You might have played with the aristocrats deck in standard a while back now, in my opinion one of the most fun decks in standard for a long time. In EDH, Teysa is maybe a good commander if you want to play a similar type of deck. But when I was playing Teysa, I always missed a number of the cards that red adds such as Sneak Attack , Imperial Recruiter, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Faithless Looting. So this is when I decided to alter my Kaalia list to something that was more unexpected, more resilient, and less reliant on Kaalia to go the distance; but could still use her powerful ability in a more subtle manner. The initial version of this deck was more focused on all the combos but it has over time become more of an aggro-control deck with combo possibilities at every corner. With Fate Reforged the Mardu clan has received an amazing new general, Alesha, Who Smiles at Death which fits the playstyle of the deck much better than Kaalia, and thus replaces Kaalia at the helm of the deck. I present to you Alesha and her Aristocrats.
The main goal at the beginning of the game however is to set up one of your engines to generate constant value, thereby setting you up for the long game and preventing you from keeling over if you get wrathed. Setting up one of the black draw enchantments or Skullclamp allows you to get ahead of your opponents and either set up one of your combos or just go further on the value train and beat down your opponents.
The deck either wins through one of its combos (listed below) or just by draining your opponents out. You have a lot of creatures, a lot of ways to pump them, and many ways to deal passive damage. Draining your opponents out is therefore often easier than setting up one of your combos. If you don’t like infinite combos you can still play this decklist without a problem as the deck has enough sheer resilience to win games without infinite combos as well.
Reveillark + Karmic Guide + a sacrifice outlet (e.g. Falkenrath Aristocrat ) and a kill condition such as Blood Artist will lead to winning the game, in this case with infinite life loss. This combo works from a starting point of having a sacrifice outlet in play and Reveillark and Guide in hand/graveyard/play. If you have Reveillark in the graveyard, cast Karmic Guide to reanimate it, after which you sacrifice Karmic Guide, followed by sacrificing Reveillark to recur Karmic Guide. With Guide in the graveyard and Reveillark in hand you can evoke to start the same loop. Similar loops can be constructed in every way as long as Reveillark and Guide are not both in the graveyard. Interesting combinations can be with having Cartel Aristocrat and Blood Artist in the graveyard, allowing you to have every piece but either Reveillark or Karmic Guide in the graveyard. Imperial Recruiter or Grim Haruspex can substitute itself for one of the win cards if you have the mana to follow up with the kill condition you tutor or draw.
Another variation on the Reveillark + Karmic Guide combo is adding Teysa, Orzhov Scion, an infinite Sacrifice Outlet and a black creature – This combo leads to infinite spirit tokens. Add another two other white creatures with 2 or less power to exile all your opponents’ creatures as well. Reveillark and Karmic Guide with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and an infinite sac outlet can lead to infinite copies of any non-legendary creature in play or any creature in your graveyard.
Sun Titan + Animate Dead + Karmic Guide + Infinite Sacrifice Outlet –Result is the same, but the method is quite different. You cast/reanimate Karmic Guide with the other two in your graveyard and the sac outlet in play and sacrifice it in response to the ETB ability. This returns Sun Titan, which on ETB can return Animate Dead, in response to which you sacrifice the titan. Animate Dead can then return Karmic Guide, due to protection from black the aura will fall off but Karmic Guide’s ETB ability will still trigger after which you can repeat (Karmic Guide returns to the graveyard. This sequence you loop a large number of times. It also works with Karmic Guide in the graveyard and Animate Dead in hand or Guide and Animate Dead in the graveyard and Sun Titan in hand.
Sun Titan also combos with Fiend Hunter for infinite ETB/LTB triggers so that you can kill in a similar way as the previous combo. Fiend Hunter also combos with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker for infinite ETB/LTB triggers.
As a final combo the deck now has the infinite combo of Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit with Murderous Redcap and an infinite sac outlet, which will do infinite damage. When you sacrifice Murderous Redcap , his undying will trigger bringing him back to play, triggering Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit . The bolster ability will put a counter on the Redcap, allowing you to repeat the process.
One final note is that through Alesha’s ability to return a power 2 or less creature to play you can set up the above combos very well with the help of Karmic Guide or Body Snatcher to grab the necessary pieces.
The following interactions do not win you the game, but can provide overwhelming value or set up one of your other combos.
Sneak Attack and one of your other combos – This helps accelerates you by putting the individual pieces into play cheaply and at instant speed.
Skullclamp is an easy way to get far ahead with most of the cards in the deck and can help you quickly set up your combos as well. Skullclamp is definitely one of the key cards in the deck.
