I've been playtesting with this guy a little bit and it turns out he's just nuts.
General: Athreos, God of Passage
Doomed Traveler
Mikaeus, the Lunarch
Serra Ascendant
Grand Abolisher
Imposing Sovereign
War Priest of Thune
Archetype of Courage
Devout Chaplain
Frontline Medic
Mirror Entity
Xathrid Necromancer
Heliod, God of the Sun
Linvala, Keeper of Silence
Odric, Master Tactician
Geist-Honored Monk
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Spear of Heliod
Mentor of the Meek
Disciple of Bolas
Erebos, God of the Dead
Harvester of Souls
Skullclamp
Vampiric Tutor
Demonic Tutor
Necropotence
Phyrexian Arena
Corpse Hauler
Reveillark
Sun Titan
Angel of Glory's Rise
Phyrexian Reclamation
Immortal Servitude
Malevolent Awakening
Blood Artist
Suture Priest
Syndic of Tithes
Vizkopa Guildmage
Kingpin's Pet
Falkenrath Noble
Blind Obedience
Skirsdag Flayer
Fiend Hunter
Necrotic Sliver
Magus of the Abyss
Shriekmaw
Condemn
Attrition
Vindicate
Grave Pact
Return to Dust
Akroma's Vengeance
Viscera Seer
Cartel Aristocrat
Teysa, Orzhov Scion
Maw of the Obzedat
Sadistic Hypnotist
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Burnished Hart
Solemn Simulacrum
Sol Ring
Armillary Sphere
Orzhov Signet
12 Plains
7 Swamp
Scrubland
Godless Shrine
Caves of Koilos
Fetid Heath
Isolated Chapel
Orzhov Basilica
Command Tower
Evolving Wilds
Marsh Flats
Terramorphic Expanse
Thawing Glaciers
Emeria, the Sky Ruin
Mistveil Plains
Bojuka Bog
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Dust Bowl
Vault of the Archangel
Volrath's Stronghold
I've discovered a few things while playing this deck so far:
1) People are unwilling to pay life for obviously non-abusive creatures (that is, not stuff like Necrotic Sliver) even if you're not pressuring them. It makes it incredibly easy to get a bunch of incremental card advantage out of sacrifice outlets and seemingly suicidal attacks.
2) The tribal Humans subtheme is nice and gives the deck some structure, but it could use more support.
3) The deck could use some more library manipulation, plus ways to clear out a cluttered board. I'm actually thinking of running Killing Wave because it seems incredibly punishing even at X=2 or 3 just because you sacrifice all your non-Athreos creatures to it and then aim all the Raise Dead triggers at the guy with the lowest life.
Last edited by Aggro_zombies; 04-25-2014 at 05:00 AM.
This deck looks like a blast to play. A bunch of random thoughts:
Is something like Circle of Despair and/or Martyr's Cause worth inclusion?
Martyr's Bond is a little pricey mana-wise, but it's essentially a white grave pact for permanents. There's also the new flash Grave Pact from Journey into Nyx. If you'd prefer, there's World Queller on the creature side of things, but it's not as passive as Martyr's Bond.
What about Elspeth 1.0 or 3.0?
Lastly, Austere Command seems like it could be good in here. It gives you a little control over whether or not your guys are going to the bin, and also pinch hits for artifact/enchantment removal if that's what you need.
I like the idea of Austere Command. I think Command, Killing Wave, and maybe Akroma's Vengeance are worth running, but I don't want to cut creatures for them.
Elspeth 3.0 seems best here.
As for the others, I'll have to think about it.
I'm looking into Athreos as well but am unsure of which direction to go in. Maybe clerics.
I'm for sure going to add in Bloodchief Ascension and Mindcrank. The big problem with Athreos is that your opponent is given a choice so you might as well make that decision a tough one.
Also some sort of dredge enabler would work well with the human sub-theme with Dread Return suddenly becoming very powerful.
