Alena Brostorm

Commander / EDH* Combo RUG (Temur)

Labaru

Land (29)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Cephalid Coliseum
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Fiery Islet
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 1x Gaea's Cradle
• 1x Gemstone Caverns
• 1x Island
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Rejuvenating Springs
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Taiga
• 1x Tarnished Citadel
• 1x Tropical Island
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Volcanic Island
• 1x Waterlogged Grove
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Artifact (8)

• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Staff of Domination
• 1x Umbral Mantle

Creature (21)

• 1x Arbor Elf
• 1x Barrin, Master Wizard
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Bloom Tender
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Gilded Drake
• 1x Hullbreacher
• 1x Immolating Souleater
• 1x Imperial Recruiter
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Lupine Prototype
• 1x Orcish Lumberjack
• 1x Phyrexian Soulgorger
• 1x Relic Golem
• 1x Seedborn Muse
• 1x Spellseeker
• 1x Trophy Mage
• 1x Vantress Gargoyle
• 1x Vexing Shusher

Instant (19)

• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Chain of Vapor
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Deflecting Swat
• 1x Fierce Guardianship
• 1x Flusterstorm
• 1x Force of Negation
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Intuition
• 1x Lightning Bolt
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Mental Misstep
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Noxious Revival
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Red Elemental Blast
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Veil of Summer
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Commanders (2)

Sorcery (14)

• 1x Eldritch Evolution
• 1x Fabricate
• 1x Finale of Devastation
• 1x Gamble
• 1x Gitaxian Probe
• 1x Jeska's Will
• 1x Life's Legacy
• 1x Neoform
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Timetwister
• 1x Transmute Artifact
• 1x Wheel of Fortune
• 1x Windfall

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Aggravated Assault
• 1x Carpet of Flowers
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Sylvan Library
• 1x Training Grounds
• 1x Underworld Breach
• 1x Utopia Sprawl

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Introduction

I've been playing Selvala, Heart of the Wilds pretty much ever since she was spoiled. When Alena, Kessig Trapper was spoiled, I was very happy to see a variation of that effect, and one that would allow me to play an infinite mana outlet in the command zone with Thrasios, Triton Hero to boot. Building this deck, however, I noticed the strengths and weaknesses between this and Selvala was very different, making for a play experience very different than what the mono-green version provides. This primer's objetive is to explore these differences and see how this new deck fits in the meta.

Game Plan

This is an adaptive deck, able to win early or grind well depending on the opening hand and the matchup. The plan is assemble a win con (discussed in the 'Winning' section) by either tutoring for our pieces or drawing them, which Thrasios, Triton Hero paired with Seedborn Muse and/or Training Grounds helps us to do.

Winning

Alena Lines

The main way this deck is trying to win is assembling a combo with Alena, Kessig Trapper , a way to untap her( Umbral Mantle , Staff of Domination , or Aggravated Assault ), and high-power creature ( Relic Golem , Vantress Gargoyle , Lupine Prototype , Phyrexian Soulgorger , or Immolating Souleater ), and then generate infinite red mana, which we will use to draw our whole deck with either Thrasios, Triton Hero or Staff of Domination . After that, you may choose between winning with twister loops for lighning-bolt, casting all creatures on your deck and then a big Finale of Devastation , or giving Relic Golem or Vantress Gargoyle haste and milling their whole deck by untapping them infinitely.

Notably, since tapping Alena for mana doesn't cost one mana like selvala-heart-of-the-wild's ability, if you equip her with Umbral Mantle and Lightning Greaves , you can generate infinite mana like that, since 4 power is enough ro generate infinite mana with Mantle.

Thrasios Lines

In case Alena isn't avaliable for some reason, we can still generate infinite mana with Dockside Extortionist and Barrin, Master Wizard if our opponents have 6 or more artifacts/enchantments on the field.

This deck can generate insane amounts of mana sometimes, and we can use that to turn Imperial Recruiter into a 1-card combo. You will need 6RRRUU for this combo. First, cast Imperial Recruiter and go get Barrin, Master Wizard . Then, cast Barrin and bounce Recruiter back to your hand, and then cast it again, this time tutoring for Dockside Extortionist .

We can also use Dockside and Underworld Breach with Wheel of Fortune / Windfall and Chain of Vapor to dig through our deck, breaking even if our opponents have 6 artifacts/enchantments and generating mana if they have more. As convoluted as this is, it's useful to keep this line in mind as a way to combo through Cursed Totem .

Alena/Thrasios vs Selvala

Compared to Selvala Brostorm, this deck is much more interactive and versatile thanks to Thrasios, Triton Hero in the command zone, with many possible win-cons, lots of counterspells thanks to having access to blue and red, and ways to tutor the untappers that don't rely on drawing them. This version, however, loses a lot of speed, since Alena costs more and makes mana only for a single turn, while Selvala will generate insane amounts of mana as long as she and a high-power creature is on the battlefield. Another point in favor of Selvala is how good Jeweled Lotus is in that deck, a card that underperforms in the temur version. If you favor interaction and resilience, this deck is the right choice for you. If you favor speed, Selvala is the better choice.

Notable Inclusions/Omissions

Why not play...

... Jeweled Lotus ? While this card is amazing in the right decks, it doesn't do all that much in this deck, despite it being pretty commander-centric. This deck can produce quite a lot of mana for the fast wins with Alena, but, on more grindy games, we sink that mana on Thrasios for card draw. Since turboing Alena out isn't super important for this deck and Thrasios costs two, Jeweled Lotus doesn't make the cut.

... Temur Sabertooth ? The greatest strength of this card, compared to Barrin, Master Wizard , is being tutorable with Neoform from a Spellseeker . That said, Barrin's abilities to be tutored by a Imperial Recruiter and to disrupt opponent's creatures is very much worth the slot over Sabertooth.

... Pyroblast ? This deck has enough interaction, so having both Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast seemed unnecessary. If you're wondering why I chose one over the other, it's because you can't Deflecting Swat a Pyroblast away like you can with Red Elemental Blast.

Why play...

... Lightning Bolt ? With the printing of Hullbreacher and Opposition Agent , along with the already existent Notion Thief , cheap, instant speed creature removal has become very important in the meta. This cards also allows us to win through twister loops.

... Lightning Greaves ? Giving haste to Alena can be pretty important on some games, and, while Rhythm of the Wild is a better card for that specific purpose, being tutorable with Muddle the Mixture and Fabricate makes Greaves a way more reliable source of haste.

Date added	4 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	9 - 0 Mythic Rares 58 - 0 Rares 17 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	1.92
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Spirit 1/1 C, Treasure