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Athreos, God of Passage

Athreos, God of Passage

Legendary Enchantment Creature — God

Athreos wants a deck that sacrifices its own creatures to drain opponents' life. It also works in a deck built around Gods / Devotion or Life Pay Engine.

  • Mana cost1 genericwhiteblack
  • White, Black ()
  • Power / toughness5 / 4
  • RarityMythic

Indestructible

As long as your devotion to white and black is less than seven, Athreos isn't a creature.

Whenever another creature you own dies, return it to your hand unless target opponent pays 3 life.

Build a deck with Athreos Find it in the app

Archetypes

Cards That Fit Athreos, God of Passage

Picked for what they do in Athreos's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Athreos's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

Rulings for Athreos, God of Passage

explain how Athreos works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 26 Apr 2014

Athreos's last ability will trigger if a token creature you own dies. The target opponent has the option to pay 3 life, although the token can't return to your hand.

Wizards of the Coast 26 Apr 2014

If there are no legal targets for Athreos's last ability (perhaps because each of your opponents has hexproof), it will be removed from the stack with no effect. No one may pay 3 life and you won't return the creature card to your hand.

Wizards of the Coast 26 Apr 2014

It doesn't matter who controlled the creature when it died. Athreos's last ability will trigger if you owned that creature.

Wizards of the Coast 26 Apr 2014

The target opponent chooses whether to pay 3 life when Athreos's last ability resolves. You won't return the card to your hand if that player pays 3 life or if the card leaves the graveyard before the ability resolves.

Wizards of the Coast 26 Apr 2014

You are a creature's owner if the card representing it began the game in your deck, or if it's a token that entered the battlefield under your control.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

As a God enters the battlefield, your devotion to its color will determine whether any replacement effects that affect creatures entering the battlefield apply to that God. Because replacement effects are considered before the God is on the battlefield, the mana symbols in its mana cost won't be counted when determining this.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

Counters put on a God remain on it while it's not a creature, even if they have no effect.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

If a God is attacking or blocking and it stops being a creature, it will be removed from combat. It won't rejoin combat if it resumes being a creature later during that combat.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

If a God stops being a creature, it loses the type creature and the creature type God. It continues to be a legendary enchantment.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

If an effect causes a God to lose all abilities, its ability that causes it to stop being a creature still applies if appropriate.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

The abilities of Gods function as long as they're on the battlefield, regardless of whether they're creatures.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

The type-changing ability that can make a God not be a creature functions only on the battlefield. It's always a creature card in other zones, regardless of your devotion to its color. It's always a creature spell while it's on the stack.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

When a God enters the battlefield, your devotion to its color (including the mana symbols in the mana cost of the God itself) will determine if a creature entered the battlefield or not for abilities that trigger whenever a creature enters the battlefield.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

Your devotion to two colors is the number of mana symbols among mana costs of permanents you control that are the first color, the second, or both. If an effect counts your devotion to two colors, a hybrid symbol that is both of those colors is counted just once.

14 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Athreos, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryWBPlayers write colors as letters: W for white, B for black.AristocratsAristocrats decks sacrifice their own creatures on purpose and profit every time one dies, often by draining life from each opponent. A sacrifice outlet, a card that lets you sacrifice whenever you like, decides when that happens.Open the Aristocrats pageDeath TriggerTriggers when a creature dies, whether it is this creature, one of yours or an opponent's. These are the cards that pay you in an Aristocrats deck: something else makes creatures die, and these decide what you get each time. Blood Artist, Solemn SimulacrumOpen the Death Trigger pageProtectionA creature with protection from something, like a color, is safe from anything with that quality. It cannot be damaged, enchanted or equipped, blocked, or targeted by it, and players remember the four with the word DEBT. It does not stop effects that neither target nor damage, like a board wipe that destroys every creature. ProgenitusOpen the Protection pageGods / DevotionGods, and cards that count your devotion: the number of mana symbols of one color among the costs of your permanents. The Theros Gods cannot be destroyed, and only become creatures when your devotion to their color is high enough.Open the Gods / Devotion pageGame ChangerCards that warp the game disproportionately around themselves, requiring immediate answers.What the brackets meanLife Pay EngineCards that let you pay life instead of mana, or pay life for an extra effect, treating your life total as something to spend.Open the Life Pay Engine page