Alesha, Who Smiles at Death

Legendary Creature — Human Warrior

First strike

Whenever Alesha, Who Smiles at Death attacks, you may pay . If you do, return target creature card with power 2 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped and attacking.

Discussion (48)

golgarigirl on Best commanders to introduce new …

1 week ago

Hello lovely people!

Inspired by the Jake and Joel are Magic short yesterday, I wanted to get some ideas! The question is: What are the best decks/commanders to play against new players to teach new players coming into the format?

I can't say I agree with Jake and Joel, but I get the idea of a group hug-esque commander to help a new player see their whole deck. I think this could cause decision paralysis, and only really accelerates experienced players.

I personally play against new players with a barely (and budget) modified Arahbo, Roar of the World or a super budget Alesha, Who Smiles at Death . But even those decks can be a bit complex and explosive at times.

What are your thoughts and suggestions?

FoxandtheVoid on Norin, Agent of Chaos

1 month ago

Profet93

Thank you so much for your interest in my deck and this thorough suggestion list and comment. So starting off with the draw you suggested, I kinda missed War Room , I am currently making up a list of things I want to change and I'm slightly changing up the pacing and direction and will be adding more draw. So War Room will definitely be one on the list. Tome of Legends is on my list already so thank you for confirmation on a good draw, especially with Norin popping in and out every turn. I don't know why but Endless Atlas doesn't feel too good to me, maybe if it were 1 mana I'd probably throw that in too but as is I'll pass. Humble Defector my current meta isn't super into playing nice politics so I haven't considered this, also the lack of abusable ETB makes me lean against it. I'll probably talk more on my meta at the end of the comment. As for Ignite the Future and Light Up the Stage they have been kinda on a watchlist, the list I'm working on is gonna look to make big plays with a handful of x cost spells so the flashback with Ignite the Future is less spicy in that sense but still a card I'm looking into playtesting a bit.

Moving on to the Ramp suggestions Curse of Opulence seems nice and I will definitely consider it as I change Norin up to keep it feeling a bit more fresh. Dockside Extortionist I haven't picked up yet because I support my LGS as much as possible and they ones I frequent the most haven't had any in stock when I've been there, and the one time they did - money was a factor. As for the crypt and the gauntlet, I have been playing magic for 20 some years now so many of the pricey cards weren't so pricey when I got them and also have had a healthy local trading market. Yes Myriad Landscape is too slow for my liking. You are correct in your assumption that I am not running Ruby Medallion because of the high amount of artifacts I'm running. It will likely be reconsidered. Sword of the Animist seems kinda good on paper, but my meta likes to do lots of spell casting on other peoples turns so I feel bad spending 2 to equip only to have someone cast a spell and make Norin go away. Oh, and as for Gauntlet of Power and Caged Sun both are going in with my next big change so stay tuned lol.

Utility & Misc. Chandra, Torch of Defiance is good, I'll consider it but not sure where to fit it in, also she will never live to see her -7 in my meta. Dualcaster Mage wasn't considered because I'm only running 9 sorcery and 1 instant and most of them not super great to duplicate, my new list may change this so I may come back and reconsider. Sunbird's Invocation seems perfect for the new list I'm cooking up, thank you! I will definitely play test that. Blast Zone just seems meh, I don't like the XX cost, I haven't found too many enchantments I've wanted to remove and when I do I make them artifacts and destroy them or take them. Flametongue Kavu and Inferno Titan just seem too expensive for what they do, the Kavu being limited to creatures is a bummer imo. Terror of the Peaks should go on to replace Warstorm Surge I'll have to look into that. And lastly Zealous Conscripts used to be in the deck along with a Goblin Recruiter and Moggcatcher and every game was basically the same, tutor for kiki and either gamble or wheel into zealous it felt boring and I didn't enjoy playing it. Might make a return one day in the right meta.

As for your synergy suggestion, I would add it but my new list is actually going to omit Mind's Eye.

