I started playing Magic: The Gathering sometime during Onslaught block, though I was young and can't remember exactly when I cracked my first pack. I do remember entering my first tournament in 2003 and being slaughtered in each match. However, I still enjoyed the deck building and tuning process. For the next five years I played Standard and Extended exclusively, becoming progressively more competitive. I started to travel to major tournaments across the U.S. and really became enthralled with the game.
Then, in 2008, I was introduced to this strange singelton format. I'll admit, I did resist at first, but once I started to think of the deckbuilding implications, I was hooked. No rotation, no 4-ofs, just limitless possibilities. Cards that I had disregarded as "garbage" for years now became treasure I hunted. My creativity had never felt so free and I immediately clung to this new format. Bladewing the Risen was my first general, and then Korlash, Heir to Blackblade soon after. While their abilities were not overpowering, the cards peeked my interested just based on the lore around them.
Over the next few years, I continued to play Standard and Extended, but my true joy was in EDH. Now I wasn't traveling to compete in tournaments, I was going for the artists, the vendors and all the great casual side games that didn't cost a penny. Eventually, I dropped any competitive magic and ever since have only played EDH, now Commander. I'll admit I have a severe addiction to foils, foreign old cards, misprints, etc., though with prices on Commander cards these days, it's a little bit harder to budget for "pimp" (looking at you $1 foil Rhystic Study).
Nowadays I'm married and work a more-than full-time job, but still find time to play quite often. I play in the Minneapolis Metro area and am always up for a game of 100 card singleton.
Also, if you're asking, yes, it did take me almost 12 years to actually sign-up and start posting on MTGSalvation, though I have been reading many excellent posts and articles for years. If you're a long-time player who's in that situation now, definitely register, it's worth it for just the cool avatar!
Deck History
As a deck builder, I have always been interested in the Mardu color combination and the dual colors within. Often it seems these colors are ignored for blue, green and further combinations within those colors. So to be different at the table, I always looked to build in these colors. This particular deck originally started as a Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer voltron build, and transformed into Kaalia of the Vast (which provided far superior power level and didn't require artifacts surviving on the board). Then, when Fate Reforged was spoiled, I noticed Alesha and again saw her colors as an opportunity to play something different at the table. I started toying around with some of the best 2 power or less creatures I could think of, and saw that there was certainly a deck to be built here. As "fate" would have it, on the day FRF was released, my wife surprised me with a fat pack when I got home from work, and darn it if a foil Alesha wasn't just waiting inside. I took that as a sign to get serious about the building, and now I have a personal memory to directly link to the deck.
Why Play Alesha?
Alesha is very versatile and has a powerful ability, making her a great commander choice. She provides an open door for winning through either combat or combo, allowing the pilot to tailor their playstyle to the deck.
While Mardu isn't traditionally considered the most powerful color combination, it fits Alesha perfectly, allowing access to some of the best creatures available for her ability (i.e. Karmic Guide). As Alesha ability requires creatures to activate, this deck will benefit from a high creature count and especially creatures under 2 power (of which there are nearly limitless options).
Alesha enables us the powerful ability of "cheating" creatures into play, so having creatures with CIP (come-into-play) abilities is important to get the best value out of her ability.
You may enjoy playing Alesha if:
You want a build-around commander
You enjoy playing creature-based decks
You enjoy the versatility of winning through combat, combo or both
You like to pilot less-played commanders
You may not enjoy playing Alesha if:
You want to play U and/or G
You don't enjoy creature-based decks
You stick to more popular commanders
You don't get enjoyment from killing an entire table out of nowhere on someone else's turn without ever casting a spell (REALLY? What's wrong with you? ).
Decklist Variations
The following are other versions of Alesha from the MTGS Community:
The following is a detailed listing of the Alesha deck list I have assembled and tested. This is by no means the "definitive list" as our card pool is so vast and metas so varied. Each player may find certain choices they would replace (feedback is always welcome! ) and that is perfectly understandable, this is simply the current version of what I have found to be optimal for Alesha. In the near future, I will update the thread with card descriptions and choices to give you a better understanding of why each card made the current list and why other cards may not have.
This version of Alesha has two main strategies to achieve victory; combat and combo. The following sections detail each path and give options/paths to play that strategy competitively. If you have any information or details to add, please share and I will update accordingly.
The main wincon for a combat-based victory is Mirror Entity. Because this deck runs so many low cost creatures, it is very easy to assemble a large board presence without much effort, and sometimes the Mirror Entity isn't even necessary (but often it's the difference between killing one opponent and killing all opponents).
The goal here is simple, keep your creatures on the board until you have enough to attempt an alpha strike. Politics often plays a role here, as if you attack someone will everything you have every turn, you'll usually get board wiped or hated off the table. If you attack with just a few creatures and try to minimize the appearance of your board presence, you'll often have better luck.
Assembling a combo victory is going to be more complicated than a combat victory, but is often much easier to avoid detection from our opponents and come out of nowhere for the win. The main combo/synergies are as follows (though you'll easily find more combos that I haven't even found yet):
One way this combo works by evoking or sacrificing Reveillark to return Karmic Guide and another combo piece (i.e. Murderous Redcap), then returning Reveillark to the field with Karmic Guide's triggered ability. In this case, sacrifice the Redcap to deal 3 total damage (see Persist), then sac the Karmic Guide and then the Reveillark, repeating the whole process. This will cost no resources, can be done at instant speed and can generate unlimited mana (Phyrexian Arena as sac outlet), infinite damage (Murderous Redcap), etc.
Another way these cards can combo is with a Blood Artist, Falkenrath Noble or Purphoros, God of the Forge effect. Using the above sequence, each time your sacrifice the Karmic Guide & Reveillark (in this case it doesn't matter what the other creature is that Reveillark returns) the Blood Artist/Falkenrath Noble/Purphoros, God of the Forge will trigger, and as you can do this infinitely, it will kill the entire table.
The third way I'll cover is to use Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker as the second creature returned with Reveillark and the previously discussed sac outlet. Use Reveillark to return Kiki-Jiki and Karmic Guide, activate Kiki-Jiki's ability by making a copy of any creature you have in play. Then repeat the process until you have your "infinite creature tokens" and kill everyone through combat damage.
2. Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker+Restoration Angel
These two make a very simple combo, creating infinite Restoration Angel tokens to win through combat damage. With Kiki-Jiki in play, play Restoration Angel and with the blink trigger on the stack, make a copy of Restoration Angel. That copy goes onto the next layer of the stack, which will resolve first, blinking out Kiki-Jiki. When Kiki-Jiki comes back into play, the first Restoration Angel ability will still be on the stack. Again, use Kiki-Jiki to make a copy of that Restoration Angel and repeat the process.
3. Animate Dead + Karmic Guide + Sun Titan + Sac Outlet
This combo is a little bit more complicated, thanks to capitacom for pointing it out on his thread! The way it works is by casting Karmic Guide to return Sun Titan, then sacrificing Karmic Guide with Sun Titan's trigger on the stack. Use Sun Titan's ability to return Animate Dead, enchanting Karmic Guide. As Karmic Guide has protection from black, the enchantment will fall off and it will die, but not before you get to return Sun Titan, which again returns Animate Dead and the process starts all over.
This also works if Karmic Guide and Animate Dead are in the graveyard and you cast Sun Titan instead.
The following are cards, suggested by the community, that have been/are being tested. This section is a great resource to see what cards have been tried and to find out why card "X" is not in this deck. I'll try to add/update why each suggestions may have or may not have worked for this build.
2/21/15
Suggested by: 4Lark Bitter Ordeal Another great suggestion from 4Lark, this is another win condition to add to many of our combos/synergies. Now it's just testing to see if I can find a spot.
2/21/15
Suggested by: Hunding Gjornersen Imperial Recruiter Yeah, this guy is good, and even before testing I'm going to assume that he'll end up working out very well here.
3/1/15
Suggested by: 4Lark
-1 Mother of Runes
+1 Darksteel Ingot As 4Lark pointed out, Mother of Runes is fairly reactive and doesn't have any synergy with Alesha's ability. Darksteel Ingot provides us with another mana source that sticks around through Austere Command and the like.
2/21/15
Suggested by: 4Lark Mikaeus, the Unhallowed This is a great suggestions here that earned its slot quickly, Mikaeus has great synergy with most of the deck and can lead to many powerful interactions.
2/22/15 Kor Cartographer Unfortunately, this favorite just didn't pan out here. It does have synergy with the deck, but in the end, I prefer something a bit faster, maybe even Land Tax.
2/27/15 Elspeth, Sun's Champion Elspeth's ability to both produce tokens (we like having creatures!) and to destroy creatures with power 4 or greater is huge for us, and deserves the slot.
This section details the changes the deck goes through after the thread was first posted. Most changes come directly from the readers (that's you!) and further testing down the line. Some changes may seem more intuitive than others, so I'll try to give each entry a description of why the change was made. However, if you disagree with the change or have further questions, please share so we can discuss. All suggestions are welcome!
2/26/15
-1 Weathered Wayfarer
+1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed While I appreciate Weathered Wayfarer's power level in general, it just didn't fit as well here, while Mikaeus has synergy with most of the deck and brings a much higher power level.
2/26/15
-1 Utter End
+1 Necrotic Sliver Just a strict upgrade for Alesha here, Necrotic Sliver is much easier to abuse and reuse.
2/28/15
-1 Phyrexian Reclamation
+1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion I had been looking to add Elspeth in, as both of her first two abilities really fit this deck. Phyrexian Reclamation just didn't make the cut, it wasn't always doing something this deck wants to do, and was often outclassed by Volrath's Stronghold.
Hmm, I'll be honest I like both cards, having a straight "return creature to play" has been pretty nice at times, and Knight of the White Orchid has 7 targets, and it's one of my favorite early drops in the deck. I'd prefer to cut Weathered Wayfarer because it needs to tap to activate and doesn't synergize with Alesha as well. That said, I'm certainly willing to test those suggestions. I'll post up what results I find and if there are any other cuts I come across.
Also, I got a few games in tonight and have some changes of my own:
-1 Idyllic Tutor
+1 Enlightened Tutor This was somewhat expected, as Idyllic was put in just because it puts the card in hand, but that did not end up outweighing the ability of Enlightened Tutor to fetch artifacts.
How has your guys' experience been with Knight of the White Orchid and Weathered Wayfarer? It might just be my meta, but the requirement of being under my opponent's land count rarely comes up for me early game, and isn't really what I'm looking for late game, even if they thin out the deck. I'm thinking Land Tax is the better route as if it does go off I get 3 of any basic lands, not just plains. That or Kor Cartographer might be a little more reliable, albeit expensive.
How has your guys' experience been with Knight of the White Orchid and Weathered Wayfarer? It might just be my meta, but the requirement of being under my opponent's land count rarely comes up for me early game, and isn't really what I'm looking for late game, even if they thin out the deck. I'm thinking Land Tax is the better route as if it does go off I get 3 of any basic lands, not just plains. That or Kor Cartographer might be a little more reliable, albeit expensive.
Hey, first off thanks for checking out the thread!
Both of these cards are going to be a meta call. In my meta, with Azusa, Omnath and Kruphix, Knight of the White Orchid has been a stud. It fetches duals, puts them into play and has great synergy with Alesha. Weathered Wayfarer however is definitely on the chopping block. It doesn't put cards into play and it isn't synergistic with Alesha. It does however fetch any land, which can be very handy.
I do like Land Tax, but we don't run a high basics count and in a creature-based deck it doesn't have a lot of synergy. That said, it is still Land Tax and probably deserves more thought than I've given it. Kor Cartographer is definitely in the style of the deck; it can fetch duals, it has a CIP ability and it works great with Alesha. It's also not a Human, which would work well with the previously suggested Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. I would like it even more if it were 3CMC, but we're not running green so we just need to take what we can get.
I'll add Kor Cartographer to the Test Log and see how it plays out in games. Thanks for the suggestions!
How has your guys' experience been with Knight of the White Orchid and Weathered Wayfarer? It might just be my meta, but the requirement of being under my opponent's land count rarely comes up for me early game, and isn't really what I'm looking for late game, even if they thin out the deck. I'm thinking Land Tax is the better route as if it does go off I get 3 of any basic lands, not just plains. That or Kor Cartographer might be a little more reliable, albeit expensive.
