So, back after a 4 year hiatus from MTG. New group with lots of casual players with very little infinite combo decks. I decided I wanted to build an Aggro deck. Other than Maelstrom Wanderer and Voltron decks, I've never built an aggro EDH/Commander deck. So, I decided to build Wanderer. Looking through my stuff to gather the cards for it, I found a half built Alesha, Who Smiles at Death deck I tried building like a year ago because I was bored and missed MTG. So I didn't what every sane person would do and decided to finish building Alesha.
I find Alesha interesting because of how well she suits my playstyle. I'm very much accustomed to attrition style control using a lot of recursion.
Anarchist - Sorcery recursion. There is, if I remember correctly, a card that was printed "recently" that can do Instants and Sorceries and I definately need to get one.
Aven Mindcensor - Pretty obvious why it's on this list, but the reason it's not in the deck is simply because bringing it back with Alesha doesn't ruin any tutors. Without flash, it's actually kind of bad.
Cadaver Imp - Creature recursion. Seen it in more lists than I can understand. seems bad. If it returned 2 things, then It would probably be in the deck.
Dualcaster Mage - Pointless to recur with Alesha, but a generally good card and typically a staple for red.
Evangel of Heliod - It can make a pretty awesome amount of tokens for an etb trigger.
Faceless Butcher - I've always enjoyed this card and it's not bad by any stretch. I've just shied away from it for some reason.
Filth - Seems unblockable. I mean, I'm playing Urborg, tomb of yawgmoth. I've got my eye on a couple of creatures to try and make the team unblockable.
Goblin Matron - Was in the list until I realized that I had exactly 1 goblin to tutor for. Dropped her for Tymna the Weaver.
Gray Merchant of Asphodel - Seems like it should be an auto-include. Looking at the list, I don't think I have quite enough black cards to use it. Sure, I'll gain a bunch of life, but when the average life loss it dishes out would probably be ~5 per player, It seems far less good while still making me a target.
Leonin Arbiter - Seems good on paper, but he's just never made the cut in any deck I consider it for. It slows people down, but only by making them save their fetches and tutors to use on a single turn.
Mog War Marshal - Tokens. Used to be really good, but I think there's enough token makers to retire him for good outside of tribal decks.
Pawn of Ulamog - Makes tokens, that give me mana, whenever my things die. Yet another card that seems good, but just never seems to make the cut.
Pentavus - Alesha being able to recur a 5/5 seems good, right? And it makes tokens? Am I the only one that REALLY wants to give this card a shot?
Shrieking Mogg - My things are essentially unblockable while also leaving everyone open for attack until their next turn... including me...
Stingscourger - Always liked this card, and I have a foil. Yet another card that never makes the cut.
Planeswalkers
There's lots I'd like to include but simply don't have.
Chandra Ablaze - I like this card a lot and she normally makes the cut pretty easily, especially with how easy she helps me get stuff in the grave for Alesha. I'm just not running any of the cards I'd typically run alongside her to make her better: Squee, Chandra's Phoenix.
Artifacts
Cloudstone Curio - let's me bounce my stuff and replay it over and over. Not broken or combo prone in the slightest, especially in this deck.
Nihil Spellbomb - Grave hate. I need the enchantment creature that can do this.
Oblivion Stone - I mean, I like my creatures dying, right?
Sunforger - Boros/+ staple, right. It's good, but at 5 mana per use just hurts my soul to use. No doubt it's strong. Taj-Nar Swordsmith is on this list for a reason.
Sword of feast and Famine - Seems staple when your including a number of equipment greater than Skullclamp and boots. Probably not. I'd rather have Fire and Ice or Light and Shadow... I should put them on this list.
Break through the Line - I've seen this on like 4 different lists and I don't understand why. It can't target Alesha, so it's pointless.
Goblin Bombardment - Staple red sac outlet. I am trying to never go infinite and I do have infinites in the deck which is why so many of my sac outlets cost mana to use.
Retreat to Emeria - Makes tokens and can buff my things. If I were in green, then it would be amazing. I do have fetches... and a Sun Titan...
True Conviction - Mass Doublestrike and Lifelink is very tempting.
