I haven't had much luck building three-color Commander decks, but I ran across a few cards which set me to pondering how I could make Alesha, Who Smiles at Death into a sneaky cheap powerhouse. She only requires red mana to cast, but her ability includes white/black hybrid mana, so in EDH/Commander, she can run a deck with all three colors. Her graveyard manipulation also suggests a core mechanic around which the deck will be constructed. At CMC 3, she should also be fast to play.
OK, so what does this deck demand? Ways to stock the graveyard with cards I want to use later. Sneaky ways to recycle cards from my graveyard. Lots of enters the battlefield effects to exploit, hopefully over and over. So here we are, version 1.0 of my own Mardu horde. The red, white, and black color combination means I can also pull fun stuff from multicolored Orzhov (white/black), Rakdos (black/red) and Boros (red/white) pairings.
For this work-in-progress deck, I will list the rest of these cards alphabetically (mostly) with a few notes about how well they will probably work with the deck and estimated value for this build.
The Deck List
Aligned Hedron Network should interrupt decks built around big, stompy beasties without affecting much of what I plan to play. It's not entirely on theme, but I expect it to be helpful. 4/5.
Alloy Myr is a mana dork I can also revive (albeit in attack mode) with Alesha. 4/5.
Arcane Signet is a mana rock that gets better the more colors you need. 5/5.
Archetype of Courage gives everyone I control first strike and denies first strike to my opponents. This is solid tactical advantage I can retrieve with Alesha, but perhaps slightly off theme. Still, 5/5.
Banisher Priest exiles threats. It doesn't win, but it makes room for a win condition. 4/5.
Bloodfell Caves, Scoured Barrens, and Wind-Scarred Crag are dual-colored lands which enter tapped, but also grant one life. Slow, but effective. 4/5.
Bond of Discipline is the first card I'm really not sure about. On one hand, it opens the path to attack and gains life. On the other hand, it's a late-game gambit at CMC 5, and needs to allow extra mana for Alesha's ability or other costs, too. 3/5?
Boros Charm offers three different options from which to select. Handy! 5/5.
Boros Cluestone, Orzhov Cluestone, and Rakdos Cluestone are mana rocks for their respective guild color pairs which can also be sacrificed for card draw. 5/5.
Breathless Knight has good value. CMC 3 (1WB) for a 2/2 with both flying and lifelink is already ahead of the curve, but it also supports Alesha by boosting whoever she pulls from the grave. 5/5.
Buried Alive looks counterproductive at first glance to most decks, but here, it just primes Alesha's ability. 5/5.
Chromatic Lantern is a handy mana rock in its own right, but it also ensures any and all lands are able to fix mana color balance problems. The more colors you run, the better this card is. 5/5.
Command Tower does not enter tapped, and does tap for any mana in your commander's color identity. Useless in other formats, essential in any multicolored EDH deck. 5/5.
Crumbling Vestige is a less useful land. It enters for any color, so it fixes early-game problems fairly well, but it is only colorless thereafter, unless you have a card like Chromatic Lantern on hand. 3/5.
Dawn Charm is another handy card with several options. 4/5?
Daxos, Blessed by the Sun might be better in a mono-white deck, perhaps even as an aggressive commander boosted by artifacts and enchantments for a commander damage win. Here, he is a competent creature with life gain effects. 3/5?
Demonic Rising is just there to see what happens. On the off chance it triggers, yay! Free flying 5/5 demon! CMC 5 for a maybe is not ideal in this deck though. 2/5.
Dragonskull Summit is basically a better version of the Bloodfell Caves above. No life gain, but it doesn't enter tapped if you control either a mountain or a swamp. Better mana curve potential beats one extra life point in Commander for sure. 5/5.
Elixir of Immortality covers my graveyard in case the library is getting milled too fast, or someone decides to nuke my carefully stockpiled minions. I think it's decent insurance for any deck, and especially for those like this relying on graveyard shenanigans that will receive hate in response. 5/5.