Thus far, most opponents have simply chosen to give the creatures back to me. It's really not worth it to pay the life for generic aggressive dorks.
Dredge is one direction you could consider. You're probably better off doing a good stuff list at that point.
Clerics might be too defensive. If your stuff isn't dying left and right, Athreos gets less interesting.
I was shuffling through some stuff the other day and stumbled on Silverblade Paladin - seems like a solid inclusion for your human package. It's also targetable by Reveillark and Sun Titan should your opponent decide to pay the life.
It's interesting because this really does look like a decent deck to have so many non-bruisers in the deck. I'm so conditioned to treat 5/5s in EDH as 2/2s in most other constructed formats that a list like this almost makes my tummy hurt, like I'm nervous for you bro
It looks really flipping cool though.
I am curious as to why a creature-centric list would not run Stoneforge Mystic and good equipment cards. Unless you're just not trying to 'be that guy', and so maybe I am incorrectly taking some of my Orzhov woes with me from my own lists, but your 5-power commander is just one Sword of Beavis and Butthead away from being 7 power (and therefore a relevant 3-turn clock when commander damage is the right path to victory). Even without that as a concern, you still probably want SFM because it plays right into the deck's engine; it's a small, killable dude that has a noteworthy effect and makes the opponent have to think about whether or not they want to pay that life.
Creature size is less relevant if you have other ways to close out games. In EDH, big smashy dudes are valuable because most removal spells are sweepers, so having a bunch of small utility dorks means you'll never put out enough damage before you lose all your guys. Athreos lets me cheat on that because people really don't want to pay life for the likes of Kingpin's Pet or Vizkopa Guildmage, so Wraths just let my little dorks be relevant again on a fresh slate.
Also, extort lets me reduce other people's life totals much faster than you would think based on the size of my creatures. If I wasn't trying to stick to a light tribal theme, I would definitely be running all of the two-drop extort guys, plus the one-drop Thrull. Extort is bonkers in this deck.
As for equipment...
My original, hundred-and-something-card draft for this deck had Stoneforge, SoFI, SoFF, Jitte, and Greaves. In the process of trimming that down to sixty-three cards, I scrapped the entire package. My logic was something like this: equipment is mostly nice to have, but since I'm not trying to Voltron anything, it's not really a necessity. Furthermore, because I wanted to have a much higher ratio of creatures to spells than I normally do to support Athreos, a package that ate up a full four non-creature slots needed to be really good in order to justify the reduced flexibility in deckbuilding. Of the equipment I was running, only SoFF really stood out as being super sweet. However, running Stoneforge just to find SoFF seemed...loose. At that point, I was now down to just SoFF in the maindeck. I ended up cutting it in a later round of revisions mostly because having a random one-of Sword didn't really seem all that good, even if it did untap all my lands.
It's not worth it to Bolt yourself for the likes of Kingpin's Pet or Vizkopa Guildmage. Even Shriekmaw sometimes comes back.
Killing Wave is a blast. I Unsummon my own guys and hit everyone else for 8-12 life.
I'm considering Requiem Angel since Xathrid Necromancer has been so good. Village Cannibals and Unruly Mob might also be sweet.
Since you target the opponent to make the decision about paying the life, you can significantly abuse cards like Bone Shredder and Shriekmaw and Wispmare by making deals with people to target things that they want dead. Diplomacy can really pay off. If there is a monoblack player, then you get mad value because they know you're never going to target them and will let you recycle Shriekmaw all day. As in, you can pay 5BBBBB and Plague Wind selected players.
OK, I think I just broke Atheros. It's by no means good, but this is hilarious.
