Since I bought the Commander 2015 precons, I've decided to make the most of them by developing at 1v1 decklist for each. I'm not going to be taking these to tournaments or anything; the idea is to have something fun and casual that makes the most use of the product.
With Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas, I thought it would be best to play basically R/W midrange, while making the most out of equipment.
However, I'm quite new to Commander 1v1, so I got stuck when it actually came time to put things together. Specifically, these are the issues that's I'm running into:
1) Ramp in R/W. Since this commander rewards casting dudes CMC >= 5, I figured one strategy would be to try to pump these out ASAP. Kalemne's main competition will be U/G Ezuri elf ball and Meren, both of which have a fair amount of ramp, so Kalemne is going to struggle to keep up. So far, I have Tithe, Land Tax, Weathered Wayfarer, Knight of the White Orchid, Oreskos Explorer and then the various low-cost mana rocks and Sword of the Animist. Is there anything I'm missing? And should I even bother with the mana rocks, or just try to play a more aggressive game?
3) Finding the right balance. Kalemne doesn't have to be an all-in commander. She plays good offense and defense, meaning she doesn't have to be the sole path to victory. That being said, her stats are good: 3/3 double strike and vigilance + equipment = very fast clock. What I'm having difficulty with is striking the right balance between the smaller utility creatures, equipment, and the big beefy stuff at the high end of the curve.
For reference, here are the lists that I've been looking at for inspiration (geared towards multiplayer EDH):
Aye, there will be cases where Deflecting Palm is better. I am not arguing that it is never better. To be clear, I am arguing three things: 1) Deflecting Palm is a reactive card that requires specific action from your opponent (this is undeniably true), 2) burn decks don't want reactive cards (this is certainly debatable) and 3) Deflecting Palm can't do enough damage consistently to warrant an inclusion in the main deck (also debatable).
That being said, I concede that there are cases where Deflecting Palm has value, making it a worthwhile inclusion in the sideboard. I'm obviously not a seasoned burn player, so take all this with a grain of salt.
My opponent attacks with a Greenwarden of Murasa and a 4-power creature. After attackers are declared, I cast Turn Against, taking control of Greenwarden. I choose to block my opponent's 4-power creature with Greenwarden.
My question is: Who gets to choose a card from their graveyard to bring back to their hand? Greenwarden reads: "When Greenwarden of Murasa dies, you may exile it. If you do, return target card from your graveyard to your hand." The way I understand it, "you" refers to the controller. But Greenwarden will go to my opponent's graveyard, as they are the owner. Halp!
I'm not sure Deflecting Palm is a card you want to be playing. It relies too much on what your opponent is doing, and burn decks value consistency over tempo cards like Deflecting Palm. There's just going to be too many times when Deflecting Palm would do less damage than Lightning Strike to make it a good, consistent inclusion.
Boros Charm and Lightening Helix are the main reasons for going into white at all. That and a few sideboard cards that are good against the burn mirror.
(ALERT: I'm not a super experienced burn player. I played vintage burn way back in the early 2000s but things have changed a lot since then...)
what kind of budget are you working with? That will make it easier to talk about possible upgrades.
I think that if you have the budget, it's always better to play R/x/y burn than it is to play mono-red. Boros colors do give you a lot of great stuff (Lightning Helix and Boros Charm among other things).
Adding green is also a consideration. The addition of green alone is pretty low-impact compared to white (you're really only getting Atarka's Command unless you expand to Naya colors.).
Looking at your list, three things come to mind:
1. 4 Searing Blood seems like a lot. There will be instances where it's just a dead card, or where getting value from it requires you to 2-for-1 yourself. Don't get me wrong, the card is great. But 4 seems like overkill.
2. Needle Drop is a curious choice. I love drawing cards as much as the next person, but 1 mana for 1 damage just doesn't seem like the best deal in a deck where you want to deal as much damage as possible with the least amount of mana. If you're looking for a way to recharge/get some incremental value, then maybe Young Pyromancer is worth considering?
3. No Goblin Guide. I know this is a budget list, but depending on what kind of budget you're setting for yourself and how long you intend to evolve your deck, Goblin Guide should probably be one of the first on your buy list.
Thanks for the feedback, and sorry for the very belated reply!
I considered Mangara of Corondor, but as you pointed out, the fact that Alesha puts it in the battlefield tapped and attacking means that its utility is greatly diminished. Moreover, a 3-mana 1/1 that doesn't do anything the turn it enters the battlefield isn't really what this deck wants.