Now for my meta... well I currently find myself in limbo as just a few weeks ago my group had a bit of a falling out. Basically, one of my friends became the direct boss of others in the group and he had to let one of them go from the company during covid lockdowns and it just created a lot of bad blood. Drama aside, we had some people showing up with cEDH decks when others were playing intentionally suboptimal decks and only one other person would play nice politics with me so it was kind of difficult at times. Ridiculous amounts of removal, both targeted and mass, so I typically felt somewhat okay running a bit light on that. Also with reds artifact hate and the ability to turn things into artifacts I never really felt disadvantaged.

As I said a few times I am making some changes and I'll be adding things like Firecat Blitz and Tempt with Vengeance to dump a mass amount of creatures in at once for those warstorm/pandemonium effects. I am currently focusing primarily on a new Alesha, Who Smiles at Death deck that you may enjoy, I hope to get it up and made public in the next two or three days. And if you enjoyed this Norin deck for it's low cmc curve you may enjoy the Alesha deck because it's even lower!

Thank you again for taking interest and thanks for the upvote. All of these suggestions are appreciated. :) I hope you have a great weekend.

monkeyofficeboy on Alesha, No Idea

2 months ago

First Pass Update:

Having acquired some cards specifically for this deck, I have made a few changes, which are as follows:

Removed

Cloudchaser Kestrel Already have a creature I can recur for enchantment removal, which is also one mana cheaper. Yes, I lose a flyer, but removal is more useful than a tiny chump blocker.

Nekrataal Useful, but has too many restrictions on what it can destroy. I think I have better options.

Rakdos Signet Doesn't do enough, and is too slow for an aggro deck.

Zulaport Cutthroat A card that I love but doesn't do enough in this deck to warrant an place.

Swords to Plowshares No other reason other than I need the copy elsewhere! Goes into the maybe board in case this deck sees heavy play.

New Cards

Nahiri, the Harbinger Both the plus and minus ability help out in this deck. The plus ability allows more creatures into the graveyard for Alesha, Who Smiles at Death to target, and the minus ability helps with removal.

Savai Crystal An upgrade on Rakdos Signet as it provides all three colours of mana, and doesn't slow the deck down. Yes it's one more to cast, but doesnt require mana to activate and has the added gravy of being a Cycling card too, if I need to draw a card.

Judith, the Scourge Diva Small bump to creatures which is handy, and the ability to deal targetted ping damage to a target. A really useful target to get some Deathtouch on I think.

Thrilling Discovery Card draw, dumps cards to the graveyard and some incidental lifegain. Not a bad trick I am hoping.

Subira, Tulzidi Caravanner Makes creatures unblockable, very useful for several creatures in this deck. Also allows for my hand to be cycled if I can get a creature through.

BrassLord on DDC

3 months ago

For artifact recursion, Trash for Treasure is a useful one for cheating out big artifacts from the graveyard, and is a flavor win as you can literally trade your treasure tokens in for trash... err... your other artifacts XD Also, Goblin Welder is another classic one that can do the same thing. Trading Post is another flexible option, as I can see your deck being able to use most of the options. Though, I'll admit, I usually use these cards to cheat into play big artifact creatures that I've dumped into the graveyard, so you might want to consider this as a side option.

In terms of red artifact tutors, it's a little dicy, as most of the decent options use either blue or black. Inventors' Fair could work once you get all the needed artifacts on board. Some creature options also exist (if you're just looking to make a weird "illegal" fun deck.) Treasure Mage Trophy Mage Tribute Mage and Trinket Mage can fetch out needed artifacts, as well as having limited synergy with Alesha, Who Smiles at Death . Though looking at your current list, I don't see too many bomb cards that would be useful with recuring your artifacts. Maybe look into adding something like Solemn Simulacrum or Golos, Tireless Pilgrim ? In red you have things like Gamble , Hoarding Dragon and Goblin Engineer .

