Ever since the moment I laid eyes on Atheros I've wanted to break him. I've wanted to turn over massive amounts of creature recursion and damage to opponents using his abilities. After several years of trying, I've never managed to get the deck rolling even though I feel it's close to breaking out. Perhaps there is too many moving parts and the deck needs to be more linear.
The main goal of this deck is to abuse
Athreos, God of Passage
and his damage dealing potential. Creatures going to the graveyard can be reclaimed unless opponent's choose to damage themselves to keep the dead in the graveyard. It can be a cruel card. Attacking with the enchantment creature isn't really the main focus of the deck but if you do manage to get him rolling, I've found it to be a game ender for sure.
Cruel Celebrant
punishes opponents who make a habit of killing off your already fragile creatures. It also combos off with
Cartel Aristocrat
when sacrificing newly returned creatures after casting
Rally the Ancestors
. A strategic Rally can also make Athreos a surprise attacker when you have plenty of black and white permanents in play.
Vexing Devil
comes into play and gives opponents the option to take 4 damage to have it sacrificed or keep it in play, combating it later. It makes no difference where the Devil ends up, dealing 4 damage for 1 red mana is better than a
Lightning Bolt
and returns back to my hand for another round with Athreos in play, unless of course, the opponent takes an additional 3 damage, 7 in total for just a single 1 mana creature cast.
Undecided cards:
Dark Confidant
is solely there for card draw, something I've noticed in playtesting that hurt the original prototype. Without card draw, the deck stalls at around 5-6th turn and you aren't gaining any momentum on casting or killing off creatures. I've considered using
Sin Collector
in the past but the additional casting cost crimps Rally the Ancestors and it's lack of black mana do not help Athreos turn into a creature.
Faithless Looting
fills your graveyard and helps card draw.
Phyrexian Obliterator
became a quick favorite of mine since it's tough to deal with in combat and aids Athreos turning into a creature very quickly. Surprisingly, it's restrictive casting cost isn't that much of a hindrance as it would appear in a typical 3 color deck. On the sad side, I see this banger getting exiled quite a bit which has me reconsidering for other options.
Lavaclaw Reaches
,
Needle Spires
and
Shambling Vent
all trigger Athreos when in creature form and serve as dual lands nicely. I'm on the fence about adding shock lands. Sure, they would make the deck a tad quicker but I've found them to not be that beneficial.
Path to Exile
and
Lightning Bolt
are there mostly for additional board control and stall tactics.
