Recently I wanted to get a new, more competitive deck brewing. I had considered TL Alesha, Who Smiles at Death for quite some time and eventually, after watching a few videos, I decided an Alesha, Who Smiles at Death EDH would be a fun deck.
To start off Alesha, Who Smiles at Death synergize well with all of the creatures in the deck. Most of them are ETB effects that throw your opponents for a loop or you can begin some sort of combo to try and go off. Some of the combos will be listed but please note I won't put everything in.
The biggest combo pieces to look at are Karmic Guide + reveilark + Sac Outlet. These two work so well together that any of your two power creatures that do something big (Murderous Redcap, Fiend Hunter, Blood Artist Siege-Gang Commander) or can synergize with your Sac outlets (ect Altar of Dementia, Goblin Bombardment ect) to go off and kill/mill/ boardwipe/token kill people.
Another way to kill people in this deck is Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit/Cathars' Crusade and Murderous Redcap. Using the Persist mechanic and a sac outlet, when Murderous Redcap enters, either Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit will Boster {put a +1/+1 Counter on target creature with the lowest toughness) or use Cathars' Crusade so when Persist triggers, you place a +1/+1 counter to remove the -1/-1 Counter on the creature and do that infinitely.
A backup combo to note in this deck is Sun Titan and either Angelic Renewal or Fiend Hunter. When Sun Titan ETB, you can return Fiend Hunter from the grave (or cast it and target Sun Titan) to exile Sun Titan. Using a Sac outlet of your choice, you can sac Fiend Hunter, Sun Titan ETB trigger and you exile Sun Titan again. This can also be done with Angelic Renewal, only sacing Sun Titan and using Angelic Renewal to 'revive' Sun Titan and bring back Angelic Renewal. This can also help against boardwipes if you cannot protect your Creatures. This effect can also be done if you have Karmic Guide, as long as Angelic Renewal is on the field or in hand and Sun Titan is in the Yard. Sac Karmic Guide and use Angelic Renewal to bring her back, then bring back Sun Titan. Now if Sun Titan dies and you cant bring him back, can use this trick again
Alesha, Who Smiles at Death can also potentially OHKO someone as well. Ever read what Master of Cruelties does? Attack with Alesha, Who Smiles at Death and get Master of Cruelties back with her and as long as they dont have blockers (or creatures become unblockable for some reason), Master of Cruelties will pull their life down to 1, and Alesha, Who Smiles at Death will kill them when Dmg resolves!
While more complex, Karmic Guide + Reveillark + Sac + Leonin Relic-Warder + Mana Rock (ect Sol Ring) will result in Infinite mana. Use it with something like Darksteel Ingot for infinite colored mana! You tap, add mana to your pool, do the outlet (Karmic Guide + Reveillark + Sac + Leonin Relic-Warder) to get Leonin Relic-Warder onto the field. Sac him to get a 'new' Rock and then tap to add mana. Rinse and repeat
Other things to take note of in this deck:
When Leonin Relic-Warder or Fiend Hunter enter the battlefield, you can put the Exile on the stack, sacrifice Leonin Relic-Warder or Fiend Hunter and the card will remain exiled forever. Good way to get rid of Indestructible creatures/permanents
Getting cards in the grave can be somewhat hard to do. Faithless Looting, Tormenting Voice, Buried Alive and Grenzo, Dungeon Warden are great ways to start the fun!
To help protect Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, we got Darksteel Plate, Lightning Greaves, Angelic Renewal, Reconnaissance that will help keep her alive/cheap to cast for a long time.
Reiterate is a great red card. Not only does it have Buyback, but it can also stop counter spells. "Target player takes an extra turn"? "I like those!" I do not run anything else, since it would take away the synergy of the deck
Things to look out for/counters for this deck:
Graveyard removal. Nothing sucks worse than a Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void, Relic of Progenitus, Tormod's Crypt ect. Nothing is worse than putting combo pieces into the graveyard and then having them removed. To stop this, the deck pretty much only has Orbs of Warding and Witchbane Orb. It stops burn spells and planeswalkers from targetting us, but some of the listed cards dont 'target' opponents
Board wipes are both good and bad. Your yard will be full of creatures, but a board wipe also has you needing to reset. Angelic Renewal and Enduring Renewal will help with some of this problem, but it won't get your cards back all at once.
Exile effects. Exiling a creature in a grave or a creature we cant sac in response means that one of our combos is likely gone. Try and regroup and figure out your next plan of attack. Stay calm.
Upgrades that can be made:
Fetchlands and 'better' duals. Arid Mesa, Marsh Flats, Bloodstained Mire and any other fetches in our colors. Plateau, Scrublands and Badlands, as well as ((when they are released)) the Tango lands. Easiest but most expensive ways to upgrade the deck. Imperial Recruiter is an IDEAL tutor for the deck. Any of your power 2 or less and put it into your hand?! Other tutors that would/could be considered is Demonic Tutor obviously, Beesech the Queen, any of the inexpensive tutors. Entomb is also a great card. Reason it isn't listed is because locally i cant find it. Strip Mine and similar effects could also go in. Chromatic Lantern would be good as well, again locally hard to find. The Swords should also be a consideration, but it is hard to say.
I hope you enjoy this deck as much as I have! Any recommendations are appreciated