Evangel of Heliod is here specifically because it can be repeatedly called back from the graveyard, and it makes tokens. I am concerned that her devotion requirement is diluted way too much in a three-color deck, though. 4/5?
Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse are handy fetch lands to fix bad mana balance. Slow, but still a problem solver. 5/5.
Felidar Guardian rescues your stuff from nasty enchantments, or rescues you from unwanted gifts. Toughness 4 is also useful as a body to block. I think it's a solid piece. 5/5.
Filigree Familiar adds basic utility. Gain life when it enters. Draw a card when it dies... or just gets bounced by Felidar Guardian. Wash, rinse, repeat. 5/5.
Gallant Cavalry brings along a buddy, and both have vigilance, but this card specifically enters tapped according to Alesha's rules. 4/5?
Gleaming Barrier costs only 2 generic mana, creates a treasure token mana rock when it dies, and can potentially be recurred by Alesha. It's nice for a common-rarity artifact, but I'm not sure it's the best fit for this deck. 2/5.
Gold Myr, Iron Myr and Leaden Myr are CMC-2 1/1 artifact creatures which tap for white, red, and black mana, respectively. I like these old mana dork triplets. Are they really good for the deck? I don't know. 3/5?
Grenzo, Dungeon Warden has scalable power and toughness, and he can summon creatures from the bottom of your library to the battlefield. I need more ways to stack the bottom of my deck for this to really work, so for now, 3/5 with room to improve.
Hammer of Purphoros makes every deck with red and creatures better. 5/5. Prove me wrong!
Illness in the Ranks is the first of several cards I included specifically to counter my own red Krenko goblin token deck. Your mileage may vary, but this is a 5/5. in that context.
Iroas, God of Victory used to be in my Boros deck as general. Now he's here to boost this deck instead. I think he's a better fit here. I need to rebuild that other one from the ground up. 4/5.
Kambal, Consul of Allocation is still* the general of my Orzhov deck, but I have another copy here, too. He's such a wonderful nuisance to my opponents. 5/5.
Key to the City lets me stock the graveyard while making someone coughMasterOfCrueltiescough unblockable. Also, pay 2 for a bonus card draw. 5/5.
Kor Celebrant is all about life gain. Essential? I don't know. 2/5.
Leonin Relic-Warder bounces enchantments or artifacts. Useful. 4/5.
Lightning Greaves is free to equip and grants haste. Shroud is less useful than hexproof, since it also prevents you from targeting your own creature, but it's a small price for that haste and protection, especially on a general or Master of Cruelties. 5/5.
Mardu Heart-Piercer is tailor-made to play with Alesha. It's from the same block. I'm just not sure this fits as well in this deck. 4/5.
Marrow Shards is another anti-token card more than anything else. The option to pay life with that Phyrexian mana also means it can come out unexpectedly when all my mana is tapped. 4/5?
Master of Cruelties. He kills things, and leaves opponents at 1 life point just to make them feel like they have a chance before they realize Alesha hasn't hit for lethal. I pulled this from a pack ages ago, and while he can only attack alone, he can be brought into the battlefield tapped and attacking by other effects. Yay for 100% legal rule bending! 5/5.
Mindclaw Shaman uncovers secrets and steals spells. CMC 5 is rough, but if Alesha can pull him from the graveyard, he's a bargain. I like it. 5/5.
9 Mountain basic lands. They make red mana.
Murderous Redcap pings someone or something for 2 damage, but Breathless Knight should boost that, and the -1/-1 counters on Persist triggers would be negated. 4/5?
Painted Bluff is a colorless land that can fix colors for a fee. I'm not sold on its presence in this deck with all the other ways I included to address the color problems. I'll be keeping an eye out for replacements as I sort my collection. 2/5.
Palisade Giant is a solid defensive creature who can be brought back again and again by Alesha. What if I add ways to make this invulnerable, though? Hmmm... 5/5.
Pay No Heed is an emergency life saver. Situational. 3/5?
Phyrexian Rager costs 3 mana and one life for a 2/2, but you get a card. I'm not sold, but I don't think the cost is a problem, especially if I gain life as well on his appearance. 3/5?
