Of the cards you were questioning, I happily run Seasoned Pyromancer and Doom Whisperer in my Alesha deck. Tomb Robber is okay if your 3-slot isn't too full, and if you want more control over your discard and land drops. I haven't gotten a chance to try Dockside Extortionist in my build yet, but I know it combos well with Underworld Breach, so I'm eager to try them both next time I can sit down and play some real Magic with my friends! Anarchist has been on my radar for a while, even with the meager 5 sorceries I currently run, but I have too much to playtest at the moment before I make more changes. Pay attention to how many sorcery cards you run, and how often you want them back (though Ruinous Ultimatum might provide some real incentive!). The other cards you've mentioned I've either tried and been unimpressed with, or I've found alternatives I prefer.

Thank you for the detailed feedback golgarigirl! Alesha has become my favorite commander so far, mostly because she can't be built so many different ways.

I think after some more play-testing, I've been considering replacing Harsh Mentor with Feldon of the Third Path or Hazoret's Monument

I've wanted to make sure I have a decent balance of Yard filling cards, since it seems like the first few times I've played Alesha, I wasn't drawing into any of my Yard filling effects. The last game I played, one of my friends was playing Brago, and had an Altar of the Brood on the board. My yard filled quickly, and I was popping off in no time.

That's part of the balance with any graveyard deck...you want to make sure you have ways to get your things into your graveyard so you don't have to pay those awful mana costs! A lot of times Feldon sits in my hand, but he's invaluable when Alesha's commander tax gets to be too much (once it hits about 7, I really struggle casting her). I like Hazoret's Monument a lot as well, especially if a lot of your creatures are red creatures...though just be aware it doesn't do anything when you reanimate something, so if you want to get it's benefit you have to be casting things. Harsh Mentor fits a Stax or Taxes build a lot better, so I'd keep him and find another cut if you want to lean into that...but if you're like me and Stax/Taxes isn't really your thing, I would support cutting it for consistency.

I meant to put in my last comment that she can be built in a variety of different ways. Every list I've seen has similarities, but have varying amounts of Stax/Aristocrats, etc.

I think the other trap I've been trying to avoid in this build is not to make super niche toolbox selections ( like Thief of Blood mentioned in your build)

My deck is a midrange Toolbox build, so I do have some very meta- choices in there. Thief of Blood and Plague Engineer are definitely cards I would not recommend unless you see a lot of +1 counters/Superfriends or creature tokens in your meta! Do you have a strategy/build in mind for your deck?

The deck has gone through a few different iterations, as I've tried out different elements that I like, especially since I hadn't really played this type aggro or reanimator strategy in the past.

I think what I currently have in mind for win-con lines for this deck:

• Reveillark + Karmic Guide + Sac Outlet combo would be the main combo piece that the deck can win around.

• Cards like Impact Tremors, Panharmonicon, & Flameshadow Conjuring can additional value to ETBs from reanimation or created tokens.

• Aggro swarming with evasive creatures, and adding stacking damage with cards like Hellrider

I think I wanted to have some elements of reanimation, creature aggro, and group-slug. In one iteration of the deck, I had more token creators like Mogg War Marshal, Hanweir Garrison, New Krenko, and Noosegraf Mob, but cut them for yard-filling cards.

I used to play a lot more of the ETB trigger cards, but cut them for more of the Toolbox theme. But I know where you're coming from. Since Mardu is very good at both tokens and aggro, you can be really selective with the few you use for your aggro suite...I would focus on ones that do something along with the tokens or make really good tokens. Corpse Knight, Angel of Invention, Sling-Gang Lieutenant, Ogre Battledriver, and Priest of the Blood Rite are some examples I can think of. Resolute Blademaster + Mirror Entity is one of my common win-cons if I have to go aggro and overwhelm the board with my somewhat tiny creatures.

You can easy accidentally slide or purposely build into full-on Aristocrats, which along with the ETB damage also deals leaving the battlefield damage with more of the Sir Konrad effects like Zulaport Cutthroat and Blood Artist and more cheap, efficient token makers.

