This deck is a slower, more defense-oriented take on Shadowborn Apostle Decks, which traditionally can be somewhat fragile and narrow. Obviously our first step is till to get six apostles onto the battlefield so that we may bring Razaketh, the Foulblooded into play. From there, use Razaketh to tutor for the necessary resources as you need them- mana via rituals and rocks, creatures via Thrumming Stone and/or recursion, and life via drain cards like Blood Artist and Soul Warden. Once you have accrued enough mana/storm count/devotion to black/graveyard entries, cast a big finishing spell like Exsanguinate, Torment of Hailfire, Tendrils of Agony, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, or Bitter Ordeal to close out the game. All of these spells manage to keep our life total up and our opponents' disruption down even if we need to cast them without enough oomph to end the on the spot. Disruption and removal coming your way will be inevitable, but at least with access to white Razaketh can tutor for Mana Tithe, Lapse of Certainty, and a variety of spot removal. If you run out of or need to conserve mana, with enough life Razaketh can tutor for several removal spells with alternative casting costs such as Abolish and Sickening Shoal, as well as the cards you pitch to pay some of those costs. In the absence of a big flashy finish, grinding opponents out with steady saccing and recursion with a Blood Artist on the field should provide plenty of value for you to endure.
The most difficult part of building this deck is definitely finding the right balance between having all the right answers and having consistent apostles for an early Razaketh. I stuck with a high amount of answers because if you don't find your apostles right away, they'll still be there while you protect yourself, whereas if you can't access your removal and counterspells for any reason, then it's likely game over.
Comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated!