Cavern of Souls naming humans protects the majority of your creatures from counterspells.
Three final cards to mention are Spirit of the Labyrinth , Hushwing Gryff and Aven Mindcensor which are great hate cards for this deck. They severely hinder many other decks and are magnets for their removal, while they are easily sacrificed in this deck (in the case of Hushwing Gryff, which also hinders your own deck) after having been useful and can be recurred with Alesha.
Please comment on the decklist and let me know of any cards I might have missed and any other suggestions you might have. Thanks!
Not a lot to say here: this is a powerful, ruthless combo machine with what looks like enough resilience and raw power to hang in there even if every infinite combo is thwarted. On the two cards you mentioned, I think I would absolutely cut Jitte and Idyllic Tutor for Diabolic Intent and Sword of Light and Shadow as you were thinking. You should never be lacking for creatures and Intent can find any combo piece. In addition to all the upshot on Sword, it also protects Kaalia (or another combo piece) from targeted black or white removal like Terminate, Swords to Plowshares, Condemn, Putrefy, Oblation, etc, which is super relevant.
I feel like it'd be nice to see Wheel of Fortune in this deck, but I have no idea what you'd cut. Great decklist!
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Sufferer of EDHD
Commander - Currently Playing: RCRDaretti: Superfriends Forever RCR WGBDoran: Ent-mootWBG GGGMultani: Group Bear HugGGG GB(B/G)The Gitrog Monster: Dredgefall DurdleGB(B/G) RGWGahiji, the Honored Group Hug MonsterRGW UB(U/B)Yuriko, Ninja Trinket AggroUB(U/B) WUBRGAtogatog: Assembling a OHKOWUBRG
Thanks! Sword of light and shadow is definitely in. My main problem with intent is that it is good mid to late game but very weak early, as you don't have a creature to sacrifice. Idyllic tutor is solid early and late. I don't really like cards that give your opponents cards, and as a discard outlet wheel of fortune is unreliable at best.
I always liked kaalia ever since I bought the pre-con with her. The main problem I had was my deck was focused on cheating in big fatties, so kaalia was the main engine of the deck, and most people I played with knew that and would easily stop me by removing her before she attacked or tucking her in my deck. The deck was too easy to stop.
Now that I found your thread, it reignited the urge to play kaalia again, but with your alternate way to build around her. I always liked how aristochrats worked, and wanted to find a general that would fit in, the two that one pop into my head are Teysa and Lyzolda, but those both were missing a color from the 3 color pie that made aristocrats awesome. Reading through yolur post however, I noticed that I could still use kaalia for her cheat effect, but also just for her being the colors and creature type that she is. I can still have Lyzolda and Teysa in my deck for the sc outlets and cool effects, and still have fun with kaalia.
Great post and great deck! Got me pumped to build my own version of this.
Glad you like the deck. I definitely had the same thoughts, and Kaalia turned out to be a very good fit, much better than I had initially expected. I also really like that you can be pretty cutthroat with the infinite combo's, whilst all the cards are just value cards as well. Let me know about any thoughts you have.
Decklist updated as well, took out Umezawa's Jitte and added in Sword of Light and Shadow. The recursion turned out to be pretty useful, more useful than the removal aspect of jitte. The protections mattered once or twice as well.
Two great cards in the commander series for this deck: unexpectedly absent and ophiomancer . A great catch all removal spell for the permanent that is stopping you from comboing off and a great token producer. These will replace legion's initiative which I found underwhelming mostly, and sorin, lord of innistrad which is worse than elspeth and isn't a creature like ophiomancer (which can be recurred and fetched with recruiter). angel of finality is also worth considering if your meta game has a lot of graveyard decks, in which case nihil spellbomb is a must too. Sadly no good cards for this deck in either theros or m14, archangel of thune being the only one I would consider, on the basis of it being a possible alternative win condition with just growing your creatures every turn.
Sadly no good cards for this deck in either theros or m14, archangel of thune being the only one I would consider, on the basis of it being a possible alternative win condition with just growing your creatures every turn.
What about Ashen Rider? Other then the fact that you can't cheat it in with Kaalia most people I know feel it is strictly better then Angel of Despair.
What about Ashen Rider? Other then the fact that you can't cheat it in with Kaalia most people I know feel it is strictly better then Angel of Despair.
It is generally better as hitting two permanents rather than one is generally worth the extra mana (as you often cheat it out too). That said, in this deck 7 mana is hard to reach, and eight is much harder which is an important factor. Secondly, more than half the time I play Angel of Despair is through Kaalia, which is why it gets the nod over Ashen Rider.