Hey, first off thanks for checking out the thread!
Both of these cards are going to be a meta call. In my meta, with Azusa, Omnath and Kruphix, Knight of the White Orchid has been a stud. It fetches duals, puts them into play and has great synergy with Alesha. Weathered Wayfarer however is definitely on the chopping block. It doesn't put cards into play and it isn't synergistic with Alesha. It does however fetch any land, which can be very handy.
I do like Land Tax, but we don't run a high basics count and in a creature-based deck it doesn't have a lot of synergy. That said, it is still Land Tax and probably deserves more thought than I've given it. Kor Cartographer is definitely in the style of the deck; it can fetch duals, it has a CIP ability and it works great with Alesha. It's also not a Human, which would work well with the previously suggested Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. I would like it even more if it were 3CMC, but we're not running green so we just need to take what we can get.
I'll add Kor Cartographer to the Test Log and see how it plays out in games. Thanks for the suggestions!
The Cartographer was cut from my list before I started testing since it wasn't aggressive enough on its own. Never considered the Knight or Wayfarer, myself. Then again, I'm running Land Tax with over 20 basic lands and intentionally no Reliquary Tower. Tax is a card I will tutor for, even with a six-land hand. I've often thinned my deck to the point where I've actually "outdrawn" Blue, Black, and Green mages by more than 10 cards. The opportunity to dump creatures in my graveyard and reanimate them later with our commander or Sun Titan is priceless in my not-at-all-humble opinion.
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The Cartographer was cut from my list before I started testing since it wasn't aggressive enough on its own. Never considered the Knight or Wayfarer, myself. Then again, I'm running Land Tax with over 20 basic lands and intentionally no Reliquary Tower. Tax is a card I will tutor for, even with a six-land hand. I've often thinned my deck to the point where I've actually "outdrawn" Blue, Black, and Green mages by more than 10 cards. The opportunity to dump creatures in my graveyard and reanimate them later with our commander or Sun Titan is priceless in my not-at-all-humble opinion.
I can certainly see the value of Land Tax in a basics heavy list, and I like the interaction set up without Reliquary Tower.
Kor Cartographer may be a little slow for what we're trying to do here, and that should come out in testing. Any recommendation for Weathered Wayfarer's spot that would better fit this deck?
Have you ever thought about adding Mistveil Plains? Fetchable and works pretty well with Grenzo. I run Sunforger in my build, so it just enhances that as well.
Just a tangent, have any of you Alesha players tried out Wear // Tear? I don't play Leonin Relic-Warder shenanigans in my deck (though maybe I should), but it seems pretty versatile and cheap. It's not exile like Return to Dust, but I still run Utter End to deal with more troublesome cards.
Have you ever thought about adding Mistveil Plains? Fetchable and works pretty well with Grenzo. I run Sunforger in my build, so it just enhances that as well.
Yes, I have thought of Mistveil Plains, I just didn't think it worked that well with the deck. Though, I did think was pretty interesting protection against Bojuka Bog in my Sigarda EDH.
Just a tangent, have any of you Alesha players tried out Wear // Tear? I don't play Leonin Relic-Warder shenanigans in my deck (though maybe I should), but it seems pretty versatile and cheap. It's not exile like Return to Dust, but I still run Utter End to deal with more troublesome cards.
Funny enough, Wear/Tear was a card I first considered when building Alesha, but settled on Leonin Relic Warder & Return to Dust instead. They're also versatile, but both work better for this deck.
Almost every green player in my local meta have Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger and cast it turn 4 or 5, so I prefer to use mana rocks than ramps. After all, the deck average CMC is kinda low.
It's really hard to find Reveillark in my LGS, so instead I run another combo pieces like Ashnod's Altar + Nim Deathmantle + Karmic Guide + Anathemancer or other funny cards = instant wins/infinite trolling
Almost every green player in my local meta have Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger and cast it turn 4 or 5, so I prefer to use mana rocks than ramps. After all, the deck average CMC is kinda low.
Sure that makes sense, there aren't a lot of Vorinclex decks running around my meta, but there have been in the past and I certainly understand having to adjust to them.
LOL, yes that is pretty evil.
Master of Cruelties has certainly been on my radar, but didn't fit my "CIP abilities" qualifier for many of my creatures. That said, it is very powerful and can be game changing to say the least.
Yep, I've seen versions of Alesha that abuse these cards and provide maximum trollage. Definitely something for each player to consider in their build.
It's really hard to find Reveillark in my LGS, so instead I run another combo pieces like Ashnod's Altar + Nim Deathmantle + Karmic Guide + Anathemancer or other funny cards = instant wins/infinite trolling
Nice, a lack of cards is a great way to create new combos! Nim Deathmantle deserves a look in any deck trying to abuse the graveyard and this is no exception.
I was able to get in a few games last night and thought I would share some interesting interactions from those games.
Game 2 Leyline of the Void hits the board early, forcing me to pilot towards a combat-based win or build toward the combo and wait for the opportunity to remove Leyline. Thankfully, people pretty much left me alone with Leyline out and I was able to get a decent board presence without generating much hate. That was until Hokori, Dust Drinker hit the board with Sword of Feast and Famine, but it was a little too late at that point for anyone to do much about it (I will say that I did hold Hokori for a bit, waiting for the right time to drop him, which is key in piloting here). Hokori held people off until I found a Mirror Entity and pumped Cabal Coffers mana into Mirror Entity to kill 2 out of 3 opponents (one had died earlier).
Game 3
Okay, so I felt a little bad about this game, but at least it didn't last long. I had a pretty decent opening hand, including Faithless Looting, Fiend Hunter and Sun Titan, then drew into Sol Ring on turn 2. I started with Faithless Looting on turn 1, pitching Fiend Hunter and another card. I drew into Purphoros, God of the Forge and yes, at this point I knew stuff would probably get stupid. Turn 3 I played out Purphoros (indestructible enchantments are very valuable wincons here, extremely hard to remove) and Viscera Seer. I then played Sun Titan turn 4. Thankfully, a Fiend Hunter in the yard and a Purph on board didn't mean much to my opponents until I explained how I had just won the game unless someone had a response to the loop. This was a very educational experience for my opponents; if you're just going to ramp and play dudes, I might just win the game.