Whip of Erebos - Mass Lifelink plus some temp reanimation.
Sorceries
Austere Command - I might just need to put this in. I destroy anything with a cmc greater than Alesha and some artifacts or enchantments. I mean, I already have two board wipes that don't leave Alesha alive.
Buried Alive - Tutor x3. Instantly makes me the target of the next grave hate card.
Decree of Pain - I am playing token makers, but at 8 mana in an aggro deck I'd rather play an 8 mana spell that wins the game.
Fragmentize - 1cmc removal never get's old, even with mild restrictions.
Living Death - Seems good in this type of deck, but I'm also actively trying to destroy things so that my commander can attack. Bringing everything back seems fairly subpar.
Oust - 1cmc removal that also makes your opponent waste a draw getting their card back is so nice. Sorcery speed really hurts the effect though. Much rather be able to play it in response to a tutor.
Reanimate - Typical Black staple, but it just doesn't seem needed.
Reforge the Soul - Do I want my opponent to have another full hand with possible answers included? I also really like ditching my hand and drawing more cards though.
Terminus - I'd typically run this no questions asked, but I really don't want my things to die all the time let alone go back to the deck where I can't recur them.
Boros Charm - I can make my board indestructible, but it does nothing else of worth in this deck.
Chaos Warp - Easy way of dealing with indestructible things, which I admittedly don't have enough answers for.
Crackling Doom - They have to sac the biggest thing, meaning it get's past tokens. The two damage is near useless, but it's a really good sac effect.
Leave No Trace - Pet card. Awesome art. Awesome effect. It just never seems to make the cut over cards that target more permanent types.
Orzhov Charm - Save Alesha, reanimate a small thing, or remove a creature. Versatility.
Mardu Charm - Another Versatility card, but none of its modes really matter. I mean it does thing and can come in handy killing combo pieces, making people discard things at instant speed is always strong, and a couple of tokens can save you at times. It just... doesn't seem like enough. It's only good in those fringe instances.
Mortify - Typically a near staple for me in these colors. It's good even at 3cmc.
Tragic Slip - Yeah, screw that high P/T indestructible beater. Blightsteel, Darksteel, Ulamogs. They all have legs and thus can always take a slip.
Lands
Volrath's Stronghold - Complete lapse in memory. Forgot to grab one when I was gathering cards for the deck.
That about wraps it up. If you've got any card suggestions, cool, fringe, or otherwise feel free to post them. I do ask that people read all of the post just to keep from suggesting cards I've already got listed, unless you'd like to vouch for a card to get me to try it out sooner. Also try to remember that I just got back from a 4 year hiatus. I've got very, very few cards from the last 4 years. I'm trying to gather new stuff. If the card you want to suggest was printed in the past 4 years, then I've probably already got it in my spreadsheet of cards to get, but there's a chance I haven't thought about it specifically for this deck. I might try to add a spoiler going over cards I don't have, in a similar fashion to the "maybe" spoiler.
Specific suggestions I'm looking for are more anthem-like win conditions that just buff all my creatures.
After some playtesting and an actual game or two on friday, I've made quite a few edits.
-Sensei's Divining Top - I was so caught up in playing aggro that I just never used it. I actually had someone ask me if I had used it at all. After that, I used it for a few turns and ended up drawing with it, shuffled it away on accident, and never missed it. +Buried Alive - I didn't want to just take out top and not replace it with decent card draw spell. It tutors for 3 targets for Alesha, which actually makes me question Entomb's value to the deck.
-Beetleback Chief - In light of a few of the changes I decided to make, it's just being replaced. I'm adding in two cards with Devotion and neither are to red. I'm keeping roughly the same effect, just in a different color that matters a little more. +Evangel of Heliod - It makes the same amount of tokens at minimum and can make a lot more.
-Minion Reflector - I really like this card. I really do. It has, however, NEVER pulled its weight in any deck I've put it in. While I find that weird, cause I have a lot of effects in the deck I'd like copied, there's just not enough that are impactful enough to warrant putting a 2 tax on almost every creature that enters the battlefield. I think I'll just wait and get a Panharmonicon. +Filth - It can make my creatures unblockable, especially considering the popularity of black as a color in this format. Most of the game's I've played, I wouldn't need Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth to be unblockable by at least one other player.