From the other spoilers I am considering King Brimaz, as it is very solid with skullclamp, and works very well with haste. Any thoughts on the new cat king?
With Fate Reforged the Mardu clan got a much better general for a value deck such as this one than Kaalia with Alesha, Who Smiles at Death , so that was an easy change to make. Along with that some minor changes by removing some angels and adding some 2 power options to go with Alesha. The new Brutal Hordechief also seems like a good card to help bleed your opponents out.
If you're not running both, I'd say replacing Wasteland with Strip Mine would be a good idea, as Strip Mine can hit any land.
Also, does Blood Baron serve any other purpose than just being a beater? I need to playtest it a bit, but I think that Linvala, Keeper of Silence would be a better fit for the spot.
Or, for more hatebear shenanigans, Aven Mindcensor could be run in that spot instead.
If you're not running both, I'd say replacing Wasteland with Strip Mine would be a good idea, as Strip Mine can hit any land.
Also, does Blood Baron serve any other purpose than just being a beater? I need to playtest it a bit, but I think that Linvala, Keeper of Silence would be a better fit for the spot.
Or, for more hatebear shenanigans, Aven Mindcensor could be run in that spot instead.
Thanks for commenting. Wasteland can be replaced with strip mine, the change makes little difference as I would generally not use it against a basic land. My reason for using wasteland is that it generally draws much less hate if it hits the table. Having both is an option too, but colorless land slots are at a premium in the deck.
The blood baron is indeed just a beater, which is why I replaced it with Restoration Angel, who's better. I Feel Linvala doesn't pack enough punch in this deck with more than two power at 4 cmc. Aven Mindcensor however is a great idea and a card that I totally forgot about, I really need to find room for that. Do you have any ideas on what to cut for it?
Although this is a really cool combo and one that I had never heard of before, Ceaseless Searblades would be useless outside of the combo. With more elementals it could be more worthwhile. Thanks for the idea though.
I'm looking at Bloodghast as the one to cut. I don't feel that he does a lot for you.
Also, while I was going through my collection and hunting for cards I already have for this deck, I found some interesting cards that may have a place in here. A list is below:
Bloodghast is very good with skullclamp and very easy to recur in general, so I'll try taking out Bloodsoaked Champion instead who is harder to recur than bloodghast. Out of the cards you mentioned: Eight-and-a-half-tails: I'm not really sure how it would perform in this deck as I forgot all about it. It seems mana intensive but on the other hand it can save any permanent you have for three mana from spot removal. I will test it in the place of grand abolisher to see which has more impact. Thanks for reminding me of this card'so existence though. Master of Cruelties: I had this in the deck for a while when it was still Kaalia, but I feel at five mana regular casting it doesn't do enough (even in Kaalia it just killed one player and then was useless for most of the game). Grenzo, Dungeon Warden: I can see this working well here, I'll try it out. Imposing Sovereign: too low impact to replace anything in the list. In a true aggro Alesha list this would be more interesting. Aegis of the Gods: I think this one is a meta choice. If you get targeted a lot it can be worth including. Solemn Simulacrum: Unleaa you already have a sac outlet handy it's not really that great to play normally or recur as it is quite expensive at 4 cmc. I would consider knight of the white orchid before it. Michiko Konda: in my meta I think this isn't that necessary, but it could be in yours.
Masako the Humorless: if your meta warrants this it can be good, but I don't tend to find myself needing to use my creatures to both attack and block. Winding Canyons: although it's a great land, the color requirements in the deck are quite tough and I think it loses out in comparison to some of the other lands in the decklist due to being so mana intensive.
Thanks for the suggestions though, I will definitely look into adding Eight and a Half Tails and Grenzo. Which direction do you intend to take Alesha? More the aggro or the midrange or the combo route?
I don't really know. I'm waiting for Fate Reforged to come out on Cockatrice so that I can begin playtesting it and see how it works for me. I'll make my changes around that testing. What kind of opening hand do you usually want when playing this?
In general what I look for most in an opening hand is that it has some way to set up card draw and a way to accelerate your game. Dark Confidant, Necropotence and Skullclamp are great cards to get early to set you up for the rest of the game on the cards side, while Sneak Attack, Sol Ring and Mana Crypt can be pretty key for accelerating you. Generally with the amount of tutors this is not too difficult to do in most games. The second goal is to start finding the blocks of your combo: sac outlet/win condition and the combo itself (eg Kiki-jiki plus restoration angel). If you don't have any of the pieces or can't manage to set up the combo you can start the aggro approach and try to do as much damage as possible to your opponents. With Alesha this should work much better than it previously did with Kaalia. Once you're in the mid game, just look for a window to get off your combo. With something like karmic guide in the graveyard you can combo out at a moments notice, often even at instant speed with something like sneak attack.