Hmmm... Sliver decks, while fun to pilot, either are dealt with early and fizzle out, or they end up overwhelming if you don't keep their creatures in check. If you're leaning more into the 5 color splashability casual deck, Rakdos Charm is a good catch-all card that deals with a lot of strategies. Even a well timed Blasphemous Act can slow them down. In your current build, I see you do run some interaction, but I think you'll find there are some more consistent better options out there!

BrassLord on DDC

3 months ago

Hail, fellow dwarf lover! Just a few suggestions!

The first one is that while the back of Lukka, Wayward Bonder is red, the whole card is considered to have the color identity of both sides, so white and red. Unfortunately that means that you won't be able to legally run the card in your mono red deck (though honestly it's up to your playgroup on how they want to follow that rule, as long as yall are on the same page!). The same thing goes for Alesha, Who Smiles at Death . That being said, both of those cards are good commanders in their own right, but can't be played in the deck legally :/

As for cards, she's quite a stout dwarf! Some of the interesting cards I've come across when playing against it are Springleaf Drum , any vehicles like Smuggler's Copter . Both can get a lot of value from tapping your commander. A weird but good card would be something like Honor-Worn Shaku . 3cmc mana rock that produces upwards of 3 mana means you can quickly hard cast some of your bigger permenants!

Also I wouldn't overlook some of the changelings! Things like Bloodline Pretender and Taurean Mauler can get pretty big! Changeling Berserker , if fetched from the deck using the commander's ability, is also a cheeky way of getting around a board wipe.

Kindred Charge could also be another wincon, as it either makes a TON of treasure with dwarves, or doubles down on dragon attacks.

And I'm not sure of your budget, but Embercleave can put in a lot of work too!

Hope these suggestions give you some ideas, and may your beard grow ever longer!

seshiro_of_the_orochi on The Last Samurai

3 months ago

This deck looks fun. In your thread, you asked for alternative commanders: Since you only have 5 or 6 creatures with power 3 or greater, Alesha, Who Smiles at Death could be very useful. You wouldn't even have to change the deck and could include Iroas in the 99. For additional protection for your samurai, how about adding in Sunforger with Unbreakable Formation and similar spells? Konda, Lord of Eiganjo is another crazy powerful samurai.

jamochawoke on Najeela, Queen of the Blossoms

4 months ago

I like how the guy above this comment just casually strolls in and tells you to put in a bunch of moxen...

That said, warriors is one of my favorite tribes and I've made a ton of decks with them! Plus Najeela is such a badass commander! These are my suggestions that you haven't included and could serve as some better synergy with your deck than your non-warriors:

huge detailed list of warriors with combos and shenanigans

• Winota, Joiner of Forces for deck filtering, extra combat step power, and a tutor for your human warriors.
• Samut, Voice of Dissent to give all your creatures haste and she's incredibly powerful in and of herself, can give pseudo vigilance or enable tap/untap shenanigans with her second ability, and she has Flash.
• Garna, the Bloodflame gives your creatures haste and has Flash like Samut. She also helps you instantly recover from board wipes (in my meta boardwipes are so rampant my playgroup has started to implement restrictions on how many can be put into decks, yours may be different).
• Tahngarth, First Mate is a great way to engage politically with the board.
• Harald, King of Skemfar tutors the top 5 of your deck for warriors.
• Varolz, the Scar-Striped also helps you recover from wipes or having your big creatures removed with his scavenge ability.
• Maja, Bretagard Protector she can net you a lot of warrior tokens, especially if you have ways to bounce lands or play extra lands.
• Rhys the Redeemed gets you a lot of warrior elf tokens over the course of a game if you can get him out early.
• Kresh the Bloodbraided helps you recover from removal (but not wipes) in a better way than Varolz.
• Surrak Dragonclaw makes all your warriors uncounterable.
• Zurgo Helmsmasher one of the biggest warrior beat-sticks available to you, and he has haste. His cheap cmc also makes him a huge target while his indestructible clause lets you build other threats on your board while they figure out how to deal with him.
• Nadier, Agent of the Duskenel one of the most perfect ways to recover from a board wipe by putting a massive amount of tokens on the field once he dies (can also use blink or graveyard recursion on him to make more).
• Anthousa, Setessan Hero makes your lands warriors. Works really well with Maja.
• Jedit Ojanen of Efrava makes tons of cat warrior tokens.
• Sosuke, Son of Seshiro gives all your warriors pseudo-deathtouch.
• Yasova Dragonclaw steals their creatures.
• Alesha, Who Smiles at Death gives you graveyard recursion for your low CMC warriors and works really well with ones with ETB's.
• Chief of the Edge should be an auto-include. Chief of the Scale is ok if you are running toughness or need the toughness for certain spells or something, but yeah Chief of the Edge is absolutely where it's at.
• Honored Crop-Captain like Chief of the Edge but only works while attacking.
• Resolute Survivors keeps you in long games
• Brawl-Bash Ogre is a good sac outlet for tokens you aren't using/don't need.
• Proud Wildbonder works REALLY well with Bramblewood Paragon's effect. Also works with Khenra Charioteer
• Rubblebelt Raiders can get absolutely huge with tokens on the board.
• Scuzzback Marauders isn't just a good beatstick, with Persist it can combo off with any of your sac outlets and Bramblewood Paragon.
• Moriok Replica works really good with Alesha for continuous card draw.
• Avenging Huntbonder keeps dishing out the double strike onto your other creatures every turn.
• Blaring Recruiter make warrior tokens.
• Hidden Dragonslayer morph ability takes out your opponents biggest threats.
• Den Protector is great graveyard recursion.
• Nacatl Hunt-Pride lets you control the combat step to your liking.
• Paired Tactician just some nice synergy.
• Mardu Woe-Reaper graveyard removal with every warrior ETB. More important than you think!
• Seasoned Hallowblade just a really strong and low CMC card that will stay on the battlefield throughout an entire game more often than not.
• Steward of Solidarity free vigi warrior token generation every 2 turns or a lot every turn with untap shenanigans.
• Usher of the Fallen the cheapest warrior token creation you can find.
• Battle Brawler with just a single red or white permanent on the battlefield becomes super strong. With Chief of the Edge he becomes a 4 power first strike for 2 mana... not bad.
• Blaring Captain partners with Blaring Recruiter and has Honored Crop-Captain's effect.
• Blood-Chin Fanatic a MUST in any warrior tribal that includes black and makes tokens or pumps a single warrior's power to an absurd level. This card can single handedly win you a game.
• Blood-Chin Rager gives all your warriors menace.
• Champion of Stray Souls expensive, but can recover your entire board very quickly.
• Exquisite Huntmaster an extremely underrated card that can net you a ton of elf warrior tokens in a multiplayer match while also being a beater.
• Mardu Strike Leader using its dash ability can keep it safe from removal. Also makes a 2/1 warrior token every turn.
• Mindblade Render keeps the card draw going off of warrior damage.
• Nadier's Nightblade combos EXTREMELY well with Blood-Chin Fanatic and also with any other sac outlet.
• Sickle Dancer a 4/3 flier when attacking isn't bad for cmc 3.
• Thrasher Brute forms a combo with Scuzzback Marauders and any of the sac outlet warriors.
• Titan Hunter gives combo and solitaire players a clock while also giving you a convenient sac outlet with lifegain.
• Vampire Warlord sac outlet with regenerate.
• Herald of Secret Streams combos really well with Bramblewood Paragon to give your warriors unblockable.
• Nimbus Champion can keep the board clear of annoying blockers.
• Whirlpool Warrior wheel effect on a stick.
• Ahn-Crop Invader another beater sac outlet.
• Archetype of Aggression combos with Proud Wildbonder and keeps your opponents from gaining trample.
• Ash Zealot punish those blue and black decks that like to keep casting their spells over and over from the graveyard!
• Boldwyr Heavyweights tutor for your game ending creature and put it into play for free. Sure your opponents get a tutor too... but it's your turn, and your combat, and you have Najeela...
• Boldwyr Intimidator COWARDS CAN'T BLOCK WARRIORS!
• Kargan Intimidator COWARDS CAN'T BLOCK WARRIORS! FOR CHEAPER!
• Combat Celebrant those additonal combat steps are... chef's kiss
• Frenzied Saddlebrute ridiculously fun political ability.
• Goblin Bushwhacker can end a game if you just laid out a bunch of tokens that turn.
• Goblin Cratermaker get rid of annoying artifacts or spot removal... likes to work with Alesha.
• Goma Fada Vanguard choose a creature to not block each turn based on warriors.
• Kruin Striker strong and cheap card that gets out of hand with sac combos or mass token generation.
• Shatterskull Charger pseudo dash effect with a bunch of other strong abilities.
• Rustrazor Butcher extremely underrated card. First strike and wither for 2 CMC! Can buff it a number of ways to surprise an enemy in combat too.
• Vengeful Firebrand basically a fireball on a stick as long as you have a warrior in the yard.
• Viashino Sandsprinter pseudo dash effect with trample. Has cycling if you need something else.
• Champion of Rhonas cheat whatever creature you want from hand onto the battlefield with no downside.
• Civic Wayfinder helps you get the right colors you need.
• Duskwatch Recruiter  ^Flip dig through your library for more warriors.
• Golgari Raiders green haste that gets huge if you just suffered a boardwipe.
• Heir of the Wilds just a very strong presence for 2 CMC.
• Imperious Perfect elf warrior token generation.
• Horizon Seeker repeatable color fixing.
• Icehide Troll very, very strong and hard to remove creature. Needs snow lands though.
• Maulfist Revolutionary better version of proliferate.
• Matsu-Tribe Sniper keeps your enemies' dragons, demons, angels, and emrakuls from flying over your field.
• Petrified Wood-Kin expensive, but this guy can't be countered and is extremely difficult to remove and can ETB with insane P/T if you swung in hard on someone that turn.
• Stonehoof Chieftain a game ender if you've pumped your creatures at all.
• Thorn Lieutenant high value low CMC card with a mana dump if you need it (I like the combos for mana dumps better though).
• Unstoppable Ash come out of every combat pretty much unscathed. Only creature better for it is Stonehoof Chieftan.