Regardless of these plays, I had a blast piloting Alesha and I'm definitely in love with this deck. It's very fast, but doesn't seem to suffer as much in the midgame as other aggressive decks.
I'm also still looking for suggestions, critiques, etc. on the deck, any feedback would be great!
Game 3
Okay, so I felt a little bad about this game, but at least it didn't last long. I had a pretty decent opening hand, including Faithless Looting, Fiend Hunter and Sun Titan, then drew into Sol Ring on turn 2. I started with Faithless Looting on turn 1, pitching Fiend Hunter and another card. I drew into Purphoros, God of the Forge and yes, at this point I knew stuff would probably get stupid. Turn 3 I played out Purphoros (indestructible enchantments are very valuable wincons here, extremely hard to remove) and played Sun Titan turn 4. Thankfully, a Fiend Hunter in the yard and a Purph on board didn't mean much to my opponents until I explained how I had just won the game unless someone had a response to the loop. This was a very educational experience for my opponents; if you're just going to ramp and play dudes, I might just win the game.
Could you please explain this combo I'm having trouble trying to figure out out
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I will be typing up deck lists as soon as I an be bothered, I really only play EDH:
Game 3
Okay, so I felt a little bad about this game, but at least it didn't last long. I had a pretty decent opening hand, including Faithless Looting, Fiend Hunter and Sun Titan, then drew into Sol Ring on turn 2. I started with Faithless Looting on turn 1, pitching Fiend Hunter and another card. I drew into Purphoros, God of the Forge and yes, at this point I knew stuff would probably get stupid. Turn 3 I played out Purphoros (indestructible enchantments are very valuable wincons here, extremely hard to remove) and played Sun Titan turn 4. Thankfully, a Fiend Hunter in the yard and a Purph on board didn't mean much to my opponents until I explained how I had just won the game unless someone had a response to the loop. This was a very educational experience for my opponents; if you're just going to ramp and play dudes, I might just win the game.
Could you please explain this combo I'm having trouble trying to figure out out
As far as I can tell, there is no combo. Hunter's target must be another target creature, so if Titan's ETB trigger returns Hunter, then Hunter only has the option of targeting Titan (based on the information provided). Then, Hunter has to leave the 'field somehow for Titan to come back.
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Game 3
Okay, so I felt a little bad about this game, but at least it didn't last long. I had a pretty decent opening hand, including Faithless Looting, Fiend Hunter and Sun Titan, then drew into Sol Ring on turn 2. I started with Faithless Looting on turn 1, pitching Fiend Hunter and another card. I drew into Purphoros, God of the Forge and yes, at this point I knew stuff would probably get stupid. Turn 3 I played out Purphoros (indestructible enchantments are very valuable wincons here, extremely hard to remove) and played Sun Titan turn 4. Thankfully, a Fiend Hunter in the yard and a Purph on board didn't mean much to my opponents until I explained how I had just won the game unless someone had a response to the loop. This was a very educational experience for my opponents; if you're just going to ramp and play dudes, I might just win the game.
Could you please explain this combo I'm having trouble trying to figure out out
As far as I can tell, there is no combo. Hunter's target must be another target creature, so if Titan's ETB trigger returns Hunter, then Hunter only has the option of targeting Titan (based on the information provided). Then, Hunter has to leave the 'field somehow for Titan to come back.
yea thought the combo was lacking a sac outlet now if you had one of those online then your got an infinite creature loop until everyone is dead
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I will be typing up deck lists as soon as I an be bothered, I really only play EDH:
Yes, I apologize, I didn't add that Viscera Seer was on the field (post now edited for accuracy). It only works with a sac outlet, of which this deck has many.
On a side note, I wanted to add how valuable Viscera Seer is for us. Not only is it a sac outlet, but if you are unable to get a Blood Artist/Falkenrath Noble/etc. affect on the board, Viscera Seer will allow you to at least Scry until you hit one. I know some people don't see Viscera Seer as a playable card in EDH, but it certainly has value here.
I know your deck is combat/combo, but have you ever ran Alesha purely non-infinite? We don't play infinite in my meta and I'm having a hard time closing out my games. I use a sac/token/aggro build, but I run out of steam pretty easily without combo shenanigans. Any experience/advice?
I know your deck is combat/combo, but have you ever ran Alesha purely non-infinite? We don't play infinite in my meta and I'm having a hard time closing out my games. I use a sac/token/aggro build, but I run out of steam pretty easily without combo shenanigans. Any experience/advice?
My combo-free Alesha deck disrupts opponents via mass land removal. Link's in my signature. I should also note that getting Alesha's power/toughness to 8/7 in my deck is relatively easy.
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I know your deck is combat/combo, but have you ever ran Alesha purely non-infinite? We don't play infinite in my meta and I'm having a hard time closing out my games. I use a sac/token/aggro build, but I run out of steam pretty easily without combo shenanigans. Any experience/advice?
You're probably going to want some heavy anthem effects, or else go the less popular route of stax locking, ala Yosei, the Morning Star, Hokori, Dust Drinker, Winter Orb, etc. Facilitating this strategy is Sun Titan, of course.
Purphuros is an excellent start in any alesha deck, but especially in token builds. True Conviction is a white staple, and I believe Mirror Entity has already been mentioned. Even moonveil dragon might work, given the ability to flash in in mid-combat with an alesha'd Karmic Guide or Titan'd Necromancy. Crescendo of War is one of my favorite cards, as it just gets so completely out of hand, even in 1v1. It seems dangerous, but cards like Kami of False Hope, Peacekeeper, Solitary Confinement, Martyr's Cause, stonehorn dignitary et al. can easily negate it's downside while being excellent on their own merits.
