Alela, Artful Provocateur | Upping the Average

[@2turnt11]

With this deck, one of my favorite cards to run is Odric, Lunarch Marshall, since he will enable Alela to give flying deathtouch lifelink to the board!

[@EZ2BCHEEZY36]

I was honestly wishing for this deck to be upped for a few weeks now. Thanks for reading my mind Joey!

[@zachw3548]

I love my alela deck as she's all the epitome of versatility and value ive always wanted in my decks! I built her around voltron and trickery and shes always a dominating force!

[@Circular_Square]

Dang, I'm still hoping for a Ghave, Guru of Spores Upping the Average. Never the less, keep up the fantastic work Joey.

[@generalkohn]

More semi-tribal decks absolutely need Etchings of the Chosen, especially in a deck like this. Each fairy token created can be fodder to protect Alela from removal for the low cost of 1 mana, plus it's an Anthem!

[@FlowBerni]

Started to play EDH like a yr ago, my first - not out of the box - deck i built was Alela. (Browsed all the commanders in existance for like 5 days to search for a card that really catches me). Since then I've watched your video like 3 times and everytime i watched it it made more sense. Thanks

[@Sanjuro333]

Alela is the Thopter Sword combo deck. Being able to pump out tons of 2/1 flyers with your extra mana is very threatening, especially if you ever find your Skullclamp.

[@njsification]

Doesn't Alela stop sword from coming back?

[@timbombadil4046]

Love both this commander and series, so it was exciting to see this episode come up. Then you built the anthem build too! Will say one card everyone sleeps on with Alela Anthems is **Godhead of Awe**. When all your tokens are already 1/1's buffed with static effects you basically ignore it's effect and have certain combat superiority.

[@Yesnomu]

This series is so good (even if it probably has a not-insignificant effect on the average costs going down like you mentioned ;) ). Alela seems super fun to build around.

[@coreyroberson4550]

Gravitational Shift is crazy in this deck; I'm also surprised it wasn't in the average deck. I played Alela in a pod against a Yuriko one time, and it was hilarious how Gravitational Shift shut down his entire ability to trigger and drain the table. Made for a super aggressive army of faeries, too.

[@ingolf82]

a great new card to add to this deck is "inkshield" it prevents combat damage for you and creates 2/1 fliers. it's about 6-7 bucks. Archetype of imagination is also fantastic in a flier deck as it grounds everyone elses fliers, so archetype + magus of the moat = noone can attack but you

[@hozz1014]

Just a quick note: Intangible Virtue doesn't work for Bl/inkmoth Nexus since it's not a token.

[@EDHRECast]

Keen observation! We probably should have used Gravitational Shift as the image for that moment instead :) Thanks much!

[@wananana15]

Divine visitation is a must in this deck!

[@iceclimber189]

I'm a bit surprised that he didn't toss in Archetype of Imagination. An enchantment creature that, when paired with Magus of the Moat, shuts everyone else down? Yes please!

[@elipetrou9308]

Nah it’s too expensive mana wise and shutting down combat just isn’t enough to win. Many decks win through combos, drain, or straight up “you win” effects. It’s just not enough unless your meta is VERY combat focused

[@PawzBrownMTG]

Very nice upgrades keep them coming. Stay Pawzitive & Safe guys

[@jamiefalkins5805]

Excellent Video ! Alela is the first Commander I ever built ! Saw it had tons of potential in Brawl and thought, hey this should be an awesome base for a Commander deck !

[@xaviermontigny9381]

Nice list, picked a few new cards there. If I may give my opinion from having a generally similar decklist, I cut skullclamp because I want to pump up my flyers instead of letting them die. I added akroma's will as a board protection and finisher. I have coat or Arms, Anointed procession, ethereal absolution, kindred discovery, shark typhoon, the immortal sun, dictate of heliod and dire undercurrents along with several enchantments to protect Alela (gift of immortality, kaya's ghostform, animate dead and minion's return) I also highly recommend crashing drawbridge and leyline of anticipation because they make up for the biggest weakness of the deck which is being a visible and predictable threat.

[@faperito2389]

U made the same conclusions I did. That's fascinating! Alela is incredibly powerful imo.

[@rschweizer5209]

Do you have a decklist?

[@CS-yo9iq]

This is one of my favorite commanders to play! Thanks for UtA!

