When this card was spoiled, I knew it was one you were gonna build. Lol And it's one that I wanna build, too! Unspeakable Symbol is such a fantastic card for this deck.

Lmao KBK7101, when one of the spoiler teasers was "A character from a popular Magic story is returning", I was really hoping that it was going to be Alesha. You should still build her!

It's gonna be a bit before I put her together in paper irl. I'm still getting reps in with my (mostly proxied) Laughing Jasper Flint deck; one of my friends gave it to me over the weekend. I typically try not to run multiple commanders in the exact same color combo, but I can make an exception for Alesha lol. My wife and I are going to be moving to a new place in the next couple of weeks, so new cards are taking a back seat until we're all settled in.

Problem with this Alesha is that she's a Rakdos +1/+1 counter deck.... Which is exactly what my Sengir/Kediss deck is. :/ Sure, that one is more aristocrat-y and not reanimation like this one, but still. I'd like to build her, but I think she's gonna end up in my half built Scryfall list limbo.

I do really like the new Elenda from Foundations, too. Debating building her as well!

Ahh that makes sense KBK7101. I don't think Alesha needs to be a strictly +1/+1 counter deck, but she definitely will benefit from those existing synergies & tech. I think she could also be a decent recursion piece in aggro decks like Isshin and various Mardu Legends Matter type builds.

New Elenda is cool too. Lol I briefly checked her out, since I haven't done a straight up Voltron build in a while. I liked Alesha better, and figured one of my friends that like life gain strats might enjoy Elenda more than me.

Yeah, I'm leaning more towards Elenda because, while I have a lifegain/angels deck (Serra the Benevolent), I love the idea of a hybrid lifegain/voltron/aggro deck. Buff Elenda, gain massive life in a turn and then synergize with cards like Nykthos Paragon. Further bolster your life total with stuff like Celestial Mantle and Beacon of Immortality before Aetherflux Reservoir finishes whoever is left.

But with my wedding coming up, and me moving in with my fiance around that time if not sooner... will it get built? Who knows! lol

New Elenda seems like a lot of fun. Voltron/Lifegain seems like a fun mix that can also build you a decent buffer to crack backs, even without some of the other bells and whistles, or Exquisite Blood/Sanguine Bond shenanigans.

One of my friends in my main group recently started adding more lifegain to his decks as a means of buffering against the group slug and aggro heavy shenanigans of our group. So in turn, the rest of us added to existing decks or built The Lord of Pain lol. Playing with Lord of Pain in the 99, and against it this past weekend were a blast.

Totally understandable! Big life moves take priority over hobby stuff until you're both more settled in. Doesn't hurt to keep getting test reps in until you think you could put it together.

Crow_Umbra +1

Thoughts on Flamekin Village and/or Hall of the Bandit Lord for a haste outlet? I know the deck is low to the ground so coming in tapped might not be best, but worth considering. Perhaps swapping out a command beacon given ur commander is low cmc?

Thoughts on adding tokens to enable attacks without much risk? It would be fuel for yawgmoth. Perhaps maybe a Skullclamp to go with all the death? Enable pre-combat on ur commander to ensure they utilize removal prior to combat? Draw is always great on rakdos

I think I'm good on Haste anthems for now Profet93.

I do have token creators like Mogg War Marshal, Chittering Witch, Siege-Gang Lieutenant, and Sling-Gang Lieutenant on my radar. Minus Siege-Gang Lieutenant, they were tech I used in my OG Alesha deck when it was a bit more tokens/Aristocrats focused. Pretty sure I had Yawgmoth and Skullclamp in that version of the deck as well.

Those are all familiar options I've used before for OG Alesha. If I decide to retool the deck to be more token oriented, those will all be some of the first things in consideration for addition. For now I'm going to keep play testing my current iteration, and eventually put it together IRL to really get those reps in.

Looking cool! I think I would like to see a bit more life steal/life gain or Gary-like effects. I think also maybe whip of erebos?

Thanks Sungod, I could see the need for another Gary-esque effect. I have Marionette Apprentice as a potential addition, also since I have Treasures as a slight support theme. In that vein, Whip of Erebos could be cool with some of the different pingers in the 99.

I've also been considering adding Sheoldred, Whispering One as a swap with one of my 5 or 6 drops. I could see Whip of Erebos being a potential swap with The Ozolith.