-Petravark - It's no Avalanche Riders or Fulminator Mage. It's just nowhere near good enough by comparison. Yeah, I can exile lands instead of destroy them, but It just doesn't seem "good". I'll keep it under consideration just in case Gaea's Cradles and Cabal Coffers start showing up more often than they do, but right now it's just not needed. +Gray Merchant of Asphodel - This is the second devotion card I was talking about. Good card that can keep me alive for quite some time; solid win condition if I colorshift a bit more things into black.
-Wear // Tear - As much as I dislike dropping this card, I didn't have anything else worse to drop. +Revoke Existence - I needed more than just "Destroy" effects. I had NO exile removal for Artifacts or Enchantments and I really dislike that. May drop another card in the future for Return to Dust just to have more.
-Dreadbore - It's Sorcery speed. It make kill planeswalkers, but I just don't care about most targeted removal at sorcery speed. +Austere Command - It's a board wipe that can deal with Artifacts, Enchantments, and/or creatures, but doesn't have to kill Alesha and a decent chunk of my creatures.
-Claws of Gix - I tried to keep sac outlets that cost mana to prevent infinite combos, but I've still got one's that don't cost mana and those are the ones with the far more beneficial effects anyway. Gaining 1 life is near useless. +Goblin Bombardment - It's just generally better. It's free to use and has a beneficial effect. One damage to a target is just far better than gaining one life, even if I don't go infinite and just pick off tokens or lower people's life totals.
-Arcbound Reclaimer - It puts things to the top of my Library. I don't like that. If I had more artifacts, then I'd consider it. For now, I'm just going to try and get a copy of Treasure Hunter. +Grenzo, Havoc Raiser - I wanted more card draw and I've been wanting to test him out for quite a while. Worst case scenario, I exile people's top card and just leave it in exile. Best case scenario, I get some cool things that help me win the game.
I find Alesha interesting because of how well she suits my playstyle. I'm very much accustomed to attrition style control using a lot of recursion.
Creatures
2 Viscera Seer
3 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
4 Disciple of Griselbrand
5 Grenzo, Havoc Raiser
6 Knight of the White Orchard
7 War Priest of Thune
8 Vampire Hexmage
9 Anathemancer
10 Auramancer
11 Big Game Hunter
12 Crypt Rats
13 Duergar Hedge-Mage
14 Manic Vandal
15 Mentor of the Meek
16 Mirror Entity
17 Necrotic Sliver
18 Tymna the Weaver
19 Anger
20 Azorius Justiciar
21 Disciple of Bolas
22 Filth
23 Goldnight Commander
24 Marsh Flitter
25 Murderous Redcap
26 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
27 Solemn Simulacrum
28 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
29 Karmic Guide
30 Knight-Captain of Eos
31 Mindclaw Shaman
32 Reveillark
33 Duplicant
34 Evangel of Heliod
35 Sun Titan
36 Sol Ring
37 Skullclamp
38 Lightning Greaves
39 Spawning Pit
40 Swiftfoot Boots
41 Ashnod's Altar
Enchantments
42 Phyrexian Reclaimation
43 Reconnaissance
44 Goblin Bombardment
45 Oath of Ghouls
46 Attrition
47 Grave Pact
48 Sigil of the New Dawn
49 Cathar's Crusade
Sorceries
50 Faithless Looting
51 Vandalblast
52 Demonic Tutor
53 Revoke Existence
54 Buried Alive
55 Vindicate
56 Damnation
57 Tragic Arrogance
58 Austere Command
59 Blasphemous Act
Instants
60 Enlightened Tutor
61 Entomb
62 Path to Exile
63 Swords to Plowshares
64 Rakdos Charm
65 Hide // Seek
Lands
66 City of Brass
67 Command Tower
68 Mana Confluence
69 Reflecting Pool
70 Arid Mesa
71 Bloodstained Mire
72 Marsh Flats
73 Blood Crypt
74 Godless Shrine
75 Sacred Foundry
76 Graven Cairns
77 Fetid Heath
78 Rugged Prairie
79 Dragonskull Summit
80 Clifftop Retreat
81 Isolated Chapel
82 Bojuka Bog
83 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
84 High Market
85 Phyrexian Tower
86 Reliquary Tower
87 Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace
88 Slayers' Stronghold
89 Strip Mine
90 Tectonic Edge
91 Vault of the Archangel
92 Mountain
93 Mountain
94 Mountain
95 Plains
96 Plains
97 Plains
98 Swamp
99 Swamp
100 Swamp
Creatures
Anarchist - Sorcery recursion. There is, if I remember correctly, a card that was printed "recently" that can do Instants and Sorceries and I definately need to get one.
