nearly negates it not being able to produce mana.
XShambling Vent – ETB tapped land that can double as needed blocker or lifegain if needed. As an effort to reduce the number of lands that ETB tapped, the vent has lost its spot.
XTemple of Silence- In our format, any time we can squeeze out some added value we will always be a good day. The scry is very minimal but it is always nice to have. I can see this also being cut in favor of other lands. It's biggest mark against it is that it comes into play tapped.
Thespian's Stage – As stated above, being able to combo with Dark Depths/Vampire Hexmage is too good to pass up when we have access to tutors like Demonic Tutor, etc. There is the added benefit of being able to copy our opponents utility lands or become the colors we need when we need them.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth – Gives us black mana for all those BBB costs. As stated aboive it also combos great with Cabal Coffers.
Vault of the Archangel – We will be swinging in occasionally with our critters and the vault gives us that added bonus of giving our alpha strike Lifelink and Deathtouch.
XVolrath's Stronghold – There will definitely be times when our Athreos trigger won’t give us that juicy creature. The stronghold definitely insures that we get at least one creature we want back. My list is playing a lower land count and colored sources are a premium. Currently, this is not in the list.
XWinding Canyons - As stated above, due to our low cmc curve with this land we are able to flash in our best utility creatures for 4 or 5 mana. Bluffing our opponents of an instant speed creature removal has been very enjoyable. Very similar to above. The canyons was cut in favor of colored sources.
Early game:
During the early stages of the game we want to be either playing ramp, dropping bears with a tax effect, tutoring, or drawing cards. Cards like Weathered Wayfarer, Demonic Tutor, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and Necropotence are the things we like to see. Be the threat and make sure people are afraid of your open W. Bluffing removal has always been a great strategy. Because our mana curve averages at 2.77 we will usually have some good turn 2-3 plays. Just because we can naturally curve out, we may make our opponents keep a watchful eye on us. This does not mean we will have the most threatening board but it does mean that we may be able to solidify a solid mid game. Don’t be afraid to mulligan a hand that is light on 1 or 2 drops. We have an easy turn 3 play in Athreos, God of Passage if we do not have something. But it is also correct to establish the board first THEN go for Athreos. A great opening hand in my opinion is 2 hate bears, 1 rock, 1-2 tutor/card draw, and at least 3 lands. Be sure to remind our opponents how nonthreatening our Burnished Hart and Kami of False Hope are. Our early game will determine the speed of the game. If we are stat taxing early we are in great shape.
Take this opening hand for example:
We might think that our Thalia along with 2 lands interferes too much with our non creature spell, but I would argue that because we have low costed spells and the land tutoring provided by the Wayfarer that this is a keep. Again, this is a "how I feel" call and this is just my opinion. I for one believe that this is an ideal hand.
Mid Game:
Around this time is when we start to have a board filled with 1/1s and 2/2s with Athreos on the board. Most likely our opponents may have killed a problematic creature or two and we are looking for replacements. This is where we utilize and setup our card draw/sac engines. This is where Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, and Diabolic Intent come into play. There is something to be said about finding cards like Phyrexian Arena/Dark Confidant instead of our game winning combos. I have found that setting up for the consistent play/long haul is almost more favorable then going straight for the kill. In my U heavy meta an early combo will most likely never resolve. Look for removal with our card draw and searches as well. Besides U’s counters, the edh world knows our WB harbors some of the best removal in the format. We know wraths our going to happen and there isn’t much we can do to stop it. Instead, be welcoming to the mass boardwipe. If you are evil like me put all the Athreos triggers on ONE person instead of multiple. This forces their hand and we will most likely get 1 or 2 creatures back. Just because we are a creature deck does not mean we have to act like it. I recommend swinging in as often as possible, but never at the expense of getting one of our little guys die.
When using our targeted removal, make sure to be picky. Only kill the thing that you know is going to making winning difficulty for us. Just because we can Fleshbag Marauder/Merciless Executioner + Grave Pact/Dictate of Erebos early doesn’t mean we should. Wait for the “late” mid game to start doing things like this. Painting us as the target early with no clear things for our opponent to sac is not where we want to be. Wait for those Momir Vigs to pop out and Mayael’s big fatties to show up. Not only will it help setup our own win but our opponents will be grateful for you having dealt with those monsters. Everything we do is to help let us setup into the late game where we plan to win.
End Game:
Here we are, the place we all want to make it to. We’ve made our opponents pay the extra 1, sac’d their creatures, disrupt their combos, maybe drained some life, and perhaps the table has spent all their resources. What do we do now? Lets finish this game. The first and most obvious way to win is if we have built up an army, I recommend alpha striking an open opponent. EDH is a splashy format so be ready and suspect any combat tricks. Granted they will be an army of bears they will still be able to do massive amounts of damage if left unblocked. The most consistent way to win with this deck is through our combos. Because we do not have access to U counters we have to make sure we time our combos right. Try and bait out counters with some truly oppressing creatures or enchantments. This will help us clear the path to land an important piece to our combo. Being a creature heavy deck I wanted most of our combos to have some sort of synergy with Athreos. Mainly, I wanted the combos to be creature orientated. The Mike+Trike combos costs us a total of BBB9 mana. We may have to space out this combo over the course of two turns. Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Triskelion will end the game immediately when they hit the board. Ping our opponents for some damage, use the last reamaining +1+1 counter to have Triskelion kill itself, Mikaeus will trigger, rinse and repeat. The other combos we have access to is the Dark Depths 20/20 combo (though this may take 2 turn to kill someone) and the Karmic Guide + Reveillark “infinite” creature loop combo. These 3 combos are great ways to end the game. There will be times that our sheer amount of card advantage will be enough to win a game. If we are able to drop down a mass amount of spells each turn that usually is enough. Know your play group and know yourself. Be humble with your victory.
We are going dive a little deeper into Athreos. Like all commanders, everyone has a weakness and a strength. This section will be designed for you to get a feel for who/what Athreos is. As stated above, his style lends himself to that Johnny-Spike player who wants to win the way they want to win.
Pros
Athreos is an Indestructible Enchantment God. This means normal enchantment and creature hate won't touch him (more on that below).
Athreos is a 3 cmc creature that costs 1WB. This means we will be able to drop our commander consistently and early. If for some odd reason he is killed the extra 2's that we have to pay won't stack up too fast.
He is ever present on the board. His bolt ability is great but we mainly want that effect to recur creatures to our hand. For the most part when they read Athreos they tend to leave him alone. Not only does his indestructability make him a turn off for removal but his ability is a little lackluster int he face of hyper competitive groups. This is also his biggest strength. Other players tend to overlook Athreos and we have no qualms with that.
His devotion clause counts himself. So in reality we only need 5 more devotion in any combination of WB mana.
He's got decent stats as a 5/4 and is a great blocker. We normally do not want him active as a creature but sometimes it does come up. Being able to swing for 5 or completely block a huge fatty is something that is seen quite often in this list.
You normally don't have to have Athreos out to win the game. He helps our strategy and almost 99/100 games we will be casting him, but he is not instrumental to how we close out a game.
Cons
His devotion clause is also a great weakness. He is weak in the face to cards likeToxic Deluge, Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares. Yes we get a creature when he is activated, but this also makes his percentage get killed much higher.
His ability lets our opponent choose. This means most of the time we will be getting the short end of the stick. Granted that short end is bolting someone (not necessarily important). One thing to consider with this is to align yourself with an opponent. Sometimes if you are able to take care of a problematic permanent they will let you have your prized creature back. Definitely worth experimenting with.
When you sit down to play EDH most people can peg what your deck is doing from the start. With Athreos they know you are a creature or value orientated strategy. There are no total secrets when playing Athreos. Most builds are somewhat similar and by deepening on how competitive your list is you may be pegged from the get go.
Athreos needs creatures to get any sort of value out of him. This pidgeon-holes us to play with at least 25-40 creatures depending on your build. This current list will be around the 35-38 mark.
Being WB makes our opponents feel like we always have the answer. Make sure to keep your removal open and not to be persuaded by our opponents to take care of something because we can. Just because we are WB does not mean we have to act like it.
Here is a little more detailed list of how to use each combo or synergy. Lucky for us Athreos synergizes with almost every creature. Therefore I won’t be putting together all the interactions that he plays well with..
1. Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Triskelion = Infinite Damage. Make sure that the last +1/+1 counter Triskelion uses is to kill itself! This will allow us to create an infinite loop with Mikaeus.
2. Karmic Guide + Reveillark + Viscera Seer = infinite scry. This combo is a little tricky. When both Karmic Guide and Revillark are on the field we have to make sure our Karmic Guide is in the graveyard. This means we sac our Guide first ALWAYS. Once our Guide is in the graveyard we sac Revillark and grab our guide. Our guide then grabs Revillark and we do it all over again.
3. Karmic Guide + Reveillark + Ashnod's Altar = infinite colorless mana..
4. Karmic Guide + Reveillark + Blood Artist/Zulaport Cutthroat + Sac Outlet = infinite life and damage.
5. Karmic Guide + Revillark + Carrion Feeder = infinite +1+1 counters/beater.
6. Dark Depths + Vampire Hexmage/Thespian's Stage = Marit Lage, Token Legendary Creature – Avatar, Flying, Indestructible,20/20. There are two ways to do this. Play the Dark Depths, pay 2 with Thespian’s Stage to copy it (legend rule comes into play and you keep the newly copied Dark Depths), Depths comes into play with 0 counters and becomes Marit Lage. OR, sac the hexmage to remove all the counters from the Dark Depths. Not an infinite combo but two swings (or 1) will usually leave an opponent dead.
7. Fleshbag Marauder/Merciless Executioner + Grave Pact/Dictate of Erebos = Our opponents sacrificing at least 2 creatures.
8. Fleshbag Marauder/Merciless Executioner/Necrotic Sliver + Sun Titan = Sac a creature/destroy a permanent each combat step.
9. Apprentice Necromancer/Doomed Necromancer + Sun Titan = Recurring reanimation. If you use the Apprentice Necromancer you will be able to get back 2 things with Sun Titan's trigger (Titan will have haste and be able to attack). Which ever path you choose I always recommend getting back the Necromancer first.
10. Athreos, God of Passage + any creature = 3 damage to an opponent of choice or recur a creature back to hand.
10/31/2017
Out: Dictate of Erebos
In: Enlightened Tutor
I've been looking at the next cut as Dictate of Erebos. It's a great effect in this deck. But being at 5cmc I am not the biggest fan. I prefer Grave Pact just because it is cheaper (even w/out flash). I'll most likely be adding a Enlightened Tutor. I was refraining from buying one, but being able to search Skullclamp and any of our enchantments is too powerful to turn away.
10/13/2017
Out: Winding Canyons, Shambling Vent, Temple of Silence, x2 Snow-Covered Swamp, Snow-Covered Plains, Doomed Necromancer.
In: Windswepth Heath, Arid Mesa, Polluted Delta, Bloodstained Mire, Flooded Strand, Verdant Catacombs, Apprentice Necromancer
I decided that I wanted the full flight of fetches to go with my Scrubland and Sun Titan. I decided to cut non-color sources and tap lands, and 3 basics going down to 14 total. I was able to have nearly perfect mana. I also decided to put the Apprentice NEcromancer in for the Doomed NEcromancer. Being 1 mana cheaper and Skullclamp-able was my mean reasonings. When I was using the Doomed NEcromancer my targets usually ended up being sacrficed. This way I get an auto includ sac-like-engine with the Apprentice Necromancer. Still in testing. So far I haven't seen him. I'll be updating the primer shortly. Anyways, on to the game
10/9/2017
Out: Capashen Unicorn
In: Leonin Relic-Warder
I wanted an effect like this to be stapled on a creature. But I wanted that same effect to hit both Artifacts and Enchantments. The leonin does this immediately (with some drawback when getting removed) and the Unicorn was a little too slow.
10/6/2017
Out: Grave Titan
In: Reanimate
I am starting to lower the curve even further. I felt without Nim Deathmantle I wasn't able to utilize the TItan for his combo potentials. If I miss the big beats I will throw him back in. I feel like Reanimate is a B staple. There will always be a value creature I can grab from my yard and thinking of what my opponents may have has me salivating.
9/28/2017
Out: High Priest of Penance, Debt to the Deathless
In: Dark Confidant, Peacekeeper
The Priest dos not effect the board immediately and it needs our opponent to interact with us to do anything. Debt to the Deathless was a fun game ender that provided us with life. It did not mesh with the strategy completely but I can see it coming back someday. As of right now I do not miss it.
Bob is too good not to put in. Especially when our cmc fluctuates at around 2.64-2.77. I wanted an effect like Peackeeper's in the deck. Especially one that allows us to turn it off. The cumulative upkeep clause of 1W is a strength, not a weakness.
Although I play online regularly, this is my current/paper meta. The people who play these lists are old friends and although they are not exactly "competitive" generals, they are still built to their best ability. Games are pact with good threat assessment and each one of these decks has racked up some wins. For the sake of organization, each player will have their lists from Main to Secondaries.
Player 1:
Zur the Enchanter - This pesky guy is notorious among the cEDH scene. Although not the Doomsday combo list, this enchantment goodstuff/control version is still very powerful. He can sometimes ramp out a quick Zur and eventually get out of control. Diplomatic Immunity is a hell of a card and is usually his first searched up enchantment. This is his signature deck and as always...Zur is a must kill on sight. As long as Zur is off the table we are in a good place to capitalize.
