This is my Alesha Aristocrats decklist, based around saccing creatures and then abusing Alesha's ability to bring them back for more enter and exit the battlefield triggers. I'm looking for suggestions for ways to improve the decklist before I invest heavily into it. Any suggestions would be appreciated
Yeah, I've got lightning greaves on my want list, I just have a few copies of swiftfoot boots lying around so I'm using that for the meantime until I acquire another copy.
Stoneforge mystic sounds pretty good too, I'm thinking of adding her in with an Ice/Fire, Shadow/Light and Jitte. I'd cut whispersilk cloak for sure, maybe cut down on some of the ramp too seeing as my curve is rather low, average cmc ~3.
I have been playing RWB aristocrats for a while now, first with Kaalia and soon with Alesha, so you can check the link in my sig for some more thoughts. Two things that I think you could easily improve in this deck is the mana base and focusing your deck a bit more.
With respect to the manabase I would cut out all the ETB tapped lands and replace them with dual lands. For example the pain lands are not expensive and would be much better than some of your current lands. The filter lands from Lowryn block are also good adds, as well as additional fetches but they are pricier. Since your Alesha costs three I would also cut out Chromatic Lantern as it doesn't fit well in the curve. There are other two drop mana artifacts that you can use such as the mirage diamonds and coldsteel heart.
I ask think that you should think more of what direction you want to take with your deck. Do you want to really have a sac-based deck or go more of an aggro route. Some cares you currently have like rise of the dark realms and insurrection don't really support either plan and so I think you can cut those. You are also missing some of the cards that really make the sacrifice focus work better such as Purphoros, God of the Forge, Sneak Attack, Reveillark and Phyrexian Reclamation. Bone Shredder also works very well with Alesha. Good luck!
Falkenrath Aristocrat: Excelent card, but it doesn't have sinergy with the rest of the deck, i'd rather have Phyrexian Altar. Blood Artist: Again, excelent card, but you it only drains 1 player, it's ok if you also take on single opponent games, otherwise, i'd probably cut it. Dragonmaster Outcast: I've found this card to be underwhelming every time i'v played it, you can't really accelerate it's effect, and by turn 6 he's just not worth the sloth. Falkenrath Marauders: I don't like putting bad cards just because of sinergy (i do exclude some good ones because of lack of it), 5 mana for a 2/2, even if it has flying, haste and grows, just doesn't seem right. Gray Merchant of Asphodel: I'm not sure how i feel about Gary, he's certanely powerful, and has synergy with the rest of the deck, i guess it depends on your local metagame, devotion is very good if your meta isn't wrath/destruction heavy, and very bad if it is, my advice: try it out, i'd probably be looking to cut it at some point. Silverblade Paladin: I don't think giving double strike to a creature is gonna do much in a multiplayer game, specially in a deck full of small(ish) creatures. archangel of thune: I don't think this does enough, and has little to no sinergy with the rest of the deck, i'd rather have Steel Hellkite as a value creature.
Edit: I almost forgot about Restoration Angel, she saves Alesha, lets you reuse ETB triggers and is an auto-win with Kiki-Jiki (whether that's acceptable or not, it's up to you).
@capitacom: thanks for the advice! I took a look at your link and I really like what you have done with the deck I agree entirely with what you said, but unfortunately being a uni student my budget is a little tight and I don't have the cash to buy the expensive cards like sneak attack
I think I want to go a more sacrifice oriented route with the deck, so I'll adjust my list according to your suggestions.
@tenzoku: I agree with lantern being cut, and I'll for sure try to get my hands on urborg.
Regarding your suggestions:
I think Falkenrath Aristocrat still deserves a spot in the deck, especially if I stick with my semi tribal route. A sac outlet that grows bigger and is very hard to remove and has evasion seems pretty strong I think.
Blood artist, dragonmaster outcast, falkenrath marauders, silverblade paladin, after testing I agree and they can go.
Gray merchant is hard to evaluate, he has a strong effect but usually getting the devotion up is really hard. He's under consideration for being cut after I test a bit more.
And if i'm cutting blood artist archangel can go as well.
@Artorias: A commander's colour identity is not just their mana cost but also their rules text, so Alesha is RWB commander.
