Athreos/Shadowborn Apostle (EDH / Commander)

Like many, I got the idea for this deck from Josh of GameKnights but I had no idea what it would turn into and I am very pleased with the outcome. In my opinion, the GK version of the deck is the "budget friendly" version. This deck above is as close to "optimized" as I am going to take it. Obviously I could add in the other fetch lands and there will always be new black/white cards that will come out and to test, but for now, this is where the build is at. Below I will go through some of my card choices as well as talk a little strategy with the deck.

Lands:
I found it VERY easy to completely overhaul the land-base in this deck from the GK version. For starters, I took out all of the "slow" lands that come into play tapped and replaced them with the faster lands. I chose to run Buried Ruin over Hall of Heliod's Generosity because of the importance of the artifacts in this deck and the recursion of them is sometimes needed. I went back and forth for a long time over how many basics I should run and I honestly feel that 7 and 7 is the right amount. A mid to late game Lake of the Dead can be an absolute powerhouse at producing mana especially if it is paired with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. As always, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Cabal Coffers are the MVP of the mana-base.

Creatures:
This deck is unique. There are only a few decks in the EDH format that allow you to have multiple copies of a single card in them. Early on I started with 30 apostles and I honestly found that to be too many. I ended up landing on 28 as the "sweet spot" as I still usually will draw the perfect amount and that I can still consistently casting them off of Thrumming Stone. The demon choices, and the amount of demons, was always changing and I feel that the three I am running is the optimal number to run within the ratio of apostles. The main two are Rune-Scarred and Razaketh and realistically, you could make the deck work with just those two. Archfiend of Despair is the third demon and works in many different situations and is a total surprise to opponents if you've dealt 20 damage to people in a single turn (which this deck can 100% accomplish). Bring him out and have him stick around at the end step and you can knock multiple people off. I have tested many different combinations of demons and these three seem to be the best at fitting into almost any situation. Blood Artist and Edgewalker are standard when playing this deck and I really enjoy playing Gray Merchant as well. I was a little hesitant at first (because of his CMC) but once you drop him onto a board of 20+ apostles and other big CMC creatures, you will see exactly why he is amazing. One last note on Edgewalker, I have gotten away from using him as often as I use to. This deck has MANY different ways to combo off and win and he is just one piece of many.

Artifacts:
Outside of the apostles and demons, the artifacts are the heart and soul of this deck. To start, Skull Clamp is probably the best card in the deck hands down. It works flawlessly with the apostles. The two sac-outlets (Ashnod's and Phyrexian Altar) are both standard. Divining Top and Bolas's Citadel is a lethal combo that nets you major advantage. Skull Clamp may be the best card in the deck but Thrumming Stone is a VERY close second. This card is just so powerful and to possibly be able to churn out every apostle in the deck from just casting one, it is simply overpowered.

Enchantments:
Not much to say here. I feel that all of these (except Remembrance) are extremely standard to run for any black/white deck. I will mention that I did play around with Black Market and Smothering Tithe for the longest time but in the end I found that their high CMC's are just too much to consistently gain advantage from. They are both still great cards and I still highly recommend using them but it's just a personal preference that I don't.

Sorceries:
Again, not much to say here for this category. All of these are pretty standard in any deck like this. Immortal Servitude is absolutely amazing at bringing back a swarm of apostles and just going off from there. Reanimate is a more recent addition to this list and I found that if I drew a demon early or just needed other recursion (other than apostles) I didn't have many mana "cheap" options in the deck. Reanimate works out perfectly when needing to bring back a demon for myself or for bringing back any creature that I feel like using. Necomantic Selection is a new addition to this deck since the commander death rules have been changed. This cards CMC is high but it allows me to steal an opponents commander when I wrath all creatures with it. This card can also be any other wrath or board-wipe effect that you wish to run (Merciless Eviction, Wrath of God, etc...). I did run Living Death for a decent amount of time and while good at giving me back a lot of apostles, it can also create a ton of advantage for the other players at the table so it is my personal choice to not run it.

Instants:
Again, there is not a whole lot to say here. Most of my white mana costs comes from here. I chose to run Swords over Path for one simple fact: I don't care how much life you gain. I do care if you put a land into play if that is the land you need to go off with. This deck does so much life-drain that the small amount you would get from Swords is almost non-existent within a few turns. I am always back and forth on Utter End and Anguished Unmaking for that slot and I sometimes wish I could just run both (maybe I will find room someday). Angel's Grace is an amazing card and I actually feel it does as much as Teferi's Protection, at times. Grace saves the game from "you win the game" effects unlike Teferi's and can be used as a political tool in the right circumstances.

Overall thoughts:
This deck does A TON of tutoring, wrathing, casting/sacrificing apostles, and draining life. In most situations you will want your opponent's to give you back the apostles off of the Athreos, however, it is not the end of the world if they do end up paying for them to stay in the grave. There are 28 of them so if your opponent's want to pay for a few, let them. It all adds up at the end. I have had many people say at the end of a game "man, I shouldn't have payed for all of those apostles because it really didn't matter". And it doesn't really matter. You will have so many more opportunities within the game to combo-off after the first time you try. To be honest the deck runs itself for the most part. You just have to keep up on the death triggers and respond to things that would really hurt your board. This deck can go infinite VERY quickly and can do it in a few different ways. I have found that I like to keep the CMC of this deck fairly low and I love how quickly it can get going from the beginning of the game.

This has been such a fun deck to build and play with and I hope you get enjoyment out of watching people struggle to decide whether or not to pay 3 life for a tiny 1 drop 1/1 every time it dies. ;)