Marrow-Gnawer - A.K.A. Relentless Rats.dec. This deck still plays the Mike and Trike combo as well as going off with Thrumming Stone. This decks biggest strength is that it is usually left to do its own thing. If left uncheck he will be able to overrun the table with Rats and perhaps go in with that sneaky infinite combo. It's always nice to see why Pack Rat was such a standard all star.
Karona, False God - Wall tribal....yes....wall tribal. This deck is designed to ping with damage, mill its opponents with Phenax, God of Deception, mess with peoples life totals with Tree of Perdition, and win with the Maze's End + Scapeshift combo. This deck is clearly not entirely competitive. The wall's usually stone wall us from attacking...but he usually gives us enough time to worry about the other opponents and assemble a combo.
Player 2:
Mayael the Anima - Player 2's signature deck, this deck utilizes fast ramp and enormous fatties to stomp out the game. Tooth and Nailing for Craterhoof Behemoth and Xenagos, God of Revels is one of his signature plays. We will have a little trouble with him. We match up great against fast combo decks (assuming we draw hate) but his creatures avoid our tax quite nicely. Our best thing to do is to kill Mayael immediately. If not, try tutoring for Peacekeeper until the coast is clear to Alpha strike or setup a combo. Always a treat to play against this.
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary - This deck plays similar to our own. His deck essentially acts as a creature toolbox. He plays a lot of dual colored creatures which essentially lets him tutor for answers while Momo is out. His signature win is with Biovisionary + Rites of Replication or an infinite loop with Blasting Station. There is a dense amount of creature in this list so our best option is to go for removal on Momo. While not his favorite deck UG is such a powerful strategy that this deck generates a lot of wins in our group.
Rishkar, Peema Renegade - +1+1 counters tribal. I have not yet had the pleasure to play against this list due to the fact that it is still in the building process. Currently it is at 60/100 cards. The list will focus on making big mana and Overruning effects with dorks.
Player 3:
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic - Control/Storm combo. This deck is one of the many policeman in our playgroup. But when he isn't keeping us all in check he is setting up a storm combo with either Tendrils of Agony or Aetherflux Reservoir. The insane amount of life this guy is able to generate is a thorn in our side. We are both setup to abuse our lifetotals...but Oloro just does it better. Try to keep him off his combos and establish that you are the threat.
Karador, Ghost Chieftain - As an ex modern Pod player when it was legal, he decided to shift his list to EDH. This list has the usual suspects in gaining infinite life of the typical Pod combos in Spike Feeder, Kitchen Finks, Archangel of Thune, Melira, Sylvok Outcast, etc. Killing his creatures won't be enough to stop the combo. We have to make sure Karador stays in the command zone.
Nahiri, the Lithomancer - This deck focuses around equipment and beating face with white weenies. Most of the time this list is left to its own devices (card draw in W is hard to come by). If he starts rolling with his Elspeths and Gideons this deck can snowball into an all out combo crusher. Lots of removal and a plethora of small critters.
Player 4:
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic - Well...this is awkward. Yes, our playgroup has 2 players that main Oloro. Yes, our games have plenty of counter wars. Yes, its fun. This list is more tuned to control than others. Essentially, his version of Oloro is All-The-Answers.dec. His signature win is to keep the board in check, gain a bunch of life, and then drop a Felidar Sovereign to wait out the storm. Strong list with some great win conditions, both of our groups' Oloro lists are extremely different.
Oros, the Avenger - This list focuses on running equipment with lifelink and deathtouch. His Basilisk Collar turns Oros in to a lifegaining killing machine. This deck wins through the Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond combo or via commander damage. Although not the strongest general it does play some very competitive cards. Best way to keep this deck in check is to setup a board and continue to kill Oros.
Phelddagrif - The fun loving, soul crushing, psychotic monster-hippo. This group hug strategy can win through a few infinite mill combos. However, it never plans on winning...which makes this an easy target to avoid right? Wrong. Kill the hippo fast. Generate any needed advantage you can against it but then make sure our oppponents can't use him for more.
11/18/2017: Won
Turn Order: Tana/Tymna, Athreos
Had the chance to play a 1v1 game at GP Portland. My opponent was nice, he drove from Idaho, and only came to the GP to jam commander (Kind of like me…except I play Modern as well). I started with a hand of Viscera Seer, Blood Artist, Demonic Tutor, Orzhov Signet, Karmic Guide, Vindicate, Snow-Covered Swamp. I thought long and hard about this hand. I was so close to looping for an infinite combo. I took the risk and kept it (being on the draw confirmed it for me). Opponent plays Mountain pass. I draw for turn…no land. Play swamp, Seer go. Our opponent untaps and misses is his land drop. From that information I feel as if we are playing a hatebear 1v1 match. This should be interesting. I untap and draw a Snow-Covered Plains. I play the land, cast a signet and pass. Opponent, untaps casts his newly drawn Sol Ring into a Rakdos Signet (no land for turn). I draw a Windswept heath crack it for a Scrubland and throw down the Blood Artist. He plays a Swamp and taps out(ish) for a Phyrexian Arena. I play Urborg Tomb of Yawgmoth for turn casting Athreos, God of Passage and tutoring for a Revillark. Over the course of the next two turns I plan on combing. It is risky but I am afraid I may be buried underneath is soon to be card advantage. He untaps, draws 2, casts Tymna the Weaver and passes. I draw a plains for turn (I am extremely fortunate to be hitting these land drops), cast Revillark with one white open. If everything goes smoothly this turn I will be able to win on our next. Opponent untaps, draws 2, attacks with Tymna, pays 1 to draw 1. Our opponent is sitting on a gold mine of card advantage. Our opponent taps out, and casts Harvester of Souls. Well this is going to be interesting. I untap play out my Karmic Guide and start to loop the combo with Revillark, Viscera Seer, and Blood Artist. Our opponent draws 39 cards, loses 39 life, and is all tapped out (from previous turn). He offers the handshake and that’s game.
Overall we kept a risky hand that found its way because of lands. If I were to redo this match I would almost search up the same Phyrexian Arena to match his card advantage with my own. But a fast and relatively early combo was able to get there.
11/06/2017: Lost
Turn Order: Athreos, Oloro, Nicol Bolas, Mayael
I kept a hand of Bloodstained Mire, Recruiter of the Guard, Snow-covered Plains, Knight of the White Orchid, Reflecting Pool, Grave Pact, Blood Artist. I decided to keep this soley based on the fact that I had Recruiter in hand. I planned on searching up the Weathered Wayfarer. I’m on the play, draw for turn is a Mother of Runes. Sac fetch go to 39, grab Scrubland and throw out mom. Oloro goes Island into Sol Ring. Bolas goes Island, go. Mayael plays Arid Mesa and passes. At this point I already know Oloro is the one I need to keep in order. I throw down Reflecting Pool and play Blood Artist. Oloro plays Underground Sea and passes. Bolas plays Mountain and passes. Mayael draws into a Birds of Paradise (right on time….am I right?), plays Forest and BoP. At this point in the game I had decisions to make. I chose to be the aggressor and I continued with my plan of searching up Weathered Wayfarer. Oloro plays a Plains and then plays a card that makes the whole tables blood go cold…Aetherflux Reservoir (such a house in Oloro). The whole table is trying to figure out how to get rid of it and I am the one with instant regret on the inside…I could have grabbed a Leonin Relic-Warder. Oloro is at 46 life. Bolas goes land into Darksteel Ingot (Reminder: Bolas is a player who has been in our group for a long time but he doesn’t have the budget or willingness to tune his list). Mayael finally comes to the board is now at 5 mana. Next turn we will see some top decked fatties. Back to my turn. Draw for the turn is a land. I play the Wayfarer out and I start go get my engine going. Swing mom at Oloro bringing him down to 45. Oloro goes up to 47, plays land Ponder and digs through his cards. Goes to 48. Choosing not to shuffle he grabs one. Passes. Bolas goes land and drops Sorin Markov (THANK JEEBUS!). He goes to minus, targets?....Mayael. My heart sank. I try to convince him how important it is to have Oloro be at a life total nowhere near 50 life. He chooses to ignore me and targets Mayael…. sad day. Mayael is at 10. Passes. Mayael go land and passes. Leaving 6 mana up. EOT I search up a Thespian’s Stage. Untap. Draw a Thalia and play her down. Swing 1 at Oloro bringing him to 47 and I pass. Oloro goes to 49 and then plays to cheap spells. Bringing him to a total of 52….Aetherflux range. Bolas plays a land and a Reassembling Skeleton and passes. Mayael activates ability and EOT gets an Avacyn. Untaps. Plays a land for turn, swings at Oloro. Pays an extra 1 and Path to Exiles the Angel. Now at 53. Everyone is sad. Mayael passes and I search up a Dark Depths EOT. I throw down grave pact and pass. Oloro plays land passes, bolas plays land pass, Mayael EOTs and finds a Godsire. Swings at Oloro and again Oloro removes it. This time with Swords to Plowshares. Mayael is at 18. Mayael passes, EOT I create a 20/20. Oloro tells me if I swing at him he will kill me. I make him show me it. Untap, swing at Oloro with everything, in response Oloro Shoots me for 50….Athreos is dead. Oloro plays some more things, he drops Oloro and eventually is killed by the Mayael player. Then, out of nowhere, Bolas drops a huge Exsanguinate with a lot of mana and brings down Mayael to 2. With no flyers and Bolas newly acquired flying token army he makes his strike and wins the game. I heavily questioned Bolas play with Markov earlier in the game. I still believe it was the wrong choice but he ended up with the win so no shame in that. I have also been learing to play a little more patient with Athreos. I am used to combo heavy lists when in reality I should be the control game with the mini beats. I love the list. It feels like an engine that I can take in any direction I want during game. But today I chose to be a little too aggressive and I paid for it.
10/13/2017: Lost
Turn Order: Uril, Athreos, Locust God, Saskia
I kept a hand of Windswept Heath, Kami of False Hope(this card follows me I swear), Tainted Field, Recruiter of the Guard, Cabal Coffers, Sidisi, Undead Vizier, Vampire Hexmage. I already knew what my plays were going to be. Drop Kami turn 1, Hexmage turn 2, and Recruiter turn 3 to search up the Weathered Wayfarer.
Uril goes Forest, Birds of Paradise, pass. I crack the Heath, search up Scrubland(I have been waiting for the day I could do that), I drop the Kami. Locust God goes Volacnic Island, Sol Ring….oh boy I think to myself. I assume he is on some sort of wheel/combo/control version of the Locust God so I am ready for a big wheel to ruin everything. Saskia is the hero we deserve and goes Taiga, Vandalblast. The table thanks Saskia in chat. Saskia doesn’t respond…she/he is still a hero.
Uril keeps ramping with his green goodness. I’m already up to my turn 3 plays and I am gearing up to search Urborg or Dark Depths. I choose the latter. Locust God is dropping artifact and getting ready to cast Locust God. Saskia throws out Glistener Elf with a Rancor. We now know the true side of Saskia.
Uril has his big feisty Beast/Enchantment commando and gears up for the beats…he chooses me…in response I Vamp Hexmage + Dark Depths combo and receive my 20/20 indestructible flying monster. Easy block on Uril and its back to the command zone. Locust God has no other plays and throws out the cricket himself. Saskia Casts her commander choosing Locust God as the target and swings in at me for 4 infect thanks to an Inkmoth Nexus. Saskia begins to target me.
Uril draws pass. Damnation is the draw for turn, I search up Urborg with the Wayfarer and tap for Coffers for 5 mana. Wipe the board, Athreos triggers on Locust God (pays all) swing in at the Saskia player. Locust God goes Wheel of Fortune(not sure if he had no other plays or was just low on gas) and refills the tables hands. Saskia throws out down Skittles Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon)and passes.
Uril comes back out but no enchantments this time. On my wheel hand I was able to grab a Path to Exile, path skittles, and I swing in with my 20/20. Saskia says GG and leaves the game. Locust God goes, land Locust God, Skullclamp. I am perceived as the threat at the table but I always remind the Uril player what the Locust God can do with those cards. Endless blockers for his big meanie.
Uril puts an Armadillo Cloak on and swings for 9, gains 9. Draw for Turn, Austere Command. Yes! This will nearly guarantee me the game. Austere Command meet….Pact of Negation. I swing in for 20 and the Locust God takes it. The God is at 19. Draw for turn. Makes a 1/1 then miracles Reforge the Soul for turn. Skullclamps his reaminging 1/1s for a total of 14 in the air. Comes at me for 16in the air and I am down to 11 leaving back 2 1/1s.
I am now at Uril’s mercy…he/she should know that the Locust God is going to create a massive army. It takes very little convince and he decides to target the Locust God. God blocks with a 1/1. Uril gains 11 (some enchantment boosting). I draw Eidolon of Rhetoric and I know the writing is on the wall. I swing my 20/20 in at LG…he blocks. LG swings at me. I reveal my top card to see my chances of survival. The very next card…Peackeeper.
Haste on those tokens is great. I was happy I was finally able to get a game against the God in. Had my answers lined up a little better we could have been in there. LG ends up taking the game against Uril. The Saskia player targeting me in the beginning is what really set me back in card advantage. I had to defend myself against her while trying to make sure the Locust God didn’t combo off. Great game with Athreos and I am very happy with the way he performed.