//Commander: 1
Athreos, God of Passage
//Mana: 37
Sol Ring
Mana Crypt
Mox Diamond
Dark Ritual
Culling the Weak
Marsh Flats
Windswept Heath
Arid Mesa
Flooded Strand
Bloodstained Mire
Polluted Delta
Verdant Catacombs
City of Brass
Command Tower
Isolated Chapel
Scrubland
Godless Shrine
Temple of Silence
Caves of Koilos
Fetid Heath
Crypt of Agadeem
Ancient Tomb
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Orzhov Guildgate
Ebon Stronghold
12 Swamp
//Tutors: 10
Enlightened Tutor
Vampiric Tutor
Imperial Seal
Demonic Tutor
Diabolic Intent
Idyllic Tutor
Grim Tutor
Diabolic Tutor
Increasing Ambition
Diabolic Revelation
//Recursion: 3
Angel of Glory's Rise
Patriarch's Bidding
Elixir of Immortality
//Life Drain: 2
Exsanguinate
Tendrils of Agony
//Engines: 4
Carnival of Souls
Enduring Renewal
Phyrexian Altar
Thrumming Stone
//Creatures: 43
Rune-Scarred Demon
Harvester of Souls
Abhorrent Overlord
Mirror Entity
40 Shadowborn Apostle
Infinite lifedrain FTW. Atheros just punishes people REALLY HARD for not giving you back Apostles.
Overall I really like the OP list and the dork+extort strategy. Atheros seems best in a grindy/Diplomatic strategy. But I had to post this.
Last edited by FTW; 05-05-2014 at 02:15 AM.
That deck is so sweet I think you broke my brain.
"We are goblinkind, heirs to the mountain empires of chieftains past. Rest is death to us, and arson is our call to war."
@FTW I recommend adding in Angel's Grace, Ad Nauseam and Edgewalker. It adds another win out of nowhere combo and ignores graveyard hate.
Updated list:
Doomed Traveler
Serra Ascendant
Weathered Wayfarer
Viscera Seer
Grand Abolisher
Imposing Sovereign
Suture Priest
War Priest of Thune
Cartel Aristocrat
Tidehollow Sculler
Blood Artist
Corpse Hauler
Skirsdag Flayer
Skirsdag High Priest
Auramancer
Blade Splicer
Fiend Hunter
Mentor of the Meek
Mirror Entity
Necrotic Sliver
Teysa, Orzhov Scion
Phyrexian Rager
Xathrid Necromancer
Academy Rector
Linvala, Keeper of Silence
Odric, Master Tactician
Ranger of Eos
Disciple of Bolas
Erebos, God of the Dead
Falkenrath Noble
Magus of the Abyss
Nekrataal
Geist-Honored Monk
Maw of the Obzedat
Bloodgift Demon
Sadistic Hypnotist
Shriekmaw
Requiem Angel
Sun Titan
Harvester of Souls
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Enlightened Tutor
Vampiric Tutor
Skullclamp
Demonic Tutor
Diabolic Intent
Necropotence
Phyrexian Arena
Attrition
Vindicate
Return to Dust
Grave Pact
Akroma's Vengeance
Austere Command
Phyrexian Reclamation
Blind Obedience
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Burnished Hart
Solemn Simulacrum
Sol Ring
Armillary Sphere
Orzhov Signet
12 Plains
7 Swamp
Godless Shrine
Scrubland
Fetid Heath
Isolated Chapel
Orzhov Basilica
Command Tower
Emeria, the Sky Ruin
Mistveil Plains
Bojuka Bog
Phyrexian Tower
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Dust Bowl
Vault of the Archangel
Volrath's Stronghold
Evolving Wilds
Marsh Flats
Terramorphic Expanse
Thawing Glaciers
Have you tried doomed necromancer? He's proven to be useful in my build (which is similar to yours), and is a human to boot.
I have had it suggested to me before, but I dunno. I might try him if Auramancer doesn't work out, but I feel like Apprentice Necromancer might be better in that role.
I managed to work Dictate of Erebos into the deck, but I'm still trying to figure out how to get Dictate of Heliod in. I may just cut a creature for it. I'd also like to get in Merciless Eviction since I run few planeswalkers, non-expendable artifacts, or creatures that can't be profitably sacrificed.
