Thought I Was Dead? [Primer]

Commander / EDH* Aggro BR (Rakdos) Casual Midrange Multiplayer Primer Reanimator Sacrifice

Crow_Umbra

Creature (28)

• 1x Scorn-Blade Berserker
• 1x Stitcher's Supplier
• 1x Accursed Marauder
• 1x Charming Scoundrel
• 1x Inti, Seneschal of the Sun
• 1x Barrowgoyf
• 1x Drana, Liberator of Malakir
• 1x Falthis, Shadowcat Familiar
• 1x Fell Stinger
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Professional Face-Breaker
• 1x Seasoned Pyromancer
• 1x Unscrupulous Contractor
• 1x Yahenni, Undying Partisan
• 1x Anger
• 1x Atsushi, the Blazing Sky
• 1x Canoptek Tomb Sentinel
• 1x Chain Devil
• 1x Enduring Courage
• 1x Grim Hireling
• 1x Rankle, Master of Pranks
• 1x Ravenous Chupacabra
• 1x Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
• 1x Doom Whisperer
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Syr Konrad, the Grim
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x Massacre Wurm

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Dance of the Dead
• 1x Goblin Bombardment
• 1x Ripples of Undeath
• 1x Rising of the Day

Land (35)

• 1x Blackcleave Cliffs
• 1x Blazemire Verge
• 1x Blightstep Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Demolition Field
• 1x Geier Reach Sanitarium
• 1x Haunted Ridge
• 1x Luxury Suite
• 9x Mountain
• 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 1x Spymaster's Vault
• 11x Swamp
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Volatile Fault
• 1x War Room

Instant (11)

• 1x Tainted Strike
• 1x Bitter Triumph
• 1x Deadly Dispute
• 1x Demand Answers
• 1x Oblivion's Hunger
• 1x Plumb the Forbidden
• 1x Rakdos Charm
• 1x Tibalt's Trickery
• 1x Wild Magic Surge
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Withering Torment

Commander (1)

Artifact (12)

• 1x Commander's Plate
• 1x Lavaspur Boots
• 1x Shadowspear
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Tarrian's Soulcleaver
• 1x The Ozolith
• 1x Anduril, Narsil Reforged
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Dolmen Gate
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Faithless Looting
• 1x Gamble
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Feed the Swarm
• 1x Grab the Prize
• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Jeska's Will
• 1x Living Death

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Maybeboard

Creature (29)

• 1x Drillworks Mole
• 1x Ingot Chewer
• 1x Agate Instigator
• 1x Kalain, Reclusive Painter
• 1x Mindblade Render
• 1x Ornithopter of Paradise
• 1x Shriekmaw
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat
• 1x Azra Oddsmaker
• 1x Circuit Mender
• 1x Demon's Disciple
• 1x Embodiment of Agonies
• 1x Viashino Sandsprinter
• 1x Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos
• 1x Body Launderer
• 1x Filth
• 1x Jaxis, the Troublemaker
• 1x Murderous Redcap
• 1x Ravenous Chupacabra
• 1x Thundering Raiju
• 1x Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls
• 1x Vulturous Aven
• 1x Junji, the Midnight Sky
• 1x Karlach, Fury of Avernus
• 1x Slicer, Hired Muscle  ^Flip
• 1x The Lord of Pain
• 1x Combustible Gearhulk
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Archon of Cruelty

Artifact (12)

• 1x Zephyr Boots
• 1x Cranial Plating
• 1x Hero's Blade
• 1x Strionic Resonator
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Champion's Helm
• 1x Mithril Coat
• 1x Nettlecyst
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak
• 1x Lashwrithe
• 1x Nightmare Lash

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Sadistic Glee
• 1x Bitter Reunion
• 1x Unspeakable Symbol
• 1x Uncivil Unrest

Instant (4)

• 1x Feign Death
• 1x Cathartic Pyre
• 1x First Day of Class
• 1x Infernal Grasp

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"You all Thought I Was Dead?"

I'm glad that Alesha is still alive (and thriving?) in the new Tarkir timeline. My first trip into Mardu building was with my OG Alesha deck; one that was built in homage to someone in my family who is Trans. Given that homage, OG Alesha was one of the first commander decks that I put a lot of care and effort into fine-tuning and upgrading, trying out a few different iterations before settling into a combo & stax-y build.

Although I took apart my OG Alesha deck to build Isshin, almost 3 years ago, I am super excited to have our new, grizzled and wizened Alesha. Although her lack of White presents a drawback in lack of access to certain combo and removal pieces, Alesha trades that off for expanded access on who she can recur back to the battlefield, no longer limited by her prior 2 power or less clause. In some ways I am both relieved and a bit disappointed that she is now only 2 colors, but am ultimately excited to revisit a deck and commander that I loved, in a new way. I haven't felt this excited, and oddly invested, in a new commander in a while.

As I've started to brew new Alesha, I can't help but laugh at how through this new version, I am revisiting some of the building puzzles I encountered with OG Alesha, namely:

• Enabling Alesha as an aggro commander, but trying to make sure the deck doesn't depend entirely on her.

• Balancing out means of buffing and protecting Alesha, along with all the key essentials of keeping the deck functional and interactive.

• Dialing in the right Graveyard filling components that feel "right" to me, in terms of balancing out Looting/Rummaging, Self Mill, & a pinch of Aristocrats/Sacrifice.