Bishop of Binding – If we wanted an effect like this we would be playing Fiend Hunter. The bishop is one mana more expensive for the plus side of being able to pump a vampire. Famished Paladin – There is some lifegain in this list. But not enough to make use of him. A 3/3 for 1W is a little underwhelming for EDH. Martyr of Dusk – Seems to be the most abuse-able white creature in the set for us. I would only play this card if I was crafting a list that was going wide or a more aristocrat-style list. Radiant Destiny – Unfrotunately our creature types are a little all over the place. If we were dedicated to one tribe, say clerics, I could see this being included. Slaughter the Strong – I like that this effect makes players sacrifice instead of destroy. We do have a lot of creatures with power under 4. In a meta where you are dealing with heavy stompy lists I can see this making the cut. Perhaps it will be tested in the future. One thing I do not like about it is that it may let our opponents keep their utility creatures. Sphinx's Decree – Cool little card to slow down our opponents. But because we aren’t running an all-in combo list I am afraid this doesn’t find a home here. Trapjaw Tyrant – Great beefy body for the low cost of 3WW. It would be nice if we could find a way to do damage to ourselves but this list isn’t poised to abuse the dino. In this list he would be a 5/5 that swings in and occasionally gets blocked to exile a creature. Zetalpa, Primal Dawn – Oh my, key word soup. If you are around the kitchen table this is the perfect little timmy card. Unfortunately at the high cost of 6WW this dino won’t be making the cut.
Black
Dead Man's Chest – Cool little utility card but this does not seem to fit the bill when looking at our list in a nut shell. We are more in the market of creatures with abilities. Dire Fleet Poisoner – I definitely love me some Ambush Viper. The pirate ability is useless to us. As much as I think this is a cool Dusk Charger – The City’s Blessing looks interesting as a mechanic. But I don’t think a 3B potential 5/5 vanilla is suitable for Athreos. Dusk Legion Zealot - I like the Elvish Visionary feels I am getting from this. As of right now I can see this being something we look at if we want to go wide. I feel like this card is much better in an Edgar Markov list. Golden Demise - I definitely like 1 sided board wipes. But I would rather have my wipes be unconditional at removing non-indestructible dudes. The current wraths I have in now do it better. Mastermind’s Acquisition – Great option for people running a budget list, but I would rather have a 2 cmc tutor. Its ability to reach outside of the game is something that you would have to talk to you play group about. Oathsworn Vampire - We do have a very small lifegain sub-theme. I could see this making the cut based on being sac fodder alone. Currently, I do not have plans for this. Pitiless Plunderer - Creatures will be dying in our list, but I do not think the ramp will be very useful to us. Our cmc averages around 2.61, this means additional ramp isn’t necessary. Ravenous Chupacabra - I love the unconditional spot removal. I wish it was 1 mana cheaper. He is a close call, but I definitely like having an edict effect on a creature that hits everyone’s board over this for now. Could be worth testing in a creature-dominated meta. Recover – I like that this cantrips but our commander essentially does what this spell is trying to do. Tetzimoc, Primal Death – I Love the design of this card. But he is a little too expensive for a lower CMC curve. Good beater…that deathtouch is pretty funny on a creature this big. Tomb Robber - Great little card advantage engine. Perfect CMC curve for us and menace to top it off. If we are looking for more card advantage this guy could find a home. Twilight Prophet – Double costed Dark Confidant looks great. I feel like the city’s blessing is easy to achieve in EDH…but I will first be testing how often I can achieve this. Could be a great curve topper in our taxing list. Vona’s Hunger – Cool effect, but I would much rather have this effect stapled onto a value creature.
Multicolored
Elenda, the Dusk Rose – Our list is designed to take advantage of creatures dying. If we are trying to go wide she can definitely be considered for our list.
Artifact
Azor’s Gateway – Unfortunately I do not think we have the range of CMCs to abuse this. Plus, the extra mana isn’t going to be completely useful to us. Golem Guardian – Neat idea, but I am afraid this is just a beater. We have enough of those kind of effects (or at least the amount we want at this moment). The Immortal Sun – I believe this will be a staple in more casual EDH lists. The curve is too high for us. We are a hatebear list and may not have room or want this.
Land
Arch of Orazca – We have a lot of card draw currently, but this could see an inclusion depending on how many of this effect you want. I believe 5 and tap is too high of a cost….especially in our format
Big thanks to the mods answering all my questions and especially to user (and owner) of the Memnarch primer benjameenbear. His primer was a huge inspiration on how I organized my own. He aslo helped me greatly by providing any help with the primer formatting.
Athreos, God of Passage is a great death and taxes commander. With a decent ability your multiplayer games will be political and fun. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. I greatly appreciate any and all info. Cheers.
MuzzleMuffin! Congratulations on getting this finally posted! It looks like some of the picture links aren't working quite the way they need to, but that could be because my computer is old and dumb.
Have you considered Contamination? I think it's a great card to slow down opponents by screwing their mana production entirely. It also helps create a sacrifice trigger for Athreos and the other Aristocrat cards in the deck and puts things in the 'yard for you to abuse again. I think it's a competitive choice that complements the synergy your deck is already trying to create.
Thanks, bear. I will be tweaking with grammar, etc. in the coming weeks. I look forward to seeing how the deck changes. The images look good on my end. I'll look into it. Is anyone else having a problem?
I like Contamination a lot. I think it would be awesome to pair it with Bitterblossom. I think the hard thing is finding room. What cuts would you suggest?
I think that High Priest of Penance could be an easy cut. I think that without some sort of way to ping it reliably and control when you kill things (being repeatable is kinda cool), it's just going to be a card that durdles on the board, as the best thing it can do is block something and trigger its clause that way. I think that the High Priest is fairly lackluster in comparison with some of the other options that you have in the deck.
I would keep either the Kami or the Children. I like having 1 of these effects. The pros to Kami is that it stops attacks while children of korlis combo with Necropotence. I have to get the damage first before using children's effect so its worse when being attacked.
I was looking at cutting Helm for Preacher. I wan't at least 1 of these effects in the list. I have to wait a turn with preacher (he is a creature), but the helm costs 1 more, can be activated the turn it comes down and requires us to sac. Or would it be beneficial to run both?
edit: Woah, just read Preacher again. I did not realize our opponent got to choose...perhaps this card doesn't make the cut.
The Priest dos not effect the board immediately and it needs our opponent to interact with us to do anything. Debt to the Deathless was a fun game ender that provided us with life. It did not mesh with the strategy completely but I can see it coming back someday. As of right now I do not miss it.
Bob is too good not to put in. Especially when our cmc averages at 2.73-2.77. I wanted an effect like Peackeeper's in the deck. Especially one that allows us to turn it off. The cumulative upkeep clause of 1W is a strength, not a weakness.
I am in the current process of trying to figure out how I want to squeeze Contamination in. I so badly wish this effect was on a creature. I am looking at Grave Titan for possible cuts.
I will look into the landbase to see if I can tweak anything. I appreciate all the input, Bear.
My meta is definitely competitive/casual. We each have our main decks that are powerful and then secondary decks which are still competitive but more obscure commanders. I will eventually have a section dedicated to it in the primer. My meta looks like this (from main to secondaries):
Each one of these decks has their fair share of wins (I hate to admit it...even the group hug has found a way to squeak wins in). As a group we are able to identify the threat quite easily. There is a lot of U but we also have a good amount of variety.
What I see in your meta is a bunch of tri-color and dual-color decks. Contamination is going to put in some work for you in disrupting your opponents' tempo and board development.
You know, there's a card from Ixalan that actually seems like it would be really good in conjunction with your commander and can help your weenies be more effective. Dire Fleet Ravager seems like a great way to get everyone to be conservative with their life and help make Athreos a more consistent Reanimation engine instead of a Lightning Bolt. Granted, it's on the high end of the CMC curve and probably competes with Grave Titan, but I think it's a strong inclusion in view of your overall strategy. A card that you might cut to test it out is Children of Korlis, although those two together is a pretty sweet combo.
EDIT: Your card images seem to be working properly now. I can see all of them, and it's a very visually appealing Primer.
I am starting to lower the curve even further. I felt without Nim Deathmantle I wasn't able to utilize the TItan for his combo potentials. If I miss the big beats I will throw him back in. I feel like Reanimate is a B staple. There will always be a value creature I can grab from my yard and thinking of what my opponents may have has me salivating.
Sorry Bear. I will eventually get to the Contamination cut once I obtain one. I think I will even be throwing Bitterblossom in as well. Allowing me sac fodder will be nice.
I wanted an effect like this to be stapled on a creature. But I wanted that same effect to hit both Artifacts and Enchantments. The leonin does this immediately (with some drawback when getting removed) and the Unicorn was a little too slow.
I have a question for the masses (if they see this). When playing a hatebear style like this that is low to the ground, how much ramp do we then need?
@MuzzleMuffin
I think that's a great question, and I hope you get a lot of feedback on the answer.
My impression is that colored mana sources are at a premium for your deck. Many of the creatures and spells you're casting don't have a huge colorless requirement in them. Consequently, I think that the emphasis you place on ramp needs to be less present than normal EDH deck. In order to compensate for the lack of ramp, a critical aspect of EDH since it allows you to play more spells in a turn, I think that your draw engines and removal package have to be totally streamlined. Athreos is going to move a lot slower than other decks, since it's geared towards the grinding long game, and making sure that you can consistently interact with opponents with efficient removal and the Stax/Hate-bear suite you have is critical.
Have you thought about a slight MLD theme? Since your CMC is so low to the ground, I believe that you would recover better than other decks out there and be able to position yourself as the head deck in a game after resolving a timely Armageddon or similar effect.
My initial thoughts were very similar to yours bear. Cards like Dark Confidant/Phyrexian Arena have been all stars in the list. Allowing us to find a dense number of Hatebears. The low cmc of this list is definitely one of its most strongest points.
If this was a 1v1 list I would definitely slot in Armageddon. But my only beef is that I have to recover against 3+ players. With the low cmc curve I may be able to get there against one opponent, but then the table will surely stack up against Athreos. I plan on getting a game in tonight. I will post the results and look for any times I would have liked to have Armageddon. Keep the ideas flowing I love it.
I still wanted to have an effect that somewhat Fog'd our opponents but 2 was too many. The cut was either Kami of False Hope or Children of Korlis. I chose to cut the children because in an instance where our opponent has lethal damage we won't be able to survive with the children. It does combo with Necropotence but I chose the safer route with Kami. I decided that I needed another non-mana intenseive sac outlet and I chose Carrion Feeder. We could make infinite mana with Ashnod's Altar...but this deck isn't primed to abuse it. At least Carrion Feeder has the potential to be an infinite +1+1 counter beatstick and is searchable with Recruiter of the Guard.
I currently do not own a Volrath's Stronghold but I do have a Winding Canyons that looks abusable. Turning our ETB creatures into instant speed removal for 3 extra mana(with the help of tapping 3 lands....don't forget we also have to tap the Canyons) has been great in testing. Our low curve means we will be getting an instant speed creature for at least 5 or 6 mana.
@MuzzleMuffin Children of Korlis is a good cut. I think that adding another sac outlet is a decent inclusion, although I still think that Contamination is still a good inclusion...
I decided that I wanted the full flight of fetches to go with my Scrubland and Sun Titan. I decided to cut non-color sources and tap lands, and 3 basics going down to 14 total. I was able to have nearly perfect mana. I also decided to put the Apprentice NEcromancer in for the Doomed NEcromancer. Being 1 mana cheaper and Skullclamp-able was my mean reasonings. When I was using the Doomed NEcromancer my targets usually ended up being sacrficed. This way I get an auto includ sac-like-engine with the Apprentice Necromancer. Still in testing. So far I haven't seen him. I'll be updating the primer shortly. Anyways, on to the game
Turn order: Uril, Athreos, Locust God, Saskia
I kept a hand of Windswept Heath, Kami of False Hope(this card follows me I swear), Tainted Field, Recruiter of the Guard, Cabal Coffers, Sidisi, Undead Vizier, Vampire Hexmage. I already knew what my plays were going to be. Drop Kami turn 1, Hexmage turn 2, and Recruiter turn 3 to search up the Weathered Wayfarer.
Uril goes Forest, Birds of Paradise, pass. I crack the Heath, search up Scrubland(I have been waiting for the day I could do that), I drop the Kami. Locust God goes Volacnic Island, Sol Ring….oh boy I think to myself. I assume he is on some sort of wheel/combo/control version of the Locust God so I am ready for a big wheel to ruin everything. Saskia is the hero we deserve and goes Taiga, Vandalblast. The table thanks Saskia in chat. Saskia doesn’t respond…she/he is still a hero.
Uril keeps ramping with his green goodness. I’m already up to my turn 3 plays and I am gearing up to search Urborg or Dark Depths. I choose the latter. Locust God is dropping artifact and getting ready to cast Locust God. Saskia throws out Glistener Elf with a Rancor. We now know the true side of Saskia.
Uril has his big feisty Beast/Enchantment commando and gears up for the beats…he chooses me…in response I Vamp Hexmage + Dark Depths combo and receive my 20/20 indestructible flying monster. Easy block on Uril and its back to the command zone. Locust God has no other plays and throws out the cricket himself. Saskia Casts her commander choosing Locust God as the target and swings in at me for 4 infect thanks to an Inkmoth Nexus. Saskia begins to target me.