Aven Mindcensor - Pretty obvious why it's on this list, but the reason it's not in the deck is simply because bringing it back with Alesha doesn't ruin any tutors. Without flash, it's actually kind of bad.
Cadaver Imp - Creature recursion. Seen it in more lists than I can understand. seems bad. If it returned 2 things, then It would probably be in the deck.
Dualcaster Mage - Pointless to recur with Alesha, but a generally good card and typically a staple for red.
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobyte - Really good in aggro. Wipes out token armies. The only problem is that It's hard to recur. Karmic guide and Phyrexian Reclaimation are the only ways I have to recur it at this time.
Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder - Token engines are right up my alley in this deck. Goldnight Commander and Cathar's Crusade both benefit heavily from a repeatable token maker.
Evangel of Heliod - It can make a pretty awesome amount of tokens for an etb trigger.
Faceless Butcher - I've always enjoyed this card and it's not bad by any stretch. I've just shied away from it for some reason.
Filth - Seems unblockable. I mean, I'm playing Urborg, tomb of yawgmoth. I've got my eye on a couple of creatures to try and make the team unblockable.
Goblin Matron - Was in the list until I realized that I had exactly 1 goblin to tutor for. Dropped her for Tymna the Weaver.
Gray Merchant of Asphodel - Seems like it should be an auto-include. Looking at the list, I don't think I have quite enough black cards to use it. Sure, I'll gain a bunch of life, but when the average life loss it dishes out would probably be ~5 per player, It seems far less good while still making me a target.
Grenzo, Havoc Raiser - Potential "Card draw". Really wanting to try him out.
Hokori, Dust Drinker - I've got a foil that I've NEVER used. This seems like the best deck to use it in, but I've very few mana rocks.
Kataki, War's Wage - Repeatable taxation of artifacts seems pretty good.
Leonin Arbiter - Seems good on paper, but he's just never made the cut in any deck I consider it for. It slows people down, but only by making them save their fetches and tutors to use on a single turn.
Mog War Marshal - Tokens. Used to be really good, but I think there's enough token makers to retire him for good outside of tribal decks.
Pawn of Ulamog - Makes tokens, that give me mana, whenever my things die. Yet another card that seems good, but just never seems to make the cut.
Pentavus - Alesha being able to recur a 5/5 seems good, right? And it makes tokens? Am I the only one that REALLY wants to give this card a shot?
Shrieking Mogg - My things are essentially unblockable while also leaving everyone open for attack until their next turn... including me...
Stingscourger - Always liked this card, and I have a foil. Yet another card that never makes the cut.
Taj-Nar Swordsmith - Pretty easily makes the cut if I decide to add more Equipment. I'd probably include it over Stoneforge Mystic.
Planeswalkers
There's lots I'd like to include but simply don't have.
Chandra Ablaze - I like this card a lot and she normally makes the cut pretty easily, especially with how easy she helps me get stuff in the grave for Alesha. I'm just not running any of the cards I'd typically run alongside her to make her better: Squee, Chandra's Phoenix.
Artifacts
Cloudstone Curio - let's me bounce my stuff and replay it over and over. Not broken or combo prone in the slightest, especially in this deck.
Nihil Spellbomb - Grave hate. I need the enchantment creature that can do this.
Oblivion Stone - I mean, I like my creatures dying, right?
