My deck is almost complete. Much thanks to NoSoyYucateco and others for some very astute recommendations.
These changes have increased my ACMC from ~3.5 to a little over 4, this is not the direction i was hoping to go; so any recommendations that does not hurt the effectiveness but gets me closer to the original 3.5 ACMC would be seriously appreciated.
as for how the deck now operates:
The deck is still heavy on removal, focusing on sac effects and board wipes. There is a dash of -1/-1 effects just for good measure.
The main sac removal cards are: Butcher of Malakir, Dictate of Erebos, and Grave Pact. I artificially activate these effects by using cards such as Disciple of Bolas, Fume Spitter, Hell's Caretaker, Ashnod's Altar or echo cards like Karmic Guide or Bone Shredder. And by using Athreos, God of Passage's ability i can either reuse these same cards multiple times, or cause just a tad more pain as a bonus. A recent addition of Wound Reflection has made the decision of returning my card or feeling the hurt, that much harder.
board wipes also pair extremely well with this deck since Athreos, God of Passage is indestructible i am free to wipe with abandon, and then let my opponents decide if they want to feel more pain or let me get my cards back in my hand.
This brought me to the problem, of summoning sickness and the fact that most board wipes do not work at instant speed. This is what brings me to Vedalken Orrery and Winding Canyons. Allowing me to rebuild my board before my turn, as well as use my many ETB effects on opponent turns.
this strategy is the bread and butter of this deck, and as you may have noticed, it is seriously lacking in any ability to actually finish the match. It does a splendid job of controlling the flow, but does not have the oomph it needs to go in for the kill.
I have a couple solutions for this, the most diverse being the aforementioned Wound Reflection. Doubling the hurt from all sources is going to add up quickly, but in most cases i have to admit, its probably not going to hang around on the board for long. So I have some other options:
Rise of the Dark Realms
+
Vedalken Orrery
is a straightforward win condition. With all the creature removal i have, coupled with a multiplayer match, there should be plenty of creatures to work with; and by casting it at instant speed right before my turn, i will be able to swing with the lot of them with minimal risk of a response. without vedalken orrery its still pretty solid, but instant speed IMO secures it a spot as a go-to win-con.
Black Sun's Zenith + Necroskitter
works similar to Rise of the Dark Realms, but with all monsters in play (with enough mana), and with the added bonus of a quasi-boardwipe to boot.
Midnight Banshee + Necroskitter
works in much the same way as the others so far, but is slower, more limited, and easier to shut down, so over all a sub-par combo, but still a possibility.
Filth + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
with filth in the graveyard and urborg on the field i can swing with my whole board, and nothing can block.
last and most traditional is pairing all of my removal with some decent sized creatures. Clear an opponents board and swing with a bunch of decently powered creature cards and it will make quick work of the opponents.
some cards of note:
Children of Korlis and Kami of False Hope = life saver's: cheap sac-able creatures to negate damage done. pairs well with sac removal.
Blood Artist, Sangromancer, Gray Merchant of Asphodel = primarily life gain, but with wound reflections blood artis and gray merchant can be real pains in the ass.
Crypt Ghast, Magus of the Coffers, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx = heavy mana gen.
Disciple of Bolas, Grim Haruspex, Harvester of Souls = card draw.
Ogre Slumlord, Teysa, Orzhov Scion = token gen. These cards alone or paired with each other are great. But throw in Grave Pact or its equivalents, and/or Ashnod's Altar or Blood Artist and you've added a whole dynamic to the deck.
there is more depth to the deck, but these are the primary goals/cards of import. Any input is always welcome. Thank you for looking at my deck.