Uril draws pass. Damnation is the draw for turn, I search up Urborg with the Wayfarer and tap for Coffers for 5 mana. Wipe the board, Athreos triggers on Locust God (pays all) swing in at the Saskia player. Locust God goes Wheel of Fortune(not sure if he had no other plays or was just low on gas) and refills the tables hands. Saskia throws out down Skittles Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon)and passes.
Uril comes back out but no enchantments this time. On my wheel hand I was able to grab a Path to Exile, path skittles, and I swing in with my 20/20. Saskia says GG and leaves the game. Locust God goes, land Locust God, Skullclamp. I am perceived as the threat at the table but I always remind the Uril player what the Locust God can do with those cards. Endless blockers for his big meanie.
Uril puts an Armadillo Cloak on and swings for 9, gains 9. Draw for Turn, Austere Command. Yes! This will nearly guarantee me the game. Austere Command meet….Pact of Negation. I swing in for 20 and the Locust God takes it. The God is at 19. Draw for turn. Makes a 1/1 then miracles Reforge the Soul for turn. Skullclamps his reaminging 1/1s for a total of 14 in the air. Comes at me for 16in the air and I am down to 11 leaving back 2 1/1s.
I am now at Uril’s mercy…he/she should know that the Locust God is going to create a massive army. It takes very little convince and he decides to target the Locust God. God blocks with a 1/1. Uril gains 11 (some enchantment boosting). I draw Eidolon of Rhetoric and I know the writing is on the wall. I swing my 20/20 in at LG…he blocks. LG swings at me. I reveal my top card to see my chances of survival. The very next card…Peackeeper.
Haste on those tokens is great. I was happy I was finally able to get a game against the God in. Had my answers lined up a little better we could have been in there. LG ends up taking the game against Uril. The Saskia player targeting me in the beginning is what really set me back in card advantage. I had to defend myself against her while trying to make sure the Locust God didn’t combo off. Great game with Athreos and I am very happy with the way he performed.
That's a great game report. Saskia infect is mean and I'm surprised that the player dropped out after being attacked only once. Kinda lame. Oh well.
Overall, I think you played to the best of your ability. Sometimes your opponents draw a little better than you and there's nothing else you can do. Sadly, it didn't sound like you drew any of your stax/hate-bear pieces. A card to consider might be Phyrexian Revoker or Darksteel Mutation. While it won't stop any of the opponents you played against recently, the Revoker is a utility dork that can Needle a problem permanent and the Mutation can make a threatening general useless. They're both Sun Titan-able too.
I like Phyrexian Revoker a lot. I'm going to look into acquiring one. Being a tax effect on a stick is what I like the most.
*Primer Update
I added a "My Playgroup" section. Fun little addition that can give the reader an insight in what I play against frequently. However, I do play a lot online as that is where a lot of my testing is done.
I've been looking at the next cut as Dictate of Erebos. It's a great effect in this deck. But being at 5cmc I am not the biggest fan. I prefer Grave Pact just because it is cheaper (even w/out flash). I'll most likely be adding a Enlightened Tutor. I was refraining from buying one, but being able to search Skullclamp and any of our enchantments is too powerful to turn away.
I'm a fan of this switch. Having an extra copy of the best enchantment or artifact in your deck is always good, especially since it can find Grave Pact. So, in a way, it's kind of like a pseudo-Dictate.
Do we think Stoneforge Mystic would be a good inclusion in the list? Obviously it would be great to search up that Skullclamp, but is running only 1 equipment enough? I feel like if I include the Mystic we would want at least 2.
I'm going to GP Portland on Nov 17-18th and I plan on picking up a Contamination.
I should be getting a game in sometime this weekend. I will give a game report then.
The list seems pretty tight. As I am always looking for updates, I am currently looking at cuts of:
Orzhov Signet: Ramp is good...but I am not sure how powerful it is here. The signets are staples and at the current momment I like that its here. Helm of Possession: I personally believe theft to be the best form of removal in MTG. Helm gives us a sac ouutlet as well as removal...but I wonder if its too slow? Being a total of 6 to use on the same turn. Mike + Trike combo: Its great to have this as an instant win and Mikaeus, the Unhallowed plays nicely with our creatures...but I am having second thoughts as if its worth it or not.
I understand Athreos is not a very popular general, but I am excited to see ideas from others.
Got another game in with Athreos. While it was another loss it was definitely a strange turn of events. I am learning to play more patiently and realize that there are more routes to victory then just one. Although I play an aggressive deck this doesn't mean I forget my role to control the game.
11/06/2017: Lost
Turn Order Athreos, Oloro, Nicol Bolas, Mayael
I kept a hand of Bloodstained Mire, Recruiter of the Guard, Snow-covered Plains, Knight of the White Orchid, Reflecting Pool, Grave Pact, Blood Artist. I decided to keep this soley based on the fact that I had Recruiter in hand. I planned on searching up the Weathered Wayfarer. I’m on the play, draw for turn is a Mother of Runes. Sac fetch go to 39, grab Scrubland and throw out mom. Oloro goes Island into Sol Ring. Bolas goes Island, go. Mayael plays Arid Mesa and passes. At this point I already know Oloro is the one I need to keep in order. I throw down Reflecting Pool and play Blood Artist. Oloro plays Underground Sea and passes. Bolas plays Mountain and passes. Mayael draws into a Birds of Paradise (right on time….am I right?), plays Forest and BoP. At this point in the game I had decisions to make. I chose to be the aggressor and I continued with my plan of searching up Weathered Wayfarer. Oloro plays a Plains and then plays a card that makes the whole tables blood go cold…Aetherflux Reservoir (such a house in Oloro). The whole table is trying to figure out how to get rid of it and I am the one with instant regret on the inside…I could have grabbed a Leonin Relic-Warder. Oloro is at 46 life. Bolas goes land into Darksteel Ingot (Reminder: Bolas is a player who has been in our group for a long time but he doesn’t have the budget or willingness to tune his list). Mayael finally comes to the board is now at 5 mana. Next turn we will see some top decked fatties. Back to my turn. Draw for the turn is a land. I play the Wayfarer out and I start go get my engine going. Swing mom at Oloro bringing him down to 45. Oloro goes up to 47, plays land Ponder and digs through his cards. Goes to 48. Choosing not to shuffle he grabs one. Passes. Bolas goes land and drops Sorin Markov (THANK JEEBUS!). He goes to minus, targets?....Mayael. My heart sank. I try to convince him how important it is to have Oloro be at a life total nowhere near 50 life. He chooses to ignore me and targets Mayael…. sad day. Mayael is at 10. Passes. Mayael go land and passes. Leaving 6 mana up. EOT I search up a Thespian’s Stage. Untap. Draw a Thalia and play her down. Swing 1 at Oloro bringing him to 47 and I pass. Oloro goes to 49 and then plays to cheap spells. Bringing him to a total of 52….Aetherflux range. Bolas plays a land and a Reassembling Skeleton and passes. Mayael activates ability and EOT gets an Avacyn. Untaps. Plays a land for turn, swings at Oloro. Pays an extra 1 and Path to Exiles the Angel. Now at 53. Everyone is sad. Mayael passes and I search up a Dark Depths EOT. I throw down grave pact and pass. Oloro plays land passes, bolas plays land pass, Mayael EOTs and finds a Godsire. Swings at Oloro and again Oloro removes it. This time with Swords to Plowshares. Mayael is at 18. Mayael passes, EOT I create a 20/20. Oloro tells me if I swing at him he will kill me. I make him show me it. Untap, swing at Oloro with everything, in response Oloro Shoots me for 50….Athreos is dead. Oloro plays some more things, he drops Oloro and eventually is killed by the Mayael player. Then, out of nowhere, Bolas drops a huge Exsanguinate with a lot of mana and brings down Mayael to 2. With no flyers and Bolas newly acquired flying token army he makes his strike and wins the game. I heavily questioned Bolas play with Markov earlier in the game. I still believe it was the wrong choice but he ended up with the win so no shame in that. I have also been learing to play a little more patient with Athreos. I am used to combo heavy lists when in reality I should be the control game with the mini beats. I love the list. It feels like an engine that I can take in any direction I want during game. But today I chose to be a little too aggressive and I payed for it.
Personal History:
Hello everyone,
I'm 26 years old and have been playing Magic since about 8th edition. My first experience with magic was when my brother and I bought the mono-red goblin precon deck. We would split the deck in half and battle it out for hours. Whoever drew that Goblin King definitely had the bigger grin. Slamming cardboard against buddies, barely being able to play the game, believeing Worms were overpowered, those are some of my fondest memories about this game. I would take long breaks from the game and come back, but I finally fully reappeared again for Theros block.
A lot of my experience comes from the Modern format. I am an avid URG player and Scapeshift (in all its iterations) is my current favorite deck. In my eyes Modern is a great format to develop a competitive strategy that you love and to watch it grow.
Around this time is when I fully understood my love for control and the EDH format. In previous card games that I used to play I always loved the idea of having one creature be your “leader”. I immediately began brewing edh decks that fit me. Whether it was with my beloved mono-blue combo/control Memnarch edh deck, my Jaya Ballard, Task Mage mono-red control. Or my new love: Athreos, God of Passage critter stax control/combo; EDH has and will always be my favorite format.
I work a lot with destination marketing as a Information Specialist, with current aspirations to eventually join Wizards of the Coast. In my free time I enjoy working out and I am the current Varsity Soccer Coach for my local high school.
I am currently writing this primer as a way for me to branch out of my comfort zone as a UR mage. I take criticism lightly and I would love more ideas from my peers. See you down below.
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About Athreos: (as taken from mtgwiki)
Deck Philosophy & Introduction:
Athreos lends himself very well to a attrition based style of play. For the most part we want him staying an enchantment as that will allow him to stick around longer. However, there have been times when he has served as a great blocker or even a big beater himself. One of my favorite things to do with Athreos is to play at first glance “underwhelming” creatures. Creatures like Burnished Hart etc. Grinding out value from our utility creatures is something we will be doing a lot in this deck.
Our natural way to win will be through an infinite combo or creature based combat damage. Different games will require different strategies but for the most part this is how we will be winning the game.
Now that you know our game plan and our opponents are stressed out. It's time we massage those knots out with plenty of beats, synergies, and combos. Unfortunately for our opponents we do not offer hot towelettes.
Other Generals:
The Decklist: *Stats provided by tappedout and deckbox
Avg. Creature CMC: 2.76
Avg. Instant CMC: 1.40
Avg. Sorcery CMC: 3.12
Avg. Enchantment CMC: 2.38
Avg. Artifact CMC: 2.00
1x Athreos, God of Passage Foil
Creature (38)
1x Apprentice Necromancer
1x Aven Mindcensor
1x Blood Artist
1x Burnished Hart
1x Carrion Feeder
1x Containment Priest
1x Dark Confidant
1x Eidolon of Rhetoric
1x Ethersworn Canonist
1x Fleshbag Marauder
1x Glowrider
1x Grand Abolisher
1x Kami of False Hope
1x Karmic Guide
1x Knight of the White Orchid
1x Leonin Arbiter
1x Leonin Relic-Warder
1x Merciless Executioner
1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1x Mother of Runes
1x Mirror Entity
1x Necrotic Sliver
1x Peacekeeper
1x Recruiter of the Guard
1x Reveillark
1x Selfless Spirit
1x Serra Ascendant
1x Shriekmaw
1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
1x Spirit of the Labyrinth
1x Sun Titan
1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1x Triskelion
1x Vampire Hexmage
1x Viscera Seer
1x Vryn Wingmare
1x Weathered Wayfarer
1x Zulaport Cutthroat
1x Anguished Unmaking
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Path to Exile
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Vampiric Tutor
Land (36)
1x Arid Mesa
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Cabal Coffers
1x Caves of Koilos
1x Command Tower
1x Dark Depths
1x Fetid Heath
1x Flooded Strand
1x Godless Shrine
1x Isolated Chapel
1x Marsh Flats
1x Polluted Delta
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Scrubland
7x Snow-Covered Plains
7x Snow-Covered Swamp
1x Tainted Field
1x Thespian's Stage
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Vault of the Archangel
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Windswept Heath
1x Animate Dead
1x Attrition
1x Blind Obedience
1x Grave Pact
1x Land Tax
1x Necropotence
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Phyrexian Reclamation
Sorcery (8)
1x Austere Command
1x Damnation
1x Reanimate
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Diabolic Intent
1x Toxic Deluge
1x Vindicate
1x Wrath of God
Artifact (4)
1x Helm of Possession
1x Orzhov Signet
1x Skullclamp
1x Sol Ring
Deck Sorted by Function & CMC:
Hatebears:
- Aven Mindcensor - Perfect little hatebear that stops (to some degree) efficient searches. Having flash is icing in the cake. I normally find myself stopping game winning searches or messing with people's fetchlands
- X Children of Korlis - Being able to synergize with Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos, and Necropotence is why this band has found its spot in the list. Block and sac'ing so our opponents to not gain lifelink or a damage trigger has always been great. For the most part people will let this return to your hand. Kami of the False Hope is currently in their spot.
- Containment Priest - We have a few reanimating effects but this doesn't mean the Priest won't be effective. Being able to shutdown other reanimation strategies is too good to pass up. Especially when it is on a creature with flash.
- Eidolon of Rhetoric - Great way to slow down the game. Shuts down some of those multi-card combos and lets us breath a little why we slowly piece things together. We can always get rid of this through a sac outlet when we are ready to do our own combos. Always happy to see the spirit.