So overall for cuts/additions I'm looking at
-1 Blood Arist
-1 Archangel of thune
-1 dragonmaster outcast
-1 falkenrath marauders
-1 silverblade paladin
-1 archangel of thune
-1 chromatic lantern
-1 Whispersilk cloak
-1 Insurrection
-1 Rise of the dark realms
+1 Stoneforge mystic
+1 Purphoros, god of the forge
+1 Phyrexian reclamation
+1 Sword of Fire and Ice
+1 Sword of Light and shadow
+1 Kiki-Jiki
+1 Restoration Angel
And 2 spots spare so far, any thoughts?
Reveillark, Bone Shredder or another land perhaps? I wouldn't cut Archangel of Thune too quickly though, with only a couple of creatures out she can win you the game in a couple of turns. Especially if you have other sources of life gain she gets pretty crazy quickly. If you can find them, High Market and Phyrexian Tower are also amazing adds.
Alesha, who smiles at death has a w/b activated ability. This makes her a tri-color commander. If you take a look, all the main mythics of fate reforged work the same way.
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Who knew that your opponent's life total correlated so closely with your own friend total?
How about Ranger of Eos? Mother of Runes and Serra Ascendant are both reanimatable by Alesha and good, strong cards. Also, all three of them are humans, to the extent that it matters.
EDIT: This assumes you keep Dragonmaster Outcast, my very favorite card that never seems to find a home.
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Oh, you think the losers' bracket is your ally, but you merely adopted the scrub tier. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn’t 4-0 an FNM until I was already a man; by then, it was nothing to me but an extra pack to sell for store credit!
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1x Alesha, who smiles at Death
Lands (37)
1x Blood Crypt
1x Bloodfell Caves
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Clifftop Retreat
1x Command Tower
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Evolving Wilds
1x Flooded Strand
1x Godless Shrine
1x Isolated Chapel
6x Mountain
1x Nomad Outpost
6x Plains
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Scoured Barrens
6x Swamp
1x Temple of Triumph
1x Terramorphic Expanse
1x Wind-Scarred Crag
1x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Foothills
Sac Outlets (6)
1x Butcher of the Horde
1x Viscera Seer
1x Flesh Carver
1x Sadistic hypnotist
1x Falkenrath Aristocrat
1x Goblin Bombardment
1x Skullclamp
1x Disciple of Bolas
1x Mentor of the Meek
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Buried Alive
1x Diabolic Tutor
1x Faithless Looting
1x Tormenting voice
1x Promise of Power
1x Steelshaper's Gift
1x Moonlight bargain
1x Phyrexian arena
Alesha targets (19)
1x Avalanche Riders
1x Banisher Priest
1x Blind Zealot
1x Blood Artist
1x Dragonmaster Outcast
1x Duplicant
1x Falkenrath Marauders
1x Falkenrath Noble
1x Feldon of the Third Path
1x Fiend Hunter
1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1x Karmic Guide
1x Master of Cruelties
1x Necrotic Sliver
1x Peacekeeper
1x Silverblade Paladin
1x Stingscourger
1x War Priest of Thune
1x Xathrid Necromancer
1x Athreos, god of passage
1x archangel of thune
Removal (5)
1x Austere Command
1x Merciless Eviction
1x Insurrection
1x Rise of the dark realms
1x Dictate of erebos
Sunforger package (9)
1x Sunforger
1x Boros Charm
1x Chaos Warp
1x Crackling Doom
1x Mortify
1x Rakdos Charm
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Utter End
1x Wear / Tear
Other (4)
1x Breath of Fury
1x Cathar's crusade
1x Swiftfoot boots
1x whispersilk cloak
Mana Ramp (5)
1x Boros Signet
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Orzhov Signet
1x Rakdos Signet
1x Sol Ring
Want list:
1x Demonic Tutor (replacing diabolic tutor)
1x Lightning greaves (replacing swiftfoot boots)
ABU dual lands, Zendikar fetches.
This is my Alesha Aristocrats decklist, based around saccing creatures and then abusing Alesha's ability to bring them back for more enter and exit the battlefield triggers. I'm looking for suggestions for ways to improve the decklist before I invest heavily into it. Any suggestions would be appreciated
Stoneforge mystic sounds pretty good too, I'm thinking of adding her in with an Ice/Fire, Shadow/Light and Jitte. I'd cut whispersilk cloak for sure, maybe cut down on some of the ramp too seeing as my curve is rather low, average cmc ~3.