Being conscious of yard-filling cards is always a trick. I would run at least 10 that can get cards from your hand and deck into your graveyard, and a few sacrifice outlets (another 5 or so) to get them off the board. Of course, having extra reanimation is a great idea to get at those things you dumped in case someone neutralizes your commander. I will never get tired of recommending Perpetual Timepiece, since it both mills and saves your good things from exile. Mire Triton has also been impressive recently.

Some of my choices for places to look for cuts (if you're struggling) include Marchesa's Decree, Leave/Chance, Batwing Brume, Sands of Delirium, Quietus Spike, and Raving Dead. Don't feel pressured if any of these are pet cards that you think work really well, they are just my picks for ones we can find replacements to work better for your deck.

Thank you for the detailed feedback golgarigirl, I appreciate it. I've been playing EDH on & off for a year at most, so I'm trying to build on & improve some of my older brewing habits.

I like your suggestions & will be considering what to swap in/out.

golgarigirl how do you like Daretti, Scrap Savant and Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord in your build, and do you feel like one is more used/impactful than the other? I think I have both cards in my collection. I think Daretti a bit more for the Looting and recurring all my cheap artifacts.

Right now I have ~16 cards in the deck that I categorize as Yard Filling, which is compromised of ~2-3 Self-Mill, 7 Discard/Looting, and 5 Sac Outlets. I tried to make as many of these effects as repeatable as possible.

Daretti, Scrap Savant is my favorite planeswalker in the deck, to be honest. His + is exactly what the deck wants, and I run a ton of artifacts. My playgroup knows how important blowing a haste-giving pair of boots, a combat-protecting Conqueror's Flail, or a combat-enabling sword off of Alesha can be, so that happens a lot. Being able to trade in a useless late-game mana rock for an equipment (especially if I accidentally milled it myself) is way more relevant in my build than I initially thought. I have never used his ultimate...just flipping back and forth between the first two abilities is too good.

Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord has only seen a few games, but I've been happy so far. I can take a fair beating when I'm slow to set up, or just off of some of the cards I run, and the incidental lifegain is nice. Paired with the backup reanimation, I'm happy to continue testing him, but he's by no means the staple Daretti is.

Looks good! You might like these: Herald of Leshrac, Rotting Rats, Palace Jailer (this one is neat because you can sack and reanimate him to exile multiple creatures. opps won't get their creatures back unless they become monarch. he also replaces himself with the monarch draw which is nice), Dark-Dweller Oracle, Mangara of Corondor (activate the ability, then sack Mangara while the ability is on the stack. it will resolve but Mangara will not be exiled), Skullclamp, Pitiless Plunderer, Grim Haruspex, Shifting Shadow, Fanatical Devotion, Bishop of Rebirth, Custodi Soulcaller, Stingscourger, Crackling Doom, Siege-Gang Commander, Bounty Agent

Thanks for the awesome suggestions king-saproling. I like the unique effects/interactions these cards have.

I'm looking for some fluff to cut out, so I'll see what I might work in.

I really like your list but have never had a good experience with Dusk / Dawn in Alesha specifically. It's very different from Retribution of the Meek due to Alesha getting caught in the blast. Additionally, you generally want to leave some stuff in your graveyard to make use of Alesha's native reanimation abilities. As a result, both sides of Dusk / Dawn function in a sub par manner here.

Personally I'd swap for one of the following similar effects: Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Austere Command, the recently printed Mythos of Snapdax or even Tragic Arrogance all leave Alesha going while wiping out most everything else and providing other utility.

<3 cheers to another Alesha player.

Thank you for the suggestions! Dusk/Dawn is definitely one of the handful of cards in the list that I had been on the fence about. Mythos of Snapdax caught my eye when it was first spoiled.

I really like youre deck and thinking about building it for myself!

I just would find a spot for Gonti because Gonti :D

Thank you oscarofastora! I have Gonti, and actually had him in one of the earlier versions of the deck. I think I removed him semi-recently to lean into some of the more aggro elements, and away from some of the toolbox/theft effects. As I continue playing this deck, I'll reevaluate if I'm missing the Gonti spice in my life.

Hey Crow-Umbra this is the version of alesha i came up with. Just tell me what you think :)

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/alesha-just-keep-on-smiling