- Ethersworn Canonist - Nearly the same thing as above but instead it slows the game down in a much more obvious way. With the large number of sacrifice outlets we should be able to get rid of this when we need to. Great way to slow down the game.
- Glowrider/Thalia, Guardian of Thraben/Vryn Wingmare - With a list varying from 38-40 creatures, these guys are perfect for giving opposing combo lists grief. We run anywhere from 23-27 noncreature spells. There may be a time when we have to pay that extra 1 but usually this is hurting our opponents much worse than us.
- Grand Abolisher - I guess the theme is to hate on the blue decks, funny how that works out? This human cleric gives us the perfect protection to have free reign on our own turns. Wheither if we are comboing off or we are making our opponents get rid of their board. Grand Abolisher is a staple for any edh decks with white in it.
- Kami of False Hope - Underrated all-star in this deck. Just like Children of Korlis he is able to legitimately fog our opponent (combat damage). in a multiplayer game I love singling out the big aggro player at the table. With enough politics we can get someone on our side and completely fog that player every turn. Not as strong against combo decks but I highly underrated card and I couldn't recommend it enough.
- Leonin Arbiter - Cat Jesus loves to cause havoc on deck searches. 2 isn't a steep price, but it is always annoying for our opponents who are not entirely ready to pay for the ability. This hatebear is going to hate, and he was one of the greats for a reason.
- Peacekeeper - I know what you are thinking, "Don't we play a lot of creatures that want to attack?" Yes and no. Because of its 1W clause, this allows us to kill it at our upkeep for an alpha strike on one of our opponents. Can be cut if not in a heavy creature meta.
- Spirit of the Labyrinth - Perfect way to shut down those pesky blue decks and their card draw engines. Yes we have a few of those, but being able to slow down the game is what we are in the market for.
- Burnished Hart - Not a competitive card, right? As you can see nothing is very intimidating about the elk at first glance. But what happens when we are able to recur him with Athreos, God of Passage? See where I am getting at. If left unchecked and if opponents are willing to let us have him back, Burnished Hart offers a great source of ramp.
- Knight of the White Orchid - Great piece of ramp stapled onto a creature. Some of my favorite plays is sandbagging this for a turn three play of fetching a Scrubland or a Godless Shrine, into playing a land for turn. I think this little guy is a staple in an heavy white deck. Being able to recur him with Athreos is always a plus.
- Recruiter of the Guard - Great tutor on a stick. Since most of our creatures our hatebears they have a toughness of 2 or less. 7 Times out of 10 I am usually going for a Weathered Wayfarer. But the recruiter allows us to go for a variety of different plays, Vampire Hexmage combo etc.
- Sidisi, Undead Vizier - 3BB Mana tutor on a stick. Rune-Scarred Demon is another choice but I like Sidisi for being 2 mana cheaper. Most times we will be sac'ing Sidisi but there are other times when the correct choice is to sac something else. Great card, great for Athreos.
- Weathered Wayfarer - All-star card is All-star. This card can generate all kinds of game ending combos. Being able to grab Cabal Coffers/Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth to make big mana, Thespian's Stage/Dark Depths to get that 20/20 in hopes of crushing an opponent, or Volrath's Stronghold to get the Wayfarer back in the event someone kills it; this card will put in work. One of the best cards in the deck.
- Apprentice Necromancer - A little bit of reanimation can go a long way. I wanted to make sure they we had one creature that had this sort of ability strapped to it. Granted we have to wait one turn to activate its ability, I have never been sad to see it. Instant speed grab that Fleshbag Marauder? Yes, please. Being a 1/1 means he is able to be Skullclampd.
- X Doomed Necromancer – Similar to Apprentice Necromancer, I chose the former because of the lower CMC cost. There may be a day where I switch the Necromancers.
- Karmic Guide - Great combo enabler. Pairing this with Reveillark, Viscera Seer, Blood Artist, etc. gives us access to all sorts of combos. Getting us back a creature in exchange for the Angel is a great deal. Especially when dying isn't the worst thing you can be doing in an Athreos deck.
- Mikaeus, the Unhallowed - Combos excellently with Triskelion. However, if you stack the triggers right with Athreos, God of Passage on the field we are able to generate tons of value with Mikaeus. Athreos trigger on the stack, then place Mikaeus' after. We will get the creature back and all the benefits with our little hatebears. people forget that he is a 5/5 and he knows how to swing his booty.
- Reveillark - See Karmic Guide above. If stacked right we can create an infinite loop with these two creatures. All we need is a sac outlet and we are savvy. Great value otherwise. We don't mind if our cloud with wings blocks.
- Sun Titan - Combos great with most of our creatures and at some times even fetchlands. Being able to recur pieces for our Dark Depths combo is another great use. By far the best titan in this list, and in my opinion, the best besides the banned Primeval Titan. So much to love with this big guy.
- X Capashen Unicorn - This little guy used to serve a special slot. His main reason for inclusion is because his ability needs him to be sacrificed (great Athreos fodder) and that he can hit BOTH artifacts and enchantments. There are other etb creatures that deal with Enchantments and Artifacts if you are not sold here. As of right now he is not in the list.
- Fleshbag Marauder/Merciless Executioner - The life blood of this deck. More often than not our opponents make the mistake of giving this guy back to us. If left uncheck and we get our engines running, he can essentially wipe our opponents boards of creatures. Pairing this with Grave Pact or Dictate of Erebos makes this guy straight deadly. If he's not in hand, fine. Leave him in the grave to be reanimated later. Great card for Athreos strategies.
- X High Priest of Penance -Being able to Vindicate a nonland permanent when he blocks has been an awesome feature in this deck. However, he is too slow to have an immediate effect on the board state. Especially when our opponents are comboing off.
- Leonin Relic-Warder - Just like the unicorn this guy is great for removing problematic artifacts/enchantments. Being able to sac him in response to his trigger is also great.
- Necrotic Sliver - Definitely the second reason why I started putting Athreos together. This card screams value if you are able to convince someone to give it back to you in order to blow up another target permanent. Being a Vindicate on a stick makes this sliver the perfect specimen for this deck.
- Shriekmaw - Most times we will be casting this for its evoke cost. Being a blocker is always great, but the ability to blow up a nonblack/nonartifact creature for 1B is greeat. A great political play is to ask an opponent for help and in return you will blow up multiple problematic creatures.
- Triskelion - Bee-Boo-Bop. This guy loves hanging out with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. The whole purpose of these two creatures is to combo. I love the fact that they are creatures so the heavy cost of 6 mana each is not the biggest problem. Use the counters to shoot people, with the last +1+1 counter make sure it kills itself, Mikaeus will see this, reanimate it and then proceed to loop.
- Vampire Hexmage - The soul purpose of this card is to destroy planeswalkers and combo out for that sweet 20/20 with Dark Depths.
- Mother of Runes - Bonus points for OG Mom. Great for protecting our creatures/combo pieces. Another white staple if you run a lot of creatures.
- Selfless Spirit - Trust me, we want our creatures to die. But that doens't mean there are times when we would like to keep our happy field of bears. This lil' guy doesn't mind taking one for the team. Being able to sacrifice without any cost is great.
- X Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim – Currently she is not in the list. She is a sacrifice outlet on a stick. This strategy has some lifegain (but not enough) so being able to exile a nonland permanent gives us a nice source of control. Helps us get rid of pesky enchantments or artifacts.
- Blood Artist - Our creatures will be dying a lot. Doesn't matter if its by our opponents, our own boardwipes, sacrificint etc. He will allows us to grind out any advantage out of our critters dying. He also is a way to do infinite damage with Karmic Guide, Reveillark, and sac outlet. Good card in this deck, but allowing us to kill with the infinite combo is a highly underrated use for him.
- Carrion Feeder - A sac outlet for our Karmic Guide/Reveillark combo. Allows us to get infinite +1+1 counters on him. He is also great for just growing a gigantic beater for when we need to push damage through.
- Dark Confidant - Our deck has an average of 2.61 cmc. This means Bob will be doing minimal damage to us. Being easy to kill is great as well. In any case where our life total is getting lean we can find a way to sac Bob.
- Viscera Seer - Can generate some good dig in the face of a boardwipe or if we just want to kill our creatures. Infinte scry with Karmic Guide and Reveillark. In a pinch most people will give you back the Seer unless you are plotting to go infinte.
- Zulaport Cutthroat - Great synergy with boardwipes when we have a massive board. But this also gives us an outlet to deal infinite damage/gain infinite life with Karmic Guide and Reveillark. Basically he is another Blood Artist.
- X Grave Titan - Big ol' beater with some token production. Grave Titan allows us to get for large swings of damage. Able to go infinite with Nim Deathmantle and a mana producing sac outlet, etc. However we are not playing that combo and are instead going in for the beats. Currently he is not in the list.
- Serra Ascendant - Nothing feels better in this deck than going turn 1, 6/6 flying, lifelink, human monk. Great beater for the early game and in some cases with our ability to gain life great in the late game as well. Be prepared to be a target if you drop this early.
Tutors/Ramp:
Recursion:
Removal:
Protection:
Card Advantage/Sac Engines:
Beatsticks:
Instants:
Sorceries:
Enchantments:
Artifacts:
Lands:
Early game:
During the early stages of the game we want to be either playing ramp, dropping bears with a tax effect, tutoring, or drawing cards. Cards like Weathered Wayfarer, Demonic Tutor, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and Necropotence are the things we like to see. Be the threat and make sure people are afraid of your open W. Bluffing removal has always been a great strategy. Because our mana curve averages at 2.77 we will usually have some good turn 2-3 plays. Just because we can naturally curve out, we may make our opponents keep a watchful eye on us. This does not mean we will have the most threatening board but it does mean that we may be able to solidify a solid mid game. Don’t be afraid to mulligan a hand that is light on 1 or 2 drops. We have an easy turn 3 play in Athreos, God of Passage if we do not have something. But it is also correct to establish the board first THEN go for Athreos. A great opening hand in my opinion is 2 hate bears, 1 rock, 1-2 tutor/card draw, and at least 3 lands. Be sure to remind our opponents how nonthreatening our Burnished Hart and Kami of False Hope are. Our early game will determine the speed of the game. If we are stat taxing early we are in great shape.
Take this opening hand for example:
We might think that our Thalia along with 2 lands interferes too much with our non creature spell, but I would argue that because we have low costed spells and the land tutoring provided by the Wayfarer that this is a keep. Again, this is a "how I feel" call and this is just my opinion. I for one believe that this is an ideal hand.
Mid Game:
Around this time is when we start to have a board filled with 1/1s and 2/2s with Athreos on the board. Most likely our opponents may have killed a problematic creature or two and we are looking for replacements. This is where we utilize and setup our card draw/sac engines. This is where Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, and Diabolic Intent come into play. There is something to be said about finding cards like Phyrexian Arena/Dark Confidant instead of our game winning combos. I have found that setting up for the consistent play/long haul is almost more favorable then going straight for the kill. In my U heavy meta an early combo will most likely never resolve. Look for removal with our card draw and searches as well. Besides U’s counters, the edh world knows our WB harbors some of the best removal in the format. We know wraths our going to happen and there isn’t much we can do to stop it. Instead, be welcoming to the mass boardwipe. If you are evil like me put all the Athreos triggers on ONE person instead of multiple. This forces their hand and we will most likely get 1 or 2 creatures back. Just because we are a creature deck does not mean we have to act like it. I recommend swinging in as often as possible, but never at the expense of getting one of our little guys die.
When using our targeted removal, make sure to be picky. Only kill the thing that you know is going to making winning difficulty for us. Just because we can Fleshbag Marauder/Merciless Executioner + Grave Pact/Dictate of Erebos early doesn’t mean we should. Wait for the “late” mid game to start doing things like this. Painting us as the target early with no clear things for our opponent to sac is not where we want to be. Wait for those Momir Vigs to pop out and Mayael’s big fatties to show up. Not only will it help setup our own win but our opponents will be grateful for you having dealt with those monsters. Everything we do is to help let us setup into the late game where we plan to win.
End Game:
Here we are, the place we all want to make it to. We’ve made our opponents pay the extra 1, sac’d their creatures, disrupt their combos, maybe drained some life, and perhaps the table has spent all their resources. What do we do now? Lets finish this game. The first and most obvious way to win is if we have built up an army, I recommend alpha striking an open opponent. EDH is a splashy format so be ready and suspect any combat tricks. Granted they will be an army of bears they will still be able to do massive amounts of damage if left unblocked. The most consistent way to win with this deck is through our combos. Because we do not have access to U counters we have to make sure we time our combos right. Try and bait out counters with some truly oppressing creatures or enchantments. This will help us clear the path to land an important piece to our combo. Being a creature heavy deck I wanted most of our combos to have some sort of synergy with Athreos. Mainly, I wanted the combos to be creature orientated. The Mike+Trike combos costs us a total of BBB9 mana. We may have to space out this combo over the course of two turns. Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Triskelion will end the game immediately when they hit the board. Ping our opponents for some damage, use the last reamaining +1+1 counter to have Triskelion kill itself, Mikaeus will trigger, rinse and repeat. The other combos we have access to is the Dark Depths 20/20 combo (though this may take 2 turn to kill someone) and the Karmic Guide + Reveillark “infinite” creature loop combo. These 3 combos are great ways to end the game. There will be times that our sheer amount of card advantage will be enough to win a game. If we are able to drop down a mass amount of spells each turn that usually is enough. Know your play group and know yourself. Be humble with your victory.
