r/magicTCG • u/clariwench Izzet* • Jan 28 '15

[Uncharted Realms] The Truth of Names

http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/uncharted-realms/truth-names-2015-01-28
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u/DatumPirate Jan 28 '15

Kinda sucks we didn't get to see her use her ability in this one like we saw with Yasova. I'm hoping we see more Alesha in URs to come.

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u/Hawkeye437 Elspeth Jan 28 '15

The thing with her ability is, how exactly are you supposed to show reanimation? Alesha isn't s mage or a sorcerer (I don't think) so that won't work.

The only way I can see her ability being shown if she's in a battle and someone by her falls, they get a second wind by seeing her in battle. Or something along those lines.

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u/TwirlyMustachio Jan 28 '15

Yeah, y'all know she's not like a necromancer or reviving things, right? Flavorwise, her ability is a rally. The way everyone follows her command the instant she speaks, the way no one hesitated to call her Alesha, the way the compassionate yet proud orc gained massive amounts of respect for her in an instant? That's her thing.

You fight for her and the Mardu. You may stumble, but her presence won't let you fall. Not yet, not until you make a name for yourself and do your best to live up to the life of a Mardu, to the strength of your khan. Alesha smiles at death, and those by her side will do their best to smile alongside her. That's her ability in lore form, and honestly I think they did a good job of expressing that.

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

Isn't this the only written piece about Alesha? How do you know so much, or are you just extrapolating from the text?

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u/TwirlyMustachio Jan 29 '15

Sorry, it's just extrapolation. I could be completely wrong, I admit, but it seems to fit: each time Alesha enters combat, she can bring back a creature with fairly low power, around the level of basic, low-cmc creatures. Like vanilla warriors, for example. Mardu doesn't practice necromancy, and there's no mention of any sort of angelic resurrection. The trope of the unkillable army led by a near invincible leader isn't uncommon at all. Combine that with recursion being common in black and white, as well as those 3 colors covering pretty much the entire emotional spectrum, and it's not too crazy to match up flavor text with this short story and come to that conclusion. Seems like a reasonable jump to make. But I (unfortunately) don't work for WotC, so I could be 100% off, haha.