"Athreos, God of Passage: Barring the way..."

"Athreos: Barring the way..."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

Journey into Nyx has been coming up with so many goodies and have completed the gods cycle. For today I want to look at one God that would shake things up a bit even in Standard and EDH. Athreos, God of Passage.

Since it is in Orzhov colors and the last time I checked there have been a lot of weenies that could take advantage of the low mana cost. 3 mana yeah! And what does he give you? He gives your partial immortality. He will still try and bar the way to the Underworld but it would hinge on the needs of your opponent. Like any good ferry man who would carry souls he demands his toll. In this case 3 life from an opponent. If the opponent refuses to pays the 3 life for your creature that just died , that creature returns to your hand , if he or she pays, it gains passage straight into your graveyard. This decision making process is quite tricky because it depends on your opponents judgement of the situation on the battlefield or even future actions that they would like to undertake. Board sweepers beware. Athreos makes it a lot harder for your Board sweeps to matter( unless they exile or put in the library kind hehehe)

So for example you are playing an EDH game and someone casts a Day of Judgement. All the creatures in the battlefield get blown to bits and you have several creatures that could cause havoc when recast , like Sepulchral or Diluvian Primordial.If your opponent still has a high enough life total he or she might decide that losing 3 life is more important than letting you cast a potential headache.40 life can afford them that luxury.

On the other hand (and I do see this happening in a Standard setting) , if you have a lot of creatures that have been attacking early on ( as in Black/White weenies) and chipping away at an opposing players life total ( let us say you managed to lower it to 11 life) , Supreme Verdict gets cast because the creature advantage is way too much.There is a high probability that your opponent will just let you bounce back those weenies back to your hand rather than lose 3 life each. You could then cast them on your second main phase so that they pose a threat on your next turn. Particularly evil.Bypassed Removal , still a threat next turn.

Another potential interaction that I see here in EDH is that it plays well with Teysa , Scion of Orzhov or Any sacrifice outlet. I mean non token creatures sacrificed to Teysa merely go back to your hand (1 mana cost creature is hardly worth 3 life right?) anything non token that is sacrificed goes back to your hand , imagine something that dies in battle and can be recast for more action later on. Skull clamped creatures realize that they will be clamped and clamped again. Fleshbag Marauder can be sacrificed to itself , returned to your hand and cycled ,  killing one of their creatures each time it resolves until a) your opponents are fed up and just pay the three life or b) you run out of mana. Either way it is to your advantage.

"I live, I die..I die and live again...then die"

So the trick with playing Athreos is to cast a lot of creatures  , fast and early , preferably with comes into play abilities or even things with Kicker. Death might be something that you would fear in real life. In magic the fear of death is relative.Oh and did I mention that with a devotion of 7 to black and white you have a 5/4 Indestructible god that could attack with all your weenies? Yup.

There is something quite intriguing about how Athreos gives your opponents choices. I like it because it keeps play interesting since every board sweep requires you to check for life. Board sweeps will come and go. Life totals will dwindle. With Athreos on your side however there will be no shortage of creatures to bring forth death.The Church of Orzhova has a niche for you Athreos. Many candles will be lighted there.