We are going dive a little deeper into Athreos. Like all commanders, everyone has a weakness and a strength. This section will be designed for you to get a feel for who/what Athreos is. As stated above, his style lends himself to that Johnny-Spike player who wants to win the way they want to win.
Pros
List of Combos & Synergies:
1. Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Triskelion = Infinite Damage. Make sure that the last +1/+1 counter Triskelion uses is to kill itself! This will allow us to create an infinite loop with Mikaeus.
2. Karmic Guide + Reveillark + Viscera Seer = infinite scry. This combo is a little tricky. When both Karmic Guide and Revillark are on the field we have to make sure our Karmic Guide is in the graveyard. This means we sac our Guide first ALWAYS. Once our Guide is in the graveyard we sac Revillark and grab our guide. Our guide then grabs Revillark and we do it all over again.
3. Karmic Guide + Reveillark + Ashnod's Altar = infinite colorless mana..
4. Karmic Guide + Reveillark + Blood Artist/Zulaport Cutthroat + Sac Outlet = infinite life and damage.
5. Karmic Guide + Revillark + Carrion Feeder = infinite +1+1 counters/beater.
6. Dark Depths + Vampire Hexmage/Thespian's Stage = Marit Lage, Token Legendary Creature – Avatar, Flying, Indestructible,20/20. There are two ways to do this. Play the Dark Depths, pay 2 with Thespian’s Stage to copy it (legend rule comes into play and you keep the newly copied Dark Depths), Depths comes into play with 0 counters and becomes Marit Lage. OR, sac the hexmage to remove all the counters from the Dark Depths. Not an infinite combo but two swings (or 1) will usually leave an opponent dead.
7. Fleshbag Marauder/Merciless Executioner + Grave Pact/Dictate of Erebos = Our opponents sacrificing at least 2 creatures.
8. Fleshbag Marauder/Merciless Executioner/Necrotic Sliver + Sun Titan = Sac a creature/destroy a permanent each combat step.
9. Apprentice Necromancer/Doomed Necromancer + Sun Titan = Recurring reanimation. If you use the Apprentice Necromancer you will be able to get back 2 things with Sun Titan's trigger (Titan will have haste and be able to attack). Which ever path you choose I always recommend getting back the Necromancer first.
10. Athreos, God of Passage + any creature = 3 damage to an opponent of choice or recur a creature back to hand.
Changelog:
10/31/2017
Out: Dictate of Erebos
In: Enlightened Tutor
I've been looking at the next cut as Dictate of Erebos. It's a great effect in this deck. But being at 5cmc I am not the biggest fan. I prefer Grave Pact just because it is cheaper (even w/out flash). I'll most likely be adding a Enlightened Tutor. I was refraining from buying one, but being able to search Skullclamp and any of our enchantments is too powerful to turn away.
10/13/2017
Out: Winding Canyons, Shambling Vent, Temple of Silence, x2 Snow-Covered Swamp, Snow-Covered Plains, Doomed Necromancer.
In: Windswepth Heath, Arid Mesa, Polluted Delta, Bloodstained Mire, Flooded Strand, Verdant Catacombs, Apprentice Necromancer
I decided that I wanted the full flight of fetches to go with my Scrubland and Sun Titan. I decided to cut non-color sources and tap lands, and 3 basics going down to 14 total. I was able to have nearly perfect mana. I also decided to put the Apprentice NEcromancer in for the Doomed NEcromancer. Being 1 mana cheaper and Skullclamp-able was my mean reasonings. When I was using the Doomed NEcromancer my targets usually ended up being sacrficed. This way I get an auto includ sac-like-engine with the Apprentice Necromancer. Still in testing. So far I haven't seen him. I'll be updating the primer shortly. Anyways, on to the game
10/9/2017
Out: Capashen Unicorn
In: Leonin Relic-Warder
I wanted an effect like this to be stapled on a creature. But I wanted that same effect to hit both Artifacts and Enchantments. The leonin does this immediately (with some drawback when getting removed) and the Unicorn was a little too slow.
10/6/2017
Out: Grave Titan
In: Reanimate
I am starting to lower the curve even further. I felt without Nim Deathmantle I wasn't able to utilize the TItan for his combo potentials. If I miss the big beats I will throw him back in. I feel like Reanimate is a B staple. There will always be a value creature I can grab from my yard and thinking of what my opponents may have has me salivating.
9/28/2017
Out: High Priest of Penance, Debt to the Deathless
In: Dark Confidant, Peacekeeper
The Priest dos not effect the board immediately and it needs our opponent to interact with us to do anything. Debt to the Deathless was a fun game ender that provided us with life. It did not mesh with the strategy completely but I can see it coming back someday. As of right now I do not miss it.
Bob is too good not to put in. Especially when our cmc fluctuates at around 2.64-2.77. I wanted an effect like Peackeeper's in the deck. Especially one that allows us to turn it off. The cumulative upkeep clause of 1W is a strength, not a weakness.
The Playgroup:
Although I play online regularly, this is my current/paper meta. The people who play these lists are old friends and although they are not exactly "competitive" generals, they are still built to their best ability. Games are pact with good threat assessment and each one of these decks has racked up some wins. For the sake of organization, each player will have their lists from Main to Secondaries.
- Zur the Enchanter - This pesky guy is notorious among the cEDH scene. Although not the Doomsday combo list, this enchantment goodstuff/control version is still very powerful. He can sometimes ramp out a quick Zur and eventually get out of control. Diplomatic Immunity is a hell of a card and is usually his first searched up enchantment. This is his signature deck and as always...Zur is a must kill on sight. As long as Zur is off the table we are in a good place to capitalize.
- Marrow-Gnawer - A.K.A. Relentless Rats.dec. This deck still plays the Mike and Trike combo as well as going off with Thrumming Stone. This decks biggest strength is that it is usually left to do its own thing. If left uncheck he will be able to overrun the table with Rats and perhaps go in with that sneaky infinite combo. It's always nice to see why Pack Rat was such a standard all star.
- Karona, False God - Wall tribal....yes....wall tribal. This deck is designed to ping with damage, mill its opponents with Phenax, God of Deception, mess with peoples life totals with Tree of Perdition, and win with the Maze's End + Scapeshift combo. This deck is clearly not entirely competitive. The wall's usually stone wall us from attacking...but he usually gives us enough time to worry about the other opponents and assemble a combo.
- Mayael the Anima - Player 2's signature deck, this deck utilizes fast ramp and enormous fatties to stomp out the game. Tooth and Nailing for Craterhoof Behemoth and Xenagos, God of Revels is one of his signature plays. We will have a little trouble with him. We match up great against fast combo decks (assuming we draw hate) but his creatures avoid our tax quite nicely. Our best thing to do is to kill Mayael immediately. If not, try tutoring for Peacekeeper until the coast is clear to Alpha strike or setup a combo. Always a treat to play against this.
- Momir Vig, Simic Visionary - This deck plays similar to our own. His deck essentially acts as a creature toolbox. He plays a lot of dual colored creatures which essentially lets him tutor for answers while Momo is out. His signature win is with Biovisionary + Rites of Replication or an infinite loop with Blasting Station. There is a dense amount of creature in this list so our best option is to go for removal on Momo. While not his favorite deck UG is such a powerful strategy that this deck generates a lot of wins in our group.
- Rishkar, Peema Renegade - +1+1 counters tribal. I have not yet had the pleasure to play against this list due to the fact that it is still in the building process. Currently it is at 60/100 cards. The list will focus on making big mana and Overruning effects with dorks.
- Oloro, Ageless Ascetic - Control/Storm combo. This deck is one of the many policeman in our playgroup. But when he isn't keeping us all in check he is setting up a storm combo with either Tendrils of Agony or Aetherflux Reservoir. The insane amount of life this guy is able to generate is a thorn in our side. We are both setup to abuse our lifetotals...but Oloro just does it better. Try to keep him off his combos and establish that you are the threat.
- Karador, Ghost Chieftain - As an ex modern Pod player when it was legal, he decided to shift his list to EDH. This list has the usual suspects in gaining infinite life of the typical Pod combos in Spike Feeder, Kitchen Finks, Archangel of Thune, Melira, Sylvok Outcast, etc. Killing his creatures won't be enough to stop the combo. We have to make sure Karador stays in the command zone.
- Nahiri, the Lithomancer - This deck focuses around equipment and beating face with white weenies. Most of the time this list is left to its own devices (card draw in W is hard to come by). If he starts rolling with his Elspeths and Gideons this deck can snowball into an all out combo crusher. Lots of removal and a plethora of small critters.
- Oloro, Ageless Ascetic - Well...this is awkward. Yes, our playgroup has 2 players that main Oloro. Yes, our games have plenty of counter wars. Yes, its fun. This list is more tuned to control than others. Essentially, his version of Oloro is All-The-Answers.dec. His signature win is to keep the board in check, gain a bunch of life, and then drop a Felidar Sovereign to wait out the storm. Strong list with some great win conditions, both of our groups' Oloro lists are extremely different.
- Oros, the Avenger - This list focuses on running equipment with lifelink and deathtouch. His Basilisk Collar turns Oros in to a lifegaining killing machine. This deck wins through the Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond combo or via commander damage. Although not the strongest general it does play some very competitive cards. Best way to keep this deck in check is to setup a board and continue to kill Oros.
- Phelddagrif - The fun loving, soul crushing, psychotic monster-hippo. This group hug strategy can win through a few infinite mill combos. However, it never plans on winning...which makes this an easy target to avoid right? Wrong. Kill the hippo fast. Generate any needed advantage you can against it but then make sure our oppponents can't use him for more.
Player 1:
Player 2:
Player 3:
Player 4:
Game Reports:
11/18/2017: Won
Turn Order: Tana/Tymna, Athreos
Had the chance to play a 1v1 game at GP Portland. My opponent was nice, he drove from Idaho, and only came to the GP to jam commander (Kind of like me…except I play Modern as well). I started with a hand of Viscera Seer, Blood Artist, Demonic Tutor, Orzhov Signet, Karmic Guide, Vindicate, Snow-Covered Swamp. I thought long and hard about this hand. I was so close to looping for an infinite combo. I took the risk and kept it (being on the draw confirmed it for me). Opponent plays Mountain pass. I draw for turn…no land. Play swamp, Seer go. Our opponent untaps and misses is his land drop. From that information I feel as if we are playing a hatebear 1v1 match. This should be interesting. I untap and draw a Snow-Covered Plains. I play the land, cast a signet and pass. Opponent, untaps casts his newly drawn Sol Ring into a Rakdos Signet (no land for turn). I draw a Windswept heath crack it for a Scrubland and throw down the Blood Artist. He plays a Swamp and taps out(ish) for a Phyrexian Arena. I play Urborg Tomb of Yawgmoth for turn casting Athreos, God of Passage and tutoring for a Revillark. Over the course of the next two turns I plan on combing. It is risky but I am afraid I may be buried underneath is soon to be card advantage. He untaps, draws 2, casts Tymna the Weaver and passes. I draw a plains for turn (I am extremely fortunate to be hitting these land drops), cast Revillark with one white open. If everything goes smoothly this turn I will be able to win on our next. Opponent untaps, draws 2, attacks with Tymna, pays 1 to draw 1. Our opponent is sitting on a gold mine of card advantage. Our opponent taps out, and casts Harvester of Souls. Well this is going to be interesting. I untap play out my Karmic Guide and start to loop the combo with Revillark, Viscera Seer, and Blood Artist. Our opponent draws 39 cards, loses 39 life, and is all tapped out (from previous turn). He offers the handshake and that’s game.
Overall we kept a risky hand that found its way because of lands. If I were to redo this match I would almost search up the same Phyrexian Arena to match his card advantage with my own. But a fast and relatively early combo was able to get there.
