I would suggest Ashnod's Altar or Phyrexian Altar over Altar of Dementia, unless you find yourself with the ability to sac enough creatures in a turn to mill for the win. Alesha is a surprisingly mana hungry lady, my main deck is Alesha, Who is Unfinished and I have found that she needs quite a bit of juice at times.

I would suggest that you decide which route you want to take Alesha in, especially since you say your playgroup is competitive. Your list is pretty tight, I would just make a change or two. I would probably take out Mindclaw Shaman for Mesmeric Fiend. I think that if you are wanting to shut down your friends' decks, this is an option that fits with the overall feel of your deck a little better. I would also suggest putting in a Nantuko Husk so that you can have one more sacrifice outlet available to you since you have so many solid ETB effects. I like that you already have Fiend Hunter and Leonin Relic-Warder in here. I'm sure you are aware that you can permanently exile with both creatures just to bring them back to do it again, right? This would also work with Mesmeric Fiend if you choose to add it. I play my deck in a very control minded fashion, so I would also suggest cramming an Oblivion Ring and Banishing Light in here. I'm actually looking at cutting Disciple of Bolas..... I know I know, it feels like blasphemy but I find that I am wishing for a different answer when I draw him. He looks great on paper, and really is a good card in a sacrifice themed deck, but I feel he would be better in a Meren deck where you will be getting bigger creatures to sack throughout the game.

As for your maybe board I see that you have Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim. I would suggest playing her only if you are considering getting one of the most broken cards in commander: Serra Ascendant.

Anyway, I hope that my suggestions are helpful. Let me know if you want to chat more about one of my favorite commanders!

@UnleashedHavok Thanks for the feedback.

I was initially running Ashnod's Altar (and Nim Deathmantle), but I found that having a 2 mana sacrifice outlet just felt a lot better, hence Altar of Dementia. That way, you can play it on turn 2 before Alesha comes down, or on turn 4 and still have mana to activate Alesha. It's also important to note that you can (and should) target yourself with Altar of Dementia to give yourself more options in your graveyard. The fact that you can infinitely mill your opponents later on is just gravy.

My rationale for having Mindclaw Shaman over Mesmeric Fiend (or the mostly better Tidehollow Sculler) is that, while they both strip a card from your opponent's hand, Mindclaw Shaman lets you cast that powerful card for yourself. This seems much better to me in a multiplayer environment, where you need to get maximum value out of each card in your deck. It's especially useful when your meta is filled with cards like Demonic Tutor, Time Stretch, and Expropriate like mine is.

I am indeed aware of using the stack tricks for Fiend Hunter, etc. They wouldn't make the deck otherwise, because I don't want cards that are only temporary solutions since removal is so common in commander.

Serra Ascendant is something I'm considering, since I own a couple copies. Just isn't in the deck for now since my meta is so combo-oriented and the lifegain tends not to matter.

What are some of the wincons?

@cloudsol There is a pretty big suite of wincons here, actually.

The most common way I win games is with the classic Karmic Guide + Reveillark combo that you'll see in most white graveyard decks. I can explain the combo more if you don't know how it works, but you can find a lot of information on it on the web.

There's also the Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit + Murderous Redcap + any sacrifice outlet combo for infinite damage.

Perhaps my favorite combo in the deck is Leonin Relic-Warder + Animate Dead (or any other reanimation enchantment) + any sacrifice outlet. You cast Animate Dead on a Relic-Warder in the graveyard. When the Relic-Warder comes back, you target the Animate Dead with its trigger. The Animate Dead gets exiled, and its trigger goes on the stack to sacrifice Relic-Warder. In response to the trigger, you can sacrifice the Relic-Warder to something like Goblin Bombardment for damage or Altar of Dementia for mill. Then the Animate Dead comes back, and you can do it all again ad infinitum. There's a similar combo with Sun Titan and Animate Dead effects that you can find online.

I used to run Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker combos in the deck, but I cut them for the time being because they are harder to do with Alesha, since the creature you reanimate comes in tapped. It's still a good strategy, but I feel that I have enough combos right now.

This is so cool. I have Alesha and was considering her... I love red and recursion.

@cloudsol Thanks! Alesha is definitely the commander for you if you want red and recursion. She's probably the best at what she does in these colors, and the deck is really fun to play. It has plenty of card advantage and interaction to stay relevant at all stages in the game.