I think I will test out Necrotic Sliver, however, I'm not very hopeful that the benefit of removing anything will be outweighed by how mana intensive the card is. It is nice insurance though. I'll give it a shot
I can't believe I didn't think of Ghitu Slinger! I've added this to my list (replacing Bone Shredder) and it's been the MVP every game I draw it. I play against a lot against mono-black and B/x in my playgroup, so Boneshredder (and Blint Zealot) are considerably less valuable. I agree with you, however, that Blind Zealot is perfect for this deck (though not for my playgroup).
On the subject of Bob and Pain Seer: I am never unhappy to draw either of these or both of them. The loss of life is considerable, but because this deck has a lot of unique answers, I want to be drawing cards all the time, no matter what the cost. In fact, if I could run more, I would, because I think the effect is that valuable. As you mentioned, I can always sacrifice them when life is an issue, but more often than not my opponents are doing the work for me.
Apropos life loss, I'm considering trying to find room for a Zulaport Cutthroat. Blood Artist has been doing major work, and it could be worth getting another one of these effects.
(Disclaimer: I'm pretty new to this format, but I have my own Alesha list and felt I might be able to offer some insight)
cool list! I have a few thoughts:
1. Without having done the math, it seems like your curve is a little high. I have no doubt that you can cast everything on curve, but will you be able to cast spells and pay for Alesha's ability when you attack?
2. Athreos, God of Passage - I don't really like this card in here. While I like the idea of "taxing" your opponent, I can't imagine that the opponent wouldn't just send the cards back to your hand. If you're threatening to attack with Alesha, then I'd always rather make you recast your 3-cmc spell at sorcery speed with summoning sickness than pay 3 life to let you bring it back 1) for less mana and 2) tapped and attacking. Seems like a raw deal!
3. Where the loot at? I think a Tormenting Voice and/or Faithless Looting would go a long way here, especially if you want to keep more higher CMC creatures (which you'll simply be bringing into play at a lower cost via Alesha). On that note, I love Pack Rat in this list. I didn't think of it for my build.
4. What's the plan here? I see a few hate bears, but that's about it on the D/T plan. Otherwise it seems pretty aggro (Rabblemaster, Blade Splicer, Kytheon, Silverblade Paladin, Mirran Crusader... these guys want to attack). I'd want to see a Grand Abolisher (good against doomsday) or a Fulminator Mage (also good against doomsday if you can keep them off BBB) in here somewhere. As it stands, the D/T plan doesn't seem like it's quite there, but maybe it feels different when you're actually playing vs. just looking at the deck list.
5. Just something to think about: I think with Alesha it's good to have cards with ETB abilities. When you recur your creatures with Alesha's ability, they come into play tapped an attacking, meaning some of the creatures in your list are just bears (Ethersworn Cannonist, Aven Mindcensor, Goblin Rabblemaster, Kytheon, etc.). They're all good cards, but the opponent can just block and move on or deal with them on their turn without having suffered more than 2 additional damage. Another angle would be to use immediately effective creatures over resilient creatures (though resilient creatures are good against aggro decks). This way, you get the possibility of extra damage and an opportunity to immediately impact the board or interact with your opponent.
The idea with this Alesha build is to out-value your opponent attacking them from a number of angles (board, hand and lands) using ETB effects, and then recurring these creatures using Alesha’s ability for #Value.
Alesha, Who Smiles at Death is an aggressive commander. After all, her ability only triggers upon the Declare Attackers Step, meaning you must attack in order to get any #Value from her ability. Luckily, she has first strike, which mitigates at least some of this risk.
While she is very much a “red” commander, the addition of white and black ETB creatures as well as removal and discard gives us plenty of access to more controlling cards, allowing us to play an aggressive game where appropriate (when we face limited removal) or a more controlling game (against blue and removal).
It should also be noted that, while the deck definitely relies on the graveyard to function as conceived, it does not rely on the graveyard to win. An abundance of hand disruption spells paired with card advantage engines mean that it’s possible to just out-draw your opponent.
ETB
Hand Disruption: This deck places a very high value on hand disruption. Alesha is good, but it sucks when she dies, so we want to eliminate as many threats as possible (especially removal that exiles and graveyard hate). In essence, we just want our opponents to never have cards, and we facilitate this plan by recurring the best hand disruption creatures (Ravenous Rats, Hypnotic Specter, Tidehollow Sculler, and Sin Collector).