So a perfect hand might be something like two lands, mana crypt, dark confidant, ophiomancer, Purphoros, goblin bombardment. This way you could start with dark confidant on turn one to set up your game, follow up with ophiomancer on turn 2 and Purphoros on turn 3. You can rack up damage and cards and then try to find one of your combos.
This deck really needs to find a place for Return to Dust
If I was looking for this kind of effect I would go for Utter End instead as it hits any non-land permanent. Duergar Hedge-Mage is also an option and a creature as well. Return to Dust feels just a tad bit too slow and doesn't hit enough permanent types to compensate.
I think I am also going to try out Necrotic Sliver in place of Vindicate and see what it can do for the deck. It costs a fair bit more to pull the ability off, but he's also repeatable with Alesha, which is very nice. He can also be called by Grenzo, which is helpful as well.
I think I am also going to try out Necrotic Sliver in place of Vindicate and see what it can do for the deck. It costs a fair bit more to pull the ability off, but he's also repeatable with Alesha, which is very nice. He can also be called by Grenzo, which is helpful as well.
I'm very interested in hearing your results with it. I had it in my teysa deck a few years back but I took it out because it was too slow. The interaction with Alesha and things like sneak attack and Grenzo could make it a worthwhile addition though.
1 Alesha, Who Smiles at Death
Mana Lands- 30 (36 lands in total)
1 Arid Mesa
2 Bloodstained Mire
3 Flooded Strand
4 Marsh Flats
5 Wooded Foothills
6 Polluted Delta
7 Verdant Catacombs
8 Windswept Heath
9 Scalding Tarn
10 Mountain
11 Plains
12 Plains
13 Swamp
14 Swamp
15 Badlands
16 Plateau
17 Scrubland
18 Blood Crypt
19 Sacred Foundry
20 Godless Shrine
21 Caves of Koilos
22 City of Brass
23 Command Tower
24 Fetid Heath
25 Graven Cairns
26 Mana Confluence
27 Shambling Vents
28 Sulfurous Springs
29 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
30 Ancient Tomb
Combo Elements- 9
31 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
32 Animate Dead
33 Eldrazi Displacer
34 Fiend Hunter
35 Karmic Guide
36 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
37 Loyal Retainers
38 Murderous Redcap
39 Reveillark
40 Sun Titan
41 Teysa, Orzhov Scion
42 Archangel of Thune
43 Blood Artist
44 Butcher of the Horde
45 Drana, Liberator of Malakir
46 Falkenrath Aristocrat
47 Goblin Bombardment
48 High Market
49 Phyrexian Altar
50 Phyrexian Tower
51 Purphoros, God of the Forge
52 Viscera Seer
Recursion /Tokens - 7
53 Bloodghast
54 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
55 Liliana, Heretical Healer
56 Ophiomancer
57 Phyrexian Reclamation
58 Sword of Light and Shadow
59 Volrath’s Stronghold
Acceleration / Haste / Protection- 8
60 Anger
61 Cavern of Souls
62 Grand Abolisher
63 Lightning Greaves
64 Mana Crypt
65 Mother of Runes
66 Sneak Attack
67 Sol Ring
Draw/Search - 18
68 Academy Rector
69 Buried Alive
70 Dark Confidant
71 Demonic Tutor
72 Enlightened Tutor
73 Entomb
74 Faithless Looting
75 Goblin Matron
76 Grim Haruspex
77 Imperial Recruiter
78 Knight of the White Orchid
79 Necropotence
80 Painful Truths
81 Sensei’s Divining Top
82 Skullclamp
83 Stoneforge Mystic
84 Tithe
85 Vampiric Tutor
86 Weathered Wayfarer
87 Aven Mindcensor
88 Cataclysm
89 Crackling Doom
90 Goblin Sharpshooter
91 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
92 Kolaghan’s Command
93 Leonin Relic-Warder
94 Revenge of the Meek
95 Spirit of the Labyrinth
96 Swords to Plowshares
97 Vault of the Archangel
98 Vindicate
99 Wasteland
1 Alesha, Who Smiles at Death
Lands - 36
1 Arid Mesa
2 Bloodstained Mire
3 Flooded Strand
4 Marsh Flats
5 Wooded Foothills
6 Polluted Delta
7 Verdant Catacombs
8 Windswept Heath
9 Scalding Tarn
10 Mountain
11 Plains
12 Plains
13 Swamp
14 Swamp
15 Badlands
16 Plateau
17 Scrubland
18 Blood Crypt
19 Sacred Foundry
20 Caves of Koilos
21 City of Brass
22 Command Tower
23 Godless Shrine
24 Fetid Heath
25 Graven Cairns
26 Mana Confluence