Finally, if you aren't worried about other people going infinite, and think you can reasonably get attacks in, all 5 swords of x+y start to warrant inclusion, as does Jitte. Even less robust equipment like Fireshrieker or Loxodon Warhammer can pull weight. Demonspine Whip can be insane on a Mirran Crusader or Silverblade Paladin. If you're running Urborg or just a swamp heavy land base, Nightmare Lash and such can be nice, but generally they stay in mono-B. Bonehoard perhaps?
I know your deck is combat/combo, but have you ever ran Alesha purely non-infinite? We don't play infinite in my meta and I'm having a hard time closing out my games. I use a sac/token/aggro build, but I run out of steam pretty easily without combo shenanigans. Any experience/advice?
Absolutely! There are playgroups in my area that I go to and never combo off because I know how they feel about infinite combos. One of the great things about this deck is that all of the combo cards also happen to be awesome cards for Alesha, and there's no reason you can't play the deck without going infinite. There are plenty of times you'll notice you can combo, but just don't use it. A good example might be, you play a Sun Titan but choose not to recur the Fiend Hunter, instead you get a Sword of Feast and Famine, Mentor of the Meek, etc. Maybe when I get a little more time I'll put together both a combo and non-infinite version of the list for anyone that is interested. Great question btw!
My combo-free Alesha deck disrupts opponents via mass land removal. Link's in my signature. I should also note that getting Alesha's power/toughness to 8/7 in my deck is relatively easy.
While I personally love your list, and especially enjoy your commentary/thoughts regarding the deck, I cannot recommend a mass LD strat in a meta that is anti-infinite. Would I play it? Hell yes. But, I have found a LOT more metas that are anti-LD than those that are against infinite combos.
You're probably going to want some heavy anthem effects, or else go the less popular route of stax locking, ala Yosei, the Morning Star, Hokori, Dust Drinker, Winter Orb, etc. Facilitating this strategy is Sun Titan, of course.
Purphuros is an excellent start in any alesha deck, but especially in token builds. True Conviction is a white staple, and I believe Mirror Entity has already been mentioned. Even moonveil dragon might work, given the ability to flash in in mid-combat with an alesha'd Karmic Guide or Titan'd Necromancy. Crescendo of War is one of my favorite cards, as it just gets so completely out of hand, even in 1v1. It seems dangerous, but cards like Kami of False Hope, Peacekeeper, Solitary Confinement, Martyr's Cause, stonehorn dignitary et al. can easily negate it's downside while being excellent on their own merits.
Finally, if you aren't worried about other people going infinite, and think you can reasonably get attacks in, all 5 swords of x+y start to warrant inclusion, as does Jitte. Even less robust equipment like Fireshrieker or Loxodon Warhammer can pull weight. Demonspine Whip can be insane on a Mirran Crusader or Silverblade Paladin. If you're running Urborg or just a swamp heavy land base, Nightmare Lash and such can be nice, but generally they stay in mono-B. Bonehoard perhaps?
Yes, there are several ways to tweak the list in the specific meta Naja656 referred to, many great ideas are in the above quote. That said, I've never had any issues being competitive while piloting Alesha in aggressive combat. However, if you seem to have an issue doing so, I certainly recommend you give some of these a try!
I spent some time playing the deck Monday night and had some notes to share...
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed has earned a spot in my list. It provides immediate impact in most board states and can be an all-star in many situations. Also, as previously discussed, Weathered Wayfarer hasn't been providing much for the deck, and although it is a great card, I don't know that it's needed here.
As I play Alesha more and more, I'm noticing that she doesn't play like traditional low-cost generals (you generally don't want her out early, and she gets better & better as the game goes on). I'm not sure how that will affect the build yet, but it's something I'll be analyzing and theory crafting, and would love your help!
I've been going back and forth on Utter End vs. Vindicate and as we haven't discussed it here, I would love your ideas!
— Alesha, Who Smiles at Death
Personal Bio
I started playing Magic: The Gathering sometime during Onslaught block, though I was young and can't remember exactly when I cracked my first pack. I do remember entering my first tournament in 2003 and being slaughtered in each match. However, I still enjoyed the deck building and tuning process. For the next five years I played Standard and Extended exclusively, becoming progressively more competitive. I started to travel to major tournaments across the U.S. and really became enthralled with the game.
Then, in 2008, I was introduced to this strange singelton format. I'll admit, I did resist at first, but once I started to think of the deckbuilding implications, I was hooked. No rotation, no 4-ofs, just limitless possibilities. Cards that I had disregarded as "garbage" for years now became treasure I hunted. My creativity had never felt so free and I immediately clung to this new format. Bladewing the Risen was my first general, and then Korlash, Heir to Blackblade soon after. While their abilities were not overpowering, the cards peeked my interested just based on the lore around them.
Over the next few years, I continued to play Standard and Extended, but my true joy was in EDH. Now I wasn't traveling to compete in tournaments, I was going for the artists, the vendors and all the great casual side games that didn't cost a penny. Eventually, I dropped any competitive magic and ever since have only played EDH, now Commander. I'll admit I have a severe addiction to foils, foreign old cards, misprints, etc., though with prices on Commander cards these days, it's a little bit harder to budget for "pimp" (looking at you $1 foil Rhystic Study).
Nowadays I'm married and work a more-than full-time job, but still find time to play quite often. I play in the Minneapolis Metro area and am always up for a game of 100 card singleton.
Also, if you're asking, yes, it did take me almost 12 years to actually sign-up and start posting on MTGSalvation, though I have been reading many excellent posts and articles for years. If you're a long-time player who's in that situation now, definitely register, it's worth it for just the cool avatar!
As a deck builder, I have always been interested in the Mardu color combination and the dual colors within. Often it seems these colors are ignored for blue, green and further combinations within those colors. So to be different at the table, I always looked to build in these colors. This particular deck originally started as a Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer voltron build, and transformed into Kaalia of the Vast (which provided far superior power level and didn't require artifacts surviving on the board). Then, when Fate Reforged was spoiled, I noticed Alesha and again saw her colors as an opportunity to play something different at the table. I started toying around with some of the best 2 power or less creatures I could think of, and saw that there was certainly a deck to be built here. As "fate" would have it, on the day FRF was released, my wife surprised me with a fat pack when I got home from work, and darn it if a foil Alesha wasn't just waiting inside. I took that as a sign to get serious about the building, and now I have a personal memory to directly link to the deck.