Land Destruction: Right now, we just have Fulminator Mage. I’m considering adding one more ETB land destruction creature for redundancy, but I haven’t been able to find one that works well in this build. I’m open to suggestions!
Creature Kill: Being in red, white and black means that we have a plethora of noncreature removal spells at our disposal. We will most likely rely on these, but Bone Shredder gives us the opportunity to recur (nonblack, nonartifact) removal if we ever need to.
Getting Cards in the Graveyard:
Ye Ole’ Loot: Looting effects are great in decks that are able to use their graveyards as resources, and that’s no exception here. Faithless Looting, Tormenting Voice and Gamble all facilitate this plan.
Sac Outlets: Sac outlets give us increased value with Alesha, allowing us to generate card advantage by ripping apart the opponent’s hand (sacrificing Ravenous Rats, Tidehollow Sculler), destroy multiple lands (sacrificing Fulminator Mage), or draw multiple cards (using Mentor of the Meek, Lyzolda, the Blood Witch abilities). In addition to getting multiple ETB triggers (sacrificing with outlets and then recurring with Alesha on attack), we also get #Value from each of our sac outlets in the form of damage, scry, or card draw, depending on which outlet you decide to use.
Entomb: Pretty self-explanatory.
Problems
This deck does not like to play against Anafenza, the Foremost, and doesn’t like playing against any combination of Abzan colors in general. Black, white and green simply offer so many ways to turn off our recursion strategy. However, as long as we can carefully shred the opponent’s hand or keep Anafenza out of the picture, we should be okay.
Change Log
-1 Bone Splitter / +1 Ghitu Slinger: I play against a lot of black decks, so Bone Splitter loses a lot of value. Also, being able to recur 2 damage to the face has been extremely valuable.
-1 Diabolic Edict / +1 Crackling Doom: I've run into the unfortunate position of not being able to kill the thing I want with Diabolic Edict enough times that I've decided to switch it out for something more robust.
-1 Kolaghan's Command / +1 Vindicate: I need something that kills anything, and had to cut a three-mana spell. I don't like losing the flexibility of K-Command, but you can't always get what you want.
Why Canopy Vista over Sunpetal Grove? You're not fetching, so you don't need the Forest/Plains land type. Also, it's easier to meet Sunpetal Grove's condition so that it comes into play untapped (you only need one basic land vs two basic lands).
Moreover, colorless ramp obviously won't be the only played archetype, so the card's not useless by any stretch. But there's no doubt it will be less good.
I haven't, but it's hard to imagine that Day's Undoing is a card this deck wants. It eliminates all our delve fuel, nullifies Snapcaster Mage and ends the turn, meaning you can't even use the prowess to buff Monastery Mentor. I guess I'm just not sure what the point would be. That being said, I haven't tried it, so take all that with a grain of salt
With Athreos, I really like creatures with enter- and leaves-the-battlefield effects. Ravenous Rats, Black Cat and Sin Collector all offer ways of punishing your opponent for not paying the three life. Tidehollow Sculler could also be good here (I think we're seeing a theme).
You should definitely run Lingering Souls. So much synergy with the cards in this list.
Since I bought the Commander 2015 precons, I've decided to make the most of them by developing at 1v1 decklist for each. I'm not going to be taking these to tournaments or anything; the idea is to have something fun and casual that makes the most use of the product.
With Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas, I thought it would be best to play basically R/W midrange, while making the most out of equipment.
However, I'm quite new to Commander 1v1, so I got stuck when it actually came time to put things together. Specifically, these are the issues that's I'm running into:
1) Ramp in R/W. Since this commander rewards casting dudes CMC >= 5, I figured one strategy would be to try to pump these out ASAP. Kalemne's main competition will be U/G Ezuri elf ball and Meren, both of which have a fair amount of ramp, so Kalemne is going to struggle to keep up. So far, I have Tithe, Land Tax, Weathered Wayfarer, Knight of the White Orchid, Oreskos Explorer and then the various low-cost mana rocks and Sword of the Animist. Is there anything I'm missing? And should I even bother with the mana rocks, or just try to play a more aggressive game?
2) Getting the most from CMC = 5-6. Stonehewer Giant and Urabrask, the Hidden seem pretty good, as does Caldera Hellion and Godo, Bandit Warlord. What are some other high-impact creatures in that cost range that I should be considering?
3) Finding the right balance. Kalemne doesn't have to be an all-in commander. She plays good offense and defense, meaning she doesn't have to be the sole path to victory. That being said, her stats are good: 3/3 double strike and vigilance + equipment = very fast clock. What I'm having difficulty with is striking the right balance between the smaller utility creatures, equipment, and the big beefy stuff at the high end of the curve.