27 Shambling Vents
28 Sulfurous Springs
29 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
30 Ancient Tomb
31 High Market
32 Phyrexian Tower
33 Volrath’s Stronghold
34 Vault of the Archangel
35 Wasteland
36 Cavern of Souls
37 Academy Rector
38 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
39 Anger
40 Archangel of Thune
41 Aven Mindcensor
42 Blood Artist
43 Bloodghast
44 Butcher of the Horde
45 Dark Confidant
46 Drana, Liberator of Malakir
47 Eldrazi Displacer
48 Falkenrath Aristocrat
49 Fiend Hunter
50 Goblin Matron
51 Goblin Sharpshooter
52 Grand Abolisher
53 Grim Haruspex
54 Imperial Recruiter
55 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
56 Karmic Guide
57 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
58 Knight of the White Orchid
59 Leonin Relic-Warder
60 Liliana, Heretical Healer
61 Loyal Retainers
62 Mother of Runes
63 Murderous Redcap
64 Ophiomancer
65 Purphoros, God of the Forge
66 Reveillark
67 Spirit of the Labyrinth
68 Stoneforge Mystic
69 Sun Titan
70 Teysa, Orzhov Scion
71 Viscera Seer
72 Weathered Wayfarer
73 Animate Dead
74 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
75 Goblin Bombardment
76 Necropotence
77 Phyrexian Reclamation
78 Sneak Attack
Artifacts - 7
79 Lightning Greaves
80 Mana Crypt
81 Phyrexian Altar
82 Sensei’s Divining Top
83 Skullclamp
84 Sword of Light and Shadow
85 Sol Ring
Instants - 7
86 Crackling Doom
87 Enlightened Tutor
88 Entomb
89 Kolaghan’s Command
90 Swords to Plowshares
91 Tithe
92 Vampiric Tutor
Sorceries - 7
93 Buried Alive
94 Cataclysm
95 Demonic Tutor
96 Faithless Looting
97 Painful Truths
98 Revenge of the Meek
99 Vindicate
The main goal at the beginning of the game however is to set up one of your engines to generate constant value, thereby setting you up for the long game and preventing you from keeling over if you get wrathed. Setting up one of the black draw enchantments or Skullclamp allows you to get ahead of your opponents and either set up one of your combos or just go further on the value train and beat down your opponents.
The deck either wins through one of its combos (listed below) or just by draining your opponents out. You have a lot of creatures, a lot of ways to pump them, and many ways to deal passive damage. Draining your opponents out is therefore often easier than setting up one of your combos. If you don’t like infinite combos you can still play this decklist without a problem as the deck has enough sheer resilience to win games without infinite combos as well.
Reveillark + Karmic Guide + a sacrifice outlet (e.g. Falkenrath Aristocrat ) and a kill condition such as Blood Artist will lead to winning the game, in this case with infinite life loss. This combo works from a starting point of having a sacrifice outlet in play and Reveillark and Guide in hand/graveyard/play. If you have Reveillark in the graveyard, cast Karmic Guide to reanimate it, after which you sacrifice Karmic Guide, followed by sacrificing Reveillark to recur Karmic Guide. With Guide in the graveyard and Reveillark in hand you can evoke to start the same loop. Similar loops can be constructed in every way as long as Reveillark and Guide are not both in the graveyard. Interesting combinations can be with having Cartel Aristocrat and Blood Artist in the graveyard, allowing you to have every piece but either Reveillark or Karmic Guide in the graveyard. Imperial Recruiter or Grim Haruspex can substitute itself for one of the win cards if you have the mana to follow up with the kill condition you tutor or draw.
Another variation on the Reveillark + Karmic Guide combo is adding Teysa, Orzhov Scion, an infinite Sacrifice Outlet and a black creature – This combo leads to infinite spirit tokens. Add another two other white creatures with 2 or less power to exile all your opponents’ creatures as well. Reveillark and Karmic Guide with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and an infinite sac outlet can lead to infinite copies of any non-legendary creature in play or any creature in your graveyard.
