Alela, Artful Provocateur

Commander / EDH Aggro Faeries Multiplayer Tempo Tribal WUB (Esper)

Razzberry

Land (34)

• 1x Adarkar Wastes
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Hall of Heliod's Generosity
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 7x Island
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Morphic Pool
• 1x Mystic Gate
• 3x Plains
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Prairie Stream
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Sea of Clouds
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Watery Grave
• 1x Windswept Heath

Removal (5)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Deadly Rollick
• 1x Kindred Dominance
• 1x Sower of Temptation
• 1x Swords to Plowshares

Board Size Payoffs (3)

• 1x Opposition
• 1x Skycat Sovereign
• 1x Throne of the God-Pharaoh

Equipment (1)

• 1x Lightning Greaves

Anthems / Lords (11)

• 1x Coat of Arms
• 1x Eldrazi Monument
• 1x Empyrean Eagle
• 1x Etchings of the Chosen
• 1x Favorable Winds
• 1x Glen Elendra Liege
• 1x Intangible Virtue
• 1x Obelisk of Urd
• 1x Radiant Destiny
• 1x Scion of Oona
• 1x Thunderclap Wyvern

Mana Ramp (11)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Talisman of Hierarchy
• 1x Talisman of Progress
• 1x Thought Vessel

Counters (7)

• 1x Abjure
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Dovin's Veto
• 1x Force of Negation
• 1x Glen Elendra Archmage
• 1x Hypnotic Sprite
• 1x Spellstutter Sprite

Tutors (4)

• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Faerie Harbinger
• 1x Zur the Enchanter *f-etch*

Token Generation (1)

• 1x Bitterblossom

Commander (1)

Card Draw (11)

• 1x Arcanist's Owl
• 1x Baleful Strix
• 1x Bident of Thassa
• 1x Coastal Piracy
• 1x Distant Melody
• 1x Gust of Wind
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Reconnaissance Mission
• 1x Shimmer Dragon
• 1x Windreader Sphinx
• 1x Winged Words

Hatebears / Disruption (8)

• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Grafdigger's Cage
• 1x Hushbringer
• 1x Jubilant Skybonder
• 1x Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Rest in Peace
• 1x Torpor Orb

Protection (3)

• 1x Flawless Maneuver
• 1x Selfless Spirit
• 1x Sephara, Sky's Blade

---

Maybeboard

Upgrades / Budget Cuts (34)

• 1x Anointed Procession
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Contamination
• 1x Cursed Totem
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Dire Undercurrents
• 1x Divine Visitation
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Fierce Guardianship
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Kindred Discovery
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Liliana, Dreadhorde General
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Moat
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Narset's Reversal
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Scrubland
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sunken Ruins
• 1x Supreme Verdict
• 1x Teferi's Protection
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Tundra
• 1x Tymna the Weaver *f-etch*
• 1x Underground Sea
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

Fliers (3)

• 1x Cartographer's Hawk
• 1x Needle Specter
• 1x Nimble Obstructionist

Lifegain / Drain Artifacts (2)

• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x Bolas's Citadel

Tutors (1)

• 1x Mystical Tutor

Card Draw (11)

• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Chart a Course
• 1x Cloudblazer
• 1x Idol of Oblivion
• 1x Keep Watch
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x The Magic Mirror
• 1x Underworld Connections
• 1x Windfall

Mana Rocks (7)

• 1x Azorius Keyrune
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Dimir Keyrune
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Sphere of the Suns
• 1x Star Compass
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble

Faeries with Upside (6)

• 1x Brazen Borrower
• 1x Faerie Mechanist
• 1x Faerie Seer
• 1x Glamer Spinners
• 1x Rankle, Master of Pranks
• 1x Tome Raider

Equipment (5)

• 1x Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip
• 1x Explorer's Scope
• 1x Stoneforge Masterwork
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Sword of the Animist

Pillow Fort (4)

• 1x Ghostly Prison
• 1x Propaganda
• 1x Sphere of Safety
• 1x Windborn Muse

Anthems / Lords (3)

• 1x Grand Architect
• 1x Gravitational Shift
• 1x Sprite Noble

Answers (1)