11/06/2017: Lost
Turn Order: Athreos, Oloro, Nicol Bolas, Mayael
I kept a hand of Bloodstained Mire, Recruiter of the Guard, Snow-covered Plains, Knight of the White Orchid, Reflecting Pool, Grave Pact, Blood Artist. I decided to keep this soley based on the fact that I had Recruiter in hand. I planned on searching up the Weathered Wayfarer. I’m on the play, draw for turn is a Mother of Runes. Sac fetch go to 39, grab Scrubland and throw out mom. Oloro goes Island into Sol Ring. Bolas goes Island, go. Mayael plays Arid Mesa and passes. At this point I already know Oloro is the one I need to keep in order. I throw down Reflecting Pool and play Blood Artist. Oloro plays Underground Sea and passes. Bolas plays Mountain and passes. Mayael draws into a Birds of Paradise (right on time….am I right?), plays Forest and BoP. At this point in the game I had decisions to make. I chose to be the aggressor and I continued with my plan of searching up Weathered Wayfarer. Oloro plays a Plains and then plays a card that makes the whole tables blood go cold…Aetherflux Reservoir (such a house in Oloro). The whole table is trying to figure out how to get rid of it and I am the one with instant regret on the inside…I could have grabbed a Leonin Relic-Warder. Oloro is at 46 life. Bolas goes land into Darksteel Ingot (Reminder: Bolas is a player who has been in our group for a long time but he doesn’t have the budget or willingness to tune his list). Mayael finally comes to the board is now at 5 mana. Next turn we will see some top decked fatties. Back to my turn. Draw for the turn is a land. I play the Wayfarer out and I start go get my engine going. Swing mom at Oloro bringing him down to 45. Oloro goes up to 47, plays land Ponder and digs through his cards. Goes to 48. Choosing not to shuffle he grabs one. Passes. Bolas goes land and drops Sorin Markov (THANK JEEBUS!). He goes to minus, targets?....Mayael. My heart sank. I try to convince him how important it is to have Oloro be at a life total nowhere near 50 life. He chooses to ignore me and targets Mayael…. sad day. Mayael is at 10. Passes. Mayael go land and passes. Leaving 6 mana up. EOT I search up a Thespian’s Stage. Untap. Draw a Thalia and play her down. Swing 1 at Oloro bringing him to 47 and I pass. Oloro goes to 49 and then plays to cheap spells. Bringing him to a total of 52….Aetherflux range. Bolas plays a land and a Reassembling Skeleton and passes. Mayael activates ability and EOT gets an Avacyn. Untaps. Plays a land for turn, swings at Oloro. Pays an extra 1 and Path to Exiles the Angel. Now at 53. Everyone is sad. Mayael passes and I search up a Dark Depths EOT. I throw down grave pact and pass. Oloro plays land passes, bolas plays land pass, Mayael EOTs and finds a Godsire. Swings at Oloro and again Oloro removes it. This time with Swords to Plowshares. Mayael is at 18. Mayael passes, EOT I create a 20/20. Oloro tells me if I swing at him he will kill me. I make him show me it. Untap, swing at Oloro with everything, in response Oloro Shoots me for 50….Athreos is dead. Oloro plays some more things, he drops Oloro and eventually is killed by the Mayael player. Then, out of nowhere, Bolas drops a huge Exsanguinate with a lot of mana and brings down Mayael to 2. With no flyers and Bolas newly acquired flying token army he makes his strike and wins the game. I heavily questioned Bolas play with Markov earlier in the game. I still believe it was the wrong choice but he ended up with the win so no shame in that. I have also been learing to play a little more patient with Athreos. I am used to combo heavy lists when in reality I should be the control game with the mini beats. I love the list. It feels like an engine that I can take in any direction I want during game. But today I chose to be a little too aggressive and I paid for it.
10/13/2017: Lost
Turn Order: Uril, Athreos, Locust God, Saskia
I kept a hand of Windswept Heath, Kami of False Hope(this card follows me I swear), Tainted Field, Recruiter of the Guard, Cabal Coffers, Sidisi, Undead Vizier, Vampire Hexmage. I already knew what my plays were going to be. Drop Kami turn 1, Hexmage turn 2, and Recruiter turn 3 to search up the Weathered Wayfarer.
Uril goes Forest, Birds of Paradise, pass. I crack the Heath, search up Scrubland(I have been waiting for the day I could do that), I drop the Kami. Locust God goes Volacnic Island, Sol Ring….oh boy I think to myself. I assume he is on some sort of wheel/combo/control version of the Locust God so I am ready for a big wheel to ruin everything. Saskia is the hero we deserve and goes Taiga, Vandalblast. The table thanks Saskia in chat. Saskia doesn’t respond…she/he is still a hero.
Uril keeps ramping with his green goodness. I’m already up to my turn 3 plays and I am gearing up to search Urborg or Dark Depths. I choose the latter. Locust God is dropping artifact and getting ready to cast Locust God. Saskia throws out Glistener Elf with a Rancor. We now know the true side of Saskia.
Uril has his big feisty Beast/Enchantment commando and gears up for the beats…he chooses me…in response I Vamp Hexmage + Dark Depths combo and receive my 20/20 indestructible flying monster. Easy block on Uril and its back to the command zone. Locust God has no other plays and throws out the cricket himself. Saskia Casts her commander choosing Locust God as the target and swings in at me for 4 infect thanks to an Inkmoth Nexus. Saskia begins to target me.
Uril draws pass. Damnation is the draw for turn, I search up Urborg with the Wayfarer and tap for Coffers for 5 mana. Wipe the board, Athreos triggers on Locust God (pays all) swing in at the Saskia player. Locust God goes Wheel of Fortune(not sure if he had no other plays or was just low on gas) and refills the tables hands. Saskia throws out down Skittles Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon)and passes.
Uril comes back out but no enchantments this time. On my wheel hand I was able to grab a Path to Exile, path skittles, and I swing in with my 20/20. Saskia says GG and leaves the game. Locust God goes, land Locust God, Skullclamp. I am perceived as the threat at the table but I always remind the Uril player what the Locust God can do with those cards. Endless blockers for his big meanie.
Uril puts an Armadillo Cloak on and swings for 9, gains 9. Draw for Turn, Austere Command. Yes! This will nearly guarantee me the game. Austere Command meet….Pact of Negation. I swing in for 20 and the Locust God takes it. The God is at 19. Draw for turn. Makes a 1/1 then miracles Reforge the Soul for turn. Skullclamps his reaminging 1/1s for a total of 14 in the air. Comes at me for 16in the air and I am down to 11 leaving back 2 1/1s.
I am now at Uril’s mercy…he/she should know that the Locust God is going to create a massive army. It takes very little convince and he decides to target the Locust God. God blocks with a 1/1. Uril gains 11 (some enchantment boosting). I draw Eidolon of Rhetoric and I know the writing is on the wall. I swing my 20/20 in at LG…he blocks. LG swings at me. I reveal my top card to see my chances of survival. The very next card…Peackeeper.
Haste on those tokens is great. I was happy I was finally able to get a game against the God in. Had my answers lined up a little better we could have been in there. LG ends up taking the game against Uril. The Saskia player targeting me in the beginning is what really set me back in card advantage. I had to defend myself against her while trying to make sure the Locust God didn’t combo off. Great game with Athreos and I am very happy with the way he performed.
Set Reviews:
Famished Paladin – There is some lifegain in this list. But not enough to make use of him. A 3/3 for 1W is a little underwhelming for EDH.
Martyr of Dusk – Seems to be the most abuse-able white creature in the set for us. I would only play this card if I was crafting a list that was going wide or a more aristocrat-style list.
Radiant Destiny – Unfrotunately our creature types are a little all over the place. If we were dedicated to one tribe, say clerics, I could see this being included.
Slaughter the Strong – I like that this effect makes players sacrifice instead of destroy. We do have a lot of creatures with power under 4. In a meta where you are dealing with heavy stompy lists I can see this making the cut. Perhaps it will be tested in the future. One thing I do not like about it is that it may let our opponents keep their utility creatures.
Sphinx's Decree – Cool little card to slow down our opponents. But because we aren’t running an all-in combo list I am afraid this doesn’t find a home here.
Trapjaw Tyrant – Great beefy body for the low cost of 3WW. It would be nice if we could find a way to do damage to ourselves but this list isn’t poised to abuse the dino. In this list he would be a 5/5 that swings in and occasionally gets blocked to exile a creature.
Zetalpa, Primal Dawn – Oh my, key word soup. If you are around the kitchen table this is the perfect little timmy card. Unfortunately at the high cost of 6WW this dino won’t be making the cut.
Dire Fleet Poisoner – I definitely love me some Ambush Viper. The pirate ability is useless to us. As much as I think this is a cool
Dusk Charger – The City’s Blessing looks interesting as a mechanic. But I don’t think a 3B potential 5/5 vanilla is suitable for Athreos.
Dusk Legion Zealot - I like the Elvish Visionary feels I am getting from this. As of right now I can see this being something we look at if we want to go wide. I feel like this card is much better in an Edgar Markov list.
Golden Demise - I definitely like 1 sided board wipes. But I would rather have my wipes be unconditional at removing non-indestructible dudes. The current wraths I have in now do it better.
Mastermind’s Acquisition – Great option for people running a budget list, but I would rather have a 2 cmc tutor. Its ability to reach outside of the game is something that you would have to talk to you play group about.
Oathsworn Vampire - We do have a very small lifegain sub-theme. I could see this making the cut based on being sac fodder alone. Currently, I do not have plans for this.
Pitiless Plunderer - Creatures will be dying in our list, but I do not think the ramp will be very useful to us. Our cmc averages around 2.61, this means additional ramp isn’t necessary.
Ravenous Chupacabra - I love the unconditional spot removal. I wish it was 1 mana cheaper. He is a close call, but I definitely like having an edict effect on a creature that hits everyone’s board over this for now. Could be worth testing in a creature-dominated meta.
Recover – I like that this cantrips but our commander essentially does what this spell is trying to do.
Tetzimoc, Primal Death – I Love the design of this card. But he is a little too expensive for a lower CMC curve. Good beater…that deathtouch is pretty funny on a creature this big.
Tomb Robber - Great little card advantage engine. Perfect CMC curve for us and menace to top it off. If we are looking for more card advantage this guy could find a home.
Twilight Prophet – Double costed Dark Confidant looks great. I feel like the city’s blessing is easy to achieve in EDH…but I will first be testing how often I can achieve this. Could be a great curve topper in our taxing list.
Vona’s Hunger – Cool effect, but I would much rather have this effect stapled onto a value creature.
Golem Guardian – Neat idea, but I am afraid this is just a beater. We have enough of those kind of effects (or at least the amount we want at this moment).
The Immortal Sun – I believe this will be a staple in more casual EDH lists. The curve is too high for us. We are a hatebear list and may not have room or want this.
Closing Thoughts and Summary:
Big thanks to the mods answering all my questions and especially to user (and owner) of the Memnarch primer benjameenbear. His primer was a huge inspiration on how I organized my own. He aslo helped me greatly by providing any help with the primer formatting.
Athreos, God of Passage is a great death and taxes commander. With a decent ability your multiplayer games will be political and fun. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. I greatly appreciate any and all info. Cheers.
Have you considered Contamination? I think it's a great card to slow down opponents by screwing their mana production entirely. It also helps create a sacrifice trigger for Athreos and the other Aristocrat cards in the deck and puts things in the 'yard for you to abuse again. I think it's a competitive choice that complements the synergy your deck is already trying to create.
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
I like Contamination a lot. I think it would be awesome to pair it with Bitterblossom. I think the hard thing is finding room. What cuts would you suggest?
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
I would keep either the Kami or the Children. I like having 1 of these effects. The pros to Kami is that it stops attacks while children of korlis combo with Necropotence. I have to get the damage first before using children's effect so its worse when being attacked.
I was looking at cutting Helm for Preacher. I wan't at least 1 of these effects in the list. I have to wait a turn with preacher (he is a creature), but the helm costs 1 more, can be activated the turn it comes down and requires us to sac. Or would it be beneficial to run both?
edit: Woah, just read Preacher again. I did not realize our opponent got to choose...perhaps this card doesn't make the cut.
9/28/2017
Out: High Priest of Penance, Debt to the Deathless
In: Dark Confidant, Peacekeeper
The Priest dos not effect the board immediately and it needs our opponent to interact with us to do anything. Debt to the Deathless was a fun game ender that provided us with life. It did not mesh with the strategy completely but I can see it coming back someday. As of right now I do not miss it.
Bob is too good not to put in. Especially when our cmc averages at 2.73-2.77. I wanted an effect like Peackeeper's in the deck. Especially one that allows us to turn it off. The cumulative upkeep clause of 1W is a strength, not a weakness.
I am in the current process of trying to figure out how I want to squeeze Contamination in. I so badly wish this effect was on a creature. I am looking at Grave Titan for possible cuts.
What does your meta look like?
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
My meta is definitely competitive/casual. We each have our main decks that are powerful and then secondary decks which are still competitive but more obscure commanders. I will eventually have a section dedicated to it in the primer. My meta looks like this (from main to secondaries):
MuzzleMuffin:
Memnarch: Mono U Artifact Combo,
Jaya Ballard, Task Mage: Mono R Control,
Athreos, God of Passage: WB Hatebears
Player 1:
Zur the Enchanter: WUB Enchantment Goodstuff,
Marrow-Gnawer: Mono B Relentless Rats.dec,
Karona, False God: WUBRG Walls
Player 2:
Mayael the Anima: WRG Ramp/Big Beats,
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary: UG Creature Toolbox/Combo,
Rishkar, Peema Renegade: Mono G +1+1 Counters/Dork Tribal *Building Process*
Player 3:
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic: WUB Storm Combo/Control,
Karador, Ghost Chieftain: WBG Birthing Pod Critter Combo,
Nahiri, the Lithomancer: Mono W White Weenie Equipment Aggro
Player 4:
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic: WUB All of the Answers Control,
Oros, the Avenger: WBR Board Wipe Control,
Phelddagrif: WUG Group Hug
Each one of these decks has their fair share of wins (I hate to admit it...even the group hug has found a way to squeak wins in). As a group we are able to identify the threat quite easily. There is a lot of U but we also have a good amount of variety.
You know, there's a card from Ixalan that actually seems like it would be really good in conjunction with your commander and can help your weenies be more effective. Dire Fleet Ravager seems like a great way to get everyone to be conservative with their life and help make Athreos a more consistent Reanimation engine instead of a Lightning Bolt. Granted, it's on the high end of the CMC curve and probably competes with Grave Titan, but I think it's a strong inclusion in view of your overall strategy. A card that you might cut to test it out is Children of Korlis, although those two together is a pretty sweet combo.
EDIT: Your card images seem to be working properly now. I can see all of them, and it's a very visually appealing Primer.