Also, note that I decided to put the Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker combos back in the deck because it turns out that having a Buried Alive + reanimation spell instant win combo that you don't need a sacrifice outlet for is really good. You can Buried Alive finding Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Karmic Guide, and Felidar Guardian. You reanimate Karmic Guide and bring back Kiki with the ETB, then copy Karmic Guide with Kiki. You use the new Karmic Guide ETB to get back Felidar Guardian and flicker Kiki. Then, you're in a winning position with the Felidar Guardian + Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker combo.

Love this deck. I have a friend that runs a similar strategy. The Stitch Together is a neat card, I have always had a soft spot for that card.

Thanks for putting this deck together and sharing. I'll glean a lot from it.

Y no love for cathers crusade, purphorous, or master of cruelties?

@Littlepoot Thanks for dropping by. The cards you've suggested are all better in a less competitive version of Alesha that's not combo-oriented like this list.

Cathars' Crusade is a 5 mana card that does nothing the turn you play it, so it doesn't make the cut. I'm not trying to win with combat damage anyway.

Purphoros, God of the Forge Is nice for when you already have an infinite sacrifice combo, but it's unnecessary in this deck since I'm almost always able to win anyway when that happens. Outside of being a combo piece the card doesn't do much in my deck because, again, I'm not trying to win with combat damage and it basically reads "4 mana: do nothing" most of the time.

Master of Cruelties is a cute card for Alesha decks and it can certainly be fun. However, it's only any good if it's in your graveyard when you attack and it can only take out one person assuming they have no blockers. That's not consistent enough. If I have an Entomb effect, I'd rather get something more reliable.

I already see Fiend Hunter on your list, so maybe you already know this, but it also combos out with Karmic Guide, Sun Titan, and (I think) Reveillark and a sac outlet. Also Sun Titan goes with Animate Dead and Necromancy the same way as Leonin Relic-Warder.

I have wanted to build a deck like this for a while. But my playgroup is moving away from combo wars so it probably won't happen.

@DiamondFlavor I am indeed aware of the combos you've mentioned. You can actually win just with Sun Titan, Fiend Hunter, and a sacrifice outlet. Those combos aren't listed in the description because they're not something you can easily tutor for. They're more often just incidental combos that can happen, but aren't a main focus of the deck. I only really go for a Sun Titan combo when my faster combos have been removed or something. Thanks for the input!

If you want to build a similar deck but without the combos, you can certainly do it. You just have to go with things like Drana, Liberator of Malakir and Cathars' Crusade to win you games, which isn't super optimal but can work in a more casual playgroup.

Very cool Alesha build..I used to play her but disbanded it for other decks...you make me wanna try her again. +1

Why bloodghast?

@Littlepoot I'm testing out Bloodghast for its synergy with Skullclamp and Grim Haruspex. Once I added in dual lands and more fetches, it became a lot more powerful. I've been pretty happy with it so far, actually. It has drawn me an absurd amount of cards.

No Master of Cruelties??? You're missing out!

I've got more suggestions and stuff in my deck here:Weenies Who Smile At Death

@Mardu_Maniac I have an explanation of why I'm not running Master of Cruelties in the deck's description under "Notable Exclusions". I appreciate the suggestion, though. Thanks for checking out my deck.

TheFanatic In my Alesha deck I have Strionic Resonator and Illusionist's Bracers which I can use on Master of Cruelties instead of Alesha for the turn. I had a turn where I swung with Master of Cruelties, used the resonator and bracer's effects and brought everyone down to 1, then used Breath of Fury to sac the master and then kill everyone with my other creatures.

Worked out pretty well!

@Mardu_Maniac I hate to break it to you, but the interaction between Strionic Resonator and Master of Cruelties actually doesn't work that way. If you copy its triggered ability, it will just put the player Master of Cruelties is attacking to one again. You can change targets with Strionic Resonator, but the triggered ability on Master of Cruelties doesn't target.

I'm also not sure why you'd run Illusionist's Bracers in your deck. Alesha, Who Smiles at Death's reanimation effect is a triggered ability (which you can copy with Strionic Resonator), but not an activated ability. The same goes for the Master of Cruelties trigger. Illusionist's Bracers does not work with either one.

TheFanatic ah dammit, thanks for pointing that out! I'll change my deck soon!

Given your deck runs Mentor of the Meek, I'd suggest running Norin the Wary which could turn the Mentor into a card-drawing machine, since Norin's blink will make him impossible to remove and you could practically be drawing a card on everyone's turn.