Sun Titan + Animate Dead + Karmic Guide + Infinite Sacrifice Outlet –Result is the same, but the method is quite different. You cast/reanimate Karmic Guide with the other two in your graveyard and the sac outlet in play and sacrifice it in response to the ETB ability. This returns Sun Titan, which on ETB can return Animate Dead, in response to which you sacrifice the titan. Animate Dead can then return Karmic Guide, due to protection from black the aura will fall off but Karmic Guide’s ETB ability will still trigger after which you can repeat (Karmic Guide returns to the graveyard. This sequence you loop a large number of times. It also works with Karmic Guide in the graveyard and Animate Dead in hand or Guide and Animate Dead in the graveyard and Sun Titan in hand.
Sun Titan also combos with Fiend Hunter for infinite ETB/LTB triggers so that you can kill in a similar way as the previous combo. Fiend Hunter also combos with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker for infinite ETB/LTB triggers.
As a final combo the deck now has the infinite combo of Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit with Murderous Redcap and an infinite sac outlet, which will do infinite damage. When you sacrifice Murderous Redcap , his undying will trigger bringing him back to play, triggering Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit . The bolster ability will put a counter on the Redcap, allowing you to repeat the process.
One final note is that through Alesha’s ability to return a power 2 or less creature to play you can set up the above combos very well with the help of Karmic Guide or Body Snatcher to grab the necessary pieces.
The following interactions do not win you the game, but can provide overwhelming value or set up one of your other combos.
Sneak Attack and one of your other combos – This helps accelerates you by putting the individual pieces into play cheaply and at instant speed.
Skullclamp is an easy way to get far ahead with most of the cards in the deck and can help you quickly set up your combos as well. Skullclamp is definitely one of the key cards in the deck.
Sneak Attack + Phyrexian Reclamation – Continually recur creatures with haste for 1RB and 2 life.
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Imperial Recruiter – This allows you to quickly set up a winning board position by tutoring up Stoneforge Mystic to find Skullclamp, which you can then use every turn on the Imperial Recruiter copy, generating insane value.
Cavern of Souls naming humans protects the majority of your creatures from counterspells.
Three final cards to mention are Spirit of the Labyrinth , Hushwing Gryff and Aven Mindcensor which are great hate cards for this deck. They severely hinder many other decks and are magnets for their removal, while they are easily sacrificed in this deck (in the case of Hushwing Gryff, which also hinders your own deck) after having been useful and can be recurred with Alesha.
Please comment on the decklist and let me know of any cards I might have missed and any other suggestions you might have. Thanks!
Battle for Zendikar / Oath of the Gatewatch Update:
+ Drana, Liberator of Malakir
+ Painful Truths
+ Shambling Vents
+ Eldrazi Displacer
+ Caves of Koilos
+ Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
+ Revenge of the Meek
+ Goblin Sharpshooter
- Iroas God of Victory
- Mentor of the Meek
- Lavaclaw Reaches
- Restoration Angel
- Isolated Chapel
- Shadows of the Past
- Goblin Rabblemaster
- Malicious Affliction
Magic Origins Update:
+ Liliana, Heretical Healer
+ Shadows of the Past
- Unburial Rites
- Outpost Siege
28-3-15 Update:
+ Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
+ Kolaghan’s Command
+ Murderous Redcap
- Brutal Hordechief
- Grenzo, Dungeon Warden
- Hushwing Gryff
27-2-2015
+ Loyal Retainers
- Body Snatcher
14-2-2015
+ Viscera Seer
+ Malicious Affliction
+ Aven Mindcensor
+ Iroas, God of Victory
+ Knight of the White Orchid
+ Sensei’s Divining Top
- Terminate
- Containment Priest
- Cartel Aristocrat
- Athreos, God of the Passage
- Blackcleave Cliffs
- Caves of Koilos
21/1/2015 Update:
+ Grenzo, Dungeon Warden
+ Leonin Relic-Warder
+ Goblin Matron
+ Outpost Siege
- Bloodsoaked Champion
- Council's Judgment
- Brimaz, King of Oreskos
- Phyrexian Arena
Fate Reforged Update:
+ Body Snatcher
+ Mentor of the Meek
+ Containment Priest
+ Brutal Hordechief
- Angel of Despair
- Angel of Glory's Rise
- Angel of Serenity
- Soul Warden
Magic Origins Update:
+ Liliana, Heretical Healer
+ Shadows of the Past
- Unburial Rites
- Outpost Siege
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
I feel like it'd be nice to see Wheel of Fortune in this deck, but I have no idea what you'd cut. Great decklist!