For reference, here are the lists that I've been looking at for inspiration (geared towards multiplayer EDH):
ISBPathfinder
GoodbyeWorld
1 Mother of Runes
1 Weathered Wayfarer
2 Grand Abolisher
2 Knight of the White Orchid
2 Relic Seeker
2 Spellskite
2 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Aven Mindcensor
3 Duergar Hedge-Mage
3 Flickerwisp
3 Mirran Crusader
3 Prophetic Flamespeaker
4 Restoration Angel
5 Balefire Liege
5 Basandra, Battle Seraph
5 Caldera Hellion
5 Thundermaw Hellkite
5 Karmic Guide
5 Stonehewer Giant
5 Urabrask the Hidden
5 Zealous Conscripts
6 Aurelia, the Warleader
6 Godo, Bandit Warlord
6 Sun Titan
0 Everflowing Chalice
1 Boros Signet
1 Skullclamp
2 Coldsteel Heart
2 Defense Grid
2 Lightning Greaves
2 Mind Stone
2 Swiftfoot Boots
2 Thought Vessel
2 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Coalition Relic
3 Darksteel Ingot
3 Loxodon Warhammer
3 Sunforger
3 Sword of Fire and Ice
5 Batterskull
Instants (7)
1 Chaos Warp
1 Enightened Tutor
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Path to Exile
1 Swords to Plowshares
2 Boros Charm
3 Wear // Tear
3 Volcanic Fallout
1 Faithless Looting
1 Magmatic Insight
1 Steelshaper's Gift
1 Tithe
2 Gift of Estates
2 Tormenting Voice
3 Anger the Gods
3 Wheel of Fortune
4 Fiery Confluence
Enchantments (3)
1 Land Tax
2 Legion's Initiative
4 Outpost Siege
Planeswalkers (2)
4 Chandra, Pyromaster
4 Eslepth, Knight Errant
Lands (37)
37 Lands
- Figure of Destiny, Grim Lavamancer, Student of War, Oreskos Explorer, Hushwing Gryff, Solemn Simulacrum, Ingot Chewer, Bonesplitter, Fire Diamond, Marble Diamond, Sword of Feast and Famine, land
+ Gift of Estates, Thundermaw Hellkite, Restoration Angel, Zealous Conscripts, Defense Grid, Thought Vessel, Coalition Relic, Darksteel Ingot, Sunforger, Volcanic Fallout, Anger the Gods, Fiery Confluence
I appreciate any advice y'all can give!
List updated on 30.12.15
That being said, I concede that there are cases where Deflecting Palm has value, making it a worthwhile inclusion in the sideboard. I'm obviously not a seasoned burn player, so take all this with a grain of salt.
My question is: Who gets to choose a card from their graveyard to bring back to their hand? Greenwarden reads: "When Greenwarden of Murasa dies, you may exile it. If you do, return target card from your graveyard to your hand." The way I understand it, "you" refers to the controller. But Greenwarden will go to my opponent's graveyard, as they are the owner. Halp!
I'm not sure Deflecting Palm is a card you want to be playing. It relies too much on what your opponent is doing, and burn decks value consistency over tempo cards like Deflecting Palm. There's just going to be too many times when Deflecting Palm would do less damage than Lightning Strike to make it a good, consistent inclusion.
Boros Charm and Lightening Helix are the main reasons for going into white at all. That and a few sideboard cards that are good against the burn mirror.
If you have the budget for it, you could also consider Eidolon of the Great Revel.
Are you talking about Necropolis Fiend?
(ALERT: I'm not a super experienced burn player. I played vintage burn way back in the early 2000s but things have changed a lot since then...)
what kind of budget are you working with? That will make it easier to talk about possible upgrades.
I think that if you have the budget, it's always better to play R/x/y burn than it is to play mono-red. Boros colors do give you a lot of great stuff (Lightning Helix and Boros Charm among other things).
Adding green is also a consideration. The addition of green alone is pretty low-impact compared to white (you're really only getting Atarka's Command unless you expand to Naya colors.).
Looking at your list, three things come to mind:
1. 4 Searing Blood seems like a lot. There will be instances where it's just a dead card, or where getting value from it requires you to 2-for-1 yourself. Don't get me wrong, the card is great. But 4 seems like overkill.
