Been testing in standard with Alesha and Whip of Erebos in a 4C Sidisi package. Despite how janky it sounds, it is a pretty insane engine. The nut draw is T2 Satyr Wayfinder/Commune With the Gods, T3 Alesha, T4 reanimate Living Lore or Hornet Queen. And with Alesha you can bring back Living Lore every turn, essentially playing any instant or sorcery spell in the graveyard for 1BB. Whip serves the same purpose, giving the strategy redundancy. Getting 8 life, 3 cards, and 8 damage from 2BB turn 5 or 1BB turn 4 is insane value. And the most important thing is that all it needs is combat damage, not combat damage to a player.
It isn't very good against aggro shells (specifically Abzan), but it wrecks control and midrange with too much burst and card advantage. It is almost impossible for those decks to beat a resolved Whip or an Alesha that manages to survive a few turns, and the deck is very hard to finish off once it game gets mucky. I don't know if this sort of 4C shell is correct or whether Living Lore fits in the standard Whidisi package but I think it is strong enough to see play in some reanimator strategies; the main advantage of Alesha/Whip is haste.
I'm sold on the Alesha interactions. Thinking of going UG with a tiny tiny splash of Red just for Alesha.
Well, you need B/W to actually activate her. Personally, while the combo is hilarious and I want to try it in casual someday, it seems like too much luck is needed for the payoff.
Anyone considering a Temur Ascendancy deck with this, utilizing Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time as the main fuel? You've got the potential for a Turn 4 hasted 8/8 that draws a card when it ETB and then 2-3 more when it leaves it, plus next turn's card draw. I know TC and DTT were already considered the prime targets for this, but I feel like throwing Temur Ascendancy into the mix allows you to pressure earlier, avoid sorcery speed removal, add in a smaller draw engine, and ultimately allow Living Lore to fit into an already existing semi-competitive (at least tier 2) shell. The mana base would need to be reexamined as most Temur Ascendancy are running green heavily and TC/DTT/LL introduce 8-12 off-color cards (depending on how many 2-4 ofs you go for each), but between Frontier Bivouac, Sylvan Caryatid, and Rattleclaw Mystic I don't think the mana base would be a huge issue. Ideally you don't want to be hard-casting DTT or TC anyway, but combo pieces can't be relied on coming together 100% of the time.
Looks like a good one-of in a sidisi whip deck with maindeck treasure cruise.
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Some facts of magic:
-Terror is an emotion which, when experienced, results in death.
-The pox was a disease notorious for having killed one-third, rounded up, of Europe’s population. Smallpox, on the other hand, killed only a single person.
-A person riding a horse cannot be stopped by foot soldiers, large animals, walls, archers, or even catapults.
Definitely one of the most interesting new cards the set has to offer.
Sultai is the obvious home but personally i'm more interested in trying it in some sort of jeskai control shell. Between Jeskai Ascendency, Monastery Siege and maybe even Tormenting Voice there's a lot of spell based looting available. The delve trio of Dig, Cruise and Temporal are an obvious starting point (with the upside of potentially being able to be cast normally and affordably using Delve. Fated Retribution is also nice giving you an on colour spell for a fat body and a potent wrath effect.
Conflux Crush of Wurms Curse of the Cabal Decree of Pain
It isn't very good against aggro shells (specifically Abzan), but it wrecks control and midrange with too much burst and card advantage. It is almost impossible for those decks to beat a resolved Whip or an Alesha that manages to survive a few turns, and the deck is very hard to finish off once it game gets mucky. I don't know if this sort of 4C shell is correct or whether Living Lore fits in the standard Whidisi package but I think it is strong enough to see play in some reanimator strategies; the main advantage of Alesha/Whip is haste.
EDH DECKS
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OTHER DECKS
Well, you need B/W to actually activate her. Personally, while the combo is hilarious and I want to try it in casual someday, it seems like too much luck is needed for the payoff.
-Terror is an emotion which, when experienced, results in death.
-The pox was a disease notorious for having killed one-third, rounded up, of Europe’s population. Smallpox, on the other hand, killed only a single person.
-A person riding a horse cannot be stopped by foot soldiers, large animals, walls, archers, or even catapults.
More facts of magic
Sultai is the obvious home but personally i'm more interested in trying it in some sort of jeskai control shell. Between Jeskai Ascendency, Monastery Siege and maybe even Tormenting Voice there's a lot of spell based looting available. The delve trio of Dig, Cruise and Temporal are an obvious starting point (with the upside of potentially being able to be cast normally and affordably using Delve. Fated Retribution is also nice giving you an on colour spell for a fat body and a potent wrath effect.
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The spell is cast normally, meaning that when it resolves, it is put into your graveyard as part of its resolution.
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Legacy: Something U/W Controlish
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