RCRDaretti: Superfriends Forever RCR
WGBDoran: Ent-mootWBG
GGGMultani: Group Bear HugGGG
GB(B/G)The Gitrog Monster: Dredgefall DurdleGB(B/G)
RGWGahiji, the Honored Group Hug MonsterRGW
UB(U/B)Yuriko, Ninja Trinket AggroUB(U/B)
WUBRGAtogatog: Assembling a OHKOWUBRG
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
Now that I found your thread, it reignited the urge to play kaalia again, but with your alternate way to build around her. I always liked how aristochrats worked, and wanted to find a general that would fit in, the two that one pop into my head are Teysa and Lyzolda, but those both were missing a color from the 3 color pie that made aristocrats awesome. Reading through yolur post however, I noticed that I could still use kaalia for her cheat effect, but also just for her being the colors and creature type that she is. I can still have Lyzolda and Teysa in my deck for the sc outlets and cool effects, and still have fun with kaalia.
Great post and great deck! Got me pumped to build my own version of this.
Decks:
> Commander:
:symw::symu::symb::symr::symg:Scion of the Ur-Dragon (Dragon Tribal)
Decklist updated as well, took out Umezawa's Jitte and added in Sword of Light and Shadow. The recursion turned out to be pretty useful, more useful than the removal aspect of jitte. The protections mattered once or twice as well.
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
What about Ashen Rider? Other then the fact that you can't cheat it in with Kaalia most people I know feel it is strictly better then Angel of Despair.
EDH Decks:
WUBOloro, Combo ControlWUB
UBOona Reanimator ComboUB
BRGProssh, Eater of the Blue MageBRG
UBRGrixis StormUBR
Rebuilding Jenara (stealyourstuff.dec)
Pauper Deck:
UBInspired SirenUB
It is generally better as hitting two permanents rather than one is generally worth the extra mana (as you often cheat it out too). That said, in this deck 7 mana is hard to reach, and eight is much harder which is an important factor. Secondly, more than half the time I play Angel of Despair is through Kaalia, which is why it gets the nod over Ashen Rider.
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
+Defense Grid
+ Unexpectedly Absent
+ Ophiomancer
+ Spirit of the Labyrinth
- Master of Cruelties
- Legion's Initiative
- Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
- Orzhov Charm
Defense grid was an omission from the list, and has turned out to be much better than legion's initiative (obviously). Ophiomancer is just better than sorin by virtue of it being a creature, searcheable by imperial recruiter, black, human and 2 power or less for the combo's. Really helped the deck. Unexpectedly Absent is just much more versatile than orzhov charm, whose lifeloss was also detrimental. Finally spirit of the labyrinth, new from BNG) only stops phyrexian arena in this deck (and skullclamp but it can be clamped), is an enchantment, and hurts a lot of decks.
From the other spoilers I am considering King Brimaz, as it is very solid with skullclamp, and works very well with haste. Any thoughts on the new cat king?
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
Fate Reforged Update:
+ Body Snatcher
+ Mentor of the Meek
+ Containment Priest
+ Brutal Hordechief
- Angel of Despair
- Angel of Glory's Rise
- Angel of Serenity
- Soul Warden
Aside from the changes some cards I'm still looking to test because they work well with Alesha are:
Ankle Shanker
Feldon of the Third Path
Bone Shredder
What are your thoughts on these? Have you tested any of them and have you found them to be worthwhile?
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
Also, does Blood Baron serve any other purpose than just being a beater? I need to playtest it a bit, but I think that Linvala, Keeper of Silence would be a better fit for the spot.
Or, for more hatebear shenanigans, Aven Mindcensor could be run in that spot instead.
RGWMayael the AnimaRGW
UBRMarchesa, the Black RoseUBR
Modern Decks
RGWNaya BurnRGW
Thanks for commenting. Wasteland can be replaced with strip mine, the change makes little difference as I would generally not use it against a basic land. My reason for using wasteland is that it generally draws much less hate if it hits the table. Having both is an option too, but colorless land slots are at a premium in the deck.
The blood baron is indeed just a beater, which is why I replaced it with Restoration Angel, who's better. I Feel Linvala doesn't pack enough punch in this deck with more than two power at 4 cmc. Aven Mindcensor however is a great idea and a card that I totally forgot about, I really need to find room for that. Do you have any ideas on what to cut for it?
Although this is a really cool combo and one that I had never heard of before, Ceaseless Searblades would be useless outside of the combo. With more elementals it could be more worthwhile. Thanks for the idea though.