2. Needle Drop is a curious choice. I love drawing cards as much as the next person, but 1 mana for 1 damage just doesn't seem like the best deal in a deck where you want to deal as much damage as possible with the least amount of mana. If you're looking for a way to recharge/get some incremental value, then maybe Young Pyromancer is worth considering?
3. No Goblin Guide. I know this is a budget list, but depending on what kind of budget you're setting for yourself and how long you intend to evolve your deck, Goblin Guide should probably be one of the first on your buy list.
Hope this helps!
I considered Mangara of Corondor, but as you pointed out, the fact that Alesha puts it in the battlefield tapped and attacking means that its utility is greatly diminished. Moreover, a 3-mana 1/1 that doesn't do anything the turn it enters the battlefield isn't really what this deck wants.
I think I will test out Necrotic Sliver, however, I'm not very hopeful that the benefit of removing anything will be outweighed by how mana intensive the card is. It is nice insurance though. I'll give it a shot
I can't believe I didn't think of Ghitu Slinger! I've added this to my list (replacing Bone Shredder) and it's been the MVP every game I draw it. I play against a lot against mono-black and B/x in my playgroup, so Boneshredder (and Blint Zealot) are considerably less valuable. I agree with you, however, that Blind Zealot is perfect for this deck (though not for my playgroup).
On the subject of Bob and Pain Seer: I am never unhappy to draw either of these or both of them. The loss of life is considerable, but because this deck has a lot of unique answers, I want to be drawing cards all the time, no matter what the cost. In fact, if I could run more, I would, because I think the effect is that valuable. As you mentioned, I can always sacrifice them when life is an issue, but more often than not my opponents are doing the work for me.
Apropos life loss, I'm considering trying to find room for a Zulaport Cutthroat. Blood Artist has been doing major work, and it could be worth getting another one of these effects.
(Disclaimer: I'm pretty new to this format, but I have my own Alesha list and felt I might be able to offer some insight)
cool list! I have a few thoughts:
1. Without having done the math, it seems like your curve is a little high. I have no doubt that you can cast everything on curve, but will you be able to cast spells and pay for Alesha's ability when you attack?
2. Athreos, God of Passage - I don't really like this card in here. While I like the idea of "taxing" your opponent, I can't imagine that the opponent wouldn't just send the cards back to your hand. If you're threatening to attack with Alesha, then I'd always rather make you recast your 3-cmc spell at sorcery speed with summoning sickness than pay 3 life to let you bring it back 1) for less mana and 2) tapped and attacking. Seems like a raw deal!
3. Where the loot at? I think a Tormenting Voice and/or Faithless Looting would go a long way here, especially if you want to keep more higher CMC creatures (which you'll simply be bringing into play at a lower cost via Alesha). On that note, I love Pack Rat in this list. I didn't think of it for my build.
4. What's the plan here? I see a few hate bears, but that's about it on the D/T plan. Otherwise it seems pretty aggro (Rabblemaster, Blade Splicer, Kytheon, Silverblade Paladin, Mirran Crusader... these guys want to attack). I'd want to see a Grand Abolisher (good against doomsday) or a Fulminator Mage (also good against doomsday if you can keep them off BBB) in here somewhere. As it stands, the D/T plan doesn't seem like it's quite there, but maybe it feels different when you're actually playing vs. just looking at the deck list.
5. Just something to think about: I think with Alesha it's good to have cards with ETB abilities. When you recur your creatures with Alesha's ability, they come into play tapped an attacking, meaning some of the creatures in your list are just bears (Ethersworn Cannonist, Aven Mindcensor, Goblin Rabblemaster, Kytheon, etc.). They're all good cards, but the opponent can just block and move on or deal with them on their turn without having suffered more than 2 additional damage. Another angle would be to use immediately effective creatures over resilient creatures (though resilient creatures are good against aggro decks). This way, you get the possibility of extra damage and an opportunity to immediately impact the board or interact with your opponent.
Anyway, I'm curious to see how it turns out
1 Alesha, Who Smiles at Death
Creatures (17)
1 Mother of Runes
1 Vexing Devil
1 Viscera Seer
2 Blood Artist
2 Cartel Aristocrat
2 Dark Confidant
2 Pain Seer
2 Ravenous Rats
2 Tidehollow Sculler
2 Torch Fiend
2 Tymaret, the Murder King
3 Ghitu Slinger
3 Fulminator Mage
3 Hypnotic Specter
3 Lyzolda, the Blood Witch
3 Mentor of the Meek
3 Sin Collector
1 Entomb
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Swords to Plowshares
2 Smother
2 Terminate
3 Crackling Doom
Sorceries (6)
1 Faithless Looting
1 Gamble
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Thoughtseize
2 Hymn to Tourach
2 Tormenting Voice
3 Vindicate
Artifact (1)
3 Blasting Station
Lands (18)
1 Command Tower
1 Lavaclaw Reaches
1 Godless Shrine
1 Scrubland
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Plateau
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Arid Mesa
1 Marsh Flats
1 Badlands
1 Fetid Heath
1 Graven Cairns
1 Blood Crypt
1 Reflecting Pool
2 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Plains
On Alesha
Alesha, Who Smiles at Death is an aggressive commander. After all, her ability only triggers upon the Declare Attackers Step, meaning you must attack in order to get any #Value from her ability. Luckily, she has first strike, which mitigates at least some of this risk.
While she is very much a “red” commander, the addition of white and black ETB creatures as well as removal and discard gives us plenty of access to more controlling cards, allowing us to play an aggressive game where appropriate (when we face limited removal) or a more controlling game (against blue and removal).
It should also be noted that, while the deck definitely relies on the graveyard to function as conceived, it does not rely on the graveyard to win. An abundance of hand disruption spells paired with card advantage engines mean that it’s possible to just out-draw your opponent.
ETB
Hand Disruption: This deck places a very high value on hand disruption. Alesha is good, but it sucks when she dies, so we want to eliminate as many threats as possible (especially removal that exiles and graveyard hate). In essence, we just want our opponents to never have cards, and we facilitate this plan by recurring the best hand disruption creatures (Ravenous Rats, Hypnotic Specter, Tidehollow Sculler, and Sin Collector).
Land Destruction: Right now, we just have Fulminator Mage. I’m considering adding one more ETB land destruction creature for redundancy, but I haven’t been able to find one that works well in this build. I’m open to suggestions!
Creature Kill: Being in red, white and black means that we have a plethora of noncreature removal spells at our disposal. We will most likely rely on these, but Bone Shredder gives us the opportunity to recur (nonblack, nonartifact) removal if we ever need to.
Getting Cards in the Graveyard:
Ye Ole’ Loot: Looting effects are great in decks that are able to use their graveyards as resources, and that’s no exception here. Faithless Looting, Tormenting Voice and Gamble all facilitate this plan.
Sac Outlets: Sac outlets give us increased value with Alesha, allowing us to generate card advantage by ripping apart the opponent’s hand (sacrificing Ravenous Rats, Tidehollow Sculler), destroy multiple lands (sacrificing Fulminator Mage), or draw multiple cards (using Mentor of the Meek, Lyzolda, the Blood Witch abilities). In addition to getting multiple ETB triggers (sacrificing with outlets and then recurring with Alesha on attack), we also get #Value from each of our sac outlets in the form of damage, scry, or card draw, depending on which outlet you decide to use.
Entomb: Pretty self-explanatory.
Problems
This deck does not like to play against Anafenza, the Foremost, and doesn’t like playing against any combination of Abzan colors in general. Black, white and green simply offer so many ways to turn off our recursion strategy. However, as long as we can carefully shred the opponent’s hand or keep Anafenza out of the picture, we should be okay.
Change Log
-1 Bone Splitter / +1 Ghitu Slinger: I play against a lot of black decks, so Bone Splitter loses a lot of value. Also, being able to recur 2 damage to the face has been extremely valuable.
-1 Diabolic Edict / +1 Crackling Doom: I've run into the unfortunate position of not being able to kill the thing I want with Diabolic Edict enough times that I've decided to switch it out for something more robust.
-1 Kolaghan's Command / +1 Vindicate: I need something that kills anything, and had to cut a three-mana spell. I don't like losing the flexibility of K-Command, but you can't always get what you want.
Considerations
Ways to protect/beef up Alesha: This includes things like Lightning Greaves, Hero's Blade, Swords of X and Y, etc.
Carrion Feeder: Gives us another sac outlet and another one-drop. I'm going to try it over Vexing Devil as soon as I get my hands on one.
Zulaport Cutthroat: Blood Artist has done a lot of work in testing. Another drain effect could be very useful. What to cut though...
///
I'd appreciate any comments, criticisms or combinations thereof!
Edit: Updated Decklist, Change Log and Considerations
Moreover, colorless ramp obviously won't be the only played archetype, so the card's not useless by any stretch. But there's no doubt it will be less good.
You should definitely run Lingering Souls. So much synergy with the cards in this list.