[@micahhonig1575]

I would add a shark typhoon. Almost every card in the dang deck is a noncreature, making tons of flying sharks in addition to the faeries.

[@thatmtgnerd]

This is my baby, only deck I have blinged out all kamigawa lands, all borderless or foil. It gets crazy powerful quick, helm of the host and ojer taq or smothering tithe, urza and unwinding clock. Definitely a deck I have to check with my playgroup about lol.

[@miketmurphy1]

My Alela is Faerie Tribal, with just good value enchantments and artifacts that provide extra upside if she is on the battlefield.

[@piralos1329]

Having played with Mace of the Valiant in Syr Gwyn, I personally find that the going tall aspect is often less important than the vigilance? Though for that aspect, you're probably best going for Brave The Sands (I think it's called that?), which gives vigilance and lets your tokens block additional stuff on the defence!

[@clrl936]

But why would you play that in Gwyn then since she already have vigilance?

[@l0ker507]

I have Rest in Peace in my Alela-deck :)

[@letsflyfun]

I would add Coat of Arms. It's a finisher on par with Craterhoof.

[@nasaya77]

I cannot believe I didn't think of enchantment-based removal 😳

[@mack2893]

as someone that plays this deck all that glitters is an amazing card and cutting it shows a lack of using it. It can be 10 power on the board for 2 mana it can be that 8 life you desperately need because you attack after putting it on. It's budget price wise and mana wise and fits with what the deck wants to do.

[@EDHRECast]

All That Glitters was not cut from the list. It was praised for its power.

[@mack2893]

@@EDHRECast oh, I thought mace of the valiant and all that glitters were both featured during a cut part, I guess it was just mace of the valiant that was cut

[@Nightmarecit]

Well I own an Alela deck and Bitterblossom is usually underwhelming. Why? Either it produces a little amount of faeries or it might actually kill you. If you play on Turn 2 you won't get the trigger and if you play after alela it's on turn 4-5. In a reasonable 10 turns game it's 6 faeries and 6 less life for you to use.

[@hiddenleaf414]

How is your Alela deck built? In a Faerie/Flying deck having 6 Faeries can easily be a K/O on a player. Alela also has Lifelink and life is a resource.

[@Nightmarecit]

@@hiddenleaf414 Assuming they don't get wiped out... Yeah they could do some damage.

[@brandoncreek5709]

Inkshield is a card I love dearly!

[@Ironlight_6]

Love the video I showed it to my buddy. I would love to see you make a super budget deck not including the commander

[@AldoTorresblexaz]

Hey, Joey. Great video! Been looking for to build this deck for quite a while, now I have the perfect excuse. One request, I'd like you to visit my favorite commander of all times, Elsha of the Infinite. She's so versatile that her page is all over the place. I currently have a very consistent list, but I'd love to see your take. Thank you!

[@imikoimo6685]

My Elsha is currently the strongest deck in my playgroup and i've got to admit, the commander is fun to play, but once people figure her out, you'll always end up in a 3 vs 1 scenario (if you play her as a combo deck). I've also noticed that most of her common playstyles aren't in need of white at all, so i came to the conclusion that Jhoira, Weatherlight Captian has a similar playstyle but is way more consistent and more budget friendly.

[@AldoTorresblexaz]

@@imikoimo6685 I'd have to say that my Elsha deck also became the strongest one in my pod, to the point that I only play with it online, because my pod couldn't deal with it when it started rolling. About white, I don't know, man. I run all the "boardwipes" that let you keep one creature to make sure she is still in the battlefield without feeling overwhelmed by other people's creatures. Also, my must efficiently removal is white. You can also protect her with the white indestructible/hexproof spells. Jhoira is pretty powerful herself, but I found her way more linear than Elsha. I love the dynamics with Elsha and when you pilot her with more caution, you can just keep under the radar and then bring the Top to the party slamming everyone else with some storm or the fishbowl or herself and prowess.

[@AaKkisa]

Can you do Breya, Etherium Shaper next? Would love to see your take on her.

[@ankhma5349]

Alela was my very first Commander deck and I love it! I have made her into a very powerful Equipment/Voltron commander and she is awesome! Thank you and keep up the good work! Also, are you stalking my decks? You have covered 5 of my decks that I play lol!

