Upgrading Fae Dominion - Alela, Cunning Conqueror (& Tegwyll, Duke of Splendor)
Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2023 4:18 pm
Alela, Cunning Conqueror - Faerie Trickery
.
Table of Contents
.
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.
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.
.
Current Decklists
Alela, Cunning Conqueror - Faerie Trickery
Approximate Total Cost:
Tegwyll, Duke of Splendor - Faerie Tribal
Approximate Total Cost:
*****Credit for this Primer Template belongs to all members of the Primer Committee*****