This is my current build that I've been playing with for about a month now. There is room for a few more cuts and changes that I plan on making later on, but the deck overall has been consistent enough to merit me keeping it and tinker with. The deck gains traction best with thrumming Stone in play and dropping 1 Shadowborn Apostle. Although I have had times when the initial Shadowborn got no hits they are few and the typical expectation is to see 1-3 hits on each ripple. This should only take 1-2 attempts to drop all your Shadowborn onto the field. Razaketh, the foulblooded is your first tutor when sacing the first round of Shadowborn. Don't forget that Athreos, God of Passage will trigger for each individual Shadowborn. Pick one person and stay on them till dead or they quite. Razaketh is not needed for the win, so if the opponent tries to kill him just tutor for every piece you need to finish the kill in response:
Dark Ritual
Swamp and Mox Diamond
Zulaport Cutthroat
Blood Artist
Phyrexian Altar
At this point you should have dropped in 24-27 Shadowborn Apostles, so lets say 24 on the low end. You sacrificed 6 of them already to tutor for Razaketh. You have also just sacrificed 6 more Shadowborn Apostles for the key cards to drop combo the same turn (If you have the mana or have already played some of them adjust the math accordingly from what I'm typing) and should have about 12 Shadowborn Apostle on the field. Mox, discard swamp, play dark ritual, drop Phyrexian Altar, sac 2 Shadowborn Apostle to drop zulaport cutthroat first (this is because he triggers on all opponents and doesn't target), trigger on Athreos for each, sac 2 Shadowborn Apostle to altar to drop blood artist, trigger on Athreos for each, trigger on blood artist for each, gain 2 life, they lose 2 life, and you should have 8 Shadowborn Apostles left on the field ready to trigger the field on sac for 2 life each (thats 16 life lose total for the opponent), and be very assure that at this point they are not paying 3 life to keep the Shadowborn Apostle in the graveyard as you have pushed them into a corner and brutally drained them in a very horrific way. The other opponent(s) at this point have been drained as well to a point and are most likely not in a position to deny you from the rest of their life.
*Note: Phyrexian Altar can potentially gain you infinite mana if Edgewalker is also in play.
*Note: Edgewalker works very well in Phyrexian Altars place, if the altar is for some reason unavailable for use. Just use Shadowborn Apostle's sac ability to tutor (even if there is no available demon to grab).
**Note: Immortal Servitude becomes valuable if you have multiple opponents to kill and you've sac'ed everything you can for your 1 drops. tendrils of Agony is another viable choice to use for the storm count if you are at this point in the game, but I don't currently run it.
Commnader:
Athreos, God of Passage
Key Creatures:
27 Shadowborn Apostle
1 Suture Priest
1 Zulaport Cutthroat
1 Blood Artist
Demons:
1 Razaketh, the Foulblooded
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Lord of the Void
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Demon of wailing agonies
Supporting Creature Roles:
1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1 Scion of Darkness
1 Dark Supplicant
1 Edgewalker
1 Cabal Archon
1 Rotlung Reanimator
1 Mother of Runes
1 High Pries of Pennance
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Grim Haruspex
1 Dark Confidant
Planeswalker:
1 Liliana Vess
Enchantments
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Dark Tutelage
1 Grave Pact
1 Dictate of Erebos
Tutor
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Demonic Tutor
Removal:
1 Vindicate
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Killing Wave
1 Damnation
Mana Ramp:
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Diamond
1 Dark Ritual
1 Expedition Mag
1 Orzhov Signet
Key Artifact:
1 Thrumming Stone
Supporting Artifacts:
1 Phyrexian Altar
1 Skullclamp
1 Sensei's Divining Top
Reboot:
1 Immortal Servitude
Lands:
13 Swamp
9 Plains
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Vivid Marsh
1 mana Confluence
1 Grand Coliseum
1 Godless Shrine
1 Rupture Spire
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Caves of Koilos
1 City of Brass
1 Tainted Field
1 Temple of Silence
1 Scrubland
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