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
10/6/2017
Out: Grave Titan
In: Reanimate
I am starting to lower the curve even further. I felt without Nim Deathmantle I wasn't able to utilize the TItan for his combo potentials. If I miss the big beats I will throw him back in. I feel like Reanimate is a B staple. There will always be a value creature I can grab from my yard and thinking of what my opponents may have has me salivating.
Sorry Bear. I will eventually get to the Contamination cut once I obtain one. I think I will even be throwing Bitterblossom in as well. Allowing me sac fodder will be nice.
10/9/2017
Out: Capashen Unicorn
In: Leonin Relic-Warder
I wanted an effect like this to be stapled on a creature. But I wanted that same effect to hit both Artifacts and Enchantments. The leonin does this immediately (with some drawback when getting removed) and the Unicorn was a little too slow.
I have a question for the masses (if they see this). When playing a hatebear style like this that is low to the ground, how much ramp do we then need?
I think that's a great question, and I hope you get a lot of feedback on the answer.
My impression is that colored mana sources are at a premium for your deck. Many of the creatures and spells you're casting don't have a huge colorless requirement in them. Consequently, I think that the emphasis you place on ramp needs to be less present than normal EDH deck. In order to compensate for the lack of ramp, a critical aspect of EDH since it allows you to play more spells in a turn, I think that your draw engines and removal package have to be totally streamlined. Athreos is going to move a lot slower than other decks, since it's geared towards the grinding long game, and making sure that you can consistently interact with opponents with efficient removal and the Stax/Hate-bear suite you have is critical.
Have you thought about a slight MLD theme? Since your CMC is so low to the ground, I believe that you would recover better than other decks out there and be able to position yourself as the head deck in a game after resolving a timely Armageddon or similar effect.
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
If this was a 1v1 list I would definitely slot in Armageddon. But my only beef is that I have to recover against 3+ players. With the low cmc curve I may be able to get there against one opponent, but then the table will surely stack up against Athreos. I plan on getting a game in tonight. I will post the results and look for any times I would have liked to have Armageddon. Keep the ideas flowing I love it.
*Changelog Update
10/13/2017
Out: Children of Korlis, Volrath's Stronghold
In: Carrion Feeder, Winding Canyons
I still wanted to have an effect that somewhat Fog'd our opponents but 2 was too many. The cut was either Kami of False Hope or Children of Korlis. I chose to cut the children because in an instance where our opponent has lethal damage we won't be able to survive with the children. It does combo with Necropotence but I chose the safer route with Kami. I decided that I needed another non-mana intenseive sac outlet and I chose Carrion Feeder. We could make infinite mana with Ashnod's Altar...but this deck isn't primed to abuse it. At least Carrion Feeder has the potential to be an infinite +1+1 counter beatstick and is searchable with Recruiter of the Guard.
I currently do not own a Volrath's Stronghold but I do have a Winding Canyons that looks abusable. Turning our ETB creatures into instant speed removal for 3 extra mana(with the help of tapping 3 lands....don't forget we also have to tap the Canyons) has been great in testing. Our low curve means we will be getting an instant speed creature for at least 5 or 6 mana.
Children of Korlis is a good cut. I think that adding another sac outlet is a decent inclusion, although I still think that Contamination is still a good inclusion...
Do you have any reports from games?
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
But first:
*Changelog Update
10/13/2017
Out: Winding Canyons, Shambling Vent, Temple of Silence, x2 Snow-Covered Swamp, Snow-Covered Plains, Doomed Necromancer.
In: Windswepth Heath, Arid Mesa, Polluted Delta, Bloodstained Mire, Flooded Strand, Verdant Catacombs, Apprentice Necromancer
I decided that I wanted the full flight of fetches to go with my Scrubland and Sun Titan. I decided to cut non-color sources and tap lands, and 3 basics going down to 14 total. I was able to have nearly perfect mana. I also decided to put the Apprentice NEcromancer in for the Doomed NEcromancer. Being 1 mana cheaper and Skullclamp-able was my mean reasonings. When I was using the Doomed NEcromancer my targets usually ended up being sacrficed. This way I get an auto includ sac-like-engine with the Apprentice Necromancer. Still in testing. So far I haven't seen him. I'll be updating the primer shortly. Anyways, on to the game
Turn order: Uril, Athreos, Locust God, Saskia
I kept a hand of Windswept Heath, Kami of False Hope(this card follows me I swear), Tainted Field, Recruiter of the Guard, Cabal Coffers, Sidisi, Undead Vizier, Vampire Hexmage. I already knew what my plays were going to be. Drop Kami turn 1, Hexmage turn 2, and Recruiter turn 3 to search up the Weathered Wayfarer.
Uril goes Forest, Birds of Paradise, pass. I crack the Heath, search up Scrubland(I have been waiting for the day I could do that), I drop the Kami. Locust God goes Volacnic Island, Sol Ring….oh boy I think to myself. I assume he is on some sort of wheel/combo/control version of the Locust God so I am ready for a big wheel to ruin everything. Saskia is the hero we deserve and goes Taiga, Vandalblast. The table thanks Saskia in chat. Saskia doesn’t respond…she/he is still a hero.
Uril keeps ramping with his green goodness. I’m already up to my turn 3 plays and I am gearing up to search Urborg or Dark Depths. I choose the latter. Locust God is dropping artifact and getting ready to cast Locust God. Saskia throws out Glistener Elf with a Rancor. We now know the true side of Saskia.
Uril has his big feisty Beast/Enchantment commando and gears up for the beats…he chooses me…in response I Vamp Hexmage + Dark Depths combo and receive my 20/20 indestructible flying monster. Easy block on Uril and its back to the command zone. Locust God has no other plays and throws out the cricket himself. Saskia Casts her commander choosing Locust God as the target and swings in at me for 4 infect thanks to an Inkmoth Nexus. Saskia begins to target me.
Uril draws pass. Damnation is the draw for turn, I search up Urborg with the Wayfarer and tap for Coffers for 5 mana. Wipe the board, Athreos triggers on Locust God (pays all) swing in at the Saskia player. Locust God goes Wheel of Fortune(not sure if he had no other plays or was just low on gas) and refills the tables hands. Saskia throws out down Skittles Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon)and passes.
Uril comes back out but no enchantments this time. On my wheel hand I was able to grab a Path to Exile, path skittles, and I swing in with my 20/20. Saskia says GG and leaves the game. Locust God goes, land Locust God, Skullclamp. I am perceived as the threat at the table but I always remind the Uril player what the Locust God can do with those cards. Endless blockers for his big meanie.
Uril puts an Armadillo Cloak on and swings for 9, gains 9. Draw for Turn, Austere Command. Yes! This will nearly guarantee me the game. Austere Command meet….Pact of Negation. I swing in for 20 and the Locust God takes it. The God is at 19. Draw for turn. Makes a 1/1 then miracles Reforge the Soul for turn. Skullclamps his reaminging 1/1s for a total of 14 in the air. Comes at me for 16in the air and I am down to 11 leaving back 2 1/1s.
I am now at Uril’s mercy…he/she should know that the Locust God is going to create a massive army. It takes very little convince and he decides to target the Locust God. God blocks with a 1/1. Uril gains 11 (some enchantment boosting). I draw Eidolon of Rhetoric and I know the writing is on the wall. I swing my 20/20 in at LG…he blocks. LG swings at me. I reveal my top card to see my chances of survival. The very next card…Peackeeper.
Haste on those tokens is great. I was happy I was finally able to get a game against the God in. Had my answers lined up a little better we could have been in there. LG ends up taking the game against Uril. The Saskia player targeting me in the beginning is what really set me back in card advantage. I had to defend myself against her while trying to make sure the Locust God didn’t combo off. Great game with Athreos and I am very happy with the way he performed.
Overall, I think you played to the best of your ability. Sometimes your opponents draw a little better than you and there's nothing else you can do. Sadly, it didn't sound like you drew any of your stax/hate-bear pieces. A card to consider might be Phyrexian Revoker or Darksteel Mutation. While it won't stop any of the opponents you played against recently, the Revoker is a utility dork that can Needle a problem permanent and the Mutation can make a threatening general useless. They're both Sun Titan-able too.
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
*Primer Update
I added a "My Playgroup" section. Fun little addition that can give the reader an insight in what I play against frequently. However, I do play a lot online as that is where a lot of my testing is done.
*Changelog Update
10/31/2017
Out: Dictate of Erebos
In: Enlightened Tutor
I've been looking at the next cut as Dictate of Erebos. It's a great effect in this deck. But being at 5cmc I am not the biggest fan. I prefer Grave Pact just because it is cheaper (even w/out flash). I'll most likely be adding a Enlightened Tutor. I was refraining from buying one, but being able to search Skullclamp and any of our enchantments is too powerful to turn away.
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
Do we think Stoneforge Mystic would be a good inclusion in the list? Obviously it would be great to search up that Skullclamp, but is running only 1 equipment enough? I feel like if I include the Mystic we would want at least 2.
I'm going to GP Portland on Nov 17-18th and I plan on picking up a Contamination.
The list seems pretty tight. As I am always looking for updates, I am currently looking at cuts of:
Orzhov Signet: Ramp is good...but I am not sure how powerful it is here. The signets are staples and at the current momment I like that its here.
Helm of Possession: I personally believe theft to be the best form of removal in MTG. Helm gives us a sac ouutlet as well as removal...but I wonder if its too slow? Being a total of 6 to use on the same turn.
Mike + Trike combo: Its great to have this as an instant win and Mikaeus, the Unhallowed plays nicely with our creatures...but I am having second thoughts as if its worth it or not.
I understand Athreos is not a very popular general, but I am excited to see ideas from others.
*Primer Update
Added a game reports section. I am continuing to look for ways to upgrade the primer. Any suggestions are always appreciated.
11/06/2017: Lost
Turn Order Athreos, Oloro, Nicol Bolas, Mayael
I kept a hand of Bloodstained Mire, Recruiter of the Guard, Snow-covered Plains, Knight of the White Orchid, Reflecting Pool, Grave Pact, Blood Artist. I decided to keep this soley based on the fact that I had Recruiter in hand. I planned on searching up the Weathered Wayfarer. I’m on the play, draw for turn is a Mother of Runes. Sac fetch go to 39, grab Scrubland and throw out mom. Oloro goes Island into Sol Ring. Bolas goes Island, go. Mayael plays Arid Mesa and passes. At this point I already know Oloro is the one I need to keep in order. I throw down Reflecting Pool and play Blood Artist. Oloro plays Underground Sea and passes. Bolas plays Mountain and passes. Mayael draws into a Birds of Paradise (right on time….am I right?), plays Forest and BoP. At this point in the game I had decisions to make. I chose to be the aggressor and I continued with my plan of searching up Weathered Wayfarer. Oloro plays a Plains and then plays a card that makes the whole tables blood go cold…Aetherflux Reservoir (such a house in Oloro). The whole table is trying to figure out how to get rid of it and I am the one with instant regret on the inside…I could have grabbed a Leonin Relic-Warder. Oloro is at 46 life. Bolas goes land into Darksteel Ingot (Reminder: Bolas is a player who has been in our group for a long time but he doesn’t have the budget or willingness to tune his list). Mayael finally comes to the board is now at 5 mana. Next turn we will see some top decked fatties. Back to my turn. Draw for the turn is a land. I play the Wayfarer out and I start go get my engine going. Swing mom at Oloro bringing him down to 45. Oloro goes up to 47, plays land Ponder and digs through his cards. Goes to 48. Choosing not to shuffle he grabs one. Passes. Bolas goes land and drops Sorin Markov (THANK JEEBUS!). He goes to minus, targets?....Mayael. My heart sank. I try to convince him how important it is to have Oloro be at a life total nowhere near 50 life. He chooses to ignore me and targets Mayael…. sad day. Mayael is at 10. Passes. Mayael go land and passes. Leaving 6 mana up. EOT I search up a Thespian’s Stage. Untap. Draw a Thalia and play her down. Swing 1 at Oloro bringing him to 47 and I pass. Oloro goes to 49 and then plays to cheap spells. Bringing him to a total of 52….Aetherflux range. Bolas plays a land and a Reassembling Skeleton and passes. Mayael activates ability and EOT gets an Avacyn. Untaps. Plays a land for turn, swings at Oloro. Pays an extra 1 and Path to Exiles the Angel. Now at 53. Everyone is sad. Mayael passes and I search up a Dark Depths EOT. I throw down grave pact and pass. Oloro plays land passes, bolas plays land pass, Mayael EOTs and finds a Godsire. Swings at Oloro and again Oloro removes it. This time with Swords to Plowshares. Mayael is at 18. Mayael passes, EOT I create a 20/20. Oloro tells me if I swing at him he will kill me. I make him show me it. Untap, swing at Oloro with everything, in response Oloro Shoots me for 50….Athreos is dead. Oloro plays some more things, he drops Oloro and eventually is killed by the Mayael player. Then, out of nowhere, Bolas drops a huge Exsanguinate with a lot of mana and brings down Mayael to 2. With no flyers and Bolas newly acquired flying token army he makes his strike and wins the game. I heavily questioned Bolas play with Markov earlier in the game. I still believe it was the wrong choice but he ended up with the win so no shame in that. I have also been learing to play a little more patient with Athreos. I am used to combo heavy lists when in reality I should be the control game with the mini beats. I love the list. It feels like an engine that I can take in any direction I want during game. But today I chose to be a little too aggressive and I payed for it.