• 1x Sadistic Sacrament

Board Size Payoffs (1)

• 1x Faerie Swarm

Removal (8)

• 1x Curtains' Call
• 1x Despark
• 1x Fell the Mighty
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Merciless Eviction
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Snuff Out
• 1x Submerge

Hatebears / Disruption (7)

• 1x Ashiok, Dream Render
• 1x Blind Obedience
• 1x Citadel Siege
• 1x Drannith Magistrate
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Magus of the Moat
• 1x Notion Thief

Counters (6)

• 1x Commandeer
• 1x Countersquall
• 1x Dovin's Veto
• 1x Drown in the Loch
• 1x Misdirection
• 1x Negate

Auras (5)

• 1x All That Glitters
• 1x Arm with AEther
• 1x Curiosity
• 1x Curious Obsession
• 1x Sigil of Sleep

Protection (5)

• 1x Crystal Shard
• 1x Eerie Interlude
• 1x Reconnaissance
• 1x Revel in Riches
• 1x Rootborn Defenses

Token Generation (4)

• 1x Faerie Formation
• 1x Luminarch Ascension
• 1x Sigil of the Empty Throne
• 1x Thopter Spy Network

Land (3)

• 1x Arcane Sanctum
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Windbrisk Heights

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I've been starting to get a burned out on the Modern format recently, so I've spent the past few weeks looking into (and building) a deck that I could bring with me to Commander nights once my LGS re-opens later this year. I've never played the format before (although I am familiar with the rules), and this is my first time ever trying to build a deck from scratch.

Why Alela?

My favourite Modern deck is UW Spirits. I really enjoy playing an evasive, disruptive aggro/tempo style, and I wanted to find a commander who could let me try something similar in EDH as well. Alela was actually my second-choice; Yuriko was the commander that appealed to me the most initially (and I did try to put together a decklist for her), but I shied away from committing to it since my research into her suggested that games would turn into a game of Archenemy if I played her. Although I do think I'd like to run her at some point, I thought it might be best to learn the format better before putting that deck together.

Alela seemed like a good second option that allowed for a similar focus on evasive aggro, but also had a lot of room to experiment and play with different styles of decks by just switching up a few cards (plus, a lot of the expensive upgrades I can also eventually run in a Yuriko deck).

Build Goals

I had three main goals in mind while building the deck:

1. Evasive aggression: Every creature in the deck has flying, most are fairly cheap to cast, and they all come ith some additional benefit stapled to them. My main goal is to win through combat damage in the air, so I also focused on a lot of anthem-like effects in order to buff my board.
2. Disruptive: A lot of the creatures come with a hatebear-like effect stapled to them. I also focused on adding enchantments/artifacts that has disruptive effects on my opponents but little to none with my own gameplan (Torpor Orb / Hushbringer effects excluded).
3. Getting Alela out on the board ASAP. I wanted to start gaining the benefits of Alela's token generation early, so I focused on two-mana ramp effects to try to get her out relatively consistently on turn 3.

Questions

As this is my first time building an EDH deck, I have some questions.

1. Do I need some type of extra win condition? I added an Opposition + Throne of the God-Pharaoh combo to the deck to try to give myself at least some type of out in case I lose my ability to attack in the air, but I'm not really sure if it's enough.
2. How is my manabase? Do I need more lands? Less? Different colours/types?
3. Do I have enough / too much card draw? I wasn't really sure how much card draw I was going to need in the deck, and since Alela doesn't really provide any herself, I figured I'd stock up on a lot of draw effects. I focused primarily on ones that take advantage of my bigger board state (Coastal Piracy, Distant Melody), the fact I have fliers (Winged Words), or both (Windreader Sphinx).

I've broken down the deck into the various sections I felt were important to the build, as well as added the other options I considered while building in the Maybeboard section. I'd really love additional suggestions to add to the Maybeboard, and if you feel I should swap cards from the main board with other ones, that would be really helpful advice as well.

Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 45 - 0 Rares 25 - 0 Uncommons 8 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.05
Tokens	Cat Bird 1/1 W, City's Blessing, Faerie 1/1 U, Faerie Rogue 1/1 B, On an Adventure, Treasure
Folders	Alela, Tokens!