Alpharael, Dreaming AcolyteAlpharael, Dreaming Acolyte| Cristi Balanescu

Alpharael, Dreaming AcolyteAlpharael, Dreaming Acolyte doesn't look like anything special. This is the sort of signpost uncommon that you'd see in any Limited environment, and it's certainly not much compared to its mono-color counterpart,Alpharael, StonechosenAlpharael, Stonechosen. Unremarkable cards like this can serve as exciting commanders because they grant you a degree of design freedom that more streamlined, powerful commanders don't.

Yuriko, the Tiger's ShadowYuriko, the Tiger's Shadow is the most popular Dimir commander of all time, with more than 27,000 decks to her name. Yuriko enables an enjoyable strategy where low-cost evasive Ninjas are mixed with high mana value cards to deal as much damage as possible using her ability. To maximise the power on offer, many Yuriko decks end up looking quite uniform and are built along similar lines. Alpharael, Dreaming AcolyteAlpharael, Dreaming Acolyte, in contrast, will never have a fraction of Yuriko's power or popularity. The small pool of decks built around him will end up being a diverse hodgepodge of off the wall strategies, and wacky untried tactics. The decklist in this article is sure to be different from what you might cook up if you try building around Alpharael, and your deck is sure to look different from what another player might brew.

Now let's take some inspiration from Alpharael and start dreaming up a deck tech.

What Does Alpharael, Dreaming Acolyte Do?

Alpharael, Dreaming AcolyteAlpharael, Dreaming Acolyte is a three-mana 2/3 Human Cleric. He has deathtouch during his controller's turn in addition to the following text:

When Alpharael enters, draw two cards. Then discard two cards unless you discard an artifact card.

What sort of inspiration can we take from these abilities? The conditional death touch is nice, but if we were looking to build a deck around that we'd be better served by a commander like Locke ColeLocke Cole or Tegwyll, Duke of SplendorTegwyll, Duke of Splendor who have the same color identity and cost as Alpharael but have permanent deathtouch.

That leaves us with Alpharael's card draw ability. While it's hardly spectacular, it's strictly worse than Thirst for KnowledgeThirst for Knowledge and only leaves its controller with actual card advantage if they discard an artifact; however, there is potential here. If we can get this to go off repeatedly then we can dig through our deck, filling up both our hand and our graveyard. The question then becomes, what sort of artifacts like going to the graveyard? How about powerful threats that can be reanimated, like Phyrexian TriniformPhyrexian Triniform?

With this in mind, we need to find a way of looping Alpharael's ability so that it can go off repeatedly and help us filter through our deck and toss out big creatures ready to be reanimated. Since Alpharael's ability activates whenever he enters play, we're going to want to use cards that can flicker him (exile him and then return him to the battlefield), like Conjurer's ClosetConjurer's Closet and Essence FluxEssence Flux. We can also use these flicker cards to target other creatures with powerful abilities that activate when they enter play, like Agent of TreacheryAgent of Treachery and Sepulchral PrimordialSepulchral Primordial.

With all of that established, let's take a look at the decklist...

Alpharael, Dreaming Acolyte Commander Decklist

Reanimation Effects

It would be useless to use Alpharael's ability to fill up our graveyard if we didn't have a way of bringing the cards that he throws out back. Here's a selection of some of the reanimation spells featured in the deck:

• Naturally, this deck is going to runReanimateReanimate, the namesake Reanimation effect. While you do need to pay a lot of life to cast this card, it remains the most cost-effective way of returning creatures from the graveyard into play even now, 27 years after it was initially printed back in Tempest.
• ZombifyZombify doesn't quite command the same power as Reanimate. It's three mana more expensive, which is a big price hike, but it's still cheaper than many alternative reanimation effects: the typical rate for a card that can unconditionally return a creature from its controller's graveyard to play is five mana. This is seen on cards like Rise AgainRise Again, Fearsome AwakeningFearsome Awakening, and Rise from the GraveRise from the Grave. So while Zombify may not quite have the raw efficiency of Reanimate, it's still a lot better than much of the competition and a lot cheaper than trying to hard cast a Myr BattlesphereMyr Battlesphere.
• Stitch TogetherStitch Together is either an overcosted Raise DeadRaise Dead, or an incredibly undercosted ZombifyZombify depending on whether or not you have eight or more cards in your graveyard. Save this card for when you can get the best version of its effect, which shouldn't take too long, and then get out the biggest and meanest monster that your graveyard has to offer.
• Emry, Lurker of the LochEmry, Lurker of the Loch plays into the major artifact theme of this deck. She trades in the ability to return creatures from the graveyard for the ability to grab artifacts. Fortunately, many of the most threatening creatures in this deck are artifacts, so Emry will be able to grab them without issue. She also has the upside of fetching cards like Wayfarer's BaubleWayfarer's Bauble, Commander's SphereCommander's Sphere, and other incidental artifacts that can often end up in the graveyard.
• Golbez, Crystal CollectorGolbez, Crystal Collector may only return the artifacts that he gathers to your hand, rather than to your graveyard, but he has another beneficial effect that makes him more than worth using. While you control eight or more artifacts, Golbez fetches a creature from your graveyard during each end step, then deals damage to each opponent equal to the power of that creature. Alpharael can chuck away big creatures, and then Golbez can retrieve them and deal big damage as he does so. The extra surveilling that Golbez provides whenever you cast an artifact is also a very handy boon.

Reanimation Targets

Now that we've talked about the spells we'll be slinging to bring creatures back, let's take a look at some of the actual big hitters that we'll be slamming into play from the graveyard.

• Triplicate TitanTriplicate Titan makes a great budget replacement for Wurmcoil EngineWurmcoil Engine. Strixhaven's strongest statue enters play as a 9/9 with a variety of useful keywords, then splits into several smaller threats once it dies. Of course, since this is a reanimation deck, there's nothing stopping you from simply bringing Triplicate Titan right back so that it can get broken apart all over again.
• If just bringing cards from your own graveyard back isn't quite enough, Rakshasa DebaserRakshasa Debaser allows you to grab creatures from the graveyards of your opponents as well. Whether you're giving this card an encore and stealing handfuls of cards from the rest of the table, or you're just bringing out a single copy you're sure to leave everyone feeling thoroughly debased.
• Sepulchral PrimordialSepulchral Primordial is another card that grabs creatures from the graveyards of your opponents. Raskshasa Debaser has the potential to grab a large number of creatures, but this is spread out over several turns. The primordial, meanwhile, comes into play with several creatures already at its back. Both cards are useful in different contexts, and you'll want both of them as impactful graveyard targeting threats.
• Hullbreaker HorrorHullbreaker Horror is one of the biggest and meanest sea monsters that has ever been printed in blue, and that color is home to some truly scary ocean-dwelling creatures. With the power to bounce your opponents' permanents, as well as their spells, it can be hard to get anything to stay in play once a Hullbreaker Horror is out. Sometimes you can even take advantage of this card's effect to return Alpharael to your hand, if you're looking for more ways to recur his enter the battlefield ability.
• Agent of TreacheryAgent of Treachery steals an opponent's creature when it enters play. It doesn't care if it's coming into play from your hand or the graveyard, it'll grab something nice either way. This card works particularly nicely in this deck specifically because it's a fantastic target for all of the flicker effects here, allowing it to steal even more creatures.

Cards That Flicker

To keep this graveyard train on the tracks, we need a steady supply of flicker spells to bring Alpharael into and out of play to loop his enter the battlefield ability. Here are a few of the options that we can access:

• Conjurer's ClosetConjurer's Closet is a staple of flicker decks and for good reason. This card provides a reliable means of getting Alpharael's enter the battlefield ability to trigger every turn. This deck has been constructed to ensure that there are plenty of alternative targets that you can use Conjurer's Closet on. Whether you're blinking your commander or something like Myr BattlesphereMyr Battlesphere there are plenty of ways to get value.
• Erratic PortalErratic Portal is less famous than Conjurer's Closet, and it's sort of the Temu version of its more iconic counterpart, but if you're looking to rapidly bring Alpharael into and out of play it'll get the job done nicely.
• Crystal ShardCrystal Shard is another uncanny counterpart to Conjurer's Closet. It's one mana cheaper than Erratic Portal, and serves the same function. If you're able to get your hands on Thassa, Deep-DwellingThassa, Deep-Dwelling, then she provides a lot more power than either of these two cards, but at a significantly raised pricetag.
• Essence FluxEssence Flux is blue's very own version of CloudshiftCloudshift. Unlike the three cards listed above, it's a one and done deal that can't be repeated, but there are plenty of cards in this deck that will give you a lot more than one mana's worth of value when you shift them into and out of play.
• Ghostly FlickerGhostly Flicker fades two creatures that you control into and out of existence. It's sort of like stapling two copies of Essence Flux together, and it allows you to repeat two powerful on play abilities.

Graveyard Payoffs

Of course, filling the graveyard with valuable reanimation targets is fantastic, but that's not the only method this deck has of pushing towards the win. Here is a selection of cards that reward us for chucking chunks of our library into the graveyard as the game progresses:

• Every graveyard player knows and loves Syr Konrad, the GrimSyr Konrad, the Grim. Eldraine's grimmest knight can fight comfortably alongside Alpharael and his sci-fi cultist pals. With all of the discarding that you'll be doing, not to mention all of the creatures that will get taken down trying to block attacks from your big threats there will be no shortage of opportunities for Konrad's effect to activate, and ping away at the opposition.
• As payoffs go, it's hard to get a better reward than immediately forcing another player out of the game, but that's exactly what Mirrodin BesiegedMirrodin Besieged does. This deck currently contains 29 artifacts. If you're able to get 15 of them into the graveyard and cast this card, then you can knock an opponent of your choice out of proceedings during the end step. Many don't go off until the next upkeep, so Mirrodin Besieged goes off very quickly for a card of its caliber.
• The Warring TriadThe Warring Triad seems too good to be true. Three mana for a 5/5 flyer with trample and haste is a fantastic rate, even by the high power level expectations that we have in 2025. Unfortunately, these huge stats do come with a downside, but fortunately in this deck that downside is incredibly easy to circumvent. For The Warring Triad to be treated as a creature, its controller needs to have eight or more cards in their graveyard. Alpharael, and the cards supporting him, can cross that threshold of eight cards without issue and get this triad ready for war.
• Maybe Lotleth GiantLotleth Giant isn't the most practical card, but ask anyone who's ever dealt a multi-digit amount of damage with it and they'll tell you it's great fun. Once your graveyard is stacked up nice and high get Lotleth Giant into play, either by reanimating it or simply hard casting it. Once this big ol' Zombie hits the battlefield, it will sucker punch one of your opponents for massive damage. You can then take advantage of all of the flicker effects in this deck to rapidly bring the Giant into and out of play, dishing out huge amounts of damage every time.
• Like Alpharael, Kiora, the Rising TideKiora, the Rising Tide has an enter the battlefield effect that both draws and discards cards. Unlike Alpharael, though, Kiora can bring a massive 8/8 Octopus token into play once there are eight cards in her controller's graveyard. Kiora both helps this deck with its gameplan of filling up the graveyard, then rewards it for getting there in the form of a colossal tentacled ally.

Conclusion

Is Alpharael, Dreaming AcolyteAlpharael, Dreaming Acolyte a good card? Not really. You could use a commander like Mirko, Obsessive TheoristMirko, Obsessive Theorist, Gyruda, Doom of DepthsGyruda, Doom of Depths, or The Ancient OneThe Ancient One to put together a far more efficient Dimir reanimator deck. Sometimes though inefficient jankiness and throwing yourself needlessly through hoops to get your strategy going is a feature, rather than a bug. You'd have no reason to include all of the flicker effects here if you were building around Mirko, and you wouldn't need the artifact subtheme for an Ancient One deck. When all of these disparate strategies come together, they may not build the most powerful deck out there, but they certainly make something unique, and there are plenty more unique builds out there waiting to be slotted awkwardly around Alpharael.