Upgrading Fae Dominion - Alela, Cunning Conqueror (& Tegwyll, Duke of Splendor)

[BlackbirdPlaysMTG]

Alela, Cunning Conqueror - Faerie Trickery

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Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Current Decklists

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A Short Introduction

Generally, I prefer to build my own decks from scratch. I haven't bought a precon in years (the "Adaptive Enchantment" precon from 2018 was the last one), but when Wilds of Eldraine was released I ended up in a pod with a player who had just gotten the "Fae Dominion" precon. Saw some interesting cards during that game and especially the secondary commander, Alela, Cunning Conqueror, caught my eye. Thought about it for a day and then bought the precon myself. The deck started out as relatively budget - the first version was upgraded with a few tenners worth of cards. It performed really well even on a low budget and I enjoyed the playstyle of the deck, so I decided to get some serious upgrades for it over the course of a few months.

The deck plays draw-go style and tries to control the flow of the game, but not in a dominating manner. Alela's goal is to create a bunch of faeries by drawing cards and interacting at instant speed, and goad key creatures or big threats that your opponents control. She can only goad one creature for each opponent at most and you can be political when picking the targets for the goading. Your tokens are also valuable as blocking fodder and they synergise well with the card draw that this deck utilises (I am running four Coastal Piracy effects as well as one-time effects like Pact of the Serpent). Alela never overly dominates games - I let my opponents whittle each other down, while interacting to stop people from winning and disincentivising people from attacking me. Being super-aggressive with your interaction will just draw the ire from players and run you out of resources, so it's better to be tricky and sneaky. Assess if it really matters whether an opponent makes a decently powerful play when considering to use interaction.

I also designed a list around Tegwyll, Duke of Splendor. He is the face commander of the precon and your best option when you want to go for a faerie tribal build. The great thing about Tegwyll is that he will refill your hand when someone casts a wipe. This is a great effect for a tribal deck that wants to go wide. Haven't had a change to play with that list yet, but I will definitely be trying it out in the future.

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Current Decklists

Alela, Cunning Conqueror - Faerie Trickery

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Commander

1 Alela, Cunning Conqueror

Draw (16)

1 Mystic Remora

1 Faerie Mastermind

1 Pull from Tomorrow

1 Black Market Connections

1 Keep Watch

1 Pact of the Serpent

1 Rhystic Study

1 Bident of Thassa

1 Coastal Piracy

1 Fact or Fiction

1 Farsight Ritual

1 Memory Deluge

1 Reconnaissance Mission

1 Kindred Discovery

1 Nymris, Oona's Trickster

1 Dig Through Time

Cantrip (6)

1 Brainstorm

1 Consider

1 Opt

1 Anticipate

1 Experimental Augury

1 Impulse

Tutor (4)

1 Mystical Tutor

1 Vampiric Tutor

1 Demonic Tutor

1 Diabolic Intent

Counterspell (10)

1 An Offer You Can't Refuse

1 Arcane Denial

1 Counterspell

1 Mana Drain

1 Spellstutter Sprite

1 Disallow

1 Fierce Guardianship

1 Cryptic Command

1 Spellscorn Coven // Take It Back

1 Mystic Confluence

Removal (5)

1 Faerie Fencing

1 Pongify

1 Rapid Hybridization

1 Brazen Borrower // Petty Theft

1 Deadly Rollick

Blank Attack (4)

1 Cyclonic Rift

1 Aetherize

1 Illusionist's Gambit

1 Aetherspouts

Finisher (3)

1 Scion of Oona

1 Coat of Arms

1 Gravitational Shift

Other (8)

1 Bitterblossom

1 Snapcaster Mage

1 Opposition Agent

1 Theoretical Duplication

1 Vendilion Clique

1 Malleable Impostor

1 Mistbind Clique

1 Notion Thief

Ramp (9)

1 Sol Ring

1 Arcane Signet

1 Dimir Signet

1 Fellwar Stone

1 Mind Stone

1 Sword of the Animist

1 Talisman of Dominance

1 Thought Vessel

1 Misleading Signpost

Land (34)

1 Bloodstained Mire

1 Castle Vantress

1 Clearwater Pathway // Murkwater Pathway

1 Command Tower

1 Drowned Catacomb

1 Flooded Strand

7 Island

1 Marsh Flats

1 Misty Rainforest

1 Morphic Pool

1 Mystic Sanctuary

1 Polluted Delta

1 Prismatic Vista

1 Reliquary Tower

1 Rivendell

1 Scalding Tarn

1 Shipwreck Marsh

1 Sunken Hollow

1 Sunken Ruins

5 Swamp

1 Undercity Sewers

1 Underground River

1 Verdant Catacombs

1 Watery Grave

Approximate Total Cost:

Tegwyll, Duke of Splendor - Faerie Tribal

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Commander

1 Tegwyll, Duke of Splendor

Faeries (31)

1 Faerie Seer

1 Faerie Dreamthief

1 Cloud of Faeries

1 Faerie Mastermind

1 Hypnotic Sprite // Mesmeric Glare

1 Likeness Looter

1 Nightveil Sprite

1 Obyra, Dreaming Duelist

1 Picklock Prankster // Free the Fae

1 Spellstutter Sprite

1 Brazen Borrower // Petty Theft

1 Faerie Bladecrafter

1 Halo Forager

1 Nettling Nuisance

1 Scion of Oona

1 Talion's Messenger

1 Vendilion Clique

1 Faerie Artisans

1 Faerie Harbinger

1 Glen Elendra Archmage

1 Glen Elendra Liege

1 Malleable Impostor

1 Mistbind Clique

1 Rankle, Master of Pranks

1 Sower of Temptation

1 Spellscorn Coven // Take It Back

1 Talion, the Kindly Lord

1 Archmage of Echoes

1 Faerie Formation

1 Puppeteer Clique

1 Shadow Puppeteers

Draw/Tutor (10)

1 Mystic Remora

1 Vampiric Tutor

1 Demonic Tutor

1 Pact of the Serpent

1 Phyrexian Arena

1 Rhystic Study

1 Bident of Thassa

1 Coastal Piracy

1 Reconnaissance Mission

1 Kindred Discovery

Counterspell (5)

1 An Offer You Can't Refuse

1 Swan Song

1 Counterspell

1 Mana Drain

1 Fierce Guardianship

Removal (6)

1 Pongify

1 Rapid Hybridization

1 Cyclonic Rift

1 Stolen by the Fae

1 Deadly Rollick

1 Kindred Dominance

Other (5)

1 Bitterblossom

1 Notorious Throng

1 Patriarch's Bidding

1 Gravitational Shift

1 Reflections of Littjara

Ramp (7)

1 Sol Ring

1 Arcane Signet

1 Dimir Signet

1 Fellwar Stone

1 Mind Stone

1 Talisman of Dominance

1 Thought Vessel

Land (35)

1 Bloodstained Mire

1 Castle Vantress

1 Clearwater Pathway // Murkwater Pathway

1 Command Tower

1 Drowned Catacomb

1 Flooded Strand

6 Island

1 Marsh Flats

1 Misty Rainforest

1 Morphic Pool

1 Path of Ancestry

1 Polluted Delta

1 Prismatic Vista

1 Reliquary Tower

1 Rivendell

1 Scalding Tarn

1 Secluded Glen

1 Shipwreck Marsh

1 Sunken Hollow

1 Sunken Ruins

6 Swamp

1 Undercity Sewers

1 Underground River

1 Verdant Catacombs

1 Watery Grave

Approximate Total Cost:

*****Credit for this Primer Template belongs to all members of the Primer Committee*****

[BlackbirdPlaysMTG]

It is time for me to update this thread and clean up the Alela, Cunning Conqueror decklist, because I have been making quite a few changes to it in the past few months! Think I changed about thirty cards in total. Buying both of the Wilds of Eldraine precons was a good decision as I really enjoy playing both of them. I was originally planning to keep both precons built around a €100 budget, but I am enjoying the playstyle of Alela so much that I decided to borrow some cards from other decks for it and order/trade some of the slightly more expensive staples for the deck. Alela reminds me a lot of my old Talrand, Sky Summoner (list here) deck, but the goading gives me more control over my opponents and having access to black means that I can run some quality tutors.

I upgraded the manabase and added the suite of fetchlands that I already owned to the deck. Fetches are not necessary of course, but it is nice to always have access to the correct colours (and fetching got a nice little upgrade with the surveil lands from Murders at Karlov Manor). Also decided to add four good tutors to the deck, as I enjoy running them in my decks. Furthermore, I removed some of the sorcery-speed cards in the deck to streamline the plan of doing most of my spellcasting in the turns of my opponents. The deck runs really well as it is. There are some cards that I am not entirely certain about (like Bitterblossom) and I might take out a few draw spells in favour of more instant speed tricks. I am really happy with the deck as it stands now though!

Stay tuned for an upcoming Tegwyll list that will stay a bit more in line with its precon roots. Tegwyll, Duke of Splendor is a cool dude, but he wants to command a different kind of deck. I will add the decklist to the main post when it is finished .