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
Also, while I was going through my collection and hunting for cards I already have for this deck, I found some interesting cards that may have a place in here. A list is below:
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
Master of Cruelties
Grenzo, Dungeon Warden
Imposing Sovereign
Aegis of the Gods
Solemn Simulacrum
Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
Masako the Humorless
Winding Canyons
RGWMayael the AnimaRGW
UBRMarchesa, the Black RoseUBR
Modern Decks
RGWNaya BurnRGW
Eight-and-a-half-tails: I'm not really sure how it would perform in this deck as I forgot all about it. It seems mana intensive but on the other hand it can save any permanent you have for three mana from spot removal. I will test it in the place of grand abolisher to see which has more impact. Thanks for reminding me of this card'so existence though.
Master of Cruelties: I had this in the deck for a while when it was still Kaalia, but I feel at five mana regular casting it doesn't do enough (even in Kaalia it just killed one player and then was useless for most of the game).
Grenzo, Dungeon Warden: I can see this working well here, I'll try it out.
Imposing Sovereign: too low impact to replace anything in the list. In a true aggro Alesha list this would be more interesting.
Aegis of the Gods: I think this one is a meta choice. If you get targeted a lot it can be worth including.
Solemn Simulacrum: Unleaa you already have a sac outlet handy it's not really that great to play normally or recur as it is quite expensive at 4 cmc. I would consider knight of the white orchid before it.
Michiko Konda: in my meta I think this isn't that necessary, but it could be in yours.
Masako the Humorless: if your meta warrants this it can be good, but I don't tend to find myself needing to use my creatures to both attack and block.
Winding Canyons: although it's a great land, the color requirements in the deck are quite tough and I think it loses out in comparison to some of the other lands in the decklist due to being so mana intensive.
Thanks for the suggestions though, I will definitely look into adding Eight and a Half Tails and Grenzo. Which direction do you intend to take Alesha? More the aggro or the midrange or the combo route?
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
RGWMayael the AnimaRGW
UBRMarchesa, the Black RoseUBR
Modern Decks
RGWNaya BurnRGW
So a perfect hand might be something like two lands, mana crypt, dark confidant, ophiomancer, Purphoros, goblin bombardment. This way you could start with dark confidant on turn one to set up your game, follow up with ophiomancer on turn 2 and Purphoros on turn 3. You can rack up damage and cards and then try to find one of your combos.
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
RGWMayael the AnimaRGW
UBRMarchesa, the Black RoseUBR
Modern Decks
RGWNaya BurnRGW
+ Grenzo, Dungeon Warden
+ Leonin Relic-Warder
+ Goblin Matron
+ Outpost Siege
- Bloodsoaked Champion
- Council's Judgment
- Brimaz, King of Oreskos
- Phyrexian Arena
Grenzo, Dungeon Warden turned out to give some great additional card advantage, making it an easy add over Bloodsoaked Champion. With Grenzo, Kiki-Jiki and Goblin Rabblemaster I felt that this gives enough powerful goblins to make adding Goblin Matron worthwhile. Creature tutors on a stick are naturally great in this deck, especially with Alesha. I cut Brimaz, King of Oreskos for it as Goblin Matron can also play the token maker role by fetching Goblin Rabblemaster. I'm thinking about adding some more goblins but I'm unsure where to cut cards as the list is really tight as is. Some options I'm considering: Ankle Shanker, Goblin Sharpshooter, Hellraiser Goblin, Mogg War Marshal, Siege-Gang Commander and Squee, Goblin Nabob.
Leonin Relic-Warder also works very well with Alesha to get rid of annoying artifacts and enchantments, replacing Council's Judgment in the list. Although Judgment was solid, not being able to choose what you want to hit specifically was annoying. Finally Outpost Siege replaces Phyrexian Arena as it combines the draw function with being a win condition for the combos, making it good at any point of the game.
If I was looking for this kind of effect I would go for Utter End instead as it hits any non-land permanent. Duergar Hedge-Mage is also an option and a creature as well. Return to Dust feels just a tad bit too slow and doesn't hit enough permanent types to compensate.
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
RGWMayael the AnimaRGW
UBRMarchesa, the Black RoseUBR
Modern Decks
RGWNaya BurnRGW
I haven't been able to test it yet but its next on the list. I will test it before the next update of the list in Febraury.
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
RGWMayael the AnimaRGW
UBRMarchesa, the Black RoseUBR
Modern Decks
RGWNaya BurnRGW
I'm very interested in hearing your results with it. I had it in my teysa deck a few years back but I took it out because it was too slow. The interaction with Alesha and things like sneak attack and Grenzo could make it a worthwhile addition though.
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC