This is my first attempt at an EDH deck and straight away I was adamant I wanted to use Athreos, God of Passage for his casting cost, indestructability, artwork, theme and politics. Yes, most people suggest that if you give an opponent a choice, they will always chose the best but in this deck they either get drained of blood (within the vampire theme) or I get to reanimate so It's a win win, albeit perhaps not as competitive as the likes of Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, Teneb, the Harvester or any of the other reanimators. So, the next question you might ask is why have I not packed out my deck with ETB/LTB trigger creatures and a bunch of sac outlets. Basically because of flavour. I did initially attempt this type of deck but didn't like the random set of creatures I was adding and found I had lack of win cons. Particularly as Grave Pact and Dictate of Erebos are too costly for my budget. And let's be honest an EDH deck should be fun right? It had damn better be for the price! This is why I've opted for vampire tribal. Their drain theme fits in nicely with Athreos, God of Passage and a few of them have ETB/LTB triggers such as Gatekeeper of Malakir and Butcher of Malakir. The rest are either beaters or act as utility. Here is a list mechanics the deck can achieve;
Drain - Sanguine Bond, Blood Artist, Kalastria Highborn, Tithe Drinker, Basilica Screecher, Drana's Emissary, Blood Seeker, Falkenrath Noble, Defiant Bloodlord and Kambal, Consul of Allocation.
Removal - Feast of Blood, Do or Die, Gatekeeper of Malakir, Dark Impostor, Anowon, the Ruin Sage, Butcher of Malakir, Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet, Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter, Voldaren Pariah
and Karlov of the Ghost Council. Although board wipes would be beneficial in this deck by triggering Athreos, God of Passage in mass, I typically want my permanents to stick around for their passive abilities and win cons. Therefore,I opted for spot removal and forced sacrifice instead.
Sac Outlet - Indulgent Aristocrat, Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter and Voldaren Pariah
. As suggested sacrifice is not a theme in this deck but these cards require it for their own benefit.
Card Draw - Well of Lost Dreams, Sign in Blood, Skullclamp, Infiltration Lens, Vampiric Rites, Altar's Reap, Grim Haruspex and Harvester of Souls.
Mana Ramp/Fixing - Sol Ring, Orzhov Signet, Explorer's Scope, Coldsteel Heart, Jet Medallion, Thought Vessel, Pawn of Ulamog and Crypt Ghast. I shall however consider adding Cryptic Gateway to cheat things into play.
Pump - Blade of the Bloodchief, Urge to Feed, Obelisk of Urd, Captivating Vampire, Indulgent Aristocrat, Drana, Liberator of Malakir, Vampire Nocturnus, Bloodline Keeper
, Necropolis Regent and Mephidross Vampire. I may consider upgrading the deck down the line with Coat of Arms and Door of Destinies though.
Recursion - Necromancy, Animate Dead, endles sobedience, Victimize, Stitch Together, Gravepurge, Doomed Necromancer and Dutiful Attendant. Although I have a lack of sac outlets, these spells will allow he return of cards killed through battle or removed by opponents. Whilst Athreos, God of Passage is out this means that even if my opponents chose to take the damage, I can still get my beaters back and make their hearts break twice!
Lifegain - Soul Warden, Indulgent Aristocrat, Vampire Cutthroat, Blood Artist, Kalastria Highborn, Tithe Drinker, Basilica Screecher, Vampire Nighthawk, Drana's Emissary, Falkenrath Noble and Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter. Okay, so lifegain wasn't my intention for this deck but it pretty much comes stadard with the tribe so it's merely an added bonus. I already run a modern lifegain deck with the likes of Divinity of Pride, Serra Ascendant, Ajani's Pridemate, Rhox Faithmender etc. so don't want to incorporate them into this deck. It's purely about drain as the main focus.
Tokens - Pawn of Ulamog and Bloodline Keeper
. Not a deck designed around token production but if I do manage to pull these guys out at the same time as a sac outlet, that's a bonus.
Sure, the deck could do with improving but I don't even want to make it overpowered or my playgroup will not call me anymore! There are quite a few cards I considered which are out of my budget such as Exquisite Blood, Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos, Hell's Caretaker and any of the Sorins but I'm happy to leave them out for now.
Any feedback would be appreciated including budget card suggestions.
UPDATE:
SO, I have made some major changes to this deck as a result of playtesting. Firstly, Athreos, God of Passage turned out to be mediocre at best, which was the gamble. Although his bleed effect was nice and annoying for others, it only really made a difference late game and his recursion ability wasn't often being triggered for this very reason. Therefore, I opted to replace him at my helm for the more efficient Ravos, Soultender. This guy guarantees recursion, allowing me to utilise sacrifice on another level. Therefore, I have added a whole bunch of sac outlets i.e. Ashnod's Altar, Animal Boneyard, Martyr's Cause and Attrition and sac beneficieries i.e. Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos and Dark Prophecy. Naturally I would like more ETB effects but space is already tight so have had to limit these down. Furthermore, due to the guaranteed recursion each turn, I no longer require single use reanimator cards so have opted to swap all of these out in favour for commander protection in the form of Lightning Greaves, Mother of Runes, Kami of False Hope, Gift of Immortality, Favorable Destiny, Mask of Law and Grace, Crown of Awe and Martyr's Cause, which is something Ravos, Soultender desperately needs.