Sunforger - Boros/+ staple, right. It's good, but at 5 mana per use just hurts my soul to use. No doubt it's strong. Taj-Nar Swordsmith is on this list for a reason.
Sword of feast and Famine - Seems staple when your including a number of equipment greater than Skullclamp and boots. Probably not. I'd rather have Fire and Ice or Light and Shadow... I should put them on this list.
Enchantments
Aggravated Assault - Goes infinite with Sword of Feast and Famine, but a bit too mana expensive otherwise.
Break through the Line - I've seen this on like 4 different lists and I don't understand why. It can't target Alesha, so it's pointless.
Goblin Bombardment - Staple red sac outlet. I am trying to never go infinite and I do have infinites in the deck which is why so many of my sac outlets cost mana to use.
Martyr's Bond - More expensive, slightly better Grave Pact. 6cmc is so high, though.
No Rest for the Wicked - Oh, no. My things died. If only it was just a Second Sunrise for creatures.
Retreat to Emeria - Makes tokens and can buff my things. If I were in green, then it would be amazing. I do have fetches... and a Sun Titan...
True Conviction - Mass Doublestrike and Lifelink is very tempting.
Whip of Erebos - Mass Lifelink plus some temp reanimation.
Sorceries
Austere Command - I might just need to put this in. I destroy anything with a cmc greater than Alesha and some artifacts or enchantments. I mean, I already have two board wipes that don't leave Alesha alive.
Buried Alive - Tutor x3. Instantly makes me the target of the next grave hate card.
Decree of Pain - I am playing token makers, but at 8 mana in an aggro deck I'd rather play an 8 mana spell that wins the game.
Fragmentize - 1cmc removal never get's old, even with mild restrictions.
Living Death - Seems good in this type of deck, but I'm also actively trying to destroy things so that my commander can attack. Bringing everything back seems fairly subpar.
Oust - 1cmc removal that also makes your opponent waste a draw getting their card back is so nice. Sorcery speed really hurts the effect though. Much rather be able to play it in response to a tutor.
Reanimate - Typical Black staple, but it just doesn't seem needed.
Reforge the Soul - Do I want my opponent to have another full hand with possible answers included? I also really like ditching my hand and drawing more cards though.
Terminus - I'd typically run this no questions asked, but I really don't want my things to die all the time let alone go back to the deck where I can't recur them.
Tormenting Voice - Card draw + stacking the grave for Alesha.
Unburial Rites - Two in one reanimation spell.
Unearth - See Reanimate, 5 cards up.
Waves of Aggression - Extra combat steps means extra recursion with Alesha, but it's expensive to use.
Wheel of fortune - Wow, this got expen$ive lately. Wow.
Wild Guess - See Tormenting Voice, 5 cards up.
Instants
Boros Charm - I can make my board indestructible, but it does nothing else of worth in this deck.
Chaos Warp - Easy way of dealing with indestructible things, which I admittedly don't have enough answers for.
Crackling Doom - They have to sac the biggest thing, meaning it get's past tokens. The two damage is near useless, but it's a really good sac effect.
Leave No Trace - Pet card. Awesome art. Awesome effect. It just never seems to make the cut over cards that target more permanent types.
Orzhov Charm - Save Alesha, reanimate a small thing, or remove a creature. Versatility.
Mardu Charm - Another Versatility card, but none of its modes really matter. I mean it does thing and can come in handy killing combo pieces, making people discard things at instant speed is always strong, and a couple of tokens can save you at times. It just... doesn't seem like enough. It's only good in those fringe instances.
Mortify - Typically a near staple for me in these colors. It's good even at 3cmc.
Snuff Out - Free removal is free.
Terminate - Murder, but better.
Tragic Slip - Yeah, screw that high P/T indestructible beater. Blightsteel, Darksteel, Ulamogs. They all have legs and thus can always take a slip.
Lands
Volrath's Stronghold - Complete lapse in memory. Forgot to grab one when I was gathering cards for the deck.