• Wolfir Avenger flash in for a block and a regenerate ability.

warrior enablers

God-Eternal Oketra make huge 4/4 zombie warrior tokens on every warrior cast.

Oketra the True make warrior tokens and acts as a big beater itself.

Oketra's Monument tons and tons of warrior tokens.

Rush of Battle warrior themed overrun that gains you tons of life.

Herald of Anafenza gets bigger and makes warrior tokens at the same time.

Raiders' Spoils probably the best card draw you'll see for warrior tribal.

Gilt-Leaf Ambush elf warrior tokens with sometimes deathtouch.

Hunting Triad elf warrior tokens or modal +1/+1 counters.

Presence of Gond give a creature a tap for elf warrior token ability.

Lovisa Coldeyes more warrior lord buffs!

Obsidian Battle-Axe haste and auto-attach to warriors equipment!

Regna, the Redeemer and Krav, the Unredeemed act as a sac outlet and warrior token generation combo.

Lord Windgrace deck filtering, color fixing, and generation of a ton of cat warrior tokens

Great Hall of Starnheim gets you a 4/4 angel warrior token in a pinch

Base Camp cheap 5 color land for warriors

Starnheim Unleashed make a ton of 4/4 angel warrior tokens!

Emeria's Call  ^Flip make angel warrior tokens and give your non-angel warriors indestructible or make it a land

Ascent of the Worthy pretty fun tricks on this.

Firja's Retribution make a 4/4 angel warrior token and give angels destroy and double strike.

Battle for Bretagard make warrior tokens, then make copies.

Steelspike on Mardu Hatebearer

4 months ago

Honestly, the best hatebear commander is Alesha, Who Smiles at Death .

You can build the deck to almost cEDH levels, if you want. Otherwise, you can build it fun-wise.

I prefer the latter.