Like many, I got the inspiration for this deck from Josh of GameKnights but I had no idea what it would turn into, and I am very pleased with the outcome. In my opinion, the GK's version of the deck is the "budget friendly" version. This deck is as close to "optimized" as I am going to take it. Obviously, I could add in the other fetch lands/mox diamond, etc... and there will always be new black and/or white cards that come out to test, but for now, this is where the build is at. Below I will go through some of my card choices. Please feel free to leave a comment on what you think of the deck, this is my pet-project and my baby, so I am always looking for new ways to innovate. Thanks!
The Commander:
Athreos, God of Passage is the commander I decided to lead my army of apostles. There is a multitude of reasons I went with this commander over others, but the main reason is the card text "Whenever another creature you own dies, return it to your hand unless target opponent pays 3 life." Being able to select your target for whether they want to pay the life or not is very impactful. Another reason I am running this commander is the fact that it is only 3 CMC. Getting him out as early as possible is the name of the game. Being able to capitalize on the life-drain or getting the apostle back to reuse is important. Finally, the last reason I chose this commander is the access to . There is a lot of interaction in white and some of the more important/powerful spells in this deck are white or have white in their mana cost.
Lands/Manabase:
I found it VERY easy to completely overhaul the land-base of this deck from the GK's version. For starters, I took out all of the "slow" lands that come into play tapped and replaced them with a much faster manabase. I went back and forth for a long time over how many basics I should run and I honestly feel that 5 swamps and 4 or 5 plains is the right amount. A mid-to-late-game Lake of the Dead can be an absolute powerhouse at producing mana especially if it is paired with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. As always Urborg and Cabal Coffers are MVP. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is a super busted card in this deck and the amount of mana production it gives is insane. Finally, I never really appreciated how great Phyrexian Tower was until I played it in this deck, the card is amazing.
Creatures:
This deck is unique in that there are only a few decks in the commander format that allow you to have multiple copies of a single card in them. This entire deck revolves around the card Shadowborn Apostle and the sheer ability to spit them out in multiples at a time. Early on I started with 30 apostles and I honestly found that to be too many. I ended up landing around the 25-28 number as the "sweet spot" as I still usually will draw the perfect amount and that I can still consistently cast them off of Thrumming Stone. The demon choices, and the amount of demons, is always changing and I feel that there are only three to four demons that should be ran. The main two are Rune-Scarred Demon and Razaketh, the Foulblooded and realistically, you could make the deck work with just those two. Taborax, Hope's Demise is the third demon in the list. Some might consider Harvester of Souls, Archfiend of Despair or Burning-Rune Demon, all of which are excellent choices! But for what I have tested and where my deck is currently, the first three mentioned are the choices ive gone with. Blood Artist and Edgewalker are standard when playing this deck and I really enjoy playing Gray Merchant of Asphodel as well. I was a little hesitant at first (because of his CMC) but once you drop him onto a board of 20+ apostles and other big CMC creatures, you will see exactly why he is amazing. Ayara, First of Locthwain is a really nice addition and just gives more opportunites to draw cards and drain/gain life easily. Rotlung Reanimator is a new addition and I will be testing it out to see how well I like it. I did choose it over Xathrid Necromancer soley because the 2/2 Zombies do enter untapped with Rotlung as opposed to Xathrid (so it does give some comfort if needing to block).
Artifacts:
Outside of the apostles and demons, the artifacts are the heart and soul of this deck. To start, Skullclamp is probably the best card in the deck hands down. It works flawlessly with the apostles. The two sac-outlets (Ashnod's Altar and Phyrexian Altar) are both standard and are the ways you will produce infinite mana with this deck. Skullclamp may be the best card in the deck but Thrumming Stone is a VERY close second. This card is just so powerful and to possibly be able to churn out every apostle in the deck from just casting one, it is simply overpowered. Scroll Rack is an interesting choice and one that I am still testing. I have tried Sensei's Divining Top but I have liked the multiple draw aspect of Rack much more so far.
Enchantments:
Not much to say here. I will mention that I did play around with Black Market for the longest time but in the end I found that it's higher CMC was just too much to consistently gain advantage from. Dark Prophecy gives adequate card draw when needed and Remembrance is very good at pulling out every single apostle from your deck. I am electing not to play Grave Pact, I wish I had a spot for it however, because another sacrifice card is great for clearing problem boards.
Sorceries:
Again, not much to say here for this category. All of these are pretty standard in any deck like this. Immortal Servitude is absolutely amazing at bringing back a swarm of apostles and just going off from there. The other win-cons of the deck are located in these slots. Tendrils of Agony and Torment of Hailfire/Exsanguinate all get the job done. Cast and recast apostles for massive storm or pump infinite mana into "X" and drain everybody out. I am testing out how well I like Farewell over other boardwipes such as Austere Command or Merciless Eviction. However, you can run whatever boardwipe package you desire. I do like the versatility of Damn over Damnation as well.
Instants:
Finally, the instants are where the majority of my removal is located. I chose to run Swords to Plowshares over Path to Exile for one simple fact: I don't care how much life you gain. I do care if you put a land into play if that is the land you need to go off with. This deck does so much life-drain that the small amount you would get from Swords is almost non-existent within a turn or two. I am always back and forth on Utter End and Anguished Unmaking for that slot and I sometimes wish I could just run both (maybe I will find room someday). Deadly Rollick is a "free" removal spell since you will almost always have Athreos out (and he rarely gets removed due to indestructible). I am running three ritual spells, and this is just to help speed the production of apostles and other key cards along.
Overall thoughts: This deck does a lot of tutoring, wrathing, casting and sacrificing apostles. In most situations you will want your opponent's to give you back the apostles off the Athreos triggers, however, it is not the end of the world if they do end up paying for them to stay in the grave. There are 25-28 of them so if your opponent's want to pay for a few, let them, it all adds up in the end. I have had many people say at the end of a game "man, I shouldn't have paid for all of those apostles because it really didn't matter". And it doesn't really matter. You will have so many more opportunities within the game to combo-off after the first time you try. To be honest the deck runs itself for the most part. You just have to keep up on the death triggers and respond to things that would really hurt your board. This deck can go infinite quickly and can do so in a few different ways. I have found that I like to keep the CMC of this deck fairly low and I love how quickly it can get going from the very beginning of the game.
This has been such a fun deck to build and play with and I hope you get enjoyment out of watching people struggle to decide whether or not to pay 3 life for a tiny 1 drop 1/1 every time it dies. ;)