Alesha is very versatile and has a powerful ability, making her a great commander choice. She provides an open door for winning through either combat or combo, allowing the pilot to tailor their playstyle to the deck.
While Mardu isn't traditionally considered the most powerful color combination, it fits Alesha perfectly, allowing access to some of the best creatures available for her ability (i.e. Karmic Guide). As Alesha ability requires creatures to activate, this deck will benefit from a high creature count and especially creatures under 2 power (of which there are nearly limitless options).
Alesha enables us the powerful ability of "cheating" creatures into play, so having creatures with CIP (come-into-play) abilities is important to get the best value out of her ability.
You may enjoy playing Alesha if:
- You want a build-around commander
- You enjoy playing creature-based decks
- You enjoy the versatility of winning through combat, combo or both
- You like to pilot less-played commanders
You may not enjoy playing Alesha if:- You want to play U and/or G
- You don't enjoy creature-based decks
- You stick to more popular commanders
- You don't get enjoyment from killing an entire table out of nowhere on someone else's turn without ever casting a spell (REALLY? What's wrong with you?
).
Decklist VariationsThe following are other versions of Alesha from the MTGS Community:
The following is a detailed listing of the Alesha deck list I have assembled and tested. This is by no means the "definitive list" as our card pool is so vast and metas so varied. Each player may find certain choices they would replace (feedback is always welcome!
1 Alesha, Who Smiles at Death
Creature (35)
1 Viscera Seer
1 Mother of Runes
1 Blood Artist
1 Pain Seer
1 Bloodghast
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Knight of the White Orchid
1 Leonin Relic-Warder
1 Grenzo, Dungeon Warden
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Mentor of the Meek
1 Hushwing Gryff
1 Mirror Entity
1 Grim Haruspex
1 Necrotic Sliver
1 Fiend Hunter
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Anger
1 Disciple of Bolas
1 Falkenrath Noble
1 Hokori, Dust Drinker
1 Dimir House Guard
1 Brutal Hordechief
1 Falkenrath Aristocrat
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Restoration Angel
1 Academy Rector
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Reveillark
1 Karmic Guide
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Duplicant
1 Sun Titan
1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Instant (6)
1 Entomb
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Chaos Warp
1 Crackling Doom
1 Return to Dust
Sorcery (6)
1 Faithless Looting
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Buried Alive
1 Cataclysm
1 Unburial Rites
1 Austere Command
Artifact (7)
1 Sol Ring
1 Skullclamp
1 Expedition Map
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Phyrexian Altar
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
Enchantment (7)
1 Animate Dead
1 Goblin Bombardment
1 Necropotence
1 Outpost Siege
1 Iroas, God of Victory
1 Purphoros, God of the Forge
1 Dictate of Erebos
Land (37)
1 Nomad Outpost
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Command Tower
1 Scrubland
1 Plateau
1 Badlands
1 Godless Shrine
1 Blood Crypt
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Fetid Heath
1 Rugged Prairie
1 Graven Cairns
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Arid Mesa
1 Marsh Flats
1 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Temple of the False God
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Strip Mine
3 Plains
3 Mountain
3 Swamp
This version of Alesha has two main strategies to achieve victory; combat and combo. The following sections detail each path and give options/paths to play that strategy competitively. If you have any information or details to add, please share and I will update accordingly.
The main wincon for a combat-based victory is Mirror Entity. Because this deck runs so many low cost creatures, it is very easy to assemble a large board presence without much effort, and sometimes the Mirror Entity isn't even necessary (but often it's the difference between killing one opponent and killing all opponents).
The goal here is simple, keep your creatures on the board until you have enough to attempt an alpha strike. Politics often plays a role here, as if you attack someone will everything you have every turn, you'll usually get board wiped or hated off the table. If you attack with just a few creatures and try to minimize the appearance of your board presence, you'll often have better luck.
Assembling a combo victory is going to be more complicated than a combat victory, but is often much easier to avoid detection from our opponents and come out of nowhere for the win. The main combo/synergies are as follows (though you'll easily find more combos that I haven't even found yet):
1. Reveillark + Karmic Guide
These two cards combo with a plethora of other cards, usually involving a sac outlet (i.e. Phyrexian Altar, Dimir House Guard).
One way this combo works by evoking or sacrificing Reveillark to return Karmic Guide and another combo piece (i.e. Murderous Redcap), then returning Reveillark to the field with Karmic Guide's triggered ability. In this case, sacrifice the Redcap to deal 3 total damage (see Persist), then sac the Karmic Guide and then the Reveillark, repeating the whole process. This will cost no resources, can be done at instant speed and can generate unlimited mana (Phyrexian Arena as sac outlet), infinite damage (Murderous Redcap), etc.
Another way these cards can combo is with a Blood Artist, Falkenrath Noble or Purphoros, God of the Forge effect. Using the above sequence, each time your sacrifice the Karmic Guide & Reveillark (in this case it doesn't matter what the other creature is that Reveillark returns) the Blood Artist/Falkenrath Noble/Purphoros, God of the Forge will trigger, and as you can do this infinitely, it will kill the entire table.
The third way I'll cover is to use Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker as the second creature returned with Reveillark and the previously discussed sac outlet. Use Reveillark to return Kiki-Jiki and Karmic Guide, activate Kiki-Jiki's ability by making a copy of any creature you have in play. Then repeat the process until you have your "infinite creature tokens" and kill everyone through combat damage.
2. Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Restoration Angel
These two make a very simple combo, creating infinite Restoration Angel tokens to win through combat damage. With Kiki-Jiki in play, play Restoration Angel and with the blink trigger on the stack, make a copy of Restoration Angel. That copy goes onto the next layer of the stack, which will resolve first, blinking out Kiki-Jiki. When Kiki-Jiki comes back into play, the first Restoration Angel ability will still be on the stack. Again, use Kiki-Jiki to make a copy of that Restoration Angel and repeat the process.