That about wraps it up. If you've got any card suggestions, cool, fringe, or otherwise feel free to post them. I do ask that people read all of the post just to keep from suggesting cards I've already got listed, unless you'd like to vouch for a card to get me to try it out sooner. Also try to remember that I just got back from a 4 year hiatus. I've got very, very few cards from the last 4 years. I'm trying to gather new stuff. If the card you want to suggest was printed in the past 4 years, then I've probably already got it in my spreadsheet of cards to get, but there's a chance I haven't thought about it specifically for this deck. I might try to add a spoiler going over cards I don't have, in a similar fashion to the "maybe" spoiler.
Specific suggestions I'm looking for are more anthem-like win conditions that just buff all my creatures.
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain
B Toshiro Umezawa
BG Pharika, God of Affliction - Necromancy and Politics
WWW The Church of Heliod
WBR Zurgo, Helmsmasher
RG Wort, the Raidmother
UBR Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge
UG Vorel of the Hull Clade
- Sensei's Divining Top - I was so caught up in playing aggro that I just never used it. I actually had someone ask me if I had used it at all. After that, I used it for a few turns and ended up drawing with it, shuffled it away on accident, and never missed it.
+ Buried Alive - I didn't want to just take out top and not replace it with decent card draw spell. It tutors for 3 targets for Alesha, which actually makes me question Entomb's value to the deck.
- Beetleback Chief - In light of a few of the changes I decided to make, it's just being replaced. I'm adding in two cards with Devotion and neither are to red. I'm keeping roughly the same effect, just in a different color that matters a little more.
+ Evangel of Heliod - It makes the same amount of tokens at minimum and can make a lot more.
- Minion Reflector - I really like this card. I really do. It has, however, NEVER pulled its weight in any deck I've put it in. While I find that weird, cause I have a lot of effects in the deck I'd like copied, there's just not enough that are impactful enough to warrant putting a 2 tax on almost every creature that enters the battlefield. I think I'll just wait and get a Panharmonicon.
+ Filth - It can make my creatures unblockable, especially considering the popularity of black as a color in this format. Most of the game's I've played, I wouldn't need Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth to be unblockable by at least one other player.
- Petravark - It's no Avalanche Riders or Fulminator Mage. It's just nowhere near good enough by comparison. Yeah, I can exile lands instead of destroy them, but It just doesn't seem "good". I'll keep it under consideration just in case Gaea's Cradles and Cabal Coffers start showing up more often than they do, but right now it's just not needed.
+ Gray Merchant of Asphodel - This is the second devotion card I was talking about. Good card that can keep me alive for quite some time; solid win condition if I colorshift a bit more things into black.
- Wear // Tear - As much as I dislike dropping this card, I didn't have anything else worse to drop.
+ Revoke Existence - I needed more than just "Destroy" effects. I had NO exile removal for Artifacts or Enchantments and I really dislike that. May drop another card in the future for Return to Dust just to have more.
- Dreadbore - It's Sorcery speed. It make kill planeswalkers, but I just don't care about most targeted removal at sorcery speed.
+ Austere Command - It's a board wipe that can deal with Artifacts, Enchantments, and/or creatures, but doesn't have to kill Alesha and a decent chunk of my creatures.
- Claws of Gix - I tried to keep sac outlets that cost mana to prevent infinite combos, but I've still got one's that don't cost mana and those are the ones with the far more beneficial effects anyway. Gaining 1 life is near useless.
+ Goblin Bombardment - It's just generally better. It's free to use and has a beneficial effect. One damage to a target is just far better than gaining one life, even if I don't go infinite and just pick off tokens or lower people's life totals.
- Arcbound Reclaimer - It puts things to the top of my Library. I don't like that. If I had more artifacts, then I'd consider it. For now, I'm just going to try and get a copy of Treasure Hunter.
+ Grenzo, Havoc Raiser - I wanted more card draw and I've been wanting to test him out for quite a while. Worst case scenario, I exile people's top card and just leave it in exile. Best case scenario, I get some cool things that help me win the game.
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain
B Toshiro Umezawa
BG Pharika, God of Affliction - Necromancy and Politics
WWW The Church of Heliod
WBR Zurgo, Helmsmasher
RG Wort, the Raidmother
UBR Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge
UG Vorel of the Hull Clade