With respect to the manabase I would cut out all the ETB tapped lands and replace them with dual lands. For example the pain lands are not expensive and would be much better than some of your current lands. The filter lands from Lowryn block are also good adds, as well as additional fetches but they are pricier. Since your Alesha costs three I would also cut out Chromatic Lantern as it doesn't fit well in the curve. There are other two drop mana artifacts that you can use such as the mirage diamonds and coldsteel heart.
I ask think that you should think more of what direction you want to take with your deck. Do you want to really have a sac-based deck or go more of an aggro route. Some cares you currently have like rise of the dark realms and insurrection don't really support either plan and so I think you can cut those. You are also missing some of the cards that really make the sacrifice focus work better such as Purphoros, God of the Forge, Sneak Attack, Reveillark and Phyrexian Reclamation. Bone Shredder also works very well with Alesha. Good luck!
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
Falkenrath Aristocrat: Excelent card, but it doesn't have sinergy with the rest of the deck, i'd rather have Phyrexian Altar.
Blood Artist: Again, excelent card, but you it only drains 1 player, it's ok if you also take on single opponent games, otherwise, i'd probably cut it.
Dragonmaster Outcast: I've found this card to be underwhelming every time i'v played it, you can't really accelerate it's effect, and by turn 6 he's just not worth the sloth.
Falkenrath Marauders: I don't like putting bad cards just because of sinergy (i do exclude some good ones because of lack of it), 5 mana for a 2/2, even if it has flying, haste and grows, just doesn't seem right.
Gray Merchant of Asphodel: I'm not sure how i feel about Gary, he's certanely powerful, and has synergy with the rest of the deck, i guess it depends on your local metagame, devotion is very good if your meta isn't wrath/destruction heavy, and very bad if it is, my advice: try it out, i'd probably be looking to cut it at some point.
Silverblade Paladin: I don't think giving double strike to a creature is gonna do much in a multiplayer game, specially in a deck full of small(ish) creatures.
archangel of thune: I don't think this does enough, and has little to no sinergy with the rest of the deck, i'd rather have Steel Hellkite as a value creature.
Creatures to consider:
Siege-Gang Commander
Balefire Liege
Blinding Angel Locking a player out of attacking sound fun.
Brass Herald I don't think it's good enough, but you might want to try it as your deck is tribal themed (sort of)
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker: Very good card in general, see if it's worth the slot.
Knight-Captain of Eos: Maybe, instead of siege-gang commander, for the tribal theme.
Pentavus
Ponyback Brigade: Sacrifice fodder, synergy with your commander and the siege gang commander.
Beetleback Chief :Same as above
Edit: I almost forgot about Restoration Angel, she saves Alesha, lets you reuse ETB triggers and is an auto-win with Kiki-Jiki (whether that's acceptable or not, it's up to you).
I think I want to go a more sacrifice oriented route with the deck, so I'll adjust my list according to your suggestions.
@tenzoku: I agree with lantern being cut, and I'll for sure try to get my hands on urborg.
Regarding your suggestions:
I think Falkenrath Aristocrat still deserves a spot in the deck, especially if I stick with my semi tribal route. A sac outlet that grows bigger and is very hard to remove and has evasion seems pretty strong I think.
Blood artist, dragonmaster outcast, falkenrath marauders, silverblade paladin, after testing I agree and they can go.
Gray merchant is hard to evaluate, he has a strong effect but usually getting the devotion up is really hard. He's under consideration for being cut after I test a bit more.
And if i'm cutting blood artist archangel can go as well.
@Artorias: A commander's colour identity is not just their mana cost but also their rules text, so Alesha is RWB commander.
So overall for cuts/additions I'm looking at
-1 Blood Arist
-1 Archangel of thune
-1 dragonmaster outcast
-1 falkenrath marauders
-1 silverblade paladin
-1 archangel of thune
-1 chromatic lantern
-1 Whispersilk cloak
-1 Insurrection
-1 Rise of the dark realms
+1 Stoneforge mystic
+1 Purphoros, god of the forge
+1 Phyrexian reclamation
+1 Sword of Fire and Ice
+1 Sword of Light and shadow
+1 Kiki-Jiki
+1 Restoration Angel
And 2 spots spare so far, any thoughts?
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
EDIT: This assumes you keep Dragonmaster Outcast, my very favorite card that never seems to find a home.