9 Plain basic lands. They make white mana.
Ponyback Brigade can be cast using morph shenanigans. It creates three 1/1 goblins when it enters face up or is morphed. It seems perfect for this deck. Three free chump blockers on top of an attacking 2/2 is good value for Alesha's ability. 5/5
Priest of Gix pays for itself. Maybe better in mono-black decks, though? 3/5.
Priest of the Blood Rite is an all-or-nothing swing. He brings a 5/5 demon (who doe snot get to attack yet) into play! And even if all attacking creatures die, should you have that Demonic Rising enchantment, you may get a second free 5/5 flying demon! Yeah, I think the dual demon token generators might be worth keeping. 4/5.
Rain of Blades is just one more token response. Situational, cheap, probably worth a 4/5.
Returned Centaur mills cards on arrival. Hey, wanna boost Alesha? Mill yourself! With my luck, it's the four lands I need. 4/5?
Rise from the Grave, because why rob your own graveyard when you can snatch something juicy from an opponent's graveyard instead? 5/5 despite the mana cost.
Scavenged Blade attaches for free when cast, and it's decent in an aggressive deck. I'm not convinced it helps this deck, though. 3/5
Sol Ring is a 2-mana rock for CMC 1. It is almost essential in any Commander deck. 5/5
Soul Salvage is for when you want to hard-cast dead creatures as normal instead of using Alesha to bring them in swinging. In this deck, 5/5.
Soul Tithe is just my unfriendly way to punish someone for playing something nasty I can't remove directly. Do you really want that Planeswalker or that indestructible monster? 5/5
Solemn Simulacrum is a solid card with mana ramp when it enters plus card draw when it dies. 5/5 in this deck.
Spear of Heliod is similar to Hammer of Purphoros above in its broad benefits to my army. The secondary ability is better than the hammer's golem, but the hammer's haste might be better for this particular build. Your mileage may vary.
Star Compass is another solid commander-specific mana rock whichh improves with the number of colors you're trying to manage. 5/5
Sun Titan is the beefiest big boy in this deck, and he really robs the graveyard. 5/5
Swaggering Corsair is here strictly to take advantage of Alesha's attack to be pulled from the graveyard with a +1/+1 counter. It's OK, I guess, but I think I have better options to consider. 3/5?
9 Swamp basic lands. They make black mana.
Tempest of Light nukes all enchantments. I don't have many. This is insurance in case opponents are using a lot. I have no idea how to rank this. It depends on local meta. What is your take? Win $PIZZA or $BEER for your input!
Topplegeist is a cheap control card which might take advantage of all my graveyard shenanigans, or maybe not. CMC 1 for a 1/1 flyer with a control ability is value though. 5/5?
Triskaidekaphobia makes 13 truly mean bad luck. I just like this. Pure subjectivity though. I don't know whether it's actually good or not. 3/5?
Vizier of the Scorpion is another filler card for now. I am not convinced it adds anything to the deck synergy. It's not a bad card, but I think it's the first I'd replace at this point. 1/5
Whispersilk Cloak is a handy way to make something unblockable. I'm not sure I like the shroud penalty if I decide to build more toward Alesha Voltron, but for now, it works. 4/5
Yahenni, Undying Partisan was my mono-black commander. It didn't work. It might work quite well with all the graveyard nonsense here. 4/5
Cards to add?
I have a Whip of Erebos somewhere. I want that lifelink, and maybe that graveyard stunt despite the exile penalty.
I am already thinking about all the red and black draw/discard options I may want to add. This would work great for stocking the graveyard for other cards. I also need to see what lets me stash stuff on the bottom of the deck for Grenzo, or generate other token chump blockers for my defense.
Deathtouch creatures might be good, too.
Your turn!
What do you think of this deck? What would you suggest I swap out, keeping in mind that it's a budget-focused deck? Comments are welcome!
EDIT: I have done a lot of card-swapping now, enough to warrant a new post. Keep an eye out for that soon!