3. Animate Dead + Karmic Guide + Sun Titan + Sac Outlet
This combo is a little bit more complicated, thanks to capitacom for pointing it out on his thread! The way it works is by casting Karmic Guide to return Sun Titan, then sacrificing Karmic Guide with Sun Titan's trigger on the stack. Use Sun Titan's ability to return Animate Dead, enchanting Karmic Guide. As Karmic Guide has protection from black, the enchantment will fall off and it will die, but not before you get to return Sun Titan, which again returns Animate Dead and the process starts all over.
This also works if Karmic Guide and Animate Dead are in the graveyard and you cast Sun Titan instead.
With Blood Artist or Falkenrath Noble this can kill the whole table or with Phyrexian Altar it can give you unlimited mana.
If you notice other combos/synergies/wincons while playing the list, please share with the community and I'll be sure to update the list here. Thanks!
The following are cards, suggested by the community, that have been/are being tested. This section is a great resource to see what cards have been tried and to find out why card "X" is not in this deck. I'll try to add/update why each suggestions may have or may not have worked for this build.
2/21/15
Suggested by: 4Lark
Bitter Ordeal
Another great suggestion from 4Lark, this is another win condition to add to many of our combos/synergies. Now it's just testing to see if I can find a spot.
2/21/15
Suggested by: Hunding Gjornersen
Imperial Recruiter
Yeah, this guy is good, and even before testing I'm going to assume that he'll end up working out very well here.
3/1/15
Suggested by: 4Lark
-1 Mother of Runes
+1 Darksteel Ingot
As 4Lark pointed out, Mother of Runes is fairly reactive and doesn't have any synergy with Alesha's ability. Darksteel Ingot provides us with another mana source that sticks around through Austere Command and the like.
2/21/15
Suggested by: 4Lark
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
This is a great suggestions here that earned its slot quickly, Mikaeus has great synergy with most of the deck and can lead to many powerful interactions.
2/22/15
Kor Cartographer
Unfortunately, this favorite just didn't pan out here. It does have synergy with the deck, but in the end, I prefer something a bit faster, maybe even Land Tax.
2/27/15
Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Elspeth's ability to both produce tokens (we like having creatures!) and to destroy creatures with power 4 or greater is huge for us, and deserves the slot.
This section details the changes the deck goes through after the thread was first posted. Most changes come directly from the readers (that's you!) and further testing down the line. Some changes may seem more intuitive than others, so I'll try to give each entry a description of why the change was made. However, if you disagree with the change or have further questions, please share so we can discuss. All suggestions are welcome!
2/21/15
-1 Enlightened Tutor
+1 Vampiric Tutor
Thanks to 4Lark to pointing oversight this out!
2/26/15
-1 Weathered Wayfarer
+1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
While I appreciate Weathered Wayfarer's power level in general, it just didn't fit as well here, while Mikaeus has synergy with most of the deck and brings a much higher power level.
2/26/15
-1 Utter End
+1 Necrotic Sliver
Just a strict upgrade for Alesha here, Necrotic Sliver is much easier to abuse and reuse.
2/28/15
-1 Phyrexian Reclamation
+1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
I had been looking to add Elspeth in, as both of her first two abilities really fit this deck. Phyrexian Reclamation just didn't make the cut, it wasn't always doing something this deck wants to do, and was often outclassed by Volrath's Stronghold.
2/28/15
Personal Meta Change
-1 Thespian Stage
-1 Wooded Foothills (or any 6th fetch)
+1 Plains
+1 Swamp
Hey, thanks for taking a look at the thread!
I love both of those suggestions! They both really fit the deck. Any ideas on things that could be removed?
Thanks again!
What do you think?
Hmm, I'll be honest I like both cards, having a straight "return creature to play" has been pretty nice at times, and Knight of the White Orchid has 7 targets, and it's one of my favorite early drops in the deck. I'd prefer to cut Weathered Wayfarer because it needs to tap to activate and doesn't synergize with Alesha as well. That said, I'm certainly willing to test those suggestions. I'll post up what results I find and if there are any other cuts I come across.
Also, I got a few games in tonight and have some changes of my own:
-1 Idyllic Tutor
+1 Enlightened Tutor
This was somewhat expected, as Idyllic was put in just because it puts the card in hand, but that did not end up outweighing the ability of Enlightened Tutor to fetch artifacts.
Thoughts?
Hey, first off thanks for checking out the thread!
Both of these cards are going to be a meta call. In my meta, with Azusa, Omnath and Kruphix, Knight of the White Orchid has been a stud. It fetches duals, puts them into play and has great synergy with Alesha. Weathered Wayfarer however is definitely on the chopping block. It doesn't put cards into play and it isn't synergistic with Alesha. It does however fetch any land, which can be very handy.
I do like Land Tax, but we don't run a high basics count and in a creature-based deck it doesn't have a lot of synergy. That said, it is still Land Tax and probably deserves more thought than I've given it. Kor Cartographer is definitely in the style of the deck; it can fetch duals, it has a CIP ability and it works great with Alesha. It's also not a Human, which would work well with the previously suggested Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. I would like it even more if it were 3CMC, but we're not running green so we just need to take what we can get.
I'll add Kor Cartographer to the Test Log and see how it plays out in games. Thanks for the suggestions!
I can certainly see the value of Land Tax in a basics heavy list, and I like the interaction set up without Reliquary Tower.
Kor Cartographer may be a little slow for what we're trying to do here, and that should come out in testing. Any recommendation for Weathered Wayfarer's spot that would better fit this deck?
Just a tangent, have any of you Alesha players tried out Wear // Tear? I don't play Leonin Relic-Warder shenanigans in my deck (though maybe I should), but it seems pretty versatile and cheap. It's not exile like Return to Dust, but I still run Utter End to deal with more troublesome cards.
Yes, I have thought of Mistveil Plains, I just didn't think it worked that well with the deck. Though, I did think was pretty interesting protection against Bojuka Bog in my Sigarda EDH.
Funny enough, Wear/Tear was a card I first considered when building Alesha, but settled on Leonin Relic Warder & Return to Dust instead. They're also versatile, but both work better for this deck.
My Alesha deck also use Master of Cruelties and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite. Buried Alive into these dudes and Karmic Guide on turn 2 or 3, and the blue player can only hope to have counterspells in their hands.
