I love the idea of a Shadowborn Apostle deck, and this did not disappoint at all. Athreos, God of Passage might be a good addition to help with Apostle recursion, too. Either they give you back all of your apostles when you summon a demon, or they lose 18 life.

I tried Athreos, God of Passage as a commander briefly.. but found that what would happen is someone would take 9 damage and then give me back 3 apostles. At that point unless you have another 3 you are stuck.

Might be worth trying him again, but in the 99. But the only issue would be I would never be able to tutor for him using apostles

Edgewalker, Zulaport Cutthroat, and Blood Artist seem like worthy inclusions.

Penthoplayer I have looked at Edgewalker before, as well as Zulaport Cutthroat, they are both very tempting (Blood Artist, I lump in with Cutthroat)..

The problem with Edgewalker that I see from playtests is that I am not really worried about paying for my Shadowborn Apostles. They are pretty cheap, and after the first initial hand, I am not hurting for mana. And with Thrumming Stone, Immortal Servitude, and Rally the Ancestors I tend to not pay too much for them after the first few hands.

Zulaport Cutthroat is super tempting, the more I play this, the more I realize that I don't need 10 demons in the deck. And the direct damage/Lifegain is nice. I would also get it for the Apostles and then again for the spirits that Teysa, Orzhov Scion produces. I think I am going to have to find a spot for him, but I am thinking only 1 spot, so no Blood Artist :)

Now I just have to figure out my most useless Demon, thinking it might be Stronghold Overseer.

The way I determine cuts is, how often do I tutor for something when given the chance? Also, if I draw it, do I tend to play it or wish it was something else? These two questions I find are ones most people don't think to ask. They just think of one or two situations a card is good, and stick with it. Edgewalker is good early game for dumping your Apostles, but I'll admit he's not good past that without substantial draw power.

I'm loving this deck! How often are Debt to the Deathless and Gray Merchant of Asphodel vital for a game you have played with this deck? Merchant i see the synergies but I'm not seeing where debt fits in.

I have used Gray Merchant of Asphodel to great effect in this deck. My group generally play 5 players, so when it hits, it is generally about 8 damage to each person and 32+ life to me.. Quite nice.

The one time that I can remember playing Debt to the Deathless, it was only for 6 mana, so in the end, it was X=2.. which still ended up being 4 damage to each person and 16+ to me. Not as good, and if I was to get rid of one, it would be that one. Honestly, I had more drain life effects in this deck and they have slowly been removed in favor of other cards. Debt might end up being the next cut. Will see what Hour of Devastation brings, Razaketh, the Foulblooded looks pretty tempting

You Have plenty of Kill already, but i'd consider using Reaper from the Abyss for the sweet sweet morbid, maybe Malicious Affliction as well

Jebus NCN946, those are both REALLY good. How have I not noticed that demon before?

I love the Reaper from the Abyss, if pulled with 6 apostles, would then kill 6 creatures at the end of turn. That's on top of the fact that I should get 6 Spirits from commander, that will allow me to kill 6 more creatures and exile 2 more if I sac them.. Wow, the Synergy.

Malicious Affliction is good as well, but a little more limited, a lot of my playgroup tends to play black.

Ok. so it was pointed out to me that i would only get 1 Morbid kill at the end of each turn with Reaper from the Abyss

Still worth it if i do it right though, 1 on my turn, then sac 3 spirits and get another on opponents turn (along with the exile)

Anguished Unmaking over Unmake?

billium813 - They are both in there. Its probably overkill but love clearing the board, especially when I am playing against 4 other players

Oh, sry I must have missed it. How about Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker? Iv seen Shirei used as a commander in a mono-black edh deck for Shadowborn Apostles, but you could just add as one of the 99.

Not sure if you want to have friends or not but Darkest Hour goes infinit with your comanden turn three

SpecialPerson How so? All affected creatures lose all other colors and are mono-black. Teysa, Orzhov Scion requires you to "Sacrifice three white creatures", but there are no white creatures anymore. Now, if you add a sac outlet, say Viscera Seer or Ashnod's Altar, then it would allow you to activate these abilities infinitely.

Yahh, if Darkest Hour was 'is black in addition to its color', it would work, but my group doesn't really play with infinite combo's so probably wouldnt put it in regardless.

As far as Ashnod's Altar, I had it in an earlier version, but found that mana was never an issue with this deck. Apostles are super cheap.

The card I am on the fence about is Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker. It's not really an infinite combo, someone could blast the caretaker easy enough. And it doesn't seem super cheaty, because it wouldn't be bringing back my spirits, just the apostles. And any demons that die.

I originally had a hard rule about this deck ONLY being demons and apostles, but already have the Gray Merch in here, and i think Shirei might have to be the second exception. He is just too too.

just fyi, Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker doesn't bring back the demons... just the dorks ;)

ohh yes noticed that after.. still good though