[@boempower]

I had an alela deck at one point. It was voltron. Leaning heavly on artifacts equipment that buffed alela =the amount of creatures on tbe board of artifact/enchantments. The only enchantmenst i ran where anthems same with creatures and i no longer have this deck for various reasons.one having a indistuctible 20+ first strike vigilance hexproof trampld alela was not fun for the table second having enough flying power to kill the table defeated the purpose of voltron. I won every game with that deck there was near to no challange. Tldr: if you want to have fun/win a lot try making alela voltron it dident disapoint me

[@faperito2389]

Same for me man. Kicked everyone's ass so bad I dismantled it lmao. It's just way too oppressive. I was instantly the archenemy every game which also sucked a lil.

[@jakeapplegate6642]

She got overlooked because of korvold and chulane because she doesn’t say “draw a card” but she is nearly as strong. Instead of drawing off of casting creatures you get creatures from casting artifacts and enchantments that can draw you cards or remove threats or provide advantage or protect yourself.

[@njsification]

I know this is an old video but it was a solid resource when building the deck more recently. I think these may have been left out of the analysis: Kindred Discovery($8), Extinction Event($3), Grasp of Fate($9), Search for Azcanta($4), Mind Stone($0.50), As Foretold($4), Doomwake Giant($1), Narset($1.50), Sentinel's Eyes($0.30), Wayfarer's Bauble($1), and Myriad Landscape($0.50). The flying lords felt extremely underpowered in my experience and with the number of board wipes that happens in an average game not worth investing in. Even Scion of Oona was frustrating because it prevented Alela from getting auras or equipment. If Elesh Norn is in your budget it was one of the absolute best additions possible.

[@vidalpeterson1918]

Yooo just found this commander imma build this deck but thanks for the vid now I know what to shoot for!

[@THEhyperNRG]

Ik u probably won’t see this but if u do plz reply. I’m new to magic and this card made me fall In love with the game I just got the old brawl deck and really wanna build a commander was wondering if u could help me with the deck list I put together.

[@dtopa7524]

My Alela deck takes your argument of low creature importance to the extreme. Running only a single creature to polymorph a faerie into, Razaketh (which also eats faeries)!

[@CaptainNinjaKid]

I build my Alela deck as aristocrats using the little army of fairies as fodder to churn into death triggers.

[@R4p4nt3]

I think hour of reckoning and divine visitation would fit in an alela deck pretty good

[@Hashbrown1682]

FINALLY! *IT'S ABOUT TIME*

[@Stahlko]

Whaat no Opposition :O ist so good tapping all them enemy stuff

[@Dubi264]

I've also been trying really hard to shove mace of the valiant into decks, but the 6 mana to play and equip on top of the gradual scaling just leaves it far too clunky for me.

[@dancarne5501]

To anybody who’s actually built Alela - is this broader, more all-purpose approach actually viable with her? I’m still new to the game and about to build her, but don’t know enough to be able to tell if she’s strong enough to not focus on 1-2 strategies.

[@alecolson8360]

I built this deck and ran into so many of the problems you addressed, my final deck ran out of steam all the time, this was really helpful. You should do these on the main podcast too

[@hectormorales4090]

Ok, ok... I'll rebuild my Alela deck then. 😉

[@vasylpark2149]

While it is true that a jack of all trades is a master of none, the ability to pivot at a moment's notice is a better strategy than one would give it credit. the branch that bends does not break. that's why I'm such a huge fan of modal spells especially when you can recur them. Yes I am a necromancer as well. shout out to Lurrus the undeath tax collector, (extort spells)

[@tyroflame2764]

What's that new card that bounces a land, if an opponent plays more than one and also draws you a card? Wouldn't that be awesome.

[@Fogshaper]

Stormscape Familiar is quite good in this deck and Zur the Enchanter is also a pretty decent fit.

[@jlateralus21]

I created a pretty good alela deck that centers around flying anthems and artifact or enchantment creatures with flying. It's pretty fast and the mana curve is around 2.5. it gets out of control real quick!

[@Marlonpetry]

Mace of the Valiant have a great slot and shine in one Ardeen/Tana equipment deck use ardeen to equip anything u can to Tana, attack, create that many saprolings and buff tana even more

[@ianespinosa57]

My personal pet deck is Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign but its really hard for me to make cuts or add cards when you're on a budget, especially since the most popular win cons for people playing this deck are comboing off with Nexus of Fate :/

[@Colteal]

hey, where i could buy instantly this kind of deck? can i find it on ebay?

[@DaweMannen]

I would do anything for a Ruric Thar, the Unbowed Upping the Average!