The deck will likely change in focus as I continue to fine-tune and hone in on what feels right for me and in the larger context of the play group I primarily play with (lots of Aggro, and plenty of Group Slug). It's exciting to revisit a new version of an old favorite with three-ish more years of experience and perspective under my belt since our last visit.

Primer WIP

Current Game Plan

My first Alesha deck made use of combos that featured Reveillark and Karmic Guide, and other components of infinite loops. For this iteration, I currently plan on foregoing combos, unless I can find one that doesn't feel too shoehorned in. As of now, the general game plan is:

• Get Alesha out and buffed for some early-mid game combat pokes, especially before opposing boards are gummed up.

• Utilize discard and a bit of self mill to get creatures with decent ETB or on death effects into the graveyard for Alesha to recur.

• The top end of the creature curve will go no higher than 6 cmc, mostly to keep Alesha's recursion in a fairly feasible range, regardless of when she hits the board.

• In the mid-late game, make use of bigger and more evasive threats to proc Alesha without sending her into combat as much.

• Hope that this is all grindy and resilient enough to stay in games.

In my first week of brewing, I find myself thinking a lot about:

• In regards to the creature base, how much some of the "squishier" value components should be converted into slightly bigger aggro threats.

• Dialing in power buffs for Alesha, that are mostly static buffs or +1/+1 counters. I think part of initial changes in this regard will be moving away from equipment, and focusing more on static buffs that can benefit multiple creatures, instead of being dependent on her.

• While also dialing in graveyard filling components, maybe playing more to the aggro heavy elements of my meta, and instead letting my creatures die in combat vs heavily investing in looting and self mill.

Ramp & Treasure

The deck is fairly low to the ground as of 11/4/24, siting at about 2.69 (nice) average cmc. The deck has a bit of early game ramp with Treasures and some ritual effects to help carry and accelerate through the mid-late game. I've recently found myself cutting back on early game ramp (1-2 cmc rocks) to make additional slots for creatures or removal. I'd rather draw into another useful body or removal piece once I start getting north of turn 4.

Rocks

• Sol Ring

• Arcane Signet

• Mind Stone

• Talisman of Indulgence

Ritual

• Jeska's Will

Treasure support

Not early game ramp, but still very useful for speed boosts in mid-late game. Although they're not currently in the deck, but Rev, Tithe Extractor and Goldspan Dragon are considerations as possible additions to round out this section.

• Professional Face-Breaker

• Atsushi, the Blazing Sky

• Grim Hireling

Power buffs and Anthems

This section will for sure get some fine tuning in regards to the ratio of team-wide vs Alesha specific buffing. I think over time, the majority of the effects in this section will be team anthems, with a few valuable Alesha focused effects.

Alesha Focused

• Commander's Plate - Helps provide Alesha enough of a static buff to become a serious threat in and out of combat, and can recur pretty much any creature in the current 99. Also provides protection from key removal pieces in White and Green.

• Falthis, Shadowcat Familiar - Hard to pass up adding deathtouch and menace to a creature with built in first strike.

Team anthems

Effects that provide power buffs and/or keywords beyond Alesha

• Anduril, Narsil Reforged - I don't think Ascend will be as much of a factor in this deck, but play testing and time will tell.

• Rising of the Day - Perfect for Alesha in terms of granting haste and a little +1 power boost to broaden her recursion range off the jump.

• Anger -

• Enduring Courage

Other power buffs

Not quite anthems, but not quite Alesha focused effects either.

• Shadowspear

• Tarrian's Soulcleaver

• Drana, Liberator of Malakir

Removal

Versatile non-creature based removal

• Bitter Triumph - An excellent option since the discard requirement can also help set up Alesha for some future recursion.

• Feed the Swarm - In color combos without Green or White, any enchantment removal is welcomed.

• Rakdos Charm - Graveyard or artifact hate options. In the context of my meta, the damage option is typically used to punish token strats that have heavily committed to the board.

• Wild Magic Surge - In color combos without Green or Wh-

• Chaos Warp - In color combos without Gre-

• Withering Torment - In color combos wi-

• Living Death - Kind of a board wipe, also a recursion piece. This might get supplemented with Blasphemous Edict or Blasphemous Act as an additional wipe option.

Creature based removal

Trying to make the most of Alesha's ability to recur creatures with some of these removal options. In general, these are intended to be repeatable either through recursion, or their built in activated abilities

• Accursed Marauder - Helps get around one of the inherent weaknesses of edict effects by forcing opponents to sacrifice a nontoken creature. Especially relevant in my meta with plenty of token decks.

• Plaguecrafter

• Canoptek Tomb Sentinel - - In color combos without Gr-

• Chain Devil - Ditto as Accursed Marauder

• Grim Hireling - TBD on how relevant and reliable the currently existing Treasure support in this deck is.

• Rankle, Master of Pranks

• Ravenous Chupacabra

• Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

• Massacre Wurm

Top Ranked	Achieved #11 position overall 1 dia ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Casual 1 dia ago
Date added	1 week
Last updated	6 hours
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 0 Mythic Rares 34 - 0 Rares 25 - 0 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.63
Tokens	City's Blessing, Elemental 1/1 R, Plot, Treasure, Wicked
Folders	Favorite Decks