Some other funny cards like Anathemancer or Avalanche Riders or Mindclaw Shaman are proven to be useful for maximum trolling /lol.
It's really hard to find Reveillark in my LGS, so instead I run another combo pieces like Ashnod's Altar + Nim Deathmantle + Karmic Guide + Anathemancer or other funny cards = instant wins/infinite trolling
Sure that makes sense, there aren't a lot of Vorinclex decks running around my meta, but there have been in the past and I certainly understand having to adjust to them.
LOL, yes that is pretty evil.
Master of Cruelties has certainly been on my radar, but didn't fit my "CIP abilities" qualifier for many of my creatures. That said, it is very powerful and can be game changing to say the least.
Yep, I've seen versions of Alesha that abuse these cards and provide maximum trollage. Definitely something for each player to consider in their build.
Nice, a lack of cards is a great way to create new combos! Nim Deathmantle deserves a look in any deck trying to abuse the graveyard and this is no exception.
Thanks for sharing and the great suggestions!
Game 2
Leyline of the Void hits the board early, forcing me to pilot towards a combat-based win or build toward the combo and wait for the opportunity to remove Leyline. Thankfully, people pretty much left me alone with Leyline out and I was able to get a decent board presence without generating much hate. That was until Hokori, Dust Drinker hit the board with Sword of Feast and Famine, but it was a little too late at that point for anyone to do much about it (I will say that I did hold Hokori for a bit, waiting for the right time to drop him, which is key in piloting here). Hokori held people off until I found a Mirror Entity and pumped Cabal Coffers mana into Mirror Entity to kill 2 out of 3 opponents (one had died earlier).
Game 3
Okay, so I felt a little bad about this game, but at least it didn't last long. I had a pretty decent opening hand, including Faithless Looting, Fiend Hunter and Sun Titan, then drew into Sol Ring on turn 2. I started with Faithless Looting on turn 1, pitching Fiend Hunter and another card. I drew into Purphoros, God of the Forge and yes, at this point I knew stuff would probably get stupid. Turn 3 I played out Purphoros (indestructible enchantments are very valuable wincons here, extremely hard to remove) and Viscera Seer. I then played Sun Titan turn 4. Thankfully, a Fiend Hunter in the yard and a Purph on board didn't mean much to my opponents until I explained how I had just won the game unless someone had a response to the loop. This was a very educational experience for my opponents; if you're just going to ramp and play dudes, I might just win the game.
Regardless of these plays, I had a blast piloting Alesha and I'm definitely in love with this deck. It's very fast, but doesn't seem to suffer as much in the midgame as other aggressive decks.
I'm also still looking for suggestions, critiques, etc. on the deck, any feedback would be great!
Thanks for reading!
Could you please explain this combo I'm having trouble trying to figure out out
Thraximundar Control voltron
Darien, King of Dudes The swarm
Karador, Ghost ChieftainJunk graveyard
Erebos, God of the DeadMy BIG BLACK.......deck
Zedruu the kindhearted My take on Pristaxcontrombmodruu!
Roon of the Hidden Realm Bounce house
yea thought the combo was lacking a sac outlet now if you had one of those online then your got an infinite creature loop until everyone is dead
Thraximundar Control voltron
Darien, King of Dudes The swarm
Karador, Ghost ChieftainJunk graveyard
Erebos, God of the DeadMy BIG BLACK.......deck
Zedruu the kindhearted My take on Pristaxcontrombmodruu!
Roon of the Hidden Realm Bounce house
On a side note, I wanted to add how valuable Viscera Seer is for us. Not only is it a sac outlet, but if you are unable to get a Blood Artist/Falkenrath Noble/etc. affect on the board, Viscera Seer will allow you to at least Scry until you hit one. I know some people don't see Viscera Seer as a playable card in EDH, but it certainly has value here.
You're probably going to want some heavy anthem effects, or else go the less popular route of stax locking, ala Yosei, the Morning Star, Hokori, Dust Drinker, Winter Orb, etc. Facilitating this strategy is Sun Titan, of course.
Purphuros is an excellent start in any alesha deck, but especially in token builds.
True Conviction is a white staple, and I believe Mirror Entity has already been mentioned. Even moonveil dragon might work, given the ability to flash in in mid-combat with an alesha'd Karmic Guide or Titan'd Necromancy.
Crescendo of War is one of my favorite cards, as it just gets so completely out of hand, even in 1v1. It seems dangerous, but cards like Kami of False Hope, Peacekeeper, Solitary Confinement, Martyr's Cause, stonehorn dignitary et al. can easily negate it's downside while being excellent on their own merits.
Finally, if you aren't worried about other people going infinite, and think you can reasonably get attacks in, all 5 swords of x+y start to warrant inclusion, as does Jitte. Even less robust equipment like Fireshrieker or Loxodon Warhammer can pull weight. Demonspine Whip can be insane on a Mirran Crusader or Silverblade Paladin. If you're running Urborg or just a swamp heavy land base, Nightmare Lash and such can be nice, but generally they stay in mono-B. Bonehoard perhaps?
Absolutely! There are playgroups in my area that I go to and never combo off because I know how they feel about infinite combos. One of the great things about this deck is that all of the combo cards also happen to be awesome cards for Alesha, and there's no reason you can't play the deck without going infinite. There are plenty of times you'll notice you can combo, but just don't use it. A good example might be, you play a Sun Titan but choose not to recur the Fiend Hunter, instead you get a Sword of Feast and Famine, Mentor of the Meek, etc. Maybe when I get a little more time I'll put together both a combo and non-infinite version of the list for anyone that is interested. Great question btw!
While I personally love your list, and especially enjoy your commentary/thoughts regarding the deck, I cannot recommend a mass LD strat in a meta that is anti-infinite. Would I play it? Hell yes. But, I have found a LOT more metas that are anti-LD than those that are against infinite combos.
Yes, there are several ways to tweak the list in the specific meta Naja656 referred to, many great ideas are in the above quote. That said, I've never had any issues being competitive while piloting Alesha in aggressive combat. However, if you seem to have an issue doing so, I certainly recommend you give some of these a try!
Oh! Good catch! There's no rationale, just a mistake on my part. Thanks for pointing that out!