[@VictorTheLegend]

anything? can you send me a mtg deck through the mail

[@connermcclarren5234]

Nice, one I actually have! Roon would be cool to see!

[@seliphsnom2596]

I say this looks fun but I'll be sticking to being evil and playing Alela Stax also thank you for the idea of grave hate artifacts Edit 2: I'm in the same boat as you are with the mace Joey I've tried mashing it into multiple token decks and always cut it for another token maker

[@jordonpohl7393]

Does your mom play Alela now?! I wanna see her deck tech! 🙌🤘 go mothers of the skies go!

[@kilian6464]

One day i will build my own alela hard stax deck. Hope the day will be soon :)

[@goodstrategist9861]

The forst game i played with this commander i was 3 damage away from lethal when i realized i had a land that turned into a flyer... it 100% won a very close game where i was at 15 health at the end

[@brandonbethune4439]

I like!

[@markustveitkvam1709]

how come archetype of imagination isn't a part of this? I barley see archetype of imagination in any deck, and i don't really understand why (i see that 6cmc is high, but you basically gain unblockable)

[@jakeapplegate6642]

Seems less good when all your guys already fly

[@cascagrossa4564]

Next in line: Maelstrom Wanderer :)

[@DarkSwan01]

I know it doesn't cast the enchantment but Zur could be spicy.

[@bgpoppapump3313]

Fun!

[@francoispaolantonacci2280]

Thks

[@mikeowens40]

Weight of Consciences, a suuuuuper good removal spell for alela. 1W aura that stops a creature from attacking and then, tap 2 faeries(even the one just spawned from the cast) and you exile the creature. Also a good mention is dreadful Apathy.

[@SrPacoTaco]

Ah yes, Blinkmoth Nexus and Intangible Virtue. A match made in heaven.

[@KingTBrew09]

How would a bunch of artifact creatures work with this? Yes, no, maybe so?

[@ghastlyghosties]

Instructions unclear i accidentally made her a 9

[@johanandersson8252]

Noble Sprite.

[@lordndrew]

Is there a list for cEDH ?

[@hermeticmoon8448]

Lurrus.... ?

[@kainariylius392]

I run Alela stax really, and it's more for slowing down games i guess.

[@RobMedellin]

I haven't played Alela although it's sort of on my watch list but I wouldn't think 10:20 is accurate, she doesn't need card draw? A) it's not like she's tatyova, jhoira, edric, etc. B) extra card draw is always good (ok I know there's many exceptions when you don't want to draw, but usually is good) Edit: I didn't see adds that are strong card draw (court of ambition is good but may not draw you a card when you need it, or none if you already had the white court)

[@RandomInternetUser999]

There is a bunch of card draw already in the average list.

[@RobMedellin]

@@RandomInternetUser999 yeah then I later saw that. Still, I've gotten used to lot of card draw, at least 2 every turn, average 4 or 5 per turn.

[@RandomInternetUser999]

@@RobMedellin with alela or just your average deck? Seems like an absurd amount of card draw. A lot of the card draw in this deck comes online kinda late and requires multiple unblocked attackers to really be effective. I'm building a similar deck and will probably be playing it for the first time on Thursday. Excited to see how it plays out. I'm going a little heavier on counters and equipment though.

[@RobMedellin]

@@RandomInternetUser999 no not with Alela, and would not say with my average deck. I was thinking of my most used decks with blue (simic, izzet and mono blue... Not the 5c, those draw 2 in average maybe not even that ).

[@Sdizzle7]

How in the hell is there no sensei's divining top? You can keep playing it to trigger Alela lol.

[@IronDuke_xX]

Isnt not having green the strongest argument AGAINST playing enchantress with Alela? Most Enchantresses are green

[@minine6508]

I think this commander is the best example of the downsides of Upping the Average and EDHrec as a whole. If you took the average Alela deck, it’s split 25/25/25/25 on Artifacts, Enchantments, Faeries, and Fliers. Yea it’s fun to do a little bit of everything, but it’s not gonna gel nearly as well together if you’re just ripping straight from EDHrec. No hate to the show or the site, just something for everyone to keep in mind

[@teknyte-1]

I made my Alela deck almost 50% artifact and I gotta say that a few enchantments for draw and good land base makes my version far greater than this

[@suikodin2501]

Does Joey bouncing around in the camera bother anyone else?