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Black Bolt | Athreos, Shadowborn [PRIMER]

Commander / EDH Aristocrats Cleric Combo Demons Multiplayer Primer Reanimator Sacrifice Theme/Gimmick WB (Orzhov)

Icaruskid

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Land (35)

Creature (41)

Sorcery (9)

Artifact (4)

Commander (1)

Commander: foil Athreos, God of Passage

Instant (6)

Enchantment (4)

Maybeboard

Sorcery (3)

Black Bolt

Sometimes you just have to break the rules. Playing 30+ of the same non-land card is not typically possible in a singleton format like EDH. That is why this deck is so different from others as we flood the battlefield with Shadowborn Apostle, use them to tutor up powerful demons, and let Athreos, God of Passage do damage or bring them back.

The deck is named Black Bolt because Athreos is dealing black Lightning Bolts worth of damage. It also is a nod to The Inhumans comic book character of the same name who is quiet until force is necessary and then his voice can shatter planets.

$300 Budget version is a total blast to play too!

Black Bolt

  • You prefer to play your commander in every game.
  • You want to take advantage of all zones of play, especially the graveyard.
  • You enjoy uncommon strategies and playing in ways few other decks can.
  • You like being the surprise threat at the table.
  • You consider putting cards together in unique combinations to be some of the best fun in Magic.

Black Bolt

  • You don't want to rely on your commander in most games.
  • You don't like playing 30+ of the same card.
  • Nuking the table out of nowhere is not your style.
  • Your meta is filled with graveyard hate.

Black Bolt

“Aristocrats” is a Magic deck archetype that seeks to sacrifice its own creatures, especially many low-cost and/or token creatures, to accumulate game-winning benefits. Aristocrats decks use a combination of sacrifice outlets and cards that trigger when their creatures enter and/or leave the battlefield.

  1. Play all the Shadowborn Apostle.
  2. Sacrifice them to draw cards, do damage, and cheat a demon into play.
  3. Then use Athreos, God of Passage to do more damage or return them to hand.
  4. Rinse, Repeat.

Black Bolt

  1. Aristocrat Damage as from Ayara, First of Locthwain, Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim, and Athreos, God of Passage. See combos below.
  2. Combat damage.

Blackbolt

Combo 1

  1. Sacrifice a Shadowborn Apostle to Phyrexian Altar to generate .
  2. This triggers Remembrance to tutor another Shadowborn Apostle from your library to your hand which you can cast thanks to the mana you just generated.
  3. Each time you repeat this loop, Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim pings an opponent for 1 damage until nearly all 32 Apostles have been fetched and sacrificed.
  4. With Athreos, God of Passage in play, these Apostles keep coming back once an opponent can't afford 3 life to keep each one in the graveyard.

Black Bolt

Combo 2

  1. With Edgewalker in play, cast Secret Salvage and fill your hand with up to 32x Shadowborn Apostle.
  2. With Ayara, First of Locthwain in play, cast each Shadowborn Apostle for free due to Edgewalker.
  3. Each creature entering the battlefield causes Ayara, First of Locthwain to do 1 damage to each opponent.
  4. For every six Shadowborn Apostles, you can activate Shadowborn Apostle to sacrifice them and tutor a demon to the battlefield.
  5. With Athreos, God of Passage in play, opponents will give the Shadowborn Apostles back to your hand rather than pay 3 life each. So you can play them free again repeating the cycle.

Note: Thrumming Stone is an alternative to Secret Salvage. And Phyrexian Alter is an alternative to Edgewalker.

Black Bolt

Combo 4

  1. With Phyrexian Altar and Thrumming Stone in play, cast a Shadowborn Apostle.
  2. This should almost always put every Shadowborn Apostle remaining in the library into play.
  3. Sacrifice a Shadowborn Apostle to Phyrexian Altar to generate and then activate Shadowborn Apostle's ability and put Razaketh, the Foulblooded into play.
  4. Thanks to Athreos, God of Passage, the six Shadowborn Apostle that were sacrificed should either do 18 damage to an opponent or they have to put them back into your hand.
  5. Razaketh, the Foulblooded tutors for a damage source like Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim or Ayara, First of Locthwain. Play it using mana from Phyrexian Altar.
  6. Then just keep sacrificing Shadowborn Apostles to Phyrexian Alter, doing damage, and replaying them.

Bb8

  • Surprise value.
  • Unique gameplay.
  • Resilience.
  • Combo wins feel fair.
  • Vulnerable to graveyard hate.
  • Heavy reliance on commander.
  • Some variance.

Updates Add

New sets — Sept. 8, 2022
Edit

I'm trying on some new cards as several sets have come out since the last update. They even reprinted Shadowborn Apostle and Thrumming Stone !

What I'm noticing most right now is that I don't always have a critical mass of Shadowborn Apostle and in those scenarios I don't always have card draw either. So I've added in more card advantage like Shadow-Rite Priest, Taborax, Hope's Demise, Village Rites, Tainted Pact, and Moon-Blessed Cleric and more recursion in Echoing Return.

If there are other new cards on your radar, please share!

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Casual

91% Competitive

Revision 38 See all

(2 years ago)

-1 Ayara, First of Locthwain main
+1 Bolas's Citadel main